Captivated

She felt a moment of panic. Court meant it. The bastard meant it, and he was willing to go to these lengths to make her willing to spread her legs.

She could barely eat; she had no idea what it was Evie had on the tray. She watched as the servant untied her one leg, and then, as she nibbled, deftly surrounded her other ankle with the soft, slick satin bonds before she untied the ragged shirtsleeve.

'When you finish, mistress.'

But Evie wasn't done. She picked up the shredded bedspread and stripped the bed of its sheets and pillowcases, and pulled down the curtains, while Drue choked down what she could of the food.

Dear God, the curtains, too

'Mistress cannot refuse the master,' Evie said gently, removing the tray at Drue's signal. 'Come. I tie your leg and you wait for the master to come.'

'I have no choice, do I?' Drue muttered.

'Mistress is beautiful. Master will come to love her,' Evie murmured, as she efficiently packed up the bedding and trundled all of it and the tray out of the room.

The door closed.

The ominous door.

Her nipples tightened in anticipation of what was to come. Fear compelled her, closing her throat, making her tremble.

She grasped the edges of the mattress and held on. There was no point to fighting the restraints, to fighting him.

He would do what he wanted, and every slave in the place, including her, would submit to his will.

She waited, feeling every inch of her bare skin against the mattress ticking.

And she waited, her splayed legs accustomed now to the breadth of the extension he had forced on them.

And she waited, trying not to think of Gerard, and the betrayal of his love that this submission to Court's will represented.

There was something about the waiting; there was a cruelty in it and a wisdom. He had wanted her to get used to the feeling of spreading her legs for him, and as she lay there, she became acutely aware of the seductive cleft between her legs that had so entranced him.

And she could feel her nipples, so erect and pointed, becoming tighter and harder.

She felt herself stretching her legs wider apart still, as if her body were arching toward another lover.

'I wish you would take me,' she whispered in anguish, and Court's voice answered, 'Oh, no, little fawn. I will not take you now. You still have hard lessons to learn and memories Iwill destroy.'

Her body jolted, and she heaved up onto her elbows. He stood by the little upholstered chair, dressed in trousers and nothing else, watching her writhe and yearn for another man.

And he was so prime; his shoulders were wide, his bare chest deep and covered with rough springy hair all the way down to the waistband of his trousers.

And below that, his engorged manhood poked out as hard and thick as a tree trunk.

She licked her lips nervously as he sank into the little chair. 'What are you doing?'

'I'm admiring the many naked charms of mywife,' he said, his voice deceptively calm. 'I hope the satin bands are more comfortable. There's something about black against a woman's naked skin… it's very arousing.'

'Are you aroused, Court?'

'Unbelievably.'

'Haven't you seen enough?' Daring of her, she thought, licking her lips. But he was like a predator playing with her, a wolf she could never tame. And didn't want to. So why she was taunting him, she had no ideaor did she?

'Not nearly, little fawn. Your naked body fascinates me. I want to luxuriate in it, I want to know every nuance of it…'

'And when will I seeyour naked body?' she asked, her voice deliberately coy. It didn't work.

'When I'm ready to show it to you.'

'You're ready now, Court. Even I can see that.'

'But how hard I am has nothing to do with preparing you for the momentyou will be ready, my fawn. For now, just looking at you satisfies my lust for you.'

'I don't believe that.' She couldn't believe that, not with him sitting there and his sex jutting up to the ceiling through his clothing like a flagpole.

'It doesn't matter. I am the one who will decide when you are ready. My desire to rut in you can only be enhanced by the lessons I teach you.'

'What are you going to do?' she whispered.

He got up from the chair and came to the bed and she could see the hard-boned length of him poking upward beneath the thin material of his trousers.

'I'm going to tie your wrists to the posts, my fawn, so that just as you are learning the lesson of spreading your legs for me, you will also learn that when I tell you to hold your breasts for me, youwill remember to do it.'

'You didn't tell methis time.'

'These are just today's lessons, little fawn.' He grasped her one hand, tied it to the post with black satin, and then the other, and then stepped back to look at her.

'That's better. With your arms over your shoulders, your breasts are lifted toward me, begging for attention. But not tonight, little fawn. I just want to look at those incredible nipples, and maybe next time you will offer them to me of your own volition.'

'I will never offer youanything,' she spat, pulling her arms against the restraints. 'You're crazy.' But he wasn't crazy; he was herhusband, for God's sake, her master, and his sole drive was to completely dominate her before he spent himself in her.

He stood right beside her head and she saw that his erection was even harder and more elongated than it had been before.

'Tomorrow, my naked wife, tomorrow we will test you to see what lessons you've learned.'

'I know what you want,' she whispered.

'You couldn't possibly, little fawn. Not yet.'

'Take me.'

'No!' he growled.

'You want what's between my legs.'

'Oh, little fawn, youdo have so much to learn. Here is a lesson: I want what I want to be mine. And tomorrow, I will see about making sure everyone knows you're mine.'

'If you take me'

'You still won't be mine, my naked wife who still craves another man's sex. So you seeI have many things still to teach you. And what my body wants, what my penis wantsthat doesn't matter. All that matters is subjugating you.'

She felt a tremor go through her body. Her nipples hardened. She felt a spurt of wetness between her legs as she understood. This was all about Gerard. Dear darling Gerard who never would have used her so cruelly.

He really knew about Gerard. She felt her bones go weak. How long had he known? It didn't matter; nothing mattered. All that mattered was that she couldn't afford one lovely thought about Gerard from now on, not one, or Court would know it.

'Court'

'Your nipples fascinate me, Drue. And you see how lifting your breasts makes them all the more enticing to a man. I've never seen such pointed nipples on a woman. They beg to be fondled and sucked.'

'Do it,' she breathed, watching the effect those two words had on his flexing erection. It spurted harder, longer.

He controlled himself with an effort. 'But that's not what you want, my naked fawn. Notwho you want. Not yet.'