Kendra softened. "I'm sorry, Eric." Looked like she'd overshared too soon, after all.

And now, Kendra saw the wheels turning in his head. She knew, without peeking into his thoughts, he was now putting together all the downsides to dating a vampire.

"You sleep during the day. Can you stay up if you want? Can you go out in the sun?"

"I haven't felt the warmth of the sun on my skin in thousands of years. I literally die at dawn. Most vampires awaken as the sun drops below the horizon at night. I'm strong enough to rise a few hours before sunset, but I can't leave the bas.e.m.e.nt until the sun goes below the horizon."

"Thousands of years? How old are you?"

"I don't know, exactly. Probably just under three thousand years old. At least twenty-five hundred, though my best guess would be about twenty-eight hundred."

"You'll watch me grow old and die?"

This wasn't an easy question to answer, but she felt relieved he hadn't asked about the circ.u.mstances of her being turned. "Yes, unless you someday want me to turn you, but I'll never try to talk you into it. If it's something you think you may want at some point, you'll have to bring it up, and you'll have to do a lot to convince me you're serious, and then you'll have to talk to Abbott and convince him you're serious, too."

Eric went a few moments without saying anything, and Kendra thought it was time to lighten the conversation.

"You were going to take me for a boat ride tonight. Can we still go?"

"You're changing the conversation."

"Yes, I am. You've been hit with a lot tonight, and I think you need time to think it over. Let's go for a ride and have some fun, and then tomorrow night after you and Abbott are done, we can talk about it again, if you want."

"If it's fun you want then taking the yacht out won't do it, we'll need to take the ski boat. C'mon."

Kendra followed him outside and down the walkway, where she saw a smaller boat cradled by a small crane-like contraption on the back of the yacht. Eric flipped some switches and the smaller boat was slowly lowered into the water, and Eric opened the railing so they could walk through it. He offered his hand to help her down, and she accepted it, but then floated from the walkway to the other boat instead of climbing down.

He seemed to take it in stride. "Show-off."

"In two weeks, when the moon is new, I'll take you night flying without a hang glider, if you want."

He stepped to the steering wheel. "Seriously?"

She kissed his cheek before she settled in the seat beside his and replied, "Seriously."

As Eric slowly headed out of the slue and towards the river, Kendra thought a turtle could swim faster, and she knew she could swim faster.

"I thought you said this boat went fast?"

"This is a no wake zone, so you don't knock the boats around in their slips. Don't worry, give me a few minutes and I'll give you your adrenaline rush." He paused a moment before asking, "Do vampires have adrenaline?"

"I don't know if it's biologically the same, but we're still capable of the rush you get from danger, so whether it's still technically adrenaline or not, it works the same."

True to his word, just before they would emerge out into the main part of the river, he gunned the engine and they took off. Kendra's blouse had been unb.u.t.toned, just layered over the t-shirt, and she had to b.u.t.ton it to keep it from billowing.

Her hair blowing behind her was exhilarating as he drove like a madman, skipping and skating over the surface of the Tennessee River, but it was obvious he was in control and having fun with it.

It was a beautiful fall night, with the moon close to full. The river was so wide here it looked more like a lake, and the surface so smooth on the widest sections, it felt as if they were gliding on ice at times.

After a while, he stopped in the middle of a wider spot in the river and shut the engine off. He reached for her, pulled her to him, and didn't seem to care she was a vampire. He vibrated with energy, and she could smell the sunshine in his skin as his lips took hers, opening, demanding, possessing... she had to focus to keep her fangs retracted, and his blood coursing through her body heated her as it had warmed his body. Suddenly, she had to have him, but this was a small boat, built for speed, and she didn't think it was the best place for their first time.

She started to say something, but Eric beat her to it. "Since you aren't used to submitting, I'll a.s.sume you don't have a safeword?"

"Correct."

"Okay then, raindrops. Your safeword if you need me to lighten up on the intensity, or maybe just talk about things but not go out of power exchange is raindrops. When you're hang gliding, if someone yells raindrops, you look around to see if it'll stay a light rain so we can stay up, or if it might turn into a downpour, in which case we'd all head to the ground. However, if you want to end the scene and go completely out of power exchange then your safeword is storm clouds. Okay?"

She smiled. "Raindrops and storm clouds. Got it." She shook her head and added, "I have this, I don't know, mantra, I guess. It's a saying I use when times are bad, to remind me things'll get better. I tell myself it's just a matter of riding out the storm until blue skies return. It's kind of a perfect safeword."

He pulled her into his embrace, and she relaxed into his body. His arm rubbed her back as he said, "I know we haven't negotiated, and I know I need to take it slow in some areas, but..."

He hesitated, as if he needed her to finish his sentence, and Kendra realized he didn't want to order her into it. He wanted her to take them the rest of the way, and she trusted him all the more for it because she knew it was his way of solidifying the consensual side, so there could be no doubt they were both ready. And though she was terrified, she wanted this man to take her, to fill her. "Yes, I know. It's time. I feel it, too."

He kissed her cheek, his lips a caress, and his blue eyes held her with a solemn intensity, trapping her as if he were the vampire, holding her in his gaze. "I'll stay with the normal stuff since we haven't talked about limits, but if I accidentally hit on one of your hard limits I need you to tell me. Later, there'll sometimes be restrictions on your speech, but tonight you can talk as much as you want, as long as you include a Sir somewhere every time you speak. Understand?"

She nodded.

"No, Kendra." He cradled her cheek as he held her gaze. "I need you to answer me verbally."

d.a.m.n, she was trying to hold off on calling him Sir as long as possible, but he obviously wasn't going to let her get away with it. She took a breath, hesitated, and said, "Yes, Sir. I understand."

"Take the blouse and your bra off and hand them to me, please. Leave the t-shirt on."

He put her shirt under the seat cushion, and her bra in his pocket, and then casually caressed her left breast through the softness of her thin shirt, circling the nipple before lightly pinching it. Not enough to hurt, just enough to show he could.

Kendra drew on every ounce of her willpower to keep her hands in place. When he moved to her right breast, her hands actually lifted a few inches, a reflex action to stop him, but she quickly put them back down, and slid them under her legs.

"I can see how hard this is for you, and you wouldn't believe how much it's turning me on. Is it turning you on, Kendra?"

"Yes... yes, Sir."

He smiled and handed her blouse back to her. "Put this back on so you don't get cold. We're going back to the yacht, now."

When they pulled in he told her to fly back up to the walkway, and then he fiddled with a bunch of ropes, climbed up, and flipped a switch that brought the little boat back up into its cradle. Taking her by the hand, he walked her downstairs to his bedroom.

He put a finger under her chin, lifted it until she was looking him in the eyes, and said, "I'm going upstairs to get a few things. While I'm gone I'd like you to remove your clothes. When I return, I expect to see you standing beside the bed with your hands behind your back and your head lowered, and you'll remain in position until I give you permission to look up. Do you understand these instructions?"

She wanted to look down, look away, and it took effort to hold his gaze as she said, "Yes, Sir."

Kendra undressed, folded her clothes neatly and put them on the small sofa by the door, and then walked back to the bed to stand beside it. When she heard his footsteps on the stairs, she put her hands behind her back and looked down.

"Beautiful, Kendra. You are stunningly beautiful."

Nudity normally didn't faze her, but today, she felt exposed and vulnerable. And yet, this felt right, exposed before this strong, powerful man so full of vitality.

Eric walked to the foot of the bed and threw something on it, and while she desperately wanted to look, she kept her head down.

"You may look up now, Kendra."

d.a.m.n, looking up was harder than she'd thought it'd be. Having her naked and him fully clothed forced her to acknowledge she'd handed power over to him, and while she'd done it voluntarily and wanted to be here, she was still fighting herself - other than Abbott's control over her, which he rarely pushed, she'd been in control of her own choices, her own willpower, for a millennia.

She looked up and into his eyes, and knew she had the gaze of a submissive. She'd been on the receiving end enough, and it was difficult to realize, but she reminded herself again how much she wanted to be here, with Eric, doing this. Because no matter how hard it might be, it was turning her on. He was turning her on, making her body react, and she couldn't deny she was looking forward to seeing what he chose to do to her. His strength and control, not to mention the scent of his arousal, and how the tempo of his heart had changed when he'd walked in and saw her.

Wow, she'd known there was strength in submission, but this was a reminder of how submission gave a different kind of power.

His smile was gentle as he stroked her cheek and said, "I realize under normal circ.u.mstances it isn't safe for a submissive to allow herself to be restrained by someone she just met. However, since you can use your mind thing to call Abbott, and then he'd probably kill me, or perhaps just make me wish I was dead, if he found out I hadn't respected a safeword..." He leaned in, kissed her forehead, put his cheek to hers a few seconds, and then stood to continue. "I think it'll be easier for you if you're restrained. You're having trouble submitting, and I want to free you so you don't have a choice anymore - not unless you want to tell me about storm clouds, of course."

Kendra readily agreed, mainly because she wasn't afraid of giving up control by being tied with rope, because rope couldn't hold her.

Eric continued. "Before you agree, you should know this is heavy duty rappelling rope meant for rescue operations." He pointed to one of the bundles. "You aren't supposed to put more than fourteen hundred pounds on this rope, but it's been lab tested to hold up to sixty-five hundred pounds." He pointed to the other bundle. "That one's been tested to hold up to nine thousand pounds, and you already know they're coated to resist fraying and tearing when they sc.r.a.pe over rocks."

s.h.i.t. Depending on how he restrained her, there was a good chance she wouldn't be able to get out of it. Considering the fact Abbott had warned him not to tie her to anything, he'd probably tie legs to ankles or wrists to immobilize her, and he likely knew how to tie a good knot, considering he boated and rappelled.

"Kendra, look back down at your feet, please, and listen to me a moment." He waited for her to look down and continued. "I want to free you from the conflict you feel about submitting, so you can enjoy what I do to you. I promise to give you both pain and pleasure tonight, and I promise to respect your safewords. If you need to stop and talk about something we will, if you need stop the scene, it ends. However, I think you need help getting jump-started into submission. Do you trust me to restrain you?"

She took a breath to settle her nerves and told him, "I'm scared, but I trust you. Sir."

"I kind of want you a little scared, but only wary of the unknown, not afraid for your safety. Can you tell me which kind of scared you feel?"

"Scared of the unknown, Sir."

"One more question, look at me for this one, please? I should've asked you this before we started the scene. Don't answer this one with Sir, I'm not asking you this as a submissive, okay?"

"Okay."

"How far do you want me to go tonight? Are you ready for s.e.x? Or should I stop before we get there?"

Kendra smiled, and once again realized her face muscles weren't used to it. Eric made her smile without thinking of it, and for that, she'd give him the world, if she could. "The whole drinking your blood and making our auras mix thing usually happens after s.e.x, so I think it's pretty safe to say we're close enough for s.e.x."

He gave her a slanted grin, not a full smile, and yet her breath caught as she noted he didn't just smile with his mouth, but his entire face - his eyes were happy, his brows lifted. "Not quite the answer I expected, and certainly one I've never had before, but I think you're right," his face went more serious, his eyes darkened, and the spicy sent of arousal once more flooded the room, "it seemed as intimate as s.e.x, maybe even more so. Anything else you want to say before I ask you to you climb on the bed so I can restrain you?"

"Yes. I can't get diseases and can't act as a carrier unless I go immediately from one person to another, which I haven't done tonight, obviously. I also can't get pregnant, so a condom isn't necessary. If you want to use one anyway I'll understand, but, it isn't needed."

"Anything else?"

"No, Sir."

"Please turn and face the bed, legs apart."

He was all business now, giving orders he expected to be followed, and her knees threatened to go weak as she turned, which was ridiculous for an ancient vampire. What was this man doing to her?

Eric ran his hands down her back, over her bottom, down her thighs. Such a simple touch, and yet so hard to stand still for it, without reacting, without turning to reciprocate.

Harder, still, to remain motionless while he bound her thighs with the rope, around and around, and then around some more, before knotting it in the front between her legs. He tossed the rest of the rope to the other side of the bed and told her to lay down. This put her lying across the line of rope, with the bulk in its neat loop up above her head.

"Hands in reverse prayer please."

Reverse prayer is just as it sounds - hands palm to palm, facing up, between the shoulder blades. Kendra put her hands into position, and Eric pulled the rope tight over one shoulder, bound it around her wrists several times, and then knotted the rope again without cutting it. If she tried to stand or in any way move her hips back, it would pull her arms painfully up, towards the back of her head.

This wasn't just about the strength of the rope, but the way he put her into it - with the rope tied so high on her thighs, she couldn't get the leverage to try to pop the ropes open down there, and she couldn't pull her arms down enough in back to obtain enough force to pull them apart, either.

He wasn't done yet, though. He rested the rope over her other shoulder, and tipped her sideways enough to run it back down towards her waist again. He looped it through the ropes there and then continued down to her feet, winding the rope around her ankles ten times before making another knot.

She knew how many loops he made because she silently counted them, knowing each additional circuit reduced the odds of her breaking free.

Kendra wasn't getting out of this, and she was suddenly terrified.

His hands swept up to her lower back, touched her hands, soothed her as he said, "I know Abbott said I don't have to worry about circulation, but I have to ask anyway - is anything too tight? I went around your wrists and ankles more than I would have for a... well, more than I normally would. I need to be sure it's okay."

Kendra's terror faded, replaced with the knowledge he'd take care of her, he'd make it good. She drew in enough air to say, "It's okay. I can completely stop my circulation for years and hibernate, if I need to. Pieces of me won't fall off and die if they go without adequate blood supply."

She felt a slap on her bottom and she could hear the warning his voice as he said, "You only have one rule right now, Kendra. Did you forget something?"

Blood surged into her c.l.i.t, the throb matching the beat of Eric's heart. "Sir. My circulation is okay, Sir."

He walked to a chest and opened it to reveal floggers hanging from the back and lots of drawers below.

When he turned around with a b.u.t.t plug, she immediately said, "Raindrops."

He stopped and looked at her a few heartbeats, sat the plug on the shelf, and came to her. He knelt until he was eye level and asked, "What is it, Kendra?"

"I haven't had anything in my a.s.s for... I don't know, at least a thousand years. I don't eat solid food, so it hasn't even been used as a human would normally use it. I'm not telling you it's off limits, but plugs probably are at this point. Even small ones, Sir."

He didn't look upset or frustrated, and his scent was... intrigued? He gave her a gentle smile as he told her, "Okay, thanks for telling me. We'll work on it later, but we will work on it until you're ready to be taken in the a.s.s." He caressed her cheek and stood. "I'm going to spank you now. Two hard strikes with a slapper - one on each cheek - and then I'll back off and warm you up properly before being harsh again. The warm up will be the slapper and a variety of floggers. Depending on how you respond, I'll finish with either a belt or cane. Is there any reason for me to not use any of those implements?"

"The cane? Sir? I thought you were going to go easy on me at first?"

"I am. I'll use it or the belt, depending on how you respond. You'll be warmed up, and it isn't my intention to give you more than you can handle. If you aren't enjoying the pain, I won't use it." He bent again, kissed her cheek. "I know we haven't built up much trust yet, but can you trust me to take care of you?"

"I'm scared."

"I know."

He stood, walked to the chest, returning with the slapper.

"You didn't say Sir, Kendra. Again. Two strikes that'll hurt has turned into six - three on each cheek, and then I'll warm you up properly."

He walked behind her and, without warning, brought the thick leather down on her right cheek and then her left. Her a.s.s stung like crazy, and the pain lingered more than Kendra thought it should. d.a.m.n, that hurt. And then he did it again, this time right then left.

She didn't scream, didn't breathe, and sealed her eyes and mouth closed. She deserved this. She'd only had one rule, and she'd forgot.

"Kendra, you need to breathe."

"Sir, actually, I don't. Sir. I mean, if I'm going to talk then I do because my vocal cords need air to make sound, but, I can shut down bodily functions at will, so I don't really need to breathe, Sir."

The last two hits were much harder than the other four. She gasped at the intensity, and felt the burn grow worse for at least a minute before levelling off.

"Now, I'll warm you up. When I get back up to strikes the intensity of the two you just received, I'll tell you so you can compare what you can take cold compared to what you can take warmed up."