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He chose two sets of padded cuffs, hanging them over his arm by the interlinking chains. Four connecting straps with snap hooks. Warming lube, a square of black linen, and a crocodile clip. He tested the latter on his fingertip, wincing as the tiny teeth latched into his skin, then deeming it gentle enough to use for what he had in mind. His last choice came down to two floggers—one with rubber tips and the other with knotted ends.
Popping the cork, he reminded himself as he picked up the knotted one. He could either use a corkscrew to ease it out, or chop the top off the bottle with a knife. He set the knotted one back in its place and lifted the rubber-tipped flogger instead.
He hobbled to the bed, resisting commenting when he saw she was precisely as he'd ordered. She stared blindly at the canopy above the bed, so hauntingly sad she broke his heart. He laid out his supplies on the bedside table, then decided he wanted her more central. “Move over another foot, Connie. That's it, perfect. Good girl.”
Picking up one set of cuffs, he unlinked them as he moved to the foot of the bed. Adorning her ankles with the fluffy cuffs, he checked for snugness, loosening the left by a hole. Despite her exposed position, she wasn't aroused. There was no puffiness to her labia, no clit straining from beneath its hood. No sheen of moisture.
Thane gave her calf a soft stroke, then returned to his pile of goodies. Unhooking the second set of cuffs, he knelt on the bed and wrapped them around her wrists. Her eyes slid over to watch him, then returned to the canopy. She was ridiculously unhappy. He reached over and snagged the fabric straps, inspecting the snap hooks. Slipping off the bed, he worked his way around the bedposts, fastening a strap to each one, then attaching a hook to the D-ring on her cuff. By the time he was done, she was restrained spread-eagled on the pretty blue covers.
“As Dominants, we're taught not to scene in anger. Mistakes are made, people get hurt, when we take our tempers out on the ones who trust us.” He stood at the foot of the bed, double-checking what he'd already done. “I'm not mad at you, Connie. I'm not going to take my temper out on you. But I am going to break you apart into pieces and take away the ones you don't need.”
This time, wary eyes followed his path around the bed to the bedside table. He picked up the linen cloth, felt the weight of it in his hands. He began folding it in strips, over and over, until he held a thick wad of material five inches wide and twelve inches long.
“Thane.” It was a fearful whimper.
“It's okay. Blindfolds are a hard limit, I know. I'd like to try something, Connie. If it doesn't work, we won't use it. Trust me?”
She looked up at the canopy again as she trembled, nodding once.
He made himself comfortable beside her, taking his time brushing her hair away from her face. Normally, he'd have it tied back, but tonight he wanted to see it loose and unruly. Nothing he did here would put her at risk of being tangled up by her tawny locks. He skimmed his fingertips over her hairline, her forehead, down the line of her pretty nose. Tracing her cheekbones, her jaw, her mouth.
When she relaxed, so did he.
“Close your eyes, sugar, and breathe in. Deep and slow.” What he did next would test her courage…and her faith in him. It was a huge ask, but a necessary one. “You're such a good girl, Connie. I won't hurt you.” He brushed his thumb over her eyelids, watching every nuance of emotion on her face.
Anxiety. Resignation. Uncertainty.
Spreading the makeshift blindfold between his hands, he laid it over her eyes, soft as a whisper, and let the weight settle into position. When she jerked, he pressed his hand between her breasts firmly. “Feel my hand, Connie. I'm still here. Give me the words.”
“Blind,” she choked out, yanking at the cuffs and snapping the straps taut. “Take it off. Please, take it off.”
Thane flipped it onto her forehead. “It's not tied down, sugar. You're safe.”
She blinked up at him, apparently astonished he'd listened to her. Oh yeah, they needed this lesson in trust, both of them. Connie needed to learn she could put her faith in him. She needed to know, unequivocally, that he had her back at all times. Even when her hands were tied, her sight was stolen, she could count on him to be her rock.
Thane's lesson was that it didn't matter how much experience she had as a Domme, how much she had as a submissive beneath the cruel hand of an asshole with a sadist streak, she was fragile.
“We're going to do it again, sugar. I'm staying right here.” He reached up and lifted the blindfold. “Eyes closed, deep breath. Relax.”
They spent ten minutes going through the steps, over and over. Eyes closed, deep breath, relax. Blindfold on. Kneejerk reaction. Blindfold off. But the seconds between her instinctive panic and the removal of the blindfold began to increase. After ten minutes, she could tolerate the weight and the blindness for twenty seconds.
After ten minutes, Thane was crazy about her. Her inner strength. Her vulnerability. Her need to please him even when he was the source of her discomfort. More than once, she'd reached for his hand as panic grabbed her by the throat, and every time, he'd been there.
Now she was exhausted, her brain quiet behind those heavy gray eyes, and Thane was ready to move things along. He tossed the blindfold onto the table, leaning down to kiss her languidly. She responded in kind, her lips moving sweetly under his. “I'm proud of you, Connie. Do you think you can handle a reward?”
She hummed softly in reply.
“Yeah, I think you can.” With one last brush of his mouth over hers, Thane pushed away and rose. He had to stretch out his leg, pre-emptingthe cramp he could feel building. When he was sure he was in the clear, he concealed the small bottle of lube and the clamp in one hand, and picked up the flogger with the other. “The question is, do you have enough wits about you to safeword if you need to?”
“I can say what I need to,” she assured him sleepily. “That was…tiring.”
“Facing your fears is a tiring process, sugar. All that adrenaline pumping through your veins, then fading away. Over and over again. I think I have just the thing to wake you up.” He draped the flogger over the end of the mattress, then dropped the items in his other hand between her legs. “This time, you'll have to use your safeword if you need me to slow down or stop. Understand?”
“Yes, Sir.”
“Good girl.” He selected the lube, squirted a few drops on his fingers and rubbed them together. “I'm using warming lube, Connie. It's going to heat up, but it won't burn you. It's not caustic.” He ran his fingertips over her labia, circled her clit. His skin was beginning to tingle. Digging into his pocket, he pulled out a cotton handkerchief and wiped the rest of the lube off. A simple taste was all he wanted to give her.
For a few long moments, she watched him through half-lidded eyes. If he wasn't mistaken, she wasn't far off falling asleep. Then her cheeks pinkened, her eyes lost that sleepy haze and widened subtly. The relaxed muscles tensed, her hips rolled with tiny undulations. “Um…I'm prickly. Is it supposed to…oh.”
