Page 61 of Caught By Menace

“Do you need some help?” Menace’s voice penetrated the door.

Naya picked up the strange black contraption that had come with the outfit. She still hadn’t figured out how it worked. “Yes.”

The door opened but Menace didn’t come inside. She met his gaze in the mirror. He looked taken aback. She squirmed anxiously. “What?”

“Baby, you arehot.” He crossed the distance between them in two long strides. His appreciative hands roamed her body. “So sexy.”

She could say the same about him. He wore leather pants and a skintight black shirt that outlined all those hard muscles of his chest and arms. His tattoos looked even harsher on his tanned skin. The way he looked at her made her pussy throb. She showed him the strange leather belt with the dangling straps. “I don’t know what this is.”

“It’s a garter belt.” He took it from her hand and wrapped it around her waist. His strong fingers easily snapped the silver studs together in the back. Hands on her hips, he kissed his way down her back. She shivered under his sensual touch. Kneeling behind her, Menace rubbed her bare upper thighs. “These straps clip on to the tops of your stockings.”

“Oh.” She used the mirror to watch him fix the garter belt. She touched the metal rings placed at each hipbone. “What are these for?”

“Your cuffs.” He rose slowly and put his hands on her shoulders. He dipped his nose into the high ponytail she’d fixed according to his instruction. “I’ll keep your hands cuffed at your sides in the club.”

“Why?”

He kissed her shoulder. “Because I want to.”

She frowned. “So that’s the way it’s going to be tonight?”

He skimmed his lips across the sensitive patch of skin just below her earlobe. “Tonight is all about your pleasure. The moment we walk out of the bathroom you are going to give up complete control to me. You’re going to trust me to take care of you.”

Could she do that? Naya watched him slide his soft lips along her shoulder. His big hands spanned her bare belly as he gently stroked her skin. The answer came swiftly.Yes.

Stomach wobbling and mouth dry, she whispered, “I trust you to take care of me.”

Menace’s gaze snapped to the mirror. They stared at each other for a long moment before he straightened to his full height. Even in the high heels, she was dwarfed by him. When his fingers moved to the buckle on the white bride’s collar, Naya experienced a tremor of uncertainty. Had she said the wrong thing? Why was he taking his collar off her?

“Easy,” Menace urged as he removed the collar he’d used to claim her. He placed the white collar on the counter. “We’ll put this in a keepsake box for you.”

Naya touched her bare neck, the sensation strange after a month of wearing his collar. She’d gotten so used to its familiar embrace. She felt more naked without it than she did in the skimpy leather outfit.

He reached into the pocket of his leather pants and retrieved a bright-blue collar with a simple silver tag dangling from the front. “It’s customary for a husband to gift his wife with a permanent collar. I was going to give you this one later tonight, but I think now is the right time. Don’t you?”

His husky voice left her nearly breathless. To these Harcos men, a permanent collar was as good as a wedding band. They put a lot of thought into picking the right one. Instead of the customary black, Menace had chosen her favorite color. The tag dangling from the front bore the initials of both of their first names. His initial was larger and in upper case while hers was smaller and in lower case, denoting who was the master in their relationship.

And hewasher master. She’d balked at the very idea of ever allowing a man any dominance over her…until Menace. He hadn’t forced her submission through pain or fear. He’d won her trust with kindness and pleasure and by proving that he would take care of and protect her.

When he finished fastening the collar in place, Naya fingered the stiff blue leather and toyed with the silver tag. Menace slidone arm around her waist and cupped her face, turning her into his seeking kiss. Their lips met, chastely and sweetly at first, sealing the moment that she had freely given her trust to him. His kiss grew more insistent and demanding but he didn’t take it any further. He seemed to share her desire to draw the night out and enjoy the anticipation.

“I checked the chart,” Menace said as he caressed her face. “We’re still safe tonight.”

She smiled and nodded. He had become almost obsessed with recording her morning fertility signs on the chart he had helped her create on their household tablet. Their application for contraception still hadn’t been processed but he was keeping his word on letting her choose when or if they began a family. Their first month relying on her chart and a version of abstinence during the risky period had worked beautifully. Menace hadn’t been willing to go without any kind of intimacy, so he had made sure to show her various creative ways to use their mouths and hands on each other. He pressed his lips to her forehead. “Ready?”

“As I’ll ever be,” she admitted.

Menace took her hand and led her out of the bathroom. In the bedroom, he paused long enough to put a pair of bright-blue cuffs on her wrists. The new cuffs were stamped with his name and had a soft white lining. Each one had a connection ring dangling from the underside so they could be hooked together with a chain or tethered separately. He hooked the cuffs to rings on either side of the wide leather belt around her hips.

Naya fought the surge of panic that gripped her. With her arms cuffed at her sides, she would be unable to defend herself. It was only Menace’s reassuring body heat and the scent she had come to love so much that broke through her haze of panic. She trusted him to protect her. He would never allow anyone to harm her.

Tipping her chin, Menace asked, “What was that thought? You looked ready to bolt.”

“I realized I wouldn’t be able to lift my hands to protect myself.”

“But?”

“But then I remembered that you promised to take care of me.”

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