or a natural disaster.
“And what do you want?” she asked, her voice husky. He stared at the cuffs for a moment longer, then turned his gaze onto her.
“I want to chain you to my bed,” he said very simply. “And I want to do anything I want to you.”
“Ooohhh, very kinky, Mr. Sharapov,” she breathed.
“I want to have control over you.”
Ah. The magic words. The poisoned words. Terrifying and exhilarating all at once. To not be in control ... what a gift. She let her eyes flutter shut. To have someone else take over, make her decisions, tell her what to do – it sounded like heaven.
But giving someone like Ari control, that sounded like danger. He already had some sort of strange pull over her. If she submitted completely, would she ever be able to get free of him again?
This wasn't life, though, she was being silly. This was just sex. This was just a couple hours where he could be the person he really wanted to be, and she could let go of everything. Could just be ...
Saint Valentine.
“Then take control,” she whispered.
His hands were on either side of her neck, pulling her into him. He still had a cuff dangling from his finger, and the metal was cold as it pressed against her skin. She trembled when she felt his mouth at her ear.
“I going rip this fucking dress off of you,” he repeated his statement from earlier in the night. She nodded her head.
“Okay.”
“Then I'm going to cuff you to my bed.”
She finally opened her eyes.
“Okay.”
“I want to be in total fucking control.”
“Okay.”
Valentine gasped when Ari made good on his word – he gripped the neckline of her dress and gave a solid jerk, yanking on the material so hard she stumbled in place. The dress split down the front and she was impressed; he'd ruined it in one shot. The fabric pooled at her feet and she was left in her heels, a strapless bra, skimpy panties, and the chain with his key on it. He plucked the key away from her chest, then wrapped the chain around his fist, pulling it tight.
“Never take this off,” he said, and she managed to nod.
“I won't.”
He yanked on the chain, pulling her in for a rough kiss. While he staked his claim on her mouth, his hand went into her hair, the metal from the cuffs once again biting into her skin. She hissed, then gasped when he bit down on her lip.
“Move.”
He still had a grip on her hair as he forced her across the apartment and she stumbled along in her heels, wondering if she should kick them off. Deciding not to because hey, he was in charge, after all. He would decide when she should take things off.
Once they were beside his bed, her bra was discarded. Valentine knew he had a particular fondness for her breasts, but Ari ignored them, spinning her around and shoving her over, instead. She planted her hands on the bed and gasped when he ripped her underwear away from her body.
That's two pairs he owes me now.
He handled her like she was in trouble. Like she was an object. Shockingly, it didn't feel degrading at all – it felt liberating. Valentine spent all her time being everything to virtually everyone in her life. It was exhausting.
So this ... this was relaxing.
She was splayed out on the mattress, no attention paid to her personal comfort as her arms were stretched above her head. She whimpered when the first cuff was clamped around her wrist, but by the time Ari had wrapped the small chain around the bars of his headboard and closed the second cuff on her, she was panting.
“Please.”
He ignored her and moved to stand at the side of his bed. He grabbed one of her legs, forcing it to bend at the knee, then planted her foot solidly on the mattress – she was still wearing her stilettos and the heels dug into the expensive sheets. He did the same to her other leg, placing it far from her other foot, leaving her entire body and all its secrets on full display for him.
“Do you know how beautiful you are?” Ari asked, standing at the foot of the bed so he could look her over while he got undressed.
“Yes,” she breathed, watching as his dress shirt drifted to the floor.
Weren't we eating ice cream ten minutes ago? Wasn't I a normal girl ten days ago?
“I don't think