Brazen (Brazen #1)(30)

Carefully, she lifted the handcuffs and moved closer to the bed. No sound betrayed her as she leaned over to secure one cuff around one of the slats of the headboard. She held her breath as she snapped it in place, relieved that there was barely a discernable click.

Her heart began racing as she inched toward his wrist. She would have to be fast. No stealth about this part. Reach and snap before he could react. Then back the hell away and get the lights. She was just grateful he didn’t sleep with his gun close by. All she needed was to be mistaken for an intruder.

She took a deep breath, held it, grabbed his wrist with one hand and snapped the handcuff around it with the other. He jerked in surprise and she stumbled backward, her hand seeking the light switch.

“What the f**k?” Seth exploded just as her hand collided with the wall. She swiped and hit the light switch.

He threw his free arm over his eyes and tried to sit up, but his manacled wrist made it awkward. He threw his arm down and locked onto Jasmine with his furious gaze.

He glanced at his cuffed wrist. Then back at Jasmine. She stood, knees shaking with a combination of adrenaline and fear.

“Jasmine, what the f**k kind of stunt are you pulling?” he demanded. “Get me the hell out of these handcuffs. Now.”

She stiffened her spine, put her chin up and stepped forward, her gaze never wavering from his. She didn’t respond. The time for words wasn’t now. He was probably too pissed to listen anyway.

She let her fingers flutter down to the snap of her jeans. She fumbled for a second before releasing the fly. The sound of her zipper easing downward made him frown even harder.

“Jasmine, I don’t know what you’re trying to pull, but don’t…goddamn it, Jasmine, put your pants back on.”

She smiled and stepped out of the confining denim. She’d worn lacy panties, barely a scrap. But they were feminine and sexy. Slowly and with great care, she slid her hands up her hips until her fingers brushed the bottom of her shirt.

She curled her hands underneath the hem and began tugging upward. Seth swore again. “Jasmine, stop it. You don’t want to do this.”

She ignored him and pulled the shirt over her head, leaving her in just her bra and underwear. She reached into the vee of her bra and pulled the key to the handcuffs free. She let it fall to her skin where it dangled from the satin ribbon she wore around her neck.

One step. Then another. Her knees bumped the edge of the bed, and she met Seth’s heated gaze once more. She fingered the key, pulling it away from her chest so he could clearly see it.

“This is the key to the handcuffs,” she said softly. “You get it when you get close enough to touch it. If you still want out by then.”

She let the taunt land with just the right amount of challenge. His eyes narrowed, but they never left her body.

“Let me out,” he gritted through his teeth. “If this is your attempt at manipulation—”

She reached behind her to tug at the hook on her bra. “Manipulation?” She shrugged. “I suppose, if that’s the way you want to view it. I prefer to think of it as taking the initiative.”

The bra straps slid from her shoulders, and she momentarily held the cups in place before finally allowing them to fall from her body.

He looked as though he was prepared to launch into another demand, so she inserted her fingers under the filmy band of her panties and began to slide her underwear down her legs.

She heard his intake of breath at the same moment he looked away. His jaw was set, so firmly clenched she could see the strain in his face.

“Seth.” He didn’t turn toward her. “Look at me,” she said.

With seeming reluctance, he turned his head to face her once more.

“See me,” she whispered.

His eyes tracked her movement as she knelt on the bed. She leaned toward him, her hair falling over her shoulders. She reached for the sheet, tugging until it came away from his body.

The bed shook as he yanked at his wrist. “Goddamn it, Jasmine, this has gone far enough.” His voice was furious and laced with an edgy, needy, coarseness that excited her.

“What will you do, Seth?” she asked mildly. “Call for help? Do you think Zane will come to your rescue? Or maybe Carmen?”

She dropped the sheet and crawled closer to his hips, careful to stay just out of arm’s reach. His erection was straining against his boxers, and if he shifted so much as a centimeter, his c**k would slide right through the slit in the front.

A little nudge ought to do it.

She pulled at the cotton material and watched in fascination as his c**k broke free of constraint and jutted upward. He grabbed at his shorts with his free hand, trying to arrange them back.

She stopped him with her hand. It was chancy, getting close enough that he could grab her. But she knew he wouldn’t hurt her. He might secretly devise a scheme to kill her, but it would remain fantasy. Just like hers was to lick every single inch of his skin.

When she wrapped her fingers around his hard cock, he groaned. In fascination, she worked her hand up and down, enjoying the silken smoothness of his skin. So soft. Incongruous with the thread of steel she could feel just beneath that satiny layer.

His hand fell away, hitting the bed at his side. She inched closer, inserting her knee between his thighs. At first he tensed as though he’d lock her out, but as she became more insistent, he relaxed.