Bound by Design: A Binding Ties Story Read online

  He may bind her body, but can he bind her heart?

  A Binding Ties story.

  Jenn spends her days crafting custom-designed slave jewelry, but wear a collar herself? No, thanks. Been there, done that, burned the T-shirt. That whole Master/slave scene was too much of a roller coaster ride. Then Scott, an architect with a dominant side, enters her life. Something about him makes her body come alive with longings for another taste of the lifestyle.

  Scott’s life fell apart when he tried to deny his dominant tendencies. He’s determined to convince Jenn that denying her submissive needs would be a big mistake. Her response is so strong, so sweet, he finds himself falling again and falling apart for the smart and sexy sub.

  Suddenly, something he thought he’d never have seems within reach—a forever love tied up in a nice leather bow. But any mention of 24/7 sends Jenn flying away in panic. If any real healing is to take place, he’ll need to take a giant step back and design a new approach using ropes, chains…and a whole lot of trust.

  Warning: This title features spanking in the garden, sex in the closet, bondage in the bedroom…and just about everywhere else.

  eBooks are not transferable.

  They cannot be sold, shared or given away as it is an infringement on the copyright of this work.

  This book is a work of fiction. The names, characters, places, and incidents are products of the writer’s imagination or have been used fictitiously and are not to be construed as real. Any resemblance to persons, living or dead, actual events, locale or organizations is entirely coincidental.

  Samhain Publishing, Ltd.

  577 Mulberry Street, Suite 1520

  Macon GA 31201

  Bound By Design

  Copyright © 2009 by Natasha Moore

  ISBN: 978-1-60504-759-1

  Edited by Laurie Rauch

  Cover by Scott Carpenter

  All Rights Are Reserved. No part of this book may be used or reproduced in any manner whatsoever without written permission, except in the case of brief quotations embodied in critical articles and reviews.

  First Samhain Publishing, Ltd. electronic publication: September 2009

  www.samhainpublishing.com

  Bound by Design

  Natasha Moore

  Dedication

  To my guy, for putting up with a wife holed up in her office for weeks on end. I love you.

  Chapter One

  She couldn’t stop thinking about the collar.

  As Jenn drove to Tori and Doug’s housewarming party, she kept imagining how the strands of gold would feel wrapped around her neck, pressing slightly on her throat as she swallowed, an ever-present reminder of her submission. She gripped the steering wheel a little tighter and turned up the air conditioning.

  It wasn’t her collar. Hell, she didn’t even want a collar. But she couldn’t stop thinking about it.

  She’d spent more time than she should have at her workbench tonight. Putting the finishing touches on her client’s slave jewelry had gotten her all hot and horny. When she’d linked the delicate chains from the collar to the nipple rings and clit clamp, her body had burst with longing. And now she couldn’t get the damn collar out of her mind.

  Not that she would ever get into another Master/slave situation. She wasn’t taking that roller coaster ride again. The crash at the bottom wasn’t worth the thrill.

  Jenn parked and grabbed the wrapped box from the back seat. The silky fabric of her halter dress brushed sensuously against her damp skin as she rushed up the walk. She pushed her way through the throng of people milling around Tori and Doug’s new house. Juggling the box that held the jewel-framed mirror she’d brought for a housewarming gift, she tripped over feet and dodged elbows until she finally reached the gift table in the corner and deposited it with a sigh of relief.

  The place was warm from too many bodies. The din from the various conversations was deafening. And the music piped through the awesome sound system Doug designed throbbed in the background and pulsed through her body. The huge great room with the vaulted ceilings and massive fireplace was full to overflowing. Her bare toes in her high-heeled sandals were going to take a beating if she didn’t find a place to sit down and get out of the way.

  First things first. She glanced around the room. Where were the drinks? As she tried to find the bar over the sea of people, a chill ran along her skin, even as her body heated up from the inside out. She scanned the crowd, brushing her gaze over dozens of people she didn’t know and only a few she did. She froze when she locked gazes with a tall man with light brown hair and broad shoulders. His mouth turned up into a grin and he nodded at her across the crowded room.

  She felt her face heat, but she couldn’t look away. He seemed familiar, but she knew she’d never seen him before. She would have remembered those green eyes and the slightly crooked nose. He was leaning back against the wall, his white shirt open at the neck. A couple of people moved from in front of him and she saw he had a drink in his hand, his long fingers curled around the glass. She shivered as she imagined those fingers running over her skin, cuffing her wrist, slapping her ass.

  Shit. What was wrong with her?

  Jenn finally tore her gaze away from his. To hell with the drink. She was going to find Tori and Doug, say her congrats and get out of here. Before she did something foolish like kneel at the guy’s feet and beg him to tie her up.

  It must have been the slave jewelry that had her body so worked up. She hadn’t played the submissive since back in college. Just an experiment. Nothing she ever wanted to repeat.

  So why did her body come alive at the thought? Her unbound breasts seemed to swell from his attention. Her nipples tightened. She felt them poking against the silky fabric. And was her new thong getting damp? Damn.

  An arm snaked around her. “There you are! I thought I’d never get you out of your workshop.”

  Jenn returned Tori’s hug and tried to push the guy out of her mind. “I don’t know how anyone’s supposed to see what the house looks like.” She tried to sound light and casual, but wasn’t sure she succeeded. “You can’t see a thing through this crowd of people.”

  Tori laughed. Her short platinum hair framed her expressive face. Dynamic silver earrings bounced off her shoulders. “I can’t believe everyone showed up.”

  The noise level was already giving Jenn a headache. “Who knows this many people anyway?”

  “Doug. I swear he knows everyone. Thanks for coming.”

  “Sure. But I have to go now.” Jenn tried to step away from Tori, but bumped into the wall behind her.

  “You can’t go. You just got here.”

  “I have work to do. A big piece to finish.” A vibrator to use. A man to get out of her mind.

  “You can’t leave yet.” Tori grabbed Jenn’s hand and tugged. “There’s someone I want you to meet.”

  Jenn dug in her heels, but it was useless on the hardwood floor. She should have expected the ambush. “Oh, no. No. No. No. No. You are not setting me up again!”

  “Come on.” Tori laughed and pushed through the crowd. “He’s new in town and doesn’t know anyone.”

  This was a nightmare. “So introduce him to someone else. Someone who wants a man to disrupt her life.”

  “He’s Doug’s old college roommate. You’ll like him.”

  All the guys she’d met lately were so not worth the bother. “Tori, I don’t want to meet another nice guy.”

  Tori stopped and looked over her shoulder at Jenn. “I didn’t say he was a nice guy.” The mischievous expression on Tori’s face made Jenn more than a little nervous. “I said I thought you’d like him.”

  Okay, so that mad
e her curious. And more determined than ever to get out of there while she still could. They were halfway across the room already. Tori practically dragged her through the crowd. Jenn was short enough she couldn’t see above most of the people there, so she couldn’t tell where they were headed until Tori stopped.

  “Hey, Scott,” Tori said brightly. “There’s someone here I want you to meet.”

  Jenn rolled her eyes and looked up. And froze. Green eyes. Brown hair. White shirt. Hot gaze. Searing her dress off her this very minute.

  Tori seemed unaware of the sparks zapping between them. “Jenn Abbott. Scott Kinsley. Scott and Doug were roommates in college. Jenn and I grew up together.”

  “It’s a pleasure to meet you, Jenn.” Oh, and did his voice have to be as rich as a double espresso? He reached out his hand to shake hers. She couldn’t think of a polite way not to touch him. He slid his palm along hers and impossible shivers shot across her skin.

  “I’m sorry about this,” she said quickly, snatching her hand back. “Tori has this uncontrollable urge to match up all the single people in the world.”

  “I do not,” Tori cried, but she grinned at the same time. “Just the people I care about. Look, Scott designed this house. Jenn designed my earrings. See, you guys already have that designing thing in common.” She placed a quick kiss on Jenn’s cheek. “I have to make the rounds. See ya.”

  “It’s all right,” Scott said. He spoke softly, but she didn’t have any trouble hearing him over the conversations going on around them. “I don’t know a soul here besides Tori and Doug. If you don’t mind, I’d like having someone to talk with for a little while.”

  “Sure.” Jenn sighed and leaned against the wall beside him. “I’m afraid I’m not much of a party person. I can’t help thinking about all the work I have to do at home.”

  He took a sip of his drink and stared at her over the glass. Oh, God, she was going to melt. “I used to be a workaholic and proud of it,” he said. “But I’ve discovered it’s better to have a balance. Work. Play. Rest.”

  “I’m sure you’re right, but my life pretty much is my work right now.” She rarely took time for play. And she only rested when she was too tired to work anymore.

  “Sounds like you needed to get away tonight then.”

  “Maybe I did. But I hate crowds.”

  “Oh, I don’t know,” he said lightly. “I’d say that being in a crowd has its benefits.”

  She frowned. “How?”

  He leaned abruptly into her, knocking into her shoulder then leaving his arm pressed tightly against hers. “Oh, sorry. Someone must have bumped into me.”

  She glanced over at his sly grin and couldn’t stop from smiling back. Showers of tingles rained over her skin. Damn, he smelled good too, a mixture of exotic spice and that unique man scent. Her body started to respond to his closeness, his scent, his body heat.

  Her stomach was doing that little roller coaster roll and she knew she should step away, put some space between them, but she didn’t seem to be able to move.

  “You don’t have to hang around with me just because of Tori,” she said quickly. There was something about him that pulled her toward him. An image of her current project, the multi-strand slave collar, flashed in her mind.

  “I like where I am right now,” he said. “I’d like you to stay too.” His tone was light, but still it was almost commanding.

  And suddenly Jenn realized what was familiar about Scott. He reminded her of her college boyfriend, Rob. Not in looks exactly, Rob had dark, almost black hair and was shorter, stockier. But he had that same commanding presence about him. When he talked, people listened.

  And when he’d told Jenn what he wanted, she’d dropped to her knees or bent over a table or allowed herself to be tied to a bed for his enjoyment. Not that she didn’t get her pleasure too. Sex had never been as good as it was when she’d been Rob’s sub.

  Even now, Jenn’s pussy tingled at the memories.

  “Hello? Are you okay? Jenn?”

  She realized Scott had been talking to her. She glanced up at him and then quickly away. “Sorry. It’s all the people,” she lied. She swallowed to try to moisten her dry mouth. “It’s so hot in here.”

  He slid his hand behind her and pressed it into the small of her back. He lifted his glass to her lips. “Here, take a sip.”

  The amber liquid smelled strong. “What is it?”

  “Drink.” He tipped the glass and she didn’t have any choice but to part her lips and drink.

  She took a healthy swallow. Smooth and strong. Cold and wet. Then the liquor hit her system and a backlash of fire swept through her. She managed not to cough too loudly as tears sprang to her eyes. “Whiskey?” she asked after a moment.

  “Straight up,” he replied. He lowered the glass, but not the hand on her naked back. “You handled it well.”

  And why did those simple words send a rush of pleasure through her? Or was it the touch of his hand?

  “Let’s get you a drink and a place to sit down.”

  “We’ll never find a place to sit down.”

  He slid his arm around her waist and drew her away from the wall. “You let me worry about that.”

  “You don’t have to worry about me, Scott.”

  He paused and looked down on her. “I think I might like to do that.” She didn’t know what she saw in his eyes, but it made her shiver.

  He led her through the crowd. Amazingly, people just seemed to move out of his way. Before she knew it, she had a tall rum and coke and she and Scott were seated on a small loveseat tucked into an alcove in the back of the room.

  Jenn wrapped her hands around her glass and stared down into the drink. The ice cubes must have been tinkling against each other, but she couldn’t hear it over the noise in the room. Or was it because of the rush in her ears from the blood tearing wildly through her veins? She was so aware of the man sitting next to her. His scent surrounded her. His khaki-covered thigh pressed into hers. She’d never been good at small talk, so she didn’t say anything. Somehow she didn’t think any talk with Scott would be small.

  “So how far back do you and Tori go?” he asked her, lounging back into the cushions of the loveseat. He seemed relaxed while Jenn’s entire body was on edge.

  “Since kindergarten.” She took sip from her drink and savored the smooth burn. “We used to get yelled at by the teacher because we whispered together when we were supposed to be taking a nap.”

  “Ah, troublemakers from an early age.” She noticed the little crinkles at the corner of his eyes when he smiled. They shouldn’t make her like him more.

  She tried to lean back, to show him he didn’t affect her. But she was too restless. “If I told you it was all Tori’s fault, would you believe me?”

  “I’d believe anything you tell me, Jenn.”

  His tone was light-hearted, but she had a feeling the words were serious. She was so not ready for serious. ”So, Tori said you just moved to town?”

  He nodded and didn’t comment on her change of topic. “I was ready for a change. Doug seems to like it here, so I concentrated my job search in this area.”

  “No family around here?”

  “No.”

  Okay, that sounded like a touchy subject. That was all right, she didn’t like to talk about her family either. “So you’re an architect?”

  “Yes. I just joined a new firm that’s doing some interesting work in the area.”

  “Well, you did a great job on this house.” She’d always dreamed of having her own house someday, built especially for her, not someplace owned previously by someone else. Left by someone.

  “Thanks. I’d like to say Doug and Tori were easy to work with, but they were pretty stubborn about what they wanted, even when it made the design a little tougher.”

  Jenn laughed. She was already feeling her drink. “I know what you mean. I helped Tori with the decorating and she didn’t compromise one inch.” Someday she’d be able to decorate he
r own place, but it would be a long time before she could afford to buy even an old, rundown house, much less an awesome new construction designed just for her. She took another swig of her drink. “What are you working on now?”

  “My first project with my new firm is for an office building on the edge of town. It’s going to be a challenge, but I really love taking the customer’s ideas and making it real for them.”

  “That’s just how I feel.”

  He leaned forward and placed his empty glass on the trunk that served as a coffee table. “I didn’t realize you did custom design.”

  “Actually, most of my work is custom design.” Her mind again flashed to the piece on her workbench. The intricate collar connected to the nipple rings. Her nipples prickled.

  He reached out and traced his finger along the chain of the necklace she wore. Her skin tingled where he touched her. “Did you design this?”

  She nodded. He didn’t drop his hand. His finger was warm against her skin as he played with the silver teardrop pendant hanging from the chain. “Yes.” She swallowed the last of her drink. “I design and make all my own jewelry.”

  “It’s lovely.” He swept the back of his hand along her throat and sent her dangling earring swinging. “You’re very talented.”

  She felt her face grow warm. She’d never had such a hard time accepting compliments before. “Thank you.” She jiggled the ice cubes in her empty glass. When had she finished the thing?

  He played with her earring for a moment while he studied her. She caught his gaze and then lowered her eyes to her glass.

  “Do you have a shop?” he asked, leaning even closer. The drink and the heat from his body made her warm and a little off-center. “A store front?”

  “I wish.” She wished he wasn’t so close, but she couldn’t seem to move away. “No, I work out of my apartment. I turned the dining area into my workshop. Most of my commissions come from word of mouth and my website. I’m actually very busy. Any more business and I’d have to hire someone to help with making the pieces. But I don’t want to give up that part of the process.” Still, if she expanded the business, she might finally make enough money to buy a house.