"Brody--my friend from outside. He came in and worked all day." She looked down, shrugging a little. "He's a professional dom so he has the connections to make it happen fast."
"A professional dom?" A red streak of jealousy cut through him even as her words piqued his interest.
"Don't even go there," she said, rising up on her toes to kiss him. "After all the women you've been with? The few times I was with Brody--a long, long, long time ago--are not fair game."
"Fuck that," he said, and heard the growl in his voice as he grabbed her waist and pulled her close. "Anyone you've been with is fair game."
He could see the rise and fall of her chest as she breathed hard, as excited as he was.
"Don't you understand?" she whispered. "Don't you get it? I've fucked a lot of men, Dallas. But I've never really been with anyone but you. I don't ever want to be."
Her words, so tender--so true--wrapped around him. He wanted to pull her close and cover her with kisses. He wanted to make her his in every way possible.
He wanted to touch her. To worship her.
He wanted to claim her.
"The bed," he said. "We start easy." He met her eyes. "We won't stay there."
She licked her lips, excitement flaring in her eyes. "Yes, sir." She started toward the bed, then looked back over her shoulder. "Dallas?" She swallowed. "I want you to tie me down. To the bed, I mean." She licked her lips, and he could practically see the nervous energy coming off her in waves. "Spread-eagled and naked."
His entire body was tense. He knew that being tied down had terrified her in captivity. "Baby, are you sure? Have you done that before?"
She shook her head. "No. I--no. But I want to." Her eyes burned into his. "Don't you see? With you, it's not fear, it's desire. It's trust, Dallas. Trust and love."
"Oh, baby." Christ, she melted him. How the hell could this woman melt him so damn easily?
"Dallas?"
"On the bed," he said. "In the dress." It was a V-neck style that buttoned up the front from hem to cleavage.
"Oh."
He almost laughed at her disappointment. "Don't worry. You'll be naked soon enough. But getting you there will be my pleasure. You just get on your back, hands above your head."
She did as told, and when she was stretched out, long and lean, he walked to the headboard and tugged on one of the two leather straps that her friend Brody had so conveniently placed at the top corners of the bed. "Arms above your head," he ordered, his cock stiffening when, once again, she complied without hesitation.
He bound her wrists, then moved to the foot of the bed and used the straps there to bind her ankles. "I like it," he said, letting his eyes roam over her, imagining each and every way he was going to touch her. But still, she was bound to a bed, and he couldn't shake his fear for her. "Are you okay? We need a safe word."
"No," she said. "We don't." She met his eyes. "You'll always protect me, remember?"
His cock strained against his jeans, the sweet, honest tenderness in her words doing him in. Tonight, he thought. Surely he could manage to fuck her hard tonight.
"All right," he said. "No safe word. But there's still something about this scene that's not quite how I want it..."
He trailed off as he got on the bed and straddled her, then very slowly undid the buttons on her dress. He couldn't get it off without releasing her, so he simply spread it open--then gasped when he saw the chain around her neck--and the small golden locket that he'd given her for her eleventh birthday.
He took a moment to let the fact that she'd not only kept the locket, but that she'd worn it tonight to sink in. Then he looked at her face--at the heat in her eyes--and returned to the task of undressing her.
The bra clasped in the front, and he opened it as well, spreading it as he had the dress. The panties were a different story, and he used the small knife he kept on his keychain to slice them at the hips, making her cry out with each motion of the blade. He pulled them off, and then cupped her bare pussy with his palm. She trembled beneath him, already swollen. Already wet.
She wanted him, no doubt about it.
More than that, she trusted him. Utterly and completely.
He slid off the bed and stood at the foot, looking down at the woman he adored. The woman he'd loved his entire life.
You'll always protect me, remember?