nipple, elongating it as he reached into his pocket and pulled out a small case.
“You’ll look particularly lovely in these rubies with this decorative tie.” He leaned close and began to attach something that bit into her nipple. “This is a rubber-tipped alligator clamp. Ruby, of course, and weighted with rubies. You’ll want to be still so they don’t swing while you talk and I take your photograph.”
He screwed the clamp tighter, watching her face the entire time. When she took a deep breath and her gaze jumped to his, his finger slid to her slick entrance and pressed deep. “You like this, don’t you, baby?”
She swallowed and nodded. She did. It was scary, but she felt like she floating close to euphoria. She couldn’t say why, only that she was so very close.
He switched his attention to the other breast and mimicked the same action. When he was satisfied, he lifted her a few more inches into the air. Once again, he tested her pulse and checked to make certain her skin was warm.
To her consternation, he lifted the knot at her clit idly and began to rub back and forth with his finger and then the knot, alternating between them. “What happened at Mitya’s house, Flambé?” His thumb hooked in the rope and played for a moment, sending streaks of fire darting to her sex and bottom simultaneously while his fingers and the knot burned over her inflamed clit until she wanted to scream.
She jerked and the rubies dangling from the nipple clamps danced as though possessed, sending flames roaring through her veins straight to her sheath.
“I heard some men talking about me. About a conversation you had with your cousin.” She could barely find her voice. Her mind was in chaos. It was difficult to think straight but she was so desperate to have him she thought she might go insane.
Sevastyan stepped back. “Open your eyes, baby, and look at me. You’re flying too high to talk and we’re not stopping until we have this conversation.”
His voice was commanding. There was no disobeying it and she needed the sound of it as an anchor. Flambé forced air into her lungs and opened her eyes, holding her body very still. He was about a foot away from her, maybe less, sucking on one finger, his camera cradled in his hands. He looked so unaffected by everything, so sexy she wanted to hold out even longer but she knew she couldn’t.
“Who did you hear talking?”
“I don’t know. They were in the next room, but the door was open. I was waiting for you. Ania had gone upstairs to get her things. She said to go ahead and wait in the sitting room and I took a wrong turn. I heard voices and was going to ask where I went wrong, but I heard my name so I just stopped and listened.”
Her voice was ragged. Lungs labored. She tried not to hear the sob in her voice. The betrayal. But it was there and if she could hear it, so could he. His expression didn’t change.
“Keep going, malen’koye plamya. I need to know everything that was said.”
She hated this. Hated to tell him. She already felt so vulnerable. Not because she was wrapped naked in the ropes—the ropes comforted her. She had no idea why they did. There was every possibility that Sevastyan knew being in the ropes comforted her. She felt vulnerable because she already wanted to be his. She felt too much for him. Too many weeks had gone by while she fantasized about him and now that she’d been with him, she wanted to belong to him. This wasn’t all about sex. The things that were said had crushed her.
“They said you told Mitya that you needed a submissive, any submissive would do and you just had to find a female on her first life cycle.”
She kept her gaze fixed on his face, but it was impossible to tell from his expressionless mask what he was thinking. Flamme had chosen Shturm because he could protect them. The little female leopard was on her first life cycle and had been so afraid of Franco Matherson that she was desperate to find a male leopard who would stop him. Flambé had fantasized about Sevastyan for months. When the two had come together, Flamme had risen, taking charge, choosing her mate because it made sense to her.
“They said Mitya pointed out that you’d found exactly what you were looking for