Heir to a Desert Legacy - By Maisey Yates Page 0,55

to vent the pain, the anguish that he felt, watching the woman he loved being ripped from the only life she knew, being torn away from him. Watching his men falling around him.

It was impossible to say what had driven him to allow himself to be tied down again. To put himself at the mercy of another person. Somewhere inside of him there had been a dark desire to taste captivity again. Captivity at her hands this time. To prove to himself that if he were bound again, it wouldn’t always be pain he was waiting for. That it could be a pleasure.

To simply allow himself to be, rather than having to keep such a tight reign on himself at all times. To challenge what he had been taught. To see what might happen if he tried once again to give up some control.

Now he knew. Knew that when he dreamed of his wrists being bound, he wouldn’t be waiting for the crack of a whip, but the slow wet slide of Chloe’s tongue on his skin.

He ached to hold her now. A strange need, one he’d not felt in years. But his shields were down. Not forever, but for the moment, surrendered to this woman, along with his control.

His hands were still bound, preventing him from following through.

“Chloe,” he said, the roughness of his own voice shocking him.

She lifted her head, her blue eyes wide, dazed. “Yes?”

“Can you untie my hands?”

“You said I could keep you that way all night.”

“Are you still afraid of me?” he asked. He held his breath while he waited for the answer.

“No,” she said slowly. “I like you like this, though.”

“I’m not opposed to it,” he said. “At least not under these circumstances. But I think my right shoulder is starting to lose feeling.”

“Oh!” She scrambled up his chest, naked and lush, and started working at the ties on his wrists.

When he was free, he had to fight the instinct to pull her into his arms and roll her beneath him, to feel those curves pressed against him again.

But he wouldn’t do that to her. Not now. Not after what had passed between them.

“Can I?” he asked, drawing near to her.

She nodded, not asking exactly what he wanted from her. He wrapped his arms around her, pulling her against his chest, like he’d been dying to do. He ran his hands over her curves, her waist, the luscious curve of her butt.

“I needed to touch you,” he said. “So soft. Was it a successful experiment for you?”

She laughed softly, burying her head in his chest. “It’s not really conclusive. You have to test findings. Try to disprove them. It has to be repeated in a controlled environment.”

“Repeated?” His body was very much interested in the idea, although his bruised and battered insides wondered if they could stand the experience.

He’d never felt anything like the release he’d just had. Had never had anything run so deeply inside of him. Had never been filled by such a profound sense of connection. For one moment, as he’d been inside of her, his release roaring through his ears, he’d felt weightless. He’d felt as if he’d seen himself. The man he might have been, if he had not spent his lifetime being trained to be someone different. Had he not had all of the desires in him stripped away, hollowed out.

It had been a surrender for him. Unexpected. Necessary.

He’d felt as if his body was caving in on itself, had felt as though he was ready to disappear entirely, crushed by all that he suppressed. By all of the things he denied, held down deep inside, that he simply wasn’t allowed to feel. Things he didn’t know how to release. Things he never could release.

But she’d given him a moment’s peace. A moment more than he’d ever had before.

“For science,” she said, her tone comically serious.

“You’re very dedicated to your work,” he said drily, lying down and bringing her with him, his arms still wrapped around her body.

“I really am.” She put her hand on his chest, slender fingers moving idly over his skin. “I guess we made the marriage really, really legal.”

“I suppose so.”

“Oh! Dammit!” She sat upright, the sound of Aden stirring.

“What?” he asked.

“I’ll be right back.” She grabbed a robe from out of the closet and threw it on, scurrying from the room.

She returned a few moments later with Aden in her arms, and sat down in the chair by the vanity. “Sorry. Could hear