Only Consenting Adults Ch. 19

[Author's note: The party is over, the Lost and Found has closed down. In the aftermath, Adam has finally decided to take Eve home. At last (after Latex Date Night), Eve has penetrated his Fortress of Solitude... what will she discover?]

---

ALLOWED INSIDE

Adam woke alone, which wasn't what troubled him. He was used to waking up on his own, stretched out in his clean, white sheets. Last night, though, he'd brought someone home for the first time in a very long time, curling up next to her body in the dark. He rolled his shoulders, feeling stiffness there from the previous night's activities and lack of sleep, and reluctantly hauled himself out of bed to go and find his houseguest. Eve had stripped her costume off before they got into bed, as had he, and now he found himself looking down at a tangle of fancy-dress clothing on his floor. He went to the ensuite and pulled on a bathrobe before venturing out into the rest of the house.

It had seemed natural, last night, the conversation about whether she'd like to come back to his for the night. In the cab, she'd snuggled against him sleepily, as they had wound up into the hills to his place. He'd shown her around, feeling strangely like he was walking around naked. It was as if he was exposing himself to Eve, showing her the parts of him that he kept hidden. He'd taken her to his bedroom at last, and they'd stripped out of their costumes to slip between the sheets, bodies entwined, holding each other until they'd fallen asleep. It had felt strange and also intimately familiar at the same time.

Eve wasn't in the kitchen, or the living area. He stood in the middle of the house, listening, but there was no sound. Perhaps she'd gone already, slipping out without waking him. Maybe coming home with him had been too weird for her and she'd left. He wrapped the robe tighter around himself and wandered out to the conservatory.

The door opened silently, swinging away from him, letting the earthy scents of moisture and vegetation filter through to him. He passed quietly between the orchid displays, their riot of colour and form distracting him momentarily, before seeing the back of her head through the foliage. She said nothing as he approached, coming up behind her.

Eve was sitting cross-legged on a padded leather stool from the kitchen, facing away from him, towards the expansive glass windows, looking out over the lush, rolling landscape beyond. She had dressed herself in a harness, the dark leather straps cinching her neck, looping around her shoulders, elbows and wrists, circling her waist and then feeding down between the delectable curves of her buttocks. Straps ran vertically, intersecting with each loop, running down her legs to bind the leather straps encircling her upper thighs, knees and ankles. Each intersection bore a shiny metal ring, contrasting brightly against her rich honey-brown skin. She had gathered her hair up, tying it in a bun, exposing the back of her neck and the ring embedded in the leather. Her hands rested lightly on her knees. She didn't move.

Adam circled around her, unwilling to speak and break the silence, shatter the moment. He came to a halt in front of her, but she didn't acknowledge him. Her eyes were closed, her chest rising and falling in a slow, measured cadence. Adam's eyes drifted down to the fullness of her naked breasts, encircled by leather straps the ran down to the waist band and finally between her legs. She had adjusted the buckles until the harness was tight against her skin. Her lips curved into a smile and she opened her eyes.

"Morning," she purred, lifting her chin, fixing her eyes on his face and then on his lips.

It felt like a request, and Adam leaned forward to deliver a soft kiss on her mouth.

"Morning, Eve," he murmured.

"Sleep well?"

Adam shrugged. "I suppose. A little tired still."

"Thought you might be, so I let you sleep."

His eyes drifted down her body. "I see you've been exploring while I was asleep."

Eve grinned. "I needed something else to wear. The Cheshire Cat's done."

"I have a laundry."

"I prefer this."

Adam gave a little laugh. "Out of everything I have, you chose the harness."

"There weren't many options in the female attire category. This is a bit of a bachelor pad."

Adam placed his hands on top of hers, resting on her knees. He looked down at her with a quiet smile.

"So, what do you think, Eve?"

"About what?"

"What did you discover on your sweep?"

Eve pouted, feigning innocence.

"It's fine," Adam continued, "I know you can't help yourself."

Eve's expression didn't change, but then she seemed to relent.

"Sorry, force of habit."

"Goes with the territory, right?"

"Something like that."

"No such thing as an off-duty cop?"

"I guess."

"Gotta make sure you'll make it through to retirement."

Eve grinned up at him, playing the game.

"No battle plan survives contact with the enemy," she responded.

Adam didn't answer, but he kissed her again, taking her cheek gently into his hand, feeling the softness of her skin.

"So, you're finally inside the fortress," he murmured, "What did you find?"

"Aside from the sex harness and all the gear in the rest of your collection?"

"Aside from the obvious and expected."

"Not much."

"Does that surprise you?"

Eve wrinkled her nose. "Kinda."

She looped her arms around his waist, pulling him closer to the stool.

"It means one of two things," she continued.

"Oh?"

"Either you have no dark secrets, or your secrets are so dark that you've gone out of your way to protect them."

Adam smiled. "Secrets, you said. Of course, they'd be protected. My work is highly classified."

Eve made a show of looking around them. "Why, are some of these species endangered?"

Adam nuzzled her neck, bestowing small kisses on the side of her neck above her collar. He looped a finger through the ring on the front.

"I'm a collector of rare and beautiful things," he murmured.

Eve's breath was warm against his cheek.

"Have you collected me?" she asked.

"I want to."

"What would you trade for this specimen?"

Adam paused, letting his fingers trace the straps of her harness, following them down to her chest. Delicately, he cupped her breasts.

"Just about anything," he whispered.

Eve's hands parted his robe, sliding within. He felt her fingers wrap around his burgeoning erection, but he took her wrists, pinning them back against her knees.

"Don't move," he said.

Eve remained in place, cross-legged on the stool, as Adam stepped around her. He opened a drawer and extracted a coil of thread. Without speaking to her, he threaded it through the harness rings, securing her wrists to her knees.

"Up," he said, helping her into a kneeling position.

He circled behind her, threading another length through the metal rings on her ankles, securing them together. He took his time, making sure the knot was correct, before threading the loose end through the loop in the small of her back, on her waist. Gently he pulled her elbows together behind her, threading the cord through the rings at each elbow, taking up the slack, forcing her to spread her legs wider as her elbows were brought closer together.

"Too tight?" he asked, and Eve shook her head.

Adam took the loose end, running it up her spine and through the loop at the back of her collar, wrapping it around the shiny steel several times. He began to pull, slowly, taking up the slack and forcing Eve to arch her back. He increased the tension gradually, until her had her bowed, her shoulders back, her breasts thrust up prominently. He tied the thread off and ran a hand down her spine.

"How beautiful you look."

Adam caressed the firm curve of her bottom, walking around her restrained form, trailing his hand over her hip.

"I've been waiting for you," Eve replied, "For hours."

He slid his fingers between her belly and the leather strap that dipped down between her legs, slipping down to the mound of her pubic bone, unable to push further due to the strap's tension over her crotch. He picked at the buckle securing her, loosening the strap and letting it fall away to reveal her glistening pussy. Adam shucked off his robe, standing before her naked. He dropped to his knees.

Bound tightly, unable to change her position, Eve knelt on display on her stool, her eyes fixed on the roof, her mouth open, her body curved and shaped by the thread into a beautiful form, like the panoply of orchids on the benches behind her. Delicately, Adam separated her outer lips, exposing her to his tongue as he teased the swelling nub of her clit.

Eve laughed to herself.

"You've been waiting a while," Adam murmured, kissing her inner lips, making her squirm in her harness, "Do you want me to make you wait longer?"

His tongue penetrated her, tasting her, before withdrawing. "I could make you wait all day."

"Not a chance."

Adam grinned to himself, wrapping his lips around her clit now, sucking gently, feeling her writhe as the pleasure coursed through her.

"Really? Why's that?"

Eve gasped. "Because you want to be inside as much as I want you to be inside."

"Are you asking me to fuck you?"

"No, I'm telling you."

Adam lunged forward, burying his face in her crotch, slurping at her juices, his tongue suddenly alive within her, making her buck and moan. He was relentless, using his lips against her to stimulate her clit even as he sought out the source of her moisture, deep within, until she groaned. Adam broke off and rose to his feet.

"You're in no position to tell me anything. You shouldn't have let me bind you. I'm holding all the cards."

"All but one," Eve replied, able at last to look up into his face from her bound position, "I still have the ace."

Adam surveyed her curiously. "The ace?" he echoed, "Okay, play it."

Eve gazed into his eyes, her smile fading, replaced by an expression of openness, honesty. He could see it there, in her face, beyond the Cheshire Cat smile, the wisecracking, the guile. He found himself lost in her eyes. Without even consciously considering it, he slid himself into her, burying himself completely in her warm, welcoming body.

"Nicely done, Eve. Well played."

She craned her face up to his, constrained by the collar and the thread that tied her in position, but Adam bridged the gap, pressing his lips to hers, feeling her tongue slide into his mouth, anxious with her irrefutable passion. Adam's body was in motion, sliding into her, his hands cupping her bare breasts, feeling her body reacting to his sudden onslaught.

There was no foreplay, no build-up. Adam thrust himself into her gorgeous body, feeling her need even as it kindled his own, making him drive harder, firmer, until his balls were slapping against her skin, burying himself completely within her with each powerful stroke.

Eve didn't break off the kiss, her breath escaping in little gasps as she began to quake and shiver. She was already close, Adam realised, and he felt his own body answering, the thrill of entering her sending urgent waves of pleasure deep into his core. He knew what she needed; he needed it too.

He reached down and grasped the leather straps encircling her thighs, pulling her body into his, breaking the kiss and burying his face in the side of her neck, gasping into her hair as it unwound and cascaded down over her shoulders.

Close by his ear, Eve was making a low, continuous sound, lost in her own sensations. He thrust harder, driving into her mercilessly, feeling a need to slake himself inside this beautiful woman. The passion surprised him, threatened to overwhelm him, tear away his self-control. His core trembled, bursting with his impending climax, struggling against his own body to maintain control, but then Eve clamped herself tightly around him, shuddering with the crest of her orgasm and he abandoned himself to it, relinquishing control.

Adam came hard and deep, filling her. His knuckles whitened around the harness straps, crushing her to him, holding her in position while he pumped and pumped his seed into her, shuddering from the effort and the release.

He stood like that for a while, holding her against him, still buried inside her, his face against her neck, their skin glistening with perspiration. He didn't want to move, to break the connection. His mind was reeling, trying to come to terms with it, the unexpected avalanche of emotion. It had been quite unlike anything he'd felt with Eve before, or with anyone before. She had simply looked up into his eyes and unmanned him utterly.

At last, he released her, slipping out and standing back. He reached behind her and began to unpick the knot in the thread that held her in position. She shook herself loose, pulling her wrists away from where he'd bound them to her knees.

"Do you want to freshen up?" Adam asked.

Eve shook her head, fastening the harness strap back into place between her legs. "No, I want to stay like this, if that's okay."

She got up off the stool but needed to steady herself, reaching out to grasp his arm.

"You certainly went to town," she murmured.

"Sorry."

"Why? I'll live. Maybe I like it a little rough."

"Do you?"

Eve smiled up at him. "Guess we'll find out."

She kissed him again, a quick peck on the lips, as she adjusted the harness around her.

"You want something else to wear?" Adam offered, "I'm sure I have t-shirts, or...."

"This is fine. You're not expecting visitors are you? No-one who's going to raise an eyebrow at a woman walking around in just a harness?"

Adam shook his head. "I don't do visitors."

"Good. Tell me though, do you do breakfast?"

---

After breakfast, they cuddled together on a couch, looking out through the glass at the forest canopy stretching away down the valley below them. Eve had been teasing him about his awkwardness, the first time they'd met.

"So," Adam said, "What's the best way, since you're the expert in human behaviour?"

"I didn't say I was an expert."

"Just a lot better than me."

"I have a certain, uh, more nuanced attention to the finer details, yes."

Adam huffed, but his lips curved into a smile. "Ok, tell me then. Give me the best way."

Eve stroked his arm gently. "Best way to lay a woman? Laugh her into bed."

"You mean tell her jokes?"

"Sure, jokes can work. Try one."

"All my jokes are terrible."

"Beauty is in the ear of the beholder. Hit me with your best shot."

Adam smiled, and said, "Okay, fine. I've got one."

Eve folded her arms, waiting.

"Two atoms walk into a bar."

Eve rolled her eyes and asked, "What kind of atoms?"

"Uh, does it matter?"

"Shit yeah. Are they Uranium atoms? Are they irradiating people?"

"Iron and Magnesium, okay?"

"So it's a homosexual relationship."

"What?"

They're not going to be bonding in a cis-gender fashion, they're both metals. I learned that from Chemistry class."

Adam waved an arm, irritatedly, and ploughed on, "Uh, well, they're just friends. Just going into the bar for a drink, and I dunno, talk about sports and stuff. Just two regular atoms who have known each other for years in a strictly platonic way."

"Will it affect their atomic weight?"

"What?"

"The drink. Will their nuclei become unstable? Will they start to split and endanger the patrons?"

"No. They're going to stay stable. Can I continue?"

"Okay. Go."

Adam took a deep breath, seeing the mischievous twinkle in her eye. "So, two atoms walk into a bar. One says, 'Shit, I think I lost an electron.' The other atom says, 'Are you sure?' and the first one replies...."

"I'm positive," Eve interjected, and burst out laughing.

"Fine. Have it your way."

Eve stroked Adam's cheek tenderly, and said, "I don't know if you've just discovered the funniest physics joke in the universe, or the world's first one hundred percent effective form of birth control."

---

When Adam asked her to stay for dinner, Eve agreed. He volunteered to cook them something, and she left him to it, wandering through the house while her prepared the meal. When she was gone, he tapped his phone, sliding an earbud into one ear, waiting for the call to connect.

"Hey, how are you?" he said, "Saw a missed call."

Adam nodded. "Yeah, sorry. I was busy. But, you got me now. Go."

He selected a long knife and began to chop the carrots, nodding occasionally, but not speaking. He slid them into a heavy iron pot.

"What do I think?" he murmured, "Okay."

Adam paused, and when he spoke again, it was measured, thoughtful, "Like I said yesterday, you know what I think, already. I said it to you. I've been saying it. Just, uh, what feels right? Ask yourself that."

He put the knife down carefully, spreading his hands across the counter.

"How long can you keep doing what you're doing? When's enough? When do you decide to do something for you? It's not like you need the money, and if you think she's worth it, then... uh, yeah. Uh huh. Yeah, exactly. Yeah, that's what I mean. Seize the day."

Adam smiled to himself, picking up a mushroom and cutting it carefully into thin slices.

"I'll cover for you. No, really. I know, but how hard can it be if you managed it?"

There was a pause, then Adam laughed.

"And you too. But seriously, I'm happy to step in. Unless you think I wouldn't be good at it? No, well, good. Set it up. Let's see."

Another pause. Adam's brow furrowed.

"Something I've realised, Hayden. You only get one life. If that's how you feel about her, just do it."

He nodded again.

"Yeah. All good. I'll talk to them on Tuesday. Go do it, I'm sure.... Yeah, but I'm a fast learner."

A pause. "Okay, take care."

Adam ended the call. He spun around, seeing Eve. It seemed surreal, to have her there, the unexpectedness of turning around in the kitchen with a pot in his hands to find her leaning up against the countertop smiling at him.

"Sorry," she said.

"For what?"

"You looked startled."

"I didn't hear you, that's all."

Eve shrugged. "Polished concrete floor, bare feet," she replied, "Oh, and a decade of stealth surveillance experience."

Adam felt a flutter of nerves in his stomach, but set his mouth into a smile. "You're quite the operative," he said, "Sneaking up behind me."

"You should see me at work."

Adam placed the pot on the stove and adjusted the heat, fussing with the controls. He looked over his shoulder at his houseguest.

"You're free to change, you know. You've been in the harness all day."

"I like it. It's snug, and it's also very well made."

"It's expensive."

"Are you afraid I'm going to ruin it?"

Adam shook his head. "I'm just saying, it's high quality."

"Too high quality for me?"

"I can find a gag, Eve."

"Would it be an expensive, artisan-crafted one? Maybe from Germany?"

"Don't tempt me."

Eve laughed. She sidled up to him, and he took her in his arms, pressing her nearly naked body against his, the shiny metal rings of the harness brushing against the cotton of his t-shirt.

"Did you buy it for someone?" she asked.

"Uh huh."

"What happened to her?"

Adam kissed her forehead.

"Still snooping?"

"Still snooping. Did she leave?"

Adam studied her face, thinking.

"No. In fact she's still here. I keep her in a box and let her out sometimes when I need fulfillment."

Eve paused, looking up at him.

"I'm almost ninety-nine percent sure that's not the truth," she said.

Adam grinned.

"Why? Because you trust me?"

Eve shook her head. "No, because I've combed this place. If you were keeping a woman in a cupboard, I'd have found her by now."

"Because you're good at your job?"

Eve wrapped her arms around Adam's waist and squeezed. "Yeah, because I'm very good at my job."