Panic closed his throat and Sera paused, as though she had sensed the spike in his emotions. She probably had. His blood still flowed in her veins, enough of it that he could feel her emotions clearly but could no longer hear her thoughts. She would be able to feel him through that connection too. She stroked his arm, soft and tender, soothing his panic until he felt he could breathe again.
“We really don’t have—”
“I want to,” Antoine interjected and she nodded but didn’t look sure. He sighed. “I am just concerned that I might not react well. I do not want to hurt you.”
“I know.” She leaned over and pressed a kiss to the inside of his elbow, and then worked her way up his arm, paying close attention to any scar she came across.
He loved when she kissed them because he felt the compassion in her with each press of her lips, the deep affection that she hid in her heart, affection that matched the feelings that lurked in his, held beyond the reach of her sight. She drew back and frowned down at him, and he had a hard time not staring at her bare breasts. The dark plum buds of her nipples called to him and he wanted to grab her and drag her down to him so he could suckle them.
“If you panic... Snow will feel you, won’t he?” There was worry in her eyes now.
Antoine smiled. “Most likely, although he does know we have the restraints and your intentions when asking him for them was very clear. There is a chance he would not come bursting through the door and catch us in the act.”
A beautiful deep crimson coloured her cheeks and she cast her gaze downwards, settling it on his chest. Antoine’s smile widened.
“I will do my best to relax. I am sure it is just fear of the unknown and once I am bound, I will be more comfortable.”
Sera nodded again and went to crawl over the top of him. Antoine grabbed her around the back of her neck with his free hand, dragged her down to him and kissed her. She moaned into his mouth, her whole body tense, and then relaxed into him. The feel of her soft warm skin on his tore a groan from his throat and he deepened the kiss, claiming her lips and bruising them with his force. He needed to kiss her like this, to taste her and devour her, to dominate her before she dominated him. Everything male in him said to make it clear right now who was in charge and that she was his.
Antoine growled when he tried to wrap his other arm around her and felt the tug of the restraint.
Sera bit his lower lip and then sat back, a smile on her face. “Sucks, doesn’t it? I wanted to touch you so badly when you had me tied up. I ached to place my hands on you.”
He growled again, low and feral, aroused by the thought of desiring something he couldn’t do. She wasn’t exactly encouraging him to go along with letting her tie his other wrist up. The thought of not being able to touch her was torture to him. He wanted to ghost his hands over every inch of her flawless pale skin and kiss her from head to toe, something he couldn’t do with his hands bound.
He went to grab her again but she evaded his hand, caught his wrist, and had it pinned to the pillows next to the cuff before he could blink. Antoine relaxed into the bed and let her have her way. He could easily escape her grasp but part of him didn’t want to—the part that wanted to experience what Sera had said and was aroused by the thought of being bound and helpless.
She took his hand, settled his wrist in the cuff and closed it.
Antoine felt her tense.
He tensed too, waiting to feel something crash over him. Panic. Fear. Rage.
Nothing came.
He looked at his bound left hand and then at his right. The sight of them sent a hot rush of arousal through his veins. His arms were longer than Sera’s so there was some slack in the chains but he could only raise them a few inches off the pillows. He tugged at them, curled his arms as much as he could, testing their strength.
“None of that.” Sera mounted his chest. She knelt astride him, took hold of his forearms and pressed them down into the crimson pillows, forcing him to relax. “You’ll break them and I’m not asking Snow for another set.”
Antoine raised an eyebrow at her. He wouldn’t break the restraints. He’d had them built to withstand Snow’s strength. It was more likely that the bed would snap rather than the chains, and restraints would be useless then.
Unless she locked his hands together behind his back.
Antoine shouldn’t have liked the image that popped into his mind with that thought, but the idea of lying with his hands chained behind his back and Sera on top of him had his desire soaring. His cock twitched and began to harden again. He tugged at his restraints, gentler this time so Sera didn’t reprimand him, and groaned at the feel of them.