One Night in a Storm (Savage Kinksters 1)

“My primary concern is your safety,” I tell her. “I don’t want anything to hurt you.”

“How would I get hurt?” Kas reaches behind her back and under her shirt.

“Rope has some inherent dangers,” I say, trying to keep myself from staring at her as she removes her bra and folds it beside her. I place the ropes next to each other, spread out on the floor, and then set my backpack away a bit but still close enough that I can reach it. “I want to make sure you are both aware of them and know I’m prepared for them.” I pull out a long, sharp pair of scissors and place them near the ropes. “This will easily cut through the rope. If you are in any pain or even if you’re just upset or starting to panic, I’ll untie you immediately. If that isn’t fast enough, you say the word, and I’ll cut the ropes away. These scissors will be right beside me the whole time.”

Kas nods. I see her throat bob as she swallows.

“Kas?”

“Yeah?”

“In the three years I’ve been doing this, I’ve never had to cut anyone out of rope. It’s purely a precaution. I just want you to go into this aware that there is an element of danger. Most of the danger comes from being suspended, which we’re not going to do, but this is a form of edgeplay.”

“Edgeplay?”

“It has some risks—not as extreme as playing with fire or knives, but it’s there.”

“Like what?”

“Nerve damage is the most common. That’s why it’s important for you to tell me if you start feeling tingly or numb anywhere. I know what areas to avoid, so that shouldn’t be a problem, but we still have to be careful. I’ll also check on you from time to time, making sure you can make a fist and such.”

Kas looks worried, and I reach out to place my fingers lightly on her thigh.

“I’m going to take care of you,” I say. “I want you to feel safe.”

“Okay.” She nods. “I do feel safe with you.”

“Good.” I can’t help but smile as I withdraw my hand and reach for one coil of rope. “Do you have any injuries I should know about?”

“Injuries?”

“Bad shoulder, neck pain—anything like that.”

“No.”

“Okay, good. You ready?”

“Yes.”

“Stand up.”

She complies, standing in the middle of the towels and placing her feet a little apart for balance.

“Very nice,” I say softly as I come up behind her.

I stand as close to her as I can without touching her with my body. I listen to her breathing as she feels my presence without experiencing my touch. I let a few long seconds go by before I touch her waist and then slowly press my chest to her back as I glide my fingers up her side.

Her skin is warm, and I close my eyes for a moment as I touch her. I resist the urge to immediately wrap my arms around her and take her breasts in my hands. It’s way too soon for that, but my mind still takes me there. I have to make sure I don’t press against her too much, or she’ll know exactly how I’m feeling about all of this.

I place both hands on her shoulders and roughly twist her a quarter turn to the left, careful to keep her close to me so she doesn’t fall. She startles a little but quickly regains her balance. With one hand still on her shoulder, I use the other hand to take her wrist and pull it behind her back. I repeat the action with her other hand and then hold both wrists together at the small of her back while I shake out the first rope.

“Shouldn’t I have a safeword or something?” she asks.

“Do you feel like you need one?” I grin, amused by how many people outside the kink community are so interested in the idea of a safeword these days. I blame books, but I don’t really mind. A lot of those books have made my interests a lot more acceptable to others.

“I just…I know I’ve heard something about safewords.”

“How about this?” I say, leaning in close and whispering in her ear. “If I do something you don’t like, you say ‘I don’t like that,’ and I won’t do that anymore. If you want me to slow down, tell me to slow down. If you want to stop, say ‘stop,’ and I’ll untie you. I think that will do it. Sound good?”