heart kicked in her chest and her mouth went dry. Slowly, she rose from the couch and worked free the loosened knot on her bathrobe. With an easy shrug, the fabric slipped off her shoulders and pooled at her feet.
Franco surveyed her from head to toe, his expression pleased. “Very good. Do not resist my orders, because you want this even more than I do.”
God help her, she did. She wanted to know what that rope felt like across her naked skin. It looked so smooth, and the way he stroked it between his tanned fingers was incredibly arousing. He slid it back and forth in an erotic rhythm, the tight weave not even the least bit frayed. Perhaps she could fully let herself go if she knew the rope would contain her.
He nodded once, as if satisfied. “Spread your legs.”
She moved her feet a few inches apart.
“More,” he barked, and she jumped to obey.
“Very good.” He trailed the rope over her shoulder and down her arm. “Feel the power in the rope. It’s dormant now, but touching your body will wake it up until it’s a living, breathing thing.”
“Like the candle,” she whispered, seeking it out again. The flame seemed to wink at her, and for a moment, she saw another face, another man smiling at her, pure light in his eyes.
The vision dispersed when Franco took hold of her left arm and then her right, pulling them behind her until they met at the small of her back. He slid the rope over the sensitive skin of her wrists, wrapping the cord around and teasing back and forth. Every muscle in her body grew taut, clenching.
There was a sharp tugging, and she bit back a moan as he cinched her wrists together. She struggled against it, but the knot held firm, not yielding an inch.
“Do you want more?”
Gen didn’t know, but she wasn’t about to back out now. Gaze locked on the candle, she nodded.
“Are you wet?”
“Yes.” His commanding presence did nothing for her, but the feel of the rope and the flickering candle light had aroused her body. With a start, she realized it was the teasing she enjoyed, the anticipation.
He brushed the ends of the rope over the swells of her ass and her sex clenched. Instead of moving the rope down as she half hoped he would, he doubled the line and wrapped it around her waist, not tightly like a belt but more like an embrace, like a lover circling his arms around her.
Eyelids at half-mast, she watched Franco angle the rope to just above her hips with enough play to move her hands away from her back a few inches. Restrained, yet not entirely immobilized.
Once her binding was in place, he rose to his full height, purposefully trailing the ends of the rope over her pubic hair. His every move held intent, meant to provoke an erotic response, and Gen appreciated his adept skill. The same way she would enjoy a fine work of art displayed in a museum or a night at the symphony. From a distance.
Fingers gliding over the smooth rope as though masturbating it, Franco watched her. “You want to feel the rope caress your sex, don’t you?”
She licked her lips and nodded.
Crouching before her, he skillfully measured out the exact amount. Then, eyes fixed on her face, he tied a knot in the length with an abrupt tug. A whimper escaped her and he smiled, obviously pleased by her response.
Slowly, he eased the rope between her legs. The knot brushed against her engorged clit and her channel clenched. Her knees felt rubbery, as though they would give out at any moment. Franco maneuvered the smooth length through the tender folds of her labia, so every part of her could experience the unusual and delicious touch.
The glide of the fibers through her sopping wet sex created a delicious friction. Her lube coated the rope, easing its way. The knot pressed against the bud at the top of her cleft. Her chest rose and fell in time with her rapid breaths, her heartbeat thundering in her ears.
“Do you feel it? The power the rope wields over you? The power I have over you?” As though