p style="border: 0px; outline: 0px; font-size: 13px; font-family: 'Lucida Grande', 'Lucida Sans Unicode', 'GNU Unifont', Verdana, Helvetica, sans-serif; vertical-align: baseline; list-style: none; margin: 1.286em auto; padding: 0px; line-height: 1.5; color: #2a2a2a; -webkit-text-size-adjust: auto;"Darcy stirred, her vision slowly clearing as the drugs wore off, leaving her in a strange state of contentment despite her current situation. It wasn't unpleasant but it was certainly confusing, especially when she realized that she was naked and that, on trying to move her arms, found that she couldn't. They were stretched over her head, and there was a snug pressure around both wrists, accompanied by a distinctive rattling sound when she tugged. It sounded ominously like chains, and if she'd been in a state of mind to worry, she would have begun to just then./p
p style="border: 0px; outline: 0px; font-size: 13px; font-family: 'Lucida Grande', 'Lucida Sans Unicode', 'GNU Unifont', Verdana, Helvetica, sans-serif; vertical-align: baseline; list-style: none; margin: 1.286em auto; padding: 0px; line-height: 1.5; color: #2a2a2a; -webkit-text-size-adjust: auto;"She frowned and shook her head to clear it, scattering her curls but accomplishing little else. She was steady enough to know that she wasn't in any immediate danger (though there was a sly, dark little thrill of anticipation there). She also knew that there was someone nearby, though she couldn't see him yet. There was a scent, though; heady and masculine, distant but enticing… oddly familiar?/p
p style="border: 0px; outline: 0px; font-size: 13px; font-family: 'Lucida Grande', 'Lucida Sans Unicode', 'GNU Unifont', Verdana, Helvetica, sans-serif; vertical-align: baseline; list-style: none; margin: 1.286em auto; padding: 0px; line-height: 1.5; color: #2a2a2a; -webkit-text-size-adjust: auto;"It was the same warm, woodsy smell she'd noticed on the envelope that'd been slipped under her door weeks earlier./p
p style="border: 0px; outline: 0px; font-size: 13px; font-family: 'Lucida Grande', 'Lucida Sans Unicode', 'GNU Unifont', Verdana, Helvetica, sans-serif; vertical-align: baseline; list-style: none; margin: 1.286em auto; padding: 0px; line-height: 1.5; color: #2a2a2a; -webkit-text-size-adjust: auto;""Victor?" she murmured, senses finally clearing, but not enough to allow for panic./p
p style="border: 0px; outline: 0px; font-size: 13px; font-family: 'Lucida Grande', 'Lucida Sans Unicode', 'GNU Unifont', Verdana, Helvetica, sans-serif; vertical-align: baseline; list-style: none; margin: 1.286em auto; padding: 0px; line-height: 1.5; color: #2a2a2a; -webkit-text-size-adjust: auto;"A tall, hooded figure stepped out of the shadows, and Darcy caught the dull gleam of metal. Surely she hadn't seen what she span style="border: 0px; outline: 0px; font-style: oblique; font-family: inherit; vertical-align: baseline; list-style: none; margin: 0px; padding: 0px;"thought/span she'd just seen? It was only a glimpse, there and then gone again, hidden in the lightless depths of his cloak. /p
p style="border: 0px; outline: 0px; font-size: 13px; font-family: 'Lucida Grande', 'Lucida Sans Unicode', 'GNU Unifont', Verdana, Helvetica, sans-serif; vertical-align: baseline; list-style: none; margin: 1.286em auto; padding: 0px; line-height: 1.5; color: #2a2a2a; -webkit-text-size-adjust: auto;"The apprehension became a flicker of fear as she squinted up at him, her bared back pressed flat against the cool stone./p
p style="border: 0px; outline: 0px; font-size: 13px; font-family: 'Lucida Grande', 'Lucida Sans Unicode', 'GNU Unifont', Verdana, Helvetica, sans-serif; vertical-align: baseline; list-style: none; margin: 1.286em auto; padding: 0px; line-height: 1.5; color: #2a2a2a; -webkit-text-size-adjust: auto;""Yes, Darcy." Victor's polished tones assured her. "What's wrong? Don't you recognize me?"/p
p style="border: 0px; outline: 0px; font-size: 13px; font-family: 'Lucida Grande', 'Lucida Sans Unicode', 'GNU Unifont', Verdana, Helvetica, sans-serif; vertical-align: baseline; list-style: none; margin: 1.286em auto; padding: 0px; line-height: 1.5; color: #2a2a2a; -webkit-text-size-adjust: auto;"The question was delivered lightly, almost playfully, but there was something darker behind it that unsettled her, if only briefly./p
p style="border: 0px; outline: 0px; font-size: 13px; font-family: 'Lucida Grande', 'Lucida Sans Unicode', 'GNU Unifont', Verdana, Helvetica, sans-serif; vertical-align: baseline; list-style: none; margin: 1.286em auto; padding: 0px; line-height: 1.5; color: #2a2a2a; -webkit-text-size-adjust: auto;"A single gloved hand reached for her—slowly, as one might try to touch a startled fawn. It brushed her cheek gently, and Darcy shivered. His touch, even through the thin leather, was strange—hot, but with a muted electric tingle behind it./p
p style="border: 0px; outline: 0px; font-size: 13px; font-family: 'Lucida Grande', 'Lucida Sans Unicode', 'GNU Unifont', Verdana, Helvetica, sans-serif; vertical-align: baseline; list-style: none; margin: 1.286em auto; padding: 0px; line-height: 1.5; color: #2a2a2a; -webkit-text-size-adjust: auto;"This was so completely unlike her—this was span style="border: 0px; outline: 0px; font-style: oblique; font-family: inherit; vertical-align: baseline; list-style: none; margin: 0px; padding: 0px;"beyond/span weird, in fact, but she wanted more of that feeling. A faint pink blush bloomed across her skin, and the sigh that left her was noticeably shaky./p
p style="border: 0px; outline: 0px; font-size: 13px; font-family: 'Lucida Grande', 'Lucida Sans Unicode', 'GNU Unifont', Verdana, Helvetica, sans-serif; vertical-align: baseline; list-style: none; margin: 1.286em auto; padding: 0px; line-height: 1.5; color: #2a2a2a; -webkit-text-size-adjust: auto;"Smiling dizzily at Victor's still-shadowed form, she gave him a look of bright-eyed longing, and his soft, echoing chuckle of approval sent a sweet flutter of tension pulsing through the core of her. Darcy knew nothing of spells or witchcraft, and even less about Von Doom's heritage. She also had no idea that a key component of the little brew he'd slipped into her drink earlier was an aphrodisiac, or that the faint sparks of electrical heat from his hands were part of a much stronger and more dangerous power. At that moment, in fact, as her bare form strained ardently toward his, all she knew was that she craved his touch so keenly it left her breathless./p
p style="border: 0px; outline: 0px; font-size: 13px; font-family: 'Lucida Grande', 'Lucida Sans Unicode', 'GNU Unifont', Verdana, Helvetica, sans-serif; vertical-align: baseline; list-style: none; margin: 1.286em auto; padding: 0px; line-height: 1.5; color: #2a2a2a; -webkit-text-size-adjust: auto;"He stirred slightly, turning his head so that the dim light fell fully across his face—only, there span style="border: 0px; outline: 0px; font-style: oblique; font-family: inherit; vertical-align: baseline; list-style: none; margin: 0px; padding: 0px;"was/span no face. The handsome, smirking playboy was gone and cold, angled steel in the crude form of human features greeted her now. The metal was worked into an expression of permanent malice, and Victor's dark, agate-green eyes peered back at her from behind the mask, calm and unblinking./p
p style="border: 0px; outline: 0px; font-size: 13px; font-family: 'Lucida Grande', 'Lucida Sans Unicode', 'GNU Unifont', Verdana, Helvetica, sans-serif; vertical-align: baseline; list-style: none; margin: 1.286em auto; padding: 0px; line-height: 1.5; color: #2a2a2a; -webkit-text-size-adjust: auto;"Horror was her immediate reaction—the whole design of the thing seemed intended to create exactly that reaction—but something else called her attention more urgently, and as she fought within herself, she had every impression that he was span style="border: 0px; outline: 0px; font-style: oblique; font-family: inherit; vertical-align: baseline; list-style: none; margin: 0px; padding: 0px;"smiling/span at her, perfectly aware of her confusion./p
p style="border: 0px; outline: 0px; font-size: 13px; font-family: 'Lucida Grande', 'Lucida Sans Unicode', 'GNU Unifont', Verdana, Helvetica, sans-serif; vertical-align: baseline; list-style: none; margin: 1.286em auto; padding: 0px; line-height: 1.5; color: #2a2a2a; -webkit-text-size-adjust: auto;"Then his fingers curled around her hips, smooth leather tugging at the skin, and her entire body was suddenly afire. Eyelids fluttering, Darcy groaned through clenched teeth as he pressed against her—impossibly solid, and nearly as chill as the stone at her back, even through the layers of clothing. She didn't even care—as long as he was touching her, allowing her to grind shamelessly against him, surely nothing else mattered./p
p style="border: 0px; outline: 0px; font-size: 13px; font-family: 'Lucida Grande', 'Lucida Sans Unicode', 'GNU Unifont', Verdana, Helvetica, sans-serif; vertical-align: baseline; list-style: none; margin: 1.286em auto; padding: 0px; line-height: 1.5; color: #2a2a2a; -webkit-text-size-adjust: auto;"His palms stroked upward slowly, fingertips dancing lightly over her sides, following the dip and curve of collarbone and shoulder, sweeping down her shivering arms, and then diverting, frustratingly, to leave a tingling trail between her breasts, his curled knuckles coming to rest just above her navel./p
p style="border: 0px; outline: 0px; font-size: 13px; font-family: 'Lucida Grande', 'Lucida Sans Unicode', 'GNU Unifont', Verdana, Helvetica, sans-serif; vertical-align: baseline; list-style: none; margin: 1.286em auto; padding: 0px; line-height: 1.5; color: #2a2a2a; -webkit-text-size-adjust: auto;"Squirming and twisting in her fetters, Darcy whined in eagerness, one leg rising to curl around his hip. /p
p style="border: 0px; outline: 0px; font-size: 13px; font-family: 'Lucida Grande', 'Lucida Sans Unicode', 'GNU Unifont', Verdana, Helvetica, sans-serif; vertical-align: baseline; list-style: none; margin: 1.286em auto; padding: 0px; line-height: 1.5; color: #2a2a2a; -webkit-text-size-adjust: auto;"This time, she not only saw his eyes crinkle with amusement, but heard the faint echo of his laughter to go with it. She was undeterred and wholly unashamed, past embarrassment and lost to pure, scalding lust./p
p style="border: 0px; outline: 0px; font-size: 13px; font-family: 'Lucida Grande', 'Lucida Sans Unicode', 'GNU Unifont', Verdana, Helvetica, sans-serif; vertical-align: baseline; list-style: none; margin: 1.286em auto; padding: 0px; line-height: 1.5; color: #2a2a2a; -webkit-text-size-adjust: auto;"His hands spread wide, and she was almost—just almost—unsettled by how strong those hands were. There was no give to whatever lay beneath the protective leather, but still they brushed feather-light across the delicate sides of her breasts with a surprising gentleness./p
p style="border: 0px; outline: 0px; font-size: 13px; font-family: 'Lucida Grande', 'Lucida Sans Unicode', 'GNU Unifont', Verdana, Helvetica, sans-serif; vertical-align: baseline; list-style: none; margin: 1.286em auto; padding: 0px; line-height: 1.5; color: #2a2a2a; -webkit-text-size-adjust: auto;"The faintly galvanizing buzz of his touch left a delicious heat everywhere it passed, and the effect was far from lost on her, even if she had no idea where it came from./p
p style="border: 0px; outline: 0px; font-size: 13px; font-family: 'Lucida Grande', 'Lucida Sans Unicode', 'GNU Unifont', Verdana, Helvetica, sans-serif; vertical-align: baseline; list-style: none; margin: 1.286em auto; padding: 0px; line-height: 1.5; color: #2a2a2a; -webkit-text-size-adjust: auto;"At last, he cupped her generous breasts, thumbing the nipples to and fro while watching her with hungry, steel-caged eyes. Darcy's head tossed wildly as the pleasure built, her hips rocking in a steadily quickening pace against his, leg curling tighter to press herself more firmly against him./p
p style="border: 0px; outline: 0px; font-size: 13px; font-family: 'Lucida Grande', 'Lucida Sans Unicode', 'GNU Unifont', Verdana, Helvetica, sans-serif; vertical-align: baseline; list-style: none; margin: 1.286em auto; padding: 0px; line-height: 1.5; color: #2a2a2a; -webkit-text-size-adjust: auto;"'span style="border: 0px; outline: 0px; font-style: oblique; font-family: inherit; vertical-align: baseline; list-style: none; margin: 0px; padding: 0px;"God, why doesn't he put those magic… whatever fingers where I /spanneedspan style="border: 0px; outline: 0px; font-style: oblique; font-family: inherit; vertical-align: baseline; list-style: none; margin: 0px; padding: 0px;" them to be/span?' she thought in frustration as the urgency mounted./p
p style="border: 0px; outline: 0px; font-size: 13px; font-family: 'Lucida Grande', 'Lucida Sans Unicode', 'GNU Unifont', Verdana, Helvetica, sans-serif; vertical-align: baseline; list-style: none; margin: 1.286em auto; padding: 0px; line-height: 1.5; color: #2a2a2a; -webkit-text-size-adjust: auto;"But he was clearly enjoying his cold distance, watching her writhe and gasp as he squeezed both breasts gently, rolling the nipples until she arched, nearly coming undone… but not quite yet./p
p style="border: 0px; outline: 0px; font-size: 13px; font-family: 'Lucida Grande', 'Lucida Sans Unicode', 'GNU Unifont', Verdana, Helvetica, sans-serif; vertical-align: baseline; list-style: none; margin: 1.286em auto; padding: 0px; line-height: 1.5; color: #2a2a2a; -webkit-text-size-adjust: auto;"His hands lifted and her head snapped up, mouth open to curse at him between panting breaths, but something in his eyes stopped her. She'd never seen him look at her that way before, and her heart gave a little flutter of panic in response. What was going on, and what was he about to do?/p
p style="border: 0px; outline: 0px; font-size: 13px; font-family: 'Lucida Grande', 'Lucida Sans Unicode', 'GNU Unifont', Verdana, Helvetica, sans-serif; vertical-align: baseline; list-style: none; margin: 1.286em auto; padding: 0px; line-height: 1.5; color: #2a2a2a; -webkit-text-size-adjust: auto;"Without speaking, he leaned closer to her, fingers twisting tightly through her thick curls and eyes locked on hers while his other hand pressed, palm flat and fingers splayed, just below her stomach./p
p style="border: 0px; outline: 0px; font-size: 13px; font-family: 'Lucida Grande', 'Lucida Sans Unicode', 'GNU Unifont', Verdana, Helvetica, sans-serif; vertical-align: baseline; list-style: none; margin: 1.286em auto; padding: 0px; line-height: 1.5; color: #2a2a2a; -webkit-text-size-adjust: auto;"The ecstasy hit like a physical force. She didn't even have time to catch her breath—a long, ragged cry was simply torn from her by the sheer intensity of it. Only the pressure of his body against hers and the heavy cuffs on her wrists kept her upright as her knees folded, and she gripped the chains above them convulsively, riding each blazing peak that swept her up, only fading when exhaustion's thin fingers finally gripped her./p