Afterlife (42 page)

she was wearing paint

instead of clothing. She felt a little

self-conscious about the

unavoidable mid-section thickness

that came with being a

mother in her forties, but he brushed

her concerns away as

he adjusted the body suit here and

there, indulging himself

with a far less functional caress or

squeeze, a stroke or

pinch that had her arching into his

touch and drawing erratic

breaths.

Distributed inside the fabric of the

suit were more thin

wafers. They had some type of metal

component though,

because he was adjusting their

placement with a magnet,

moving them here and there, so that

when he finished they

were centered at her nipples, her clit

and her throat, for the

suit came up high under her chin.

More were at her wrists,

ankles, the base of her spine…over

two dozen places,

including chakra energy points, she

noted.

He’d commanded her to remain

utterly stil while he

made the alterations, but after he

finished, he wanted her to

move. A ful forward fold, where that

magnet and the brush

of his fingers moved along her spine,

to the impression at

the top of her buttocks, then lower.

Then a twist of her upper

body, a lift of her arms, showing the

ful range of movement.

He did something else with the

device she’d assumed was

only a magnet, and suddenly it felt as

if al those points, and

the fabric itself, had melded to her,

the wafers moving with

those erogenous points. It was a little

claustrophobic, like

getting an unexpected second skin,

but as he encouraged

her to keep moving about, it became

more comfortable.

“Al right, how’s that?”

“Good. May I ask…what does this

do?”

His expression reflected his approval

at her deference.

“The easiest explanation is it

simulates sexual stimulation

and intercourse through a

combination of direct contact and

acupressure.”

Rachel blinked. “What?”

He gave her an absent half smile,

studying something on

his handheld and scanning her body

with the magnet

sensor at the same time. “I was going

to use Dana or

Cassandra for the first test, but a

much better option

presented herself.”

She glanced over at the props. “And

the podium and

book, what are those for?”

“Take a seat and I’l show you.”

She sat in the wooden chair as he

adjusted the podium

so that she could view the book at

eye level. When he

opened it to the middle, she saw the

pages were blank, the

Kama Sutra
cover a façade. Before

she could ask about

that, he’d moved to a monitor on a

workbench nearby.

When he hit several keys, she heard a

beep. “There you

are. As we do this, it wil record data

on your reactions. I

can use that to make the suit even

better.”

“Have you named your invention?”

She tried to ask it

casual y, though she was feeling more

than a little unsettled,

thinking about what he said it could

do.

His lips twisted. “They cal the one at

the conferences ‘the

sex suit’. Pretty unimaginative. I’d

like to come up with

something far more aesthetical y

pleasing to a woman’s

ear. If I have Justin market it in his

store, maybe he can help

me come up with a proper name.”

His attention went back to the

monitor, fingers tapping,

hair tousled over his brow. A man in

T-shirt and jeans who

nevertheless looked as in control of

his environment as he

did when in a suit. “Keep your hands

on the chair arms and

put your heels outside the legs, so

your knees are spread.

Don’t be alarmed by this next step.”

“What—” She gave a short yelp as

her wrists and ankles

were suddenly immobilized.

“I used that technology first at a

board meeting where

Lucas was winning over Cassandra.

The suit doesn’t

require bracelets on the wrists and

ankles though. It uses

highly sensitized magnets to hold the

arms and legs to the

chair. Don’t worry about tipping it.

It’s anchored to the floor.”

“Okay, the serial kil er thing is

coming to mind now. Only

it’s an elaborate Hol ywood movie

where he chooses

diabolical, complicated ways to

immobilize his victim.”

Hearing the note of panic beneath the

desperate humor,

he glanced up at her, those blue eyes

blinking through a

few strands of dark hair. The silken

brows drew down and

he came to her then, moving with his

lithe grace to take a

knee between her restrained feet.

Cupping her face with

his strong fingers, he brought her

attention to that

commanding touch, his serious

features, the firm, sensual

mouth. “Unless it’s for your pleasure,

like a spanking, I wil

never hurt you, Rachel. I promise.”

“You scare me. On so many levels.

You’re…so much at

once, you know?”

“You’ve been imagining me in your

mind wel over a year.

And I’ve been imagining you. So it’s

not at once. It’s just

we’re final y making it real.” He

gave her that look that

scared her most of al . “In a few

moments, I’m going to

make you mindless and crazy with

desire in a way you’ve

never felt before. And that wil be far

bigger than any fear or

worry. Al right?”

“Okay.” She swal owed. His smile

didn’t quite reach his

eyes.

“Because I’ve got you restrained

where you can’t run,

you’re going to hear me say this for

the first time, but it sure

as hel isn’t going to be the last. As

much as you deny it,

you know exactly what kind of

Master I am. I don’t say

something important unless I’ve

given it a great deal of

thought, from every angle. You’re

what I want, not just until I

find the next pretty face. I love you,

and you better get used

to that, and everything it means.”

He’d been so absorbed in his

invention, she hadn’t been

expecting such a declaration, though

even if she’d had

some type of warning, she didn’t

think it would have

prepared her. As she stared at him,

stunned, he leaned

forward, dropped a provocative kiss

on the rise of her

breast before he raised his head, his

face inches from

hers. His intense gaze registered her

gasp, the widening of

her eyes as he slid his hand down

over her pussy, a firm,

possessive grasp rather than a caress,

holding the

pressure there as her heartbeat

quickened, the pulse of her

clit fluttering wildly against his

touch. “You don’t believe me

now,” he said quietly. “But I’l have

plenty of time to punish

that doubt out of your head. A

lifetime.”

Did he understand how knocking her

off her axis like this

could dredge up the debris of her

life? Maybe he did,

because he’d chosen to tel her now

when, as he’d pointed

out, he’d restrained her so she

couldn’t run. Before she

could find words, he rose, returning

to his monitor. “Now,

focus on the book. Let that take your

mind wherever it wil .

Instead of getting bogged down in

thoughts and emotions

you don’t want to deal with right

now, that you don’t have to

deal with right now, start imagining

something else.”

He’d given her an out she was more

than wil ing to take,

dangerous as she knew that could be.

But the lights were

dimming, putting the platform in the

spotlight and Jon in the

shadows. As that happened, the white

pages of the book

shimmered, an electronic tablet. It

had a similar theme to

the
Kama Sutra
, however, because

the first image was a

sketch of two people in coitus. The

female was on her

hands and knees, the male entering

her from behind, his

fingers pressed into the generous

curve of her buttock.

Rachel could see his cock partial y

entered into her, and

her hair was thrown forward, her

breasts hanging loose,

begging to be squeezed and touched.

On the edges of the platform, vertical

streams of air

started up, wavering with light that

formed images, making

the workshop disappear entirely.

Deer, bounding through a

field of lavender flowers on one

side… A rainbow delving

into a val ey… Clouds slipping away

directly before her, as

if she were flying.

She let out an amazed sound,

watching the holographic

images dance around her, but there

was more. A ripple of

sensation passed along her throat, her

wrists, as if she was

being caressed there. She tipped back

her chin, feeling the

sensation of it drift down her

sternum, past her breasts and

along her rib cage. A stroke along her

hips and upper

thighs, behind her knees, like a

lover’s scattering of kisses,

awakened her body without touching

any of the more typical

erogenous zones, thereby heightening

their need to be

touched further. As always, for her,

Jon knew denial was the

most powerful aphrodisiac.

Remembering his command, she

returned her gaze to

that tablet. Another page, this time a

man on his knees,

eating a woman’s pussy. Both

beautiful, sexy and sensual

figures, absorbed in what they were

doing. While she lay on

her back, her legs were pointed

straight up and crossed at

the ankles, a rope attached to a

ceiling hook holding them

in that position. It reminded Rachel

of the Legs-Up-The-

Wal pose, or
viparita karani
. Her

arms were stretched out

to either side of her, each wrist held

by another man, both

naked. Al three were ful y erect,

implying that each would

have his turn with her.

Her pussy contracted, and then she

gasped, because it

wasn’t coming from her, not exactly.

The picture helped her

easily identify what she was feeling.

It felt as if a man was

stroking her with his tongue, teasing

her clit, then sliding

down from there to push his tongue

inside of her, lap and

lick, thrust, getting her ready for his

cock. Arching up into

the feeling, she found the restriction

was not limited to her

ankles or wrists, but included her

back and thighs as wel .

She was total y immobilized, except

for her head and neck,

her tightly curling fingers and toes.

Now it felt like a man’s hands were

caressing her lower

back, another’s sliding along her

throat. The soles of her

feet were being teased by nibbling

lips, though the body

suit only came to her ankles. The

pressure points being

stimulated were awakening other

parts of her, things that

had no sensors on them al . It

increased the sense of

helplessness, the feel of being total y,

deliciously out of

control. He could do anything to her.

She could die of

pleasure here. Her body was making

tiny jerks, her mind

spiraling among al the different

sensations, her pussy

throbbing hard. She felt like

kundalini
energy from the

strong sacral chakra was dancing

through her body in a

swirl of deep ginger color. It coated

her skin, engaged her

mind and deeper.

He’d told her he loved her, had

known how deeply that

would disturb her, and yet now he

was wrapping it up in

this, something impossible, magical,

a near out-of-body

experience that was happening
in
her

body, because the

last thing she wanted to do was leave

her body at the

moment. It made the impossible

possible, and she realized

how clever he was. She didn’t have

the brain cel s to resist

it, or him.

Her nipples began to tingle and then

respond as if being

pinched by unseen fingers, stroked,

plucked. “Oh…” she

cried out as the sensors he’d put in

her anus came to life as

wel . It was as if a man’s thick finger,

lubricated and ready,

had slid into her there while his