Page 279 of Reign

She jerks anyway.

I pick up the leather crop from the table and let the flat of it rest against her hip, then drag it upward in a long, slow line so she knows exactly what it is. No strike. Just the promise of one.

“Hold still,” I tell her, voice low. “Look at me.”

She does. Even gagged, even annoyed, she obeys the small things she can still control. Pride and defiance and surrender all tangled together.

“You’re taking this so beautifully, mi vida. Look at you. Open for me. Waiting. Exactly how I’ve always wanted you.”

I walk away for a moment. Open a drawer. Set what I have on the table with a soft, deliberate sound. I like watching the way her curiosity makes her body respond.

When I come back toward her I let her hear the quiet click of the toy turning on, then the silence when I turn it off again. Just to watch her eyes narrow.

She’s mine like this. Suspended. Silent. Burning. And I am in no hurry.

I bring the vibrator up to her eye level.

“Do you want this, princesa?”

She keeps her eyes on mine and murmurs behind the gag.

“Hm. Shame I can’t understand you,” I tease. “I guess you don’t want this.”

She rolls her eyes.

I chuckle, low and pleased, and turn the vibrator back on. The soft buzz fills the quiet room. I drag it slowly up the inside of her thigh, letting the vibrations skim her skin without giving her what she wants.

“What was that?”

She rolls her eyes again.

I slide the vibrator higher. The moment it brushes the soft crease where thigh meets hip she whimpers through the gag, the sound muffled and desperate. I hold it there for two heartbeats, then turn it off.

She growls, frustrated, and rolls her eyes a third time.

I laugh under my breath, enjoying her far too much, and reach up to unbuckle the gag. It falls away. She works her jaw once, lips wet and pink.

“That was three,” I tell her.

“Asshole,” she snaps, voice rough. “Three what?”

“Three eye rolls.” I drag the tip of the still-silent vibrator along her inner thigh again, slow and deliberate. “Maybe you should get a consequence.”

She huffs, chin tipping up even while she’s hanging there open for me. “Make me come.”

I chuckle. “Oh. You think you’re in charge, I see.”

She looks smug. Even like this—roped, spread, toes barely brushing the floor—she still manages to look like she’s winning.

I turn the vibrator on and press it firmly against her clit.

She cries out, sharp and broken, hips jerking against the ropes.

“Maybe I should edge you,” I murmur, watching her face. “I could, you know. Keep you from your orgasm for hours if I want while this tight little cunt drips down my hand.”

She whimpers. “Luciano, please—”

I turn it off.