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"Yes, of course," she assured hiers "It isn’t that at all"

"And you know …" he said, sliding his hand up to circle her wrist "After today, you ive my life before I let you co dry "Yes, I know" She pictured hi death to save her The ainst the pressure of his fingertips And the way he stared at her now--so intently, so possessively … She’d never been so aroused in her life

Her heartbeat only pounded more furiously as he wrapped the cravat about her wrist, winding it tight What did he mean to do?

"I do trust you," she assured him quickly "With my life, with my body"

"Hm Yes, but not with your heart"

Bel had no answer to that She had noswath of linen as he knotted it securely around her wrist

"You will," he said, hoarsely "I swear it You are my wife, and I mean to have all of you I shall win you one piece at a time, if I must Give me your other hand"

She could not refuse hi at this ether, sloinding the sht Between her legs, she softened and ached

"Lie down," he told her "Flat on your back"

She obeyed hi hionally on the bed, then lifted her ar her bound wrists over her head She felt a series of sharp tugs as he tied the loose end of the cravat to the upper left bedpost

"Is it painful at all?" he asked, testing the knot

She shook her head

"I would never hurt you"

"I know"

Bel could not pretend to understand why her husband was lashing her wrists to the bedpost, nor why her body quivered with excitement as he did so But what ever his intended purpose, she kneould not hurt her Of that, she had no doubt

He placed a pillow beneath her head, and she looked down at her body, still clad in her sensible, light-blue traveling habit With her ar her buttons of her high-necked cheers went to the row of overworked buttons, freeing theers Once all were undone, he pushed the sides of the garht sued the gared feet

"There now," he murmured "Isn’t that ain? She was tied to a bedpost And any relief that nor wasin her belly Her breath rolled in her chest, shallow and quick, lifting her bosoh to untie her garter, then slowly rolled the stocking down her right leg His fingertips brushed her sensitive inner thigh, caressed the vulnerable hollow of her knee, then swept down to the tingling arch of her foot She shuddered with pleasure, twisting on the bed

He grasped her ankle firmly "Now, Isabel Can I trust you to res?"

"I…" Her voice faltered, and she sed hard "I will be still"

"Good girl Spread your legs a bit wider, then" His voice was dark and brusque--a tone she’d cohtly encounters A tone she’d come to welcome, even adore It thrilled her, to hear the impatient need in his voice To know that he’d passed the threshold of tender solicitude and gone over to raw, ave her so much pleasure, to obey his terse directives When he spoke to her thus, he absolved her of the burden of choice She could not feel conflicted over her own feelings of desire, not with her husband de compliance It was simply her duty to please hihted in doing precisely as he bid

Only later--only afterward, did sharet creep out fro her through the same sloeet torture as he drew the fine silk down her left leg and eased it over her foot Sliding his hands back up to her waist, he undid the ties of her petticoat and whisked it down and away He would not look her in the eye, but concentrated on his task as he placed his hands around her ribcage and rolled her slightly onto her side

As his fingers yanked at the laces of her stays, a rush of air entered her lungs Bel went dizzy with euphoria The cravat chafed her wrists as she wriggled to help him remove the corset entirely She was intoxicated with the delicious irony of it--hoas binding her and freeing her at the same time

And now she lay naked, except for her simple, unadorned shift The thin rowing increasingly translucent Toby repositioned her on her back and knelt between her outstretched legs, just inches from the place where she throbbed and ached for hie and ainst the fall of his trousers Her body bowed as her hips arched toward him in an instinctive invitation She was desperate for him to possess her body, to take his pleasure from her

But that wasn’t what he had inhis palainst her breasts Her nipples hardened with the tantalizing friction "Not yet I have bound you, Isabel--not for my own pleasure, but for yours And I shall not release you until you have reached your peak--"

"Toby--"

"Three times"

Three tis and drew one knee up, planting her foot on theback down, gently but firht you pros?"