He burst out in laughter and shook his head. “Cara, you are amazing. Both in and out of bed.”
“I try.” She sipped her champagne, but Michael sensed her guard already solidifying. He needed to move at a steady pace and keep her off balance.
“Maggie, do you like being in control?”
“Is that a bad thing?”
He kept his gaze steady but she refused to lift her head. “Not at all. You’re a strong woman and you wouldn’t have made it this far in life without such a quality. I just wondered how you felt about being dominated in bed.”
She gasped and her head shot up. “Why? Do you like domination?” She shuddered. “I’m not into that sub stuff, Count. I’ve read those BDSM novels but whips just don’t do it for me.”
Dios, he was nuts about her. “No, cara, I’m not into pain, either. It seems you prefer to control the lovemaking, which is fine, but I wonder if you’ve ever truly surrendered.”
She narrowed her eyes. “I surrender every time I climax. What are you getting at?”
He went to the bathroom, tugged two of the sashes from the luxurious white robes, and returned to the bed.
“What are you doing?” she asked. “Getting kinky?”
He sat beside her. “Do you trust me, Maggie?”
Wariness skated over her features. “Why?”
“Do you?”
She hesitated. “Yes. I do trust you.”
Relief coursed through him at the raw honesty in her voice. “Thank you. I’m asking you to let me do something to you.”
“What?”
“Tie you up.”
A strangled laugh escaped her lips, but it lacked humor. “Tell me you’re joking. Can’t we just have regular sex?”
“Yes. But I want more with you. I want to give you so much pleasure you explode. I want you to be able to let go, on your own terms. I’m asking you to trust me enough to surrender your control for tonight. If you get uncomfortable, tell me to stop and I will. Will you do this for me?”
She sat up and stared at the ties, biting down hard on her lip. “I don’t know if I can give up control,” she admitted.
“I think you can.” A smile touched his lips as he dangled the ties out in a teasing gesture meant to calm her nerves. “We can have some fun. I always dreamed of tying up my wife. You can make my fantasy come true.”
He waited patiently while she thought the scenario out. Emotions warred and fought for dominance. Finally, she nodded. “I’ll try.” She blew out an annoyed breath. “But only because you have some bondage fetish I think you need to get out of your system.”
He laughed. With deliberate motions, he tied her wrists together over her head with one sash, and with the other, he wrapped them around the post by the headboard. She tugged, and he made sure there was plenty of slack so she wouldn’t feel trapped. Just enough to allow her the freedom to let go. His arousal simmered at her naked body.
“Now what?” She blew the hair out of her face and frowned.
Michael grinned at her cranky expression, straddled her, and looked down.
All humor left him in a rush. She was gorgeous—all sleek curves and muscles. Slowly, he leaned over and kissed her deep, plunging into her mouth, thrusting his tongue in and out in a precursor of what he planned to do to her. When he released her lips, she breathed hard, and her eyes misted with arousal.
He took his time. He nibbled and sucked on her nipples and let his hands drift over her belly, her hips, then slide behind her to cup her ass and spread her legs wider. His fingers paused on the nub begging for his touch, then plunged into her channel.
She cried out and pulled at her ties. He pushed her higher, using two fingers to sink into her wet heat while his thumb flicked at her clit. Every muscle beneath him quivered with anticipation, and she writhed on the bed.
“Damn you, untie me! I want to touch you.”
“Not yet, cara. I am having too much fun with my fantasy.”
She cursed him and he laughed, dipped his head, and tasted her.
She came hard. Her scream ripped from her throat, and he allowed her to ride out the wave. When she surfaced, her flushed skin trembled helplessly underneath him. He pushed her thighs wider apart and drove his penis in with one solid thrust.
He gritted his teeth and prayed for control. Her channel clenched him in a tight vise, and spasms shook her body like ministorms. He filled her completely and pure pleasure exploded within him. Slowly, he pressed her down into the mattress.
“Michael.” Her glazed eyes suddenly shone in panic, and she bucked beneath him, tugging at the restraints with a frantic motion. “Don’t.”
The rawness of her fear made him second-guess himself. “Look at me, mia amore. Look into my eyes and see who I am.”
Her focus sharpened as she gazed deeply into his eyes. Her pupils dilated in recognition, and inch by inch her muscles relaxed, allowing him further access. Tears swam in her eyes. He kissed her tenderly, his thumb wiping away the tear that trickled down her face.
“I love you, Maggie. It’s never been Alexa, and it never will be. I’m in love with you.”
He moved. Each motion claimed her for himself, told her of his emotions and need for her to belong to him. The last of the fight eased from her body and she matched him thrust for thrust, her heels digging into his back as they climbed higher and higher. She exploded beneath him and he let himself go. The unbearable pleasure wrecked him, overtook him, and threw him over the edge. When the storm finally passed, Michael realized his life would never be the same.
And he didn’t want it to be.
He loved her.
The words echoed over and over in her head. Sometimes as beautiful as opera. Sometimes with a cackle of merriment and mocking. Either way, she needed to deal with it, but Lord knows she was too freaked out at the moment.
She flexed her now freed hands. He held her with more tenderness than a man had ever shown her. His lovemaking seemed less about kink and more about giving her everything, and asking for the same.
She swallowed past the words bubbling up on her lips and remained silent. Just three simple words, but they were the most difficult words she could think of to utter. His sweat-dampened skin pressed against hers, solid and real. He’d given her a gift that had no price. Trust. Somehow, with her being tied up and forced to surrender, she learned to trust another human being.
He dropped a gentle kiss to her tangled hair. “Thank you for giving me your trust. I want to know all of you, cara, but I can wait.”
His patience rattled her foundation. Why did he seek more than her body? His confession he never loved Alexa rang clean and true. Perhaps she’d always sensed the truth but didn’t want to lose her final obstacle. Now there was nowhere to run, yet she couldn’t say those three words he needed.
Maggie closed her eyes and gave him the only other gift she had left. Her truth.
“I was sixteen. I was crushing majorly on the cliché of all clichés—the quarterback of the football team. Of course, he barely noticed me, but I did all the usual girly things to gain his attention. One day, he came over and talked to me. Days later, he asked me out. I was giddy and believed we’d finally be boyfriend and girlfriend.”
His hand stopped stroking her hair. Slowly, he turned to face her in bed. She felt his gaze caress her, but she stared up at the ceiling as the events unwound before her vision.
“I made myself up with lots of makeup. Short skirt, lots of cleavage showing the little I had. I had no one to chaperone me at the time, so I came and went as I pleased with no rules.