The Burlington Manor Affair

“Even more, yes. I’m going to do something I’ve always wanted to do, tonight. I intend to watch your face while I make you come.”

Carmen’s breath caught. Between her thighs, the ache of longing that had built steadily over the course of the evening turned into a demanding need.

“It’s been my intention to do so for many years, and now we are here and you are going to do exactly as I tell you, because you want the house. What could be better, we both get what we want?”

It sounded so wrong, as if she was selling herself. She did want the house and she would buy him out, but right at that moment she wanted him to make love to her, whatever the circumstances. It would be fatal to admit that to him, though. His ego was big enough. But he was right; they had to burn this out. There was also the inescapable fact that his magnetic draw defied her to resist him. There was such a seductive invitation in his eyes. “Rex, please don’t tease me.”

“My intention is entirely more grown-up.”

The husky tone of his voice ran over her skin like hot wax, sealing her fate. She swallowed. His eyes narrowed and he closed his hands around her wrists, holding her tightly. She opened her mouth to object, but couldn’t. That action was like a key, a trigger. The imprisonment at his hands was a drug to her senses.

Heady arousal sped through her. A muted moan escaped her. The pounding between her thighs had taken her over. Her panties clung to her groove.

“That’s better.”

There was no point in denying it. She liked his hands on her. When Rex’s mouth covered hers she was all his, a whirlpool of wanting under him. His lips were firm and persuasive and the brush of his stubble sparked her into another level of sensation. Her mouth opened and her body arched to make contact with his. When it did he moaned approvingly and his free hand moved against the small of her back, holding her in place. The firm wall of his chest echoed the strength she felt in the hand that clasped her wrists together so easily.

She’d never been kissed the way Rex kissed her—as if the world was about to end, as if he couldn’t get enough of her, as if their lives depended on it.

“Oh, yes,” he murmured as he drew back and looked down at her with heavily lidded eyes.

Without warning, he freed her wrists, strolled away and sat down again.

Wavering wildly, her pulse tripped.

Get a grip, she told herself, it’s so obvious you need him to control you. The fact that it was true confused her deeply, but she was locked into it now and he’d walked away.

“The dress, take it off.”

Carmen acted immediately. She had to. Unlatching the halter neck, she undid the clothing he’d bought for her. She pulled the loosed fabric up and over her head, dropping it to the floor at her side.

Rex looked at her stocking tops with an appreciative glance. “Take the stockings off. Do it slowly.”

Carmen kicked off her high heels and put one foot up against the end of the bed. She rolled the first stocking down. It was hard to do it slowly, so she paused occasionally instead, trying to breathe as she did. When it was off, she draped it over the end of the bed. Without looking his way she proceeded to do the same with the other one. When it was off she put her hand on her hip and tossed her hair back, trying to level her head. She was completely naked, but for the briefest of lace panties.

“What a memorable sight.” He put his hand out. “Bring the stockings to me.”

Picking them up, she padded across the thick rug to the place where he sat.

Rex took them from her and tested them, stretching them between his hands. “They’ll do nicely. Put your arms out, offer me your wrists.”

Dizzy, disbelieving and outrageously aroused, Carmen stared at him.

He arched his eyebrows.

The thought of being so thoroughly helpless while he seduced her was outrageous, but he really meant to tie her up. He actually seemed to think that bondage was something she did, something that she was familiar with. It was because she’d melted into submission when he clasped her wrists downstairs. It had felt good, though, as if giving up her sexual self-control that way unlocked a door that hadn’t been opened before. Was Rex used to this kind of behavior?

He beckoned with one hand. “Come now.” His tone was laden with dark humor. “Don’t forget, it’ll make it so much easier.”

“Don’t push your luck,” she snapped, but she put her forearms out, palms up, hands clasped into fists.

He shook out one stocking and used it to bind her wrists together. “Carmen Shelby, secretly into bondage and submission. Who’d have thought it?” He seemed to relish the moment, stringing it out. “It’s a good job I didn’t know that. Otherwise, my erotic imaginings would have been even more corrupt than they already were.”

Carmen was hooked. How much had he actually thought about it? It didn’t surprise her to know that he was imagining sex with her—as she was with him—all those years ago. They’d got so close to it once. But mentioning it now, that was the weird thing. He’d had so many different women in between. Did it mean that he really thought about those near-misses they’d had, and wondered about how they might have gone—as she had?

He was looking at her expectantly.

“Corrupt? You make it sound...wrong.”