She felt the strength of her spine, how her legs grounded her even when they were folded and in a submissive position. There was power here if she was smart enough to see it. Power and something far softer, something she needed. Trust and pleasure.
“Jessica, I need you to stand now.” There was something about Gideon’s tone that let her know it wasn’t the first time he’d given her the command. He didn’t sound annoyed, though. Amusement sparkled in his words and when she glanced back there was an indulgent look on his face—the one he used to give her when she did something wrong, but he found it slightly adorable. “Have I lost you?”
She shook her head and scrambled to get to her feet. “No. Sorry.”
Reid was there, lending her a hand. It slipped and found her hip and she sort of fell against the poor man. They were chest to chest, her head tipping up to look into his gorgeous eyes.
His lips curled up. “I think we should definitely tie this one up, Master Gideon. We wouldn’t want to lose her.”
The look on his face made her breath hitch, but he was doing it for show. They were basically performing a scene. He didn’t mean a thing by it. She took a step back and found her footing. “I’m ready, Sir.”
Gideon was the one who moved in behind her now. He was the one who whispered in her ear as he brushed her hair to the side. She forced herself not to shudder in pleasure at the touch of his hand to her skin.
“I highly doubt that you’re ready.” He breathed the words against her ear. “But I’m entirely impatient so we’re doing this anyway. Have I told you how gorgeous you look in nothing but your own skin? I lied. I lied to protect myself because you’re the one woman in the world who could truly destroy me.”
That bastard had done this because they were in front of an audience and she could choose to stand there and listen to him or embarrass the hell out of them both and walk away.
He wasn’t as impatient as he thought. If he’d done this to her the first day, it would have been easy to stomp off. She wouldn’t have cared what she looked like, but he’d let her enjoy the conference, let her start to know some of these people. She hadn’t met many of the Doms, but she genuinely enjoyed the friendships she was starting with the submissives. He’d let her get comfortable with the outer edges of the lifestyle and now she couldn’t do it. Now that she knew what she would be giving up, she couldn’t push him away.
What if he was telling her the truth? What if he’d woken up the next day and realized he wasn’t ready for another relationship?
She shook off those questions that were far too dangerous to answer and simply stared straight ahead.
He draped a length of rope around her neck. “I’ll take that as progress,” he whispered before raising his voice and getting back to professor mode. “I’m going to tie my lovely sub in a simple but effective design. If you do this properly, your sub could actually wear this under clothing and no one would be able to tell. No one except you and your sub. Trust me, this one will definitely be able to tell I’ve tied her up when I’m done.”
The rope draped down the front of her body, caressing the sides of her breasts. The nipple rings made her so much more sensitive.
“Normally you wouldn’t do this while standing behind your sub,” Gideon explained as he moved closer to her. “Normally you would take this chance to stand in front of her and watch her eyes as you form each tie. You would use it as a vehicle to intimacy. Rope can be an exquisitely intimate experience for the both of you.”
Like it had been that night. He was accurately describing how he’d tied her up that night they’d spent together, his eyes on hers as his hands worked the rope. His gaze binding her every bit as firmly to him as the ties around her flesh had bound her to his bed.
“But then you wouldn’t be able to watch the way I tie her. You would only get to see my back, and her front is so much prettier,” Gideon explained.
“He is not kidding about that,” Reid added, giving her a wink. “And you are doing spectacularly well, sweetheart.”
“I’m only supposed to stand here,” she replied.
“Yes, and you do it so well. It’s very important to understand your subs needs. Some enjoy humiliation play,” Reid continued as Gideon’s hands came around and he started making knots with the rope he’d draped over her shoulders. “This beauty here needs positive reinforcement. Sometimes Doms get confused and make the mistake of switching those around.”