all the little checks he did in between different tying moments. For her part, she looked so blissed out, it left me a little breathless. By the time the demo ended, I almost whimpered that it was over. Ian had been holding my hand for the last half hour, tracing his thumb over the inside of my wrist, even as he kept his other arm around me.
Sighing, I leaned back while Richard slid the ropes off of Lyssa, his sub’s name, and cuddled her close. He’d mentioned aftercare being something important, and then nodded for us to return to the little sitting area and dining room before he walked away with her.
“How you doing, Angel?” Ian asked me, and I stole a look up at him. His pupils were a little large, but his whole expression was so intent and focused on me, I warmed.
“That was amazing,” I admitted, a little breathless. “Is that what you want to do?”
He curled one lock of my hair around his finger. “I’d like to experiment with it. I want—I could picture doing that to you. I still have to learn the ropes and it takes some time, but they have teachers. If you’d be willing to learn with me.”
Oh, that didn’t even take me a moment to think about.
“Yes.”
His eyes flared, and so did his smile.
We didn’t leave right away, though it was seriously tempting. Instead, Ian wanted to ask some questions and he wanted to give me time to ask them. Eventually, Lyssa and Richard joined us, and she looked so completely at peace, I envied her.
Most of the questions that were asked, including the ones Ian asked, satisfied my own curiosity. I thought I’d want to ask more, but the questions I had were a lot more personal. I wanted to know how it felt. How did you know it was the right choice for you? I was all kinds of turned on from watching them, and I couldn’t imagine the level of pleasure if I’d actually been the one being bound.
And that part made the most sense to me. I didn’t want to be the one doing the tying. I wanted to be bound. But not just by anyone. Ian.
I trusted Ian.
By the time we bid them farewell, I swore my head was swimming with questions and ideas, and not even the icy chill of the air outside could chase them away. I huddled into him as he got the car started and warmed it up.
“Talk to me, Angel,” Ian ordered in a soft voice, and I grinned.
“I don’t even know where to begin,” I admitted. “I want to do it all. I want to hurry, I want to go slow, I want to go back home and play…” I licked my lips.
The relief on his face was obvious, even in the dark of the car. “So it doesn’t scare you at all? No turn offs?”
“No,” I rushed out. “I mean, I thought it would be weird or maybe I didn’t know what I thought it would be. But they were all so nice and relaxed, and they made it seem so normal that it would even interest me. Which makes me sound all kinds of judgy and strange. But before all of this… I mean, Jake has spanked me a little. But not like you did, and I never knew that would make me feel so much.”
I was pretty sure my face had to be flaming red, but I didn’t care. The words just spilled out.
“And now it…it’s like there’s so much more we can do and try and…I want to.”
He let out a little groan before he kissed me. “This is going to be an agonizing drive back.”
Chapter Thirteen
You’ll Be the Princess and I’ll Be…Me
Ian
Frankie’s excitement thrilled me, no lie. I’d been hesitant about even admitting my more adventurous interests. Not because I was ashamed of them, but I really didn’t want to scare her off. I’d already fucked it up trying to make things easier before, trying to protect her, and to insulate her against the bullshit.
All that succeeded in doing was thrusting her away from me. Then Thanksgiving happened, and I had not a single regret. Even more, when she responded to everything I asked again and again, the need to tie us together even more firmly wedged its way inside of me. But I would never react to her from a place of fear again.
If I wanted that control—needed it—if I wanted to be that