As did I. Soon his roughened hands would replace the material. . . .

When he unfastened the last taut hook, my br**sts spilled free, the sight earning a groan from him. He discarded the garment, then turned to my thong, ripping it on one side.

Over the sound of my gasps, he rent the other side, letting the wet material land between my legs.

Except for my mask, I was nude; he remained dressed.

Raking his gaze over my body, he yanked on his shirt collar, popping a few buttons free at his throat. “I did choose your mask deliberately.”

“Why a butterfly?”

He met my eyes. “Because you’re elusive to me. Because I haven’t caught you yet.” He reached forward to roll my ni**les between his fingers until they jutted lewdly, until I was arching up for more.

Before leaving me, he gave each of my br**sts a light slap—which I found almost reassuring. He returned with two slim metal bars. My pulse quickened when I recognized what they were: the clamps from the picture I’d shown him, the two conductor’s wands—except these had a sexy chain attached to the ends that would loop down toward my navel.

“Are you ready to be tested, Natalya?” He began screwing the bars down over my straining ni**les, as far away from the tips as possible.

The pinch was biting, but I didn’t shy away. Hadn’t I specifically asked for this?

Once he’d secured the bars, I looked down, startled by how turned on I was by the view. Seeing it in a magazine was provocative. Seeing my own ni**les like this was . . . sublime.

“Look at you. Bound and clamped for my pleasure. How long I’ve imagined this.”

“Is it everything you hoped it would be?”

“Better. Ideal’naya.” Unimprovable.

His husky compliment only added to the stimulation, so I aired a very real fear: “Sevastyan, what if I come before you want me to?”

“You’ll be punished.” The gleam of anticipation in his eyes made my hips roll, pulling on my already stretched thighs.

He lifted the delicate chain that hung from the ends of my clamps. “This chain goes in your mouth between your teeth. If anything happens that you don’t want, all you have to do is drop it for the night to end. Period. And you know I do as I say I will.”

I frowned, thinking he was much too cavalier about ending this night. While I appreciated that he’d set up the equivalent of a safe word, nothing could end this. Least of all my botching it!

When he offered me the chain, I took it into my mouth and bit down—which tugged my ni**les even more. Still, I could stand it. I could stand anything.

“You can look at the ring now, Natalie.” Something in his tone made my ears twitch.

“But for this to continue, you must be vulnerable.” He moved to my side. “Revealed. I told you that no one else will touch you; I said nothing about them beholding you.”

What was he talking about?

“I intend to clear the glass so everyone can see my beautiful prize. . . .”

Chapter 35

What?? My jaw slackened, and I almost dropped the chain.

To have dozens of people see me strung up? While I was naked, clamped, and about to have who-knew-what done to me?

It was one thing to flash guys at the creek near home. This was a different world.

Sevastyan picked up that remote, his expression inscrutable. “If you don’t want me to reveal this room, all you have to do is drop the chain.”

Realization hit me. He thought I would balk—that we would go no further than this! And then he could say he’d tried.

So he hadn’t been taking pains to please me? No, he’d been setting me up for failure.

Bastard! To hell with that. I had on a mask; no one knew who I was, and I’d never see these people again. This was one night of my life, a few hours of gossamer fantasy.

“Drop the chain—or prepare to feel their eyes on you, coveting every inch of your pale skin.”

He was trying to unnerve me. It was working! Did I actually have the mettle to do this?

“Come now, we’ll go home.” He was like a devil on my shoulder, tempting me away from what I needed—from what we needed. “All this will be like a dream.”

In my mind, moving forward with this equaled moving forward in our life together. And I yearned for that. When I wanted something badly enough, nothing could stop me.

Not even the leering eyes of thirty strangers.

I refused to drop the chain. I refused to stay on the ground and not climb up to the trestle. Once I broke the surface of this, it would all be worth it.

When I knew my mind was made up, I began to shake—like a fledgling. Like a girl about to free-fall.

Sevastyan’s brows drew together. “You’re trembling?” He laid the backs of his fingers against my cheek, as if to check for a fever. “Drop the chain, milaya. That’s all you have to do.”

I gritted my teeth, set my jaw, and turned from him to stare at the glass. Bring. It. On.

I heard him exhale a stunned breath. He’d never thought I would do it. He’d set me up to take a fall. Sometimes I’m quite all right with falling, ass**le.

“Very well. They’ll see my woman.” I got the sense that he hated the idea of displaying me. Caught by his own trap?

I had been ogling those in the circus ring; soon they’d return the favor. Tit for tat. I almost laughed hysterically.

“It’s not often that one of these rooms is revealed,” Sevastyan said. “This will be a treat for them, and for the other rooms as well.”