Restraint (Mistress & Master of Restraint) (35 page)

I straddle Ezra’s thighs and sit
on the backs of his knees. I squeeze a bit of the ointment onto my palms and work it into the skin of his upper-back, thighs, and ass. He doesn’t flinch or scream in pain. It’s quite the opposite actually. He squirms underneath me, moaning as if he’s getting off on the sensation.

Curiosity: Ezra doesn’t like b
eing struck, but loves the after-effects.

“Call her,” Ezra agonizingly moans to Aaron. Finally hearing Ezra’s
voice after an hour of silence breaks into my movements.
Call Who?

“Cortez, please take Katya,” h
e begs. “Stay with her. I can’t be around her right now.”

I flinch at that. Great! Aaron hates me
, and now so does Ezra. Well, I know a dismissal when I hear one. I’m above bitching and pleading and begging for attention. I know my position in this hierarchy. I leave without saying a word of goodbye to anyone, and Cortez follows.

“Nah- thanks. I’m pretty sure I won’t get lost on
the way to my apartment. Even a dipshit like me can make it the two inches through the wall,” I sarcastically say as I enter my living room.

“Katya, even the dominant shouldn’t be alone after a scene,” Ezra’s voice calls after me.
It takes all my control not to flip him off. Power courses over me because I was able to keep my mouth shut long enough to make it to my living room. I drop onto my sofa and nastily glare at Cortez.

“Le
ave,” I point to the offending hole in my living room wall. “We’ve already established that I don’t do cuddling and coddling.”

Cort
just patiently looks at me, and I’ve learned that he isn’t known for patience. It’s makes it all the more annoying.

“Stop looking at me like that,” I hiss.
I pick up a decorator pillow and hug it to my chest. If Cort doesn’t stop staring at me, I’m liable to cover my face with it. 

“Like what?” He arches a brow at me.

“Like you want to fuck me,” I mumble under my breath, hating that I couldn’t speak louder because my voice was threatening to break.

“I want to fuck you
,” he shamelessly admits. “How else am I to look at you?” The bastard smirks at me.

“Just don’t, alright,” I say softer than I wanted to. “It’s not happening.”
 

“Don’t get all sof
t on me. Aaron will get over it… eventually,” he teases, flashing me a wicked smirk.

“It’s not that. I’m not fucking any of you-
like ever.” I say with conviction.

The l
ast part of my comment takes Cortez by surprise, and he drops into the nearest chair. “Why? Don’t you want me?” An expression of hurt etches across his face.

“Yeah, that’s why,” I laugh out. “You know damn
ed well that isn’t it. You’re hotter than fuck and you know it, stud. So quit the hurt pride shit. You’re married, Cortez, or did you forget all about your wife, Divina?”

“So,” Cort says, and has the audacity to sound
confusion.

“I’m not a
whore,” I growl. “Even I have standards.” Cort just blankly looks at me, still confused. “I want to be someone’s number one. I know I will never be someone’s wife or even girlfriend, but I draw the line at screwing attached men. I know Aaron wasn’t a good idea. I feel bad about it now because I was using him as much as he was using me. I just wanted to feel good for just a few damned minutes.” I brush a few stray tears from my cheeks. “Aaron wasn’t married like you are, or engaged like Ezra. But the thing is- Aaron’s more attached to the two of you than you both are to your women. I’m sure the same is in reverse. I can’t compete with that- I won’t.”

“It’s not like t
hat,” Cort tries to badly deny. Seeing my expression, he adds on, “With you.”

I
snort a snide laugh, “Yeah, I’m just a joke. Someone who gets pity fucked. I’m here because Ezra wants to heal me- that’s it.”

“I don’t understand ho
w you jump to these conclusions,” Cort incredulously says as if I exhaust him.

I just bug out my eyes and part my arms to the side. “How can I see it any differently? Damn, do I need a
sign?”

“We
care a great deal for you, Kat.” Cort’s voice is filled with soft affection. “You are a part of us.”

“Yeah, is that
so? Aaron hates my guts right now, and Ezra wanted me out of his sight, and all you want to do is fuck me. Your version of care is different than mine.” I shake my head in disgust.

“None of that is true, Katya. Not a fucking thing you said is reality
,” he vehemently says.

“Well, it’s not open for discussion. Aaron won’t
voluntarily touch me again. I’ve punished Ezra, so now I’m the Anti-Christ. Ezra has never wanted to have sex with me in the first place. So I guess that only leaves you.”

I stalk over
to Cortez, swaying my hips as I walk the few feet. Cort’s hungry gaze empowers me, numbs the pain I feel on the inside. I need to release the pent up frustrations that are strangling me before I lash out and hurt those that do matter. I’m hurt, confused, and I can feel the memories creeping in from around the edges.

“I have a proposition for you. You have two minutes to take me. But you have to
catch me,” I breathlessly purr, getting into Cort’s face. “If the timer ends or if I get out of this apartment- game over.”

“You mean if I catch you, I can fuck you?”
Cort’s voice is awed, shocked. I nod yes, and he audibly swallows.

“Yeah, but if you don’t catch me, we don’t revisit this again. We leave it as friends. We can scene to
gether or whatever, just no sex. Friends,” I reiterate. “That’s all.”

“Unles
s you change your mind,” he hopefully adds, a wicked smirk twisted his lips, as if he knows he can charm me into his bed.

“Yeah… sure…
unless I change my mind.” I shake my head knowing full and well that isn’t ever going to happen. “Are you giving up already?” I taunt.

“Oh, as I said before. I’ve
been called very bad things, but a coward ain’t one of ‘em. I never give up,” He says with a cocky grin.

I lean over Cortez with my hands on the arms of the chair he’s sitting in, and slyly say into his face,
“Listen, Cortez, I really do like you. You’re a fucking sick and twisted bastard to my fucking sick and twisted bitch.”

That intoxicating, thick and fattening
laugh spills from Cortez’s lips as he pulls his phone from his pocket, setting a two-minute timer countdown. 

“Ready…. Set….
  Kitten.” I look up at him, grinning like a crazy. Cortez’s eyes dilate in excitement, the gray irises completely eclipsed by his pupils. We aren’t predator versus prey as he thinks. It’s predator versus predator. “R U N!”

I
instantly scale the sofa, trailing a giddy giggle of excitement- I love playing, and Cortez Abernathy bleeds playfulness. Sometimes you just have to let go and be the kid you didn’t get to be. We need to bottle these simple moments of excitement for when we are feeling down on ourselves.

I feign run to the bedroom. I’m not dumb enough to get corn
ered in a room without exits. Cort tries to cut me off, except I’m not going that way. I hop from the sofa to the coffee table. I have the advantage of being small. He may be taller with a greater stride, but I am lighter and can walk on furniture.

I silently count in my head as I race Cortez around my apartment.
We’re almost to the halfway mark. Seconds are a lot longer when you’re racing the clock. Imagine waiting at the microwave for your popcorn. Now pretend that timer is counting down to an attack.

I jump to the kitchen is
land- Cortez’s hand just grazes my ankle. He starts swearing and I cackle as I run along my countertops, jumping over small appliances and my dish drainer. I slide to my knees and crawl on my hands and knees. I vault to the floor and scuttle under the kitchen table. Cortez anticipates my maneuver and pulls me out by the wrists.

I allow Cort
to take me. I become boneless, limp in his arms. I have twenty seconds left until game over. Hell, if I manage to lose, then I guess he earns the right to a good, hard fuck. Cort tosses me against the table and tears my latex catsuit down the bac,k exposing my ass. I grip the edge of the table, fingernails biting into the wood.

“I’ll buy you another one
,” Cort huskily purrs. “I am quite partial to you dressed as a kitten.” Cort chuckles that addictive sound, firing lust in my veins. The grind of a zipper lowering has my thighs drenched in anticipation- I play to win, but in this case, it’s win-win either way. I deeply groan when he rubs the velvety thick head of his exquisiteness along my slick pussy. My eyes roll up and I allow half a second to enjoy the sensation of Cort glided through my slickness. I bite my lip on a moan when he moves into position.

Five Seconds
…

Cortez is completely distracted by the feel of our bo
dies beginning to connect. I wait until he pushes an inch inside of me. I almost don’t go through with it. Sex with Cortez Abernathy would be an epic experience. I yank as hard as I can with my hands on the table edge, pulling myself up and over. I scale the table and run towards the open panel to Ezra’s bedroom.

Three Seconds
…

Two strides, I just need two strides
and I will be outside this apartment, and then the timer will strike zero!

Two Seconds
…

Ang
ry curses growl out of Cortez’s throat as his prize flees his grasp. His hand skims my shoulder, fingers skimming off my sweat-slickened skin.

One Second
…

My feet hit Ezra’s apartment as the tone sounds from Cortez’s phone.

“I- W I N!” I laugh from the exhilaration that flows through my veins. I turn to Cortez about to tell him that I want to fuck him as my prize, and I gasp in shock.

Ezra is
fiercely rutting on Adelaide, yet to notice us- even with the noise of our scrimmage. He is completely enthralled.

Call her, Aaron.
Who?
Adelaide.

The blood drains from my fa
ce, along with all my enjoyment. This is why I wanted to bottle the playful nature, it is always short-lived. Cortez’s face changes to pain as he sees my expression. I watch as he turns from a man on the hunt, trilling with energy, to someone who loses the fight. His golden face is pale. His gray eyes turn black. He looks like he just met death face-to-face. I know the feeling.

“I’ve wanted you so much I ache,” Ezra moans
, his voice dreamy.

Ezra hypnotically rolls into the
rail-thin blonde. Adelaide’s face is hidden in the crook of his neck, but I’ve no doubt it’s filled with ecstasy. Her moans mingle with his, creating a symphony that curdles my stomach. Her red talons grip his ass leaving half-moon imprints. I can’t look anymore.

“I won’t leave you this time. I promise,” he vows.

My breath hitches as I hear Ezra’s utter devotion to his fiancée. Somewhere in the back of my mind, I’d held out hope that it was an engagement of convenience- a business arrangement. But what I see before me is no arrangement. Everyone tried to warn me, and I never listened, and now it’s too late.

I leave before Ezra
regains his composure and notices us. He is so in love with his fiancée that he appears to be in a trance. My breath keeps hitching on sobs. I will not break down. I won’t… at least not until I am alone. I can feel Cortez keeping pace with me as I walk slowly to my bathroom.

“Just go,” I hiccup out. 

“You were going to fuck me weren’t you?” Cort says with confidence. His question is so off base that I laugh. It’s not a real laugh, and it’s laced with an edge of madness, but it’s a laugh none the less. Leave it to Cortez’s highly inappropriate nature to lighten the situation.

“Thanks
, I needed that,” I genuinely say. “And yes, I was going to reward us both with a good, rough fuck.” I laugh again. “Um- yeah. We didn’t see what we saw, okay? No telling on us. It would be too embarrassingly painful for all of us.”

“I’m not Aaron,” Cort
angrily spits. “I’m not Ezra’s bitch. He doesn’t always come first with me,” He says seriously.

“Well, not for me
, either, apparently.” I laugh. “Yeah, you and I know exactly who number one is.” The
ourselves
goes without saying.

Cortez
squeezes my chin with his thumb and index finger, tilting it back so he can look into my downcast eyes. “You’ll change your mind. I know it,” Cort says with absolute certainty. His eyes blaze into mine with confidence.

I falter. Cort i
s right. He’ll wear me down- eventually. Being around him is like being around myself. One day, I’ll get too comfortable and give in to my needs, and it scares me to death that I will sink that low. 

“Did you get a divorce in the last thirty seconds?”
I draw Divina into the conversation to thaw it, to bring back my resolve. The fact that I can hear the lovers reaching their mutual crescendo isn’t helping matters. I think I’m going to throw up if I don’t shut the door to my bathroom and close out the sounds.