Page 124 of Dose

“Same colors,” I say. “Same two taps if you can’t speak. I check before the third edge. Nothing new gets added once you’re too far under to consider it.”

“Green, yellow, red. Two taps means stop.”

“And your hands?”

“No numbness, tingling or cold. If any of that changes, I tell you.”

“Good girl.”

She inhales sharply.

I bind her wrists together in front of her with a simple two-column tie, leaving room beneath every wrap. She flexes her fingers while I check warmth, color and sensation. Only then do I attach the tie to the bed frame with a release I can open in one pull.

The restraint is real. So is the way out.

“Color?”

“Green, Daddy.”

I blindfold her.

The change in her is immediate. Her breath slows as the room disappears. The muscles in her shoulders remain loose.

“Tell me what you feel.”

“Rope. Mattress. Your hand on my left thigh.” A pause. “You’re watching me too closely.”

“That is not a sensation.”

“It is when you do it.”

I drag my fingertips up the inside of her leg and stop before reaching the place already wet for me.

“Still inclined to argue?”

“Always.”

I bite her hip. Not gently enough to be mistaken for affection, not hard enough to break skin. Her laugh snaps into a gasp.

The vibrator begins against her inner thigh on its lowest setting. She tries to move toward it.

“Stay.”

Her hips settle. “Cruel.”

“Not yet.”

I make her wait before I place it against her clit. The vibration is little more than a hum, but deprivation turns small sensations sharp. Her thighs tense. The flush begins high on her chest and spreads toward her throat.

When her breathing loses its rhythm, I take the vibrator away.

“That’s one,” I say.

“I know how to count.”

“You may know less by the time I finish.”

The second edge leaves her pulling against the rope and swearing at me. I check her fingers again, press my thumb into her palm and feel her close her hand around it.