“For instance, the bathroom mirror.”
“It’s shatter proof.”
“I have strength beyond a normal human’s. You have seen that.”
Yes, she had.
“And?”
“I didn’t shatter the glass,” he said. “I also didn’t rip my own throat out, a feat I’m perfectly capable of. In either form.”
His green eyes flashed.
Was it disturbing that she found them so intriguing?
She said, “So you want me to watch?”
“Yes. You can be our watchdog. To make sure I don’t kill myself.”
She had to prevent her smile from curling her lips.
He added, “I know you’re already watching.”
She didn’t try to deny it.
She said, “What about Kate? Is she OK with it?”
“It’s not the first time we’ve been watched, and I don’t mean by yourself.”
The implication was obvious. Alyssa remembered his case notes. The rave at Aaron Mitchell’s estate. The one she suspected was a shifter rave.
She said, “Yes, I would be very keen. You do understand the other handlers would be watching as well.”
“Haven’t they always?” he quipped back.
*
The items that Rust requested for were laid out on the bed.
Alyssa was seated in a chair. She was close enough to watch the proceedings and yet distant enough for the couple concerned to be comfortable, if they were at all discomfited – which she doubted.
She thought of the public ruckus Rita Cunningham had created outside. The furor over the perceived maltreatment of the O’Briens was escalating, as was the ‘SHOW US THE O’BRIENS’ campaign. A fact that the couple in this room was blissfully unaware of.
Or were they?
She wondered what sort of game Rust O’Brien was playing where she was concerned. Was he trying to get her to admit that she was attracted to him sexually? But why? He must be the type of man who knew that most women were likely to be sexually attracted to him.
Why her?
Because she held the keys to his prison? Because he could perceive something in her with his enhanced shifter senses?
Whatever he had in mind, she had asked Dan to monitor them. She could protect herself, but Rust O’Brien was a powerful tiger shifter. There had to be guards on standby the whole time.
The whole situation was bizarre . . . and extremely sexual. But she had agreed to it because she was curious.
Neither Rust nor Kate seemed embarrassed or self-conscious. Well, maybe Kate more than Rust. But not overtly.
Both of them began to undress. Rust wasn’t wearing much to begin with. He had a very sexual, very confident and very predatory air about him. He moved with surety and precision. Kate was a little hesitant at first, but then she got into the groove of things because her boyfriend radiated such confidence. He treated her with such reverence and care, and his eyes burned with such desire and love.
Alyssa envied Kate. She had never envied many women before, but she envied Kate like no other right now, and it was not a good place to be.
Soon, they were both naked. Their eyes were on each other. It was almost as though they had forgotten she was in the room or even in their plane of existence. Either that, or they didn’t care.
Kate had a plump, voluptuous body, Alyssa noted. Funny, but she had pegged Rust to be choosier about whom he wanted as a girlfriend. Kate didn’t strike her as the type, but you never know about these things. Kate had huge breasts and very striking areolas – no doubt enhanced by her pregnancy. Her lower abdomen was obviously swollen and getting bigger every day.
As for Rust, Alyssa had seen Rust naked before many times. But there was something about his body up close. Something about the way Kate brought out the shine on his skin and the flush in his cheeks that Alyssa hadn’t seen on the monitors. There was a difference in watching porn on a TV screen and porn up close.
Only it wasn’t porn she was watching.
It was two people making love.
“You OK?” Rust asked Kate as he gently ran his hands down the slope of her belly.
“I’m OK.”
He picked up the leather strap.
“You OK if I put this on you?”
“Yes,” she whispered.
He turned her around and gently tied her wrists with the band.
“Comfy?”
“Yes.”
He reached for the nipple clamps. He had requested for ones with fur-lined pads so they wouldn’t chafe Kate’s precious, swollen nipples.
Very thoughtful, Alyssa thought with a hint of snark. Frankly, she wasn’t surprised at all that Rust O’Brien was into bondage. Just how deep was he into the BDSM scene? He might be going gentle now that his girlfriend was pregnant. Alyssa herself was not into BDSM, or indeed, into any kind of relationship. But it didn’t matter, because she was not a participant here.