Roped for Pleasure (7 page)

Her phone rang. As if conjured from her thoughts, River’s name displayed on the screen.

“Hey, you,” Tara answered.

“Are you okay? What’s going on? Kat just called and filled me in.”

“I’m fine, River.”

“Fine? Like I was fine?”

Tara laughed. “No. I’m honestly okay. I’m more worried about Kat.”

“I know. Me too. I wish I’d never met Raymond. This—”

“Don’t even say it’s your fault. We’ve done enough taking the blame. And unfortunately, we can’t wish the past away. Believe me, I’ve tried.”

“I miss you guys.”

“I miss you too.” Tara sighed. “I’m surprised you have time to miss anyone. Figured those three would keep you busy.”

“You’ll know soon enough,” River replied with a laugh.

“What?”

“Kat told me about her brother and his friends—their interest in you. And that you were interested as well.”

“I…I…”

“Don’t know what to say?” River laughed again. “It’s amazing, isn’t it? Having three men all about pleasuring you. It’s more than one woman can handle at times.”

“I’m confused, River. I want them. We’ve only been together once, but it was…incredible.”

“You’re unsure if it’s just sex?”

“Yes. This isn’t a game to play. People will get hurt if I mislead them.”

“Including you,” River reminded her.

“Especially me,” Tara confessed. “It would kill me if I hurt them. I’ve never met men like them before. Sam always has a smile, always makes me smile. Dasan is so intense, always watching. He sees things about me no one else has ever bothered to notice. And Charlie…Charlie makes me feel like I’m the only person in the room. When they touch me, I almost can’t breathe my heart is beating so fast.”

“Ahhh, Tara. I think you know exactly how you feel, what you want. You deserve to be happy. I had doubts myself when I met Luke, Phil, and Rick. I worried I was making another mistake like I did with Raymond. I doubted myself. Thankfully, they didn’t share my doubts.”

“I’m so afraid, River.”

“Everyone says love is this amazing thing that washes over you and makes you silly and girly. It grabbed me by the throat and scared me to death. Some mornings I wake up thinking it’s all a dream. But they’re still there, beside me.”

“And you’re happy?”

“Happier than I ever dreamed possible.”

“Thanks, River. I’m glad you called.”

“Sometimes you have to take a chance, Tara. Trust your head, but listen to your heart.”

Tara hung up and stepped back to the table. At least her head was clear on one thing now. She wouldn’t let doubt and fear keep her from reaching for happiness.

Chapter Seven

Tara bolted up in bed, gasping for air. The nightmare was vivid in her mind. She’d felt the ropes, felt the cruel touch of his hands as if she were living it again. She needed water, fresh air, the freedom of movement to remind her she wasn’t defenseless again. It was just a dream.

She rose, grabbing her robe from the foot of her bed and left the room behind. Down the stairs, along the hall to the den where doors opened to the gardens outside. The air was fragrant with roses, which seemed to grow plentifully here. She breathed deeply of the fragrance.

“He can’t hurt me,” she whispered aloud.

“No, he can’t.”

She jumped at Dasan’s voice, but managed not to do more than yelp quietly. “You scared the hell out of me. Where did you come from?”

“You’d have noticed me sitting in the den if you hadn’t been in such a hurry to get outside. Are you okay?”

“Bad dreams,” she admitted softly.

“You’re right. He can’t hurt you anymore. Not if you don’t let him.”

“I can’t control my nightmares.”

He looked at her intently as if trying to see something deep inside her. “What if you could replace them?”

“Replace them? How do I manage that?”

“It depends.”

“On what?”

“How open you are to what I suggest.”

She looked at him, searching his expression. “You want to tie me up?”

He nodded in agreement.

She couldn’t hold back the shudder that racked her body. “The same way he did?”

“Yes, but it will be different. We’ll replace the memory of your night with him, of the terror and helplessness he made you feel. Replace it with new memories. We’ll take the ropes and bindings and turn them into instruments of pleasure. We’ll wash the bad away with only good.”

“Will it work?”

“I don’t know for sure,” he answered honestly. “I’ve been reading about it since I left you in the kitchen.”

She couldn’t help but show her surprise. “You have?”

“I want to purge the bastard from your mind. I never want him to hurt you again.”

“He can’t hurt me.”

“Isn’t he?”

“What did you read?”

Dasan swallowed, and for the first time, Tara noticed he was just as nervous as she was.

“Some studies I found on survivors of violent crimes. Sometimes it helped them to relive what had happened in a safe environment, where they had control over the outcome. Helped them to exorcise demons and ghosts.”

Tara walked over to him and touched his face with her fingertips. “Thank you.”

“For what?” he whispered, leaning his face into her touch.

“For caring.”

He merely looked at her, then turned and placed a kiss on her palm. She stepped into him and used her hand to guide his mouth down to hers. The kiss started out soft, gentle, but quickly changed as fire heated their blood. Dasan assumed control from her, his hands finding purchase on her waist and pulling her tight against him. For all the passion, his touch was soft, soothing. Already her nightmare faded from her mind.

She pulled her mouth from his and moaned as he forged a path down her neck to her shoulder, pushing the robe aside as he went. It fell open, revealing her naked form beneath.

“Yes,” she moaned as he detoured down to the upper curve of her breast and flicked his tongue over her nipple. He latched on and sucked hard, forcing it up toward the roof of his mouth. Her moans grew louder, carrying on the night air. Her robe was jerked apart, and Dasan went to his knees before her.

His lips were a hot brand over her skin. His fingers parted her curls and tapped against the swollen bud of her clitoris where it peeked out between her pussy lips. Her knees almost buckled when his hot breath blew softly over her. Her hands clenched in his hair, and she struggled with a need to pull him closer, press him to her.

His tongue brushed over her again and again, lapping at her as if he were a cat and she a warm bowl of milk.

“Dasan, please,” she begged him.

With a husky chuckle, he spread her and feasted. She panted and moaned, riding his face and the wicked stroke of his tongue. She couldn’t tear her eyes away from the sight of his dark head between her thighs. He glanced up. Their eyes met and held as he wrapped his lips around her clit and sucked gently.

He rubbed a finger just inside her, teasing her.

“Dasan,” she panted his name.

“Don’t look away,” he commanded and thrust his finger deep.

She cried out, holding his gaze as he fucked her with his finger. Pleasure rose inside her, building and growing until she couldn’t contain it any longer. With a low cry, she came, Dasan’s name spilling from her lips.

“You look beautiful in moonlight,” Charlie said softly. She had no idea how long he’d been there.

“That she does,” Sam said, coming to stand in the doorway beside Charlie.

Dasan rose to stand beside her. She tugged her robe together and loosely retied it before letting her gaze slide from one to another and back again until she stopped on Dasan. Slowly, she nodded her head.

“Are you sure?” Dasan asked, understanding exactly what she was agreeing to.

“Sure about what?” Sam asked.

“I want you to tie me to the bed, to blindfold me. I want to replace bad memories with good ones.”

“Great ones,” Dasan vowed.

“The research you were doing?” Charlie asked, and Dasan nodded. “You’re not afraid?”

Tara shook her head. “I’m not afraid. Not of this. Not of you.”

Sam stepped forward and swept her up high against his chest. “I know just the place,” he said with a twinkle in his eyes.

She had lied. She was afraid. Not of them, but of her reaction to what they planned. Would she be able to handle the restraints? The darkness caused by a blindfold? Already her heartbeat was speeding up. Sam brushed his lips over her hair.

“If you change your mind, if it’s more than you can handle, just say the word and it all stops,” he whispered to her.

And therein lay the difference. Though she would still be bound, she would be in control. Their hands would not be touching to inflict pain, but pleasure. There would be no fear, only anticipation. And if she was very lucky, they would help her cast aside the dreams of that night and replace them with new ones.

Sam carried her into a room and set her on the biggest bed she’d ever seen. It dominated the room, easily able to accommodate the four of them. The lights were dim, and she couldn’t take much in other than the bulk of the furniture around her.

“Whose room is this?” No way would she admit she’d peeked in this room before and fantasized about being in the bed.

“Mine,” Charlie said as he followed Dasan inside and shut the door. He walked over to his dresser and pulled a drawer open. Reaching inside, he pulled something free and tossed it on the bed beside her. Ropes.

She stroked her hand over them. Silk.

Something else landed on the bed, another piece of black silk. She picked it up and let it flow through her fingers.

“To blindfold you,” Dasan informed her.

She swallowed, but it wasn’t fear firing through her veins. It was lust, desire, need.

Tara stood up and untied her robe. She slowly pulled it open and let it slide from her shoulders, down her arms, to drop onto the floor. She ran her hands up her belly to grasp her breasts and lift them.

“Keep that up and we’ll have to wait for round two before using the ties,” Sam told her, his eyes eating her from head to toe.

“On the bed,” Charlie ordered.

She licked her lips and sat, using her hands to push herself to the middle of the bed. For the first time, she brought that night to her mind without fear consuming her.

“My hands were tied together, then tied to the bed frame.”

Dasan nodded, grabbed the rope and moved toward her. Holding her gaze, he bound her wrists tightly together. “Okay?” he asked, and she nodded. “Lay down for me.”

She reclined on the bed and held her arms up above her head without being prompted. She took a deep breath as he tied her to the bed. She tugged against the ropes. They were tight, secure, but didn’t cut into her skin.

Tara licked her lips. “My legs were pulled apart and tied. He…He wrapped the rope around my ankles and tied them to the bedposts.” Her heart was beating a little faster. Fear trying to creep in.

“Look at me,” Sam said. “We can stop right here if you want. Your arms are tied. Maybe we should take this slowly. Start with just your hands.”

“No,” Tara answered with a shake of her head. “I want to do this. I need to do this.” She wasn’t sure if she was telling them or reassuring herself.

Charlie moved to the end of the bed. One by one he lifted her feet, trailed kisses along her arches, then wrapped the rope around her ankles. When they were both secured to the bed, he sat beside her.

“Only pleasure this time,” he assured her. “Every touch meant to seduce.” His fingers trailed down her side, skimming the curve of her breast, the curve of her hip. He leaned closer, brushing his lips against her cheek, then ran his tongue up to her ear. “Pleasure, Tara. All for you.”

She moaned and undulated on the bed. He trailed his lips down along her jaw and back up to take her lips. Then he slid from the bed and stood next to Dasan and Sam. They began to strip for her. Clothes dropped to the floor, revealing hard masculine flesh that had her mouth watering. She wanted them, all of them

“Time for the blindfold,” Dasan said as he moved toward her.

The silk slid across her face, up over her eyes, and took her vision away. She had a moment of panic, a moment where she was slammed back into the past. She was panting for air. Fear taking her by the throat and choking off any sound that wanted to emerge from her throat.

“Stay with us.” Dasan’s voice broke through her paralysis. “Stay here. Remember where you are. Who we are.”

She nodded her head, still not able to form words.

“Tara?” She could hear the question in Charlie’s voice.

“I’m okay,” she panted. “I’m okay.”

“Take the fucking blindfold off,” Sam ordered.

“No.” A scream in her head that came out as a whisper. “No, I can do this. I just…I just got lost for a minute. Talk to me. Keep me here, now.”

“You amaze me,” Charlie said. “So strong. So brave.”

“Intelligent,” Dasan crooned.

“Every time I look at you, I want to pull you close. Touch you. Kiss you,” Sam added.

“Touch me,” she begged. “Kiss me.”

They reached for her, and every touch brought her back to the present. Their lips, their hands, the brush of their cocks against her skin reminded her of where she was and the men with her.

“Talk to me.”

A mouth took her nipple and sucked greedily on it. It was Dasan. She recognized the touch of his lips on her skin.

“Dasan,” she crooned his name. “I want to hold you close, to wrap my fingers in your hair.”

He moaned against her flesh and nipped her with his teeth.

“My turn to taste your sweet pussy,” Sam crooned. She felt him move between her thighs. His breath was a warm current of air over her. “I’m going to lick and suck you until you come all over my face.”

“Oh, God,” Tara moaned.

A hand rubbed over her other nipple. Small circles that grew smaller as her nipple tightened.

“So beautiful,” Charlie whispered. “So responsive to touch.” His fingers closed around the bud and pinched. “We’re going to take turns, Tara. Sucking, tasting, and fucking. We’re going to be gluttons where you’re concerned.”