It was Sebastian, damn his eyes.
He infuriated and aroused her to such a degree that she didn’t know what she was feeling. All she knew was theintensityof her state, the years of pent-up emotions, the feeling that if she didn’t discharge the energy coursing through her, she might explode. Her head buzzed. Her skin tingled. She felt reckless and out of control, and for once she did not care.
Sebastian did this to me, and he’s going to face the consequences.
Just because she issued the challenge, however, didn’t mean that her former husband would take it. Well, she’d given him a choice, which was more than he’d given her when he interfered with her mission this eve. The thought threw tinder on the flames, but she would deal with Miss Loveday and Quinton later…if Devlin hadn’t already.
Right now, her mind was on one thing.
Retribution.
She was going to get her satisfaction in whatever form she desired. And there were so many ways to choose from. She ran her gaze over the options, letting it linger upon the stocks before returning it to Sebastian.
“Well?” she said blandly. “Are you staying or going?”
Bronze stars glittered in his midnight eyes. “I am still here.”
She lifted her brows. “Yet you are still dressed.”
His gaze locked on hers, he began to strip. He did it without any pretense of modesty, and Lord knew the bastard had plenty to be proud of. As he tugged his shirt over his head, revealing a rippling expanse of muscle, she felt a quiver in her belly. Dash it, but the years had treated him well. His youthful virility had hardened and roughened, turning him into what he was today: a man in his prime.
His torso looked as if it had been hewn from granite, from the blocks of his chest to the delineated ridges of his abdomen. The memory of lying beneath that broad chest, the delicious weight of those honed edges and soft scratch of his dark chest hair, set off a tingle in her nipples. His eyes glittered, and his mouth curled up as if he knew what she was thinking, the arrogant bounder. He removed his footwear, and it irked her that even his feet were sexy, large and masculine. When he reached for his waistband, he paused, a slight tilt to his head.
She realized he was asking for confirmation that this was what she wanted, and anger mingled with lust. Did he think she was the same naïve miss he’d married? That she couldn’t handle the sight of his nudity?
“Keep going,” she said coolly. “A naked man is nothing I haven’t seen before.”
The smile left his eyes, a dangerous smolder taking its place. Was hejealous?
Serves him right.
His jaw clenching, he unfastened his trousers, removing them with swift tugs. There was defiance in his dark gaze as he stripped off his smalls and tossed them aside. Ah, his lower half was just as impressive as the top. The lean hips with the arches of muscle, those sinewy legs. That thick, long cock. He stood, his hands loosely curled at his sides, his bold posture daring her to look her fill. As if a woman could do anything else with such a bounty before her.
It made her remember that hers were likely not the only female—or male—eyes taking in Sebastian’s splendid masculinity. For some reason, the public nature of their playing made her feel safe. It wasn’t just the masks and disguises; it was the fact that she knew this was merely sexual. A one-time carnal encounter to exorcise her demons once and for all. This wasn’t about intimacy and love and trust, the things that had landed her in trouble the first time around.
This was about lust. About using her former husband for what he was good for—and paying him back for his interference tonight. Judging from the size of his erection, he didn’t mind one bit.
As she eyed that raring beast, she felt a molten trickle between her thighs. It wasn’t possible for a man to get bulkier there as well, was it? Perhaps her memory hadn’t managed to capture his larger-than-life manhood, the bulging veins on the huge burgundy shaft, the glossy sheen on the broad tip. His bollocks swayed like a plum too ripe for its branch.
“Will I do?”
His eyebrows rose above his mask, his arrogance restored. Just because she found his confidence attractive didn’t mean she wouldn’t challenge it.
“Looks are not everything,” she said haughtily. “The question remains if you are ready to accept a punishment of my choosing.”
“I would take anything you chose to bestow upon me.”
At his fierce reply and yearning gaze, her heart thumped in a way that she didn’t want to examine. Instead, she swept a considering look over the instruments of sensual torture. She was squeamish when it came to pain and derived no pleasure from inflicting it. The idea of locking Sebastian in stocks, even in play, held no appeal, and the punishment bench seemed rather pedestrian.
She made her decision. “Step up to the flogging net, then, and be quick about it.”
“Yes, ma’am.” Sounding amused, he strode to the net made of rope, the top corners suspended from the ceiling and the bottom two rigged to the floor. “What next?”
“Face the net. Spread your arms wide and grab hold of the ropes.”
He did as she instructed, turning his back to her and fisting his hands around the hemp.
“How is that?”
