They just clicked. He understood her from the moment he saw her, in a way I think only I had before. He was crazy for her, protective of her, and—as of this evening—was the only man other than me she would ever let touch her, and even then only to prepare her for this special occasion. The trust she gave him was a testament to her faith in me as well.

I took in her cream curves, the starkness of the red ribbon around her wrists and ankles, the strong, smooth line of her spine. My chest constricted with an ache so deep, when I tried to speak my voice came out a touch strangled. “How long have you been here?”

She gave a little shrug. “Johnny left maybe ten minutes ago. He said you would be here soon.”

I nodded, bending to kiss her shoulder. “And here I am.”

“Here you are.”

“Was it hard to wait?”

She licked her lips before answering, “No.”

“A few people are down at the next room,” I told her, kissing down her back. “I imagine they walked past this room and saw you alone in here, waiting.”

She shivered against me, exhaling a tight burst of air.

“I bet you knew that. I bet you bloody loved it.”

She nodded.

“You know how much I love you?”

Again, she nodded, and a blush spread from her neck down her back. More than anything, Sara craved the knowledge that someone was watching us make love. She wasn’t very often tied up for me; sometimes she was in charge, climbing on top and sliding down over me, or taking me in her mouth. In those times she liked to watch my face. Her eyes would take in every one of my fascinated reactions, as if it was still hard for her to believe how obliterated I was by her affection.

But sometimes—only a handful of nights at Johnny’s club—she wanted to be blindfolded, left to imagine how I looked when I saw her, and felt her, and fucked her.

I reached up, untying the ribbon around her wrists, and felt a bit like I was unwrapping a gift. Sara flexed her hands and then slid her arms up, reaching to curl her fingers around the far edge of the table.

“Did you know I was going to suggest you do that?”

She smiled over her shoulder at my general direction, the blindfold keeping me from her sight. “I had an inkling.”

And then we both heard it at the same time: a crash in the hall, the sound of someone dropping what must have been an entire tray of drinks. We’d never been certain when we were being watched before. At Red Moon, the rooms were soundproofed; here, the walls were thick but not as insulated.

In front of me, Sara shivered, her back arching.