The Pleasures of Summer (28 page)

Flynn came back in, pulling off his boots at the door. ‘Ready?’ he asked, his eyes intent on her.

‘I don’t think this is a good idea,’ she said, proud that her voice was steady.

‘I was thinking we might start with a bit of bondage.’ Flynn held up a length of rope.

Her stomach lurched. Bondage! She had a vision of herself tied to the bed upstairs, naked and spread-eagled. She’d be completely exposed to Flynn. She hadn’t waxed or shaved since her trip to the salon the day before they left. Oh no, she couldn’t do that. She’d be mortified. And what if her nose itched? She would be driven mad trying to scratch it. No, no, she didn’t want to do this.

Flynn must have caught her apprehensive glance at the ladder. He laughed. ‘Relax; I’m not planning anything terrible. I’ve only got one length of rope.’ He held it up for her inspection.

Summer relaxed slightly. It was neatly coiled and tied, but it wasn’t that long. Probably not long enough to tie her to the four corners of the big bed. ‘What had you in mind?’

‘I’m just going to tie your wrists. You can watch.’

‘That’s all?’ It didn’t sound too bad.

‘That’s it. And maybe blindfold you afterwards. No more than that. Can you cope?’

Before she could talk herself out of it, Summer nodded. This was a chance to try something she had always wondered about. She’d be a fool not to take it.

‘Your safe word is red,’ he told her.

Safe word. Oh my god, she had a safe word. She trembled, not sure if it was fear or excitement.

‘Hold out your wrists,’ he told her. She did it without arguing, telling herself it was mere curiosity that was propelling her. Flynn untwisted his coil of rope, letting it fall on the floor. To her surprise, instead of taking up one end, he took the bent-over middle part and looped it around her wrists a couple of times. It was loose on her and she relaxed. This was going to be a token bondage exercise. She’d get the feeling of the rope on her skin, but she’d be able to get free at any time.

He checked the loops were straight so that there were no twists against her skin and then looped the free end around the strands of rope between her wrists. It tightened up, going from loose to snug fitting.

‘See if you can get free,’ Flynn told her.

She wiggled and pulled. The bonds weren’t tight enough to affect her circulation and weren’t uncomfortable, but they were businesslike and efficient. She was tied up.

‘What now?’ she asked. She was trying to stay nonchalant, as if something primal hadn’t stirred when she realized she wasn’t going to be able to wiggle out of the rope. She was perfectly safe, he was her bodyguard, and he wouldn’t hurt her. And she could still scratch her nose. It wasn’t itching, but she rubbed it, just to assure herself that she could.

‘I’m going to put a light blindfold on you. Come down here on the floor, it may affect your balance.’

Obediently, she stood and then got down onto her hunkers. Without her hands, it was more difficult than she had expected and she landed on her bottom with a bump. Flynn settled himself behind her.

‘Here’s the blindfold,’ he said and held out a white piece
of material. It was so ordinary, so prosaic, compared to the sinister black hood she had feared, that she giggled. This would be okay.

‘Okay. Do your worst.’

‘Oh no, I’m going to do my best.’ He folded the cloth and tied it around her head, taking care to make sure none of her hair was caught in the knot.

Summer’s world plunged into darkness. She could make out only a faint glimmer of white and found it easier to close her eyes. Her breathing faltered.

‘Good girl, take it easy. Breath with me,’ Flynn murmured. His arms were around her, holding her, and she was intensely conscious of his warmth and distinctive scent surrounding her. There was a faint trace of mint. He must have brushed his teeth while he was outside.

‘Breathe, breathe,’ he told her. She obeyed, allowing herself to relax against him. Her world was reduced to Flynn breathing.

Something rough passed over her face. It wasn’t Flynn’s hand. She jerked.

‘Easy, that’s the rope.’ Flynn pulled her back against him. The position felt decadent; she was stretched out in front of the fire and surrounded by Flynn, but she was off-balance. The rope moved down from her face to her neck.

She caught her breath. She hadn’t realized how vulnerable she would feel like this.
It’s Flynn, he won’t hurt me.
His hand traced the curve of her cheek, causing her to lean into his caress. She wanted to purr at the feeling, even while his other arm pulled her sideways so that she was more unbalanced.

The rope moved again, this time across her breasts. She gasped. The sensation was unexpected. A quick jerk and she tipped over, to be caught by Flynn, but now she had no idea where she was. Still on the floor, still in front of the fire, she knew that, but now she wasn’t sure which way she was facing.

It was stupid, such a little thing, but it made her feel helpless. ‘Flynn.’ She wasn’t sure what she wanted to say, and was shocked at how thin and breathless her voice sounded.

‘Shhh. Just go with it.’ He brushed the bare skin of her stomach with the end of the rope. Summer jerked. She hadn’t even realized her T-shirt had ridden up.

She was taken by surprise when her arms moved. Flynn was pulling the rope around her wrists, pulling it over her head. His muscles flexed around her as he tied it off, leaving her stretched out before him. She moaned, not sure if she was aroused or scared. Or both.

‘All right?’

She nodded, not wanting to find the words to explain how she was feeling.

Flynn tipped her head back, stretching her neck, and kissed her. The brush of his mouth was gentle and tantalizing, but it was devastating. Knowing that she couldn’t refuse it, that she was completely at his mercy, unleashed something inside her.

If she didn’t think in words, she wouldn’t say the word ‘red’ by accident, she decided, and gave herself up to the delicate exploration of his tongue. She didn’t try to control him, just allowed him to do what he wanted.

She surrendered to the experience, vaguely aware that
her breath had shortened to pants and that moisture had pooled between her thighs.

Flynn gave a murmur of approval and traced a line of fire down her throat. He stroked a caress down the slope of her breast and over her nipple. She sucked in a breath. It had never felt like that before.

She heard his choked half-laugh. ‘I can’t resist,’ he said. Then he pulled down her top and unclipped her bra. The air of the cottage was cool until his hot mouth took her by surprise. He licked and nuzzled at her nipple before he took it into his mouth and nibbled gently on it.

‘Ah!’ Summer’s back arched. She had been half-propped against Flynn, though she wasn’t sure if it was his thigh or arm, but she didn’t care. She twisted, trying to get more of that contact.

‘You have the most exquisitely responsive nipples I’ve ever seen.’ Flynn pinched the other one, gauging the pressure so that she was left breathless. Her stomach had coiled into a painful knot which reminded her of that night when he had refused to allow her to come.

‘Flynn?’ She didn’t know how to ask the question, but the thought that he might leave her trembling and needy was horrifying.

‘Yes baby, it’s okay, this is for you.’ He continued to torment her nipples by pinching them while he nibbled his way up her neck to the lobe of her ear.

She twisted, trying to get more of the sensation. She was so close, so close. Her hips moved restlessly while she pressed her thighs together, trying both to bring more pressure to bear on her aching clit and hide the wetness between them.

‘Naughty,’ Flynn murmured. The next moment, the rope was looped around her right knee, pulling up and out.

She gasped. In this position, even though she was still wearing all of her clothes, she felt utterly open and exposed. And more aroused than she could ever remember being in her life before.

‘No secrets, remember? What do you feel?’

She couldn’t speak. All the air had left her lungs.

‘Tell me. What do you feel?’ Flynn’s hand stroked her thigh, the edge of his nails making a delicious contrast to his questing fingertips. Summer wondered what it would be like to feel his mouth there, biting her.

He stroked the centre of her shorts; just enough to provide a tantalizing brush against her aching clit. She couldn’t resist lifting her hips, offering herself to his teasing fingers. They moved away.

Oh yes, he wanted her to say something. What was the word? ‘Aroused,’ she managed.

‘Good girl. Do you want to come?’

She nodded frantically. Was he even looking at her? ‘Please,’ she begged.

The rope slipped down and then she felt it tight against the seam of her shorts. The pressure was maddening. Flynn tipped her head back and kissed her deeply, possessively, while one hand pinched her excruciatingly sensitive nipple. She arched her back, giving herself up to his demands just as the rope tightened, bringing the perfect pressure on her clit.

It was too much. She exploded into orgasm, crying out as she twisted against the rope and into the caress Flynn lavished on her. For endless heartbeats, she forgot how to
breathe, able only to ride the pulses shaking her body until she was left gasping and limp.

When she was able to think again, she was surprised to find herself still on the floor, still blindfolded and with her wrists tied. She felt as if she had been scattered over the Scottish sky.

‘Good girl,’ Flynn murmured and pulled off the blindfold. The sudden brightness made her blink and turn her face into his shirt. She was sprawled with her head in the crook of his arm as he lay in front of the fire. He was still fully dressed. It was too much effort to try to get untied; she would leave that to him.

He gave her a quick kiss. ‘You’re a natural. Just wait until you see what I have planned for tomorrow.’

Flynn stroked an errant strand of hair back from Summer’s face, then stopped. That was dangerously close to a caress and he couldn’t afford to get attached to his principal. Last night’s encounter had already broken enough rules.

He might not have actually given in to his urge to bury his cock in her warmth, but he had come far too close. This business of holing up in his old croft to teach Ms O’Sullivan a lesson wasn’t working out the way he had planned. Instead of taking the society princess down several notches, he was seeing her in a whole new light. One that made him uncomfortable and cranky.

Summer stirred, turning her head into his hand, like a cat begging to be petted. She gave a protesting murmur when he snatched his hand away.

She was the principal. His job was to protect her, and perhaps further her education a little. Not to have an affair with her. He knew what happened when bodyguards had affairs with principals. Dead bodies. He was not going to do that to Summer.

Even if she wasn’t as spoilt as he had believed, they moved in different worlds, and always would.

Without his warmth to cuddle against, Summer burrowed down into the bed and pulled the sheet up over her head. ‘Wake me when breakfast is served,’ she muttered into the pillow.

Who was he kidding? She was a spoilt brat, used to being waited on hand and foot, and to getting her own way. Well, not with him.

Flynn pulled the covers off her. ‘Rise and shine. Time for you to make my breakfast.’ His voice caught when he saw how her teeny excuse for panties had ridden up during the night. Her buttocks were on display, and from the back, she might as well have been naked. He swallowed.

Summer didn’t notice his reaction. She was too busy shrieking at him and trying to grab the sheet out of his hand. ‘Give those back. It can’t possibly be time to get up.’

‘I’m hungry, and it’s your duty to feed me. So up you get.’ He jumped off the bed, taking all the bedclothes with him.

She sat up on the bare bed, twisting her nightclothes into some semblance of decency and glaring at him. ‘If you knew all the horrible things I’m planning to do to you, you’d be running away, not standing there smirking,’ she told him.

‘Yeah, yeah. Talk is cheap. I want scrambled eggs and porridge for my breakfast this morning.’

Flynn was pretty sure that she would have ignored his command, but with no bedclothes, there was no point in Summer insisting on her right to stay in bed. She clambered down the ladder, muttering under her breath about ‘Arrogant Scottish bollixes.’

By the time breakfast was over, Summer was in a slightly better temper. He was glad that she no longer obsessed about her lack of make-up and hair products and had pulled her hair back into a curly ponytail. That reminded him of something that had been nagging him.

‘When you said you were afraid of the dark, you weren’t lying, were you?’

She swallowed. ‘No.’

‘How bad is it?’

‘The blindfold wasn’t too bad, because there was a bit of light coming through it. But if it’s really dark, or there is something solid over me, I’ll freak.’

She picked up her empty coffee cup and seemed surprised to find there was nothing in it. She put it down again before she continued. ‘When I was in college, I was out hiking with friends and we got caught in a downpour. They dashed into a little narrow cave. I couldn’t make myself go in with them. I stood out in the rain for over an hour.’