Rachel’s smile widened and she stood up and walked quickly to the window. Archie exhaled slowly. He heard the sound of the blinds closing, but he didn’t turn his head. He stared straight ahead, trying to gather his wits. He heard another blind close. The music was loud, but there was no one to complain—Rachel was his only neighbor. He glanced around for Ginger, and saw only her nose poking out from under the coffee table. The third blind closed. Then the fourth. Rachel’s stilettos clicked against the wood floor as she came up behind him. Archie took a long, slow breath and tried to relax. He caught a whiff of vanilla again as she leaned over his shoulder, her cheek against his, and reached down his chest with her hands. Her touch was full of promise and the pleasure it brought dissolved the last willpower he had. He let her take each of his hands and pull them around behind the chair.

Her head slid away from his, and she sank onto her knees behind him. Archie flinched as the metal handcuffs snapped around one wrist, and then the other.

When Rachel appeared in front of him again, she’d dropped the coat. Archie’s breathing was audible now and he could feel sweat forming on his upper lip. The black bra and thong were lace; the corset she wore over them was black satin with a row of tiny metal hooks and eyes up the front. The corset nipped her waist and accentuated her hips, exaggerating her hourglass shape. The shoulder straps of the corset pushed her breasts together and forward. Her pink nipples, visible under the black lace, hardened under Archie’s gaze.

Archie had always thought women looked best naturally, in the comfort of their own skin and nothing else. All the extraneous bedroom garments seemed too constrictive, too contrived. Now he realized that he’d been completely wrong.

Rachel pivoted one of her knees to the side. Her black thigh-high stockings were attached with garters to the corset, leaving the tan flesh of her upper thigh bare. Archie’s scalp itched with sweat. The inside of Rachel’s thigh hollowed slightly where it met her pelvis. Without thinking, Archie moved to touch her there, his hands straining uselessly against the cuffs.

“There’s more,” Rachel said. “Don’t look.” She picked up her purse from the floor behind him. He could hear her digging around for something, and then pulling something out of her purse, and he caught a whiff of latex. He heard the sound of rubber against skin.

Then Rachel walked back around and stood in front of him.

Archie was so startled by what he saw that it took him a moment to process it.