Page 106 of The Devil’s Feather

Rafael took me home to fuck me. He didn’t carry me inside this time either; too much risk of irritating my freshly second skinned ink. But he held my hand to lead me to the dungeon, which was fucking adorable.

When had he set up that odd light in the corner? It had a silver umbrella.

He sat on the red bench, pulling me into his lap. “There is one final stroke missing from today’s art. How do you feel about suspension?”

Eyeing the attachments in the stone ceiling, I blanched. “Like…from hooks?”

He cupped my cheek. “With rope. Shibari. I want to take photos of you, adorned and floating, to show you what I see. With a Polaroid, before you protest. Physical photos for you to keep.”

I squirmed. Too much perception.

“I know it makes you uncomfortable.” Rafael pulled me closer, and I pressed myself against him, feeling the buzz of his voice. “But I see the look in your eyes you think you are hiding when you meet an ex of mine. How you compare yourself and forget your power.” His hands slid under the back of my shirt. “Will you try this for me? We can stop at any time.”

“But my tattoo is all red and angry right now.”

“I have a special bandage for that.” He pressed his lips to my hair. “Do you think welts make you less attractive to me? If you enjoy this, we can repeat it when the tattoo is healed. As often as you like.”

I leaned back to kiss him. “You make a compelling argument. I’ll try it, as long as the rope hasn’t been used on anyone else.”

Rafael tapped the tip of my nose. “I would not disrespect you like that. They are brand new—blue and purple, to match your hair.”

He⁠1 stood me up and undressed me with care, adding the bandage he’d mentioned around my upper thigh. Starting with a chest harness, he looped the two colors of rope between my legs, around my waist, and under my boobs. Strategic knots formed diamond shapes, a blue and purple snakeskin pattern.

Deft musician’s hands made fast work. Each tightening of a loop awakened me, transformed me. The ropes squeezed my breasts into a new shape. Squeezed a very focused awareness that traveled directly between my legs.

Shortly, he had my hands bound behind my back and worked on my legs. “Let me know immediately if anything is uncomfortable or you start to lose sensation.” He laid me gently on my belly on the bench with my chin hanging off the end.

“Do I want to know how you learned this?” I regretted it as soon as I asked, but the insecurity refused to be silenced.

He crouched and tilted my chin up. “Failed attempts at happiness have taught me more than I ever would have learned on my own. Stop worrying over the past.”

I opened my mouth to argue, and he covered it with his, biting my lower lip until I whimpered. Just as I opened to him, deepening the kiss, he drew away.

“I am thinking only of you, my windup girl.” Rafael walked around me and swatted my ass with the ends of the rope. I jumped at the sting. “Jealous creature. You have completely dominated my thoughts, my imagination, since we first met, and you only permeate deeper over time. I will show you the goddess you are.”

Out of my line of sight, he pulled the cords around my ankles, lifting my heels toward my butt. I heard ropes being moved. Rafael tied the ones he’d looped through the attachments on the ceiling at multiple points from my shoulders, just under my boobs, my hips, thighs, and feet.

He laid a hand on the back of my head, possessive and comforting all at once. “Ready to fly?”

A thrill raced through me. “Yes.”

Rafael stepped in front of me and pulled. My torso came up first. I rose smoothly into the air until my head floated at waist height. He pulled a different section of rope, and one leg rose. Then the other; distinctly spread open.

The near-weightlessness, the vulnerability, his control over me—my mind floated right along with my body. Not quite sexual, but definitely not removed from carnality, the ropes created a new awareness. Readiness.

A flash went off with the nostalgic click-fizz of a Polaroid camera. “Look at how beautiful you are,” Rafael murmured. “How are you feeling?”

Words jumbled in my pleasant fog. “Nice. I like this.”

“Good.” He ran a hand up my harnessed back to stroke my face. “Because when I am finished with these photos, I am going to fuck you.”

I whimpered with a flush of need.

Rafael tilted my head so I could see his face. “Then I will take more pictures of you with your hair mussed and makeup smeared, dripping cum.” He pressed his thumb to my lips, and I sucked it into my mouth with a moan, glancing meaningfully at his crotch. “Mmm, I know what you want. I hear that staccato breath, see the way your breasts heave.”

He yanked his thumb from my mouth with a pop and flicked my nipple. I shivered, growing slick and ready for him.

Rafael unzipped his pants and freed that giant cock. He was already hard and ready. I strained to reach him, wriggling in the ropes until I swayed. He caught me by the breasts, squeezing to stop my motion. The heat of his hands shot to my cunt.