Unbound (The Braille Club #2) (14 page)

“The other rule is you can’t talk.”

“What?” said Esme, outraged. “Well, that’s bloody convenient, I feel like an eejit,” she snorted.

“Nod your head if you want to continue,” Ford replied, enjoying himself.

Esme nodded her head.

“Remember, you can’t move your hands. Nod if you understand.”

Esme nodded and Ford started straight away. He lightly traced his fingers around the back of her neck and she stiffened at his touch. His mind was racing; he wanted her to feel something. He repeated the caress to her neck and collarbones with his fingers again and again. When he traced the outline of her jaw she tensed further. His fingers explored her face, caressing her cheeks, her earlobes, and eyes.

It was strangely intimate and he could hear her breath quickening. When he drew his thumb along her bottom lip he was rewarded with a little gasp. He felt his body tense in response and a smile appeared on his face. He was enjoying himself even more now, and he was enjoying Esme. The air in the room seemed to change as his fingers travelled around her mouth, gliding over her lips again and again. She was panting and when he slipped his finger into her mouth it was hot and moist. He almost lost control, but steeling himself, he dragged his wet fingers along her neck as a moan escaped her lips. He repeated the sequence several times, feeling Esme’s responses building.

When he finally bent over and placed his lips where his fingers had just been, Esme’s body jerked and he kissed her. The bells sounded, but he didn’t stop. Her mouth was clamped onto his and the kiss was passionate and intense until he broke free.

“Do you feel anything now, Esme?” he whispered into her ear. He pulled the loops from her wrists and the blindfold from her eyes. Her face was flushed as her eyes blinked in the light.

“You certainly don’t kiss like you bat for the other side,” said Ford, as he ran his thumb over her mouth again. “Get some sleep, okay? I’ll call you tomorrow,” he said, kissing her forehead. Esme shivered but said nothing as he left her sitting there, her eyes full of confusion, as he gently closed the hotel door.

Chapter 26

The Braille Club, London, One Year On: The Stoicum Hood is last, but not least. It too has been altered, allowing the patron more access. It brings assignee hair into play. Exposed, it can be pulled and tugged, a simple but effective form of pain.

Niven

Niven didn’t have to wait long for Clarisse to react to Toby’s insolence; she had the locks changed on the doors that day. Toby made the mistake of not treating her with respect and therefore her friendship had been withdrawn indefinitely. He had always been charming to her up to that point but his mask slipped, revealing a Toby that Clarisse did not care for. With no hesitation she cut him out of their lives there and then. Niven’s father was working abroad for several weeks and was not at home to hear his son’s side of the story. Niven confided in Maria how frightened of Toby she was and Maria believed her. She had seen something in him that disturbed her, and they were both relieved that he was gone from the house. That’s when it started.

Her mother came out one morning to find her tyres had been viciously slashed. The police were called, a crime report filed, but no one was caught. Toby’s name hung in the air. Clarisse was heard arguing on the phone with her husband, her raised voice and loss of control shocking. CCTV was installed along with an alarm and security lighting. They all waited and held their breath, gradually relaxing when nothing further occurred until Niven’s mother’s screams brought her and Maria rushing into the hallway. She had just received a parcel, which she’d opened and dropped to the floor, the red contents falling and splashing onto the immaculate pale wood. The police were called again as well as a doctor, as her mother shook from head to toe.

Her father had no choice but to cut his trip short and arrived home the next day to utter chaos. The police wanted to interview Niven’s mother as quickly as possible but she was completely out of it, having taken a concoction of pills to calm herself. The contents of the box had been photographed and removed for analysis. Toby’s name was still unspoken until Maria broke her silence.

Niven’s father had been enraged that his son was under suspicion. “He’s only 14,” he protested. The police noted everything down and said they would need to speak with Toby in order to rule him out of the investigation and this seemed to calm him.

He left to see Toby shortly afterwards, and everyone sighed in relief, even Clarisse. Niven went to bed, exhausted by the drama. Her mother had screamed at Maria to get Niven out of the hall but she had already seen the blood and guts on the floor, her stomach rolling at the sight. When Niven closed her eyes the image was there behind her lids, making it hard to breathe, making it hard to sleep, but at last it claimed her. She woke up certain that she was not alone, some instinct making the hairs on the back of her neck stand on end. She lay in her bed frightened and alert until she drifted off, only to be awakened by his hand over her mouth.

Toby climbed on top of her, the knife he held in his hand glittering in the dark. Niven struggled, absolutely terrified, but couldn’t shift his weight. He had her pinned beneath him, his eyes hungry and mean as his fingers stroked her face. She recoiled, turning her head in a desperate attempt to get away from him and then he brought the knife to her throat.

“If you move or scream, I’ll cut you,” he hissed.

Niven believed him and stopped moving, a tiny whimper escaping from her lips as he took his hand away. He licked his lips, and she felt the knife against her neck. Tears sprang to her eyes as he tugged the duvet from her body. As she shook, Niven felt the knife bite into her skin and moaned. Then there was movement outside her room. Maria burst through the door and lunged towards her bed. Toby turned around, knife in hand.

Niven saw everything like she was watching from a distance. The flash of the blade, Maria’s gasp of surprise, and she would never forget the sound of soft flesh being brutally punctured. With no thought to her own safety, Maria’s struggle was short-lived as she collapsed onto the bed. Toby and Niven were both trapped beneath her weight. Maria didn’t move as tears poured down Niven’s face, her mind reeling until at last she found her voice. Her screams filled the room, ripping through the silence as her horror mounted. Toby’s hate-filled eyes bored into hers as his words chilled her to the bone.

“I should have killed the others first, Niven…big mistake. As soon as I get that bitch off me, I will finish the job.”

Niven screamed as loud as she could while Toby continued to fight and wriggle as he tried to free himself from Maria’s body.

“He’s stabbed Maria!” Her voice was hysterical.

“I’m going to enjoy cutting out your tongue, Niven,” Toby whispered. “You’ve got a dirty mouth.”

“He’s got a knife!” she screamed.

“Then I will take my knife and cut you in other places too,” he hissed.

Niven screamed again, closing her eyes to block the sight of Maria’s unmoving body and Toby’s hate-filled face. When the cavalry arrived, aka her parents, they stood frozen to the spot. Clarisse had the sense to call the police as they rushed to Niven’s room, the bedroom phone in her hand. She quickly dialled 999 again to request an ambulance. Niven’s father seemed to wake up at that moment and moved towards them. Maria was slumped over the bed, unmoving. His shaking fingers felt along her arm.

“Don’t touch her, wait for the ambulance,” her mother cautioned as she stood in the room.

“I’m checking to see if she has a pulse,” her father snapped.

“Don’t touch her,” she repeated. “She’s keeping that monster from attacking us,” she pointed out coldly.

There was a loud bang on the door and Clarisse turned and rushed to answer it. Niven’s father had dropped his arm and stepped back as police filled the room. Toby had stopped talking as soon as his father had entered the room. When they cuffed Toby there were tears of rage on his handsome face, his clean-cut wholesome image at odds with the scene in front of him.

There was so much blood—Niven was drenched in it and still she couldn’t stop screaming.

Chapter 27

The Braille Club, London, One Year On: There had been several requests by numerous members to introduce an element of punishment to the zone proceedings. The punishment could be in several forms delivered to the assignee, the patron, or both. The Braille Club zones had always been about endurance. This added a new dimension.

London 2014

Guy

Anna walked slowly across the room unbuttoning her blouse, just enough for him to see the lace of her underwear. Her face was flushed and he tensed as she approached, realising too late she had the looped ribbon in her hand. She slipped it over his left wrist, tugging his arm back before securing his right. Their gaze locked as she straddled him, lifting up her skirt as she sat down. The air left his lungs as her thighs gripped him and at last she spoke.

“Were you watching?” she enquired.

Guy wondered how she knew. His gaze intensified as she continued to unbutton her blouse. His erection throbbed under her as she slowly ground herself against him. He groaned, desperate to touch her. She pulled the lace of the bra cup down and her breast sprang free.

“Do you like this show better?”

Guy panted and squirmed as she rolled her hardened nipple between her fingers and thumb before placing her fingers in his mouth and making them both gasp. She stood, and the loss of contact was intense. Inch by inch she pulled up her skirt, revealing those delicious slim thighs, and moved back onto his desk. He watched her lift her shoe and place it against his knee. The heel rested lightly against his shin as she reached down and released her other breast. Her fingers glistened from his mouth and he surged forward, the pain from her shoe digging into his flesh forgotten as she caressed her breasts. He was mesmerised. She smiled at him, her little gasps of pleasure exciting him.

Pulling her skirt up until it bunched under her, she dragged her shoe up and onto his chest. Guy grunted as the heel pressed against his skin. Anna lifted her other foot and a second heel dug exquisitely into his flesh. Watching her face, she pushed him back as her fingers continued to caress her breasts before moving them between her legs. Guy shifted forward instinctively, the bells and pain ignored when she leant back and her legs fell open. He gaped at her, struck dumb. Anna had no underwear on and her sex was already wet and swollen as her fingers slipped inside. Guy felt all restraint leave him as he pressed forward again, the pain in his chest nothing to the pressure in his groin. Her hands worked faster and faster as her body arched. His own desire was building, his emotions completely out of control. He exploded as he watched her climax. Her legs suddenly went slack and the delicious pain stopped.

Guy hung his head, his body heaving as he fought to regain his breath. Anna placed her feet on the floor, pulled down her skirt, and flipped up the cups of her bra. She was already buttoning her blouse and moving to release his hands before he fully lifted his head. Her eyes clouded as she paused at his desk.

“I assume you will not be meeting Robert? That would not be advisable.” She smiled tightly.

Guy blinked at her, not understanding, when the niggling feeling he had earlier suddenly returned. He reached for the forms, flicking through them until he found what he was looking for and understood. Benedict’s footnote regarding the confidentiality agreements had bothered him and now he knew why. This was not Anna’s area of legal expertise, but her husband’s, and that’s when he saw another of Benedict’s footnotes:

Robert Dunbar’s form to follow.

He felt a crashing in his heart and the room swam for a moment. He didn’t look up as he heard his door unlock and Anna leave.

***

Anna

She sagged as she stepped into the corridor, her legs like jelly. There was no question in her mind; she wanted Guy Walker badly. Why had fate been so cruel? It had taken real steel not to crumble and succumb to him. She wanted Guy but couldn’t have him because of Robert. She made Robert a promise…but could only think of Guy. She wanted him inside her, slamming into her until she climaxed over and over. Dazed, she stumbled out of the club, hailing the first taxi she saw to take her to the train station. The journey home was excruciating. She’d been completely honest with Robert when she told him about the Braille Club. She painted it as an adventure they could enjoy together. He’d been unsure until Anna had kissed him.

Finally the past seemed to slip away as they both responded, the kiss deepening quickly. She realised she wanted him as his hands travelled over her body. They clung together, and totally out of character, Robert tugged at her clothes. She grabbed his belt as he dragged down her knickers. Pushing her down on the sofa, his knee parted her legs, and he’d thrust into her. She gasped in surprise, loving every moment, and losing herself, urged him to thrust harder. He pounded into her, watching her face as she succumbed before letting himself go.

“Is that the way you like it, Anna?” he’d whispered in her ear.

It took all her courage to say, “Yes.” His eyes looked troubled. “Robert, you must trust me. We need this club.” He was still inside her. “I want you to do things to me, Robert, but we’ll take it slow,” she breathed as she felt him hardening. “I want you to touch me, Robert.” She gasped as he moved inside her. His hands grabbed her breasts, making her cry out with pleasure. “Harder,” she breathed. Robert groaned as he increased his pace. She pushed him until he was almost there before whispering, “Turn me around, Robert. Take me from behind.”

He jerked out of her, flipping her around before plunging into her and climaxing.

She had been excited by this new development and his agreement to join the Braille Club but then she’d met Guy and everything was different. Their little encounter had blown her away, but she hadn’t cheated. The sex with Robert now seemed tame by comparison. She needed to change that. By the time she put her key in her front door she’d made a decision; hungry for satisfaction, she hoped Robert was a fast learner. Shrugging off her coat, she went straight to his study.