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His fingers twitched against her breast, but his voice was smooth as satin. “Excellent. Now back to your apology.”
This was embarrassing. She couldn’t do it. She wouldn’t. Her blush already burned so hot that it hurt.
Quinn pinched her nipple again, hard, and Lori gave up.
“I’m sorry!” she cried.
He nodded, his cheek rubbing her hair. “Maybe. But I’m not sure I believe you. Do you think you can convince me?”
“Yes.” Oh, yes, she was sure she could.
Slipping his hand out of her dress, Quinn stepped back, though he kept control of her wrists. The silk tightened around her straining ribs as he pulled the zipper up and nudged her toward a door set at a right angle to the one they’d come through. When he reached past her and opened the door, a wide bed filled her vision.Hisbed.
Her hesitation was genuine, though it was only caused by surprise. Quinn pushed her forward. He slammed the door shut with his foot and plunged them into night.
Good. She could do this in the dark, pretend his wasn’t a face she’d see for years to come. She could get on her knees for him, beg him not to hurt her, do anything he asked…
One little click and light flooded the room. Lori cringed from it, heart jumping in shock, but the light faded to a warm, soft glow before Quinn dropped his hand from the switch. Not dark, but nearly dreamlike.
But that bright light had shocked her from her desire, pushed her head above the water for a brief, unhappy moment. “Quinn, I don’t…Shit. Are you sure you want to do this? I don’t want you to do this if—”
“Hush.” It wasn’t an order. Not at all. It was a caress, a friendly touch of a word. A reassurance. “I’ve been looking forward to this all day, Lori, so hush.”
She swallowed her mortification. “All right.”
While she’d been worrying, Quinn had apparently grabbed a tie, because he turned her around, pulled her wrists together in front of her and began wrapping them tight. The silk was too fine to hurt her skin, but there was no mistaking that he meant her not to escape. He wound the ends around several times to provide a cushion, then tied one knot before repeating the process. She couldn’t move. She tried to wrench her arms apart and achieved nothing but horniness in the process. Quinn watched her struggle and smiled.
“Turn around,” he ordered.
Lori turned—a stuttering, nervous movement. She caught her heel on the carpet and nearly fell before his hands curved over her shoulders to steady her. She started to say, “Thank you,” but the second syllable stuck on her tongue when Quinn swept another tie over her head and covered her eyes.
Her world went black, but she was alone in this darkness. Quinn could see everything. Blood rushed to her skin, opening her nerves up to the sensation of air pushing around her each time he moved.
“Is this okay?” he whispered.
Was it? She felt so damn vulnerable. But she’d chosen this game, hadn’t she? In the bare space of a second, as the rasp of the silk pulling into a knot slithered against her hair, Lori made her decision. If she was going to do this, she’d do it right, damn it.
So she gave the correct answer. “No.”
His hands, falling away from the knot he’d tied, froze in their descent. He paused for a moment, then she felt the rush of his movement as he jerked his hands back up to undo what he’d done.
“I’ve already apologized,” Lori said. “Please don’t do this.”
This time his hands fell away entirely. She felt him move back, away from her, and her shoulders were cold without him there. She couldn’t hear anything, not even his breath. Certainly not her own, because she wasn’t breathing.
Finally, he let out one long, soft sigh. A tug on her dress, a brush of warmth, and her zipper slid down.
She remembered to breathe then, and the expansion of her ribs pushed the dress open. It slipped off. And Lori was wearing nothing but her panties and heels and two silk ties.
* * *
THANKGODLORIcouldn’t see his face, because Quinn didn’t think there was anything resembling icy control in his expression. Probably he looked more like a teenage boy presented with his first naked woman, because that was what it felt like.
Somehow, her tied hands and covered eyes made her more exposed, more naked than any woman he’d ever been with. And, hell, she was still wearing panties. Pale blue satin and modestly cut, they turned him on more than a garter belt and G-string could have. She didn’t look as though she’d dressed for sex. She looked as though she’d been caught unawares.
Quinn turned her and helped her sit on the bed so he could take off her shoes, as well. Her lips were parted as he knelt down and slipped the heels off, her nipples hard and deep pink. The tie gleamed black against her pale skin, darkness against light.
He slipped his hands between her knees, parting them so he could kneel between her thighs. “You’re mine tonight, Lori.” Surprisingly, the words felt sincere on his lips. Hehadbeen jealous. He still was. To know that she’d let that rich old bastard between her legs? Quinn wanted to push her so far that even the memories of other men would cease to exist. The strength of his feelings didn’t bear examination. Not now.
