Page 64 of The Restoration Program
“Maybe… we should try something new,” he said. “Tonight.”
“Something new?”
“If what we’re doing isn’t working for you, that means we have to get a little more creative, right?” He moved her to the pillow. His hands rested on either side of her, and his eyes roved her up and down in thought. “I dunno, maybe we should try something weird.”
Nicole gave a startled giggle. “How weird are we talking?”
“Well, it’s still my birthday, right?” He dragged his teeth over his bottom lip—both coy and aching. There was something sweet about his sheepishness, but it left her apprehensive about what he had in mind. “You still have your knitting stuff in the closet?” he asked.
She blinked at him. “Uh, yeah. I think so. Buried under a bunch of other crap. Why? Want me to knit you a scarf for your birthday?”
He ducked to kiss her cheek before he sprang out of bed. “Be right back.”
Nicole stared at the doorway, puzzled as she listened to him rummage through the hall closet until he found what he was looking for. He strode back into the room with an untouched skein of red yarn and a pair of scissors.
He sat at the edge of the bed and carefully unraveled a small length of yarn, peeking up at her several times before he cut the length that he wanted. Her heart took up a faster pace as he wound the yarn between his fingers and tugged experimentally. His eyes settled back on her, and he crawled the rest of the way onto the bed, kneeling in front of the pillow.
“You…” Nicole’s eyes stayed locked on the red string, and her voice petered out. She cleared her throat. “You want to tie me up?”
He shrugged, looking even more shy than before. “A little harmless roleplay never hurt anyone. Come on, what happened to the girl who lost her top at Cynthia’s New Year’s Eve party three years in a row?”
“Ryan!” A laugh loosened some of the tension in her chest. “That wasone time, not three.”
“If you say so.” He lowered onto hands and knees, looming over her. “I bet I could make that wild side come out again tonight. Hm?”
“Someone’s cocky,” Nicole scoffed. Her smirk wavered. “I just don’t know how exciting I can be as your birthday present this way.”
He leaned down and pressed a comforting kiss to the side of her neck. “Is it okay that I like some of the new differences between us?”
“I… I think so.”
“You’re so delicate. Soperfect,” Ryan whispered. “I like holding you in my hand. It feels good.”
Nicole kissed him back with her eyes open. Her gaze drifted to the edge of the pillow, where the red yarn was still wrapped around his fingers. Even with the nervous fluttering in her stomach, denying him was difficult when he had that glimmer in his eye. With a dramatic sigh, Nicole held out her arms in front of her.
“Alright, just a little cops and robbers bullshit,” she sighed.
His bright smile was all the balm she needed—for now.
Ryan pinched her wrists together, guiding them over her head. Nicole was stiff and slow with his guidance, feeling like an action figure being posed by its curator. His expression hardened with focus as he wound the yarn around her wrists and tightened it into a knot. She found herself lying on her back, stretched out and vulnerable in the chill of the vast bedroom.
“Too tight?” Ryan asked.
“I don’t think so.”
“Okay. Try to get out.”
Nicole gave him a strange look.It’s for his birthday,she told herself. The least she could do was play along. She squirmed and strained against the coarse threads to his satisfaction. The knot wouldn’t budge. She shivered, wishing she had at least a little wiggle room to get out if she really needed to.
But she wouldn’t need to. This was just a game.
His eyes were charged as they roved her body. She scarcely recognized that look—it stole her breath. “You have no idea how amazing you look,” he said, as if able to hear the nervous stammer in her pulse.
He stroked her long hair across the pillow, letting his fingertips dance over her trembling fists before sitting back.
Bringing her bound hands in front of her, she started to rise, too. “Why didn’t you tell me before this was on your mind? We haven’t done bondage since those handcuffs—”
Quick as lightning, his hand returned to tug her wrists back into position over her head. Nicole’s back hit the pillow. His voice drowned out her yelp.
