I grasp the bar overhead with two hands. “Like this?”

“Take a few steps back so your weight is forward.”

After I’m in proper trapeze position, Max tugs the rope and the rail lifts, pulling me up along with it until I am standing on the balls of my feet. I am stretched so high my stomach now forms a highly desirable concave, but my strapless dress is sliding down too far for comfort.

“Um.” I manage to say before my br**sts burst free. Classy. I am so cut out for high society.

“Don’t let go.”

“Is that ‘don’t let go in case you hurt yourself’ or ‘don’t let go or you’ll be sorry’?”

Max comes up behind me and brushes his lips over my ear. “What do you think?” he purrs.

“Not really thinking right now, which is my usual state around you.”

Max chortles. “If you move, this”—he strokes the feather duster along my folds—“will become this.” He smacks my bottom with his bare hand and shoots me into shocking arousal.

“Not moving. Not moving.”

With a gentle tap, the feather duster hits my bottom. Max brings it down again and again. Tap. Tap. Tap. How irritating. The impact is barely a whisper, a tease, an amuse-bouche for my behind. I wiggle, seeking more sensation.

“Do you want to be spanked, baby?” He brings the duster down harder and the tickle turns into an itch. Arrrgh. It makes me almost want to say yes. But I don’t. Never really having been spanked before, I have no frame of reference to answer his question.

His hand slides over my bottom, and he brushes a finger through the crevice of my cheeks. I shudder at the intimate touch, but by the time I’ve recovered his finger has moved on, gliding into the wet center of my body. I moan, so ready for him, I can barely stand it.

“Yes, you do,” he rasps.

“Max! Please!” I rock my hips against his fingers as he teases me toward my peak.

“No ‘Max please,’” he murmurs in my ear. “I want to hear ‘yes, Max,’ and nothing else.” He nibbles my earlobe and feather kisses along my neck.

“Yes, Max.”

“Good girl. You get a reward.” He kicks my legs apart and slides his erection, hot and heavy, along my folds.

Jeez. When did he undress?

The violent gesture combined with the erotic sensation of his hot, heavy shaft between my thighs sends a firestorm through my blood. My body trembles with need and the exertion of holding the rail and balancing on my toes. Too much. Too many things to think about. I whimper softly and moisture trickles down my thigh.

“Hold on, baby.” He pulls away and I hear the crinkle of a condom wrapper. Then he is back, easing me open to accommodate his girth.

“Yes, Max,” I groan.

He laughs, low, deep, and sexy, and then he fills me. Slowly this time. He eases himself into my body and sinks deep. I sigh, relieved to finally have him where I want him. Now, if he would only move.

“I could stay here forever,” he rumbles. Not the words I want to hear.

I angle my hips and push against his pelvis. I need him so badly I ache and throb inside.

“Aaaaagh,” I groan my frustration.

“So impatient,” he whispers. “I know what you want, but it’s better if you wait.”

Better for whom?

His hand slides over my hip, brushing over my mound, before settling on teasing circles around my sensitive nub. My core spasms. He drives and he strokes, building a rhythm, building my need.

My body arches into the sensation, but it isn’t enough. I tighten my grip on the rail and push against his movement. “Harder,” the word comes out before I can stop it. “More.”

He freezes and his voice sharpens with warning. “What did you say?”

My pulse races. “Yes, Max.”

He groans and pinches my sweet spot with firm, gentle pressure, the one touch I was waiting for. My release comes hard and fast, my sex convulsing around him as waves of sensation explode through me.

Max slides his hands to my hips and grips them hard. He increases his pace, driving into me with such force, I can barely keep hold of the rail. My body tightens and I near the peak again. So good. “Yes, Max. Yes. Yes—”

Just as I think my body can’t get any tighter, the sensations any stronger, Max angles himself to thrust against a spot so sensitive my eyes slit closed. My orgasm explodes from me, sending ripples of liquid heat through my body.

With a shout, Max shudders and swells inside me, pumping hard and deep. When he finally stills, he pries my fingers from the rail and pulls me back into his chest. After a few minutes, he gently eases away and disposes of the condom. Then he returns to hold me some more.

I melt into the warmth of his arms. “You’re very creative when it comes to sex.”

Max chuckles. “I used to bartend at a sex club when I was younger. I was curious and wanted to check the scene out from a safe distance. They gave me a few ideas.”

“Are you…into BDSM?”

“I enjoy it as a game, especially the dominance aspect, but not as a lifestyle. I like to be in control in the bedroom and take it right to the edge. Just like in the ring.”

My breath whooshes out of me and I swallow hard. What does that mean? Whips and chains and spankings? Oh my.

We dress in silence and straighten the room. As I reach for the door, Max cups my face in his hands and kisses me, a long, soft, tender kiss. A kiss that says more than words.