Mina's Heart (9 page)

Everett paused, regarding her with a furrowed brow. “Honey, if you want me to stop, you have to use the safe word. I have no problem holding you down or tying you up. If you misbehave much more, though, I have to warn you that I will turn you over and spank your ass.”

Cold fear traveled the paths of her veins. Though nobody had ever laid a hand on her, she’d seen her father hit her mother. She lived in fear of that happening. Immediately she stilled.

Instead of looking pleased at the way she’d acquiesced, he appeared bothered by her compliance. He released her wrists and peered down at her with a frown. “Talk to me, Mina. Tell me what’s wrong.”

“I don’t want you to hit me.” The confession tumbled out, her deepest fear revealed.

His frown deepened. “I’d never hit you.”

“You just threatened to spank me.”

He appeared to consider something, but she wasn’t sure it was related to their conversation. At last he nodded. “All right, no spanking. I’ll bind you instead.”

The wetness between her legs increased tenfold. She whimpered a little bit, a series of sounds that took her completely by surprise.

Everett chuckled, his frown melting away. “You like that idea.”

She very much liked that idea. But she couldn’t just let go of all her inhibitions at once. “Will you turn the lights off? I would be more comfortable in the dark.”

He cocked his head to the side as if she’d just made an outrageous request. Surely he’d made out in the dark before. “I’ll make it dark for you, but I want the light. Men are visual creatures. I want to see your gorgeous body bared for me. I need to see and hear your reactions so that I can make sure I’m pleasuring you the way I want.”

After pressing a kiss to her lips, he rolled away from her and off the bed. He crossed to his dresser and pulled out a drawer. She watched him rummage for something. “What are you looking for?”

“I’m going to bind your wrists and blindfold you.” He returned with a bunch of black straps in his hands. “Take off your bra, honey. I’ll handle the rest.”

She looked at him, taking in his broad shoulders and the lean muscles of his chest. Evidence that he’d been outside shirtless showed in the darker hue of his tanned skin. A small sprinkling of hair began just below his belly button and disappeared into his jeans. His brown, sun-streaked hair was a little messy from their activities, and his eyes smoldered with glints of amber. He was the single sexiest man she’d ever seen.

“Trust me, Mina. I want you to enjoy this experience.”

He was so sincere. All traces of his flirty charm had vanished, though he hadn’t used that piece of ammunition very much at all tonight, almost as if he knew that too much would drive her away. She didn’t want to be another of his conquests. Though he didn’t have a reputation for dating a lot or sleeping around, there was no way a man as attractive and built as Everett Burke suffered from a lack of female attention.

She took a deep breath and held it as she peeled away the paltry barrier barring his gaze from her breasts. As soon as she had exposed herself, that prideful possessiveness came back into his eyes, only it was even more intense than before.

He just looked at her, taking in the sight of her lying half-naked on his bed. She wondered what he thought about her petite figure, and she was glad she could fill out a B-cup. Even as those thoughts winged through her mind, she could feel her skin heating up with the force of a self-conscious blush, and she fought the urge to cover herself. She knew he wouldn’t like if she did that.

He came closer and climbed on the bed. She was grateful that he didn’t comment on anything. Given the expression on his face, words weren’t necessary. He straddled her waist, the roughness of his jeans scratchy against her stomach. He towered over her in true alpha-male fashion, and she had the sense that he liked it as much as she did.

Then he lifted her head and slid the blindfold into place. She had forgotten the many black straps he held in his hands. It was a sleeping mask, the kind she used whenever she studied well into the night and needed to nap the next day to catch up on her sleep. He adjusted it until no light seeped in at the edges.

“How’s that?”

“Dark.”

He laughed quietly, and she hoped it was at her dry tone and not something else. Next he took her wrist in his hand and wrapped something soft around it. Then he did the same thing with her other wrist. She felt his weight shift on the bed as he leaned forward, and she heard the sounds of fabric—most likely those black straps—rasping against the headboard. He positioned her hands on either side of her head.

Snapping sounds, one near each wrist, startled her with their finality. He slid his finger under one of the bindings on her wrist, then repeated the action with the other. “How do they feel?”

They were surprisingly comfortable. “They’re soft.”

“Good. Pull on them. Let me know if it hurts anywhere when you do that.”

She gave them an experimental yank. Other than the pressure she created around her wrists, it wasn’t unpleasant. Being bound like this was different from when he held her down. Then it had seemed personal, a direct action on his part. The cuffs removed that personal attention. She liked it, but it didn’t make her pussy tingle the way he had when his hands had been around her wrists.

“It doesn’t hurt.”

He slid down her body, resuming his earlier position between her legs. His bare chest brushed against her breasts. They swelled toward him, and her nipples hardened where his skin met hers. He moved back and forth, stimulating them even more. She arched, seeking firmer contact. He closed his palm over one globe and his lips over her mouth.

In seconds, he swept her away with the sweet bliss of his kisses. She felt secure in the darkness, with his hands and lips guiding her pleasure, and her wrists bound. It stripped away her ability to do anything about her shyness and naïveté, freeing her to enjoy the way he made her feel. She trusted him not to cross the boundary she’d set, though she half wished he would ignore it.

His lips moved to her neck, spreading fire that tingled in her bared breasts. Simply uncovering them had freed her to revel more in the pleasure he induced. He took the lobe of her ear between his teeth, and a shiver rocketed through her body.

“Beautiful. You are so indescribably lovely. Stop biting back your reactions. I want to hear you. Those sweet moans and gasps are music to my ears.” He ground his pelvis against her pussy, and she felt hard evidence of his desire. The friction elicited one of those gasps from her. “Yes, like that. I want to hear everything. You’re allowed—encouraged—to talk. I need you to tell me when to move to the right, harder, slower, faster, whatever helps you get there. You’re allowed to make as much noise as you want, especially if you’re calling my name or begging.”

That last part caught her off guard. “Begging?”

“Yeah.” He nipped at her other lobe. “You know. ‘Oh, Ever, yes! Please don’t stop.’ Things like that. Whatever comes to mind.” He raised the pitch of his voice to mimic her feminine tones, though the smug laughter lurking behind it almost ruined the attempt.

Now that she was tied to the bed, he brought out all the flirty charm he had kept on a leash throughout their date. She liked his confidence and his sense of humor. Though she couldn’t see his face, she knew he wore a cocky grin. She felt her lips twist with a wry smile. He’d calmed her mild panic rather nicely. “‘Yes, Ever. Please don’t stop.’ I’ll keep that in mind.”

She wasn’t sure she could do the other things he’d directed her to do. Bossing around a man was nowhere near her comfort zone, and doing it in the bedroom—especially since he didn’t expect any kind of reciprocation—just seemed tacky.

He kissed his way down her body, lingering over her breasts until she writhed under him and sounds of pleasure squeaked from her throat. She’d never heard those noises come out of her mouth before. They were wanton, nearly primal, and she questioned her decision to take such a hard line and deny herself these pleasures for so long. She wasn’t just a twenty-two-year-old virgin; she had zero experience when it came to sensual pleasures. She’d never even masturbated.

She was intensely thankful for the restraints and the blindfold. With them, Everett had made it possible for her to forget her inexperience, inadequacies, and her limitations. Now she could concentrate on the riot of sensation coursing through her system.

He’d slipped his hand up her skirt when her attention had been focused on the magic of his lips skimming along the underside of her breast. She stiffened as one finger hooked beneath the edge of her panties. He traced her folds, spending more time exploring there than she ever had.

“You’re so wet, so wonderfully wet and ready.” He grazed the tip of her clit, and it felt different from those few times she’d tried to play with it.

A shock of pleasure ran up her belly. Her legs moved farther apart, and her hips lifted in offering. Mina didn’t know where her body was getting its directions from, because she wasn’t in control of anything. She gasped. “There. Yes. More. Harder.”

He circled his finger a few more times, increasing the pressure with each pass. She pumped her hips to his rhythm, chasing more of this wondrous feeling.

He eased his hand away, and she whimpered at the loss. But she understood what he meant to do. She lifted her hips to help him remove her skirt and panties. He pushed her legs wide open and settled between them. She felt so exposed. This way, she knew he could see every inch of her. For long moments, he did nothing, and she knew he was looking at her. He’d said he was visual, that he liked to see her.

Then he settled over her body and plundered her mouth with his tongue. This was different from before. He wasn’t taking his time, easing her into passion. He was taking his due, demanding her unconditional and complete surrender, which she gladly gave.

Once he seemed satisfied with her submission, he moved back down her body, tracing every inch of her skin with his large hands. This time when he shouldered her legs wide apart, she didn’t think to resist. She had no modesty where he was concerned. In that moment, she belonged to him.

His hot tongue stabbed at her clit, taking up where his deft finger had left off. She moaned and murmured his name, which just seemed to feed his fire. He closed his lips around her nub and sucked it into his mouth. The little bursts of pressure had an edge of pain, but it felt so unbelievably good. She wanted more.

“Oh God. Like that. Holy shit, that feels good.”

She felt his smile against her pussy, and the vibrations of his chuckle triggered a tide so intense it threatened to swamp her. She cried out in ecstasy at the same moment he pushed a finger into her vagina.

Nothing had ever been in there before. She’d never even used a tampon, because her mother had told her it would hurt and she’d bleed for days. Ever’s finger didn’t hurt like she thought it might. There was a small tearing feeling, but the pain she’d expected didn’t come.

The feel of his tongue and lips distracted her from even that little bit of nothing. She decided that if her mother was wrong about the pain, she was wrong about the bleeding. It wouldn’t be the first time her mother had told her something outrageous, like when she’d convinced her that very small children operated stoplights because they were the only people who could fit inside. This had come after learning about children used as chimney sweeps, which had been true, so Mina hadn’t questioned her mother's admonition.

She dismissed it and forgot about it completely, and Ever found a spot inside her that made her entire body feel like it was on fire. She wanted to tell him to stay there, but she lost the ability to form words. Set adrift in a dark sea, she felt it sweep over her, and she screamed as it took her under.

EVER LOOSENED HER cuffs before he headed to the bathroom to wash his hands. When she’d confessed to having no experience with oral sex, he thought she’d just never trusted a man enough to let him go down on her. As he washed the small bit of watery blood from his hand, he realized she’d never let a man touch her at all.

He vaguely remembered the last virgin he’d dated. He hadn’t slept with her. Her lack of experience had nothing to do with his decision. He couldn’t sleep with a woman unless he had strong feelings for her. Simple attraction wasn’t enough.

Even the woman who’d claimed his virginity had been experienced. Now that he understood the stakes, he was determined to take this slowly. She had obviously decided to save herself, and he was determined that her first time would be special. It would be romantic, an experience she would treasure for the rest of her life. He would make sure of it.

He ran a clean cloth under cool water and returned to the bedroom. His bathroom wasn’t connected to the bedroom, and he knew better than to leave his submissive tied up when he wasn’t there with her. Though he’d loosened her cuffs, she hadn’t moved.

He allowed himself a moment of pride and arrogance. He was relatively certain that he’d given her the first orgasm she’d ever had. She’d moaned and whimpered, her body writhing and bowing with abandon until she’d cried out her climax. The delicate flutters of her pussy had matched the shallow rise and fall of her chest as she struggled to catch her breath. Ever was completely entranced by the beautiful woman in his bed.

Taking things slowly was the only course of action, he decided. Not only where sex was concerned, but where submission was concerned. He’d topped her, and she’d responded well to his dominant personality. But she hadn’t enjoyed everything. She didn’t understand his need to take care of her, and she had panicked when he’d mentioned spanking her.

Domestic discipline appealed to him greatly. He’d always wanted to find a submissive who shared this value. Unlike many Doms, even his twin brother, Ever didn’t feel a need to use floggers, whips, crops, or canes. He liked bondage and submission, and he needed a strong woman to dominate. She would challenge him, which would probably lead to a spanking for her, but it would also make him a better man.

Yes, easing her into his world was the correct course of action.