Glow by Beth Kery

moved stealthily down the path to the coverage of the woods. Or maybe it was the knowledge of Dylan’s anger and concern in regard to her edgy behavior today and her own highly volatile state that added to the sense of electricity crackling between them. Her anxiety boiled up in her until she couldn’t suppress it anymore. She halted, pulling on Dylan’s hand once they reached the unlit trail leading toward the stables.
    â€œDon’t ever do that again,” she challenged quietly.
    â€œDon’t
you
ever do that again. Defy me if it makes you feelmore in control, Alice, but don’t think I’m going to roll over if you deny me
this
.”
    She swallowed thickly at his quick, succinct reply. It’d obviously been right on the tip of his tongue. He’d made it clear he would only agree to her resuming her life as a counselor at Camp Durand if she spent her nights with him at Castle Durand. She was reminded yet again of how anxious he’d been for her safety. Not just tonight.
    For twenty years of his life.
    Dylan seemed bizarrely convinced that a threat to her safety still remained. It was like after all those years of worrying, he couldn’t stop the habit now.
    When she didn’t reply, he resumed their hasty, silent journey through the dark night. Their terse exchange had only amplified the tension between them. Alice’s heart began an erratic race. When they reached Dylan’s bedroom, she knew what was going to happen. Their frothing emotions would find an outlet in volatile lovemaking. She dreaded it.
    She wanted it so badly, it felt like she’d shatter from the force of her need.

SIX
    S he and Dylan didn’t speak during the increasingly familiar, dark, furtive trek through the woods, up the slope of the hill and through the terrace doors of Castle Durand. He didn’t even utter a word once he’d closed his bedroom door, locked it, led her to the side of his bed and switched on a lamp to a dim setting.
    Nor when he silently began to undress her.
    By that time, Alice trembled from the force of anxious desire.
    She reached to help him unfasten her bra, but he merely grasped her wrists and placed her arms back at her sides. She looked up at his face, seeing his fixed expression as he watched himself undress her. He was still angry with her. She could see it etched on his bold rugged features. She was still angry with him.
    But as always, this electrical need, this inexplicable pull they experienced for one another, trumped everything else.
    Despite his obvious irritation at her, his touch was gentle as he unfastened her bra. His fingertips lightly skimmed the side of her breasts as he removed the cups. She winced reflexively, her nipples pulling painfully tight, even at that subtle caress of skin against skin. She noticed his gaze on her bared breasts and shut her eyes, embarrassed and aroused by the exposure, knowing he witnessed the sharpness of her need.
    By the time he’d fully undressed her and she stood before him naked, her trembling had amplified.
    â€œLie down on the bed,” he said.
    Relief swept through her at his demand. Lying down, perhaps he wouldn’t notice her shaking. The sense of relief intensified when she reclined against the pillows, and he reached into a bedside table drawer, lifting out two black cuffs with attached straps.
    It both soothed and aroused her, to feel the soft leather against her wrists . . . to feel their strength and solidity. She’d resigned herself to the fact that surrender was her only option when it came to Dylan. It helped, though, knowing that with the restraints, she had no choice but to submit.
    He restrained her wrists to the bed. When he was done, she lay naked with her arms above her head, her elbows bent slightly and resting comfortably on the pillows. He straightened upon finishing his task and paused next to the bed, looking down at her bound body . . . taking his