Iris fake-coughed, “Internalized misogyny,” and I’d never loved a person more than I did in that moment. She was so freaking badass.
Clarice moved on from vibrators and dildos to handcuffs and straps. She tossed a pair to Wren who tucked them in her lap like she had no plans of giving them back. I really hoped she and Callum were freaks. That was my secret wedding wish for her.
Hope and Iris were interested in the sex wedge. Clarice got down on the floor to demonstrate all the positions one could get into while using it. I drank more sangria and examined Clarice’s stash. There were long, black straps with red, fabric cuffs on the end. I held them up, unsure what exactly they were for.
“Those attach to your headboard and footboard.” Claire Cantrell was girl-next-door pretty, with round hips and full breasts, brunette curls and freckles across her nose. She also happened to be married to a rock legend.
It took me a second to register what she was saying. I raised the straps higher, looking them over. “They do?”
She nodded, giving me a warm, cheeky grin. “Mmhmm. You get into position and your partner wraps the cuffs around your wrists and ankles.”
“Do you speak from experience?” It was none of my damn business, but I’d just told everyone I didn’t have sex with my not-boyfriend, so it seemed like social constructs were being toppled—at least for the span of this party.
“Oh yeah,” Claire practically purred. “You don’t have to use all four restraints. My favorite is when he leaves one leg undone and…”
Her shiver said everything she needed to say.
“It’s my fantasy to be tied up,” I told her. “I haven’t tried it, but I think I’d love it.”
“Before Dom, I was straight vanilla. With him, the trust is so absolute, it’s easy to explore parts of myself I never would have—parts I hadn’t even known existed.”
“That’s the thing—I’ve never trusted a man that way.” But I kept running my fingers along the straps anyway. I wanted them, and I really wanted to eventually have a partner I could test the waters I’d been eyeing from dry land for much too long.
Claire sipped her drink. “I understand. I was married before, and I never would have dreamed of letting him tie me up.” She scoffed. “He probably would have strapped me to the bed then gotten distracted by a work email or something.”
“I’m glad you’re not married to him anymore.”
Everything about her softened. Her eyes got a faraway look. “Me too.Metoo.”
Clarice had been underselling how private she kept our purchases. I didn’t really care if anyone saw what I was buying, but she insisted on wrapping my purchases in plain brown paper and tucking them into a bag.
By the time I left Iris’s place, I was tipsy and happy. Aside from Natalie’s strangely aggressive and out-of-place comment, the afternoon had been a delight. And now, I had sex toys to play with and straps to tuck away until a trustworthy, kind-of-kinky Prince Charming crossed my path.
Adam intercepted me before I even got in my door, taking my shopping bag right out of my hand.
“Were you looking out the peephole for me?” I asked.
“No. I’m hurt you'd accuse me of something like that.” His crooked grin betrayed his denial. He’d totally been looking out for me.
He followed me inside, still clutching my bag. “What’s in here?”
“Things.” I reached for it, but he yanked it back, holding it high over his head. “Give it to me.”
I jumped for it, but sangria was still swimming through my blood, so I didn’t quite stick my landing and fell into Adam, knocking him back into a wall. He laughed at me even as he steadied me.
“I really can’t look in the bag?”
“Nope.” This time when I made a grab for it, he let me have it. “You do know what kind of bachelorette party I went to, right?”
His brow furrowed. “A girly one?”
“It was a sex toy party.” I held the bag up. “This is filled with sex toys.”
The furrow deepened. “That’s a thing women do together? You go to parties and fill up bags with vibrators?”
I snorted, brushing past him, heading for my living room. “And a lot of other things.” I peered over my shoulder at him. “You want to hear about this?”
He trailed me into the living room, plopping down on what had become his cushion. “Let me see what you bought.”