She finally stopped struggling and I released the clasp. I felt another little tingle in my fingertips as the chain dropped. Gail rolled away from me, yanking at the armbands as she did. She threw both of them into the corner and stood there panting and staring after the armbands.
I slipped out of the bed, stood, and pulled her into my arms. “It’s all right, Gail. They’re off. What happened?”
Her nude body shivered against mine as she stammered, “They tightened up. As soon as you fastened the clasp, the bands tightened to where I couldn’t shake them off. The damn things are magical. Frak! I was afraid you wouldn’t be able to get them off me.”
“Hey, it’s all right. They’re off now. You’re okay.”
She let off a string of profanities that I hadn’t heard since my discharge from the Army.
I pulled back an inch and gripped her chin in my right hand and pulled her face up until I could lower my mouth to hers. She barely responded to my kiss.
I pulled back and smiled at her. “Hey, aren’t you going to kiss me with that garbage mouth?”
Her nostrils flared and I felt her shift against me. I stepped back enough to catch her right fist in my hand as it swung at the side of my head. I yanked on her arm, spinning her as she fell toward me. In a second, I had both her wrists pinned in my hands and crossed beneath her breasts as I held her against me. She made a brief show of trying to escape, but her heart wasn’t in it. She sagged back into me and shuddered once.
I kissed her cheek and held her tight.
After a minute or two, her breathing slowed to normal and she wiggled her backside against me. “Thanks for understanding, Jesse. I’m not used to being frightened like that. I guess I panicked.”
“Just a bit, I would have reacted the same way,” I said and kissed her cheek again. I moved my pelvis against her. “So, what are we going to do about it?”
She moved, turning against me, and I released her wrists, wrapped my hands around her lower back, and pulled her close.
She hesitated before speaking. “I don’t know. I’d like to melt the damn things down. Magical items aren’t safe in the hands of the ignorant.”
“You mean like me?” I asked.
“Well, if truth be told, you are pretty ignorant on the subject, but you’ll learn. I should have been more cautious about letting you play around with them. I told you that sex was an unsafe distraction during a hunt.”
I nodded and wiggled my hips. “Want some more distraction?”
She smiled, genuinely, and I leaned in for another kiss. This kiss was pleasant and deep, but not as passionate as I wanted.
“Not just now?” I said.
“I want to study those armbands first. I don’t like having something magical unless I understand its capability.”
She pulled back, ignoring my rampant state and fetched the armbands from the corner. She sat on the bed and picked up her flashlight. I sat beside her and covered myself with a pillow. Gail glanced askew at the pillow and then at my face. “Don’t worry, it won’t go to waste. Just give me a few minutes.”
I sighed and acted dejected, but leaned closer so I could study the armbands with her. Gail moved the light along the bands, examining each square inch of the metal and then went down the chain.
“Hmmm,” she said at last.
“What?” I asked.
“Hold these,” she said and passed them to me. She left the bed and I lost all interest in the armbands as she walked to her first-aid kit and bent down. I’ve noticed that some women bend at the knees when they’re getting something off the floor. Others prefer bending at the waist. While I appreciate both types, I prefer the latter, and to my enjoyment, I remembered Gail was one of the latter.
She left the kit open and turned as she stood. She took one look at my leering face and grinned back at me. “It’s really nice to be appreciated.”
“I’m glad you approve, but if you’d taken another minute to find whatever you were looking for, I was going to come over there and show you how much you’re appreciated.”
Her smile broadened. She almost pranced back to the bed. It did interesting things to her breasts.
She plopped down beside me and kissed me hungrily. When I was starting to reach for her, she broke the kiss. “Now hold the flashlight for me.”
“What?” I asked, befuddled as my IQ had dropped significantly during that last kiss.
Gail popped a jeweler’s loupe against her right eye and took one of the armbands from me.
“Oh,” I said and held up the flashlight.
She stretched the chain across her palm and lowered her head to study it. After a moment, she straightened. “I thought I saw something.”
“Oh?”
“Yes, there’s a fine line of patterns in the clasp. I don’t know what they mean, but it must me some spell that completes when the chain is fastened.”
“So it is some kind of kinky bondage gear?” I asked.
“I’m not sure. Here,” she held them both up. “Put them on.”
“What? Now, look, Gail,” I protested. “Fun is fun, but I didn’t know what they did when I put them on you.”
“That’s fine; Jesse, but we only have one data point. Maybe it’s a one-time spell.”
I stared at the armbands. I didn’t know if I wanted to find out what they felt like. Maybe it was time to tell her about the vision. I was pretty sure that the bracelets only affected werewolves.
“Do I have to?” I whined.
“Do you want to have sex again tonight?” Gail asked as she crossed her arms beneath her breasts.
Damnit, women always know how to get a man to do what they want. That made up my mind in more ways than one.
