Claim Me(8)

He stands for a moment, his eyes on mine, and I can see that we are still playing games. My pulse pounds in my throat, and my nipples are erect. My hands, tied behind me, pull my shoulders back and lift my breasts. They feel full, needful, and I graze my teeth over my lower lip as I silently wait for Damien’s touch.

A game, yes. But I like it. In this game, there are no losers.

Slowly, he lets his gaze drift down over my body. My breath is shallow, and small beads of sweat form at the nape of my neck. I can feel the moisture between my thighs, the quivering need, and it takes all of my effort to stand silent and still and not beg for him to please, please f*ck me. The bed is just a few yards away, the prop Damien brought in for the portrait. There, I want to scream. Just take me there.

But I don’t. Because I know this man. And most of all, I know that everything with Damien is worth the wait.

Finally, he bends down and untwines the cord from around my leg, but when he gets to my wrists, he stops, leaving them bound together behind my back, the red silk trailing from them like a tail.

“Damien,” I say, trying to sound stern, but there’s no keeping the amusement—and the excitement—from my voice. “I thought you were going to free me.”

“Bought and paid for, remember?”

“Oh.” My word is little more than breath.

“Come,” he says, and the dual meaning isn’t lost on me, especially not when he slides the cord from back to front between my legs, then tugs on the end as if it’s a leash. A very erotic, very tantalizing leash. The smooth silk teases my yearning sex, the friction from the cord’s braiding making my legs so weak that I’m not sure I’ll make it to wherever he’s leading.

His tug is gentle, but enticing, and by the time we reach the spalike bathroom, I am weak with desire. Fire courses through my body, and I look with longing at the shower’s eight strategically placed jets. The thought of Damien standing behind me, his hands on my breasts, his lips brushing my neck, is almost more than I can bear, and I actually whimper.




Beside me, Damien chuckles. “Later,” he whispers. “Right now, I have something else in mind.”

My mind whirs through the possibilities. We have already passed the bed. He has resolutely dismissed my thirst for the shower. And as far as I can tell, Damien is paying no heed to the deep Jacuzzi-style tub.

I haven’t a single clue what he has in mind—but I don’t care. This night is no longer about the destination, but the journey. And considering the touch of Damien’s hand upon my shoulder and the tantalizing pressure of the cord against my sex, this voyage is turning out to be very pleasant indeed.

The closet into which he leads me is at least the size of the living room of the condo I share with Jamie in Studio City. This is not the first time I’ve been in here, but I still feel as though I need a map.

It would take me years to wear all the clothes that Damien has bought for me. And despite the fact that the left side of the closet is full to overflowing, I’m ninety-nine percent sure that at least a dozen new outfits have been worked into the mix since the last time I changed clothes in here.

“I don’t remember seeing that one before,” I say, nodding toward a silver dress that sparkles in the dim lighting and looks to be small enough and tight enough to leave nothing to the imagination.

“Don’t you?” His smile is slow and easy, and it matches the gaze that skims over me. “I can assure you that won’t be a problem after you put it on. No one will be able to forget it.”

“Least of all you?” I tease.