"Are those ropes?" she finally asked breathlessly.
"Yes," I answered, watching her.
"Is that a riding crop?"
If I'd been capable of idle chat, I'd have asked her then if she liked riding, if she knew how, but I was not. My vision had gone into tunnel vision just then, with only one thing on my mind.
"Yes," I said, moving to nudge her forward with my hand in her hair until she was only steps from the bed. "I have more toys that I want to use on you, but I didn't want to intimidate you by laying them all out."
She laughed, and it was a touch hysterical.
That only made my heart pound harder. "You need to pick a safe word," I told her.
I watched her heavy br**sts move as she took a deep breath. "I assume you know I've never done any of this before?" It was a question.
That got to me, because I did know it. It had become the single biggest obsession of my life these past days.
"Yes," I breathed, voice thick and intense.
She paused before finally answering, "Sotnos."
"Sotnos?" I questioned, rolling the word around in my mouth, like she had.
"Yes," she said shortly. Nothing else.
Infuriating woman.
I pulled on her hair hard, tilting her head back and to the side until she looked at me. "There are rules here," I explained harshly. "I become your Master in here, and I will punish you when you defy me. I will read your reactions, and try not to go too far, but if I do, or if there's something you just can't handle, that's the word you use."
She didn't seem the least intimidated, in fact her chin had lifted defiantly at my words. "What about outside of here? Didn't you say you would punish me for lying to you? But we weren't in here when I lied to you."
I smiled. I enjoyed her spirit. "There are exceptions. I will never lie to you, and I expect you to learn to do the same. Tell me what your safe word means."
She shook her head, jaw set stubbornly. "No."
I drew in a steadying breath. "Would you rather take more lashes than just tell me what that means?"
She didn't hesitate to nod. "Yes." She sounded confident.
I studied her. "How about an exchange?" I cajoled. "Is there something I could give you in exchange for that information? Something you want to know about me? Something you want in general?"
Again, she didn't hesitate, shaking that stubborn head of hers.
I gripped her hair harder. "You're driving me crazy," I told her softly, maneuvering her towards the bed. "We need to talk. We need to figure out this arrangement. But I can't wait any more for this. Nothing has ever made me feel this wild before. I need to mark you. I need to own you. I need to punish you. I need to open you up and strip every detail out of you. And I will get you to tell me what that word means to you."
There was a pregnant pause, where she neither agreed nor protested.
"Lift your arms," I told her when I'd moved her very close to the bed.
She did, and I peeled her dress off her swiftly, sucking in a breath at the sight that greeted me.
I was feverish with want. I needed everything at once. To touch her, to taste her mouth. To take out my cock, make her suck it, climb inside of her bare.
I restrained myself. Barely.
Instead, I circled, eyes devouring every sweet inch of her. She wore nothing but a bra and thong now, her big br**sts heavy and swelling out of the thin material of her joke of a bra, the coral tips pebbled into tight, hard peaks. Best rack I'd seen in my life, bar none.
I bent down swiftly and bit her through her bra. Hard.
She made a delicious little noise, and I straightened, continuing to circle her.
I snapped her tiny little thong as I passed her hip. She was shapelier than I'd realized, her torso more hourglass than straight, rounding into soft h*ps that were just perfect for gripping.
"You are too much," I told her as I studied her shapely little ass. "A virgin with the sexiest body I've ever seen in my life. Too f**king perfect."
I knelt behind her, leaned forward and bit one pert cheek hard.
She sobbed in a breath and glanced back at me.
I kissed the mark I'd left there, looking up to meet her eyes.
She turned to face forward again, her breathing agitated.
I fingered the tiny scrap of material at her hip. "I want to cut all of your clothes off, but I love everything I see you wear, and I have no idea where you got any of it, so I don't know how to replace it."
"The thongs are from Victoria's Secret. So is the bra."
I smiled at her approvingly, then slapped her ass.
"Don't move," I ordered, moving to grab a knife.
The look on her face made me laugh. "It's just for cutting clothes. I would never cut your skin. The thought is abhorrent to me. I just want to blister it a little."
I moved to her, grabbing the front of her bra, pulling it out, and cutting it cleanly in one motion, taking the cups apart.
I watched her ni**les tighten, pinching them several times, each time harder than the next. "How sensitive are they? Did you like the first touch better, or the last?" I pinched harder, until she moaned, and had to stifle my own moan. "Or the fourth time?"
She swallowed hard but answered quickly. "The fourth."
"Good. I have something for you." I went back to the nightstand drawer, put the knife away, and grabbed a pair of nipple clamps I'd picked out earlier.
The clamps were peach colored, with a silver chain connected between them. I wrapped the chain around the back of her neck, fastening it there.
She took it well when I pinched them onto each hard peak.
"Nipple clamps," I explained. "Are they too tight?"
She shook her head, studying them.
They looked perfect on her. In fact, I couldn't decide if I even wanted to pierce her, they looked so right.
Next, I cut off her thong, watching her face to gauge her reaction.
"Climb on the bed," I ordered, voice gone hoarse.
She obeyed.
"Climb over to that ramp until your knees are touching it. Yes, right there."
I climbed up behind her, pushing her face down onto the ramp I'd arranged in the middle of the bed, which pushed her ass up just where I wanted it.