‘Stand up, Miss Anderton,’ he said, opening it onto a large coffee table. ‘Position yourself behind the stairs and face the windows.’

I got to my feet, my knees hurting as I straightened them, and moved round behind the steps. I could hear intermittent rattling noises, which I took to be him sorting through the case. It was hard to know, as I could only make out the vaguest of shapes in the windows’ reflections.

    Thirty Four

Her

The longer I stood there, the more nervous I became and, by the time he came around the steps and stood, surveying me, I could feel myself trembling.

‘Are you worried, Angel?’

‘I’m…slightly cold,’ I lied. There was no way I was going to admit how much he was unnerving me. He had one hand behind his back, which did nothing to calm my anxiety. I wondered what he was hiding.

‘Cold?’ He looked amused. ‘But it’s the middle of summer and this hotel has ambient heating.’

‘It’s fine.’

‘Are you sure?’

‘I’m sure.’

‘Good.’ He sounded satisfied. ‘Then let’s begin. Put your hands above your head.’

I looked at him for a moment, to see if he was joking. He raised his eyebrows. ‘Best you do as I say, Angel. You don’t want to make things worse for yourself. The list of your infringements is…extensive, already, as I’m sure you are aware.’

I couldn’t help scowling, but I did as I was told and stood there, my hands in the air.

‘Stretch them higher.’ He walked up to the side of me.

I reached up, until my fingers were almost touching the underside of the step above me.

‘Very good, Angel,’ he said, pulling his hand out from behind his back and deftly locking a metal cuff around my wrist.

At once, I remembered his words back at the Castle; I was going to tie you up. Worse, I remembered how much those words had alarmed me later, when he’d been taken away by the police. Had thing really changed since then? There was no one else here now. If he wasn’t the man I thought he was, I could be in serious trouble. Could I really trust him?

He must have felt me stiffen because he pulled away from me and looked into my eyes. ‘Nothing you don’t want, Angel, remember? If you want me to stop, just say so.’

I didn’t speak for a moment, just looked at him. He was criminally handsome, with murder-blue eyes, but that was as far as it went. He wasn’t a killer. In my heart, I knew it. My head, though, still wavered.

‘Do you not trust me, even now?’ I could hear the disappointment in his voice and it stung me.

‘I do,’ I protested. ‘It’s just…’

‘It’s just?’

‘It’s just I feel…vulnerable.’

‘Of course you do.’ He smiled, much as he had earlier when watching the sub being punished in the club. ‘That’s exactly what it’s about. Power exchange. Giving over power to your Dom, putting your care into my hands. If you don’t trust me, it won’t work.’

‘What won’t work?’ I said. ‘Us?’

‘This,’ he said. ‘This isn’t us. There’ll still be an us, Angel, I promise you.’

‘Okay,’ I said.

‘Okay, what?’ he said. ‘Okay, stop?’

‘No.’ I shook my head and took a deep breath. ‘Okay, tie me.’

He looked at me steadily for a moment or two, before reaching up and looping a chain through the step above me. As he did so, he kissed the top of my head. ‘I have to say, Miss Anderton, I know you won’t appreciate this, but you do look delightful. Vulnerable suits you.’

He cuffed my other wrist, and linked them together with the chain. ‘I think that was what made me fall in love with you, so early on,’ he added, but I had the feeling he was talking more to himself than to me.

He stood back and regarded me, his head on one side. ‘You can drop your hands, now,’ he said.

I let my arms go, but they barely moved. They were securely chained up and the sudden feeling of helplessness made my heart start to race again.

‘You don’t have to fight it every step of the way, you know, Angel,’ he said, stroking my cheek. ‘You could just enjoy it.’ He walked around me and ran his hand down my back and across my bare buttocks. ‘After all, you’re at my mercy now. Why not make the most of it?’

‘I will, Sir,’ I said. He was right, after all. Nothing that happened from hereon in was my fault. I was tied up – anything that happened from now on was down to the beautiful man pushing his hand up between my legs.

The firmness of his hand, pushing apart my thighs, made me quiver but, this time, with lust. As he turned his hand on its side and forced them still further apart, I lay back into it, supporting myself on the cuffs, gripping the chain in the palms of my hands.

The flat of his fingers pressed upwards onto me, rubbing at my clit until I found myself spreading my legs still further, pushing back against his fingers, desperate to feel them inside me.

‘I think it’s time we dispensed with this,’ he said, putting his hands to the sides of my thong and slipping it down over the suspenders and boots until it lay, a tiny scrap of white, on the floor.

‘Now, this,’ he indicated my corset. ‘Can remain. However…’ He put his hands to the top of the bustier and pulled the cups down until my breasts were fully exposed. I could see myself in the window’s reflection and, for the first time, I wondered if I could be seen from outside. I don’t think I’d have cared at that point. He ran his hand back up my thigh, thrusting two fingers inside me and rubbing my clit with his thumb. I was beside myself by this time, desperate to come.

He must have sensed it because he withdrew his hand altogether and stood up straight. ‘Are you enjoying yourself, Angel?’

‘Yes,’ I gasped, still thrusting forward in my desperation to feel his touch.

‘I thought so,’ he said. ‘Which is why I stopped. You’re not here to enjoy yourself. You’re here to be punished, or had you forgotten?’

I almost wailed aloud. How could he leave me like this?

‘Now, now,’ he said. ‘It wouldn’t be much of a punishment if you didn’t suffer a little, would it?’

I shook my head and glared at him. God, he could be such a bastard. I needed him.

‘You’re lucky, you know,’ he continued, blithely ignoring my filthy look. ‘Usually, when I punish a sub, I actually punish them. Make them write lines, a letter of apology, sit facing a wall, something they really hate. They’d love to be punished like this.’

I looked at him. Was he for real? I didn’t want to hear about him and other subs.

‘Charlotte,’ he continued. ‘She’d have revelled in this.’

Oh my God. She was his sub. I felt sick suddenly and couldn’t help but look up at the chain holding me in place.

He shot me a look. ‘Don’t go getting the wrong idea. I didn’t have sex with her, for your information. I was training her or, at least, I thought I was. I’m not telling you this to make you insecure. I’m telling you to let you know that you’re special. This isn’t just a Dom/sub relationship. This is love.’

I felt ashamed, suddenly. He’d done nothing but look out for me. From the moment I’d met him, he’d had my back. And I still couldn’t help listening to rumours.

‘I’m sorry,’ I said. ‘I love you, too.’ I did, so much, and I wanted this – I did. ‘Please punish me.’ At that moment, I really felt I deserved it.

    Thirty Five

Her

‘I’ll punish you, all right,’ he said, his mouth quirking slightly. ‘But not for that. No – I’m still referring back to my list. Several minor infringements, as I recall, and one major. Do you know what I’m talking about?’

I shook my head, hoping to put off the dreaded moment. He just raised his eyebrow and walked away. When he returned, he had the mask in one hand, along with something that looked like a cat-o’-nine-tails in his hand. He must have noticed my eyes widen as they fell on it, but he said nothing, just held the mask up.