Thanks for the response to the first part of this story. I don't usually do overlapping POVs of the same scenes, but this one seemed warranted.

2 - All Tied Up

Shutting off the treadmill, I took a moment to skull some water before wiping it down and heading for the doors. I'd decided to forgo the rest of my work out in favour of returning to the seventh floor and the beautiful woman I'd left sleeping there. I'd almost skipped my morning gym time entirely when I'd stepped out of the dressing room to discover that she'd rolled over in her sleep, allowing the sheet that had been covering her body to shift, revealing one of her perfect breasts. Pert, and rosy, and begging for my attention.

A glance at the clock, though, reminded me that while my wife would hardly object to the wake-up call I had in mind for her, the early start would likely leave her tired for the rest of the day. And when Steph was tired, things had a habit of going sideways. Not to mention I had much bigger plans that I needed her to be awake for tonight.

So I'd ignored that unintentional invitation and exited the apartment, but used it as my motivation for cutting my time short. No way was I going to spend twenty minutes pummelling a punching bag when I could be sliding between Steph's thighs.

I'd almost made it to the stairwell door when my name being called out from behind me gave me pause. The second I registered my idiot cousin's voice, I was tempted to ignore him and continue my path, but I'd already made the mistake of stopping, so he a) knew I'd heard him, and b) had a chance to catch up. And really, there was a slim chance that this was about work and couldn't be put off until after I'd had sex with my wife.

"Hey," he greeted as he jogged up. There was a hint of a smile on his face, and I knew instantly that this wasn't going to be work related, let alone an emergency. The urge to roll my eyes was strong, but I kept it under control. Show no weakness. If I had a dollar for every time I'd given my cousin the benefit of the doubt and ended up listening to one of his hairbrained theories, I'd be able to open another branch of Rangeman.

I didn't bother to reply to his greeting. He knew he had my attention whether I liked it or not.

"I was just wondering whether you and Steph had any plans for Valentine's Day lunch," he explained, stopping a foot away. "Bobby and I have a reservation at that new Korean place downtown, but Bobby has to cover monitors instead, so I thought if Steph wasn't busy, maybe she could come with me?"

I stared at him for a moment, blank expression in place as I processed his words. "You want to take my wife to Valentine's Day lunch?" I asked, my tone nonplussed.

"Only if you don't have plans," he said exasperatedly, like the thought of me being against the idea was irksome. "I'm not trying to steal her from you, I just know she's been dying to try out the restaurant, and since I'm suddenly dateless, it seemed like a decent opportunity for her to do so."

"With you," I pointed out flatly.

He smirked. "Well, yeah. I've been looking forward to sampling the menu, too."

"What about Bobby?"

I honestly had no idea why I was arguing this with him other than the fact that it had been our habit since as long as I could remember. Steph and I didn't have lunch plans, and if Lester wanted to turn his romantic date with his fiancé into a friend-date with my wife, then who was I to question it?

"You really think I'd be down here talking to you if Bobby had a problem with me taking Steph instead of him?" Lester pointed out, giving me that are you stupid look he'd perfected when he was ten.

Suppressing a sigh, I gave a short nod and let him know that I didn't have plans just as the stairwell door opened behind me and my attention was drawn that way to catalogue the newcomer. I never got the chance, though, as there was a sharp prick to the side of my neck and my world was suddenly fading to black.

*0*

I swam back to consciousness sometime later, feeling groggy from the after effects of whatever drug I'd been stuck with as I quickly gathered my wits about me and took in my surroundings.

I was on the floor, my face mashed into the familiar charcoal grey carpet. My arms were bound behind my back, with the ropes wrapping around my torso, but my legs had been left free. Amateur mistake. I may not necessarily be able to free myself from the ropes, but I could at least make an escape.

Rolling over, I noted a mass digging into my back between my shoulder blades and looked to find loops of pink satin. Further investigation showed not only that the same satin covered my upper chest, leading me to assume that I'd been adorned with a massive gawdy bow, but it was the only scrap of fabric I had on apart from the boxer briefs I'd slipped on under my gym shorts. Continuing to roll onto my other side, I caught sight of a familiar pink Chapstick under the desk to my left and realised I'd been left in Steph's office.

All at once, Lester's enquiry ran through my head, and I couldn't help thinking that it had been a convenient distraction to knock me out and wrap me up like a present. I smiled, imagining Steph's reaction to finding me all tied up for her, and while it did nothing to lessen my annoyance at my cousin and whatever accomplices he'd drawn into his antics, I couldn't help twitch of arousal below my metaphorical belt.

With that in mind, I shifted my knees under me, levering myself upright so I could find a more alluring position to surprise my wife with when she arrived to work. I was thinking either in her office chair or on top of her desk were the best options as I planted a foot on the floor to stand when the door to the office suddenly burst open admitting not only Steph, but Lester too.

All thoughts of seducing my wife fled my brain as I laid eyes on the shit-eating grin on my cousin's face.

"Santos!" I seethed, surging to my feet, and lurching forward. What I wouldn't give to have the use of my hands right then so I could wrap them around his throat. I could do a lot of damage with just my legs, but it wasn't the same as watching the eyes bulge out of his skull.

"And that's my cue to leave," he chuckled, entirely unperturbed by my fury as he backed out of the room. "Happy Valentine's Day! You kids have fun!" he called as he hastily pulled the door shut.

"You fucking coward!" I yelled after him, anger slamming through me at the indignity of what he'd done. I couldn't even follow him to exact a punishment without raising the eyebrows of my men. "Come back here and let me beat your ass into the carpet! And you better make sure your fiancé is on call because I'm not going easy on you! How dare you use-"

My words cut off abruptly as I suddenly became aware of a hand on my abs. I'd been so focused on yelling threats through the closed door that I hadn't noticed Steph closing the distance between us until she'd reached out and made contact.

I watched her hand trail over the ropes and muscles, moving lower and lower until she was just about to caress me through the thin material of my underwear before switching ropes - literally - and starting back up from the other hip. She leaned in and pressed a kiss to my abdomen between knots in the rope. The sensation was too much to bear without reaction as my muscles rippled under her lips, a gasp falling from my mouth.

"Babe," I groaned, longing to delve my fingers into her hair and just keep her there for a while, letting her wicked little tongue do whatever she wanted to me. The fact that I couldn't, that I was completely at her mercy had my cock straining painfully against it's confines, aching for her attention. Her eyes were the deep swirling blue of the ocean in a storm as she lifted her gaze to mine, a slow, wicked smile spreading her lips.

I was a goner.

If I hadn't already known I was one hundred percent in love with this woman, and devoted to ensuring all her wants, needs, and desires were met to the best of my ability, that look and the zing of electricity that surged through me as she slipped her hands under the pink satin and scraped her nails over my nipples would have solidified the facts.

There was no way I could ever even contemplate leaving this woman. It had taken me long enough to get my head out of my ass and admit that I loved her and that despite the lines I'd spouted off we were, in fact, already in a relationship of sorts. But once I'd cleared the air and learned that her feelings for me were just as strong, my entire life had been turned upside down. In a good way.

Stephanie Plum was the only woman I had ever met who was brave enough to call me on my bullshit. And the only woman to ever show an interest in returning the favour of the attention I lavished on her sexually to the same level. Other women had reciprocated a hand or blow job when necessary, but they weren't interested in being in charge, in driving the direction of our coupling. They let me do all the work and get them off and then they tottered back to their friends and spread the rumour that I was the best lover they'd ever had.

And it was entirely possible they were correct. But for obvious reasons, I wasn't the best lover I'd ever had, which had left me wanting for years until I'd met Steph. I knew from the moment she sat down across from me in the booth at the cafe that she wasn't like the women I'd slept with. And she wasn't like the busybody women in this town. She was fire and ice and-

Oh god, that moan!

She'd straightened all the way, pressing herself against me as much as was possible with me tied up and both of us standing upright, and buried her face in the crook of my neck, leaving a trail of wet, open-mouthed kisses there. All she'd done so far was touch me, pleasure me, but the sounds she was making and the way her hips were pressing against me made it clear that she was just as affected.

"I'm going to go out on a limb," her breathy voice drifted to my ear as she pulled back to blow on the place she'd just been kissing. A shudder wracked through me and it took all of my considerable self-control to focus on her words instead of surrendering to the feelings she was awakening in me. "And guess that it wasn't your idea to gift yourself to me like this?"

I shook my head, breaths coming almost as raggedly as they had by the time I'd finished my run earlier. "No."

"Mmm," she hummed, the vibrations sending another thrill through me all the way from where she was still nuzzling my neck to the, by now, very prominent bulge between the ropes disappearing between my thighs. Her hands abandoned my nipples, walking up the outside of the material until they reached my shoulders and then started sliding down, tugging at my bindings along the way as though she were testing their strength. Flashes of what she could do to me with strong enough bindings filled my head, and I almost missed her next words, low and husky right beside my ear.

"Me neither," she said. "I have to say I was a little disappointed when you didn't return to ravish me after your workout this morning, but this is a nice surprise."

I was still planning on grinding my cousin's face into the mats tomorrow morning, but maybe after I was done, I'd offer my thanks as well. He may be a screwball with a tendency to meddle in other peoples' personal business, but he was definitely on to something when he decided to ambush me this morning and leave me tied up for Steph to find. She'd taken control a few times in the bedroom in the couple of years we'd been together, but only in the heat of the moment when she was feeling ultra-confident, and I'd kept her on the edge with my teasing for far too long.

This was different.

As she stepped back, looping her hands into the ropes at my waist to lead me to the visitor's chair where she pushed me to sit in it, I knew that something had been awoken in her that I'd never seen before. And it was sexy as hell.

And then she made it even better by climbing into my lap the second my ass hit the seat. My lips were slightly parted in surprise, allowing her to claim them as her own, and the way she matched the thrust of her tongue into my mouth with grind of her hips against my straining erection told me I would gladly let her have them for all eternity if she would just keep doing what she was doing.

I matched her efforts, tilting my head to better the angle and fighting for control with the only muscle in this fight that I had any control over at the moment: my tongue. Her moans of ecstasy only served to urge me on as her fingers dislodged the leather tie from my hair, tangling her fingers there instead so I couldn't pull away even if I'd wanted to. Her hips were in constant motion, and I let her drive the rhythm, wanting to let her keep some of that wild abandon about her so she could know just how good it could feel.

Her breathing was frantic when she eventually pulled back, sucking in deep breaths and releasing my head as she climbed off my lap. I wasn't happy about the sudden lack of contact, but given my knowledge of Steph's restraint, or lack thereof, when it came to getting the pleasure she wanted from me, I couldn't help the concern welling in my chest.

"Babe?" I questioned, eyeing her head to toe, trying to figure out what was wrong, what had caused her to stop so abruptly. I knew no one had entered the room, or even come near it. I may have been pre-occupied, but I still had my wits about me. Her face was flushed, eyes shining bright and from the way she was eyeing me, her head was filled with fantasies of everything she could do with me in this position. Her legs shifted like she was resisting the urge to press her thighs together and I had to do some quick thinking to get my own sudden spike of arousal under wraps. It wouldn't do to blow my load while she was standing four feet away not touching me.

And then that wicked grin spread across her face, and I had to double down on my efforts. God, this woman! "What are you doing?" I asked, narrowing my eyes at her as she backed away around the other side of the desk and plopped down in her chair. Her whole body succumbed to a shiver, and she let out a sigh of pleasure as she reached for the power button on the computer.

She was clearly still on the edge. Each movement sending ripples of satisfaction through her body.

Her eyes slid closed as she sucked her bottom lip between her teeth, a look of sheer concentration blanketing her face for almost a minute before she managed to smooth out her features. My discomfort increased, as my cock twitched and I had to shift in the seat to lessen the pressure the ropes were forcing on it, adding to the strain.

"The rule when I was growing up was that I had to get all my work done before I could play," she said, her voice huskier than I'd ever heard it.

I froze. She was so affected right now, but she was going to deny herself?! "You're playing with fire, Babe," I growled. Not only was my own desire for her all-consuming, blazing through me mercilessly, but she'd clearly lit a flame under herself as well, and the fact that she appeared to be adding kindling while she sat there with four feet of solid oak separating us only caused it to glow hotter.

Her lips ticked up on one side. "I know."

"Untie me."

I wanted to push her over the edge, to reward her for the actions she'd taken so far, but I couldn't play out all the plans swirling through my head with my arms tied behind my back. She deserved everything I could give her. Unhindered.

Rather than obey my demand, Steph's expression softened into a thing of innocence, eyes wide, lips slightly parted in mock surprise. Her voice was just as doe-like as she held my gaze. "But I haven't finished my work yet," she pointed out, gesturing to the computer. "I haven't even started it! We have to wait, or the boss will be forced to reprimand me! You wouldn't want me to get in trouble, would you?"

That did it. I was done playing. I needed her, and I needed her now. I'd show her the kind of trouble she was getting herself into with the boss. I slid to the edge of the seat, transferring my weight to my legs to get up when her expression suddenly changed.

"Sit back down," she practically barked. Her eyes were hard and everything I'd been about to do disappeared from my brain, washed away by the surprise appearance of my wife's dominant side. Unable to resist, I collapsed back into the chair, my breathing shallow as I kept my gaze on her, waiting for the next command, eager to please. I'd never been this hard.

Her next words came out almost sickly sweet by comparison and I couldn't stop the rumble of disappointment in my chest. "You're my Valentine's Day present, and I want to enjoy you. So, you just sit there where I can ogle you while I work, and when I'm done, we'll see what we can do about those ropes."

I was torn.

I wanted her. I wanted to hear her scream in pleasure as she came. I wanted her to enjoy being in charge, and I wanted to follow her every command. But at the same time, I wanted to throw her onto the desk and drive into her again and again until she was falling over the edge, mine for the taking. I stared at her, unblinking, telegraphing everything I was thinking so she would understand without me having to say it.

She ignored my subtle attempts to intimidate her into releasing me, instead turning her attention to the files filling her inbox. All I could do was watch, and plan my revenge, and try to keep myself in check when she shifted and let out those little sounds of pleasure, casting me sexy, knowing looks.

For two hours, I submitted to her unique brand of torture, watching, waiting, anticipating. I almost lost it when her pen dropped to the floor and she followed it down, inadvertently pressing her breasts to the edge of the desk in the process and letting out an almost pained moan. Somehow, she'd managed to keep herself right on the cusp the entire time she'd been working, and if her reaction from the mere act of picking up a piece of stationery was anything to judge by, it wouldn't take much to push her past that final threshold and send her flying into the mother of all orgasms.

Eventually, she stood from the desk, picking up a short stack of files and coming around to stand in front of me. "I'll be back in a minute," she said. "I just need to drop these files with Tank."

She dropped a kiss on my lips, and I moved to cage her with my legs, but wasn't quick enough to lock her in place before she'd managed to dance away, amusement lighting her eyes even as she bit out, "Be good," in that same harsh tone as before.

Another growl escaped me before I could stop it, following her progress across the room to the exit. I couldn't take it anymore. I was an opportunist, and she'd just presented me with the opportunity I needed to turn this play around. The second the door was closed, I jumped up, hurrying around the desk and using my foot to open the top drawer, peering in to find the tool I needed: the knife I'd given her for defence, but she'd refused to carry with her. Turning around, I bent at the knees so I could reach in with my bound hands and fumbling with it until I had it in a position that I could use it to start hacking through ropes at my wrists.

It was sharp, of course, because despite the fact that it wasn't a weapon she used, I maintained it's edge for her just in case. Within minutes I'd sliced through one layer rope and felt my bonds slacken, allowing me to drop the knife and unwind the ties manually. With my arms free a few seconds later, I made quick work of the pink material on my chest, tugging the bow until it, too, unravelled and I laid it over the back of her office chair so it wouldn't pose a slip risk on the floor. I was in the process of undoing the ropes from around my waist when the door opened, and Steph stepped back inside.

Her face was redder than it had been when she left, making me wonder if I had to call Tank to the mats as well for any comments he'd just made to her. I couldn't bring myself to spare the thought too much space in my head, though, I dropped the ropes, intent on closing the distance between us and claiming what was mine. The way her face morphed from the sweet embarrassment mixing with desire to absolute fury, though, gave me pause.

"You just couldn't stand not being in control, could you?" she demanded, slamming the door shut and stalking to the other side of the desk, hands on hips.

I fucked up.

"Babe, I-" I tried to defend, to placate, to smooth the situation over and get back to the place we'd been before she left the room, but she wasn't having it.

"No, Ranger," she snapped, interrupting me. "This was one of the hottest things I've ever experienced - which is saying something considering our sex lives and your prowess in the bedroom - and you took it away from me. I was coming back in here ready to explore the fantasies that have been flooding my brain, keeping me right on the edge of coming since the second I saw you all tied up. I was so excited to be in full control for a change, but you just can't let it go, can you?"

Oh, I fucked up royally.

Having me tied up and at her mercy had unlocked something inside her that I'd never seen before and now I'd stolen it away from her. She was always so restrained thanks to her upbringing. It had taken me a lot of time and effort to get her to let go and really enjoy sex without worrying about what I or anyone else would think of her for it. We'd built trust and understanding until she was finally freely following her desires, but this morning was different. It was so much more than anything we'd achieved previously. And I'd severed that connection she'd made with her inner sex kitten.

"I thought-" I tried lamely but didn't bother finishing the sentence as a derisive snort escaped her throat. "I'll make it up to you," I said instead, not above pleading. "Full control. Anything you want - anything your heart desires - it's yours. I promise."

But it was too little, too late. She'd already lost that look in her eye.

Without looking, she snatched up the file from the top of the pile in her inbox and started wordlessly toward the door.

"Where are you going?" I called, sprinting as fast as I could with the ropes still trailing off my body to catch her before she made it to the door.

She paused, lifted the file enough to glance at the name on the front, but didn't turn to face me. "Hal's cubicle," she explained, a surreal calm having replaced the anger in her voice from a moment ago. "He needs help getting a lead on a skip."

"Babe," I pleaded.

But she shook her head. "You're the one who took away my favourite playtime option, Ranger," she pointed out, wrenching open the door. "I may as well continue to work instead."

And with that she was gone, leaving me alone in her office covered in ropes and hating myself. When had I gotten so stupid?

The look of disappointment on her face, lingering in my mind's eye was enough to wrench a frustrated noise out of my chest as I paced back toward the desk. There was no way I could follow her out there looking like this. And even if I removed the ropes, I had no idea where Lester had put my clothes. I wasn't concerned with the men seeing me in my underwear so much as I was the fact that I was pretty sure there was at least one client meeting happening on the floor today, and it wouldn't do to have them see the boss wondering around the office practically naked.

I glared at the pink satin, trying to come up with a plan to fix the situation I'd gotten myself into. I needed to make it up to my wife, to show her that I wasn't just taking away her fun and power. I needed to prove that I could be patient and let her follow her own desires to get us to that pleasurable place. I needed to-

A groan left my throat as my gaze cut to the phone on the corner of the desk.

I needed to call my cousin.

Ignoring the ropes still hanging off me, I snatched up the receiver and punched in Lester's number, waiting impatiently for fifteen seconds while it rang before he answered. "I need you to come to Steph's office," I stated before he'd even gotten a word out.

His smartass reply was instantaneous, and I hated that I'd decided he was the only option to help in this case. "I didn't think she'd be into threesomes, but I'm game if-"

"And you'll be meeting me on the mats at oh-five-hundred tomorrow," I gritted out.

The threat did nothing to erase the amusement from his voice. "I already pencilled you into my schedule before I tied you up," he explained. "You're nothing if not predictable"

I might have taken offence to that statement if it weren't for my overwhelming need to get Steph back to that uninhibited place she'd been in before she stepped out of the room. Predictability wasn't a good thing in my line of work. "Just get your ass in here," I snapped, and hung up, stopping just short of smashing the entire phone into tiny pieces.

The door opened two minutes later, Lester's smug face falling in confusion when he took in the room and my expression, but I didn't give him a chance to ask questions or comment before getting down to business. Thrusting the ropes and fabric I'd bundled up into his arms I commanded, "Tie me up exactly as before."

His lopsided grin washed away the confusion and concern as he pushed the door closed with a foot and followed me further into the room. "Steph didn't get enough the first-time round, huh?" he asked as I stood with my legs spread shoulder width apart and my hands clasped behind my back, waiting for him to commence his task. "If I'd known she was this kink-"

"Finish that sentence and we'll be meeting on the mats every morning for a month," I growled. Maybe there were better options I could have called on to undertake this task.

"Geez," he grumbled, dropping the ropes and satin onto one of the visitor's chairs and turning to face me. "So cranky. I would have thought you'd be a little more relaxed after round one."

"I fucked up."

His grin only widened, and I sincerely hoped he was deliberately misinterpreting my words. "Since when do you share details?" he enthused, eyebrows waggling in that annoying way he'd perfected in high school. "Tell me more!"

I shook my head, hating myself for letting this interaction come into existence. "No," I admitted. "I made a mistake. Steph said she wouldn't untie me until she'd finished her work, but when she ducked out to give Tank some files, I untied myself and now she's mad at me."

Lester blinked three times, dropping the ropes he'd been preparing to apply to my body to his side as he stared at me. "So now you're offering a do-over?"

"Obviously."

He frowned, his attention going from my face, down my body, to the rope in his hands. "And you want me to tie you up exactly the same as before?"

I eyed him the same way he'd been eyeing me. "You do know how you did it, don't you?"

"Well, yeah," he assured me, a thoughtful expression crossing his features as he continued contemplating the ropes piled on the chair. Glancing to me every so often. "But you were unconscious last time, so options were limited. We could do something different this time. Maybe more provocative? It is an apology, after all. And there are so many possibilities!" He started listing off different positions and knots and I had to wonder where this knowledge had been when we'd been on that first mission when we were in the Rangers and our captive had managed to escape because he'd used a dismal excuse for a knot.

"How do you know all this stuff?" I asked before I could stop the words.

"Well," he said, that Santos twinkle lighting his expression, and I immediately saw the error of my ways. There wasn't enough bleach in the world to erase any images he might put into my brain.

"I take it back," I said hastily, blaming my frustration and the look on Steph's face when she'd caught me untying myself for the fact that I'd asked in the first place. "I don't want to know. Just do it the same as before."

He scrunched up his nose. "You're no fun," he sulked.

I'd expected him to take a hint and just start tying me up, but instead he dropped the rope he'd been holding and grabbed out his phone.

"Who are you calling?" I demanded, but he ignored me, turning to pace away.

"Got an emergency in Steph's office," he said after a moment. "Need your help… just hurry."

Lester turned back to face me, unperturbed by the glare I'd levelled on him as I demanded to know who he'd just called in to witness this situation. It was bad enough that he knew about it. Rather than apologise or explain, though, he just held up a hand, all five fingers extended and slowly lowered them one by one.

Just as the final finger curled down, the door burst yet again to admit Bobby to the room. Of course. I should have guessed Lester would have a partner in crime, and now that I thought about it, the prick on my neck should have been a dead giveaway as to who it was, even if I hadn't jumped to the conclusion that it would be the medic.

"What's hap-" Bobby was asking, his gaze sweeping the room to locate the medical emergency he'd assumed Lester had called him in for. "-pened? Where's Steph?"

Before I could find my voice through the new wave of annoyance, Lester was explaining exactly what I'd told him just a few minutes earlier, his grin growing wider as Bobby's brows furrowed. He'd propped his hands on his hips and was looking from me to the pile of ropes to Lester, a calculating look in his eye. Finally, he landed back on me and proved how perfect he was for my cousin by repeating the exact confused question Lester had had when faced with the details of the circumstances. "And you want it exactly as before?" He shook his head in disappointment. "We can do better."

Grabbing the chair Steph had forced me into earlier, he set it in the middle of the room, directly behind where I'd been standing, waiting for them to tie me up and indicated that I should sit down.

*o*

Lester and Bobby stepped back from the final knots they'd been tying, eyeing their work with twin gleams in their eyes, nodding in approval before sharing a look. I was pretty sure they'd be retreating straight to their apartment when they left here if the heat in that look was anything to judge by, but I didn't allow myself to think about it. I already knew too much about my cousin's sex life just by knowing him for as long as I had. Without another word, they turned to leave, pausing at the door to share a passionate kiss before they stepped out. Bidding me luck over their shoulders.

Not even thirty seconds after they'd left, the distinct sound of the ringtone assigned to Steph's contact on my cell phone trilled out from the direction of the desk, slightly muffled as though it was coming from inside the wooden structure. My eyebrows shot up from the combined surprise that a) they'd thought to leave my belongings somewhere accessible so that I wouldn't be forced to exit the office in just my underwear, and b) Steph was calling me.

I just hoped she hadn't decided to go after Hal's skip and get herself in hot water.

The phone stopped, only to restart a second later, and the worry in my chest swelled uncomfortably. It would be just my luck that she'd need my help and I was unable to even answer the phone because I'd forced my friends to bind me to a chair for her pleasure. I was just wondering if I could somehow shuffle the chair across to the desk and reach the knife still lying on the blotter when the ringing shut off abruptly, much quicker than the first time around and the door opened.

Steph stood in the doorway, the worried crease in her forehead quickly morphing to one of surprise and then smoothing out entirely as her eyes darkened with arousal as her gaze roved over my form, lingering on my exposed erection. Her tongue darted out to lick her lips as she slowly slid the door shut. "Yum," she moaned.

"I'm sorry," I said quickly, needing to get my apology out, to let her know that I respected her needs and desire. I could tell by the look in her eyes as she stalked toward me that it hadn't taken much to get her back to that place she'd been in before I ruined it the first time around, which meant my time for making her understand that I knew how badly I'd fucked up was limited. "I shouldn't have untied myself and ruined your fun."

"No, you shouldn't have," she uttered, her eyes trained on the intricate pattern the knots on my thighs created, her fingers gently pressed at the flesh of my inner thigh where it bulged between two of the knots. It was a good thing I was tied down, because with just that one touch, I was ready to throw her onto the desk and slam into her. I was so hard it was almost painful.

"I screwed up, alright," I bit out, forcing my breathing to remain even as he repeated her actions from earlier, trailing her hands up my abs. "But I never once lied to you. I've done a lot of shit in my life, but loving you is different. I said I'd make it up to you, and that starts right now. I loved the way you took control and teased me earlier, and as soon as you came back and let me have a piece of your mind for untying myself, I regretted not allowing you to have your fun. You're so sexy when you-"

"Ranger," she interrupted, laying a hand on my cheek to make sure I was paying attention.

"Babe?"

"Stop talking," she commanded.

That slack feeling that had washed over me the first time she'd used the harsh tone was back, blanking my mind even as my cock strained to stand taller. I nodded and could only stare as she stepped back away from me, removing her clothes to reveal the creamy flesh I'd spent hours memorising, and the pale pink lingerie that somehow perfectly matched the stupid bow on my chest.

"You are going to do exactly what I say," she informed me, still with that sexy-as-fuck air of authority about her. "If at any point you do something I didn't ask you to do, this stops. Understood?"

I could only nod, having internalised the order to stop talking. If she wanted me to speak, she would tell me. I slowly travelled my eyes from the tips of her toes all the way up, my lips tipping up as a shudder ran through her and I returned my gaze to the apex of her thighs, noting with satisfaction the way the pink colour of the lace had darkened with moisture before finding her eyes once more. I poured all the love I had for her into that single point of contact and was rewarded when she returned it ten-fold.

"Time to play," she breathed, sliding slowly onto my lap.

END