Page 169 of Season of Gifts

“Good girl.”He played at her throat, the collar sliding left and right, her body swaying to his rhythm.“If the game becomes overwhelming and you need to stop, what will you say to me?”

“Pistachio.”Overwhelming would take a lot of doing.Her senses had mobilized, grown sharper.Jay walked back to them from the valet stand, something dangling in his grip—

Henry shoved her backward, his palm flat above her breasts, and she toppled onto the bed.He poured himself over her like hot caramel on a sundae, weight and heat melting her into the mattress.Grinding his hips, he pressed his cock against her pubic bone, trapping her thumping clit between.Her gasp left her mouth open for his tongue; he swept through, his kiss pushing her down, sealing their lips.Her legs rose on instinct, and she clamped them around the backs of his thighs.

His amused hum vibrated against her mouth.He tugged her lip between his teeth and teased with tiny nibbles.Shifting his weight, he pushed the top of her knee with one hand.“None of that now, my eager pet.”

Her legs fell open to either side, knees bent, thighs twitching with the urge to grip him even tighter still.If he were Jay, she could order him to roll—yes, to her left, that would give her plenty of space to ride him.

“Ah, but this is not your game, is it?”Henry stared her down, his eyes inches from her own, the green a multitude of dark, hungry shades.

He could read her mind so easily.Her face telegraphed her every thought to him.Or not the exact thought, but the intent, at least.He always knew when thinking had tangled her in its net.

Thrusting his hips, Henry rocked her into the pressure.“This is my game.And I would not have it end so quickly.”

He planted his hands and pushed himself up.Straddling her hips, he reached for her hands.Turned them this way and that, admiring the thick cuffs surrounding her wrists.He hadn’t dolled up the leather with unnatural shine or exotic patterns or faux aging.Henry made his bold statements the way he spoke them—with a whisper that attracted attention.

“Do you know”—he toyed with a cuff, twisting the center post, which wasn’t quite the way a belt worked, and a closer look would be nice—“what I particularly appreciate about these?”

He could mean anything.The quality of the leather, or the stitching, or the craftsmanship.The joy of seeing his claim on her.She rolled her shoulders, her wrist tugging gently against his hold, the lined inside of the cuff brushing her skin, her breasts tipping up as she arched her back.“What do you particularly appreciate?”

The corner of his lip curled toward a smile as he took in the view she offered.In his fingers, the cuff popped free of the buckle.“Versatility.”

The cuff came off her wrist faster than a heartbeat.Henry flexed to his left, the cuff spread in his palms as another set of hands—Jay, Jay was lifting her leg—presented her ankle to him in midair.The cuff’s loosest clasp snugged her ankle, Henry lowering her foot as Jay offered him the other.

Curiosity crackled through her chest.Her nipples tightened.She curled her toes and rotated her ankles, testing the tug of the cuffs.Henry raised himself off her, and cooler air rushed in.Sucking air through her teeth, she rode out the shiver.

“Cold, dearest?”Henry’s smile held no repentance whatsoever.“Ah, that’s right, you did want these closed.”Bear-hugging her calves, he squeezed her thighs together and spun her sideways as her clit pulsed with fresh demands.“Alas—” He spread her knees wide and reached behind him.“A temporary relief, at best.”

The man was aiming to tease her to death.“You could make it last longer anytime you wanted.”

“Could I?”Metal clicked,snap-snap, and then again.“What an intriguing thought.”

The sweet depth of bass in his voice signaled danger.Thin ice.Turn back now.She pulled her legs in and came up short—they were tethered, both of them, to opposite corners of the headboard.He laid his hands against her thighs and pushed her up the bed, which wasdownthe bed, toward the foot, extending leather straps and spreading her legs in a wide vee.

“How long, do you think?”

“What?”She almost missed the question, his tone so lightly conversational, his thumbs so very close to her center, rubbing half-circles across her thighs.

“How much longer could I make this last?An hour, do you think?Two?”A tilt of his head sent Jay scurrying behind her.Pillows rustled on the floor at the foot of the bed.“Gather up those hands for me, would you, Jay?We mustn’t let Alice attempt to rush.”

An hour ortwo?Her heartbeat throbbed through her, prepped for a sprint, facing a marathon.“You don’t have to—I don’t need—”

“We’ve already agreed that youdoneed, sweet girl.You require a lesson in forgetting.And I—” He spread her wider with his fingers, bands of pressure a bare inch from where her body clamored for it.“I have a rather lengthy apology to make.”

Holy fuck.Her back arched, thrusting her hips toward him.Thatkind of apology.

Green eyes gleamed as Henry lowered his head.“Let’s see if we can’t overwhelm rational thinking, hmm?”

Her body tensed for battle but welcomed the conqueror.

Henry engulfed her in his mouth.No tentative prodding—all heat and suction.Every current in her ran toward his hungry pull.He dug beneath her and palmed her ass in both hands, kneading and squeezing.Her knees tried to rise; the tethers held, cuffs taut at her ankles.Her fingers clawed at the sheet—he’d run out of air soon, wouldn’t he?Release that heavy, unrelenting demand for every drop of energy in her.

Jay stroked her wrists.Light kisses rained across the backs of her hands.He traced her wedding band with his tongue and buried her finger in his mouth.Fierce, loyal, he twined his tongue around her between hard pulls.

Henry took a breath.The pressure eased.Her stomach rounded as she sucked in air.He dove forward, pierced her with his tongue, and fucked her with the tip.His groaning appreciation rattled through her, muscles spasming in ever-widening ripples.

The cool silk of the bedsheet warmed as she writhed, chasing competing pulls forward and back.Jay feasted on her fingers, ran kisses up her forearms; his cuffs dragged against her skin, invisibly covering her in Henry’s initials.Henry swirled his tongue inside her, winding his control into a bolt of lightning.Sparks flared in the edges of her vision.A storm was arriving.

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