Breck eased, exhaling. He actually loved that artist. Alternative R&B with killer synths and reverbed vocals like an earthbound god. If Breck couldn’t be a basketball star, he’d want to be Teflon Sega. He nodded. “Yeah, Teflon’s cool.”
“I’ll put on a playlist.” Chill tunes rose up and filled the room.
Kai moved to light an incense stick next. Its scent wafted past Breck’s nose. He inhaled its slightly sweet aroma. Woodsy, yet warm and buttery. He relaxed even further. Damn, he liked that stuff. He liked it a lot.
Kai headed back over. “I presume you don’t have any physical conditions?”
Breck shook his head.
“Good. Ready to begin?”
Breck’s heart thumped. “As ready as I’ll ever be.”
Kai regarded him for a second, then gave a nod. “I’m doing a floor tie. You’ll be standing for the first half. Grasp your forearms behind your back.”
Here we go.
Breck couldn’t believe he was doing this.
He reached around back and grabbed hold of his arms.
Kai moved behind him. “Gonna start with a takate-kote, so the first thing I’ll be doing is binding your wrists.” He was standing so close. Breck could feel his breath, like warm phantom kisses along his skin.
“A takate-kote,” Breck rasped. “What exactly is that?”
“An upper and lower arm box tie.” He touched Breck’s triceps to illustrate. “Takate.” Then his forearm. “Kote.”
“Ah.”
Breck detected the sounds of fibrous cords rubbing together. Kai must be unwrapping a bundle of rope. A heartbeat later, said rope was winding around his wrists. A fluid collaboration between fingers and hemp. Three trips around his forearms, then two brisk little tugs as Kai fastened a knot. His upper arms came next. Kai bound them snuggly.
“How’s that feel?”
Breck tested his restraints. Completely secure. He swallowed warily. In the span of sixty seconds, he’d been rendered defenseless. “Um… It’s fine.”
“Not too tight?”
Breck shook his head.
Kai’s hands settled atop his shoulders. “Do you trust me?” he murmured.
Good question.
Breck contemplated the answer. Did he trust him? “Evidently.”
Kai chuckled. “Then breathe.”
Breck drew in deep… and exhaled slowly. His body eased again.
“Good.” Kai sounded pleased. “I’m an artist, Breck, not a sadist. I like to embellish.”
“Embellish,” Breck repeated dryly.
“Turn my models into art.” He rumbled softly. “And you’re the perfect canvas.”
Breck stilled at his words. Could feel the weight of his heady stare. Like a sultry summer breeze coursing down his back.
Oh, God. His dick was getting harder.
He shifted his shoulders and clutched his forearms tight.
Kai got back to work. Brief little tugs as he constructed the next section. Then what felt like a stretch of knots pressed from Breck’s wrists up to his nape. What was Kai doing? Breck wished he had eyes in the back of his head.
Kai moved around front and draped a rope over each of Breck’s shoulders.
Breck peered at them. “You’re using two ropes?”
Kai shook his head, tying them together just beneath Breck’s collarbone. “Just one, but folded in half, giving me two parts to work with.”
“Ah.” Breck watched his fingers moving, creating another length of knots. Kai’s warm knuckles brushed his pecs. Then his sternum. Then the flesh along his abs, each muscle flexing in response. A titillating, feather-light sensation that spread directly to his groin. By the time Kai reached his navel, Breck’s dick was totally erect.
Fuck me. That hadn’t taken long.
He closed his eyes and tried to distract himself.
Thankfully, Kai’s trajectory detoured sideways, the ropes winding around Breck’s sides toward the small of his back. Not that it mattered where Kai’s fingers were working. His intoxicating touch was a potent thing, every subtle graze or cursory swipe making Breck’s whole body hyperaware.
He needed a distraction.
More conversation might help.
Clearing his throat, he opened his eyes. “So… this Shibari stuff… What’s its deal?”
Kai brought each rope forward again from either side. Gaze focused, he started weaving them across Breck’s abs. “It dates back to Japan during the medieval and Edo periods. The way in which they restrained their prisoners. Over time, this bled into Japanese culture… feeding the imagination of those with a penchant for darker kink.”
Breck’s brows rose. “For real?” Talk about crazy origins.
“For real.” Kai pulled his working rope between two vertical knots, then wound it around back again. “Kinda like how medieval prison tools inspired Western BDSM.”
Breck gaped, then laughed incredulously. “No way.”
Kai returned around front. “Think about it.” His midnight gaze glittered. “Whips… manacles…crosses… chastity devices?”
Holy hell.
Breck stared at him, agape. “Does… Max have that shit in his ‘dungeon’, too?”
Kai chuckled, his hands still moving. “Absolutely. I saw a pillory when I was down there. And lots of chains.”
Jesus.
Breck’s boner twitched with morbid curiosity.
“Anyway. It’s said that in World War II, American soldiers saw Shibari and brought it back to the States. Cut to today, and it’s a 21st-century form of pleasure art.”
Pleasure art. Yeah, definitely not a topic to help Breck’s cause.
All but groaning, he tried another subject, Kai’s fingers making him mental. “Your place… It’s um... pretty awesome.” And he actually meant that. From the moment he walked in, he’d noted its warm, inviting vibe.