bundles from the top row.
Seemed like a lot of rope for just an upper-body binding. But again, for as talkative as he seemed, she worried if she started questioning him about his techniques, he’d clam up.
He pointed to the bench. “Straddle the bench.”
“Where will you be?”
“Sitting in front of you.”
A seated binding? That was novel.
They sat knee to knee, and Amery had the urge to cover herself. Normally she barely noticed her nakedness when he was tying her. But being this close to him, with her sex bared and him wearing gi pants, she felt more exposed than ever.
Ronin undid the rope, and it made a soft swish as the length brushed the wooden bench. He leaned forward, burying his face in her neck and breathing her in.
Just that small intimacy allowed her to relax.
“Wrists together, palms facing toward you,” he murmured, placing a soft kiss on the pulse point on her throat.
Amery watched his focus take over. Eyes dark, full mouth pursed, a bit of color highlighting his cheekbones.
He did a hojojutsu quick tie—she’d come to differentiate them from other ties—each wrap perfectly placed. Then he pressed her wrists against her chest, her palms over the tops of her breasts. “Hold like that.”
She couldn’t take her eyes off him. Every brush of his fingertips as he wound the rope around her back, every hard tug of the rope over her crisscrossed arms. Every loop and knot precisely placed with such a loving touch. He even stopped to kiss her shoulder, which was a rare reaction from him when he was in the Zen zone as he bound her. Then he kissed the tips of each of her fingers, spread out like starfish over her chest. He caressed her thighs every time he reached for a new rope.
Normally the binding process sent her into a fuzzy headspace. Not tonight. Tonight it wasn’t about sensuality, but comfort.
Not comfort for her, but for him. Putting him in a place where he had total control over her. Where he could soothe her, cherish her, protect her.
With each new section he added, Amery saw him coming back to himself.
Her arms were numb, but she couldn’t break the unity between them.
Finally Ronin lifted his head and gazed into her eyes. “Done.”
Amery glanced down at the plain tan ropes that covered her from shoulders to belly. On the outside, the design resembled a messy, misshapen spiderweb, but on the inside, over the center of her torso, was an exquisite flower, with perfectly shaped petals.
Ronin stared at her bound, pleasure and gratitude on his face.
She blinked back tears. She did this for him. Letting him use her body as a canvas, as a cushion, as a haven, as the chance to create something beautiful and special.
“So unbelievably lovely,” he said softly.
“The rope work is stunning. Does the pattern have a name?”
His darkly golden haze hooked hers. “No. I combined two patterns. But I’m thinking of naming it . . . Absolution.”
“Ronin. You don’t need absolution for anything.”
“But you gave it to me anyway.” He softly kissed her swollen mouth. “Thank you.”
CHAPTER EIGHTEEN
RONIN and Amery arrived at Twisted an hour before the demonstration. His mind was on setting up the riggings since it’d been a while since he’d done a suspension.
But walking through the club took time. Not because they stopped to observe the various scenes in progress, but due to the curiosity from other members about where he’d been in recent months. After the third such question, Amery sweetly piped in, “He’s just been so darn busy with his new rope partner. I’ve got him all tied up in knots.”
Crazy, wonderful woman.
Amery remained close to his side, not as tense as he’d expected, until some of his former rope partners approached him—in the guise of checking her out.
“Master Black. You’ve been missed.”
“Thank you for saying so, but I’m certain you’ve not been lacking partners in my absence.”
“I’d hoped to be on your call list when you decided to give another demonstration.”
“I’ll let Knox know you’re interested.”
The voluptuous blonde never glanced at Amery, but not as a sign of respect. “Thank you.”
Amery turned and put her lips on his ear.
Before she could speak, he said, “She is exactly Knox’s type, and he dabbles in shibari.”
“Good. I don’t like the way these women fawn all over you.”
“I didn’t notice.” He kissed her temple. “I don’t see anyone but you.”
“That comment is so getting you laid later,” she murmured.
The small ready room had been set up the way he preferred. Usually he prepared alone and he met the model on stage. Or if he’d needed a binding and sex encounter, he booked a different, private room. So it was a little strange he and Amery were in here together.
He dropped his bag of ropes by the door and watched as she hung up the suit bag with the two outfit choices.
She rubbed her arms and checked out the space.
“Are you cold? There’s a blanket on the table.”
“Ronin, I’m fine.”
He stepped in front of her and nudged her face up to look into her eyes. “Tonight, more than ever, you need to be completely honest with me about how you’re feeling. This is a suspension binding. There comes a point that it will be unsafe to untie you if you’re having an issue.”
“I’ve come up with a way around that.” She lowered her lashes. “If it pleases Master Black.”
Such a smart-ass. “Tell me.”
“I know in many traditional shibari and kinbaku bindings, the model is blindfolded. You should blindfold me.”
Once again he tipped her face up. “You sure? You’ve never wanted that before.”
“It’ll be easier to concentrate on what you’re doing to me if I’m not looking wide-eyed at the audience.” She placed her hand on his chest. “I realize this won’t be like other times between us. Not only because I won’t be naked.”
“At least this time you didn’t say naked and dangling in the air like a slab of beef.”
She smiled. “So whichever outfit you choose for me to wear, I have a blindfold.”
“Amery, I told you I’d let you choose.”
She shook her head. “I don’t want to pick.”
The one he chose was a no-brainer. “The bodysuit.”
“Would you like the blindfold now?”
“Yes, because I need to check out the stage.”
Amery unzipped the suit bag and pulled out a long section of white satin.
His gaze locked on to the wide strip, and he realized it was the tie from her robe she wore into the practice room. Touched by her need to stay connected to him outside of this public display, he closed his eyes and rubbed the satin against his lips. “Perfect.”
“Are you nervous?”
“Anxious. I always look forward to binding you.” He kissed her forehead. “I’ll see you out there.”
He bowed to her. Then he grabbed his duffel bag and headed to the big room that contained a staging area.
Ronin had utilized the space dozens of times over the past few years. Hardware had been provided, but he preferred to use his own. He double-checked the lighting, glad to see the owner had installed Ronin’s requested changes. Merrick McBride ran a top-notch club. He’d apologized repeatedly for his manager’s indiscretion with Naomi and had assured Ronin any breach in club security had been fixed.
He grabbed a ladder and climbed up to affix the rings to the chains for this suspension. He tested the swing ratio before pushing the remaining chains out of the way.
All set.
Now he had to decide whether to bind her hands above her head in a gauntlet with the dedicated body rope or just bind them in a quick tie with plain rope. He crouched down and unloaded his rope bundles from his duffel bag. He’d already seared the rope ends a
nd folded each length in half to ensure faster connection times when he needed to add more rope. He preferred to work with shorter sections, especially in this case, since he intended to create the knotted version of the full-body tortoise.
If he wrapped the gauntlet-type tie on her from the ankle down, completely around each foot, she’d have no balance. But that played perfectly into the theme.
That decided, he divided the rope coils for easy access. Then he retreated to the far corner of the staging area hidden by a curtain and searched for his calm center.
In this situation, Ronin had mastered the ability to block everything out. So he heard nothing but the sound of his own breathing. His mind stayed focused on the pattern, so he wouldn’t be thinking about it when he bound her. He mentally finished the tie twice before Knox approached him.
“The room is full. They’re ready for you.”
“Merrick approved the camera?” The club owner had asked if there was anything he could do for Ronin to make up for the Naomi situation, and Ronin had requested that he be allowed a video camera in the room for this binding. Cameras, phones, any type of device that could send images outside the club were expressly forbidden.
Knox crossed his arms over his chest. “Yes. But I’m uncomfortable with this, so I can’t imagine how upset Amery will be when she finds out. You should’ve asked her permission.”
“I don’t need her worried about being on film. She and I are the only ones who will ever see the video. Now that she’s decided she wants to be blindfolded, it’ll be her chance to see how exquisite she looks in this binding.”
“Still think this is gonna come back on you, Sensei. But Merrick agreed—just this one time—and provided a camera that is encrypted. I’ll show you where the recorder is.” He took Ronin to the side and pointed to a chair in the front row marked off as reserved. “There.”
“I don’t see it.”
“That’s the point.” Knox pulled a small fob out of his pocket. “The recording is going and has a limit of two hours. Push the yellow button when you’re ready to change the lighting. I’m bringing Amery in now.”
Ronin stretched out his muscles, rolling his shoulders and bending forward and sideways. He performed a couple of jumping frogs as the lights dimmed. Closing his eyes, he inhaled. On the exhale, he opened his eyes and walked onto the stage. He heard the murmurs of the crowd, but their faces were a blur in the darkness.
When he saw Amery on her knees on the mat, her head bowed, wearing a kimono, his body stirred, his heart leaped, and his head swam with one thought: That beautiful woman is mine.
The bright stage lights came up, and the audience faded away; it was just the two of them, ready to get tangled up together. He studied her. The overhead lights put an extra sheen on her red-gold hair. Her chest heaved as she breathed much too quickly. The tight clasp of her fingers resting on her lap revealed her nervousness—but only to him.
He circled her twice before softly commanding, “Stand.”
Amery pushed to her feet.
He moved in behind her and suddenly wrapped his arm around her chest above her breasts, pulling her hard against his body. He whispered, “Ready?”
She nodded, angling her head against his.
Ronin stepped back and peeled the kimono away, revealing her body in a flesh-colored leotard, which enhanced her curves and gave the appearance of complete nakedness.
He draped the kimono over the back of the chair. Then he removed his gi top, placing it over her clothing, and he reached for the robe tie.
Amery trembled when he trailed his fingertips over the slope of her shoulder. He knew her reaction wasn’t from fear but from his erotic touch.
After he secured the blindfold at the back of her head beneath her hair, he followed the line of white satin beneath her eye and across her face. He murmured, “Arms loose at your sides. Feet slightly apart. In a yoga position rather than a defensive position.”
She inched her toes out, creating a small gap between her legs.
He pressed a kiss to the side of her neck—his signal the binding would begin.
The rope was smoother than he usually used. He placed the midpoint of the rope at the base of her neck and pulled the two lengths forward so they draped across her collarbone. He tied an overhand knot at the V of her cleavage and continued down her body, placing a new knot every four inches.
As much as he liked that the rope wouldn’t chafe her skin, Ronin missed the feel of her flesh beneath his fingertips. Once he passed the apex of her thighs, he spent extra time letting his knuckles rub on her inner legs as he tied knots.
The heat and scent of her body soothed him, incited him.
When he reached her anklebones, he shifted behind her, resting on his haunches as he created knots running up the back of her body that mimicked the knots on the front. As soon as he reached the center point at the base of Amery’s neck, he passed the two rope ends through, then tied them together before separating the sections and pulling each line against the swells of her breasts above her armpits.
Once again Ronin moved in front of her, holding the two ropes in his left hand. Before he started on the next step, he studied her face and her reactions. She’d slowed her breathing, yet the pulse point in her throat throbbed beneath his thumb. Her upper teeth were digging into her lower lip. So sexy.
He couldn’t resist rubbing his mouth over hers, just a brush of lips and a sweep of his breath. “You are doing great, baby.” The whispered words sounded as loud to him as a shout, since he rarely spoke during a public scene, but the only person he cared to hear them offered him a soft sigh of gratitude.
Ronin nuzzled her temple as he tucked the rope ends through the space between the first and second knot. He pulled hard, creating a diamond shape. He slipped his fingers across the curve of her side and around back, tucking the rope ends once again through between the first and second knots in the rope against her spine. Another tug and he checked to made sure he hadn’t cinched it too tightly before he expanded the diamond shape and returned both sections of rope to the front.
As he added more rope, the diamond shapes ran in a straight line down her body. The connecting sections kept the smooth, clean look of a tortoiseshell. He added more force so she could feel the impression of the ropes digging deeper into her skin.
With her rounded hips and thighs, the narrow line of her knees and calves made her a gorgeous sight. Ronin knew he’d bind her wrists in a gauntlet from behind her so everyone could see how exquisite she looked in the front.
After he secured the final diamond shape between her shins, he left the remaining rope pooled on the floor and rolled to his feet. Letting his hands roam over the bindings and her body, ever so slowly, he enjoyed the tactile experience of the ropes beneath his palms and feeling the heat from her skin.
He snagged another bundle of rope and reached up to slide the O-ring over Amery’s position. Holding the folded end of the rope in his teeth, he circled each of her wrists and held them together above her head with her palms touching. As soon as she held the pose on her own, he started to craft the gauntlet. Threading and wrapping the rope from her wrists to her forearms, leaving enough room between the columns to attach the suspending section of rope.
Ronin hooked her to the O-ring before he stepped back to scrutinize his handiwork.
Gorgeous. Now he needed to wrap her feet and the binding would be complete.
But before he reached that final stage, Ronin followed the sensuous arc of her arms down to her shoulders. He smoothed her hair and fanned it out across her upper back, stopping for a second to bury his face in the softness and sweetness. To ground himself in the knowledge the woman he loved was putting herself out there for him—he would celebrate that.
He stepped back and pulled the rigging, lifting Amery off the floor about a foot. He tied her off into a stable hanging position and snatched another bundle of rope. He knelt, making a loop around her big toe. Then he proceeded to wrap the rope up her f
oot. When he reached the leftover ends from the body binding, he quickly looped them around her shins to her ankles.
A hard shudder rolled through her, and he glanced up.