My first order. The bench was about two feet wide, with polished slats. I could lie on it comfortably, but I suspected comfort was not Sevastyan’s first concern. With a nervous swallow, I reclined for him.
He reached forward to tug my underwear off. Then he stared.
His golden eyes were lit with an animalistic intensity so strong it made my heart race.
I followed his gaze as he raked it over my na**d body, wondering what he was seeing to affect him so strongly. My normally pale skin was flushed with excitement and dotted with mist, until it looked like it glittered. My restless h*ps couldn’t seem to stop moving.
He wants me darkly, deeply, my mind kept repeating. What had unnerved me before now turned me on like crazy.
“Close your eyes, Natalie. Do not open them. And remain where you are.”
“Sevastyan . . .”
“I give commands. You obey them. Sdavaisya.” Surrender.
Trepidation surged—but it couldn’t compete with my eagerness. Once I closed my eyes, he left the room. I heard him in the pre-bath. Had he gone for more vodka?
As I wondered what he was up to, I perceived a change coming over me. Any lingering uneasiness disappeared under an onslaught of sensations. I could feel those droplets of mist collecting all over my skin, to stream down my sides and pool in my navel. My ni**les puckered tighter with each whisper of steam. The scent of the fire filled my nose.
The heavy fall of my hair spilled over the end of the bench. I bit my lip when I felt the rumble of thunder in the wood beneath me, a vibration from my heels to my head.
Every one of my senses was overwhelmed.
I grew even wetter, my lips swelling between my legs. I wanted to spread my thighs, to open myself to him. He’d said I was beautiful there, had licked every crevice and fold with a ravening hunger.
I needed him back! What was he doing? Curiosity plagued me—
Rip.
I tensed. That sounded like cloth being torn.
Rip . . . Rip . . . Rip . . .
What—the—hell? I thought I heard him running water as well.
When the sound of his footfalls approached, it was everything I could do not to peek.
“Did you do as I told you?”
“Yes.” My voice quavered on the word.
“Good girl.” He brushed his knuckles over my jawline. Of all the parts of me offered up to him, he caressed my face.
“Um, what were you doing?” I could imagine his eyes following the movements of his fingers.
“Preparing. I want your arms over your head.”
Hesitantly, I stretched them back; he seized my wrists together.
I trembled when he tied cloth around them.
Chapter 19
“Sevastyan, I don’t know.” He’d described me being helpless. He’d told me he’d want to do filthy things to me.
Was I about to step off that trestle yet again? To plunge into this encounter?
“You can stop me at any time, Natalie.”