Page 22 of Balthazar's Fire

“Yes, you are.” Pulling his tie loose, he dangled it before her. “Have you ever been tethered by someone you trust before?”

“No.” Her voice was strained as her hand fell to her side. “But I’ve thought about it. I’ve wanted to be.”

“But after last night?” Balthazar inhaled, once again reluctant to refer to Monroe’s murky actions, but knowing it was important.

If Cherie leaped into bondage with Balthazar before she’d worked through the trauma of what he’d done, Balthazar might lose her forever, and he couldn’t accept that.

“I don’t want to think about him, sir.” Her eyes squeezed closed for a moment as she presumably remembered Monroe regardless.

“But you have to,” he insisted. “This is important.”

He didn’t want to seem more like her therapist than her love interest, but even in the short time they’d known each other, Balthazar had come to care for Cherie. Her welfare mattered to him.

“I know.” She blew out the air she’d been holding. “I know you’re right. It’s just…”

“What?” he probed as her voice trailed away.

“I just want this with you tonight.” She reached for his hand. “I know I have to work through what he did and deal with the anger and emotions, but not now. Tonight, I just want to surrender.”

“Okay.” Balthazar had the sense she meant ‘escape’ as well as submit. Caught between his urge to be her friend, and his desire to bind her, he steeled himself. “Then I have to ask an important question.”

“What, sir?”

Balthazar was usually reluctant to share too much about his desires with a new lover, preferring to play safe with conventional, vanilla sex, but Cherie had inspired something more from him. Despite her trauma, she radiated an urgency that spoke to his beast, inciting the hedonistic streak that he normally kept well hidden. Heat simmered at his core, burning him up inside and threatening to boil over if he didn’t find a way to manage his growing arousal.

“Do you trust me to bind you?” Holding the tie between both of his hands, he snapped the material tight, reveling in the throaty whimper that escaped her throat. He shouldn’t enjoy the flicker of fear in her eyes, didn’t want to think of himself as being in any way like Monroe, but by the gods, the glint in her eyes was delicious.

“Yes.” She seemed hypnotized by the fabric, her eyes fixed on its length.

“Sorry?” Letting one end of the tie fall, he reached for her chin and tilted her face to meet his gaze.

“I mean, yes, sir,” she gasped, fidgeting on her seat as if she was a naughty schoolgirl who’d been discovered doing something illicit. The comparison did nothing to quell his passion. “I’d love for you to bind and fuck me, please.”

Balthazar’s balls contracted at her raspy plea.

“Well,” he replied with a smirk. “I’ll see what I can do, beautiful, but first thing’s first. You need a safe word.”

Her brow creased. “A what, sir?”

“A word you can use at any time to end the session if you feel I’ve overstepped the line.” Not that Balthazar would dream of doing so, but he refused to ravish her without the insurance policy.

“I’ve never heard of one,” she admitted bashfully. “What should I choose?”

“It’s up to you,” he told her, cradling her cheek in his palm. Her skin was so supple and wonderful, it made him wonder how many strikes of his palm she could learn to tolerate. But that wish was for another day. Cherie was clearly a novice and would require gentle guidance into the electrifying world of power exchange. “But make it something you’ll remember if you need to.”

“Erm…” She glanced around as if the word she needed could be found on the walls around her. “I can’t think of anything.”

“How about the color red?” he proffered, oddly enticed by her bewilderment. She was so tempting, even when she was stuck for words.

“Red, meaning stop?” she clarified.

“Exactly,” he confirmed, clutching the tie by his side as he brushed his mouth over hers. Gods, she was delightful, her heated cheeks and wide green eyes only escalating his desire. “Not that you’ll need to use it, Cherie. I promise not to push you.”

“What if I want to be pushed, sir?”

Balthazar sensed the poignancy of her question, her tone suggesting it was not a flirty quip, but something with far greater meaning.

“Then we’ll talk about that,” he replied, withdrawing a few inches as he towered over her. “But not tonight. Our first time will be about trust and pleasure.” Especially after everything you’ve been through.