“Clasp your hands together and keep them that way. If I had anything to bind you properly I would.” His words were sharp but in no way cruel. This time would be a crash course in instruction—him giving his expectations and how I was to present myself, which up till now he’d never expressed to me. He had bound my hands before, so that wasn’t a total surprise, but the silent-play was. If I had to guess, it was because of where we were in his house right now—on the first floor where employees were busy at their work and actively present—and he didn’t want his staff to feel uncomfortable knowing what we were doing in his study. A Dom with a conscience, apparently, and it only endeared me more. “Now one last thing before we begin,” he said pointedly, eyes darkly roaming all over my very naked and sensitive skin.

I clasped my hands together in front of me, crossing my thumbs into an X to lock them. I lifted my eyes to him and waited.

“You’re very fucking perfect right now, by the way. That’s not my question of course, I just think you need to know how very much you’re pleasing me, Miss Hargreave.”

His praise shattered the last remaining shreds of reservation I might’ve still held on to in the darkest corners of my mind. Reservations about whether I should be entering this arrangement with him. They evaporated. Just gone. I needed this—whatever we were doing for each other—needed it like my next breath.

“Tell me your color, kitten.”

“It’s green, my lord.”

But then he was kissing me again, and I forgot everything else. Since I’d known him, I’d discovered Ivan was a man who liked to kiss. A masterful kisser at that. Ivan never rushed kissing me—before, during, or after the sex, and I now knew I had a serious addiction to his kisses.

To Lord Rothvale’s kisses.

He kissed me now and I let myself float away, my mind going as silent as my voice. I indulged in the sensation of wonderfulness as I gave over this moment in time to him. He took a little journey with his mouth and plundered mine thoroughly, his tongue pressing inside demandingly hard. When he was good and ready, he moved on to work over my neck, making what was certain to be a mark from how hard he sucked on the spot he favored just below where my jaw met my ear. Even though he didn’t rush, he was busy as he kissed, a single destination calling to his mouth above all else. My “spectacular tits” as he’d often referred to them. Making a woman feel she is beautiful is a skill that few men possess, but Lord Rothvale was one of them. Lucky me he could make me feel so beautiful when he worshipped over my body like this. Still dressed in his clothes while I was as bare as the day I’d been born, I realized this was how Ivan would fuck me in his study today. He had absolutely no intention of taking off any of his clothes for me in here. I pouted inwardly in disappointment, but it was also a freaking hot trigger at the same time—which I’m sure he knew. Ivan was going to ravish me just as I’d asked him to.