foot to the floor. She groaned as he applied the restraint to her ankle and hooked it to the bottom side of the couch. Then he went to work on her other leg, tossing it over his left shoulder. Again he teased her, licking a trail from her calf to the inside of her left thigh but stopping before he got to where she needed him most. When he secured her right leg to the couch, he got to his feet and folded his arms over his chest.
She yanked her arms and legs against the restraints. They didn’t give an inch.
She was trapped, unable to escape.
Trapped like when they’d arrested her for her father’s death.
Trapped like the night in the woods on her sixteenth birthday.
Her heart pounded viciously. Tiny stars flashed in her vision, and darkness seeped in from the edges.
Jaxon’s concerned face came into view. “Katerina? Damn it, I’m going to undo the restraints.” He reached for her wrist.
She clenched her fists and shook her head. “No. I can do this. I want to do this.” If she gave up now, her fear would get the best of her. She didn’t want to be weak anymore. Maybe if she could break through this wall she’d erected, she could finally be free of the panic attacks. “Please. Help me get through it.”
“Keep your eyes open and concentrate on me. On my voice. My touch.” He slid to his knees and returned to his spot between her legs. “You’re so very beautiful.”
The room grew hazy, but she refused to give in to the panic. In between pressing kisses up her leg, Jax continued to speak to her in soft, soothing tones, praising her body and her submission.
She fought against the anxiety, breathing deeply and listening to Jax’s voice. It wasn’t enough. She was going to faint. Gunshot.
He sank his teeth into her thigh’s flesh and didn’t let go.
Every sound, every smell, every sensation disappeared except for the searing pain of his bite. She yanked at her restraints, but she couldn’t escape it.
He moved to her other thigh and did it again.
She screamed.
Then moaned.
The panic receded, leaving pure arousal in its wake. Her heart still raced, and she found it difficult to fill her lungs with air. The pain of his teeth clamped to her skin had pushed her fear over the cliff and buried it beneath a raging sea. Now there was only throbbing pain and scorching heat. Thick desire coursed through her blood. Her clitoris pulsed, and the walls of her pussy quivered, begging for Jax’s cock to possess it.
“I want you, Jax.”
As if he hadn’t heard her, he removed his teeth from her flesh and crossed the room to the armoire. She couldn’t see what he was doing, but she heard what sounded like a drawer opening and closing.
A moment later he was back. In his hands was a flogger. “You respond well to pain. I think you’ll enjoy a flogging, but . . .” He produced a small tube and crouched next to her. “If this gets too intense, let me know.”
He dabbed some gel onto his finger and rubbed it onto her clit. At first she enjoyed the pleasant sensation of his touch. Then heat bloomed, and the more he rubbed, the hotter her clitoris grew. She arched into his touch as far as the restraints would allow.
“I’m guessing you like it.” He laughed and, sadly, removed his finger. “This particular flogger doesn’t deliver much of a sting, but I want you to use your safe word if you need to. Do you understand?”
“Yes, Jax.”
She’d read about floggers and had checked them out online. While sometimes they were lumped into the same category as whips, they were actually quite different. The sensations the flogger elicited depended on its material, length, width, and number of its strands.
He settled on top of the couch between her feet, resting on his knees. His flogger was about the size of his forearm. Their gazes locked, and she was unable to look away. It was as if her body lay on a precipice, waiting for him to push her over. She held her breath in anticipation.
He dragged the falls