Bound by Consent (10 page)

“I suppose so.” Bryana glanced longingly at her cameras and other equipment then back to me. “Maybe just a short break.”

Bryana’s reluctance to relax drove me to distraction. It was as if she feared the world would come crashing down about her ears if she stopped working for a second. Maybe it would. I considered the possibility that her incessant need to work kept her sane. Being busy meant she didn’t have to face up to reality.

“Okay, let’s go.” I took her arm and started toward the door before she could change her mind.

“Hang on a minute, if we’re going to walk far I must change my shoes.” Bryana pulled free and swapped the heeled platform pumps in which she’d travelled for a pair of equally high black strappy, gladiator style, sandals that buckled right up around the ankle. Then she paused at the vanity unit to check her appearance, renew her lip gloss, and run a brush over her already sleek dark blonde hair. Finally satisfied, she grabbed her purse and joined me at the door.

I’ve always loved this area of old Amsterdam, with its narrow streets, tree lined canals, and quaint architecture. At this time of day it is both beautiful and relatively quiet, but it really comes alive late in the evening when lights shine from many of the windows. Then the quiet thoroughfares transform into the famous Red Light District made up of bars, clubs, and sex establishments that attract tourists from all over the world.

We wandered along the tree-lined Oudezijds Voorburgwal at a leisurely pace until we found a café with outside tables from where we could watch the boats on the canal. Bryana declined to join me in a beer and instead ordered a black coffee to accompany our shared platter of cheese, bread, and tapenade.

“This is so good.” Bryana used a piece of bread to capture the last scrape of the olive paste from the small dish. She popped the bread into her mouth, closed her eyes, and made an exaggerated show of savoring the taste. “I have no idea why I even thought I wouldn’t like it.” A smile flitted across her face. “You are so good for me. I’d never have dared to try this on my own.”

I reached for her hand. “Hey, honey, I can be good for you in lots of ways if you’d let me.” The words escaped my lips before my brain engaged. Damn! I’d promised myself I wouldn’t rush her and here I was at the first opportunity doing just that.

Bryana’s fingers intertwined briefly with mine, before she withdrew her hand. A film of moisture clouded her blue eyes. “I know.” Her voice was so quiet I almost missed what she said.

My heart jolted. Was this a breakthrough? I wouldn’t let myself believe just yet. We’d come a long way in the past few days but had an even longer way to go. I prayed that Bryana would find the courage to open up her mind and explore all the possibilities waiting for her.

Mindful of her need to keep busy, I took the initiative. “Are you ready to go back to the hotel now?”

“Yes, please.”

Bryana was out of her seat and ready to move in seconds. For once she didn’t shy away from me when I took her hand.

The confines of the hotel elevator brought her closer. The urge to kiss her sweet lips overwhelmed me. Hell, I wanted much more, but a kiss would have to suffice for now. The doors swished open before I could act on my decision. Once inside our room, I trapped her body against the wall and sealed our lips together, smothering her protest.

I couldn’t recall how long it was since we’d shared an impromptu intimate moment. My hands swept her body, molding her curves, and I felt her tremble. The sensation destroyed my resolve to take this one step at a time. Fuck! I needed to touch her, taste her, hear my name on her scream of pleasure when she came for me and, most importantly, have her submit to everything willingly with no reservations, no holding back.

The urgency of my need must have communicated itself to Bryana; she didn’t resist when I began to undo her top. I tore at recalcitrant buttons anxious to make contact with bare flesh. Finally, the buttons gave way and I spread the two halves of her shirt. My fingers explored delicately perfumed skin and my thumbs teased her breasts, circling the lacy cups that encased them.

“Oh, Cassie.” Her chest rose and fell, her breathing rapid.

My name on her lips, accompanied by a soft moan, sounded so good.

With two hands I swept the shirt from her shoulders and down her arms until it fell to the floor. Then I reached for the zipper on her pencil skirt; the teeth parted smoothly allowing the garment to slither down her thighs and pool around her feet. Bryana remained passive, standing before me, her gaze lowered submissively, allowing me to dictate both the sequence and speed of events.

God, the breath caught in my throat. She was so beautiful, so fragile, so incredibly sexy wearing just lace underwear and sheer, barely black, stockings. Just perfect for... I was tempted to fetch the length of rope from my bag, to bind her slender wrists together and haul them up above her head, but that would be going a step too far at this point in time. Although my head immediately filled with images of the white silk cord twisted into intricate knots across her body, binding her securely, and I could almost hear her voice begging me for relief. I dismissed temptation and reached out to lower the straps of her bra which acted like mild constraints in keeping her arms by her side. As the shallow cups dropped down, her breasts spilled from their confines bobbing slightly as they adjusted to freedom. Her nipples stood proud and erect from dark aureoles proclaiming her heightened state.

With the tip of my index finger I traced a line from her throat through the valley between her breasts and down to the diamond stud in her navel. My finger nail left a faint dark line, a momentary blemish on her perfect skin that sent spikes of desire racing through my body to escape as throbbing heat between my thighs. I repeated the process, this time pressing just that bit harder, leaving a second line beside the first which was already fading. Bryana shuddered, her fingers scrabbled against the wall. Her lips parted to expel a soft gasp which I took to be of pleasure. At least I hoped it meant that, since I wanted to pleasure her so badly.

I dropped to my knees and pressed my face to her midriff, dipping my tongue into her navel, before tentatively moving lower to put my mouth over the scrap of black lace that covered her mound.

She was so ready. I could feel her heat, her individual aroma filled my senses and lifted my desire to a new level. My tongue probed the moist fabric of the g-string.

Moment of truth time.

Would Bryana relax enough to let her orgasm build to a climax or would she freeze and slam the door on the relief she so badly needed at the last moment? My fingers spanned her thighs and I used my thumbs to massage the soft flesh close to the apex. She reacted by widening her stance and pushing her pelvis toward me. My tongue slipped past the narrow strip of fabric to probe her slit.

She tasted so sweet. My head swam, the gathering pace of desire driving me on. I slid my tongue across velvety flesh seeking her pleasure point. When my tongue made contact with her clit, Bryana jerked violently and her legs began to tremble. I probed the hardened peak, teasing it gently then building up both speed and pressure.

“Cassie!”

Bryana shouted out my name. I felt the orgasmic force sweep through her body like a tsunami before developing into a series of convulsions that seemed to ripple endlessly. When the tide slowed I stood, scooped her up in my arms and carried her to my bed.

“Oh! Cassie...” Bryana dissolved into tears.

“Don’t try to talk.” I sealed her lips with a kiss then spooned my body against Bryana’s, holding her close until her sobs faded and she drifted off to sleep.

****

Just before seven o’clock, I escorted Bryana across the lobby of a smart hotel on the Nieuwe Doelenstraat for her working dinner. She turned a lot of heads. The raspberry-red outfit accentuated her curves and her coloring. Toning peep-toe patent pumps, impeccable make-up, matching nail lacquer, and upswept hair completed the picture. I felt so proud having her walk by my side and found it hard to believe that she’d achieved such perfection in barely half an hour. I left her at reception awaiting directions to the meeting room. From her expression when I suggested she call me to collect her at the end of the evening I doubted she would bother.

For my part I explored the immediate area, finding few changes since my last visit. Then I found a quiet place to eat smoked eel, steak with a salad, and indulge my sweet tooth with a delicious chocolate confection.

I returned to our hotel room just before nine o’clock and found a note had been slipped under the door. I opened the folded sheet, realized immediately it was intended for Bryana, and unashamedly read on.

YOU WILL NOT TURN YOUR BACK AND JUST WALK AWAY FROM ME.

REMEMBER OUT OF BOUNDS?

NEXT TIME YOU WON’T ESCAPE.

DON’T EXPECT CASSIE STUART TO PROTECT YOU.

THE STUPID BITCH WILL RUN A MILE RATHER THAN HAVE HER PRECIOUS SECRETS EXPOSED.

I’M WATCHING AND WAITING.

YOU WILL OBEY ME OR SUFFER THE CONSEQUENCES.

My blood ran cold. Somebody clearly meant business. There was no signature but I couldn’t imagine the author as anybody other than Esmée Vincent. No mystery that she’d found us, since I’d discovered earlier in the day that this was Bryana’s usual hotel. I cursed myself for not realizing the possibility of something like this and taking preventative action. Although how she’d got the hotel to give out our room number left me speechless with fury.

I stuffed the note into my pocket and tried Bryana’s phone but it was switched off. Frustrated, I left a voice message that I was on my way to collect her and, no arguments, she must wait until I got there. It would take me no more than fifteen minutes, quicker if I jogged. I made it in a little over ten and sent a text to announce my arrival while I got my breath back. Then I asked at reception for directions to the room where Célestin Reynaud was holding her meeting – at this hotel I had to plead a family emergency to get them to divulge the information.

Thankfully the meeting was still in progress. I eased the door open a crack, just enough to satisfy myself that Bryana was there and safe, then I parked my butt on a sofa right outside to wait.

“What are you doing here?” Bryana displayed her anger with venomous glare. “You don’t need to check up on me.”

“I’m not checking up on you.” I kissed her on unresponsive lips and tried to hug her but she resisted me. “I just missed you, and wanted us to spend a little time together.”

Clearly unconvinced, Bryana’s body language repelled further intimacy although she did introduce me to Célestin.

“Enchanté.” Célestin kissed me on both cheeks before she stepped back to give my body keen scrutiny. Célestin’s tongue snaked across her lips as she turned back to Bryana. “Chérie, pourquoi n'avez-vous pas me dire votre nouvel ami était si sexy?”

A delicate flush infused Bryana’s face. She flicked a very brief glance at me then turned back to Célestin. “Vraiment! Je n'avais pas remarqué.”

I intervened to stop the exchange becoming embarrassing. “Now you’ve hurt my feelings, Bryana, I thought you might have noticed what was right under your nose.” My exaggerated huff drew a glare from Bryana and a laugh from Célestin.

“Bryana, take this gorgeous woman away before I forget my manners and hit on her myself.” Célestin’s heavily accented English added a certain je ne sais quoi to the remark.

“You wouldn’t dare.” Bryana fired back a challenge, her eyes sparkling like highly polished sapphires.

“Try me, chérie.”

“Come on.” I reached for Bryana’s arm but she batted my hand away.

“Leave me alone!” Her angry hiss was loud enough to reach my ears but not be audible to those around us.

I ignored her rejection and tried again. “How about a stroll and a quiet drink before we go back to the hotel?”

“Perfect!” Célestin leaned in to kiss Bryana on both cheeks before she turned to me and repeated the process, taking the opportunity to whisper, “Make her rest a little before we start work tomorrow.”

“I’ll try,” I replied, smiling at the idea of making Bryana do anything she didn’t want to do.

We left the hotel in silence and had walked several hundred yards before Bryana relaxed her stiff body. “What were you whispering about with Célestin?”

“Nothing important.” I took Bryana’s arm to steer her around a crowd of revelers spilling out from a bar onto the narrow street leading away from the canal. “Célestin cares about you, as I do. We both want to protect you and keep you safe.”

“I don’t need your protection.” Bryana tried to pull away and stumbled, her high heels precarious on the uneven pavers.

I tightened my grip to stop her from falling.

Yes you do, my sweet, you just don’t know how much.

The note was burning a hole on my pocket. Anger welled up, and my throat tightened but I managed to grind out a response. “You are fooling yourself if you think you’re invincible.”

Bryana huffed. “I can take care of myself.”

“Like you did at Out of Bounds?”

Bryana stiffened visibly. “You sure know how to hit below the belt.”

Concern for her safety had forced the accusation from my mouth before my brain engaged. I knew full well bringing up the trauma that was so fresh in her mind wasn’t the way to win her over.

If I wanted Bryana to take me seriously I was going to have to tell her about the note but not here in the street. The bar I had earmarked earlier came into view. I ignored the outside tables as too public and guided her into the dimly lit interior.

Soft music mingled with voices in a variety of different languages as we threaded our way between the occupied tables toward the rear where several vacant booths offered both comfortable seating and an element of privacy. I ordered champagne, it was expensive but who cared? Cost was irrelevant when I needed to make a good impression, let’s face it, the way things were right now any impression would be a start. A tense silence hung in the air between us. Gone was the relaxed mood that prevailed in the aftermath of our lovemaking this afternoon. Bryana fiddled with a coaster, twisting it between her fingers, looking anywhere but at me. While I cursed my loose tongue, assuming that she was still brooding over my unfortunate remark about Out of Bounds. What a fool I was to spoil things.