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Sultry instrumentals surround us, the subtle thumps of bass evoking sinful pleasures. I dip my chin, needing to kiss the coy expression off her face. Anna’s lips move against mine and she grasps my suspenders, following them down, until she’s tracing the print of my hard cock through my pants. Her fingers tremble as she works to unbutton.

I tear my lips from hers, pressing my cheek to her temple. “Me first . . .”

My feet find the floor again and I crouch. She hums quietly and I unclip the thigh-high stockings from her garter belt, slipping my hands under, hooking her underwear and peeling them off her legs and around her heels. I pocket them and Anna’s attention flicks behind me. I turn my head, noticing that a couple has entered the room to watch. She exhales a slow breath but nods that she’s good to keep going.

“Eyes on me,” I tell her, commanding her focus.

She sucks in a breath, locking her gaze on mine.

“That’s better. I’ve got you.” My words hope to anchor her to my voice. “You’re safe.”

My mouth trails her inner thighs and she parts them further. I groan at the sight of her wet pussy glistening in the low light casting from the brass wall sconces. Curious spectators gather, their silhouettes tightening in my periphery, but I don’t let her eyes stray from mine. Not until I see she’s settled.

It happens slowly.

Her body softens. I watch her carefully as her pupils dilate, filling with more heat than tension. She’s so fucking stunning. Anna sinks her teeth into that bottom lip.

There she is.

“Look around, Duchess. Do you see the desire in their stares?”

“Yes,” she pants, glancing at the audience, who’s already under her spell.

“They want to touch you,” I murmur. “Every single one of them is watching and imagining themselves getting to do what I get to do. You can deny their curiosity or welcome the imagination.”

Her lashes flutter.

“What do you want?”

“I welcome it.”

A wicked smile stretches across my face. “Good. Let the thought in. You don’t have to give them anything real.”

The subtle shift is unmistakable the moment she stops enduring the observation from others and starts taking it—stealing it—forcing them to look. That’s my girl.

“Imagine their hands,” I whisper. “Hungry and greedy. Sliding over your hips and up to your breasts like they’ve been thinking about it since you walked through the door.”

My mouth brushes the shell of her ear. “The power you have, the choice to deny or invite . . . Who gets to watch, to touch . . . Maybe you allow one to hold your thighs open while another learns how wet you are . . . Maybe you make them beg before you let them caress this sweet, wet pussy.”

I kiss her collarbone. “Only you decide which lucky bastard gets to fill you with their fingers, which one gets to stretch and feel how tight you are, which one gets to discover if you’re as soft as you look . . . The way these men would lose their fucking minds for you, Anna. Spending the rest of their pathetic lives wondering what you taste like and how you fuck. Imagine them crawling to you on their fucking hands and knees like dogs, waiting for you to decide who gets fed.”

She tilts her head to the side, raking fingers through my hair with enough pressure to scratch. Then she fists the short strands and tugs me closer to her face, studying me. “Good boy,” she muses under her breath.

I have no clue what she’s doing, but there’s a teasing aggression to her tone.

The corner of her mouth tilts up. “Now fucking eat.”

I wrap my arms around her legs and yank her ass to the edge. “Lie back.”

As soon as she reclines on propped elbows, I slip the suspenders off my shoulders and dip my head, kissing my way up her thighs.

A man nearby takes a step closer—I make eye contact with him while my tongue is skating up her thigh. His focus turns to Anna and the hunger in his stare is palpable; he would do anything to trade places with me—just like every other person watching.

Good. Let them look.

Let them fucking ache over her, because tonight they’ll leave with a memory, and I’ll leave with her.

I wait until he glances back at me, and then I smirk before flattening my tongue, dragging it from her entrance to her clit. Fuck you.