Page 22 of Dancing With Temptation

“It’s time to go.”

“I’m not ready to go yet.” She protested once the door was closed and they were headed for the elevator.

“It is.” He had to get her home, to his own private playroom where he could do all of those things to Roxie without an audience.

“But we came here to play, Lincoln. This is your lesson tonight.” She dug her heels in as the elevator doors opened, her face set in protest.

“Nope, not tonight. That’s not a lesson, Roxie. That’s cheating, no better than watching a video online really. That’s really lazy teaching.” He nudged her into the elevator and for a minute he thought she’d protest again but something changed in her face.

“Well, perhaps if you’d participated a little more…” She goaded, her eyes impish and her mouth twisted in accusation.

“Making me watch people have sex is very unprofessional, Roxie. It deserves...” He paused when he saw a spark light up in her eye.

“It deserves nothing, take me home.” She put her arms over her chest and lifted her chin as the elevator went down.

“I don’t think so.” He said it quietly but saw the way her eyes moved to look at him from the side, how her head tilted just a little. “I think I’ll take you back to my playroom.”

“You just try.” She said, but she didn’t run away when the doors opened. Instead, she followed him right out to the car, her hand in his.

Maybe that’s what he’d been missing the last few times he’d been in the playroom with her. He needed to make her his, claim her. Even if it was a loose claim, he still needed to let her know that he’d claimed her. Okay, he understood now.

Roxie didn’t say anything as he drove back to his house and let them in. She did strip off her dress as soon as she walked into the house, though. That was a good sign. She stopped when she’d made her way up to his playroom, clearly noting his new addition. A bed with an intricate ironwork headboard and iron posts at each corner.

“It caught my eye at an antique shop at home. I thought it was perfect for this room, don’t you agree.”

“It’s lovely, Lincoln. It really is. I love the red sheets.” There wasn’t anything else on the bed for her to compliment. It was a bed for sex, not sleeping.

“Good. Get on it.”

For a moment, he thought she’d balk, that she’d walk out, but she did as she was told. “Do you want me to strip completely?”

“No, I want to try some ropework tonight, so you can leave the top and stockings on.” He went to the drawer where he’d stashed black velvet ropes earlier. He’d practiced with them the night before at his penthouse in New York, imagining how the soft, dark rope would look when it was knotted to hold up her breasts, or cascading down her abdomen, then between her thighs. The fantasies had nearly driven him to order a plane right away and leave the city, but he’d managed to contain himself. Watching the man do some of the very ties he’d practiced, expertly and with skill, Lincoln knew he had to try them tonight. And if it meant claiming Roxie in the process, well, two birds, one stone.

“Right arm, please.” He asked, but it came out as more demand than request.

She held her hand out and he fumbled with the knot for a moment. It wasn’t just the standard tie two ends together and go kind of knot, it was an intricate hold that involved wrapping the rope around and then creating a cinch that would hold. At first, he thought he’d fuck it up and Roxie was looking at him doubtfully.

“Come on, admit it. You practiced this shit with Naomi the other night, didn’t you?”

Lincoln paused as he finally got the knot tied. “What?”

“Naomi? Your little TV star. I’m sure she’s the adventurous kind that likes being tied up by a man. In fact, why am I even here?” She got up but had to sit right back down because her right arm was tied to the bed. “For fuck’s sake.”

“No, Rox. No. But yeah. Um, what the fuck?” Lincoln stared at her, completely floored about what he’d just heard. “Okay, Naomi’s hot, beautiful, but she’s gay, Roxie. She’s playing for the other team. Not interested in any man, even me, and believe me that’s fucked up because I’m hot as fuck.”

He tried to play it off with a joke, but yeah, that shit kind of stung when she told him. Roxie didn’t laugh, her eyes narrowed and she tilted her head. “She’s what now?”

“Gay, Roxie. Naomi is gay. There’s nothing going on between us. No matter what you might think. She’s not interested in men at all. I’ve known her for years and she’s in a relationship with a woman, but they keep it quiet, so that doesn’t leave this room, understand?” He stared down at her, hoping this was what had been bothering her and that they could finally get back on track.

“She’s gay?” Roxie sat back against the headboard. “Gay?”

“Yes, Roxie, gay. All the way gay, not a little gay, but all the way gay.” He took a deep breath. “I sometimes act as her date to throw off the homophobes for her. That’s all that’s between us. A lot of years of hanging out, going to ballgames when we’re both in the same town, and an occasional event of some kind. I even went to the television awards show with her once.”

“So, you didn’t bring her back here to our, your playroom?” Roxie asked softly, as if the news wasn’t sinking in at all for her.

“No, Roxie. She went back to her girlfriend at the resort that night. Otherwise, yeah, I might have. I have a hard time being just friends with straight women, even though I know tons of them. It might have been more if she wasn’t gay, but she is, so yeah, we’re just friends.” He smiled at her and brushed a lock of hair behind her left ear. His fingers stroked at her jaw before he dropped his hand and just looked at her. “Are we good now?”

He could see her thoughts in the way she narrowed her eyes, not sure whether to believe him or not. Finally, she came to a decision and her face set in a determined look that made his blood surge all over again.