When I turn around, she is finishing rolling her eyes. If I were any of the others, she’d be bent over and getting a spanking right now. But me? I love the little glimpses of the brat she lets out when she thinks we aren’t looking.
Walking back toward her, I stop to pick up one of the red bundles and meet her in the center of the room. “Ready?”
Emmy nods before gesturing at the floor. “Do I need to lie down?”
I shake my head as I work the ends of the rope free from the hank, then unravel it. “No, we are going to start with your arms. Once those are secure, I’ll move down to your hips and legs. Ifyou could tie your hair up in a simple knot, I’ll release it once I have you in position.”
Once I find the midpoint, I hold up the looped rope between us as I show her the position I want her to place her arms in. “Bring your arms up in front of you, and press your inner wrists and forearms together as best you can. Keep your hands relaxed, like you are holding a bowl. Yes, like that. Do you feel any strain in your shoulders or biceps?”
She pauses for a moment, hands forming an open cup around her jaw as she takes my question seriously, which I appreciate more than she will ever understand. Eventually she shakes her head. “No, no strain.”
With Emmy holding the pose, I loop the midpoint around her wrists, twice, manipulating the rope to create enough length that I can work the midpoint back up behind the wrist loops and use the rest of the length to tie it off.
As I check for tension, running my fingers between her wrists and the rope, I glance at her face, remembering Hudson’s request for music last time. “Would you like some music?”
That gorgeous lower lip disappears into her mouth for a moment before a handful of quiet words send a zap of electricity down my spine.
“Actually, I’d like to cash in the favor you owe me, you know, the one from the pick-the-car bet?”
Chapter 76
Emery
Darcy’s gaze jumps up from my lips to my eyes, the dark blue irises filled with want.
My breath catches in my throat at the sight of it. It’s hard to maintain eye contact. Every fiber of my being wants me to look away, to lower my eyes, to take a step back, or better yet, get on my knees for him, just from that one look.
But I don’t. I stand my ground and wait for him to reply.
He searches my face before answering, voice low and quiet. “And what favor are you going to ask of me, princess?”
Biting the inside of my cheek, I give myself one more minute to decide if I really want to ask him for this. Is getting to know them and their history worth it? Or is it going to leave me crushed worse than going into the apartment and seeing the things they’ve bought for their next baby girl?
I just…
No. No more second guessing. I need all the information so that I can make the right decision for me and my future. And if they have truly moved on from me by the time I know what I want, then they weren’t worth my future, anyway.
So, yeah, I need to know.
“I want you to tell me about all of you. I want to know how you met. I want to know why you decided to share someone. I want to know the backstory to the Monarchs.” I throw that last bit out there because I’m curious to know if they’re aware of the name the students have for them.
Darcy groans and drops his head back until his neck cords from the strain and he is staring at the ceiling. “You know about that?”
“I’ve been featured on it just as much as you have for the past few weeks, so yeah, I know about it.” I try to keep my tone even, but I think it might come out more dry than I intended.
Darcy drops my gaze, refocusing his attention on the ropes as he starts pulling the length through a loop. “I didn’t know that.”
I shrug, but it feels odd with my wrists tied together in front of my chest, my movement already restricted by the simple tie. “Yeah, at first there was speculation about the four of you with Oakley, but that has all swung to me, mostly because there are photos of Derek carrying me across campus bridal style. And now there is a bit of aspot Professor Knightsituation goingon, where people take photos of me and see if he is in the background.”
Darcy pauses his movements for a brief second, then chuckles before continuing with his ropes. “Do you want me to talk to Thayne about it? I can have it taken down.”
“No,” I reply with a shake of my head. “There’s no real point in having the forum shut down, it’ll just make the Instagram account more popular. Or a new one will pop up. They’ll either get over it soon, or some other hot professor will start teaching here and their attention will switch over to him.”
Darcy doesn’t respond to that as he pulls the rope toward my belly button, drawing my arms down tighter. Stepping in close, so that his chest is pressed against my forearms and I can feel his exhale on my cheeks, he wraps the rope around my back, then brings it back to my middle. “I met Hudson first.”
I clamp my jaw shut, stopping the million questions I want to ask from tumbling free. I just want to listen. I don’t want to get into a conversation.
“We met before either of us were at NU. I think we were twenty-three, twenty-four. There was an expo in Vegas that we both attended. I was there to see a Shibari workshop and upgrade my beginner’s rope kit. The sub I had with me, Delilah, was standing by my side as we watched a predicament scene, when a man I didn’t know called out her name. She was very recognizable due to her candy-pink hair, so I was used to random people coming up to us to talk. But this time, when she turned to the person, she lit up like a Christmas tree. Several hours later, I found myself in my hotel room, sharing Delilah with that man.”
