“This is The Rope Room,” Yvonne replied.

Ruby looked at one of the photographs closely. The woman in it lay on a sea of silk, red ropes encircling her body in intricate patterns. In the photo next to it, a woman appeared to be suspended from something above the photo, hanging sideways in midair with her limbs bound together, wrapped in a cocoon of ropes.

Yvonne spoke from beside Ruby, startling her. “They’re beautiful, aren’t they?”

“It’s almost like they’re caught in webs.” Ruby glanced up at the beams above them. “Is that what you’re going to do to me?”

“I’m not going to suspend you up from the ceiling. At least, not tonight.” Yvonne drew the back of her fingers down the side of Ruby’s cheek. “Consider this an introduction. A taste of all the delights to come.”

A shiver rippled down Ruby’s neck. She’d been worried that when faced with the reality of Yvonne’s twisted desires, she’d find herself overwhelmed, just as Yvonne had warned her. And considering everything that had happened with her last client, all this should have scared her.

But instead, the hunger inside her grew.

“Well?” Yvonne said. “How would you like to get caught in my web?”

Ruby gazed back at her, unable to do anything but nod. She was already caught in Yvonne’s web.

“Then let’s get you out of that dress.”

Yvonne took the hem of Ruby’s dress and drew it up and over Ruby’s head. She wasn’t wearing a bra underneath, so she was left in nothing but her panties. Yvonne’s eyes skimmed Ruby’s body approvingly, sending warmth creeping up Ruby’s cheeks. Yvonne showed no sign of stripping down herself. Ruby suspected Yvonne preferred it that way.

Silence filled the air, the club downstairs a world away. Yvonne guided Ruby to the center of the room to stand underneath one of the wooden beams, then opened a cupboard and withdrew several coils of rope.

Yvonne placed all but one of them down on a nearby chair, then took Ruby’s wrists and bound them together firmly, leaving a tail of rope dangling from them. Lifting Ruby’s arms above her head, Yvonne tied the rope to the beam above her. Ruby resisted the urge to tug on her bonds. She was certain Yvonne would see it as a sign of disobedience. And if Yvonne had made anything clear, it was that she required Ruby’s complete obedience.

Yvonne wound the tail of the rope around Ruby’s arms, binding them together tightly in a series of knots. She continued down Ruby’s shoulders, then wound the rope around Ruby’s chest and back, crossing it over and under and between her breasts. The rope was surprisingly soft, caressing her skin in a not unpleasant way.

Yvonne took a step back, surveying her work. While Ruby’s bonds weren’t tight enough to constrict, the firm pressure of the ropes felt immobilizing. The ropes were all connected, so the slightest movement of her body made them tighten and shift in the most delicious way.