The architecture was beautiful, all classy old world Victorian charms in ornately carved wood fixtures and moldings. The faint moonlight trickled through the window at the end of the hall and mixed eerily with the flickering yellow of the light just past the main entrance. The hair on the back of my neck rose and my stomach felt like it could flitter away, I felt as though I had just stepped onto the set of an old horror movie and Vincent Price could round the corner at any moment.
It never occurred to me. At least until I woke up in a house that was not my own. In a bed that was not familiar to me. In the arms of a man I barely knew, with my hair ribbon tied at my wrists in a pretty bow. That’s when I realized just how sexual those two things could be.
I had no luck dating. I didn’t do the club scene. I didn’t really drink, or socialize, much at all actually. So, I took the advice of my sister and went the on-line route. I signed up at a few different sites and found that, much like the bar/club scene, there were a shit load of skeevy men online. And they were not afraid to come right out and say what they wanted to do with you. I’m no prude, but I’ll admit a few of the comments actually made me blush. I didn’t know those things were actually done.
My profile picture was hardly suggestive. I was sitting in a knee-length 50s style red dress with black tights, Mary-Jane style shoes and a small red ribbon holding my long black hair out of my face. I was smiling, lips painted the same shade as my dress, I had a bit of a rockabilly look to me, pretty, but not sexual at all in my opinion. I looked sweet, kind, maybe even a bit childish as the picture looked like a bad school portrait. Yet I still got some of the most disgusting suggestions. Or maybe I got those suggestions because it looked like a school portrait and they thought me younger than I was.
Eww.
I was about to give up altogether after two months of messages that centered around finding out how quickly they could get me into bed. Then it happened, a genuine, honest to god human being who didn’t tell me the exaggerated size of his dick within two messages.
Color me intrigued! We chatted for a few hours that night, a few hours the next. Then it was back to work and nothing for a few days. I signed back in a couple of times, no messages. I figured he lost interest and moved on. I was a bit disappointed, but figured such is life and put it out of my head.
I had forgotten about the encounter by the weekend, then I logged on and groaned my way through the dozen or so naked pictures of disgustingly arrogant men (don’t get me wrong, many of them were extremely handsome, just grossly presumptuous and full of themselves, which was an instant turn off) and came across a message from him again. I smiled. I opened it, read it, then sighed happily. There was no way this guy could be legit. He had to be a troll or some teenage kid playing a cruel prank.
He apologized for not writing sooner, he had gotten a computer virus and had to send his computer in for repairs and just got it back. He signed on as I was replying and I sent the message half finished and picked up our conversation in instant messages. We talked for another few hours.
He was shy, a little withdrawn, geeky, and sweet. I was actually having fun talking to him. He asked if I would call him. He didn’t want me to give out my number if I wasn’t comfortable with it, but did want to talk to me, so he gave me his. I hesitated, questioned whether or not I should make the call.
I decided to give it a whirl, why not? It was why I signed up to the site in the first place.
His voice was pleasant, deep but gentle. I liked it. We talked about our jobs, our families, just anything that came to mind. I didn’t realize how long we’d been talking until I heard him say my name, very quietly into the phone, trying to get my attention without startling me.
I had fallen asleep. I was beyond embarrassed and rushed off the phone. I knew I spoke in my sleep so I could only imagine the horrors he might’ve heard me say. I sent him an email apologizing, swearing that I wasn’t bored, just that I felt so comforted by his voice and I was so very sleepy. I apologized at least a dozen times in an email that spanned all of maybe ten sentences.
Then I did the unthinkable.
I asked if we could meet in person the next day. He only lived a few blocks away from me so there was a good chance we’d already crossed paths. Much to my surprise, he accepted and we met up at a little ice cream shop that was nearly between our houses. I grabbed a scoop of cherry vanilla on a sugar cone, cherry dipped, and waited. (Hey, if I’m gonna meet someone, they are gonna like my sweet tooth just as much as they like me, I’m not interested in putting on an act for them!)
He actually showed up. I hadn’t seen a picture of him, but he had seen mine. He approached me, kinda cautiously, “Luna?”
I nodded, shyly, my mouth full of ice cream. He was handsome, rugged looking with a well groomed short beard. His brow was furrowed as if he worried too often. He wasn’t muscular, he wasn’t scrawny, he wasn’t heavy, he was kind of just an average normal Joe. He had thick, wavy, long brown hair and showed up in jeans and a t-shirt. He gave me the impression that he wanted to be accepted for who he was as well.
He smiled and looked down at the ground. He had an ice cream cone as well, mint dipped in chocolate on a chocolate chip cookie cone. We went for a walk along the boardwalk, eating our ice cream cones and talking all the while.
“What flavor did you get?” He asked me as he eyed the half eaten ice cream in my hand.
“Cherry vanilla, cherry dip, sugar cone.”
“Can I try it?”
“You’re not grossed out by my germs?” I teased with a smile.
“Nuh-uh, you’ve passed the cool-factor test, next is the ice cream choice taste test, a certain level of germ allowances are made after the cool-factor test.”
I smiled and blushed, holding up my ice cream cone to him.
He tried to take a bite.
I playfully pulled it away before he could taste it, “What happens if you don’t like my ice cream choice?” My eyebrow arched upwards.
“There’ll be an alternate tasting to see if I can find it acceptable enough to continue hanging out with you.”
“Do I get to taste yours to see if I approve as well?”
“Of course, it wouldn’t be fair otherwise,” he said, his smile lit up his whole face and I found my smirk turning into a full on smile.
I offered him my cone again and he offered me his. We each took a bite at the same time. I really hate mint and chocolate together and it occurred to me as I held a big bite of his ice cream in my mouth. He had a huge smile on his face as he watched my reaction. He swallowed the bite he’d taken from my cone much more quickly than he should have, undoubtedly causing a minor brain freeze as he grimaced and shook his head.
“You’re completely disgusted by my ice cream choice aren’t you?” he asked.
I forced a smile and grabbed a napkin and spit out the abomination that I just had in my mouth, “Li’l bit…”
“Am I gonna be de-friended now? I liked your ice cream choice, what you do about my deplorable choice in ice cream flavors is up to you. Be merciful if you can find it in your heart?” He knelt in front of me in a very theatrical ‘woe is me’ pose.
I couldn’t help but smile again. I became more forward than I have ever been in my life as I leaned toward him, “I’m gonna opt for that secondary taste test before making a decision.” I kissed him tenderly on the lips. I made a face as if I was pondering something intensely, “I think I can live with that flavor.”
He stood there, a little awe struck at what I had just done, but with a goofy half grin on his face, “Well that was unexpected.”
“That doesn’t mean we’re dating or anything, and it definitely doesn’t count as a first kiss,” I rambled.
“Noted. Are we gonna be dating by the time we reach the end of the boardwalk?” He reached for my hand as he spoke.
“Would you like to be?” I asked as I wrapped my arm around his and walked close to him.
He smiled and nodded, looking away from me a bit.
I found it endearing that I made him blush.
“So far, you seem like the kind of girl I’d like to be dating,” he said.
We got to the end of the boardwalk and sat on a stone bench overlooking the ocean. The sun was just starting to go down. We took it easy, talked some more, opened up to each other a bit. He told me he was divorced with no kids, they married as teenagers but divorced quite a few years later, she’d cheated on him. He still cared about her and he wanted me to know that ahead of time. He didn’t hold any grudges and they still spoke from time to time. She was happy in her new life and he was happy for her.
He was an insanely good guy apparently.
I told him about myself. I owned my own soup and sandwich shop called Midnight. My shop opened when all the others were closing. I also baked pies and cookies and served a variety of fruit and vegetable based drinks. He told me that he had actually been in my shop. That’s when it hit me, I recognized him, peanut butter cupcake with chocolate whipped cream icing and a banana shake. He ordered the same thing at least every other Thursday.
“You never mentioned you knew of me!” I almost snapped as I pulled away.
“I’ve been trying to work up the courage to ask you out for months,” he laughed and looked me in the eye as he spoke, “Your sister told me about the dating profile…and it seemed so much safer to be rejected anonymously.”
“You spoke to my sister?”
He nodded, a slight blush creeping across his cheeks, “Well, technically she talked to me. She saw me sitting at the bench outside of your shop, drawing…”
“Drawing what?” I asked.
“This.” He pulled a small book from his back pocket and flipped through to the middle. On one side of the page was my shop window with a couple of little kids excitedly pointing to their desired baked good and on the other page was me, kneeling down next to the kids, looking at the cupcakes they were admiring with great interest. His work was exceptional.
“What made you draw this?”
His eyes lit up as he looked from the page to me, “It’s incredibly rare to see someone doing a job they love, most are laboring away their lives because a job pays well and that’s what’s expected. I’ve seen your employees clock out then stay late because an old man was shivering in the doorstep and he needed a place to warm up until the shelter opened that afternoon. I drew that because I saw it, and it reminded me that goodness and love doesn’t have to be a grand gesture, it can be as simple as giving away a cupcake to an awestruck child and expecting nothing in return.”
He ran his finger over the page, “I saw them take those cupcakes you gave them and run across the street to the park, they sat down and were about to bite into them when they saw this old man helping his wife to a bench to watch the people riding by on their bikes. The kids broke their cupcakes in half and each offered a half to that older couple, who obliged the children in an impromptu tea party of sorts. That couple then bought roses from a stall at the entrance to the park and handed them out to half a dozen people walking towards them…”
I interrupted him, “White roses?”
He nodded, “…including you. When I drew that I didn’t know that the kindness you offered would spread, but I watched it spread and come right back to you. One of the men who received a rose sat down on a bench next to young lady who was crying, he gave her the rose and she smiled. Another offered her rose to a new mother with a fussy baby who was getting frustrated, her whole demeanor changed and the baby settled as she relaxed. A young man who refused one of the roses, still smiled at being offered one, then helped an old man cross the street with his grocery bag a few feet down the road.”
I smiled, and we chatted for a few more hours as the moon rose high above the ocean waves. I felt myself relaxing as we spoke and he told me of how he enjoys watching people and drawing the kindness around him as a reminder that our actions affect others, even when we don’t realize it. As the hours passed, we started walking home, but his house was closer than mine, “Let me walk you home,” I said as we turned the corner.
“It’s dark though…shouldn’t I…I mean…” he ran his hand nervously through his hair as he tried to carefully word his thought.
I laughed, “My shop doesn’t even open until the sun goes down. I’ve lived in this area my whole life, I know how to take care of myself.”
He blushed, “I didn’t mean to imply…”
I cut him off with a smirk and started skipping ahead of him, “if you can skip to your door faster than I can get there, I’ll let you walk me home instead.”
He smiled and looked around, assessing just how embarrassing this might be before engaging in my playfulness, then began to skip after me. Skipping started to look a bit like jumping for both of us as we laughed and tried to keep ahead of each other. We made it to his street and I full on took off running and tagged his door quickly as he bounded behind me, still trying to skip/run as he looked a little miffed at my breaking the rules.
He tagged the door just above my head and leaned towards me, we were both breathing a bit heavily as skipping for two blocks is a lot harder than you would think. He looked down at me and smirked, “I win, I get to walk you home.”
I smiled, “I tagged the door first.”
He wagged his finger at me, “Nope, I was still skipping, you ran the last part.”
I arched my right eyebrow and smirked, “I never said I had to skip. I said…”
He interrupted, puffing his chest out just a bit, “that if I could skip to my door faster than you could, I get to walk you home.”
I shook my head, “Nope, I said faster than I could get there, I didn’t specify that I had to be skipping, you just took it that way.”
His brow furrowed and he thought about it then his demeanor softened and he realized he’d been tricked, “That’s completely not fair.”
I stood on my tippy-toes and kept my lips right next to his ear as I whispered, “You could always invite me in instead?”
His breath caught in his throat and he looked at me, trying to gauge my intent as I smirked and casually looked away, lifting myself to my tiptoes then lowering myself back to my heels as he pondered for a moment.
“Please, come in.” It was more suggestion than question but I nodded and he reached past me to unlock the front door. He took my hand as the door swung open and led me into the main hallway of a old and dark building.
The architecture was beautiful, all classy old world Victorian charms in ornately carved wood fixtures and mouldings. The faint moonlight trickled through the window at the end of the hall and mixed eerily with the flickering yellow of the light just past the main entrance. The hair on the back of my neck rose and my stomach felt like it could flutter away, I felt as though I had just stepped onto the set of an old horror movie and Vincent Price could round the corner at any moment.
It wasn’t fear that caused this reaction though, it was anticipation, and excitement. This building was gorgeous and had the perfect ambiance for me. He opened his front door and motioned for me to go ahead inside. He followed behind me and shut the door, then turned around just as I moved to kiss him again. His hands moved quickly to my shoulders and held me back just slightly, he looked at me and brought his hand up to my cheek, his thumb traced over my lower lip and his fingers slipped into my hair just behind my ear.
I instinctively closed my eyes and pressed my cheek to his palm. I was so receptive to his touch. His thumb pulled at my lip ever so slightly and I couldn’t open my eyes. Well, I simply didn’t want to.
Then he kissed me. His lips were so soft and gentle, but I could sense that he was holding back, This was just him testing the waters, seeing if I was really okay with it. He was giving me the kiss I sought, and he was giving me the space I needed to back out if I wanted to. I know I moaned when his lips pressed to mine, I may have even stepped closer to him. My lips didn’t overwhelm his and his didn’t overwhelm mine, they simply complimented one another.
He deepened the kiss, taking it from a soft peck to a sensual ravishing as his hand slid from my cheek to the back of my neck and his other found a resting spot on my hip. His tongue led mine in a delicate dance and my hands tightened on his shoulders as he guided me back against the wall of the entryway. I felt his hand roughly slide over my clothes and down to my other hip, where he gripped me tightly and pressed my back tightly to the wall behind us with his body. I don’t know if that was his intent or, if he’d just realized that my knees had turned to jelly by that point.
Throughout our movement his lips never left mine and I allowed him the freedom to lead the kiss. Each motion he made was met by me in kind. I could feel his body heat rising as my fingers slipped to the back of his neck and he lifted me to my tip-toes as he massaged my behind. As much as he wanted to grip my body, I had a fervent need to taste him.
He was practically breathless as his hand slid along my jawline and down my neck. The soft heat of his lips found their way along every curve and crevice between my lips and shoulders. When he pulled away from me, my eyes were still closed.
This time, I was the one wearing a goofy grin.
A quick whisper in my ear made me blush,”I guess I passed that test?”
I slid down the wall slowly as he let me go, my hair was mussed by the wall behind me as I looked up at him. Whatever he’d done, it had worked. My head was in a fog and all I could think about was having him, then and there. He was so gentle with me, but the passion and intensity behind every touch, every look, was unwavering.
He knelt down in front of me, his hand caressed my cheek and neck, slid over my shoulder, rubbed and massaged my muscles. As if I weren’t already putty in his hands, he leaned over and kissed my lips again, gently, just letting his lips brush against mine before pulling away and smiling a bit.
He spoke softly, “You okay?”
I nodded, it was all I could manage.
It had been so long since I’d been intimate. I’d forgotten what a good kiss felt like. I was a little embarrassed as he helped me to my feet. My blush deepened and got a bit bashful. Biting my lower lip and staring at the floor as I fidgeted a bit.
He smiled as he swooped me up into his arms. Every muscle in my body tensed up and I felt him suddenly struggle with me. My complete panic over being picked up that way turned me into a pure dead weight. It’s one thing to have a structure at your back to help hold you up, relying on someone’s strength not failing them when they picked you up was another thing entirely. Being carried by someone didn’t offer the unyielding support of a solid surface to support yourself with.
I blushed even more when he stood me back on my feet.
“Maybe you should walk over to the couch…” I heard a slight yelp as he stood back up.
I happened to catch him rubbing his back a bit as I sat down, “Oh my gosh! I’m so so sorry. Are you okay?” I was a bit mortified that he’d hurt his back.
“I thought that would be romantic and sweet…It didn’t occur to me that it might scare you,” the concern was obvious in his voice as he tried to mask the slight pain of having his pride hurt as well.
I blushed a bright red and covered my face, “I…I’m just not used to that kind of attention? The last time someone picked me up I was 8 and my dad hurt his back…I’m a curse!” I managed a slight smile through my look of concern.
He laughed slightly then winced in pain, “Don’t make me laugh it’s cruel to make the injured feel excess pain.”
I moved over to the other side of him on the couch and rubbed his back. My fingers were used to kneading dough for hours at a time. I could work the kinks out of damn near anything. The enthusiastic moaning as I massaged him was kind of a turn on.
“Better?” I asked
He nodded. I let my hands linger on him, just under his t-shirt, letting the warmth of my hands seep into his flesh as I gently let up on the massage.
He turned towards me, his eyes were a gorgeous sapphire blue, it was the first time I really noticed. He brushed his fingertips over my cheek, “Did my failed attempt at a manly endeavor ruin the night?”
I smirked, my hand still under his shirt, I quickly pulled it up and over his head. My lips found their way to his jaw, a trail of kisses lead me up to his ear, “I’m still quite interested as long as your back is up to it?” I whispered. My lips tickled as they brushed lightly over his earlobe. I watched the veins in his neck pulse. I worked my lips along his warm flesh, kissing in time with his heartbeat.
He squirmed slightly.
I climbed onto his lap and ran my fingertips over his shoulders. My hands instinctively slid to the back of his neck. I felt like my heart was on the verge of bursting from my chest. Pressing down against his lap, I immediately felt his reaction to my forwardness. He moaned while I gently kissed and bit along his neck.
He reached up and untied the ribbon in my hair, pulling it free of the mess of thick black hair it had been holding in check. His hand found mine and I could feel the silky ribbon looping around my flesh. His gaze held mine as he bound my wrists with the ribbon from my hair.
I didn’t even notice that I had been bound. I kissed him and put my arms over his shoulders again, my bound wrists behind his head. I was oblivious when he began to unbutton my dress. I felt the cool air along the tops of my breasts but I was so very lost in the feel of his lips upon mine.
I could feel the heat of his hands groping me through my bra. My dress was open down to my waist. I suddenly felt a little insecure and tried to cover myself a bit, but my hands caught on the back of his neck. That was when I noticed the ribbon binding my wrists.
He ran his finger over the tattoo just above my right hip bone, a large bright moon in a blue/black field with tiny sparkling stars. The keenly observant would notice the stars formed the constellations of Cassiopeia and Andromeda. Most only saw a pretty tattoo of the moon and random stars.
“Are you the sacrificed daughter or the boastful queen?” His fingers worked their way through the rest of the buttons on my dress.
I started to lift my arms above his head but he pulled them back down with one hand. I didn’t have to answer. It was made clear when he pushed my dress aside. Scars covered my body from just below my hip bones to mid-thigh. A mixture of burns and deep cuts crisscrossed my skin.
He kissed me again and ran his fingertips over each scar, tracing its pattern. “You’re absolutely stunning.”
I felt my own insecurity welling up within me as I sat on his lap. Tears formed in my eyes and I bit my lip hard to keep from crying. I wasn’t sure how to react to his hands on me, caressing an area of me that was often neglected and ignored because it was damaged. Most men don’t know how to interact with that level of emotion without making things really awkward.
His eyes locked with mine and I felt his hand caressing me through my panties. I clung to him and whimpered. I felt the heat of his hand slide into the lace between us. My body reacted well to his touch, giving him exactly what he wanted. With his free hand he tilted my head back up towards him. I was moaning as much as I was crying.
He desperately wanted to see my face while he pleasured me.
He held my face so he could keep eye contact with me. He stopped rubbing me momentarily, but he wouldn’t let me look down to see what he was doing. He kissed me tenderly then pulled back. The look of intense desire on his face was overwhelming.
“Don’t look away?” he asked more than said it as he slid both hands down to my thighs and lifted me slightly.
I felt him pull my panties aside. I felt him push into me, deeply and quickly. I cried out and squirmed on his lap. I hadn’t felt that kind of connection with anyone before. When he entered me I felt almost lightheaded, like I was just completely overwhelmed with emotion. He only pushed into me once, then my body took over the motions. My fingers curled on his chest, my wrists still bound by my hair ribbon, and looked deeply into his eyes as I lifted myself to the tip of his cock and slowly slid my way back down onto him. He didn’t want me to look away, so I didn’t. I kept eye contact and we watched each other as I fucked him.
He held me still at one moment, “You’re gonna make me cum if you don’t slow down a bit.”
I sat quietly on his lap, tilted my head to the side quizzically and smiled before I started riding him both more slowly and more forcefully. I felt his fingers tighten on my hips as he fought himself over whether he should hold me still or meet my thrusts. I tilted his face up so I could look into those beautiful blue eyes and the decision was made. With a powerful thrust he met my downward motion and I shivered as our bodies made contact with one another. I rocked my hips against him and he held my hips so tightly against his that I thought his fingertips would bruise just as much as my own flesh would.
He leaned back on the couch and I leaned forward against him. My ear rested on his chest as I listened to the quickened beat of his heart begin to very slowly normalize. I could feel the sticky mess he left in me beginning to drip as his cock fell out of me.
He caressed my lower back and whispered, “Can I call you Cupcake?”
I smiled, “No.”
He grabbed the ribbon on my wrists and pulled me up to my feet with him then led me into his bedroom. I think we were just getting started.
Source: reddit.com/r/Erotica/comments/hzbu4u/ribbons_and_bows_part_one