“Alex, come out here.” Daniel’s voice startled her and Alex jumped up and hurried out of the room. Liam and Daniel were both wearing shorts, Liam in a T-shirt, the sleeves of which hugged his thickly muscled arms and pulled against his strong back, Daniel in a tank top so tight it could have been painted onto his broad chest and sculpted abs.
“It’s such a nice evening,” Liam said with a smile. “We’re going to go out in the backyard and enjoy it. I’m going in late tomorrow morning so we can take our time.” He held a whip in his hand. It had three long braided tails of shiny black leather. On his arm, he carried a small duffel bag. Daniel held a riding crop, its handle and little rectangular head dyed blood red. Alex stared at the implements.
“Outside?” she asked in a tiny voice.
“Don’t worry,” Daniel assured her. “It’s very private out back. Our nearest neighbors can’t see a thing through the trees and foliage. I made sure of that when I was designing it. A little fresh air will do you good.”
The three of them walked down the stairs and back through the house to the kitchen. They stepped out into the backyard. The grass was soft and lush beneath Alex’s bare feet. She noticed Daniel was barefoot as well, though Liam wore black leather sandals.
Alex followed the two men toward the back of the property, feeling in a way as if she were being taken to stand before a firing squad. At the same time, her perverse little cunt was tingling with anticipation, her nipples perking with excitement. They walked down a slope toward a small copse of trees. Alex saw there was a small table and chairs set there near a large canvas hammock resting on its own frame. Liam put the duffel and the whip on the table. Daniel set the crop down as well.
Liam unzipped the bag and pulled out a neatly coiled length of thin white rope. As he unraveled it, Alex saw it was actually four pieces of rope. “Go stand between those two trees,” he ordered her. Alex did as she was told, nervous butterflies flapping in her belly.
Liam tossed Daniel two of the pieces of rope. “Hold out your wrists,” Daniel said. Each man slipped a length of rope around her slender wrist, tightening it with a slipknot. They lifted her arms up high on either side of her and tied the rope to low-slung, sturdy branches. “Spread your legs,” Daniel ordered, and when she didn’t spread them far enough, he kicked at her ankle and said, “Farther.”
Alex obeyed. She couldn’t help but glance nervously around her as they tied her ankles. The foliage was indeed dense and she relaxed a little. At least no nosy neighbor would interfere with whatever they had planned for her. Because of the last several days with them, Alex wasn’t afraid. She trusted both men completely. More than that, she had to admit she found her situation thrilling—to be bound between two trees, spread taut and completely at the mercy of her two Masters.
They left her alone a moment as they both returned to the table, murmuring quietly, their heads touching. Alex strained to hear but couldn’t make out what they were saying. They returned in a moment, and Daniel said, “You’re going to be punished now, Alex. Tell us why.”
“For coming in the restaurant,” she said timidly.
“For coming without permission,” Liam corrected. He stepped behind her and all at once gripped her throat with his arm, pulling her back. She gasped, instinctively struggling against him. He tightened his grip. “Don’t move,” he ordered.
Alex stilled at once, not because of his command but because Daniel now approached her with a sharp-looking knife, its edge gleaming in the last rays of the setting sun. Alex gave a strangled cry. “I’m afraid of knives.”
“It’s good to be afraid,” Daniel said, coming right up to her, his eyes gleaming. He touched the point of the knife to her breastbone. Her heart pounded just beneath it. Alex couldn’t stifle her whimper. She shrank back against Liam, whose arm was still around her throat.
“Please,” she begged. “You’re scaring me.”
Liam released his grip, though he still held her. “Calm yourself, Alex,” he said gently. “Remember, we will never harm you. If you feel overwhelmed, you have your safeword. That will stop the action at once. Do you want to use your safeword, Alex?”
Alex swallowed hard, saying nothing for several beats. She was truly frightened, but at the same time, she was wildly aroused. They would never harm her. She needed to hold on to that. Slowly, she shook her head. “No, Sir. I want to continue.”
Liam smiled. “Good girl.” He glanced to Daniel.
Daniel, who had stepped back during this interchange, again lifted the knife. He touched the point of the knife to her chest.