Above the Winter Skies [English Version]

14

With a heart pounding wildly, I obeyed his command. He had already seen me naked several times, so that shouldn't have made me nervous—but it did. Heat surged into my cheeks and between my legs as I slowly approached the bed, with Cassiel keeping his eyes fixed on me.

I lay on my back and waited for his next instruction, but at first, none came. I couldn't see him from my position and therefore didn't know what he was doing.

Only when he approached the bed and sat on the edge—right beside me, but still fully dressed—could I see his face again. His gaze had darkened.

"Just look at you," he whispered. "How beautiful you are."

He reached out and let his fingers glide over my cheek, down my neck, and across my collarbone. I shut my eyes and sighed, but I couldn't stop my entire body from trembling, even though I wasn't cold.

"I'd like to introduce you to a few of my favorite tools," he said. "From now on, I want you to remain completely silent unless I explicitly ask you to speak."

I looked at him with wide eyes and then gave a slight nod. My heart was pounding up to my throat, and at the word "tools," it skipped a beat. I had read the contract, the possible limits, and I knew which practices I had agreed to, although I didn't yet know which ones would actually be used.

Cassiel reached behind him and then leaned over me. A second later, my hands were bound above my head to the bed frame.

He leaned back and inspected his work, satisfaction evident in his gaze.

"This is how I like you," he murmured. "Naked and helpless. Pull on the restraints."

I complied and quickly realized that I had no chance of freeing myself, which made him smile contentedly.

"Very good. Bend your legs, place them up, and spread them a little for me, sweetie. And then stay like that. From now on, there will be no more movement."

I did as instructed and watched with equal parts fear and anticipation as he pulled the next item from the small table beside the bed—it was a kind of whip, a short leather rod, except that at the front end, there were not just one, but several cords. Cassiel positioned the tool on my thigh, and although the touch was gentle, I flinched in fear, which made him smile.

"Do you not trust me?" he asked, with a wolfish grin on his lips. I didn't answer, knowing it was a rhetorical question, after all, he had forbidden me from speaking.

"This," he explained while letting the cords slide over my thigh, "is a flogger. It can inflict great pain, and it will, if I feel like it. But it can also caress and pamper you, as you can feel... I see you like it."

As he spoke, he drew tighter circles up my leg, only to stop just before the pulsing spot between my legs and turn back.

"You seem quite sensitive here," he noted, continuing to stroke the flogger over the inner sides of my thighs. "What do you think it would feel like to place a firm, sharp blow here? I bet it would burn quite a bit on your tender skin. Do you think you could stay silent then? Shall we find out?"

My breath quickened, and I pressed my lips tightly together to stifle a moan. The agonizingly slow way Cassiel dragged the cords over my leg, combined with the mix of arousal, anticipation, and fear of the first strike, almost drove me mad. But the strike didn't come; instead, he eventually moved the flogger over my bare mound, which tickled so much that it took great effort not to move.

"Or would you prefer it here?"

He wasn't expecting an answer. Next, he stroked me between my legs. The touch was so gentle it was almost painful, as I desired more. I wanted to squeeze my thighs together because I could hardly stand it, but he had forbidden me, so I had no choice but to endure the sweet torment, knowing I wouldn't find relief this way.