Page 10 of On a Pale Horse
He didn’t expound on the whys because she already knew the why without having to kill the mood with the subject.
Bianca’s tone gentled. “Did you tell her you were ready?”
“I suppose not in those exact words, but I’ve instigated intimacy with her quite a few times and she’s never given in. I’m starting to think she doesn’t want me.”
Bianca patted him on the shoulder gently. “You know darn well no one can look at you and not want you. And maybe that’s the problem. She fears her reaction to you is simply that, a reaction to your power, your aura, whatever the fuck you call it.”
Hades flinched. Hadn’t he wondered the same thing himself several times. “But that's not how I want her. I need her to want me, the man, not just her reaction to me.”
She dragged his suit jacket off and carefully placed it over a chair. Bianca took a step back to survey him. “I didn’t think about how we were going to do this.” She held her hands up as if in surrender.
He eyed her as he started on the buttons. “Do what? I’m going to get naked and I want you to tie me up and then bring Cloris here.”
Bianca shifted to stare at the bed, four posters, with blood red bedding. “I mean, I don’t want you to feel uncomfortable since you’ll be naked. You know I won’t be able to linger.”
“Of course. But I also know you love Gwyn and Victor, so I doubt I will have any appeal to you.” He finished unbuttoning and pulled the white linen from his pants and shrugged it off to join his jacket.
She watched him warily but so far hadn’t launched herself at him. It was a good sign.
He toed off his shoes and then finished with his pants and undershirt, left standing in his boxer briefs. Bianca had rolled her eyes up to stare at the ceiling.
He wished he could corral himself, rein in this effect he had on people, but he wasn’t in control of it. He quickly added his underwear to the pile and headed toward the bed.
“Stop,” Bianca instructed.
He halted mid-motion and watched her walk to the rope wall, selecting a length of red silk rope double twisted. “Come here. I’m going to tie you to the base of the bed, with you kneeling on the floor. I don’t know a dominant woman alive who wouldn’t love walking in on such a sight.”
She still kept her eyes averted from him except to secure the bindings. When she finished, he sat kneeling in the center of the floor, his hands tiedshibaristyle behind his back, crossed at the wrist. Bianca headed toward the door as if her life depended on leaving. “I’ll send Cloris in. No way she will be able to resist this.”
The door shut softly with a click and he watched the handle, his heart beating in his ears. This was it. He’d finally have her. He shifted so his weight sat more squarely on his heels. The knob turned, and he hadn’t expected to see Cloris so soon.
A figure ducked inside back first, but he froze when he spotted the dark hair crowning the woman’s head. She spun. “Well, hello,” she purred.
He swallowed, cursing in his mind. “Ma’am. This is a private room. Unless you have a key, I’m going to have to ask you to leave.”
She cast her eyes down his body, and he swallowed the fear threatening to surface. The woman’s body was already reacting to him. Her eyes had a cloudy quality, and she stalked forward slowly. He could think of no way to get out of this situation. Instead of remaining kneeling, he stood quickly and squared his shoulders. “Ma’am. Leave now or you risk being thrown out.”
But it was no use, she was beyond hearing.
He had only one way to keep her from touching him.
Her fingers were already outstretched toward him.
“Stop.” He put force into the tone.
She froze and blinked at him from heavily lidded eyes, and then he turned on the charm. Usually, his own pheromones drove people to him, but when he intentionally directed it, sometimes he could use it to bend people to his will. If only he could do the opposite and turn it off too. Thankfully, this woman was weak minded. Although, had she been stronger, she might have left immediately out of self-preservation.
He sidled closer and hated the way her perfume assaulted him in a cloud of chemicals. “I want you to go lay on the bed. Take your time, do it slowly.”
He hoped he could get out of Bianca’s knots and out the door before she got there.
The woman’s dress landed at her feet with a soft rustle before she even started walking. He avoided looking at her. How had this night gone so wrong? Disappointment clogged his throat as he tested the knots. Bianca was too good at this shit. He couldn’t break free. He glanced up at the stranger again.
She’d taken off her underwear and lay herself on the bed, waiting for him.
He turned around in order to not look when the door flung open and Cloris stood there. Her hair was down, which shocked him on its own, artfully spiraling around her shoulder, framing her breasts. She had a black mask on similar to Bianca’s except hers had black shadows making it appear a half skull on top of her face. He met her eyes, but shame washed over him quickly and he had to look away.
“What’s going on? Who the fuck is that?” She pointed at the bed.
