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  * * * * *

  Talia had just started cooking dinner when she heard Sid come in from the garage. “It looks cold out there.”

  Grinning, he came up behind her and slipped an icy hand inside the waistband of her sweatpants and around to cup her butt and draw her hard against him. “It is. I’m glad I have you here to warm me up.”

  She lifted her face as he lowered his head and gave her an icy-hot kiss. When she slid her fingers through his hair, she felt melting snowflakes there and let out a little shiver that made him break the kiss.

  “Dinner will be ready in a few minutes. Maybe you ought to go shower off the snow and get yourself warm before you catch a cold.”

  “Yes, Mom,” he said, his tone teasing. “I think I’ll go soak in the hot tub. Want to join me?”

  “I-I should keep an eye on your food.” She wasn’t sure whether he was asking or telling her he wanted her to come with him right now. “Unless…”

  Sid reached over and turned the oven temperature down. Then he lifted Talia in his arms. “I doubt if dinner’s going to burn now, sweetheart. If it does, it’s no big deal. We can always call for a pizza.”

  “All right, Master.” At least he didn’t seem angry that she’d hesitated at first.

  Lowering his head, he nuzzled the bare skin around her collar. “I wouldn’t risk missing out on whatever it is you’re making that smells so good, but practice was a bitch. I need you to rub some of the soreness out of my back and shoulders. And my legs.”

  “Carrying me around won’t do much toward soothing your tired muscles, will it?” she asked as he headed toward his bedroom.

  “Oh yeah. It helps. At least it doesn’t hurt me.” She felt his muscles tense. “You’re such a tiny thing, even a runt like me can handle you without straining anything.”

  “Runt? You’re no runt. You’re—”

  “I’m the smallest guy on the team. ‘Runt’ is what my teammates have been calling me ever since I got here four years ago. Come to think of it, some of the guys at Pitt hung that name on me, too. I don’t mind. I may be little but I’m damn good at catching footballs and dodging tacklers.”

  He sounded defensive, and that bothered Talia. When he set her down outside the master bathroom door he stepped inside and turned on the hot tub. As he started stripping off his cold, damp sweats, she felt his tension. Could it be that he was sensitive about his size?

  She had trouble believing there could be any chinks in Sid’s brash self-confidence, but maybe she was wrong. Maybe she should say something to diffuse the tension that had suddenly come between them.

  “You’re awfully good at other things, too. You may not be the biggest guy on your team, but you’re plenty big enough to handle me…Master.” When he grinned, she let out a sigh of relief.

  “Aren’t you going to get naked? I’d hate for you to get that pretty outfit all wet when I dump you in the hot tub.”

  Maybe he hadn’t taken her comment as an insult after all. She was going to have to relax, not let herself be scared to death that every time she opened her mouth she’d be setting off his temper. She had to keep remembering Sid wasn’t—she wouldn’t even think his name.

  Talia smiled up at Sid. “Yes, Master. I’m looking forward to getting my hands on all your beautiful muscles.”

  “Now that’s something I’ve been waiting to hear ever since you arrived, sweetheart.” He shot her a lascivious look when she pulled her top over her head and reached behind her back to unsnap her bra. “May I help?”

  Oh yeah. He could put his hands on her anytime he wanted. Talia held her arms out and gave him free rein. “Please do.”

  She loved the feel of his long fingers and calloused palms brushing her skin as he pushed her bra straps down her arms. His warm breath tickled her cheek when he hooked his fingers into her waistband and dragged her pants down and off. “I think this can do without a dunking, too,” he said, unbuckling her knee brace and taking it off. “Now we’re ready for the tub.”

  Steam started to rise off the bubbling water, producing a deep, fragrant fog in the master bathroom when he stepped back so Talia could go first. When she hesitated, he wrapped an arm around her and coaxed her to step down into the sunken tub.

  “You first, sweetheart. I’ll be in there right behind you.” Damn it, every time she acted as if she were afraid he’d bite if she didn’t treat him like a fucking king, she made him think about her ex. He took a deep breath and then spoke to her gently. “Try to remember who’s your Master now.”

  When she stepped in the tub, the swirling water practically hid her beautiful breasts, so full and ripe for such a tiny woman. She swayed as the Jacuzzi jets pushed her first in one direction and then another. Sid joined her, wrapping his arms around her waist to hold her steady. “Lean on me. I like coming home to you after a hard day at work.”

  She laid her hands on his shoulders, kneading them rhythmically as they stood in the tub. “Where are you sore?”

  “Right where you’re rubbing me. Also my upper back. My legs. Coach Zanardi took over the offensive practice this morning. He ran us hard, especially during passing drills.” Sid leaned into her hands, let out a sigh. “That feels good. What say we sit on the bench and let the jets do their thing?”

  “All right, Master.” As always, she agreed with his suggestion, which he’d have liked more if he believed her cooperation wasn’t partly fueled by fear.

  Sid lifted her and sat against the pulsating jets, holding her on his lap and enjoying the feeling of closeness, in mind as well as body.

  This was what he’d been missing the past few years, confining his sexual activities to Rebels’ Roost and avoiding the sort of emotional connection he was feeling now with Talia. Those feelings were growing stronger every day. “You know, sweetheart, I don’t think I’ll ever let you go.”

  A tiny shudder moved through her body, and he saw fear in her eyes when she met his gaze. “What? Does the idea of always being with me scare you that much?”

  “Vi— Somebody told me that once, when I was about fifteen years old. Like my mom’s promises that we’d someday win the lottery and be rich, that promise was too good to be true. I’ll be your slave as long as you want me, but please don’t let me wish—”

  Sid laid a finger over her lips. Damn it, he didn’t want to hear any more. He knew how much she’d been hurt. The man had lived with her for years but apparently had never offered the security of marriage. That had to have fucked with Talia’s head. “Hush, baby. I want you to wish. And I want to give you everything you’ve ever wished for.”

  She dug her fingers through his hair and stretched up until she could taste his lips. Whether to silence him or arouse him, he wasn’t sure. After a minute, though, he didn’t care because her tongue was darting in and out of his mouth. She pressed her breasts against his chest and squirmed in his lap. Not surprisingly, his dick responded, apparently not discouraged by the heat of the water or the knowledge that he had no protection within easy reach.

  Reluctantly he cupped her face in his hands and broke the kiss. “Hey, if you don’t take it easy, I won’t be responsible for what’s going to happen, the least of which will be that we let that dinner you were making for us burn to a crisp.”

  When she looked up at him, he saw tears glistening in her eyes, but the smile on her lips sent him another message. “You’re my Master. We’ll do whatever you want.”

  His dick could wait, because the last thing he wanted to do was make Talia think he didn’t appreciate her efforts to nourish all his appetites. “Let’s dry off and eat in front of the fireplace. You serve up the food, and while you do I’ll build a fire. We’ll play some more, afterward.”

  * * * * *

  A big log crackled in the fireplace. Mellow strains of love songs from one of Keith Urban’s CDs seemed to fill the large room, almost as intoxicating as the feel of Sid’s strong arms supporting her on the couch, against his chest. His regular breathing seemed in time with the mu
sic.

  Too good to be true. With near desperation, Talia kept repeating that mantra. She tried not to think about how natural it had felt to share their dinner in the firelight, or heaven help her to work together afterward to rinse their dishes and load them in the dishwasher. Or to listen to Sid tell her about what he and his teammates had done at practice while he’d been gone.

  But then he scooped her up and carried her back to the bathroom. “It’s time for that shave I promised you.”

  “All right, Master,” she said when he set her on her feet and untied their robes. Eagerly, she shrugged hers off and stood before him, enjoying the blue heat of his gaze on her mound.

  Then he lifted her onto the granite countertop and nudged her legs apart. Using his fingers, he combed through her blonde pubic curls, his touch incredibly sensuous. “Tell me this is my pussy.”

  “Oh yes, Master, it’s yours.” The way he scissored his fingers over her clit made her want to forget about everything but that rigid nub that grew harder and longer by the second. Until he moved his hands and picked up a clipper that felt ever so good when he moved it over her sex.

  The vibration of the motor had her panting by the time he finished and set the tool aside. “I can hardly wait to taste my smooth, wet pussy, but first I’ve got to do this.”

  He cupped one hand, filled it with hot lather from the machine on the vanity and spread the foam over her sex. “Now for the best part.” Taking up a safety razor, he moved it carefully over her mound, her outer lips, even in the crack of her ass. “So smooth. So damn sexy. So mine,” he murmured as he ran his fingers over every inch where the razor had just passed.

  His smile dazzled her when he straightened and ran a hand over the stubble on his chin. “This won’t do for what I have in mind.”

  “I like seeing you look all scruffy, Master.” The dark stubble gave him a dangerous look that made her cunt clench with anticipation.

  He bent and kissed her, hard and fast. Then he reached again for the lather machine. “Trust me, baby. You wouldn’t like feeling this on your beautiful, silky-smooth cunt. Getting rid of it won’t take me long,” he promised when she pouted a little.

  There was something sexy about watching a man shave his face. By the time he finished and splashed hot water over his tanned skin that still bore a telltale shadow of stubble that would reappear within hours, she was practically squirming with need to have him touch her. Fuck her. Soothe the insistent aching deep in her belly.

  When he went down on his knees and buried his face between her legs, the heat and moisture from his breath startled her at first. But it felt so good. She loved feeling the silky texture of his tongue moving across her bare mound, the rasp of his calloused fingers holding her open for his delightful exploration.

  He lifted his head and looked up at her, his expression heated. “You taste so damn good. Hot and wet and a little salty. I could stay here and eat you all night long, but I want to fuck you, too. You’re like a banquet, full of so many good things I can hardly make up my mind what to sample first.”

  The stark sensuality of what he was doing to her was all she could believe, because her body couldn’t deny it. But she dared not dwell on the other—the ordinary actions that made her want to wish, to hope for a vanilla-tinted forever.

  That wasn’t going to happen. Not to her. Years ago she’d embraced complete sexual submission. Over time she’d accepted that she deserved not a man who loved her, but a strong Master she could only satisfy for a while, until he tired of her.

  “Master?”

  Sid looked at her and grinned. “What’s going through your pretty head?”

  She sensed that he wouldn’t want to hear her doubts about herself, so she decided to bring up his fetish. It had fascinated her since she’d first seen him practicing it at Rebels’ Roost. “I was wondering about that rope you bought. I looked through that book about shibari…”

  “And?”

  “And I was imagining how it will feel when you use it to wrap me up.”

  He traced a path around her breasts, over her rib cage and across her hips, pressing at certain points that seemed to trigger a slow, lazy arousal that radiated through her body. “Like this, sweetheart, only stronger. Want to try a little sample now, before we play at the dungeon?”

  “If you’d like to, Master.”

  “I’d like.” He held her robe while she put it on. As he tied the belt, he smiled at her. “We need to go in the living room by the fireplace. I don’t want you catching a cold.” Then he put on his own robe and took her hand.

  “Besides, I’ve got some rope out there. I want to save the blue rope for our first play date at Rebels’ Roost. Come with me.”

  Chapter Five

  He wished she’d sometimes come out and tell him what she wanted instead of always deferring to his wishes. Still, he’d been dreaming of wrapping her up for his pleasure since the day she’d come to him. Apparently she was a stranger to rope bondage, so he figured it would be a good idea to break her in to it gently and in private. “I think I would. Go open the right side of the wardrobe and bring me those pieces of rope from the bottom shelf. And a couple of the round acrylic rings that should be right beside them.” Bought to be used as lines to tie his boat to the dock but so far never used, the nylon ropes would be perfect for what he had in mind.

  Sid stood when she came back with the rope and rings. She handed them to him before untying her robe and letting it slide off her shoulders to the floor. The sight of her naked body made his mouth go dry and his balls ache, but he could wait.

  He stowed the acrylic rings and a couple short pieces of rope in the pocket of his robe and then uncoiled the longest one to its full length, about twenty feet. When he held it out toward Talia, he smiled. “This isn’t long enough to do a full body wrap, but it’s just about right for what I have in mind.” He’d do simple breast bondage, stimulating yet not too painful. “Want to get an idea what you’re going to feel, sweetheart?”

  “Oh, yes, Master.”

  “I’m going to bind you in a way that constricts your breasts so they’ll swell and get more sensitive in response to the stimulation.” He brought the rope up along the under curve of her breasts and then covered the tender flesh with his hands. “When they swell for me, they’ll expand and press against the rope bindings, and that will trap the blood that’s responsible for making them swell. The feeling the binding produces will be highly intense, for you as well as for me.”

  She practically purred when he rubbed his palms over her hard little nipples. “I saw a picture in your book where the woman’s breasts were bound. They were very swollen. They looked shiny—almost as red as that rope.”

  “Yours will look that way, too, and your pretty nipples will grow bigger and get incredibly hard. They’ll burn for my touch, but when I put my hands on you the feeling will be so intense you can barely stand it.” He bent and took one hardened nub between his teeth. “You’ll feel some pain along with the pleasure, but I won’t let any harm come to these beautiful breasts. I promise. Will you give me your complete trust?”

  “Yes. I trust you, Master.” She threaded her fingers through his hair, drew him closer. “Please, bind me.”

  “All right. Turn around and face the wardrobe. I want you to watch in the mirror.” Releasing Talia, he made a loop at one end of the rope.

  When she turned, Sid brought the rope taut around her rib cage, just below her breasts. “Now lock your hands behind your neck, sweetheart.” She did, and her beautiful breasts rose and flattened, resting against the rope. Then he lowered the loop so it lay just below her rib cage and started wrapping more loops around her ribs. “Hold still now, I want to get these loops flush against the ones below them.” Carefully, he applied tension, enough to make the rope indent the tender flesh beneath it but not enough to cause severe discomfort.

  She was so damn tiny, it only took a few turns of the rope to reach the lower edge of her breasts. “Just a minute,” h
e muttered, holding the rope with one hand while he dug in his pocket and pulled out a ring that he slipped along the top loop and centered at the base of her cleavage. He took care, winding the last loop below her breasts and securing it.

  “Lower your arms for me now.” When she did, her breasts settled back over the rope, which supported part of their weight. “How does that feel?”

  “Mmm. Different, but tingly, Master.”

  “It doesn’t feel too tight?”

  “No sir. It feels good.”

  He hoped she’d tell him if it was too much, but he wasn’t sure, knowing as he did that she’d accepted a lot of pain in the past to get to sexual oblivion. He chose another rope. “Okay. Next I’m going to run this rope around the back of your neck and knot it to the ring in front. I want you to tell me if you feel severe pain at any time.” He secured that tie and then stepped behind Talia. When he reached around and placed his palms on the undersides of her breasts, he could tell they’d already grown fuller and warmer. “Sweetheart, look in the mirror. Can you see how your breasts have begun to swell?”

  “Oh, yes, Master. They feel hot, too.” She leaned back against him, letting out a sensual moan. “And my nipples are starting to tingle.”

  Sid was feeling it, too. When he glanced over her head into the mirror, he couldn’t help noticing how her nipples were lengthening, how their areolas were darkening to a deep brownish red. “I can hardly wait to take them in my mouth.”

  “Please, Master,” she said, her whisper barely audible.

  “Later. We’ve got a long way to go yet.” Sid untied the knot he’d made and continued wrapping the rope, this time around her upper chest. He threaded the first loop under her arms and worked down from there to the upper curve of her breasts. “I’m taking it easy on you, sweetheart, barely putting enough tension on the rope to indent your tender flesh.” Still, by the time he had wound the final loop, the rope bra firmly cradled Talia’s breasts.