What about a ten-minute break so I can unscramble my brain and remember that you’re only here for the night and we shouldn’t be doing this?
Owen laughed. “I did, but you’re hard as a rock. What kind of friend would I be to leave you like this? So give me a turn. Let me be in control.”
Jeremy forced a glare. “Planning to hit me with those? Because you know I can kick your ass.”
“I know exactly what you can do to my ass, Jeremy.” Owen laughed again, softer this time. “Did Tasha scare you with her stories? I know you said she loves to shock. But this time all I want is to see you put your hands behind your back, and I’ll use these to keep them there so I can do things to you that I know you’ll like.”
Speaking of things he liked… “No fucking without my permission.”
Owen held up his hands. “I’ll keep my penis to myself, I swear. I’m not going to take advantage of you. For the moment.”
Jesus. Owen wanted to tie him up with his own damn suspenders? “If I agreed to do this, will you stop when I ask? Let me go if I don’t like it?”
“How long have you known me? Of course I will. In the club we would have a conversation about limits and safety. We would talk until you told me every secret forbidden thing that turned you on. But this is one area where I finally know more than you do. I know you, Jeremy Porter. Your personality, your history—and I’m ready to learn everything there is to know about your body. I already have a pretty good idea that you’ll like this. You need this. If I’m wrong, I’ll stop as soon as you say the words.”
Jeremy closed his eyes, shaking his head. He’d gone crazy. All the blood had permanently relocated from his brain to his cock. That was the only reason why what Owen was saying sounded appealing. He put his hands behind his back.
“One time, Owen. Just one.”
“We’ll see.”
This wasn’t his thing, he repeated to himself as Owen stepped behind him and coiled the suspenders into some kind of braided harness down his arms, tying them off at his wrists with a skill that was startling.
“Relax, Jeremy. I’m not going to hurt you. You know I’m not. Just let yourself go.” Owen’s voice was hypnotic, his breath warm on Jeremy’s neck. “Let me take care of you this time.”
The restraints made him feel like a raw nerve, helpless and wondering what Owen would do next. “They’re a little stiff and the metal is sharp.”
“Are they hurting you?”
“No.”
One hot palm cupped the cheek of Jeremy’s ass and he bit his lip, waiting for the sting of a slap. It didn’t come. Just this. Owen’s hand possessively caressing his skin, tracing the raised scar tissue of his tattoos and stroking him so tenderly Jeremy wanted to pull away.
“These are the real things,” Owen mused. “I thought the Maori didn’t go for tattooing visitors in the traditional way.”
“My friend made an appeal from one artist to another. His cousin honored me by agreeing in exchange for a few rare comic books I brought with me.”
“He honored you all over your backside and down your legs, didn’t he?” Owen’s touch followed the markings to his thighs. “They do it with chisels, right? Something like that had to hurt like hell.”
Jeremy tipped his head back, all his attention focused on Owen’s touch. “It did.”
“But there’s so much of it. You didn’t make him stop? How did you stand the pain?”
Jeremy licked his dry lips. “There was pain, I won’t lie, but most of the time I was flying on adrenaline. It’s a test of endurance and will as much as anything else. And what I got in return was worth it. It was a rush.”
“Pain and adrenaline,” Owen repeated. “You must have a hell of a lot of endurance, Jeremy. And you liked the way it made you feel. I wish you knew how promising that sounds. How irresistible. I also wish you’d told me sooner. After your last birthday, for example.”
“What?”
He pinched Jeremy’s ass and moved until he was standing in front of him, looking down into his now open eyes. “Did I wrap you up too tight? Anything hurting? Can you still feel your fingers?”
“I’m fine,” Jeremy muttered. “What about my birthday?”
Owen put his hands on Jeremy’s chest and held them there. Just held them still so he could feel his own heart beating against Owen’s palms. The strength in the simple touch. “As a reward for trusting me to do this I’ll tell you. You think Tasha’s party was the first time I saw you making someone’s night? Do you remember the concert? The woman you showed up with as your date? The one you disappeared with for some seriously acrobatic sex in the public restroom during the show you’d begged us to get tickets to?”