When he’d finished securing the cuffs, Arthur stepped between Saoirse’s thighs and set his hands on her hips, trying his best to not let on about the frisson of lust that was running through him at seeing her like this. Beautiful, and all his. But he didn’t want his feelings coloring her response so he’d keep that to himself until he knew.
“Saoirse, sweetheart? You’re awfully quiet and I’m having a hard time figuring out what’s going on in your head. Can you talk to me, tell me how you’re feeling?”
His little princess gazed back at him and for a moment he thought she wasn’t going to answer. Some submissives could go non-verbal if they were deep in a scene—perhaps Saoirse was more deeply affected by being kitted out this way than he’d expected. He’d give her another few seconds and then he’d take her out of all this, see if she’d speak to him then.
“I—”
She swallowed, and he exhaled with relief.
“Go on. You can tell me. Anything you’re feeling is fine and you’re not going to upset me, promise.”
He itched to slide his fingers into her hair, pull her in to kiss, but that would have to wait. If she still wanted that from him at all.
He’d meant it when he said anything she was feeling was fine but he did hope she wasn’t suddenly flooded with disgust by who he had been to her. Or perhaps still was in her mind.
But she didn’t look disgusted when she met his gaze.
“I think I might feel like people do when they win the lottery?”
Arthur stifled a laugh—that wasn’t what he’d been expecting. “How so?”
“Like I somehow got so, so lucky, unbelievably lucky, but I’m also kind of freaking out about this thing I’ve wanted for so long actually coming true. I don’t want to screw it up. And it’s…”
She looked down at her hands, encased in the padded purple mitts, and then back at him.
“There are just a lot of things going on in my head. It’s like a pinball machine up in here.”
Her smile was tight but she was trying so hard and he perhaps hadn’t doled out as much praise as he should have.
“First of all, I also feel like I’ve won the lottery. I’ve pushed you so hard in the last day and a half and you’ve been absolutely brilliant. Second, it’s okay to be overwhelmed. I wasn’t expecting this and I’m hoping I don’t screw anything up either. Neither of us is going to be perfect and that’s okay. We’ll just go into this with open hearts and patience and keep the lines of communication open and everything will be fine.”
“How do you know?”
“Because I know I love you and nothing you could ever do will change that. Even if you said ‘cherries’ this very second and we backed way the hell up, I’ll still love you and want to take care of you. Having your trust is one of the great accomplishments of my life.”
Saoirse sniffed and pushed at his chest with one of her mitts. “You’re going to make me cry.”
“That’s okay. Crying’s not against the rules.”
He did slide his hands up her body then, cupping her face in his palms and sweeping his thumbs across her cheeks. Saoirse looked up at him through her lashes and his heart ached with how much he adored her.
“Is…is kissing against the rules?”
Oh, sweet girl.
“What kind of kisses, princess?”
He leaned in and pressed his lips first to her temple, then to her cheek, then right below her ear. Saoirse sighed and tipped her head to give him better access which he took full advantage of, mouthing her neck from her jaw down to her collarbone. He let his hands wander over her too—underneath her dress so he could feel the warm skin of her back, down to her thighs, up to her hair where he slid his fingers into it and grasped a handful at the roots.
She made a sound that was ecstasy tinged with a note of pain and it made him want to scoop her up, take her to his bed and fuck her there. His princess, his darling, and likely the best bad decision he’d ever made.
Arthur wanted to taste more than this small patch of skin, he wanted to taste all of her. And despite the good doctor’s orders, he was sure Eric would understand why he just had to get his princess off at least one more time today.