Beth returned and sat, cocking her head at the bundle of leather. She looked curious, albeit faintly disappointed, as though she had expected something more elaborate.
He chuckled to himself. If only she knew how many ways he could use these.
“May I?” She sounded shy, at least compared to her usual tone, as she held her hand out.
He brought them to her, dropping them into her palm.
“I fear I am at a disadvantage,” she said, glancing up at him. She licked her lips.
He enjoyed her nerves. Keeping a woman off-balance in his bedroom was his favorite thing. Usually, it happened when the leather was already on. Then again, that was because he chose women who had seen demonstrations of his pieces and were eager to try them. “How so?”
“Don’t you usually display them on models or in use?”
“Yes, and Evan will do so tomorrow. You can enjoy the show then.”
“But I asked for a private show.” She was pouting again, and Robert found himself tempted to threaten punishment. This little hellion apparently required a strong hand.
“I don’t have a model handy. What do you suggest?” He knew she’d led him there, but he sure as hell wasn’t going to volunteer himself. This would also address agreement, the one thing he demanded from partners, given that bondage was involved with much of his leather work.
“I will model them. Then I can get the full experience, rather than simply watching a show.”
Perfect. He suppressed another smile. “Excellent. These can be used without removing any clothes. ’Tis bad enough we are in here without your maid or someone. I don’t want to harm your reputation.”
She gave a snort that told him of her disregard for her standing in society. It was a timely reminder of why he should want the liaison to end with the party and forego wooing.
He attached one cuff to her left wrist, leaving the leather strip and the attached cuff trailing. Her right hand received one end of the other set of cuffs, with the laces wrapped around the outside of the cuff in opposing directions and tied off. He slid a finger under each cuff to ensure her blood flow was not restricted and stepped back.
She gave a small circle with a hand. “And? Where do the other ends go then?”
“You’ll see.”
Stepping forward and going to one knee by her side, he threaded the strap of one set through the opening below the carved wooden arm of the Hepplewhite chair. The arms were padded where her elbow naturally rested so he was not worried about her comfort. He then brought the leather around the outside of the chair leg and attached the cuff on the other end to her ankle, checking again for circulation.
“Hmm. I can still move quite freely.” Beth tested that side, as Robert secured her other ankle similarly.
“Reach for me.” He shifted back on his heels.
As her hands came forward, her feet were forced to lift, to give her range of motion.
“Now. Let’s see how you like this.” He leaned forward to one side again.
Unbuckling the strap, he drew the tongue further through the buckle, passing one, two, three holes.
Her ankle lifted. She gasped and tried to keep her thighs closed, as a lady would when sitting. But with the strap threaded around the arm of the chair, her ankle was drawn outward. She tried moving her arm from her lap to the pad, then over it to grasp the vertical wooden piece of the chair arm.
Robert grinned and absorbed the slack. Finally, after another two holes, he buckled the strap together.
Beth stared at him wide-eyed from behind her raised knee, her foot dangling just below her hand. “Oh.”
“Not going to reach for me?” He chuckled and turned to do the same to her other side.
Beth squirmed. “This is terribly inappropriate, Mister Orford.”
He grinned. “Which you knew when you asked to see these. The actuality of being restrained is quite different to the idea, is it not?”
She wiggled her bottom on the chair again, and her skirts, which had inched upward as her knees rose above her hands, fell toward her, exposing the tops of her stockings and garters.
“Oh!”
