She whimpered, but he never broke their torrid kiss as he lifted her. Her legs wrapped around his waist, her hands went to the side of his head, furrowing her fingers through his thick hair and molding it greedily into her palms, inhaling his spicy scent, so hungry, so desperate to absorb every sensation of him.
A moment later, she blinked in disorientation when he set her down. Her gaze fixed on him. Every muscle in his body was rigid. She glanced downward and saw how full things looked behind the front of his jeans.
“That’s just the way you wanted me, isn’t that right?” he asked, his voice low, a menacing taunt. She realized he’d carried her over to a fenced-off pen. She’d seen something similar to it in other stables, where the groom hosed off the horses and the vet did examinations.
“Take off all your clothes,” he said.
“But . . . do I have to?” she asked, glancing around the open area of the stables. His only reply was a fiery what do you think? glance. “What if the groom comes?”
“You should have thought of that before you climbed on Jax and pushed both of us to the brink, shouldn’t you have?” he asked quietly through a tight jaw. “Why the hesitation? You must have known all along I’d do this. But you just had to push, didn’t you. You just had to grab the reins.” She noticed a flicking movement near his knee. Her gaze sprang to his face when she saw he held a crop. It was made of black leather and looked new in comparison to the worn, supple brown leather one he’d used on Kesara earlier. A flicker of anxiety and arousal spiked through her.
“All right,” she said breathlessly, chin up. “But I’m only letting you do it because it sounds kind of interesting.”
He exhaled a puff of air. His eyes looked crazed. “You nearly got yourself killed so that you could have a little sexual titillation?” She jumped at his sharp question. “God, I’m going to wear you out. Take off those clothes.”
She began to undress hastily, draping the garments over the top rail of the fence. Dozens of horses were awake now, following the noise of their intrusion. It was ridiculous, but she felt self-conscious in front of the animals’ gaze. Exposed. And what if the groom did drop in? It was late, true, but not that late.
“Do I have to take off my boots, too?” she asked, examining the stable floor. It was made of smooth cement so it could easily be hosed down and was straw-strewn, but it looked clean.
“Completely naked,” he said. Something about the edge of his voice made her glance up. He was staring at her bare breasts. Her nipples pulled tight. She jumped when he popped the leather slapper of the crop against his leg in an impatient gesture. That, and the dangerous glint in his eyes, made her hurry. A moment later, she stood before him nude. His nostrils were flared when she looked into his face, reminding her a little of Jax in a fury.
“Bend over the fence with your hands on the top rail,” he said. She followed his instructions. Somehow she’d been expecting him to say just that. Expecting it . . . dreading it . . . anticipating it. A jolt of mixed excitement and anxiety went through her when he came up beside her. “Hold this between your thighs while I tie you up.”
Elise looked up in confusion when he pressed the slapper of the crop at the top of her thighs, right next to her pussy.
“I . . . what?” she sputtered when he applied pressure and the slapper started to slide between her thighs.
“You heard me. Let the crop in, and then clamp your thighs around it. Do not let it slide down or drop it. Don’t worry, it’s clean. I just purchased it. I’ve decided to use it for riding you instead of a horse,” he added darkly.
Her breath caught at that. She did what he said, bewildered, but instinctively reacting to the hard edge to his tone. After a few seconds of squeezing her thighs tight to hold the crop in place, she started to understand why Lucien had made the request. First of all, she’d had to clamp her legs like a vice to stay on Jax. Her thighs were very tight and sore. They started to burn under the sustained pressure of holding the crop in place.
Second of all, gripping the potential tool of punishment against her pussy felt dirty . . . illicit . . . good. Her already sharp excitement mounted. Her clit tingled against the tightly wound leather of the handle. She tightened her thighs to increase the stimulation and winced at the burn of the muscles.
She saw that Lucien had witnessed her grimace.
“Devil,” she accused softly when she saw his almost infinitesimal smile.
“You have yourself to thank for that,” he said as he lifted the leather tether and began to bind her wrists to the rail of the fence. When he’d finished and walked to the side of her, she blushed as she considered how she must look to him, stark naked and bound to a fence in a stable, the black leather crop handle sticking out just beneath her ass.
“How dare you put your life at risk that way?” She heard the distilled anger in his voice.
She twisted her chin, wanting to see his face. What she saw in his eyes made her flinch inwardly. It was as if he considered a threat to her life as a personal affront. He lifted his hand and swung, giving her ass a stinging spank.
“Don’t you ever . . . ever . . . ever pull something like that again, Elise,” he seethed, smacking her ass for emphasis as he walked behind her. She strained to see him. Her heart started to pound in her ears when she saw that he was stroking the length of his cock through his jeans, his handsome face tight as he stared at her bound body. “I can’t believe you did that. No other man on the polo team can handle Jax—strong, skilled men. What were you thinking?”