Laura knelt on the hardwood floor of the study, her wrists still bound by the soft leather cuffs, the carabiner clinking softly as her hands rested on James’s thighs. The blindfold kept her world shrouded in darkness, heightening the sensory tapestry around her: the faint sandalwood scent from the flickering candle, the steady tick of the grandfather clock, the warmth of James’s body radiating through his trousers, and the lingering sting on her thighs from the flogger’s caress. Her ...