Chapter 17

They helped each other undress, piece by piece, moving silently, slowly, almost as if in a dream. Where before they'd just tossed their clothes aside carelessly, these they folded or draped carefully over a chair while accessories were left in a neat pile on the dresser. When they both stood before each other, naked, Shelby broke the solemn mood by turning toward the bed and giving Noel an impish grin back over her shoulder.

"You know," she murmured, "We never got around to using those silk scarves. How about it? You want to tie me to the bedposts?"

No red-blooded male could resist that. Noel didn't even try. He gave her a wolfish grin. "Yep." His already-rigid cock got even harder as he thought about how to arrange her for maximum enjoyment. "Lie down in the center of the bed."

"Okay." She pulled back the covers and scrambled up onto the mattress. "Now what?"

"You'll find out." He padded over to her nightstand and drew out the pile of scarlet silk, carefully sorting each of the long scarves. As he'd suspected, there were five of them, one shorter and wider than the other four. Oh good, this was going to be fun.

"Close your eyes," he said to Shelby, who was looking up at him with excitement that wasn't tinged by even a trace of fear. She trusted him with her body. All he had to do was convince her to trust him with her heart. As soon as her eyes were closed, he tied the smallest scarf around her head, blindfolding her.

"Okay?" he asked as he reached for another strip of silk.

"I'm fine," she assured him. "It's weird but...kind of exciting."

Carefully, he bound each of her limbs to one of the bedposts, not surprised to find the scarves were the perfect length. He hopped up and collected a few things from around the room and from the drawer of his own nightstand. Finally, he settled back on the bed beside her.

"Okay, I heard you pouring wine," she said. There'd been a wine and cheese tray waiting for them in the bedroom. "What else did you get?"

"You'll find out," he told her. "Bondage - even light, pretend bondage like this - is all about trust. You trust me not to hurt you, right? Not to do anything you won't enjoy?"

"Of course," she answered readily.

"Just lie back and let me have fun. All you have to do is tell me to stop or ask me to let you go and it's over. No questions, no arguments. But unless you want to quit completely, you do what I tell you and you let me take control. Is that all right?"

"It sounds incredible." She was just a little breathless, but he could tell by her beaded nipples that she was already aroused.

Noel rewarded her compliance and trust by leaning over for a kiss. "Good. Now no more questions." He kissed his way down to her breasts, swirling his tongue around each pointed nipple, and blowing on the damp buds. Moving on, he dipped his tongue into her bellybutton and dragged it lower, licking her wet slit just once before trailing his lips down each leg to her toes. When he was done, he sat back on his heels and just drank in the view of her luscious body splayed out before him.

He picked up the feather first.

Starting with her hand, he dusted it across her skin, across her collarbone to the other arm, up her neck to her ears and forehead then down between her breasts. She giggled but made a little humming sound too, so he continued, teasing each nipple in turn with the fluffy tips.

When he reached her waist, she shrieked. "That tickles."

"Sorry." After kissing the ticklish spot, he ran the feather down each of her legs. Only then did he pause in the middle to brush it against the damp curls on her mound.

"Ooh." She squirmed, as if trying to get a firmer touch.

Noel tossed the feather aside and picked up the beads she'd worn to dinner. He trailed those down the valley between her breasts, knowing the cool, smooth jade orbs would create a textural contrast as they alternated with the fluted gold ones. After he played with them on her skin for a minute, he dipped them into his the glass of wine, using them to drizzle tiny drops of the liquid onto her breast.

"Oh!" She bucked up off the mattress when the cool wine coated her nipple, hardening the apricot bud even further.

Noel leaned down to lick the fluid from her skin, taking his time. When he had her moaning with delight and writhing beneath him, he dipped the beads into the wine again and repeated the process on her other breast.

"Noel!"

God, he loved the way she cried out his name. If he had his way, there'd never be another one she called out during moments of passion. Just his. For the rest of their lives. He sucked her nipple one last time, dipped the necklace again, this time painting the wine on her inner thighs and all over her mound. With just as much deliberation as before, he licked every single droplet from her skin. When it was all gone, he collected more liquid on the beads and rubbed them onto her puffy peach labia, making sure to coat her erect little clit as well. The he set the beads and wine aside and settled between her legs to do some serious nibbling.

Her sweet, musky flavor mingled with the tartness of the wine and Noel licked up every bit he could of her slick juices. He dabbled his tongue into her pussy and flicked it across her clit until Shelby was whimpering and tugging against her bonds. Only then did he add a finger, sliding it slowly into her weeping slit. In the last couple of days, he'd learned exactly where her sweet spot was and he curled his finger to find it, rubbing gently on her inner wall as he sucked her clit.

"Yes!" Her inner muscles clamped down on his hand as she came in a hard, furious rush. He gentled his touch and his suction to ease her down and used his tongue to tease her back up again, making sure she was ready for the next phase.