Kate Pearce - Simply Wicked

“Bon,” her mother said. “Now tell me why you lingered in the salons.”

“Because Lisette called me a coward and dared me to look around while I was up there.”

“That sounds like your sister. But why did you agree?”

“Because I was curious?”

“Finally!” Helene clapped her hands together. “I knew you were too young to bury yourself in your husband’s grave.”

“Maman . . .” Marguerite hunched one shoulder.

“Now what advice can I give you about starting again?” Helene sat forward, her expression purposeful. “The most important thing, I believe, is how to avoid a pregnancy, oui?”

Marguerite stared helplessly at her mother. Perhaps it would be better to simply keep quiet and listen. She might pick up some useful advice without having to betray herself.

“Yes, Maman.”

“I’ve spoken about this with many women over the years, and I have a few ideas about when is the best time to conceive or, in your case, to avoid making love.” She frowned at Marguerite. “And before you suggest that any real gentleman would pull out before his seed emptied into your womb, then think again. In the throes of passion, many men forget this most basic thing, or would secretly like you to be pregnant in the first place.”

“I’m not sure . . .”

Helene kept talking, her slim fingers ticking off each point as she made it. “It is the middle of your moon cycle that you must avoid. I think a woman is most fertile then. I’m not sure why, but that seems to be the case. It’s easy to work that out, my dear, just note the day you start to bleed and count on from there until the day you bleed again.”

“Maman . . .”

Helene stood up and patted Marguerite’s shoulder. “I know— it’s a lot to take in. Come and see me tomorrow and I’ll show you how to use a sea sponge dipped in vinegar as well.”

What on earth did vinegar have to do with anything? Marguerite dredged up a smile. “I’ll do that, and thank you.”

Marguerite got up too and gathered her belongings. Her mother’s businesslike attitude toward sex never ceased to amaze her. At least it had stopped her inquiring too deeply about exactly what was wrong. Perhaps she should be grateful for her mother’s incessant chatter. Marguerite clutched her bonnet to her chest. And perhaps her mother knew her better than she realized and had achieved what she intended all along.

“Here we are.”

David opened the door to his lodging and led Anthony inside, shutting the door behind him. Anthony looked around the Spartan apartment in surprise.

“It’s very clean.”

David shrugged as he took off his hat and gloves. “When you’ve lived in a tiny cabin on a ship for months, you learn to stow your belongings carefully so that they don’t all descend on you in a storm.”

“I hadn’t thought of that.”

Anthony continued to walk around the room, touching the mahogany desk in the corner, the pair of leather wing chairs by the welcoming fire.

“Do you live alone?”

“Yes, I have a man who comes in every morning to help with the essentials, and a woman who cooks for me when I’m here. I’ve never cared to have live-in help. I find it a little suffocating.”

“I agree, but as I still live at home, there’s nothing I can do about it.”

“Would your family object if you had your own suite of rooms?”

Anthony stroked the worn brown leather of the chair. “It’s complicated. My father almost lost one of his sons, and he’s determined not to lose the other.”

“That must be something of a burden for you.”

“I suppose it is. I’ve never really thought about it before.”

“Perhaps you should. My father was glad to see the back of me.” David’s smile didn’t reach his eyes. “He insisted that as the fourth son of an impoverished earl I was a damned inconvenience. I was expected to make my own way in the world.” David picked up a candelabrum and headed down a dark hallway. “Bring the brandy.”

Anthony picked up the bottle and two glasses and followed the source of the light. He drew in an unsteady breath as he realized he was in David’s bedroom. Again, the room was stark— a narrow bed with dark red coverings and two other pieces of furniture that looked distinctly foreign.

David indicated a large black lacquered chair that sat in front of a mirror.

“I bought this in Heung Gong harbor a couple of years ago.” His fingers trailed over the high ladder back and down to the red silk cushion on the high seat. “It is exactly the right height for shibari.”

“What is that?”

David smiled. “Literally it means beautiful bondage, or so I was told. It’s an ancient erotic art from the land of the rising sun. The exact translation proved elusive and, to be honest, the pleasure was so extreme that I didn’t really care to inquire any further. I was too busy enjoying it.”

Anthony licked his lips as his excitement grew. “Will I enjoy it too?”

“I hope so. Will you take off your clothes?”

“What exactly are you going to do to me?”

Anthony stripped and watched as David took off his coat, cravat and waistcoat and then opened one of the drawers in the red lacquered oriental cabinet beside the bed. As David turned back to him he couldn’t suppress a tremor of excitement.

“I’m going to tie you up, but I want to take care of your arse first.”

He opened a flat box to reveal a collection of jade and ivory phalluses and a selection of perfumed oils.

“Do you have a preference?”

Anthony swallowed hard. “You’re not going to fuck me?”

“Perhaps later. There are more interesting things I wish to try first.” David hesitated, his fingers wrapped around one of the carved ivory shafts. “Unless you have changed your mind.”

“No, I haven’t. It’s just that Minshom . . .”

“Always fucked you first? But I’m not Minshom, and remember, I’m trying to show you that there are other ways to achieve the levels of pleasure you crave.”

Anthony mustered a smile. He had to stop expecting the worst and trust his companion. “Then go ahead, choose for me and I’ll be content.”

“I hope you’ll be more than content.” David stroked one long finger along the length of Anthony’s already erect cock. “I want to hear you scream.”

He drew his hand away from Anthony’s shaft, over his hip and cupped his buttock. Anthony sighed and tried to relax. He was so eager to fuck that the slightest touch made his cock twitch and his balls tighten with need. David moved behind him, his fingers stroking and caressing Anthony’s flesh until he wanted to groan.

“I’ll use sandalwood oil. It’s my personal favorite and nothing like that acrid flowery stuff Minshom prefers.”

Anthony gasped as David slid one oiled finger inside his arse and then another. His mouth trailed along Anthony’s shoulder, paused to nip, lick and nibble his skin. Anthony arched his back, asking for more, and sighed when David replaced his fingers with the hardness of the thick ivory phallus.

“Don’t come yet,” David murmured and then bit down hard on Anthony’s ear lobe. “We’ve hardly begun.”

“I won’t.”

“Excellent. Then come and sit in the chair.”

Anthony moved carefully toward the cushioned seat and sat down. There were no armrests, so he anchored his hands on the edge of the seat. His cock throbbed, setting off a vibration through the embedded phallus that made it difficult for him to breathe, let alone think.

David took a black silk bag out of the chest and brought it across to Anthony. He slowly untied the silk cords and tipped the contents into his hand.

“This is shibari rope. It can be made of hemp or jute, or in this case, fine linen.” David stroked the carefully tied skein. “I had it dyed red because I like the contrast against white skin. Each rope is about twenty-three feet long. That’s the traditional length, I’m not sure why.”

Anthony stared at the thin red linen, imagined it wrapped around his body and licked his lips.

David smiled. “The aim, I’m told, is not to use any knots. Unfortunately I’m not an expert, so I might need to use one or two. Are you ready?”

The sudden question made Anthony look up from his fascinated contemplation of the rope into David’s calm blue eyes. He swallowed hard.

“Yes.”

“Good. Will you put your hands behind the back of the chair?”

Anthony almost wanted to close his eyes as David knelt in front of him and brought both ends of the rope from under the seat. He positioned Anthony’s knees and ankles against the cold wood of the chair legs and wrapped the linen around his knees, holding them in place. With a practiced motion, he brought the ropes over Anthony’s knees and started cross-binding his thighs to the seat.

Anthony flexed his thigh muscles and realized the linen wasn’t tight at all. David touched his hip.

“Think of it as a corset. You have to be completely laced up before you tighten the strings.”

“Ah, that helps,” Anthony muttered. “I’ve always wondered what it felt like to wear a corset.”

“Really? That is, of course, another avenue you could explore at Madame’s if you chose to. I believe Tuesdays and Thursdays are the most popular nights for the mollies.”

David’s quiet chuckle made Anthony smile even as his breath hitched when the cords were crossed behind the chair and then back under his balls. David paused as if to admire the effect and then added another twist of the linen to separate Anthony’s balls and bring them high and close to the root of his shaft.

Anthony couldn’t take his gaze away from David’s deft fingers as he arranged his balls to his liking, drew the cords back through the slats of the chair and away from his groin. For the first time, Anthony felt the tug of the rope as David wrapped it around his wrists and secured them to the back of the chair.

“And now for your cock.”

Anthony craned to look as David brought the rope forward again and wrapped it twice around the base of his shaft, across his hips and back behind the chair. As the rope extended over his body and secured him tightly in place, Anthony wondered if he should struggle like a fly in a spider’s web or simply give in and wait to be eaten alive.

“Your cock looks magnificent,” David said quietly.

“It does?”

Anthony groaned as David bent and kissed the straining tip. The linen had drawn his cock away from his stomach in an aching curve of hot, trembling, swollen flesh.

“Almost done.”

David stood and continued winding the linen around Anthony’s torso until he was bound tightly to the chair. He could feel each individual wooden slat against his skin, the softness of the silk cushion, the hardness of the phallus. When David reached his neck, he laid the cords loosely around Anthony’s throat. He moved closer, kissed his way down the path of the rope that framed Anthony’s nipples, and sucked one into his mouth.

“Christ . . .”

Anthony would’ve jumped, but as his body was held immobile there was nothing he could do to stop David sucking anything he wanted to. The thought should’ve frightened him, but it didn’t. He liked this, this lack of control, the inability to pretend he didn’t want what he was being offered.

His cock jerked as David’s breeches brushed against it, and wetness slid down his shaft. He tried not to moan as David kissed his way down his body, past his hips, his thighs, avoided his cock and ended up back at Anthony’s knees. With one last lingering kiss, David stepped behind the chair.

Anthony almost flinched as he saw his shadowed outline in the long mirror on the wall. As David had said, the red linen looked stark against his white skin. He stared at his bound body and felt no shame, only a sense of heightened anticipation.

“You look beautiful tied up for me.”

Anthony raised his eyes and met David’s gaze in the mirror. He didn’t say anything. He hoped David saw his acceptance in his face. David nodded.

“Are you ready to come for me now?”

David picked up the two ends of rope and began to pull. It was if he had set light to a line of gunpowder. Anthony gasped as the cloth bit deeper into his chest and stomach, binding him to the unforgiving frame of the chair. He groaned as the sensation moved lower until it reached his balls and cock, his thighs . . . tightened and tightened until he couldn’t stand it anymore and he came, his seed exploding from the tip of his shaft, soaking the cloth.

Anthony closed his eyes as the incredible sensations finally ebbed. David released the ends of the rope and reduced the tension, but not enough for Anthony to move freely.

“That was . . . interesting,” he croaked.

David came around and crouched between Anthony’s legs. “I’m glad you enjoyed it. We haven’t finished yet.” He leaned forward and licked at the wet pool of cum on Anthony’s stomach. After he’d cleaned it all off him, he focused his attention on Anthony’s balls until Anthony was half erect again and eager for more.