"Yep."
"Let me know when you're ready."
Aidan sounds business-like, as if they are about to start a class. Rosa nods. She makes her way to the changing rooms, collecting her bag from the locker. It was Aidan's suggestion to do it in the privacy of the gym, away from the bedroom. For some reason, that makes Rosa more cautious, as if he doesn't want the memory of what he's got planned to linger in the place that they sleep together.
Once she's in the changing rooms, she sinks down onto the bench. It takes her a full minute to unzip her bag and begin to peel off her clothing. In the bag is an old white string bikini that Aidan has selected for her and reluctantly she begins to put it on. She hasn't worn it in ages; the bottoms cover her crotch, but the thin straps are knotted at her back with a strap passing between the cheeks of her bottom, so that from behind it appears almost as if she's naked from the waist down. Each side is tied in a little bow, giving the teasing impression that a little tug would loosen the garment and let it fall to the floor.
Looking in the mirror, all she can see is the curve of her rump and a tiny white strip covering her pussy. The bikini top is barely more than two triangles of white fabric nestled over each breast, with thin straps running around her sides and over her shoulders, making her acutely aware of how little she's wearing. The side straps are tied in bows too, ready to be pulled to render Rosa topless. She's sure that this is Aidan's intention.
Rosa turns side-on, looking at the reflection of her toned, shapely body. She knows she has a figure that most women would dream of. Her hand rests on her conspicuously flat stomach. Drawing in a deep breath, she raises her chin. No time to back down now. Suck it up. Time to go.
She finds Aidan in the main exercise area, among the strength training machines. He's laid a bedsheet down over the matting in front of the sprawling, freestanding frame they use for lateral pull-downs. There is a bar above head height connected by pulleys to a set of weights that move up and down at the back of the frame. The sheet is directly beneath the bar. Aidan is standing there next to a carryall laying unzipped on the floor.
"So, where do you want me?" she asks, hands on hips just above the little bows that keep her bikini bottoms together.
Aidan points to the middle of the sheet, "Just here."
"Intending to make a mess?"
"Possibly."
Rosa surveys him, coolly. "At least you're thinking about the tidy-up. One less thing to explain to the team tomorrow morning."
Rosa looks up and grasps the contoured foam handles on either end of the bar without being asked. She meets Aidan's eyes and cocks an eyebrow, oozing bravado, daring him on. Aidan says nothing, but he brings in a stepladder, positioning it next to her and climbing up. There is a roll of black tape in his hand.
"That's not rope," she remarks.
"Rope comes later," he counters. There's something in his tone: level, detached. She wants to goad a response out of him, but he's not rising to the bait.
Aidan peels off the end of the tape and wraps it once around the metal bar, then begins to wind the black strip over her fingers. He bites into it to cut it, smoothing the loose end across the back of her hand. She tries to flex her fingers, experimentally, but can't move her hand at all. It's firmly stuck in place, clutching the handle. Aidan repeats the process with the other hand until both her hands are completely immobilised. He gets down from the stepladder and stands close to her, brushing back the strands of long, dark hair that have fallen over her beautiful face.
"Great plan so far," Rosa remarks.
In reply, Aidan holds up the roll of black tape in front of her face, the loose end dangling.
"You wouldn't dare," she says.
"You shouldn't tempt me."
Aidan walks behind her, and she can hear the sound of a lid being removed from one of their equipment storage crates. When he steps back in front of her again, he's holding a large coil of climbing rope.
"This may take a while," he says, in that same understated, even tone. "Let me know if it pinches or you start to feel pins and needles. I don't want you to get hurt."
Rosa has a retort ready to go, but it dies on her lips when she looks into his eyes. Aidan is very serious, almost nervous; she's unable to predict what he'll do. Seeing him this way is unfamiliar; Rosa feels little butterflies in her stomach.
It takes a long time for Aidan to wind the rope around her body. He doesn't remove the white string bikini, and that puzzles her. He criss-crosses the rope over her shoulders, down around and between her breasts and then across her belly, all the while keeping it snug against her skin but not too tight. Despite herself, she is warming to the feel of his hands on her skin, threading the rope back and forth, binding her torso into an elaborate rope harness. He feeds a length of the rope down from a knot nestled in the small of her back, parting her buttocks to sit it deep in the cleft of her bottom, passing it between her legs so it nestles in the valley between the top of her leg and her labia.
Carefully, he threads it under the rope running down the side of her stomach and across, over her belly button, pulling the slack until she can feel the friction as the cord tightens around the outer edges of her pussy. Threading under the rope that runs down the other side of her stomach, he pulls the length down and sits it outside her other pussy lip before threading it again between her legs. She feels him part her buttocks, laying the rope again in the cleft of her bottom and threading it up into the knot in the small of her back. She can feel his fingers tickling the skin at the base of her spine and it sends little shivers through her.
Aidan draws in the slack and despite being covered by the white triangle of fabric, she feels her labia being spread apart slightly by the friction of the rope. Aidan ties it off and bends down to run his hand over her crotch, feeling the way the ropes have parted her.
"Nearly done. Not too tight?" he asks, and Rosa realises that it's the first words he's spoken since he began.
She gives him a little shake of the head. "Feels fine."
His mood has infected her. There's no more taunting, no more little jabs. She's now just waiting to see what he means by 'no holds barred'.
Aidan kneels down between her legs and places a kiss on the tiny strip of white fabric, sending involuntary shivers through her as her body responds to his touch.
"This next bit might be a little awkward for a while," says Aidan as he takes hold of one of her ankles and folds her leg up behind her, until her heel is touching her bottom.
Rosa wiggles, rebalancing onto her other foot. Aidan begins to loop the rope around her ankle, drawing in the slack until her foot is bound to the knot at the base of her spine. She knows what he's going to do next, and pulls up on the bar above her, supporting her body weight as he folds and secures her other leg behind her. Once he's done, he makes a slow circle around his bound wife, checking his workmanship, looking for pressure points. He stops in front of her and raises a hand to her soft cheek.
"Comfortable?"
Rosa is gritting her teeth, feeling the weight of her body hanging down from her hands, but she can't let go of the bar. She can feel a generous length of rope dangling down between her legs. Aidan tugs on it, experimentally.
"This should make it easier."
He climbs the stepladders again. Rosa looks up, watching him feed the loose end of the rope a couple of times through the metal hoop welded into the middle of the bar, where it's attached to the pulley system that runs down to the weights. She cranes her neck to look behind her and sees that the little steel peg is pushed into the stack of weights at a hundred kilos, easily counterbalancing the weight of her body on the other end. Aidan tugs on the end of the rope and she feels her backside being hoisted into the air until her body is horizontal, her arms pulled back and wide like she's about to take flight. He threads the end of the rope through a knot between her shoulder blades and ties it off. She's grateful for the way it supports the weight of her upper body, taking the strain off her arms.
Aidan's hands trace over her tethered body, kneading and squeezing, and she realises he's checking blood flow and pinch points. She squirms in the ropes but there's no escape: she's completely helpless now and at her husband's mercy. Aidan grabs a knee and gently spins her around a few times, letting his wife's body dangle free in space.
"You look amazing," he murmurs, "I think it's time to immortalise this moment."
Rosa doesn't understand until she sees her husband step away and produce his phone. She wants to tell him to stop, but she knows it's futile. He begins to video her as she spins slowly in circles, each part of her body on display to the camera in turn, finishing on a close-up of her face. Aidan smiles and puts the phone away.
"I hope you're enjoying yourself," he says.
"Uh, I feel. I'm all...." Her voice trails off and she struggles against the ropes, as if to emphasise her predicament.
Aidan reaches towards her and pulls the shoe-string bows of her bikini top, tugging the material until it falls away, exposing her modest breasts to his view. He runs a hand over her soft curves, brushing her nipples with the rough skin of his palm. She feels her body react.
"That's good," he murmurs.
Aidan's hand runs down her spine, over the tracery of rope he's wrapped around her body, settling on her hip. He tugs the bow and she feels her bikini bottoms come loose. He pulls and suddenly her pussy is exposed, lips splayed, letting the cool air play over her moistening entrance. He places a hand on her folded knee and spins her so she's facing away from him. His free hand grabs her other knee, holding her in position.
Rosa tries to close her knees in a vain attempt at resistance, but Aidan's far too strong. He prises her apart until she's spread out for him as wide as she can go, dangling at head height. She feels a cool blast of air between her legs that makes her squirm.
