“Annais.  My angel, my love, my darling.”  If Piers sounded exasperated, it was because he was indeed exasperated.  “I mean this with all due respect…  What the bloody hell is wrong with you?”

“What?” she laughed.

“I refuse to acknowledge what you just said to me.”

“Aww, Nez!”  Annais threw her arms around his neck and nuzzled his shoulder blade.  “Please? Pretty please?”

“‘Please.’”  He scoffed.  “Y’say that like you’re just askin’ for me to give you a foot rub or to buy you a toy.  Not… pull a weapon on you in bed.”

“I don’t know why you’re acting like this.  You ended up loving the last thing you freaked out like this over.”

“Annais…”

Piers rubbed his temples.  He wasn’t sure how they even got on the subject.  One minute they’re hanging out on the couch, bored out of their minds.  The next, she’s telling him about a fantasy she’s always had involving knives during sex.  Yes, he heard that right… Knives!

He liked to think he was a pretty open person.  He wasn’t very kinky himself, but he indulged Annais in her twisted little fetishes when he could.  It was true that she ended up introducing him to some things that he ended up enjoying very much, but nothing she suggested up until now involved legitimate bodily harm. Well, she did like to be choked, but a lot of girls he had previously been with were into that.  It didn’t seem that strange; there were ways to do it safely. He couldn’t think of a single way to use a knife that wouldn’t end horrifically.

“You…  You are the love of my life,” he said.  “My muse, my future wife.  You are everything to me.  There is only one person in this world I care about as much as you, an’ that’s my own sister.”

Annais beamed. Piers’s expression remained steadfast.

“I spend every wakin’ moment hopin’ you’re safe and protected,” he continued.  “I worry about you.  I want to keep you happy.  I truly do. But you’re addicted to danger.  I know that’s just you.  I… I know you need to feel alive sometimes.  I can’t pretend that isn’t the girl I fell in love with. It’s you.  One hundred percent.  I’ve grown to accept that.  But y’want me to put you in danger.  I can’t do that.  Knives aren’t a bloody toy, Ann.  It could hurt you.  One slip, one fuckup, I could lose you.”

Somber silence fell between the two of them for a moment.  Piers hated to feel like he was lecturing her like he would Marnie.  He didn’t want Annais to get upset and not confide in him anymore. Being open with each other worked both ways.  It was fine if she was into that, but she couldn’t expect him to participate.

“But I trust you,” she whispered and squeezed him.  “That’s the beauty of it…  I put my trust in you, and I know you won’t hurt me.  It’s just power play.”

Piers’s face fell into his palms and he shook it.

“An’ everyone thinks I’m the dark one,” he muttered, causing Annais to laugh.  “Can’t we do tamer kinky stuff, Ann?  Like, I dunno…  Basic power play like wantin’ me to spank you or tie you up or somethin’.”

“Oh!  Would you do that?” she asked excitedly.  “I’m into that too.”

Piers groaned.  “Of bloody course you are.”

“I’m not asking you to stab me, Nez.  You don’t have to draw blood or anything,” she said in a soft little voice.  “I just want you to like, tease me with it a little. Cause some goosebumps.”

Piers tilted his head to look at her.  As off-putting as the idea was to him, it did tickle him how she believed things like that could be so intimate and romantic. “Ann?  May I ask you somethin’?”

She nodded.

“Why are you like this, love?” he asked.  “Legitimately.  I’m not tryin’ to be crass.  I want to know what goes on in your head.  Where do you come up with these things?”

Piers knew some people developed these stranger things to cope, but Annais had a relatively mundane and uneventful childhood.  (Those were her words, not his.)  She lived through no major traumatic events.  She had two loving, well-off parents and no siblings to take their attention away.  She was sheltered; her parents took care of everything for her.  She’d never mentioned any major life events involving knives. Piers was probably over-thinking it, but he wondered.

“Um…” Annais seemed to ponder this for a moment, then giggled.  “I saw too many slasher films when I was hitting puberty.”

Piers raised his head and cut eyes over to her.

“Let’s see it then,” he said.

“What?”

“Let’s watch it,” said Piers.  “That slasher movie that turned y’ on to knives.”

“Oh…”  Annais acted like the tables had been turned on her now. “I thought you don’t like scary movies.”

“I don’t,” he said. “But I’m curious.  I wanna see the appeal.  I wanna understand you; I wanna understand this.  ‘Sides, we were lookin’ for something to pass time, yeah?  We can watch that.  D’ya remember which one it was?”

“I mean, yeah…”  Her cheeks were cherry red from a cocktail of embarrassment and arousal.  Her arms crossed defensively.  “Nez, I don’t think you’ll like it…”

He stood up.  “C’mon, love.  We’re goin’ to the video store.”

“I wasn’t planning on going out tonight,” Annais whined.

“An’ I wasn’t ever plannin’ on pullin’ a knife on you, but things change.  Let’s go, love.”

Unable to argue with his logic (and a little excited at the prospect of Piers playing along), she pulled herself off the couch and threw on a jacket and shoes.  The two of them left the flat and headed down the street.

Spikemuth was a town stuck decades in the past.  It was a far cry from Wyndon, a city that was always adapting to cutting edge trends.  The locals, made up of primarily counterculture youths and stubborn old Galarians, preferred it that way.  Thus, the Spikemuth Chamber of Commerce was dedicated to preserving the vintage charm of the old coastal town’s businesses.  For many years, this was a detriment to Spikemuth. No one wanted to visit a place so out of touch with the rest of the world.  But recently, the public opinion looped around.  The nostalgia-inducing authenticity of this time capsule of a town was attractive again.

Annais loved living here, even more than she loved Ballonlea.  It wasn’t solely because she got to spend every day with Piers now.  There was never a lack of things to do in Spikemuth. Spending a Saturday nights at the Spikemuth Pier felt like stepping into an 80s movie.  They still had record shops, arcades, and even video rental stores. It was comforting.  She could see why Piers never wanted to leave.  It was her home now too.

The video store they stepped into was a relic.  Other than the small selection of DVDs, it looked like it hadn’t been touched in the last 30 years by man or time.  It wasn’t run down on the inside, but the dated interior reminded Annais of those Friday evenings from when she was a girl, spent hunting for movies just like the one she was looking for now.

“I feel like I’ve seen most of these,” Annais said as they walked down the aisle.  Her fingertips brushed the empty plastic clam-shell videocassette cases as she passed them.  “Daddy really liked scary movies.  He rented a few for us every weekend.”

“Wyatt?” Piers exclaimed with a laugh.  He couldn’t imagine her huge cowboy of a father being a horror flick buff.  “Didn’t peg ‘im as the type.”

“Oh yeah.  He watched them all the time,” she said.  “And I always wanted to be just like him, so I’d sit with him when he put them on.  I pretended not to be scared because I wanted him to be impressed that I was so brave.” She paused, picking up a case to read the back.  “Eventually, I saw so many I wasn’t scared at all.  Mama hated it.  She didn’t think it was ladylike.  Daddy said being able to face my fears was more important than being ladylike.” Placing the movie back down, she laughed and looked at Piers.  “Too bad now I’m turned on by scary shit, but terrified of like… jumbling words when placing an order.”

Piers chuckled along with her.  That anecdote really summed her up.  He always wondered how Annais ended up so alternative despite the fact that her parents were walking Western stereotypes.  It finally clicked why it was easy for her to face legendaries but nearly impossible for her to confess her feelings.

As she continued to hunt for her movie, they passed one Piers recognized and he reached for the case. An old silent film about a vampire.

“Mum liked old monster movies like these,” Piers admitted, tilting it in Annais’s direction.  “The really artsy black and white ones.  I always found them so unsettlin’, but did admire the use of the music to set the mood.  I know I ended up drawin’ inspiration from the scores when I rewatched them without her, even if I didn’t much like the source.”

“Oh, I can totally see that,” Annais replied.  “I always wondered if it was intentional.”

He smiled and returned it. They kept roaming until they reached the splatter films.

“Some of my mates always put on gory films,” he said.  “I could never really stomach those.”  He looked at her and shook his head.  “If we got together after a show, they’d want to watch somethin’ like these.  I always ended up snoggin’ with the gals who got scared to distract myself from them.”

“Oh.”  Annais froze and frowned.  “The one I’m looking for is pretty gory.  Are you sure you’re okay watching it?”

“Ann, you’re not gettin’ outta this,” said Piers.  “I figured it would be.”

Annais’s arms folded in front of her chest.

“So, are you going to watch it or make out with me?” she asked with a smirk.  “We can save our money if we’re just going to end up making out.”

Piers shrugged.  “I intend on watchin’ it, but I dunno how turned on you’re gonna get.”

She shoved him and he burst into laughter.  With him pushed slightly out of the way, her eyes lit up.

“Oh!” she said.  She pointed behind him.  “There!”

He turned around to look at the shelf that caught her eye.  She reached past him for the movie.

“This one,” she said. Piers looked at the case in her hands. The film was called Twist the Knife.  The cover depicted that exactly, a knife twisted in someone’s body.  It looked schlocky.  “I was too embarrassed to ask to rent it again.  You should have seen my diary after I watched this.”

“Have you watched it since?” asked Piers.

“Oh, absolutely.  When I got old enough, I pirated it,” Annais confessed.

“Anythin’ else y’wanna rent?” Piers said.  He lowered his voice and leaned over her shoulder.  “There’s not one about gettin’, uh, ‘visited’ in your sleep, is there?”

“OMG,” she said aloud. “I don’t think you’re ready for Nightmare on Oak Street.  Let’s go.”

Piers raised a brow, unsure if that was a joke or serious.  But she headed to the counter and he followed behind.

~

Back at home, Annais popped the tape into the VCR.  Once it started up, she joined Piers.  They settled together on the couch, huddled under the same blanket as the previews began. Piers’s arms took her waist as they always did.  She rested back against his chest, and his chin rested on her shoulder.  Annais lifted the remote to fast-forward to the start of the movie, but Piers stopped her.

“Hold on,” he said. “These old ones always amuse me.”

Annais chuckled and sat the remote off to the side.  

“This one wasn’t as good as the trailers made it out to be,” she said.  “They showed all the good bits in the trailers.”

“That’s a shame.”

They quipped like this through the three previews, then the movie started.  Within minutes, some young couple who was making out in a car got slaughtered.  The sudden violence caught Piers off guard, causing him to hold Annais a bit tighter.

“They uh, don’ waste any time, huh?” he said, slightly embarrassed.

Annais tilted her head back. “Are you going to be okay?”

“Yes, Ann,” he assured her. “I’m not a huge baby.  I can watch this kinda thing.”

“I’m not saying you are… Just let me know if you can’t sit through any more.”

The violence did settle down for a bit after the first murders to build up the plot.  The main cast was introduced, including a girl who reminded Piers vaguely of Annais.  She looked nothing like her, but Piers felt some kind of connection.  He began to feel dread at the thought of watching this young lady get murdered.

With everything established, the ‘action’ picked back up.  Some of the main girl’s friends were sacrificed to further the story.  The root of the problem was revealed- the movie’s antagonist, a fucked up and mysterious man.  He had a habit of toying with his victims before ending them.  There was dark humor peppered in everything he said. The jokes weren’t that funny, at least not to Piers, but Annais giggled.  Every time. It was not unlike how she giggled when Piers was trying to be funny.

“Y’had a crush on that one, di’ncha?” Piers asked, causing her to frown.

“Don’t judge me,” she mumbled and sunk into the couch.

“What!?” Piers said. “‘M not judgin’, love.  Just askin’.  Y’seem… into him.”

“Yeah, fine.  I do,” she said.  “Guess I like my men a little dark and unhinged.”

Piers’s face went blank. “I worry that says more about me than it says about you.”

She laughed, but directed her attention back to the screen.  This left Piers to ponder if he bared any similarities to the maniac on screen.

Annais was watching the movie intently.  Piers was trying, but it was difficult when he felt her squirm every time the antagonist was on screen.  How flustered she was getting would be cute if he didn’t feel a tinge of jealousy.  It was all but outright stated that Annais had fantasized about this guy for more than a decade.  He internally groaned at himself, aware of how foolish it was to feel envious of the way this monster made his girl feel.  Still, he felt compelled to remind her he was there.  The arm he had around her while cuddling wandered lower.

“You’re not paying attention,” she sighed as his hand wound up beneath her skirt.  “Are you?”

“I am,” he replied.  He ran a finger over the thin fabric between her legs.  It was noticeably soaked.    “Very close attention to how much this is turnin’ you on.”

“Nez, stop,” she weakly protested, clenching her thighs.

“Stop?” he asked.  “Or stop teasin’?”

“… Stop teasing.”

His fingers slipped beneath the gusset of her panties.  Piers gently stroked her slick center and swollen lips, further causing her to shift beside him.

“Y’really wanna be taunted an’ tormented like that, huh?” Piers whispered, letting the pad of his forefinger playfully graze her stiff clit.  His tongue peeked out to trace the shell of her ear and elicit a shiver from her.

Her breathing hitched. “S-Shut up…”

“Sorry, sorry…”  Piers’s cheek nuzzled hers.  “I’ll quit botherin’ you so we can watch this.”

He quit talking, but did not remove his fingers.  With his eyes glued to the screen, Piers continued idly fingering her.  Annais attempted to return the favor.  Her palm had ended up in his lap, but Piers wasn’t turned on by what he was seeing on screen at all.  The attention of Annais’s loving hand didn’t make much of a difference. All the blood and guts really killed whatever arousal he had.  He was content to help her get off.  It helped him focus on the movie a little better.

The jiggle of the door knob startled Piers, and he pulled his fingers out of Annais.  She whined briefly, and Piers shushed her.  The front door opened.  Seconds later, his sister walked into the room.  Piers didn’t realize how late it had gotten for Marnie to be home already.  She looked at the screen right as another victim was claimed.  Annais hurried to pause the movie, knowing Piers wouldn’t want his sister to see something like this.  

“I thought you didn’t like that kinda stuff,” Marnie said.

“I don’t,” he mumbled. “Ann does.”

“He agreed to watch one of my favorite movies with me even though I told him it was gory,” Annais confirmed.

“Well, ‘ave fun if he gets nightmares,” Marnie said with a shrug.  “Just wanted to tell ya I’m goin’ to Gloria’s tonight.”

Piers lifted his head. “Her mum say it’s okay?”

“Yeah,” Marnie said. “Need me to come back with a permission slip?”

“Nah.”  Piers shook his head and rested it back on Annais’s shoulder.  “Go enjoy yourself.”

“Cool.  I’m grabbin’ my stuff.”

A huge yawn was unleashed from Piers when Marnie disappeared to her room.

“You sleepy?” Annais asked. “Want to finish this tomorrow?”

“Not a chance,” he whispered, squeezing her thigh.  “Y’just heard Marnie’s going to be at her friend’s tonight.  We’re finishin’ this.  How much is left?”

“I’d say about 30 minutes, maybe.”

Piers hummed.  “Not much more.”

Marnie appeared back in the room with her bag over one shoulder and Morpeko on the other.

“Bye, Marn!”  Annais called to her as she headed back for the door. “Have fun!”

“Be safe,” Piers said. “Don’ go in that bloody Slumberin’ Weald either.”

“Wasn’t plannin’ on it,” Marnie said.  “Bye, mum. Bye, Ann.”

Piers sighed.  “Bye, Marnie.”

The door shut again and Annais waited to hear the click of the lock before pressing play.  Piers’s hand found its way back inside of her panties.

“You’re pretty wet,” he purred.  “We’re gettin’ close, aren’t we?”

Annais nodded.  “Pay attention.”

“I will.”

Within a few minutes, the movie was nearing its climax.  The villain had the main girl backed against a wall.  A knife was held to her throat, and it seemed like he was going to slit it. If she was scared, the girl didn’t show it.  She looked at her assailant with determined eyes and an unamused expression.  Piers smiled, realizing that Annais tried to be like that around others.  He didn’t have a lot of time to ponder how horror tropes molded that part of her personality before the tip of the killer’s knife tilted the girl’s chin up. Annais sucked in a breath, causing Piers to pay closer attention.

The antagonist taunted the girl, telling her things like he had her right where he wanted her.  He caressed her with his knife like one would with a finger.  Piers could now see how this appealed to Annais.  It was much gentler than he initially pictured, not near as graphic as the rest of the film.

“Y’want me to do that to you, love?” Piers asked, planting his lips along her jugular.  He drew his fingers in and out of her, feeling her clench around them as she approached an orgasm.  The reaction she was having to this had him finally getting turned on himself. He pulled his hand away from Annais entirely, causing her to whimper.

“D’ya even want to finish the movie?” he asked.  “Or d’ya want to run on to bed for me?”

Without a word, she reached for the remote and stopped the film, then hit the power.

“You ‘ave any cheap lingerie?” he mouthed against the lobe of her ear.  “Anythin’ y’don’ mind gettin’ rid of or can be easily replaced?”

Annais inhaled, bobbing her head.

“Go.”  He eased off of her.  “Put it on.  I’ll meet you in a few minutes.”

Annais headed off to the bedroom, and Piers went to the kitchen.  The bowl on the counter where he dumped his keys once getting home also kept his switchblade.  Piers reached for it, pressed the button, and the blade sprung out.  It wasn’t like he had used it on anyone or for anything other than tedious purposes, but the idea of holding a dirty knife to her skin didn’t sit well with him.  He ran it under the warm water of the faucet and used a bit of dish soap on the blade. Once satisfied, he dried it with a rag, closed it, and slipped it into his pocket.  He took a breath, realizing he was actually going to go through with something like this, and cut off the lights to the rest of the flat as he made his way to the bedroom.

Piers peeked in the bedroom door to find Annais waiting for him on the bed in a little black babydoll nightie, the matching bottoms, and some pantyhose.  She looked incredible; she always did.  Yet Piers didn’t say this aloud.  He didn’t say anything.  He walked to his nightstand and opened the drawer.  Annais was silent, watching his hands as they rummaged through the contents inside, then stiffened when she heard clinking and saw the grin that crossed Piers’s face.  With the cuffs in his hand, Piers shut the drawer with his hip.  His free hand was held out for Annais, and she offered hers back.

“Nez…”

“Shh…”  The cold metal of the handcuff closed around her wrist. “Unless y’wanna be gagged too.”

“Nez,” she said again. His eyes darted to meet hers.  She looked at him with a defiant smile.  He pointed to head of the bed, and she moved so she was in the midst of their pillows.  Piers reached over, bringing the handcuff that was attached to her behind a column of their headboard and snapping the cuff onto her other wrist. He then opened the drawer again and found a bandanna.  

Piers joined her on the bed, straddling her hips as he brought the cloth between her lips.

“Remember, snap your fingers if it’s too much,” he whispered.  She acknowledged him with a nod, and he tied the bandanna.  He kissed her forehead as he reached into his pocket.

Piers watched as Annais’s pupils dilated the moment the blade was ejected.  Piers didn’t intend to play the scene out step by step, but he did want to start off the same.  Annais’s eyes had been lowered, looking at the knife he held near his abdomen.  He brought it upward, letting the side of the blade rest below her chin and tilt it up to meet his eyes.  Her fists clenched in their bindings and he felt her squeeze her legs together below him.

With her eyes gazing into his, he lowered the knife.  Piers looked down at her body, specifically her chest.  This nightie looked so good on her.  It was almost a shame to ruin it.  The lace cups barely covered her breasts; he could see her nipples and piercings beneath. There was a bow in the center, and the mesh draped off either side of her waist.  Piers brought the knife a few inches above her belly button, the dull edge against her.  Annais tensed at the sensation of cold steel on her skin as he traced upwards, towards her sternum, beneath the bow that seemingly tied the two sides together. With the blade between the valley of her breasts, he pulled up.  The ribbon did not fare against the sharp knife.  Behind her gag, Annais moaned as the bow was cut and the nightie fell off her body. Piers admired his work with a smile, before easing back.  

He repositioned himself to kneel between her legs on the mattress, laying her thighs on top of his.  He focused his attention on these now, excited to have his way with the pantyhose.  Very gently, he ran the tip of his blade along the fabric.  It was not enough to scratch her skin, but it did leave runs and tears.  Piers hadn’t looked up at Annais’s reaction, but he heard whining and the jangling of her handcuffs against the bedframe.  He did this a few times, alternating thighs and ruining the nylons.  When he grew bored of this, his free hand grabbed the crotch of her pantyhose.  Holding it in his fist and lifting it away from her body, he jabbed the knife through the fabric.  A loud ripping sound filled the room as he tore a hole, enough to grant him access to the prize underneath.  He ended up making two more tears, forming a Y shape that left her panties completely exposed when he opened his fist and let the pantyhose snap back against her.

Piers’s next act wasn’t near as elegant as everything up to this point.  The lace and elastic of her panties didn’t rip as easily.  He had to use a bit more force, bunch the fabric in his hand, and use a sawing motion.  This seemed to turn Annais on the most, as her hips would not stay still despite having a blade so close to her core.  Once the panties were shredded, he folded the knife and slipped it back into his pockets.  Grabbing her ankles, he guided them onto the bed, bending her legs at the knee.  He adjusted his own body once more, laying down between her legs.

Annais was already ridiculously wet when Piers’s tongue began to pleasure her.  In fact, he was convinced she had already come once since this started.  This theory seemed to be further proven as she acted extra sensitive to his cunnilingus. She fought him as he vigorously ate her pussy- thrashing in her cuffs, wrapping her legs around his head, and digging her heels into his back.  In turn, his arms wrapped around her thighs, working to spread them apart a little and free his head so he could work.  Piers did not let up.  She couldn’t keep up the fight for long and she came against his tongue.  He licked and mouthed at her through her climax, lapping at the sweet juices that flowed from her.

Piers came up for breath, panting and grinning as he gazed upon her slumped and dazed form.  Her chest heaved; her eyes could barely stay open. Once she locked heavy eyes with him, he kept contact as he lowered his face again.  Her eyes shot wide open.  She shook her head rapidly.  He could hear muffled pleas and her fists shook at the bars of the bed frame. Despite all this, his tongue circled her clit, causing her to arch her back and cry out behind her gag.  He was relentless, licking her clit through her protests until she reached another orgasm.  He backed off to let her ride it out, proud of how spent she looked in her post-coital glow.  Her eyes were rolled back now.  She wouldn’t even look at him.  

Piers went to go again. His tongue touched her, but heard a weak snap.  He straightened up quick and scrambled to Annais’s side, untied the gag and removed it from her mouth.

“Everything okay, Ann?” he asked.  “Need me to uncuff you?”

She shook her head, breathing heavily from her mouth.

“Fuck…” she panted out.  “Me…”

Piers chuckled as he tucked her hair behind her ear.  “Was that an expletive or a request, love?”

“An…” Annais smiled. “An order…”

“Ah?  An order?” said Piers, cocking a brow.  His cock was aching for her, but this little game she was playing had him wanting to drag this out.  Tease and torment, he thought.  “My brat thinks she gets to make the orders?”

A light breath of a laugh came from her, and she nodded.

Piers’s hand fished the knife out of his pocket, triggered it, and held the blade to her neck.

“Christ,” she groaned and screwed her eyes shut.  Her thighs clamped together again.  “I-I’m gonna cum again…”

“Ask me,” Piers said, applying a gentle bit of pressure.  It was the dull edge, but it still earned the same reaction from her.  “Nicely.  Don’ tell me my girl has forgotten her manners.”

“Please,” whimpered Annais. “Please, please fuck me, Nez… Y-Your highness…”

Piers rolled his eyes. That little title required an equally snarky pet name.  “S’not a question, kitten.  Sensin’ a lotta attitude from someone on the wrong end of my switchblade.”

Annais’s brows furrowed. She looked like she was about to choke up, from both arousal and frustration.  “I-I’m sorry…  Will you… please… please fuck me?  Please? I love you…  Piers, please.”  

As she began to cry, the switchblade was snapped shut and placed on the end table.

“Shh… There, there.” Piers stroked her hair.  “I love you, too.”

“Please,” she begged once more, very quiet.

“Since y’asked so nicely.”

Piers positioned himself between her legs again, then unbuttoned and unzipped his jeans.  He didn’t pull them down, opting only to free his hardened, leaky cock.  He lifted her thighs and pushed into her.  She felt like heaven after being so worked up.

“Fuck, you’re all nice and warmed up for me,” Piers groaned.  “Y’feel so good.  Think we should do this more often?”

Annais choked out another sob, one of pleasure at the feeling of friction between her legs after hours of edging followed by overstimulation.  She bobbed her head to his rhythm.

“Mmm… My tight little cunt is milkin’ me for everythin’ tonight.  You’re desperate.”

Annais didn’t do much as he fucked her.  She couldn’t respond verbally, but her body still begged for him.  The tight squeeze of her velvety walls around him had him believing she was nearing another climax.  Piers decided to ease up on the dirty talk and focus on what he was doing, in no mood to drag out his own release after spending so long making sure Annais was taken care of.  He leaned forward, getting better leverage so he could fuck her faster.  His fingers dug into her hips.  He panted into her neck as her head lolled back against the pillow.  He had to admit that he wished her hands were free.  He missed the feeling of her nails digging into his shoulder blades to let him know she was almost over the edge.  Still, he felt the phantom sting and trusted his gut.

“Ready to cum once more, Ann?” Piers asked.  “For me?  With me?”

She did not say a word, but he felt her body tense.  With all of her discipline and strength gone, she came before him.  In a few more thrusts, his hips stilled, joining her in climax.  He groaned into her skin as he did, holding her hips tight as he came deep inside of her.

Piers allowed the orgasmic haze to wane, then reached for the handcuffs.  Each arm fell limp at Annais’s side when he unlocked them.  After shoving them back into the drawer, he picked up her hands and planted kisses along her sore, reddened wrists.  Annais was obviously past the point of exhaustion. She didn’t react to anything.

“Are you okay, love?” he asked.  “Didn’t overdo it, did I?

With her eyes shut, she shook her head.

“Want me to run you a bath? Get you cleaned up an’ put some decent clothes back on you?”

“Nez…” she mumbled.

“Yes, Ann?”

“That…”  She paused to breathe.  “That was so fucking hot.”

Piers beamed, lacing his fingers with hers.  “Yeah. I’ll admit you were right.”

Her eyes cracked open. “You enjoyed it?”

“I did.”  He nodded.  “Very much.”

“See?” Annais laughed. “Y’should just trust me on these things.”

Piers sighed, but gave her a smile.  “This means the next one is gonna be even worse, innit?”

She simply shrugged.

“Oh, well.  It can’t be helped with you.”  Piers pressed his lips against hers, smiling all the while. “Let’s have this bath, shall we?”