Page 87 of Lies like Rubies, Part One

“Good kitty,” he said, soothing her reddened nipple with his tongue before reaching up to flick a finger over the bell at her neck.

I sat beside Sofia on the bed, running my hands up and down her body in gestures that were more comforting than sexual, waiting for Dante’s next move.

He brought a black duffle bag out of his closet and revealed a variety of restraints. Sofia’s luminous blue eyes got bigger and bigger as he unpacked the bag. “What’s my punishment?” she whispered.

I ran my hands up her sides and down her arms, drawing them above her head before cuffing them together. “Count your orgasms, baby.”

“Thirteen,” she whispered. “That doesn’t sound so bad.”

“That’s because you’ve never been forced to endure thirteen orgasms before,” I answered as I tied the cuffs to the headboard.

She hummed, disbelieving, and I let her enjoy the fantasy. She’d change her mind.

Dante knelt at her feet, attaching them to the bottom of the bed. She took my breath away, so fucking gorgeous, lying there, trembling and scared and brave and utterly drenched with her need. My sweet Sofia—oursweet Sofia—was a closet kinkster, and she didn’t even know it.

I joined him near the doorway, watching her breath speed up as her nerves overtook her and, hopefully, she realized how far in over her head she was. “Sofia, baby, do you know why we’re punishing you?”

She furrowed her brow. “I still don’t understand how orgasms are a punishment.”

Dante’s laugh was short and cruel. “That’s because you’re an inexperienced slut who sold yourself without knowing what she was getting into.”

Sofia flinched but squirmed on the bed despite herself.

“God, a perfect fucking slut. Look at you, beautiful and open there on the bed, waiting for us,” I murmured as my eyes roved over her flushed and trembling body. She blushed and squirmed again.

“Why are we punishing you, slut?” Dante asked, repeating my question from earlier.

“Because I didn’t tell you about one another?” she said, unsure of herself.

“Because you don’t keep any fucking secrets from your dominants,” I snapped.

“You weren’t my goddamned dominant at the time, Nick,” she snapped back. “What does that even mean? To be my dominant?”

“It means you belong to us, slut,” Dante answered. My eyebrows shot to my hairline at his easy acceptance that we would both master this delightful woman. Idly, I wondered if Dante shared women frequently, or if he made an exception for our Sofia.

“Why are you being punished, Sofia?” I asked her once again, wanting to make sure she understood the reason for the torment to come.

“Because I kept you both a secret from one another,” she sighed. “That’s not fair. This is still new to me, and I don’t know all the rules.” She lifted her head so she could meet Dante’s eyes. “In fact, I want a list of rules, so I know before I break them.”

“No fucking anyone but us,” Dante snarled. “And stop stalling.”

I lay a finger on his arm, not sure how he’d react to being touched, to letting me moderate his ire. He looked at me with a raised eyebrow. “We can negotiate rules in the morning, sweetheart,” I said.

“Nico and I will discuss the rules and inform you in the morning,” Dante corrected.

I shrugged. Close enough. I’d ask her for hard and soft limits while we were at it.

“Fuck you both,” Sofia bit out, her body flushing to match the fury in her voice. “If you're my doms, then I’m your sub, and you, Dante, owe me better fucking treatment.”

Dante laughed cruelly. “I’m not your dom, Sofia. I’m your owner. This isn’t a BDSM relationship like you read about on the Internet.”

I agreed. There was nothing risk aware or consensual about their relationship, but that didn’t mean the relationship between Sofia and I had to be the same way.

“We’ll take it slow, baby,” I said, squeezing her hip. “And I promise to treat you like the princess you are.”

Dante chuckled softly. “Speak for yourself, Nico.”

I stared at him over Sofia’s body as she tried to control her breathing, her limbs trembling with fear, desire, or both. “Feel free to keep on treating her like shit. See where it gets you in the long run.”

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