Page 84 of Going Deep
“You won’t need yours,” he informed her with a wicked grin, and tossed a look over her head at their friends. “Later.”
“Bye,” Grant said, amused, and looked down at Anna as Simon and Lola disappeared into the crowd. “Hi.”
“Hi.” Still perched on her stool, she laid a hand on his chest. “Rough day?”
“Yeah, but it’s getting better,” he said, smiling down at her. “Did you have anything to drink?”
Anna shook her head, her flame-tipped hair dancing down her back. “No, Sir.”
“Good. Wanna play?”
Ginger would’ve laughed at the look of eager delight on her friend’s face, but Michael had slid his arm around her waist from behind, his broad palm resting flat on her belly, and she didn’t have the breath.
“Yes, please,” Anna said and batted her lashes. “I haven’t been interrogated in ages.”
“Interrogated, hmm?” Grant’s blue eyes went sharp. “Anyone in the torture room tonight, Michael?”
“Not sure,” Michael said, his chest rumbling against Ginger’s back. “Check with the DM.”
“I believe I will.” With the hand still curled around the back of her neck, Grant drew Anna to her feet. “Step into my parlor.”
“Said the spider to the fly,” Anna said with a roll of her eyes, but there was no denying the eager spark in them while she hurried to keep pace with Grant’s long strides.
“And then there were two,” Michael murmured, dipping his head so his mouth was level with her ear. “Hello, Ginger.”
“Hello, Sir.” She knew her voice was breathless, but there was nothing she could do about it. Just as she knew there was nothing she could do about the hammering of her heart, or the way her nipples had gone to stiff peaks under the thin fabric of her dress the moment she’d locked eyes with him across the room.
“I like this dress,” he said, nudging the thin strap on her shoulder with his chin. “New?”
The short red silk had been a treat to herself, a congrats-on-the-new-job present. “Yes.”
“Red looks good on you.”
She had to swallow to speak. The hand on her belly was warm and heavy, and though he wasn’t moving it at all, wildly arousing. “Thank you, Sir.”
“You’re welcome,” he replied, and though his tone was amused, there was something under it that had the hair on the back of her neck standing up again.
“Well,” he continued in that same amused tone. “It seems our friends have deserted us.”
Gathering her courage, she turned to look at him. His face was so close, his eyes so green. “I guess they have. What should we do?”
For a moment, those green eyes glittered like emeralds in the dark, rich and mysterious. Then he smiled, slow and sexy. “I have a few ideas.”
Holding her gaze, he brushed a kiss, gentle as fairy wings, across her bare shoulder, then straightened and held out a hand. “Come with me.”
Helpless to do anything else, she slipped her hand in his.
He took her to a private room on the third floor, the one they’d used the first time they played. He’d taken his toy bag up earlier, and arranged the room according to his plans. Now, as he ushered her inside, closing the door behind them, he watched carefully for her reaction.
And wasn’t disappointed.
Wide eyes, flushed cheeks. Hands that wanted to fidget, feet that wanted to shuffle. She took a step toward the bondage table he’d placed in the center of the room, then stopped. She turned to him, a question in her big blue eyes, but he kept silent, waiting for her to ask.
“Can I touch it?” she finally said.
He nodded once, not trusting his voice, and stayed safely by the door while she walked to the table, and the rope that lay on it.
It was a lot of rope. Coils of red, blue, purple, gold. Long lengths, short ones. Thick ones, thinner ones—too thin for binding arms or legs or torso, but fun for things like fingers and toes and hair. She fingered them, testing the softness of silk, the roughness of hemp, her eyes full of quiet delight.
