A Quartet of Pleasures – Four Steamy, Symphonic Shorts

“You’re kinky, aren’t you?” she asked.

“Pretty kinky, yeah.” He tilted his head. “I’m wondering if you might be, too.”

“Hmm. Maybe.” She drew in a breath, not ready to admit her deepest fantasies. “I don’t know. I’m curious, and kind of fascinated.”

“That’s how we all start out.”

“But I’ve never done any of that stuff we saw at the reception.”

“I hadn’t done kink either, until I started doing it.” He teased, but his blue eyes were kind. “Why are you blushing, Ruby? It’s not bad to be curious, you know. To want to try things you see. Lots of people are kinky. There are an infinite number of fetishes and deviant sexual practices that people enjoy.”

“But the emotional part of it.” Her words erupted like a plea. “The way the groom held her at the end. They were so close.”

“Doing kink makes people close. If you tried it, you’d see. Sometimes people who play together aren’t dating, aren’t even in relationships, but they’re still close. If they tell you otherwise, they’re lying. And you’re right, it all comes down to trust. It’s a fascinating world when you get into it. It’s almost addictive, looking for that high, that closeness and satisfaction.”

She crossed her arms over her chest. “How long does it take?” she asked after a moment.

“What?”

“How long does it take to start doing kinky stuff like that? To build that trust?”

He thought a moment. “I’d be lying if I said it took months, or years. Sometimes people meet and start doing BDSM activities together a few minutes later, hardly knowing each another. There’s still trust. It’s a community thing.”

“And the connection?”

“It grows over the course of the scene, if the top is doing it right.”

“The top?”

“The one in charge.”

She knew without asking that Ethan was a top, however quiet and reserved he might behave in real life. She knew because she’d been friends with Ethan a long time, and had always sensed this side of his personality, before she understood the “why.”

“Wow,” she said, because it was so quiet, and because he was sitting right beside her, being handsome and sexy and toppy. “Just wow.”

“You know…” He looked at her hands, and she forced herself to unclench them. “I have rope in my room.”

“You have rope in your room?” she repeated.

“Yeah. I always bring rope when I travel, just in case. If you wanted to, we could do a little scene together. No sex, just sensation. You could give it a try, see if you like how it feels.”

She wanted that, yes. She wanted Ethan and connection. Her thoughts were going crazy. She was hot. Amazed. Scared.

“You have rope you just…just keep in your luggage in case you need it?” she asked.

“I mean, we don’t have to—”

“Yes. Please. Please go get it.”

He blinked at her. Ruby was kind of blinking at herself, but yes, for God’s sake, she needed him to go get his rope right now. “Are you going to tie me up with it?” she asked.

He put his hands on his knees, gave her that damn half-grin. “That’s what kinky people usually do with rope.”

“Here? Or in your room?”

He thought a moment. “I’ll bring it in here, so you’ll be more comfortable.”

It was hard to be anything related to comfortable, because her heart was banging double time in her chest. As soon as he left for the rope, Ruby ran to the bathroom to stare at herself in the mirror. Her hazel eyes seemed unusually bright in the hotel’s lighting. “Yeah, you’re doing this,” she whispered. “Go you.”

Should she do this? She and Ethan played in a quartet together, a respected, established quartet that made a lot of money, traveling to high-end receptions and weddings. She didn’t want to mess anything up.

On the other hand, they were just going to fool around with rope. What had he said? No sex, just sensation. It wasn’t like they were going to sleep together. “Don’t sleep with Ethan,” she told herself sternly before she left the bathroom to answer his knock at the door.

He came in with a smile that put her at ease, and showed her a meticulously neat bundle of rope. She’d expected it to be purple or blue or sparkly or something, but it was plain, natural-colored rope, the kind you could buy at any home improvement store.

“How do we start?” she asked. “What do I do?”

He undid the knot around the bundle. “You could undress if you like, at least partially. I can tie you over your clothes, but a lot of people enjoy the sensation of rope against their skin.”

“Undress partially? Like, down to my bra and panties?”

“That’s up to you. Do what feels comfortable. You can get naked if you prefer. It won’t bother me.”

She couldn’t believe she and Ethan were having this conversation. Well, after today, maybe she could. “I’ll strip down to my underwear, but not naked,” she said. “It’s probably better to preserve some secrets between us.”