Page 31

“I, uh, I’m a little nervous.” I pulled the tissue paper out and then the sleek box. I set it between us and pulled the top off.

Justice sat up and swung his legs on the bed, sitting cross-legged. “Cuffs?”

I licked my lips and pulled out one of the four matching padded leather cuffs from the foam cradle.

“I did a lot of research.” There was a little instruction book tucked in the edge of the box. Justice honed in on it and flipped through it quickly. Figures. “They have a breakaway clasp for emergencies.” I knew that would be important to him, given how meticulous he was about his rock climbing gear.

“You want to try bondage. With me.” It wasn’t a question. It was like he had to actually say it out loud for it to be true.

His eyes lifted from the booklet.

“I need you to say it, Theo.”

“I want you to tie me up.” The words rushed out. I kept my voice low, not wanting it to crack or something equally embarrassing. “And… use me.”

He picked up one of the cuffs. Turned it over in his hand. Inspected the clasp, the stitching. He unbuckled it and held it open. I stared at it. There was something final about this moment. Like once I did this, I couldn’t pretend anymore about who I was. We cracked a hole in our walls and this might bring it all the way down.

I put my wrist in the cuff, and Justice buckled it shut like he was born knowing how. I swallowed back a moan and blinked fast. I traced the edge of the leather with my fingertips. My heart rate slowed and steadied, and my head spun.

Justice hooked a finger in the ring on the cuff and tugged my arm to the right. I did moan now. Then he jerked hard, making me sit up. Finger still hooked in the ring, he brought my hand up and kissed my wrist, right where leather met the skin.

“Wear the black suit. No tie. I want to see your bite marks.” His voice was low and dangerous and I fucking loved it.

“Yes, Sir.”

He stood suddenly and left me panting on the bed.

“I might never take these off,” I whispered to myself.

“They won’t go with your suit.” He ran his fingers through his hair, making it stick up and looking devastatingly sexy. “Take it off before we leave and put the box on my nightstand.”

He shut the door softly. I needed a minute to make sure my legs would work before getting changed.

REN

I leaned against the doorway, arms crossed, watching my pack. Mackenzie and Theo sat on the floor, heads together, scrolling through design files for Twist. They looked happy, completely wrapped up in their work, teasing each other about color names, each more ridiculous than the last.

Justice, though, was somewhere else entirely. He sat on the couch behind them, silent, chewing on a thumbnail, eyes fixed on nothing. His jaw twitched. He was disappearing behind that thick wall again, shutting us out like we couldn’t feel the tension bleeding through our bonds.

Fuck that.

I slid a possessive hand along the back of his neck. “Found you,” I murmured, letting my lips ghost against his ear. He flinched, but didn’t pull away.

Before he could shift out of reach, I vaulted over the back of the couch and straddled him, planting my weight into his lap.

His hands came up fast. “What the fuck, Ren?”

“You’re doing it again.” I swatted his hands away. “Slipping away like we won’t notice.”

“Get off.” His voice was sharp, but his cock betrayed him. Already hardening under me.

“That’s your head talking, not your dick.” I rolled my hips, slow and cruel. “That says you need this.”

He snarled, jaw clenched so tight I felt it in my own teeth. “I said, get off.”

“Say it like you mean it, baby.” My hand found his throat, a little squeeze… just enough to remind him who was here, who saw him. “Poor little alpha. CTO interviews got you spiraling?”

“Fuck off.”