Page 81 of A Crown of Lies

“And you broke one of my rules, didn’t you?”

“Yes, sir!”

Rowan let him go and shook out his hand as if holding Ieduin that way had hurt him. “So now we must discusslimits. I know from experience what some of his hard limits are, but we have yet to try out punishments. So, boy, let’s go down the list for our special guest. You previously said no clamps, needles, or pins. Does that stand?”

Ieduin sucked in a breath through his teeth. “Clamps are fine. Needles are a soft limit. I’m not shy about pain, but I don’t want any new holes that won’t be healed by tomorrow morning.”

“And you have piercings. How open are you to incorporating those?”

“Jewelry is fine. New piercings or any stretching of the ones I have is a no.”

“Impact restrictions?” Rowan asked.

“No canes. No marks to the face, no impacts on the arms or legs. I need those to shoot and march. You can smack my ass all you want, though.” Ieduin said the last part with a flirty grin.

Rowan was all business as they continued, using the same serious tone he’d used to negotiate with her father. “Floggers, paddles, and riding crops?”

“Yes, yes, and yes,” Ieduin said, counting on his fingers.

Finally, Rowan cracked a grin. “How about sounding rods?”

Ieduin’s face fell slightly. He swallowed. “I don’t know. I’ve never done that.”

“We’ll try it. And if you don’t like it, we can always stop.”

Rixxis frowned, glancing back and forth between them. “What are sounding rods?”

“You’ll see.” Rowan winked at her. He turned back to Ieduin, and they continued down a list.

There were more things on that list that Rixxis had never considered before, and things that she’d never even heard of. Yet Ieduin agreed to a lot, more than she would have ever thought anyone would. With each agreement, he ceded more and more power to Rowan, giving him permission to do nearly anything he wanted.

As they negotiated, Rowan washed Ieduin from head to toe, taking plenty of care with his hair and Ieduin relaxed again.

Once the negotiations were done, and every part of Ieduin was as clean as it could be, Rowan held the bar of soap out to her. “Would you allow me the honor of cleaning you, my cruel queen?”

Rixxis reached for the soap.

He pulled it out of reach. “Remember the rules, my dear. Remember my heart.”

Remember, this is us at our most honest.

No more lying to myself. What do I really want? What could I do if I was unafraid? Who would I be? What could I experience?The questions danced through her mind one after another, and the answer was in that bar of soap, in Rowan’s hands, in the room full of strange and wonderful things.

Slowly, she lowered her arms and nodded. “Okay. Yeah.”

He moved behind her, starting with her shoulders. “We could tell you a hundred times every hour of every day how beautiful you are, and you would never believe us. I wish that you could see yourself as we do, Rixxis.”

Her throat was tight as he lifted her arms, one at a time, gently washing each. “And how do you see me?”

“Strong,” he said, and kissed her shoulder. “Capable. Intelligent. And yes, beautiful.” A kiss accompanied each new compliment, each one higher than the last. The final one was against the nape of her neck, and he had to stand up on his toes to give it.

As he did, his arousal brushed against her backside. She tensed until she realized there was no reason to. He wouldn’t hurt her, and she could always leave or use one of his stop words and everything would end. Besides, she realized, checking in with herself, she liked feeling him against her. She enjoyed knowing that her body, which had only ever caused her grief and embarrassment, aroused him. Now it was doing something else, something good for someone else, and for her. There was no reason to be uneasy about something they both wanted.

“There are so many things I want to show you,” he murmured into the back of her neck. “So many things I’d like to do with you, with this beautiful body, if you’d let me. Things I know would make you feel good, my cruel queen.”

Rixxis closed her eyes and forced her shoulders to relax. She turned her head. “Like what?”

Rowan pressed his lips to her ear, dragging his fingers over her chest. His fingertips lingered over her peaked nipples. “These… I have the most beautiful little clamps for these. They won’t hurt. They’ll only heighten sensation for you, and enjoyment for us both.”

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