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I nearly swallow my tongue. The red lace camisole hugs and plumps the curves of her breasts. The little velvet laces holding the garment together barely contain her soft, pillowy flesh spilling over the cups. She tempts me until I’m rabid with the need to climb on top of her, plunge deep inside her, and pound her until she knows she’s mine.

One thing at a time… Secure her, then fuck her. Waiting isn’t an option. I’ve already done plenty of that.

Carefully, I reach for Lauren’s free wrist and lift it to the waiting cuff I fed through one of the iron headboard’s curves. In response, she moans, fidgets, and presses her thighs together. She follows her unconsciously sensual dance by wriggling her hips and lifting them in my direction. Again, she moans, this sound longer, lower, needier. I start sweating.

Even in her sleep, the woman tests my control.

With a muted click, I secure Lauren’s second wrist and release the breath I hadn’t realized I was holding.

Everything is going according to plan—so far. She’s ready sexually. If her body is open to a new lover, her heart can’t be far behind. Her kids are gone for the night. I’ve had gifts delivered. Her curiosity—and more—is aroused. And I have her bound to her bed, ready for all the ecstasy I plan to heap on her.

Tension squeezes my gut and engorges my cock as I secure a blindfold over her eyes and reach for the remote control. With the press of a button, the TV dies, plunging the room into dark silence. Finally, I pull off my mask and gloves.

Gritting my teeth against impatience, I lean in and kiss my way from the swells of her breasts, to her neck, then nibble her lobe.

God, she smells good. Clean. Like female sprinkled in vanilla musk. Something so sexy and natural. Lauren’s scent alone is enough to make me strain against the zipper and black denim strangling my cock.

She stirs, shifts, and moans.

“That’s it,” I whisper. “Wake up.”

Suddenly, she stiffens before gasping and lunging against my cuffs. I press my hand to the center of her chest, pinning her to the mattress.

When she opens her mouth to scream, I cover it and growl into her ear, “I promised you naked skin and fantasies. Tonight. The whole night. Are you ready?”

Chapter Three

Lauren

* * *

At the unfamiliar whisper in my ear, cold fear freezes my body. The pounding of my heart almost drowns him out. Almost…but I still hear him panting. He’s unnervingly close.

As he hovers over me, I can tell his breathing isn’t the only thing that’s hard.

Oh. My. God. Mr. Mysterious didn’t fail to show up after all.

Be careful what you wish for…

I was so caught up in the excitement of someone wanting me that I didn’t think through the details of a stranger vowing to strip me and fill me with his cock. Now he’s here. In my house. In my bed. Suddenly, I’m terrified. I try to remember everything I’ve ever read about serial killers and rapists. But I’m blank and panicked.

My feet tangle with his calves, suggesting he’s at least six feet tall. His wide chest envelops me in solid heat, which means he’s built big, like a wall of iron. Between him and the cuffs encircling my wrists, I can’t possibly escape—and he’s making sure I understand that without uttering a word.

Fresh fear zips down my spine when his erection prods between my legs. Clearly, he doesn’t have a rousing game of checkers on his mind. In fact, he feels fully prepared to do exactly what he’d stated and has beyond adequate equipment with which to do it. Way beyond.

Will I wind up a police statistic?

“I can’t wait to be inside you, to make you mine.”

His voice sounds both menacing and seductive as it penetrates my panic and scratches my senses. Are his words a promise…or a threat?

Fresh adrenaline jolts me. I open my mouth to scream. His palm over my lips makes that impossible.

Wild fear and sick thrill twist and claw through my belly. I can’t separate them. My mind spins, my heart pounds, and an icy slide of dread shocks my bloodstream.

I do my best to struggle, but it’s no use. I should have told Noah I needed extra security. Should have called the police. God, how did this man steal into my house and handcuff me to my own bed? Yes, I wanted excitement, but not the kind that means my murder and my funeral arrangements will be the talk of the five-o’clock news.

“Shh. You’re going to scream. Long and loud. But not out of fear. I won’t ever hurt you,” he promises. “But I’ll pleasure you until you can’t breathe.”