His lips pressed against me through the fabric. He held his mouth there, over my most sensitive part, simply breathing. The coolness of his inhale. The excruciating heat of his exhale. I twitched, but his hands were strong. They held me down easily.
He murmured something, his lips moving so softly that I nearly died from the brushing glances against my aching body.
The physical thrill of his nearness made me dizzy. Eventually, though, his words came together and I could hear what he was saying.
“Lacey,” he murmured. “Lacey.”
My name, over and over again. His voice hummed my name, rolling off of his tongue as softly as silk. I couldn’t hold back a low moan.
His hands, both of them, slid under the hem of my dress. His fingers pulled the fabric up so that I was naked except for the pair of panties I’d been wearing all night. They were soaked with the juices of my desire.
When he pulled my dress up, I tensed. Every muscle in my body went rigid. I had no idea what he was doing, and I didn’t want to mess it up, and God, oh God, I wanted to see him and see his eyes and know that it was him out there, him touching me. Him taking my virginity and giving something back.
He hadn’t even kissed me yet.
Jake paused, reading my hesitation. Then he reached up. His fingers loosened the gag around my mouth. I licked my lips, breathing in air that couldn’t cool me enough.
Maybe I should have cried out for help. I didn’t. I couldn’t.
“Jake?” I asked. My voice was tremulous, but it seemed louder. Perhaps it was the blindfold that made it sound like I was speaking loudly in whatever room I was in.
“Lacey?”
“What—what are you—”
“Do you need me to stop?”
“What?”
“Tell me now if you can’t go on. If you want me to stop. I don’t… I don’t normally ask. But you aren’t a normal employee. So tell me now. Speak up if you don’t want this. If you say so, I’ll send you back out with my men and you’ll never see me again.”
My body recoiled at the idea of stopping. I ached for him, needed more, needed it now. And I was so curious. About him, about who he was. I didn’t want to stop. No. Crazy as it sounds, I wanted this.
He waited for me for a second. Then he moved to put the gag back over my mouth.
“Wait!” I cried out.
“You want me to stop?”
“No! I just—what are you going to do to me?”
“What am I going to do to you?” His voice had a smile in it, although I couldn’t see anything.
“Yes,” I said timorously. My fingers clutched and released the ropes that were binding my hands to the bedposts.
“Then you’ve decided to stay? You don’t want me to stop?” Jake asked. I could hear a hint of teasing in his voice, a lilt that made me melt inside.
I shook my head. I knew what my answer was.
A new fear trembled through my heart. A fear of the unknown.
I’d come willingly into the dark forest, and now I would see what wild things lived there.
***
“No,” I said, feeling the echoes of the weight of my decision reverberate into the depths of my mind. “I want to stay.”
“Excellent,” Jake said, pulling the gag back over my mouth. I tried to speak, but he tightened the knot quickly.
“Verbal contract, signed contract, payment already accepted for services. Now that we’ve got those formalities out of the way…”
His hands ran down my body, squeezing firmly. I writhed at his touch, now more demanding than before. My hands pulled at the ropes that bound me.
He cupped my breast and squeezed, sending a shock of pain through my body. I squealed.
“What am I going to do with you? Lacey. Oh, Lacey. What won’t I do with you?”
His fingers pinched and twisted my nipples. I screamed behind the gag at the same time as I throbbed for him. Every touch of his, even the rough ones, sent aches of desire through my core.
Especially the rough ones.
“I’m going to do all of the things I wanted to do to you last night.”
His hands were everywhere, touching, pinching, kneading my muscles. He squeezed my ass tight, then kneaded it with his strong fingers. My muscles went from tense to relaxed and back in a split second. I didn’t know where he would touch me next, but he was touching everywhere around me, everywhere but where I wanted it the most.
“I’m going to take you to the edge of darkness, my Lacey. My little artist. You’ll see the colors I can paint with my touch.”
At that, he twisted my nipple, then rolled it with his thumb. And I saw, I saw what he was talking about. Red and white flashes of light pulsed behind my eyes with the pain.
In the darkness, there was still color.