Page 1 of Tie Me Down (The AfterGlow #1)
Olivia
“He did what?” I asked, jaw resting firmly on the floor.
My best friend, Charlie, was a wild one.
Everything about her screamed sweet and innocent, but she was far from it.
When Charlie invited me to The AfterGlow for the first time three months ago, I was hesitant.
I’d never been to an adult lounge before, and although I fully supported Charlie, the idea was intimidating.
Charlie giggled. “He sent the video to my dickbag ex.”
“No fucking way,” Lilah—my other best friend—chimed in. “Rider would never compromise you like that. Well, not using a private video, at least.” She smirked.
Charlie grinned. “Oh, that’s the best part. You can’t see any of me. Not my face, not my…you know. It’s just him eating me like I’m the sweetest damn strawberry he’s ever tasted.”
“He’s so good for you, babe,” I said, taking a sip of my lemon and lilac gin and tonic.
Relaxing into the overstuffed velvet armchair, Charlie hummed in agreement.
When I’d first told my boyfriend, Nico, about The AfterGlow, he’d jumped at the opportunity.
After our first night, we were hooked. After our second time, we enrolled in a shibari class.
After our third lesson, we were renting private rooms, and I was being tied up every which way from Sunday.
It quieted the voice in my head that never stopped.
Nico binding me into submission was a heavenly relief after a long day at work, delegating meaningless tasks and constantly being on .
Not once did I have to give a demand.
Not once did I have to think.
I only had to breathe and let him take control.
“What about you?” Lilah asked, pointing a long, black fingernail at me. “I thought you were going to blow us off last week with how late you were coming out of your room. What are you up to tonight?”
“Oh.” A flush heated my cheeks. “Nico said he has plans for a new tie and maybe some role play we’ve been thinking of trying? I thought I didn’t want to leave the room last time. Tonight, I might let him keep me in there until the sun comes up.”
If only my friends knew what we got up to in our private suite, which I could afford once a week thanks to Charlie and her massive discount. I gave them some details, of course, but not the whole picture.
That was for me and Nico.
“One of these days, you’re going to need to take a picture so we can see all these so-called hot as shit knots you’re always talking about,” Lilah chirped.
I shook my head. “Over my dead body. My fine-ass dead body. The only one who gets to see me like that is Nico. I don’t know how you perform night after night in front of everyone, Charlie.”
Shrugging her shoulders before sipping her peach vodka spritz, Charlie answered, “I’ve told you a million times. The power in that moment makes the orgasm so much better.”
“Amen!” Lilah shouted, raising her classic Caesar. “I’ll drink to that.”
The three of us clinked our glasses together, and Lilah and Charlie downed the last of their cocktails.
“Duty calls.” Charlie grinned, setting her empty glass down on the table we sat around. “We’re going on just after midnight, in case either of you wants to watch.”
Lilah gathered up the empty glasses before standing, then smoothed out the apron of her uniform. “I’ll be there as long as Adam doesn’t pull me away. Then again, he might just fuck me right there in the viewing room.”
“You guys make me feel so vanilla.” I sighed, shaking my head.
When I was tied up with a beautiful pastel rainbow cord, I was on top of the world.
A true kink queen in my mind. But all I had to do was glance at Charlie, who was regularly fucked behind a glass wall for all to see, or Lilah, who was used whenever her dom wanted, wherever they were in the club, and my bravado faltered.
Charlie scoffed and pointed a finger directly at me. “You are anything but. You literally get wrapped in rope and fucked by someone with complete control.”
“And even if you were vanilla, we love a Plain Jane,” Lilah added, carrying the tray of empties to the bar.
“We’re kind of like the perfect Neapolitan ice cream, aren’t we?” I mused. “I’m vanilla—and I know, I know I’m not that vanilla, but let’s be honest—Charlie is the strawberry, obviously.” I gestured to her gorgeous red hair. “And Lilah is our dark and broody chocolate.”
So what if I wasn’t as adventurous as my friends? They supported me anyway, and I enjoyed keeping my sex life behind closed doors. The ropes were for Nico and me, not the general public.
“You’re making me hungry,” Charlie groaned. “And I can’t eat until after my performance with Rider.”
“Speaking of work,” Lilah called. “Let’s get going.”
Charlie waved at me as she headed for the dressing room. “We’ll see you out there after you’re done with your man.”
I sipped the last drops of my cocktail. The elevator chimed, and I pivoted in my chair, glancing toward the elevator bank to see who would emerge.
Nico stepped out dressed in dark slacks and a white button-down with the sleeves rolled up, exposing his deep golden forearms. His black waves were pushed off his face and he had my favourite ropes in his hand.
My throat locked when his gaze found mine, and I had to catch my breath.
His dark eyes smoldered with barely contained lust, and he beckoned me with a finger.
Gulping down the butterflies that had climbed from my stomach to the back of my throat, I went to him, unable to resist the pull of his stare.
My body thrummed with the idea of what we were going to try tonight. I couldn’t wait.