AllFreeNovel
Share Us
Eric felt her tense and he was fascinated by the naughty gleam in her eye. “Tell me.”
“No, no.” She ducked her head. “It’s…nothing.”
“It looked like something. Share it with me.”
She shook her head. “You’re not ready for it.”
Eric was amused. He wasn’t ready for it? What was Julie afraid to suggest? She should trust him and know he would give her just about anything. “I can’t wait to hear this.”
She rubbed her face against his neck before whispering in his ear. “I want to tie you down to the bed.”
Lust scorched through his body. It zigzagged through his veins as his heart pounded. “Really?” he drawled. Julie had the incredible ability to surprise him at every turn.
“I want to be in charge,” she said as she curled her arms around his back. “Tease you until you go wild.”
“You’ve been doing that for weeks.”
“You have your fantasies. I have mine.”
He liked being the star of her fantasies, but light bondage was more than about sex. It was about the exchange of power. It was about trust.
How much did he trust Julie?
“I have a few ties in my closet. Go chose a few.”
Julie pulled away. She bit her bottom lip before she rolled back her shoulders and tilted up her face. His heart skipped a beat as her smile grew brazen.
“No, Eric,” she said softly. “You go get them.”
* * *
HOURS LATER, ERIC WAS sprawled naked across the bed and Julie curled up against his side. Her skin was now cool to the touch. The bedsheets were a tangled mess at their feet and a few pillows were on the floor. He was too exhausted to reach up and turn off the lights.
“Why did you decide to spend your medical leave helping Perry?” Julie asked.
Eric frowned, not sure why she was asking him that question. “I knew he was worried about his business and I had the time to help.”
“And that’s it?”
He didn’t need any more incentive. Perry rarely asked for help. At the time Eric thought he didn’t have any special skills to help Perry grow his business, but he was willing to pitch in and do whatever was necessary. “It’s better than staying at home,” Eric replied.
“Something tells me you would have helped Perry even if you were busy,” Julie murmured as she lazily stroked his chest.
“Yeah, I would have.” Eric closed his eyes as he enjoyed Julie’s caress. “It’s the least I could do. Perry helped me when I needed it the most.”
Her hand stopped. “When was that?”
“Long time ago when I was a kid.”
“I bet you were a cute kid.” Eric heard the smile in her voice.
“Not according to my teachers or the neighbors. I was a problem child and always in trouble.” He tried to forget most of his childhood, but he had spent a lot of time in the principal’s office and would always remember it in vivid detail. “The nicest adjectives they used were disruptive and destructive. Perry thought I was just a curious child who needed direction. That guy always had my back even when he knew I did something wrong. I could always go to him.”
“That sounds like Perry.” Julie’s voice was husky with sleep as she burrowed her head into his shoulder. “What about your parents?”
Eric felt the tension invading his body and tried to ward it off. “They had other problems to deal with. My mom walked out on me and my dad when I was ten.”
His muscles locked as the words escaped his mouth. He hadn’t planned on telling that to Julie. He never discussed that defining moment in his life with anyone.
“What? That’s terrible.”
He shrugged and kept his eyes closed. He didn’t know which was worse: his mother’s absence or the toxic home environment before she left. “I used to blame myself until I got older and realized she never wanted to be a mom or a wife. She had no interest in me or in being at home. She would have left even if I had been the perfect son.”
Julie was quiet for a moment. “And your dad?”
Eric released a deep sigh as the memories washed over him. “He went on a downward spiral once Mom left. He had been hospitalized several times for depression and died when I was eighteen. He couldn’t take care of himself, and half the time he forgot about me. So Perry let me crash at his place most of the time.”
“Why are you staying in a hotel instead of staying at Perry’s?”
