Free Everything Forbidden by Jess Michaels

She could leave at any time.
    As long she forfeited her prize of the Seasons for her sisters.
    No, she couldn’t afford to do that. Not after giving up herinnocence. As he had pointed out two days ago, there was no turning back now.
    And when she was honest, she didn’t want to turn back. Since their first encounter, she’d been thinking about the feel of Ethan’s skin against her own, the taste of his lips, the way she was stretched and filled when he took her. More than once, she had awakened wet and swollen, aching to be with him. And her own attempts at relief, which had always been satisfying enough for her in the past, had fallen short when compared to the memory of Ethan’s touch.
    She took a brief glance around the room. Plain. Almost like a foyer to another chamber, rather than a room in itself. The only furniture present was a wingback chair next to the door Winston had instructed her to enter. It seemed like such a normal thing, but behind it awaited sin and pleasure and who knew what else.
    Miranda held her breath. The final moment had come. The last instant between her life before this bargain and her life after.
    She opened the door.
    Inside, dark velvet curtains were drawn, so the light was dim. Only the fire and a few scattered lamps illuminated her way. As her eyes adjusted, though, she gasped.
    If she had ever pictured what Ethan’s home should look like, this room exceeded even her most wicked imaginings. A huge bed was the centerpiece, with a high canopy and gauzy draping that swooped down over the mattress. Through the filmy fabric, she could see the coverlet was done in sensual, dark velvet that would caress over bare skin.
    Her gaze skittered around and she realized that the bed wasonly the beginning. A table with various bindings rested directly across the room. Ones for the wrists, some at ankle level. She shivered at the shocking thought of being bound. It was something she’d never considered before. Would Ethan do that to her?
    She darted her gaze away before she had to consider her increased arousal too closely. A huge mirror was along the opposite wall, its frame gilded with golden images of mythical beasts in various stages and varieties of copulation.
    As she turned in shock to take in even more of the chamber, her eyes adjusted and she caught a glimpse of movement in a darkened corner of the room. She skirted back in surprise when a shadowy figure rose from a hidden chair and stepped into the light.
    Ethan.
    Miranda caught her breath. His shirt was open a few buttons and the firelight flickered against the tanned skin revealed there. He hadn’t shaved that morning, so a dark slash of stubble made his jaw line all the more defined. He was barefoot, just as he had been the last time she saw him, right after they made love.
    And just like the last time, his gaze was filled with desire, but lacking in any other emotion.
    “Good morning,” he drawled.
    She straightened her shoulders with the silent reminder that she had to be as distant as he was. “My lord.”
    He gave her an indulgent smirk. “As much as I like to be referred to as your lord, I think we’ve gone far beyond those empty platitudes. You have called me Ethan several times.” He hesitated and tapped his chin. “Actually you moaned it once. I prefer you call me that while we are alone together.”
    Miranda blushed at his plain reference to their first afternoon tryst, but managed to bob out a quick nod. “Very well.”
    “So, I am curious. What excuse did you give your…” He hesitated and Miranda thought he gave a little shiver. “ Mother for your absence for twenty-four hours?”
    She shifted uncomfortably. Although she had her own issues with Dorthea, as a general rule Miranda didn’t like to lie. And coming up with an excuse to appease her prying mother had been difficult.
    “She thinks Lady Ingleworth in Tipton has taken a liking to me and asked me to come each Friday to read and play the pianoforte for her,