The Bracelet Page 10

  ‘Please, don’t stop,’ said Kristina. ‘I liked it.’

  ‘But I was bored,’ he said quietly. ‘Perhaps later I’ll use it again. For now I want to try something different.’

  A few seconds later his hands were roaming over her buttocks and she felt him spreading a cool gel there. Next he parted them and eased a little gel round her rear opening before moving round to the front of her suspended, tightly stretched body.

  Just as he began to spread the gel over her belly and inner thighs she felt a glow start to spread through her buttocks and her rectum twitched with the heat, a heat that made her long for something else, something to assuage the deep need the gel was creating. She twisted her body from side to side and heard Tarquin give a soft laugh.

  ‘I know, I know, you want me to touch you there, but first I must spread it here. And perhaps a little lower?’ He hesitated at the tops of her inner thighs, but when she didn’t answer he spread it there as well so that by the time he’d finished she felt literally on fire with desire and her flesh was warm and swollen.

  She realised that he must have knelt in front of her, because next he parted her outer sex lips and then his tongue was gliding up and down her damp inner channel, swirling and teasing at the needy flesh without ever actually touching the swollen clitoris.

  The pulse drummed harder inside her and her whole body tensed. ‘I’m coming!’ she screamed, only to have him remove his tongue and allow her sex lips to close. ‘Not yet I think,’ he said calmly.

  ‘I want to come now!’ she shouted, as her body continued to swell and pulsate.

  ‘But I wish you to wait. I have another surprise for you. Listen, do you recognise this?’ And as she twisted and turned helplessly on the end of the chain she heard her own voice, recorded at their last session and listened despairingly to her cries of ecstasy as she climaxed on the chaise longue. The sound of her past rapture added even more to her present state of sexual tension and it was as though every nerve-ending in her body was screaming for relief from the unendurable pressure.

  Then the sounds of her last orgasm ceased, to be replaced by a soft buzzing that she recognised as coming from a vibrator. It was now that she fully appreciated the increase in tension from being blindfolded, as she waited taut with expectation for the first touch of the sex toy.

  She was prepared for it to touch her in many places, but not the place that Tarquin chose. He ran it slowly on its lowest speed down beneath her arms, where the tendons were tight due to her arms being suspended above her. The gentle tingling sensation increased as he dipped the head of the vibrator into her armpit and she started to gasp. He laid a finger across her mouth, and she sucked greedily at it, drawing it inside her lips and running her tongue across the tip until he finally withdrew it.

  Now the vibrator moved down the side of her body, but at the inward curve of her waist he ran it in tiny circles across the width of her stomach and her internal muscles shivered and writhed as the remorseless drumming of her hidden pulse continued.

  Tarquin put a little oil on her inner thighs and then increased the speed of the vibrator before running it around the tops of both her inner and outer thighs until at last he allowed it to pulsate around the pubic area.

  Kristina was poised on the brink of her climax now, every sinew in her body ready for the cataclysmic explosion that she knew would suffuse her, but somehow Tarquin managed to keep changing speed, area or rhythm at just that vital moment so that she remained suspended on the final pinnacle before the descent into ecstasy.

  He ran the vibrator slowly to and fro between her vagina and rectum until she was squirming so much on her chain that he couldn’t keep it where he wanted and knew that he was in danger of allowing her to come. With a soft sigh of regret he moved back to her pubic mound and with the fingers of his left hand carefully parted the lips of her vulva.

  Kristina was so aroused that she was wet with her own secretions. Despite this he decided to use a little jelly on the tip of the vibrator and then, after circling it around the entrance for a few seconds, he thrust it deep inside her and vibrated all around her cervix.

  No one had ever stimulated her there before and she screamed with the intense pleasure of it, then thrust her hips frantically forward as she fought desperately for the final touch that would send her over the edge and release her despairing body.

  Tarquin knew that very soon now she’d spasm helplessly. He’d never managed to keep a woman balanced right on the edge for so long before and his own excitement was almost unbearable. Turning off the vibrator he moved behind Kristina and bent his mouth to her ear.

  ‘I want to take you from behind,’ he whispered. ‘I want to release you, and then you’ll kneel on the floor with your arms bent and forehead resting on the rug so that I can plunge into you, into the place where I’ve been using the vibrator. Would you like that? Would that make you come?’

  ‘Oh please, yes!’ shouted Kristina, the image vivid in her mind.

  ‘Then beg me,’ he murmured. ‘Plead with me to release you and take you like that.’

  Kristina had never begged a man for anything in her life, and when she opened her mouth to obey she found that the words wouldn’t come out. Despite her body’s frantic need and the unendurable ache of frustration she simply couldn’t say it and she gave a small cry of anguish.

  Tarquin had known that this would be hard, but he didn’t intend to change the game. This was what he most wanted from her today, total surrender to him and a deeper understanding of exactly the kind of games he liked. Without another word he began to massage her buttocks and now and again he’d allow an oiled finger to slip inside her anus and lightly touch the thin walls of her rectum, causing yet more sparks to ignite in her belly. He increased the pleasure, had her twisting and crying out with excitement, but never once did he make the mistake of giving her enough stimulation to allow her to come.

  Suddenly, when his fingers were playing gently with her yet again and she felt the tip of one of them start its diabolically knowing intrusion the final barrier that stood between her and her satisfaction was broken.

  ‘Please, Tarquin, I can’t stand it any more. Please, let me down and take me from behind. I want you inside me. I want to come. I’ll say anything you want, but let me come.’

  ‘You’ve said enough,’ he assured her, and his hands swiftly unclipped the chain from the loop, but he didn’t remove her mask. He simply lifted her off the stool, placing her on the rug in the way he’d described. Then, catching hold of her hips, he pulled her back hard against him so that he plunged deep inside her vagina, and because he was so massive he was able to stimulate her cervix in the same way as the vibrator had stimulated it. At the same time he reached round her; his searching fingers located her clitoris, already slippery with excitement, and he drummed softly against its side.

  For Kristina the increase in intensity of all the sensations was so great that she could hardly contain herself, and within a few seconds her frantic body was convulsing around him as bright white lights exploded behind her covered eyelids and thousands of piercing shards of pleasure tore through every part of her.

  She heard herself crying, ‘No! No!’ but she had no idea why she was saying no when what she meant was yes, unless it was because the pleasure was almost too great to bear.

  Tarquin felt her internal muscles tightening around him as her orgasm racked her and this triggered his own release so that at last he too was able to relax his control and he heard his gutteral moans mingle with her cries of delight.

  Kristina thought that her final spasms would never end, and long after Tarquin had finished her flesh was still pulsating with tiny tremors. Feeling this, Tarquin resumed his light caressing of her clitoral area, although he avoided the highly sensitive clitoris now that she’d finally come. As he massaged it, it felt to Kristina as though a small ember in her lower belly had re-ignited and with a scream of delight she came once more, less intensely, but this time when it was over
her body was still and they both knew that she was totally satisfied.

  For a moment Tarquin remained slumped over her back, both their bodies damp with perspiration, but then he withdrew, removed her blindfold and helped her to her feet.

  Dazed by the incredible pleasure, dazzled by the sudden light, Kristina looked up at him and saw that his head was tilted to one side as he studied her with what was almost admiration for a second, but then the look was gone and his face was again sombre.

  ‘I’m glad you were able to make this meeting,’ he said politely. ‘These spur-of-the-moment sessions are often the best. I expect you have to return home now so I’ll leave you. Lydia will call you a taxi when you’re ready to go.’

  ‘Wait!’ called Kristina.

  He turned in surprise.

  ‘You haven’t uncuffed me, and I still have the bracelet.’

  He frowned. ‘I apologise. I have a pressing appointment and was worried about the time.’ Quickly he removed the cuffs and then slipped the slim gold bracelet off her left wrist. ‘Do you live alone?’ he asked abruptly.

  ‘Not yet, but very soon I will be.’

  He nodded. ‘That will be more convenient for us both I imagine. Until next time then?’

  ‘Yes, until next time.’ She remembered that she was no longer wearing the bracelet. ‘I was wondering if we might go out somewhere one evening. I’d wear the bracelet of course.’

  To her delight his face lit up and he smiled at her. ‘What a wonderful idea. I must choose very carefully where we go. I have to say,’ he added as he reached the door, ‘that this time I seem to have made a very good choice. I trust you feel the same?’

  ‘Yes,’ she said, careful to keep her voice casual. ‘Yes, I rather think I do.’

  As the next day was Saturday, Kristina and Ben had a lie-in and then breakfasted together. Kristina felt exhausted from the tension and excitement of the previous afternoon, and had spent most of the night awake, wondering how she was going to break the news to Ben that their relationship was over.

  As she reached across the table for a piece of toast he caught hold of her hand and pushed back the sleeve of her kimono. ‘What on earth is that mark round your wrist?’ he asked.

  Kristina glanced down and saw that there was a red circle round her wrist from where she’d been handcuffed. Immediately she pictured herself wearing the cuffs, arms extended high above her head as she waited naked and trembling for Tarquin to give her pleasure, and she shivered.

  ‘Well?’ demanded Ben.

  Kristina shrugged. ‘I don’t know. I must have slept on it.’

  ‘Show me the other one,’ he demanded.

  Kristina frowned. ‘What’s the matter with you this morning? Can’t you even have a meal without making a scene? Last night was bad enough.’

  ‘I was annoyed last night because I’d tried to ring you at the office at half-four and Sue said you’d gone home. When I rang here there was no answer and you finally strolled in at seven saying you’d worked late. I think most men would be annoyed.’

  Kristina stared at him. ‘All right then, here’s the other wrist. Take a good look.’ She pushed back her other sleeve and Ben stared at the sight of another light red ring around her slender bones.

  ‘What the hell have you been doing?’ he said furiously. ‘Where were you yesterday, and more to the point who were you with?’

  ‘I was with a man,’ she said calmly.

  All the colour drained from Ben’s face. ‘You mean, some guy did that to you?’

  ‘Yes.’

  ‘And you haven’t told anyone?’

  Kristina smiled to herself. ‘Not until now; you’re the first to know!’

  ‘But what happened? Did you know him or was he some stranger you …’ Words failed him as he stared at her in amazement.

  ‘I know him,’ Kristina stated calmly. ‘He and I are lovers.’

  ‘Lovers?’ It was clear that Ben couldn’t believe what he was hearing, and Kristina couldn’t blame him. She knew there must be better ways than this of telling him but somehow the conversation had taken on a life of its own and now all she wanted to do was get it over with.

  ‘Yes, lovers. I’m really sorry, Ben. I was going to tell you today in any case. I’ve only been involved for the past couple of weeks, but I realised yesterday that it was something special. It’s my fault, not yours. I’ve changed. I need something different from a relationship.’

  ‘Are you saying that you want to be tied up? That you’re into bondage and kinky sex, because if you are then you certainly have changed. You wouldn’t even play out a bondage fantasy when I asked you to.’

  ‘It isn’t just bondage,’ she said sharply. ‘It’s a totally different relationship from the one we have, and I prefer it.’

  ‘You mean you’re dumping me? Like Jackie dumped William?’

  ‘I don’t know why Jackie and William split up, and I hardly think dumping is the right term. We’ve come to the end of the road, Ben. You must know that. Things haven’t been all that good between us for ages now. There’s no spark, no excitement any more.’

  ‘I’ll tie you up if that’s what you want,’ said Ben, suddenly brightening. ‘I’ll do anything you like, Kristina. Just tell me what you need and I’ll give it to you.’

  ‘That’s the whole point, Ben. I don’t want to have to tell you. I want a man who knows instinctively what I want.’

  ‘That’s a lie!’ shouted Ben, colour flooding back into his face. ‘You hate being told what to do, in bed or out of it. You’ve banged on about equality and women’s rights ever since I’ve known you, and I respected that. I’ve always thought of us as equals, and now you’re telling me you want some chauvinist who ties you up and does heaven knows what to you. What’s happened to the independent Kristina who once boasted that she’d never been used by a man, but had certainly used them herself?’

  ‘I’m sorry, Ben, really I am. I can’t explain it, and this new man isn’t going to move in with me or anything like that. It isn’t that kind of a relationship. I think I need to live alone again and think carefully about what I want from life.’

  ‘What about me?’ demanded Ben. ‘Don’t I have any say in this? I thought we were going to get married in a year or two, maybe have some children in time. That’s what grown-up people do, you know.’

  ‘It isn’t what I want to do, and as it’s clear that it’s something you want to do then I think it’s lucky we’re finishing our relationship now. There are lots of women out there who’d give their right arm for a man like you, Ben. Pretty, intelligent women who’ll make you much happier than I can.’

  Ben jumped to his feet. ‘Don’t you dare patronise me! It’s you I’m in love with. I don’t want anyone else. You make it sound like choosing a doll, not a partner for life. “Lots of pretty women”. If anything’s sexist, that is. There are lots of plain ones too; perhaps they’d make me happy, or does the new, non-feminist you think men should only like blonde air-heads?’

  ‘Stop it!’ said Kristina, her voice rising as Ben got more annoyed. ‘Okay, I put it badly, but you know what I mean. We aren’t right for each other any more, Ben.’

  ‘You’re right for me.’

  ‘Well, you’re not right for me and I’d like you to move out within the next week,’ she snapped.

  Suddenly Ben sank back into his chair. ‘You really do mean it, don’t you? You’re ending it, without giving me any chance to change or time for us to try and work it through?’

  ‘Yes,’ she said wearily. ‘I’m ending it now because I don’t want to work at it any more. You may not realise it but I have tried. I’ve been trying for months now; trying to make it more than it is, trying to convince myself that this was what I wanted, but I was wrong. I don’t want this, I want something different.’

  ‘A bondage freak!’ sneered Ben.

  ‘You don’t understand any of it,’ said Kristina softly. ‘To be honest, I don’t understand it myself but that’s my problem. I�
��m sorry about hurting you, and sorry it didn’t work out, but I can’t go back to being the person I was. I’ll go out for the rest of the day. There’s plenty I can get on with at the office. That will give you a chance to think about what you’re going to do and where you can go. I’ll come back about six. If you don’t want to see me you’d better go out with some of your friends. I’d like you to move into the spare room until you go. I’m sure you’d prefer that too, under the circumstances.’

  ‘I suppose you’re really going to spend the day with him,’ muttered Ben.

  ‘No, I’m going to work. You can ring me there any time if you need to talk to me. I don’t see this new man very often, Ben.’

  ‘I just don’t understand it,’ he repeated helplessly. ‘I thought I was everything you wanted.’

  ‘So did I,’ said Kristina sadly. ‘And for a time you were, but that time’s passed and now I need something different.’

  ‘Just go then,’ muttered Ben. ‘I’ll move my stuff into the other room and ring round some of my friends. I’m sure one of them can put me up for a short time, until I can get a place of my own. But I tell you this, Kristina, I’m not going to trust another woman again for a very long time. I believed in you, in all you said and did, and now I find I don’t really know you at all.’

  ‘I don’t think I know myself any more,’ she said quietly.

  ‘Then how do you know you’ll be any happier with me gone?’

  ‘I don’t, but I have to try,’ she said, and then she went and got ready for the office, leaving Ben sitting with his head in his hands.

  The office was strange without Sue or any of the other girls there, and although Kristina had plenty to do she found it difficult to concentrate. For the first couple of hours she drew up contracts, inserting her own clauses into the standard publishing house templates, and then chased up two film options that were pending for Lucretia. Even as she wrote the emails she wondered how on earth they’d ever cast the stories. All the characters were so extreme it would be pretty difficult, but then she thought of Tarquin and Laurence and realised that there were plenty of genuinely extreme people around once you knew where to look. It crossed her mind that Lucretia would probably enjoy wearing the bracelet of bondage.