Chapter Six
It should’ve made her nervous—hell, it should’ve scared her to death—to be trussed up and exposed like this, completely at a near-stranger’s mercy. Except somehow she knew Eric wasn’t going to hurt her, didn’t have nefarious plans for her spread out and helplessly bound body. Or if he did, she’d probably enjoy them. No, she was confident that if she said stop that he would stop. He might coax her into allowing him these…intimacies but he wouldn’t trulyforceher.
The pain and nausea that had been all-consuming were dulled but not erased by his ministrations, and she made a feeble whimper when he patted her bottom.
“There, that’s better. Now you’ll have to be a good girl for me, buttercup.”
“Yes, Eric,” she replied, her face flooding with a blush of shame and pleasure.
She could hear him rolling something over to beside the bed but couldn’t see it, but then she heard the sound of gloves being stretched over big hands and a cap being flicked open. And then—holy shit—she felt the cool, wet slide of lube over her asshole. When he’d said he was going to take her temperature…
“Just relax, baby. This won’t hurt, I promise. Take a deep breath and let me in.”
Except that for all she’d allowed him to do already, there was something visceral and alarming about him pushing inside her there. She wasn’t scared, exactly, it was just—
A gloved hand stroked her backside.
“Are you doing okay?”
“I…I don’t know.”
“That’s alright,” he soothed, continuing to pet her in a way that made her feel as though she was falling into a trance. His touch calmed her. “I’m a patient man. You take as long as you need to get comfortable. But answer one question. Do you trust me, Devy baby?”
The words penetrated all the fog of her pain and her nausea and even the growing thrum of arousal coursing through her body. And there was only one answer: “Yes, Eric.”
“That’s a huge compliment coming from you, buttercup. I bet you don’t trust easily, do you?”
Not knowing what possessed her, she shook her head, cheek rubbing against the soft white sheet. She didn’t. Especially not after Carter had asked for a divorce and then she saw who her true friends were. Carter hadn’t been trustworthy. People weren’t trustworthy. It made her sad.
Except something deep in her soul told her Eric was different. He was a good man, a kind man, and he wasn’t going to abuse her trust.
“Thank you for trusting me. I promise never to violate the faith you’ve placed in me.”
His steady reassuring words were what let her loosen her muscles, and his finger that had been circling the entrance to her back channel pressed gently inside.
“That’s a good girl. Just like that. I’m going to open you up to take the thermometer I use on special patients.”
Devaney lay there as Eric petted her, stroked his finger in and out of her backside, occasionally adding more lubricant and talking to her softly. She still felt yucky but also probably more relaxed than she had in years now that she’d settled down about Eric putting his finger in her…there.
Carter had hinted that he wanted to engage in some backdoor action but she hadn’t actually trusted him to keep her safe while they did so, so despite being curious she’d demurred. Maybe this was what she’d been waiting for. The way Eric was doing it actually felt pretty good now that she wasn’t tense.
The tension melted out of her, almost like it was dissipating through the restraints Eric had applied. It was this dreamy kind of state where she literally couldn’t do anything so for once she could truly let go.
She was almost sorry when Eric withdrew his finger. It was quickly replaced by something definitely bigger than a typical thermometer but slimmer than the digit he’d been slowly probing her with. It didn’t hurt, but it did feel odd to have something smooth and slick pushed into her ass.
“There’s my good girl. We’ll leave that in for ten minutes to get an accurate reading.”
Ten minutes sounded like a long time, but when Eric stripped off his gloves and came to sit beside her to rub her back and pet her hair it didn’t feel so long. She even drifted off until he was removing the thermometer.
“Normal temperature so that’s good. I didn’t expect you to have a fever but it’s smart to check. Now we’re going to get some nutrition into you before I tuck you in for bedtime. And don’t even think about telling me you’re not tired.”
All she could do was make a sleepy “mmph” because the truth was that she was exhausted. Even if she weren’t bound, she didn’t think she’d be able to get out of bed. At least not for very long—she’d likely collapse.
Carter would’ve been angry she wasn’t helping, wasn’t working, and she had driven herself into the ground trying to win his approval. So unlike Eric. She could hear the smile in his voice when he said, “Oh, yes, there’s my sleepy little Devy. Just rest and I’ll be back in a few minutes.”
He didn’t have to ask her twice.
It felt like no time at all before he was back by her side, but that was probably due to the weird twilight state she found herself in. Awake enough to enjoy how loose and fluid she felt—like someone could simply pour her out of a pitcher—but not awake enough to be mortified about her current position.