Chapter 5

CHAPTER FIVE

Tru

A ri’s voice hit my ears again. I knew she was excited and speaking to me, but the delectable want was still coursing through my veins.

Panicking a bit, I focused on Ari’s face. I forced my eyes to take in her outfit because I needed some sort of small talk to fall into right now, or I could blow our cover.

“Look at you…” I pulled in a purposeful, deep breath. “You look like a Roman Goddess.”

Geez-us, when did she go from cute to sophisticatedly sexy? I was seriously off my game, and Ronin wasn’t helping. Wasn’t Ari more of an ‘I wear only pink and hold stuffies’ kind of girl? I didn’t know how I missed these crucial details about her.

Ronin grasped my hand. “Playtime, darling.”

“What?” He started tugging my hand, but I dug my feet in. “Wait. I need more information, hun.”

Quicker than I could form my next thought, Ronin pulled me in tight to his frame and grasped my chin so hard it hurt. Oh…I was so going to kick his ass for this.

“It’s. Time. To play.” The malice in his tone had me on full alert.

He’d spoken to suspects this way, but not me. I glared at him, wanting to do something to poke at him, but I couldn’t blow our cover.

He leaned in and kissed me so hard that my whole body shuddered. Ronin released my chin and gave me a wicked grin, forcing his dimples to pop out. “You’re confused. Perfect. Just where I need you to be. Let’s go.”

He led me through the rooms by my hand and wrist as I stumbled behind him. Ari giggled as she followed us. Entering the dining room, I saw what, or should I say, who was on display.

A gorgeous woman was lying across an oval-sized table large enough to entertain a king. Oversized lettuce leaves and food covered her naked body. She appeared to be sleeping, but another female was sitting at the head of the table, holding onto a leash attached to a collar around her neck.

The black-haired goddess was clearly in charge as she ran her fingers through the female’s long brown hair, cascading over the table’s edge and grazing the carpet below. The goddess bent over to whisper something in the woman’s ear. A serene smile graced her pretty face as she gave a slight nod to whatever the goddess had said.

Ronin pulled harder until we arrived in front of an empty Saint Andrew’s Cross. It was painted a shiny, ruby red with chains dangling from the tops of the X, around the middle, and at the bottom. Corbin stepped forward and flipped open a keypad on the wall directly behind the cross. He punched in a sequence of numbers, and the cross rose up on a solid red velvet pedestal. Then, a long metal bar lowered before the cross and stopped on the floor nestled next to the cuffs.

“Nice additions, Corbin,” Ronin said behind me. “A spreader bar always amps up the fun.”

Turning my head, I saw Ari tucked under Corbin’s arm with a huge, cheesy grin on her face. She leaned toward me. “Corbin has never shared this with anyone. You should be honored.”

Forcing a smile, I nodded and glanced back at the thing.

Geez-us…and I thought we’d trained enough for this. What was I thinking?

“Yep. I’m honored.”

Ari giggled again. “Don’t worry. I’ll stand on the other side and hold your hands the whole time.”

Great… “Okay. That would be fantastic.”

Ronin turned me around to face him and began to unhook my corset, which instantly made me nervous.

Did he forget that was also my bulletproof vest?

Faster than I liked, he let the corset fall to the floor. Next, he reached for the buttons and hook on the side of my skirt and unhooked them as well. Now, I was standing there in only my black panties and matching bra.

A soft blush hit his cheeks as he bent down on one knee. Gently grasping my right ankle, he lifted my foot onto his thigh and unbuckled the strap of my heel. Slowly, he slid off my first shoe and then repeated the process.

Standing, he took my right hand. “Step up, beautiful. I’ve got you.”

His other hand settled on the lower part of my back, guiding me. My belly was in knots, and my heart was hammering so hard in my chest that I was afraid I was going to give myself away.

As I stepped onto the platform, I glanced at Ari, who was now behind the cross.

“Lean forward, Tru.” I did as I was told. “Do you want your hands fastened by the high or middle cuffs?”

“She likes the middle cuffs,” Ronin said, and my body sagged with relief.

I had no idea how he knew that would’ve been my answer, but he did.

“Look here, Tru.” Ari grasped my wrist.

Her fingers were warm and soft-skinned as she guided my hand to the middle of the X-shape. The clang of the cuff’s chain made my body jolt, but the softness of the fur surrounding the three-inch wide black leather cuff was soothing. She turned my wrist until my palm was up and laid it in the middle of the black fur. Quickly cinching the leather binding tight, I loved the feel of the restraint. Not having a choice made me hyper-aware and almost giddy as I tried tamping down the fight-flight sensations screaming through my veins.

I had to make it look like I’d done this a million times, but for some reason, my sixth sense was telling me that Ari knew that was a bunch of bull.

“Step forward a bit more, Tru, and rest your chin right here on this soft, silicone part in the middle. That way, your mask will stay on, but you’ll still enjoy the rest.” Fighting my reluctance, I put my chin where she’d pointed. “May I have your other wrist, please?”

A soft, knowing grin crossed her face. My own body was giving me away. Dammit—but I handed her my wrist and tried to stop thinking. She quickly trussed it up like my first, and then I was really stuck.

Heat. A woodsy scent accompanied by a sudden rush of heat was behind me. Ronin.

“You may move, but only if the full front of your body stays in contact with the cross. Am I clear?”

“Yes,” I said.

“Yes, what?”

Fuck. “Yes. Sir.”

“That’s better.” Hands, warm hands landed on my bare shoulders and made their way down my body. “Do I have your consent to begin, Tru.”

“Yes.” Ronin cleared his throat. “Yes, Sir.”

“And do you have your safeword ready?”

“Yes, Sir.”

Geez-us…Ronin was a bit too good at this.

Ari’s fingers threaded through mine. “I’ve got you, Tru. Do you fall into subspace slowly, or is it more of a quick thing for you?”

Subspace…I knew the damn definition, but I had no idea what the answer was to Ari’s question.

“With this particular type of play…” Ronin began.

Thank god.

“I’m not sure. Tru usually drops fairly fast, but we’ll see if that holds since she’s not experienced this type of predicament, bondage on a cross. We’ve been purely spankos up until tonight.”

“Oh, that makes sense with why you seem so unsure, Tru. Why didn’t you say so?” Ari said with a genuine smile.

“Well, I didn’t know you were going to be here.”

Ari giggled, a fake-as-hell giggle. Okay, that was a new emotion from her. She’d been so real with me up until now. “That totally tracks.” Ari pulled my wrists forward as if to hold me in place. “And I’m sure you’re going to love it.”