Page 35 of Room Twenty-Three: Tangled & Teased

My heart pounds. Each beat feels like it’s trying to break out of my ribcage. The pounding gets harder as I watch Jove stride to the rear wall, his fingers touching the jute stacked on the table. There are individual bundles of colorful twines and neutral colors on the table. As well as thicker rope hanging from the ceiling apparatus.

“Are you still sure about this, Erin?” Jove asks, bringing back the bundles of rope he inspected.

I nod.

“From now on, we need words. We need to know if you want more; if you want less; if you want to stop.” Jove hands bundles of twine of different colors and thicknesses to Beau and Atty. Then he turns and looks at me, staring at my face for a moment before he chooses purple, pink and a pale blue. “Do you want to do this?”

“Yes.”

“How far?”

“I trust you,” I whisper.

He smiles. I think it’s the first genuine smile he’s given me. “Undress her.”

Eek!

I fiddle with the fabric of my dress. “Can I leave my underwear on?”

“You’re going to be perfect. You are perfect,” Beau says, his palm touching my cheek tenderly. I can’t help but lean into his soft touch.

“If you want to,” Jove says, and I’m disappointed he didn’t object.

He doesn’t like you, not like that.

I know he doesn’t like me in the way I know Atty and Beau do. I also know he is the barrier to being more than one night.

I can’t think about it for now. My life might end after tonight. So for now, I want to think about what I am going to feel.

Jove stands in front of me as Atty stands behind and strokes along my shoulder and down my arms. Each slide of his fingers over my skin makes my whole body tingle. He wraps his hands around my wrists, lifting one hand and kissing my palm.

“You trust us?” Jove asks, checking I truly meant what I told him.

I said it but, do I?

My gaze wanders over the rope hanging from the ceiling and the metal apparatus in the shape of a H. When I was staring into the room a couple of days ago, it was the H apparatus the lady was strapped to that took my breath away. Now it’s the other side of the room where a large metal circle hangs from the ceiling.

Now I know I want to be tied up and dangle from that ring, and I’ll be at their mercy while I am.

Do I trust them?

I swallow and nod.

“I need to hear it,” Jove chastises.

“Yes, I do.” Making my voice sound strong and confident, while hoping he doesn’t change his mind. If anyone will end this at any point, I know it’s him.

There’s a tic in his jaw, but he quickly hides the strange look he gave me and unravels a bundle of jute.

“We’re going to remove your dress now, Erin. Is that okay?” Beau asks. My heart revs up a notch, imagining what I’ll look like in my underwear. My body is okay from years of ballet training, but I’m jiggly, not toned like I should be, and my ass and tits are larger than average.

The three men are fit; Atty is muscles on muscles. Will they think my body is not sexy, or that I let myself go?

Maybe they’ll like your curves.

Then I smile when I remember my friend Lia telling me,“You’re beautiful. Show it off.”

“You can,” I say after a moment of musing.

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