Page 28 of Vienna Bargain

Alexander’s irked expression told her she was right.

“Or maybe your plan is if I try to leave the villa, the bodyguards might mistake me for an intruder and shoot me.”

“I have no intention of killing you.”

“Pardon me, of course not. It’s hard to torture information out of a dead body.” She reached up and flicked a chain dangling from the tall post at the foot of the bondage bed.

“Tell me who you are.”

She arched a brow. “I’m sure you have people working on that.”

The Alena Moore identity was solid, but nothing was unbreakable. With enough time his people would be able to trace back and find out who she was. She just had to hope the data had gotten through and it was being put to use.

He didn’t reply.

Alena flicked the chain again, then started to circle around the bed. The posts of the frame extended nearly to the ceiling, supporting a canopy of metal lattice.

The evenly spaced metal slats of the lattice created a pattern of diamonds. Decorative, but also functional—having all those bars overhead undoubtedly served as convenient places to loop rope or hook chain.

Short chains were bolted onto each of the four posts, near the top where the posts met the metal canopy. The large-link chains dangled all the way to the floor, offering him a multitude of options. It could be as simple as securing wrists in a classic arms-raised pose, while strapping ankles to the bottom of the frame, recreating St. Andrew’s cross-stule bondage.

The mattress—covered by a black fitted sheet and nothing else, was raised up taller than most beds, especially in Europe. She leaned against it, measuring—the mattress came up to the top of her hip.

Which meant it was probably the perfect height for Alexander to fuck anyone bent over the bed while he stood beside it.

Under the elevated mattress was storage. The meter-long drawers reminded her a bit of wide, low two-drawer filing cabinets. Or maybe it was the small locks above each of the four drawers’ handles that made her think of filing cabinets.

She doubted there were files inside.

“Custom made?” She gestured to the bed, which was a common choice for serious players who were also short on space so couldn’t opt for multiple, more narrowly optioned, pieces.

“Yes.” He studied the piece of bondage equipment as if it was his first time seeing it. “I assembled it.”

“Yourself?” She glanced up at where one of the vertical posts met the metal frame canopy.

“Yes.”

Instead of the beaded lines that would indicate the metal had been welded, the lattice had bolts driven through each intersection, and larger bolts as well as triangular braces supported the corners and posts. She imagined Alexander carrying each piece down, studiously linking them together, and it made him seem all too human and approachable. “I assumed you’d have people for that.”

“I value my privacy.”

“Oh, I know. It’s why you don’t have cameras in most of your Vienna house.” She fluttered her lashes at him. “Made my job so much easier.”

His brows rose, then he very deliberately gave her naked body a once-over.

She was comfortable with her body—thanks to therapy and a solid understanding of how making women dislike themselves was a business tactic to sell beauty and fitness products. But when he looked at her like that, she felt naked, the kind of naked that had nothing to do with lack of clothes.

Alena planted her hands behind her on the mattress then hopped up, sliding her butt across the slick black material. Satin, most likely.

She swung her feet, heels thumping gently against the storage drawers under the bed. “Just so I’m sure I understand, I’m not a prisoner in this large coffin—”

“It’s not a coffin.”

“—but if I do try and leave this room in a desperate search for fresh air—”

“The room has a self-contained air filtration system.” He pointed to a circular vent she hadn’t paid enough attention to.

“—I’ll be forced to walk naked through the house. And if I leave this tasteful villa I’ll be running naked through the countryside with a collar locked around my neck, which all but assures I’ll meet a grisly fate.”

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