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“Cheat.” He literally swept her off her feet. “Yet another entry on your long list of crimes.”
She threw her arms around his neck. “I am irredeemable, I’m afraid.”
“I have some thoughts concerning your edification.” He placed her gently on the bed. “Do you remember when you told me your mind was never at rest?”
“Yes,” she answered with suspicion.
“I plan to rectify your misfortune.”
“How?”
He picked up the sash she’d been wearing. “The answer is ribbon.”
She furrowed her brow. “For a gentleman, you’re remarkably interested in trimmings. Ribbons, feathers, flo—”
“Raise your arms,” he interrupted, “so I can bind them.”
She gasped. “Why?”
“Obviously,”—the wicked smile reappeared—“lightly trussed in soft silk, you will have to focus on just my touch.” He paused and cocked his head. “And the bow would be pretty.”
She narrowed her gaze. “You just want to keep me from reaching for your falls.”
“I will never bemoan your interest in my falls. Or,” he snorted, “my man-shifts. Or my cudgel. Trust me?”
She considered the ribbon.
She liked the gleam in his eyes. And focusing on his touch sounded... pleasant.
She trusted him.
She placed her hands above her head, giving him a look that said, I dare you.
He dared. Slowly, he wrapped her wrists and then tied them together in a large, loose bow.
“I’m hardly trussed,” she said.
“The point is not pain. Nor restraint.” He sat back on his haunches, admiring her anew. “The point is focus.”
She should have been embarrassed. She could hardly appear enticing with her stockinged legs inelegantly splayed. But she felt like the Season’s beauty. A diamond he would cherish forever.
“Comfortable, darling?” he asked.
“Yes.” She settled into the pillow. “But if the point is focus, what shall I focus on?”
He traced his finger down her body. Underneath his falls, his excitement was plain to see. Her inner legs responded with a wet, pleading shiver.
He nestled between her legs. Her body responded with wetness.
“Fortitude,” he whispered. Then, he lowered his mouth and kissed her in a place she never imagined he would want to kiss.
Her lips parted, forming a trembling “oh.” Her breath came out in a low, ragged sigh.
His tongue lashed against her inner folds in short, exciting strokes. She arched into his mouth. It felt wonderful, but...
“I want to see you,” she said.
“Bound but not restrained,” he lifted his head to murmur.
