After her cowardice in the face of rope, a little bit of metal wasn’t making her back away. She hissed through closed teeth. Pain spiked, then faded, and pleasure faded in, faded out.
“That’s not so bad. Rather nice really.” She managed a half grimace, half smile.
Theo knelt and lifted her dress. “I knew you were the woman for me. But…I haven’t finished yet.” He kissed her inner thigh.
He reached up under her dress and the corset and pulled the strand down over her stomach, fastened something over her clit, then some small device against her skin of her belly.
She watched him intently. Whatever was he up to? Each of her nipples poked out the center of an areola-sized cogwheel.
Frowning, she went to move…only her wrists were still bound behind her back. A wave shifted in her, connecting everywhere in the most pleasant way. Between her legs dampened.
“Let’s test this. It should be fully charged.” Theo looked up at her. “Ready?”
She eyed him back dubiously. Hands bound, her breasts bare, and some weird contraption wired to her. If she lit up like a chandelier, he’d find out what she could do with her hands and a skinning knife. Or maybe she’d just zap him with something.
“Sure.”
He let her dress folds fall from where he’d bunched them to her waist and stood. With one hand at the small of her back, the other higher up, he kissed her, bent her backward in an arc.
Well, now, this she could do. She trusted him not to let her fall and let him have his naughty way with her. Surrendering seemed to be something that got easier with practice.
Then…the little cogwheels shifted and bit; the dress fabric and the pearls, caught between Theo’s body and hers, rubbed against her clit and bare nipples. Something whirred at her waist…and lightning seized her, a buzzing in little bursts at her breasts and groin that zapped her straight into a mini-inferno of pain and pleasure.
“Mmmh!” she gasped, eyes wide open, and let out a small whine. The landship walls were spinning. “Ah.” The inferno died away. Theo made sure she stood balanced and let her go. “What…was that?”
The aftermath left her body humming. If her clit could have talked, it would have begged for more. Excruciating and ecstatic all bundled into one. She couldn’t walk around with this on.
“Voltaic energy. A small dose. Each time you move it will generate more energy. You’ll get used to it. I tested it on myself, and I do believe Henry has outdone himself this time. It’s a little random, so you can’t quite tell when it’ll happen.” Smiling, he rubbed at his chin, then held up a finger and circled it. “Turn. I’ll untie you.”
“Henry? That Henry?” Crazy, maniac Henry? “Untie me then. I’ll take this thing off.” She turned to let him undo the knots.
“Take it off, Claire, and I’ll make you walk about with your hands tied.” He reached around and set his fingers to doing up the little buttons on her bodice.
“What?”
“You heard me.”
Hungrily, she watched his mouth—those lips just inches away. Go up on her tiptoes, and she could… No. Her body wanted him, but after this, no, she’d not clutch at him. Maybe he expected her to. This silly contraption and the corset had her body so high with sensation, floating might be easier than walking.
His mouth was set in a hard line even if his eyes hinted at merriment. She bit her lip. Right. Every time she moved, it charged up? She could stand it. If having orgasms was punishment, she’d choose it any time over that paddle. Still—
“Better keep Henry away from me if you want him to live.”
“Was that a joke?” Theo chuckled. “It was?”
She tried fixing him with a hard glare, but…it was a joke, and she didn’t make jokes. Not out loud. A smile sneaked onto her lips. “I’ll get my revenge on you both. You just wait.”
He leaned in, murmured in her ear. “I like this new feistiness, but don’t get your hopes up. You have no idea how inventive Henry and I can be.”
She shivered, peeked sideways at him. This could be bad, in a very exciting, sexy, sort of way.
On the way to the firing range, the device discharged twice. Each time leaving her body a little more limp, her muscles and sexual parts tingling. Heck, as far as she could tell, the thing had even made her fingertips throb with pleasure. As long as she didn’t come in front of anyone…
At the firing range, Dankyo was instructing four house guards in the art of long-range shooting.
Another jolt hit her. She bit her lip and screamed silently, holding herself stiff as that excruciating wave rolled through her. Pleasure. Pain. On the edge of orgasm, though not quite there. That little taste of pain kept it out of reach. She closed her eyes.