Ryan finished securing my wrists to the bedpost with my best silk Gucci tie, and I wondered if letting him tie me up and have his way with me was the best or worst idea I’d ever gone along with.

Straddling my hips in glorious nakedness, Ryan frowned as he leaned forward to check the fit. The touch of his fingers burned a path all the way to my groin. “It’s not too tight, is it?”

“Mm, no,” I managed, shifting my hips until my hard cock bumped up hopefully against the crease of his ass.

“Un-uh.” Ryan shook his head and shifted forward out of reach. “We have a few other things to work through before we get to that.”

I frowned. I didn’t remember discussing these other things. “Things like what?”

Ryan leaned down to kiss my nipple, then took it in between his teeth hard enough to make me hiss. “Just things,” he said, with a gleam in his eye.

I trusted him, of course. There wasn’t anyone I trusted more. Ryan had always been there for me like no one else ever had—God only knew why, considering what an ass I was.

Of course, when Ryan had suggested this particular bedroom game on the first night of our honeymoon, with that innocent yet sexy expression he pulled off so well, I thought I’d be the one tying him up.

I was starting to wonder what exactly I’d let myself in for.

Ryan moved to my other nipple and tugged it gently with his teeth. “It occurred to me that you never really apologized for all the things you made me do when I was your PA.”

That did sound like me. The thing was, while I was more than sorry for the pain and heartache I’d caused him by being an oblivious ass—and I intended to make that up to him in every way he’d allow—asking him to do all those things for me had been a lot like pulling pigtails on the playground. I’d liked getting those exasperated reactions from Ryan because I’d liked him.

I was fully aware that didn’t make me the most mature person.

So Ryan was probably right that I hadn’t sufficiently begged forgiveness. Still, I hadn’t gotten to where I was without an instinct for negotiation. “Are you sure?” I shifted my hips again, hoping for some friction on my untouched cock, but Ryan just frowned at me and moved out of the way.

“Quite sure. And I believe some of those things—like making me break up with your one-night stands for you, for example—require something more than a simple apology.” He gazed down at me solemnly. “Something more like…punishment.”

Huh. Apparently my dick liked the sound of that. By his smirk, my reaction hadn’t escaped Ryan’s notice. I tested the strength of the ties again. How was I just now discovering his secret diabolical side? “Aren’t you supposed to give me a safeword?”

Ryan’s eyebrows shot up. Probably he hadn’t expected me to go along with it so easily. But if there was one thing he should know about me by now, it was that I was competitive. If Ryan wanted to see how far he could push me, then I was going to win that game.

“Certainly.” He leaned forward to kiss me sweetly on the lips, trying to distract me, no doubt. “How about Ithaca?” When I furrowed my brows in confusion, already lust-addled by his kiss, he prompted, “Your safeword.”

The name of my hometown used to inspire nothing but loathing in me. Now the only thing I associated it with was the place where everything had started with man I loved. “Works for me.”

“All right, then, let’s start.”

That certainly had a foreboding ring to it. I eyed him warily as he scooted back to straddle my thighs. His eyes zeroed in on my dick, which stood at attention hopefully.

“Let’s talk about…Slake.”

Huh. Not what I thought he’d start with. In truth, I had a soft spot for Slake. Not because of the man himself, though I wished him well, but because my interlude with Slake had prompted the first hint of jealousy from Ryan. I smiled just thinking about it.

Ryan, misinterpreting my smile, frowned and crossed his arms over his chest. “You’re not supposed to be reminiscing about your past exploits on the first night of our honeymoon.”

“You brought him up,” I pointed out. When Ryan’s frown didn’t waver, I sighed. “I’m smiling because of how much you hated him.”

“I did not,” Ryan said automatically, even though we both knew it was a lie. “I hated that you made me do your dirty work of breaking up with him.”

“You hated him,” I said firmly, knowing I was right. “And I loved that you were jealous of him, because it meant there might be a chance for me.”

That surprised him, and seemed to mollify him somewhat. He leaned down to kiss the tip of my cock. As sweet as the kiss was, my cock wanted so much more. “That’s still not an apology.”

I groaned when he took the head of my cock in his mouth, working it in all the ways he knew drove me crazy. But the game was on, and I wasn’t giving in that easily. “Some might say that as my personal assistant, it was your job to assist me in personal matters. Thus the job title.”

He pulled off me so quickly I couldn’t help but tilt my hips up vainly to chase his warmth. He shook his head sadly. “Wrong answer.”

My cock throbbed with frustration. I tried to tell it to hold firm and not give in, but the truth was, I wasn’t sure I wanted to win this particular game.

Actually, I was pretty damn sure I wanted to lose it.

“Of course,” I added, “I am sorry that I never told you how good your ass looks in your suit pants. Or how much I loved staring at the cowlick above your ear. Or how adorable that little frown line is between your eyebrows when you’re annoyed with me.”

“Hm.” Ryan looked like he was reconsidering. “Go on.” He took my cock in his hand and licked the head, tantalizingly slowly. He really was good at this pleasure-torture thing.

“And I’m sorry I never told you that was why I thought up so many things to annoy you.”

Another slow lick. “That seems pretty selfish to me.”

“You’re right,” I agreed. “It was. I wished I’d told you all of that months before. I wished I’d told you then how I couldn’t live without you. How I can’t live without you now. How I love everything about you.”

He looked surprised again. Fuck, this apology really was overdue. Could he ever have questioned he was the only man I had eyes for, even back then? That he was my entire world? I wished my hands were free, because what I wanted to do most in the world was take him in my arms and kiss away any doubt he’d ever had.

But because I was tied up, and because I was still me, I said smugly, “Now, I believe you were about to give me a blowjob.”

Ryan laughed and leaned forward to untie my wrists. Freed, I took him in my arms, found his mouth and kissed him with every ounce of passion I had for him. Which was a lot.

“Mm,” I said sometime later, our arms and legs wrapped around each other as we listened to the sounds of the sea outside our Ibiza hotel room. It was the same one we’d stayed in all those months ago. “This is even better than a blowjob.”

Ryan shook his head. “You’re a freak.”

“Hey, you’re the one who married me.”

He kissed me so sweetly my heart did flip-flops in my chest. “So I did. For better or worse.” He kissed the side of my mouth. “Richer or poorer.” Nibbled my jaw. “Till death do us part.”

I liked the sound of that a lot.

For the millionth time I marveled that he was mine. That I was his. I still didn’t know why he loved me. He’d never cared about my money or power. For some reason he actually loved me, warts and all.

All I knew was that I’d spend every day of the rest of my life being grateful for it.

We kissed again, this time with intent, and I murmured against his mouth, “Have I told you lately how much I love you?”

“Hm,” Ryan said, as if having to think about it. “Let’s see. At the wedding, and then the reception. Oh, and there was the time on the jet, and in the car on the way here.” He smiled. “But I don’t mind hearing it.”

So I told him again. And a thousand more times that night.