Cuffing Kate Read Online Free PDF Page A

change clothes—the aroma of coffee permeated my whole being. I could go and
snag one of Sonia’s little dresses from her closet, put some emphasis on my
figure, something different from my standard uniform of faded jeans and a plain
white button-down.
    But when I went to her room and looked in her closet, I was at
a loss. How could I put on a costume when all I really wanted was for Jules to
see me naked? I headed back to my room. At the very least, I could capture my
hair in a flirty ponytail. I might even slick on my one shade of lip gloss, if I
could find the tube.
    On my bed sat a book—a book I recognized immediately. Sonia’s
diary. That’s why I hadn’t found the journal in the morning. She’d cottoned on
to the fact that I was a snoop. Guilt flickered through my body. That didn’t
stop me from perching on the edge of my mattress and cracking the spine once
more. Her latest entry was written differently this time. It was written
directly to me.
    When I saw you on your bed like that, I couldn’t get the
image out of my mind. I went and told Eleanor what I’d seen, and Eleanor
spoke to me differently than anyone ever had. Do you want that? she asked
me. Want… She hesitated.
    To be tied down, or tied up?
    It’s no coincidence, is it? You read my diary. You saw what
he said. You knew what he did.
    The guilt was back. I was shivering all over.
    But I’m not angry, Kate. Because last night with Eleanor
was the best fucking night I ever had. The best night fucking, too.
    Now, I smiled.
    Oh, yeah. And do you think we could borrow your cuffs
sometime?
    I put down Sonia’s diary and grabbed the pretty faux-fur,
leopard-print cuffs from my bottom drawer. She’d like these best, I thought.
They went with her style. I set both the cuffs and key and diary on Sonia’s bed.
Then I looked at my clock. Jules had said to meet him after work. Maybe I ought
to have changed—turned myself into someone else. Like in one of those fairy
tales I used to read when I was a kid. But I didn’t have a godmother.
    Instead I went as myself.
    * * *
    Jules was waiting for me on his front porch, beer in
hand.
    I could hardly speak English when he opened the front door for
me. I might have said Hello but the word was erased by the sound of a truck
rumbling by on the road, and I didn’t try again. Jules waited like a gentleman
for me to step inside and came in after me. Was I really here? Was this really
happening? I turned to look at Jules. He smiled, as if he could read all the
thoughts that were in my head. But he couldn’t possibly. There was no way that
he could know how often I’d thought about him, and the dirty things I’d imagined
him doing to me.
    He set his beer down on the table in the entryway. I set my
satchel down on the floor. We stared at each other for a moment, and I wondered
if this was going to be easy or awkward or…
    “This way.”
    Easy. I let him lead me once more, this time to the bedroom. I
thought of Sonia, thought of her hot-tempered reaction to his initial
suggestion. How different I was, meek and willing, desperate.
    “You look in the mirror,” he said when we got to his room, “but
you don’t see the truth.”
    “What do you mean?” His room was all white. White walls, white
furniture. But the bed had a black spread on the mattress, and there were framed
black-and-white posters on the walls. I was secretly thrilled to see several
that I owned, as well.
    “You don’t see. You can’t possibly. Or you wouldn’t behave the
way you do.” As if to prove his point, he spun me around, so I was facing a
gilded oval mirror hanging above his bed. I looked down. He tilted my chin up. I
shut my eyes. He brought his mouth to my ear and said, “Don’t disobey me. If I
want your eyes closed, I’ll use a blindfold.”
    His words made me instantly wet. Did he know? Could he
tell?
    I sucked my lower lip between my teeth and bit hard. I wished I
could be eloquent with words the way Sonia was, able to put