30

Oliver wanted to sleep with her. Ursula felt a wave of heat shoot from her belly all the way into her head and spread in her cheeks. If she looked anything like she felt right now, she’d say she was blushing like a ripe tomato. Her anger at Oliver had vanished when he’d recounted what had happened at the nightclub and afterwards. Oliver hadn’t betrayed her secret. He’d kept his word. Even though by doing so he’d drawn the wrath of his colleagues upon him.

When Oliver leaned in even closer, she dropped her lids. “I’m sorry I cursed you behind your back.”

His lips approached her mouth, his breath ghosting over her skin. “I can live with that if you’re willing to make it up to me.”

She opened her eyes fully, meeting his sensual gaze. The blue of his eyes was almost blinding. “How?”

“A kiss would be a good start.”

“What else?” she asked, meeting him halfway.

“You, naked.” He glanced behind her, a wicked smile forming on his face. “Preferably tied to this wrought iron headboard.”

Her breath caught in her chest. Instinctively, she pulled back a fraction. “Why?”

“To teach you to trust me. To teach you that even if you’re tied up and vulnerable, I would never do anything to hurt you. That even when you’re at my mercy, you still have your free will, you’re still the one in charge of your body and your mind.”

She stared at him, scared, because she’d spent three years of her life with her hands tied to her bed, being robbed of her free will. She shivered. “It won’t work. I can’t let you tie me up. They did that to me. They—”

He put his finger over her lips. “I know what they did to you. That’s why you and I will do this together now. To wipe away the bad memories. When we’re done here, you’ll associate being tied up with pleasure, not with fear, frustration, and pain. Because I’ll make sure that all you’ll feel is pleasure. Nothing else.”

She didn’t doubt that he wanted to shower her with pleasure, but she couldn’t imagine ever being able to forget those days when she’d been chained to her bed. “What makes you think it will work? Psych 101?”

He smiled. “I never went to college. But I’ve always been able to read women. And when we made love in my van, you couldn’t let go of the chains they bound you with. They’re still there.” He softly knocked at her temple. “Still in there. And as long as you can’t shake them, you’ll never be able to share your body freely. Call me selfish, but when I make love to you, I want to feel all of you. I don’t want you to hold back because you’re afraid. I want you to be free.”

Free, the word sounded so good. But could she ever truly feel free? Even now she was still incarcerated, even though it was for her own protection. “And that’s why you want to tie me up?”

Oliver’s eyes darkened. “That and . . . because the idea of you at my mercy makes me so hard that I’m ready to burst.”

He took her hand and led it to the front of his jeans. When he pressed it onto the bulge that had formed there, she felt heat underneath her palm where his erection pulsed.

“And if I asked you to untie me, would you do it immediately?” she asked, her voice trembling, because she was considering something she should never contemplate. But whenever Oliver looked at her with desire and lust in his eyes, a different side of her took over and made decisions for her.

He shook his head, bringing her heart to a complete stop. “No. You’ll be able to untie yourself. I’ll only use silk scarves to tie your hands to the headboard. But the knots will be so loose that you’ll be able to slip from them whenever you feel the need.”

Relief made her release the breath she’d held. She looked at him and remembered the things he’d done for her to achieve an orgasm in the back of his van, how selfless he’d been, how giving. So if this game of bondage was something he wanted, she could try it. He hadn’t hurt her so far. There was no reason he would do so now. Slowly she nodded, praying that she wasn’t making the biggest mistake of her life. “Yes.”

Oliver pulled her into his arms and hugged her close. “Oh baby, thank you. You won’t regret it!”

Then his mouth was on hers, searing her lips with a passionate kiss. He was different from the time in his van: more passionate, wilder, and more untamed. Had she made the right decision? But she had no occasion to contemplate it any further, because Oliver’s kiss robbed her of the ability to think. Instead, all sensory receptors in her body seemed to switch on as if he’d flicked a switch.