Games
Carefully, she presses him down onto the floor so that he kneels. His eyes are covered with a strip of black cloth. His hands are tied behind his back as well. She had deliberately made the knot very loose. If he wanted to, he could free his hands easily. But he didn’t want to.
She smiles and walks around him in slow steps. Her feet make hardly any sound on the carpet. Beneath his knees is a blanket to cushion them. This wasn’t about hurting him. Not yet. For now, it was simply about seeing how obedient he could be.
His hair looks soft, and without really thinking about it, she notices her hand beginning to lift. She stops herself just in time. Everything had its time. She liked how relaxed he looked. How calm he seemed. Inevitably, she wondered what it would take to make that calmness disappear.
Shaking her head at herself, she moves to the door and opens it, only to close it again a moment later. Leaning beside it with her back against the wall, she watches his reaction.
When he hears the sound, he tilts his head slightly as if listening—but he doesn’t turn toward it. She doesn’t take her eyes off him. Apart from that, there is no further reaction. Even after ten minutes, he doesn’t move beyond that initial tilt of his head.
With each passing minute, her smile grows. No instructions, and yet he knows exactly what he is supposed to do. Something like pride blooms in her chest. As she watches him, she notices that while his face is completely relaxed, his shoulders remain tense.
She opens the door again and closes it once more. With every step she takes toward him, his shoulders loosen further. She stops in front of him and finally allows herself to touch him. Carefully, she begins to stroke his hair, and he leans slightly into the gesture. Is he even aware that he’s doing that?
“Can you free your hands and give me your left one?”
Just to make sure he really could have freed himself.
He hesitates briefly. Maybe he wonders if it’s a trap? Then he frees both hands without difficulty. Satisfaction spreads through her. So he really had figured out what she wanted on his own. Clever. He had always been very clever.
Now he raises his left hand and feels cautiously through the air, his right still behind his back. She watches, slightly amused. Then he stops, his hand outstretched.
“Please?”
Her heart skips a beat. She gives him her hand. He had passed the second test as well—asking for something he wanted.
His grip in her hand is warm, dry, and firm. Lightly, she drags her thumbnail across the back of his hand, and immediately a red line blossoms on his pale skin. His grip doesn’t change. No reaction to her gesture.
With her free hand, she pulls the blindfold from his eyes so that it falls around his neck. He blinks briefly at the sudden light. Then she sees his eyes—bright and alert. There is excitement in them, and perhaps even anticipation.
“Well done.”
Praise should be given where it is deserved. And of course, he had done everything exactly as she wanted. Even here, he was an overachiever. He deserved a reward.
Her left hand is still in his, but with her right she turns the knot at his neck so that it now faces her. She had tied it in a way that allowed her to tighten or loosen it easily.
Looking into his eyes, she pulls the knot tighter and tighter. His grip around her hand grows firmer, yet he neither looks away nor lets go. She has to smile—and he, too, seems unable to stop a small twitch at the corner of his mouth.
What a dangerous game the two of them are playing.
