and murder anyone who’d dare touch her, take advantage of her in that situation. Braun lifted her hand to his mouth, kissed the cuff where her pulse rested beneath. “You’ll be at my mercy now, little one. Because you choose to be, not by force.” Releasing her, he waggled his fingers. “Other hand.”
Bodie gave it to him and he repeated his actions down to the kiss on the cuff. She licked her lips nervously, edging from her quiet place as he swiftly unfastened the buttons running down the middle of her shirt, then peeled it off and tossed it aside.
His heartbeat turned into a tribal war drum, his gaze drinking in the sight of her breasts contained in the simple web of purple lace. That drum intensified when he stripped her of the bra and bared her breasts to his hungry eyes. When she shifted her hands to cover her stomach, Braun scowled. “What do you think you’re doing?”
“I...” Her attention wasn’t on him, but on the people around them. “They shouldn’t have to see...”
Twin strands of annoyance and sympathy intertwined. “The scars of a woman who’s been through hell and back?” Braun sank to his knees in front of her, gripping her hips. “My woman, who’s fought a war no one can imagine and come out alive? They’ll see what they want to see, Boadicea, and if it’s anything less than what I see in you, then shame on them.”
He kissed between her breasts, working his way down the center of her. Touching his mouth to every inch of the pink scar, feeling her stomach muscles flutter beneath the scrape of his stubble, the heat of his lips. With a nip at her belly button, he rose and cupped her face. “There’s no one, no woman, more perfect than the one I love.”
Her breath shuddered out. “Me?”
“Absolutely you, little one.” He stroked his thumbs over her cheekbones, no trace of her injury in sight. “I’m going to bind you, Bodie. Decorate this sinful little body with rope and put you on display so everyone can see you the way I do—beautiful, perfect, and mine.”
“I...I think I’d like that, Master Braun.”
“You will,” he promised, stepping back. He assessed her carefully, but she’d regained some confidence in herself. “How’s the leg holding up?”
“Aching a bit, Sir.”
“One minute longer, little one.” Braun moved behind her and deftly twisted her hair into a braid. With it tied up and out of the way, he collected his ropes from the bench. When he turned around, Jasper leaned against the wall, arms folded as he patiently waited. “J, could you fetch me a short stool from the bar and a cushion?”
One elegant blond eyebrow arched. “Sitting down on the job, are we?”
“Might as well be comfortable,” Braun shot back.
As the sadist pushed off the wall and sauntered away, Braun dropped a black rope at Bodie’s feet, then began to unravel the red one in his hands. It had been a while since he’d had the pleasure of practicing Shibari, but he relished the feel of the silk through his fingers. “This is soft rope, Bodie. It won’t burn or abrade your skin. It will feel restrictive, but I can cut you free at a moment’s notice if you panic.”
She fidgeted uneasily. “Okay.”
“Good girl. You know your safeword?”
“Red, Sir.”
Braun nodded. “Say it and everything stops. Are you ready?”
It was an experience in itself, watching her thoughts roll over her face, then gathering the courage to submit. Eyes closed again, she breathed deeply, slowly, until her tense fingers relaxed by her sides. “I’m ready, Sir.”
“Hold your arms out in front of you, hands clasped together loosely. Elbows touching, little one.” With a firm touch, he directed her how he required, and with a deep breath of his own, began.
The rope moved smoothly through his hands as he wove it around her forearms. Circle, knot. Circle, knot. The familiarity of the pattern allowed him to topple into the rhythm, the fluidity of creating art on a human canvas.
The sounds of the room faded away until all he could hear was Bodie’s soft, slow breathing and the slide of silk over skin. Circle, knot. Circle, knot. When he reached the cuffs, he inspected the intricate web of rope cinching her arms together, pleased with the result.
“Are you okay, little one?”
Big blue eyes blinked open, dazed and innocent. “Sir?”
Braun repeated the question quietly. “No nipping, no pulling?”
She shook her head from side to side in slow motion. “No, Sir.”
“Clever girl.