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He wanders into his wardrobe and returns with another tie.

It's made of black silk. He strokes it over my skin—my arms, my chest, my neck.

It feels incredible. He watches each stroke with such concentration, as if he is painting a masterpiece.

His mouth takes mine again; my body melts into him.

I hear myself moan and my breathing picks up.

The silk moves up my neck and covers my eyes.

He ties it at the back of my head. I break the kiss. Everything is pitch-black.

Just as I’m about to panic, Leo holds my face, his mouth at my ear. “Just relax. Let your other senses take over. Your hearing, smell, touch. Trust your body.”

Then he leaves me. I sense he is still in the room.

The sound of him undressing to my left catches my attention.

I can hear him open each button on his shirt.

The sound of the fabric sliding over his shoulders and arms. The connection of the different materials as it lands on the chair he throws it on.

The unbuckling of his belt. A zip being unfastened.

Material against the skin and hair on his legs.

All that as well as the sound of my breathing, which is deeper and louder, and my heart.

which pounds in anticipation. My nose tingles with the smell of his aftershave as it gets stronger. He’s coming closer.

He unhooks my hands from the door and places them around his neck.

I search for his mouth with my lips; it’s as hungry as mine is.

Fingertips trail down my arms onto my shoulders.

The hairs on my skin stand to attention, and a little shiver ripples through my body.

His fingers find the zip on the back of my dress.

The lack of straps means he can easily remove it from my body.

I step out of the dress while he holds me steady, my arms still around his neck.

I lean into him. I’m met with the most intoxicating warmth.

I melt into him, trying to touch his skin with as much of mine as I can.

He guides us away from the door. He arranges my body so I’m straddling a chair, my arms still tied and hooked over the back of it.

I feel his lack of presence while I hear him in the bathroom.

When he returns, his hands cover my shoulders and begin to massage me.

A moan leaves my lips as I feel all my tension melt away.

His thumbs work magic up the vertebrae in my neck, releasing knots and loosening my movements.

The smell of coconut from the oil he rubs on my skin, mixed with the smell of Leo, makes my mouth water.

The sound of our moans as we appreciate each other’s bodies fuels my need to touch him, to taste him.

His hands move down my arms; I push back as he comes closer to me. “I need you, Leo.”

“I know you do.” He lifts me off the chair and places me on the bed. He lays his body over mine. My hips buck, searching for the release it craves. My heat finds his hard length, and I wrap my legs around him, squeezing him into me .

“My desperate girl. I said you wanted me. I know your body better than you know it yourself.”

It’s true. My body betrays all logic, all common sense.

It wants him, only him, and it wants him so badly, I think I may cry if he doesn’t take me right now.

He pulls away, and my body instantly tries to find him.

It doesn’t need to search far. He is knelt in between my legs, removing my thong.

I spread wide for him. The groan of appreciation he makes spurs me on more.

I rise up, wrapping myself around him once more. “Untie me; I want to touch you.”

He rips the tie from my hands, then removes the blindfold.

It’s like he’s released an animal. I’m up and on him, forcing him back onto the bed.

I hold his arms down and kiss him. Taste him.

I rub myself up his length before lifting up and pushing down so intensely that we both moan in pleasure.

I rise up and grind. I kiss his mouth and bite his lips.

I suck his nipples and nip them between my teeth.

His moans and facial expression encourage me to work harder to give us both the most intense pleasure.

It builds between us. The joining of our bodies is tight, hot, and wet, and I never want to break this connection.

It builds and builds. We both thrust and shake uncontrollably.

He slaps my bum and holds my hips down as he uses the last of his energy to intensify our orgasms. A scream I have no control over leaves my throat.

Leo's eyes never leave mine. I know in that moment I belong to him. There’s nothing I can do to stop it. My body is his. He has claimed me.

The next day, I go to the beach to gather my thoughts. I feel incredible. Every inch of my body aches with love. We spent all last night getting to know and love every part of each other’s body. There’s not one scar or freckle on Leo’s body that I haven’t kissed.

“Hey, what are you looking happy about?” Emmaline comes and sits next to me on the blanket I have laid out on the sand.

“Oh, nothing, really,” I tell her. “How are you all?”

“We are all good, thanks to your fiancé. I owe him so much, which is a little scary, considering he is who he is.”

“Don’t worry, Leo doesn’t hold that kind of debt against people.”

Emmaline smiles and nods, but neither of us speaks again for a while. We both know what kind of debt Leo does hold against people and what he does to those people when he collects.

We watch Alfie and Macy dog play on the shore Macy's white fur grows browner from rolling around in the wet sand as Alfie chuckles away at the puppy’s mischief.

Emmaline and I make small talk until I hear my name being called in the distance.

At first, I don’t recognise the voice, so I ignore it, thinking there must be another Katie on the beach, but as it gets louder, the prickles on the back of my neck have me searching for where the sound is coming from.

A large male figure walks towards us, waving his hands.

“Katie!” the man booms.

He’s so loud, most of the beach looks at him. Although I can't quite make out his face, I recognise the swagger in his walk. Jax. What the hell is he doing here?