She trembled as David took control of the rope, crossed the ends under her breasts and drew them behind her back, crossed them again and brought them around her hips. Soon the thin linen circled her wrists keeping her arms imprisoned behind her. David was so close that she could feel the pulse of his arousal against her buttocks, but his hands were as impersonal and efficient as a servant’s.

She studied the rope, felt a gentle tug at the back of her neck when David wound the ropes around her thighs down to the knees and back up again, leaving her mound uncovered and suddenly exposed. She watched his fingers fly over the rope, saw the intricate patterns he made and wondered what Anthony made of it, whether he liked it as much as she had.

As if he’d heard her thought, David paused and looked at Anthony. “Do you like her, like this? Do you want her bound to you?”

Anthony’s slight nod was enough to make David urge her closer to Anthony. It was difficult to move with her body restrained and on display. She gasped when David lifted her to kneel in the cramped space between Anthony’s crossed legs. Her bound breasts brushed his chest, and his cock pressed against her stomach, making her shiver.

David braced himself behind her.

“I’m going to tighten the rope, Marguerite, are you ready?”

Before she could even nod, she felt a quickening sensation that started at her shoulders and gradually moved down to her knees, as if she were slowly being hugged, being controlled, being captured. She started to pant and rock forward, seeking Anthony’s strength to rub herself against to relieve the ache building inside her.

When David finally stopped, she was shivering uncontrollably, her body on fire, Anthony’s wet pulsing cock pressed hard up against her belly, his lust-filled eyes almost level with her own.

“As I’m in control of you both, I really think you should fuck.” David laughed. “Well, you are going to fuck, because you have no choice, and I want to see it.”

Marguerite moaned as he effortlessly picked her up and slowly lowered her over Anthony’s cock.

“Don’t come yet. There’s more.” David drew the black shibari ropes back over Marguerite’s shoulders and slid them under the red ropes that secured Anthony’s shoulders to the headboard. “Now I pull both sets.”

David deftly removed Anthony’s gag and set about joining them even more tightly together. Anthony groaned and shoved his tongue in her mouth as the pressure increased, as they both struggled to draw breath into their lungs. Marguerite hovered on the brink of losing consciousness, and they climaxed together in a frenzy of white heat and the frustrated passion of shared, long-repressed need.

“God . . .” Anthony’s cock still pulsed inside her even though he’d come. “That was the best fuck I’ve ever had.”

Shyly, Marguerite looked up at him. “The best fuck?”

His smile was breathtaking. “I meant the best love I’ve ever made.”

Marguerite swallowed hard. “I’m trying, Anthony. I’ll try for your sake, but I can’t hide from my true nature any more than you can.”

“I’ll try too. If you are willing to explore our sexual opportunities together, I’m sure we’ll find our own particular level of pleasure.” He kissed her forehead, sighing as David eased their bonds a fraction.

“I love you, Marguerite. You might not believe me yet, but I’ll prove it to you. You’ll never be second in my life. You’ll always come first for me.”

Marguerite wanted to cry at the sincerity in his eyes, the certainty of hope for his future that she had helped him discover. She had to tell him the truth, had to stop being a coward and follow his lead.

“I love you too, Anthony.”

He went still. “You don’t have to say that yet, Marguerite. I’m more than willing to wait.”

She smiled up at him through her advancing tears. “Well, I’m not. My entire family has told me I would be a fool to lose you, and for once I agree with them.” She hesitated, casting him a provocative look from under her eyelashes. “It’s not as if you’re asking me to marry you and settle down or anything.”

His expression turned thunderous. “I bloody well am.”

“But what about all the time we need to explore the possibilities of the pleasure house?”

He glared at her—actually glared at her. “We can have our wedding trip there, if you want. It would be cheaper and safer than going abroad anyway.”

David cleared his throat. “If you are making wedding plans, perhaps I ought to wish you happiness and untie you?”

Marguerite gasped as Anthony’s cock jerked inside her and filled out again.

“In a minute, David,” Anthony said. “I still have to convince my intended to marry me.”

David sighed and climbed up onto the bed. “I really can’t leave you like this. I’ll untie you both from the headboard and leave it at that. What you choose to do with the ropes afterward is entirely up to you.”

“That suits me perfectly,” Anthony growled, his gaze still fixed on Marguerite. “I’m sure I can persuade Marguerite to agree with me. She’ll hardly want to be tied up like a parcel and taken to Gretna Green to be married. I’m sure I can make her to change her mind and consider a long engagement.”

Marguerite didn’t even hear David leave as Anthony bore her down onto the mattress, settled himself between her thighs and started pounding into her as if he’d never stop. Perhaps she should consider marrying him one of these days after all . . .