Page 47 of Tamed

I raised a brow and she stopped, leaning back in the seat, still breathing fast.

The red silk around her pale wrists glowed.

I checked for signs that she was afraid, but there were none. The silly girl was still looking at me as if I was the fucking second coming.

“Here’s the deal.” I leaned in close again. “You need to learn a few lessons and the first one is doing what I say when I say it.”

She was breathing even faster, the scent of her arousal filling the space between us. It was delicious.

“So, no talking,” I went on. “And no touching. And you can’t come until I tell you to.”

She blinked. “What do you mean no—”

“What did I say, Isabel?”

She swallowed and shut her mouth.

“If you come before I tell you to, I’m going to be very disappointed. And you don’t want to disappoint me, do you?”

There was a mutinous look on her face, defiant sparks in her eyes, and I could see how torn she was, part of her desperate to defy me, to match her will against mine. And I wanted her to. She was a fighter and so was I, and the battle would be fucking magnificent.

But she wasn’t ready for that, and she must have known it, because after a couple of tense moments, she shook her head.

“Good,” I murmured. “Then let’s get started.”

13

Isabel

Ialmost couldn't breathe. My skin was so tight and hot I could feel every movement of the air over it, and my heartbeat so loud the whole of Arcadia could probably hear it. I was shaking too, but it wasn’t from fear.

No, that was a lie. Fear was there. Not of him, but of myself and what I wanted. Which was everything. In fact, I had a horrible suspicion that there was nothing he could do that I wouldn’t want.

It was terrifying to realize that you had no boundaries when it came to another person. That you’d do anything for them. Anything at all.

Even take off your dress and expose your naked body just to convince them not to leave. Even let them bind their red silk tie around your wrists and hook them behind your head so you couldn’t use your hands.

Even accept — though everything in you rebelled against it — that you wanted their approval. That the thought of disappointing them was like acid in your soul. That you’d crawl naked over broken glass just for a pat on the head.

Caleb might get me to do that. And I’d do it, too.

Perhaps I'd made a mistake in not taking the out he’d given me. Perhaps I should have turned tail and run out the door.

But I’d known — don’t ask me how, I just did — that if I’d finished the scotch he’d poured for me like a good girl and walked away, it would be done between us. He’d act as if none of this had ever happened and I’d be left with only the smallest taste of him, forever wanting more and never getting it.

I hadn’t been able to stand the thought of it. He was herenow, and the line between us had been crossed, and if I didn’t do something drastic to bring him over with me, I’d never get the opportunity again.

No one knew I was here. No one.

So, I’d done the drastic thing. I’d never been naked in front of a man, but I hadn’t even hesitated, slipping my dress down and off, taking my thong with it.

I hadn’t been afraid of being naked. No, the thing that had terrified me most was that it wouldn’t be enough. That he’d see my body, merely shrug his shoulders and leave. I didn’t want to be just another naked woman to him. I wanted to be special. I wanted him to see me and not be able to leave the room because he wanted me so much.

I wanted him to want me as badly as I wanted him.

That moment he’d looked at me and the black flame had ignited in his eyes had been the most intoxicating moment in my life. Then as he’d stalked toward me…. Holy shit, I’d nearly combusted on the spot.

I still felt that way, sitting naked in the armchair with him bent over me, my wrists tied and hooked over my head, arching my back, and lifting my breasts. Prepared like a feast for him to sit down and eat.

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