If anything, it felt tighter.
“Unbelievable!”I muttered, shifting again, trying to see over my shoulder this time, which only made the whole thing worse.
“Who designs something like this?” I complained before jumping up and down a little, hoping to potentially slip my torso out of the constricting bodice. I had no idea how I looked when doing this, and I wouldn’t have cared. That was until I realized I wasn’t as alone as I wanted to be.
My first clue to this was the faint movement behind me.
So subtle I almost missed it.
Almost.
Because the next thing I registered was warmth. Not the distant kind I had been pretending not to notice before, but something intimately close.
His hands came to rest at my waist, framing my sides in a gentle but possessive way. I gasped, the sound catching somewhere between surprise and something else entirely as my body reacted before my mind could catch up. An abrupt awareness rippled through me at the sudden contact.
“Easy,”he murmured, his voice close enough that I could feel the warmth of it brush against my ear. The quiet sound sent a shiver down my spine that had absolutely nothing to do with the temperature of the room.
My breath hitched.
“What are you doing?”I demanded, though the question came out softer than intended, unsteady in a way that immediately irritated me.
“Playing the hero,” he replied smoothly, and I could hear the faint amusement in it, feel it even, as though it settled into the space between us.
“The dress isn’t the enemy,” I shot back quickly, grasping for something that sounded like control, even as my hands dropped uselessly from the lacing.
“You are,”I added, and a quiet sound left him, something almost like a breath of laughter.
“Ah, but she wounds me so,” he said softly as if speaking to himself. Something I ignored in place of telling him,
“I’m fine.” However, my insistence rang hollow even to my own ears. Because I wasn’t fine. Not when I was suddenly very aware of how close he was. Not when his hands were still resting at my waist, not gripping, not restraining, just…there.Warm and steady, the heat of them seeping through the thin fabric of my dress and into my skin in a way that felt entirely too noticeable.
He didn’t move immediately. He simply waited.
“I can step back,” he said after a moment, his voice quieter now, closer, the words brushing against my ear,
“And enjoy watching you continue to struggle.” I swallowed, my cheeks aflame when he teased,
“I especially liked the part where you tried to jump out of it.” I released a shameful groan; one he chuckled at.
“Or you can let me help you,” he continued, the choice settling heavily between us, and the worst part was, I already knew it wasn’t really a choice at all.
A slow breath left me as my shoulders dropped, the tension easing just enough to feel the shift, my head dipping slightly in quiet, reluctant surrender.
“…fine.”
The word barely left my lips before he got started. His hands settled first at my shoulders before sliding down the bare line of my back. A slow and sensual caress as they followed the lacing all the way to the base of my spine.
I felt everything.
Every gentle touch and slight tug of movement as he pulled the length of fabric through the corset holes. Every breath against the back of my neck. Even the faint scent of him, something dark, clean, and unmistakably him, was threadingthrough the air and settling far too easily into my senses. Goddess, I wanted to drink him all in, consequences be damned!
The first release of tension was subtle, a slight give in the corset, a loosening that eased just enough to make a difference. A breath slipped from me before I could stop it, my body reacting instinctively as the pressure around my ribs eased. The fabric no longer holding me quite so tightly. His hands stilled for the briefest moment as though he had noticed. But of course, he had.
He continued, each careful movement loosening the dress further until the tight structure that had held everything in place began to give way entirely.
My breath caught as he ran his large hands down my bare back, as if soothing the imprints the corset’s boning had left behind. Then I felt his lips at my neck, kissing his way up to my ear so he could whisper…
“Looks like your villain saved the day.”
