Page 64 of Kotori
"Touch," she breathes, shame burning in her cheeks even as desperation drives the admission. "Please touch me. Please make it stop. I'll do anything."
"Anything?" I trace the air just above her skin, close enough that she can feel the heat but not the contact she's craving. "Such a generous offer from someone who spent the evening questioning my authority."
Her head falls back in frustration when I don't give her what she needs. "I'm sorry. I'm so sorry. I was wrong, I understand that now. Please..."
"Please what?"
"Please let me come." The words are barely audible, wrung from what's left of her pride. "I'm dying, I can't think, I can't breathe, please just..."
"No."
The single word hits her like a physical blow. A sob escapes her throat as the hope dies in her eyes.
"But you've learned so much tonight," I continue, settling back onto my cushion to watch her suffer so beautifully. "You'velearned that your pleasure belongs to me. That I decide when you receive it, how you receive it, if you receive it at all."
She makes a sound of pure anguish, her bound body writhing uselessly against the rope that won't give her what she desperately needs.
"The lesson isn't complete yet, kotori. Your body needs to understand that satisfaction comes only through my generosity. That every sensation you crave exists at my discretion."
"How long?" she whispers brokenly.
"Until dawn. Until you've learned that your desires mean nothing without my permission to fulfill them." I lean forward, letting her see the dark satisfaction in my eyes. "Until you understand that even your most desperate pleas won't sway me unless I choose to be moved."
Her tears come freely now—part frustration, part exhaustion, part the overwhelming realization that she's completely at my mercy and I'm choosing not to show any.
"Perfect." I rise from the desk and move to kneel beside her, one hand cupping her face to tilt it up to mine. "And what does that understanding make you want, kotori?"
"To please you," she whispers, tears streaming down her cheeks. "To never disappoint you again. To be whatever you want me to be."
"Good girl." The praise makes her shudder with something beyond physical need. "And what about my decisions regarding Mizuki-chan? What have you learned about interfering with family matters?"
"That it's not my place. That I don't understand enough to have opinions. That I should trust your judgment about what's best for your daughters."
"Excellent." I trace the rope pattern across her chest, feeling how her heart races under my touch. "One more lesson, kotori. The most important one."
I lean close enough that my lips brush her ear as I speak.
"You'll never threaten to leave this household again. Not because you can't, but because you won't want to. Because after tonight, you'll understand that this is where you belong. Bound, helpless, completely mine."
Her sob is part relief, part surrender, part something deeper that sounds like broken gratitude.
As dawn light begins filtering through the shoji screens, I finally reach for the knots that will release her from the rope's embrace. But not completely—never completely. Some bindings are too perfect to untie.
She collapses forward when I release her wrists, catching herself on shaking arms while feeling returns to numbed limbs. I gather her gently, lifting her to the bed where she can finally rest.
"Sleep now, kotori," I murmur against her temple. "When you wake, you'll be exactly who you were always meant to be."
She's unconscious before her head touches the pillow, exhaustion finally claiming what the rope had held captive all night.
I watch her sleep for a few minutes, studying the rope marks that will fade but the lesson that will remain forever.
As she sleeps, I check my phone messages. The situation in Seoul has escalated beyond what my lieutenants can handle. My presence is required immediately. The timing is inconvenient. But perhaps perfect in its own way.
I make the necessary call. "Prepare the jet. I leave for Seoul in three hours."
Then I compose a message for Hayashi with instructions for the American teacher's care during my absence. Three weeks should be sufficient time for this lesson to fully settle into her bones, for her to understand exactly what her place is in this household.
And when I return, we'll see just how thoroughly she's learned to crave what only I can provide.
