It still disturbed him.

He walked out to the kitchen and didn’t look into the living room as he passed. He poured himself a mug of coffee, debated whether to shower or go jogging, finally opted for a shower. He could spend time swimming that afternoon. Frankly, it was probably too hot already for a good run. Dropping dead of heatstroke wouldn’t help anyone.

He turned to walk down the hall and froze as he passed the living room doorway.

Kaden was stretched out on the couch, reading the Sunday paper and dressed in shorts and a T-shirt.

Leah was…

Holy fuck!

She was…

Fuck!

Kaden had bound her to the sturdy coffee table.

Not on.

To.

The rope harness formed intricate patterns around her torso. Her hands were bound behind her back, and she was trussed on her knees, ass in the air. Kaden had looped the rope around her legs in such a way that they were spread, leaving Seth staring at her open and defenseless shaved pussy. The rope was looped multiple times around her legs, forming another intricate pattern.

Seth’s jaw gaped.

Kaden looked up and reached for his coffee mug. “Oh, good morning.”

Seth stared.

Kaden took a sip of coffee, put his mug down, and went back to reading his paper.

Seth stared.

He didn’t know how long he stared, only that not only was his morning boner back with a passion, it was probably standing straight out in his boxers. He couldn’t bother looking. The sight of Leah tied to the table…

Holy fuck!

Seth slowly walked around the back of the couch. Kaden continued reading the paper, as if this was the most normal thing in the world. When Seth finally made it to the other end of the couch, where he could see Leah’s head, he realized she had a pillow beneath her and she lay with her left cheek against it, staring at him and Kaden. She was also gagged. When she caught Seth’s eye, she winked.

Holy freaking fuck!

Kaden read the paper.

Seth swallowed hard. “Um.”

Kaden nodded. “Shibari. Also known as kinbaku, depending on who you talk to.” He held up the rest of the paper, offered it to Seth, who numbly shook his head.

Kaden went back to reading the paper.

After more long, silent minutes, Seth managed to form vowels. “Is she…comfortable?”

Kaden didn’t look up from the paper. “Are you comfortable, sweetheart?”

Well, they obviously weren’t formal this morning.

She made a sign with her right hand. From this angle, Seth could also see the harness formed a sort of bra around her boobs, pushing them out in a way that didn’t help things on his end.

Kaden glanced over the top of his glasses at her hands. “She’s comfortable.”

He went back to reading the paper.

Seth stared. He wasn’t sure how long he stood there and stared. He was sure, however, that if Leah didn’t have the ball gag in her mouth she’d be smiling. He knew that playful look in her eyes.

Seth walked around the couch and sat at the end, near Leah’s head, staring at her. The knot work looked intricate, amazing.

That was when he noticed the paramedic scissors and Leatherman tool for the first time. Kaden had laid them on the table, near Leah’s right knee.

“What are those for?” Seth hoarsely croaked.

Kaden looked to where Seth pointed. “Just in case. Never do rope bondage without them.”

He went back to his paper.

“How long are you leaving her like that?”

Kaden glanced at the cable box. “Another ten minutes. Then her torture starts.”

Seth thought Leah moaned, but it wasn’t an “oh, shit” moan. It was an “oh, goodie” moan.

“Torture?”

“Yeah. For being a little on the pushy side yesterday. She’s going to spend the day being tortured. Aren’t you, love?”

She definitely moaned that time.

Seth stared, realized he still held his coffee mug and that his hands were trembling. He set it on the coffee table near Leah’s head. Somehow that didn’t feel right, so he picked it up and moved it to the end table.

“Do I want to know how you’re going to torture her?”

“You should. You’ll find this very effective.” He lost himself in the paper again.

“Um, dude. Focus. What are you going to do to her?”

“Keep her on edge all day long, not let her come. Later tonight, if she’s a good girl”—that comment he directed at Leah—“I might let her have an orgasm. If she’s very good, I’ll let her have two.”

She moaned again.

Nope, definitely an “oh goodie” moan.

Seth could sympathize, because his dick throbbed in his pants.

“I didn’t use a crotch rope this time because I knew she’d rub against it and try to get herself off.” Instead of wrapping between her legs, he’d used a pattern that looped around her upper thighs. “That’s why I’ve got her legs spread, so she can’t squirm against the thigh ropes.”

Seth swallowed hard. “Uh-huh.”

Kaden finally folded the A section and laid it on top of the rest of the newspaper. “You’ve got to watch her very carefully. She’s squirmy. She loves trying to get free. Part of what she really gets off on is not being able to get loose. And in the process of squirming, she’ll rub herself into coming against the ropes. So unless you want her to be able to do that, you have to use a pattern like this.” He pointed at the rope, showing Seth where he had looped it.

“Uh-huh.”

Kaden glanced at the time again. “Watch her for me for a minute, please? Never leave her alone or turn your back on her when she’s rope bound. Especially suspended. With cuffs, depending on the circumstances, if you’re at home it’s sometimes okay to leave her alone for a little while. Not leave the house, of course. But like in bed or over the spanking horse or something.”

Seth nodded. “Okay,” he whispered.

When Kaden left, Seth leaned close to Leah and whispered, “Are you really okay with this?”

She winked. The edges of her mouth definitely twitched in what he thought would be a smile if the ball gag wasn’t in the way. And her eyes crinkled in a familiar look he recognized as amusement.

Kaden returned a moment later. He carried…

Holy fuck.

Seth sat back and stared, dumbfounded.

Definitely dropped through a wormhole. No other explanation.

Kaden held up a large butt plug. “Want to do the honors?”

Seth tried for words, had to swallow to form spit, and tried again. “No thanks. I’m good.”

Kaden shrugged. “Suit yourself.” He patted Leah on the ass. “Get ready, love.” Apparently they’d dropped back into formal mode.

She closed her eyes and moaned.

He lubed the plug and carefully, gently slid it in. She immediately started squirming, and her skin flushed.

Kaden patted her ass again. “I know, this is especially mean of me, using that one on you. It’ll really keep you hot all day, won’t it?”

She moaned.

The other device…good God almighty! It was a large dildo with straps. Kaden reached between her legs and slipped two fingers inside her—Seth’s cock painfully throbbed again—and Kaden smiled.

“Jesus, love, you’re really wet. You must enjoy having Seth watch this.

Her eyes were still closed but she softly moaned.

Kaden pressed the large head of the dildo against her. “Here it comes. Get ready.” He slowly slid it in while she struggled against the ropes.

Seth realized she was trying to fuck herself with it.

Kaden laughed. “No, you don’t get off that easy. No pun intended.” He seated it all the way inside her, then Seth saw what the straps were for. Kaden buckled it around her thighs and waist, holding not only it but the butt plug in place. When he was happy with how it was adjusted, he gently swatted her ass.

“Another twenty minutes like that.” He reached into his pocket and pulled out a small silver…remote? Then he thumbed a button on it. Leah jumped against her tethers and moaned.

Seth heard a low buzzing sound and understood what it was. It wasn’t just a dildo. It was a vibrating dildo.

He felt lightheaded, realized he’d been taking shallow gasps of air. Forcing a few deep breaths into his lungs, he watched as Kaden sat back down on the couch.

And started reading the funnies.

Seth stared. He realized the buzzing wasn’t a steady constant. It alternated patterns, sometimes a steady hum, sometimes a start and stop rhythm, sometimes stopping altogether for a moment. When it did that, Leah would whine and squirm even harder until it started again.

As hard and painfully as his cock throbbed, Seth didn’t dare move. He worried the very act of standing would trigger enough friction against his swollen member to make him come.

She was gorgeous, and as she knelt there a fine patina of sweat covered her skin.

“How do you know she’s okay?” Seth whispered.

Kaden didn’t look up from the paper. “Our code is two loud, long grunts, if she doesn’t get my attention with hand signals. If she does that, it means the gag comes off immediately.”

She was aware of them talking about her, because her eyes slowly opened. But they looked passion-glazed under heavy lids. As the vibrator cycled through another pattern, Leah closed her eyes again and softly moaned.

Kaden smiled, finally looking at her. “I don’t dare spank her like this. She’ll freaking explode. I mean, if she didn’t have that gag in her mouth, she would totally scream her head off, buddy. Trust me. You work her up like this, it’s absolutely amazing how hard she’ll come. And she loves it.”

Leah moaned her assent.

Kaden wasn’t finished. “She really loves to be fucked like this. Perfect height on this table, too. Or in bed. She’s totally helpless like this. You can play with her clit, lick her”—Leah moaned at that— “and do whatever you want to her. I love this position.”

Seth’s entire body resonated in time with the sound of the vibrator.

Kaden met Seth’s eyes with a steady gaze. “Want to try her right now?”

He gasped for breath again and shook his head. Leah opened her eyes and moaned, this time in disappointment, at Seth’s refusal.

As weird as this was, and as much as Seth wanted to take them up on the offer, he couldn’t quite bring himself to take that step yet. Especially not with his best friend sitting right there.

But…

Day-amn.

Seth struggled for a gracious out. “I need a shower. And…and we don’t have my test results back.”

“I had her buy condoms.”

Fuck.

Seth shook his head. “Um, maybe…later.” He jumped up, grabbed his coffee, and hurried back to his bedroom, closing the door behind him. He started for the bathroom, then returned to his bedroom door and locked it.

Just to be safe.

He turned on the TV again—this time Lester was talking to some high-profile chef about raisins versus citrons—and turned on the shower.

It took three strokes on his cock to explode. And he didn’t go soft. Almost frantically he continued stroking and a few minutes later he came again, the memory of Leah’s ass in the air setting him off.

* * *

When he finished his shower—after jerking off one more time—he wandered back out to the kitchen, relieved to see the living room empty.

And just a tad disappointed.

That was fucking hot, no denying it. Had he not been so absolutely shocked he would have enjoyed it.

Or might have forced himself to take them up on the offer.

It was nearly ten, and he was starving. What did that say about him that he felt a brief flash of irritation that Leah hadn’t fixed his breakfast yet.

And where were they, anyway?

He looked down the hall, saw the playroom door standing open. Swallowing hard, Seth forced his feet to move.

Leah was now strapped to the spanking horse, her legs spread far apart and cuffed to the bench. She still had the butt plug and vibrator in. Her arms were also cuffed to the bench, and now she was blindfolded. She wore a smaller ball gag, though.

He heard the vibrator click on. Leah’s hips jerked, frantically squirming against the bench. When the vibrator shut off she moaned, whimpering.

Kaden’s soft voice in his ear nearly scared the crap out of him. “You know you want to.”

“Fuck,” he whispered.

Kaden handed him one of the riding crops. “Right now, before the vibrator comes back on, just one square across her ass. It’s not enough to get her off.”