Loyd’s voice fell like smoke, low and steady, curling through the quiet that hung between them. “Let’s begin again,” he said, as the fabric slipped once more over Nina’s eyes, stealing the world from her sight. Darkness swallowed her, and in its hush she felt only the whisper of his fingers, guiding her forward to somewhere unknown. Her heart drummed fast and reckless, each step echoing against the stillness of the room.
Then came the click, metal against metal a sound sharp and final. Loyd took her wrist, his touch deliberate, his movements unhurried. She felt the cold edge of the cuff close around her skin, the small weight of it pressing into her pulse. He lifted her hands, raising them above her head, and a shiver ran down her spine as he fastened the other cuff. Her body stretched up
