She stepped before him and gripped the cuffs she’d never removed. He expected her to whip some hidden chain from her bra and slap it on his arms. Instead, she molded his hands around the tiny circumference of her waist and squeezed in silent command. Don’t let go? Was this a softening in her armor? Please?
The velvet of her skin heated his palms. The wet crotch of her panties, in the direct line of his lowered eyes, filled his nose with a spicy aroma. Perhaps God was testing him with man’s greatest temptation. His confidence in being able to pass that trial fizzled as blood rushed below his waist.
“Requirement number nine. Slave will not speak unless spoken to.” Her nails scratched down his forearms. “Your hands will be free to perform your tasks.”
He guessed she expected him to try to overpower her and was probably prepared to subdue him like last time. He wasn’t going to give her the pleasure.
“I’m the only person who knows the code for this room. Stand and follow me.” She pushed his hands off her hips and walked to the toilet, though the way she moved couldn’t be described as walking. It was more like the uninterrupted flow of a stream, gliding forward with confident disregard.
He trailed her wake, dodging the floor hooks with much less grace. Though, he strode a little lighter with the knowledge that Van couldn’t bust in without her permission. How odd that he didn’t have access. Was it because she was in charge? Something didn’t seem right about that and the answer felt vital to understanding her. What was her relationship with that guy?
She stopped before the medicine cabinet above the vanity, swung open the mirrored door, and dropped a threadbare rag in the sink. Her weight shifted to one leg, jutting out her hip, the bottom edge of her panties creeping up the musculature of one round cheek. She was so tiny and sensually-shaped, yet he’d felt her strength in her punch and could see it contracting through the tendons in her back.
As much as he despised her cruelty, his body wanted her to exhaustion and beyond. It pulsed to tackle her, to use its extra mass to dominate her in a battle of physiology.
Heat blazed down his thighs, and he clenched his hands to stop them from massaging his persistent erection. She was raining temptation down upon him in the form of curves and satin and glowing skin. Was his state of arousal normal in this situation? Perhaps another means of intended torment?
He stood over the toilet. Prayer was supposed to strengthen the struggle against lust, so he cycled The Lord’s Prayer in his head. Holding his partial erection over the rim, he tried to relax it long enough to urinate. Lead us not into temptation, but deliver us from the evil one.
Yeah, she was evil, all right. And seductive and exquisite and complex. The repeated verses did nothing to alleviate his wandering thoughts or the weight between his legs.
She turned toward him and leaned a hip against the counter. “There’s no video monitoring in this house. What happens in this room stays in this room. If you kill me, you’ll be faced with the decision of whether or not to eat my body to stay alive.”
Good God. Seriously? Where prayer didn’t defuse him, her revolting words did. He softened in his hand and didn’t waste the opportunity to aim and empty. “Mistress, are you trying to scare me or offend me? Because I’m already glutted on both.”
“Shock has a way of rousing attention.” She moved behind him, the satin of her bra caressing his back, her fingers creeping along his abs, circling around the root of his penis, and trailing his hips to cup his backside.
He tried not to purr with the electrifying sensations. Lead us not into temptation…
Smack.
A sting zipped along one butt cheek. His body shuddered. She smacked him again on the other side. He sighed, relaxing with the tingle. Damn. That was arousing, and… cute. His lips twitched.
“No. Talking.”
That was his punishment for talking? He freed the grin squirming to escape and flushed the toilet. A slaphappy fog of delusion must have settled in his brain. He didn’t know her, yet he was dangerously close to letting her see his deepest urges. Surprisingly, he wanted her to dig around inside of him, but the notion raced his pulse. What would she do if she knew he savored physical pain?
If only she’d remove that mask so he could search for a hint at what she was thinking and feeling.
Crouching behind him, she rubbed the heat in his gluts. “You have two sexy handprints on your ass cheeks, boy.” She rose, clutching his biceps, and whispered over his shoulder, “Wonder what your God thinks about you grinning while I spanked you.”
His smile fell. No way she saw his reaction. He glanced over his shoulder, and followed her gaze to the mirrored door she’d left angled open. The reflection of her mask stared back.
He blew out a breath. He was a rookie in this demented game, and she controlled the line of scrimmage.
“The next time you speak without permission, we’ll find out how easy your ass reddens beneath my cane.”
His backside clenched, relaxed. He wasn’t sure what his limits were, but that wasn’t one.
She sashayed to the sink, wet a rag, and flung it toward the floor. He intercepted it and knelt before the toilet to begin his first task. To win this, he’d play her game until, eventually, hopefully, they played on the same side.
Chapter 15
Toilet cleaned, hair washed, Josh stood under the warm spray of the shower. He attempted to use the few spare minutes to meditate, but the pangs of hunger nudged him from his thoughts. Facing the wall, he soaped away crusty remnants from his ball sac.
A trickling sound cut through the whoosh of the shower head. Was she peeing? He leered over his shoulder before his brain told him not to be rude.
Perched on the rim, knees and toes together, ankles twisted out, she tore off a wad of toilet paper. The mask lay on the tile beside her discarded panties. He turned slowly, not to gape while she did her business but to devour her expression.
Her lowered eyes fanned thick blades of lashes over her cheekbones, softening the elegant lines of her face. Where most complexions washed out under fluorescents, her flawless skin seemed to glow in the glare.
He held his breath, feet frozen to the floor. She appeared so very human and gut-wrenchingly beautiful sitting there doing normal things like peeing and fidgeting. Fidgeting!
Did she know he’d turned to watch her? Was this another enactment to mess with his head?
Her teeth sawed along her bottom lip, and she twisted the end of her hair between a finger and thumb. No question the length and shine of her hair was exquisite, but she seemed to be eyeing it with more scrutiny than it deserved. What was she thinking about?
She dropped her hand, and her eyes slid up, finding his unerringly. Her lips bent in a conspiring smirk.
Oh no. What repulsive thing was she dreaming up? He locked his knees, waited.
Without looking away, she dabbed the tissue between her legs. Blotting? Was that how women wiped? Not that he was really watching, but his periphery caught it.
She flicked the flusher and stood. With a forearm over her chest, she reached back, unclasped her bra, and jerked it off without removing the coverage of her arm. What? No seduction or vulgar teasing? What was her game?
The red satin garment dangled from a finger at her side and dropped. On the floor. Where his eyes and knees should’ve been. Craaaaap.