“Just one?” I asked, half-skeptical and half-concerned. If she was really going to help us, had the roles reversed? Were we the bad guys now, keeping her chained up for no reason? Or was this a ploy of hers to make me wonder just that? I would rather be a fool than an asshole, though. “What if there’s danger? Don’t you want to be able to run?”
“Supplicant, I have no interest in this body or in the life that it would tether me to. I’ve moved on from this world. Being brought back to it was an unwelcome intrusion.” She looked over to Abram. “One hand will be sufficient.”
He moved toward her. With one quick, jarring motion, Abram ripped the chain binding Satina’s hand from the wall.
“There,” he said as dust and plywood splinters flew in the air.
“One more thing,” Satina added.
“What’s that?” Abram asked warily.
“This spell takes concentration. I’ll need privacy. I’m sure the two of you can find some way to keep yourselves … occupied.”
Abram nodded and led me toward the door. As we descended the staircase, I saw the sun had set. It was dark outside, which meant Abram should have turned by now.
“I don’t get it,” I said as we stepped into the foyer. “Why aren’t you the beast? The sun has already set.”
“That’s not how it works, Charisse.” He placed his hand on my hip and guided me into the living room. “The curse is tied to the moon, but I can control it until midnight. That’s when the magic is the strongest. After dark, though, it becomes increasingly difficult to maintain control. The monster begins to creep in, and it takes huge amounts of willpower to keep it at bay.” He ran a hand through his hair. “It also becomes harder to control my other … impulses.”
A spark lit in my chest and spread to the rest of my body. “You want to eat me or something?” I chuckled nervously.
“Among other things,” he muttered.
It was then that I noticed the sheen of sweat glistening on his forehead. He was fighting against something, and the small voice in my head told me he would win.
It also said that I didn’t want him to.
“Charisse.” Abram reached out to take my hand. “I believe I promised I would make you pay for what you did earlier, and I can think of no better time to handle your misgivings than the present. I know how much you love a man of his word.”
I grinned, remembering how he jumped at that playful smack on his rear. “Why, Abram, I have no idea what you’re talking about.”
“I think you do,” he said. “But I don’t think you realize how disrespectful your actions were.”
He seemed actually upset now. Was it really that big of a deal?
“It was just a smack on your butt,” I said. “It was meant to be playful.”
“In my time, it would be considered completely unacceptable.”
I motioned around us. “In case you haven’t noticed, this isn’t ‘your time’ anymore.”
He stepped in closer. “But it is my house.”
I bit my lip, and his hand slid up to caress a tendril of my hair. “How would you like it if I had done that to you?” he asked. “You would probably be ranting at me this very second about how degrading it is for a man to do that to a woman.”
There was no denying the red hot blush that fired up in my cheeks. “Some people enjoy that kind of thing.”
His eyebrows rose. “Well, I don’t.” He spun me around and pulled my body against his, his pelvis pressed against my back side. His hands held my arms crossed against my body, pinning my wrists at my hips. “Perhaps you are one of those people, though.”
“I don’t really know much about that whole BDSM thing, to be honest,” I said, trying to keep my voice even. But my heart was thundering in my chest, and there was no way he didn’t sense that.
“I am not familiar with that. Is it new age?”
I tried not to laugh. “To you, maybe.”
“I’m not laughing, Charisse,” he said sternly. It was hot the way he said it, though I couldn’t be sure if that was what he was going for. I wished I could see his expression, get a better read on him. “It wasn’t long ago that it was considered acceptable for a man to spank his woman for her misdeeds.”
My inner modern-day woman bristled. “But not for a woman to spank her man?” I countered. “You don’t think that’s biased?”
“On the one hand, what’s fair is fair. You got a good swat at me.” He breathed against my scalp, and his hips shifted behind mine, shooting a pleasurable tingle between my thighs. “On the other hand, I still think I ought to teach you a lesson.”
Now there was some playfulness in his voice; meanwhile, I was appalled by the way my body was reacting to this conversation.
“Do you know what that tells me, Charisse?”
I shook my head.
“Answer me.”
“No,” I whispered.
“It tells me I ought to spank you with both my hands.” He released me and turned me back to face him. “But I’m not going to.”
“You’re not?” I asked, surprised by his words as well as my disappointment.
“No,” he said, sliding his hand down my arm. “You taught me something important today.”
“I did?”
He nodded, a smirk playing at the corner of his lips. “You taught me the importance of apologizing. Now it’s your turn. You are to show me how sorry you are.”