Free By My Choice...: A Valentine's Day Story (Valentine's Day Stories) by Christine Blackthorn Page A

— or someone else, either now or years from now. She had no idea what tomorrow would bring either way. Yes, he had manipulated her into being here, had conspired with people she had trusted and forced her into this situation. He wanted the power she presented, unashamedly, but at the same time there was no doubt he wanted her, at least in a physical sense and, in the end, he was trying to make this as gentle on her as possible.  
    It was not his fault she was an ErGer, not his fault her body dictated the script of this night. It was only a few hours until Valentine’s Day. Jennifer knew she would bind tonight, there was no way around it but the way it would happen, that she could control.  
    “Off.”
    To illustrate her point she yanked at the cuffs holding her arms. She saw surprise in his eyes — surprise at her action or at her mind being clear enough to make it? The rueful smile with which he stroked his lips over her left upper arm, as if to soothe the movement, indicated the later.
    “Jennifer,…” Gentle persuasion meeting her demand. She would not have any of it.  
    “No, Adrian. Take them off.”  
    She saw the reluctance in his eyes, the pain and realised it had been there before, hidden from her view by her own preoccupation. This man was not much more sanguine about this situation than she was. He might want her, and there was no doubt, but he was just as unhappy about the way in which this would be achieved. And why would he not be. He might have had a little more warning, even some choice, but in the end he was also binding himself to a stranger for the good of his people. And when all was said and done, she would be able to say she had been forced, by her body or him — he, on the other hand, would have to live with the situation knowing he had chosen it, had entered into it out of his own free will. She would not have it, any of it. She would not let others chose her destiny and refuse responsibility for her own fate.  
    “Off.” She repeated.
    He was still hesitating but there was grudging admiration in his eyes. When had it been last that someone ordered him to do something, made him change his plans?
    “Are you certain, Jennifer?”  
    “For Christ’s sake, Adrian. Take them off. We do not have that much time. Please remember I am human, if you, as a Vampire Lord cannot hold me down then you might not be qualified for the job you are applying for anyway.”
    A flash of insult, then amusement. “Impertinent chit!”  
    But his hands stroked along her arms in a long, sensuous move, his hands coming to rest over the soft fabric of the restraints with the pressure designed to remind her of their presence without causing her discomfort.  
    “I might enjoy seeing you bound below me.”  
    The tone was teasing, but the way his hips pressed into her, reminding her of the hard length of his penis still embedded securely in her, was anything but. The pressure on her clitoris was enough to bow her back, to chase shivers of ice and fire over her skin. He caught her mouth on a gasp, plundered leisurely with all the confidence of a man who knew what he was about. He had every right to that confidence. She was once again caught in the play of his tongue along the sensitive underside of her lips, the nip of his sharp teeth, a reprimand when she tried to take over the kiss. He left her breathless and panting.  
    “Oh, I definitely like you bound under me.” The dark triumph of his tone brought her resolve back to mind.  
    “Bullshit! You like me under you, but you do lack the reputation which goes along with chains and whips.”  
    His grin turned sardonic and the small stinging nips with which his mouth travelled along her jawline towards her ear were just between a caress and punishment. She could feel them like little lightning strikes all the way to her clitoris.  
    “Sweetheart, I can assure you, I have more experience in bed than you might have observed hints of over the short span of