Any worries she had that her wanton display was comical at best were dissipated by his reaction. He had his head tilted, and she saw that intriguing combination in his gaze again, the man appreciating her display with blatant lust, the engineer making some type of calculation based on what he was seeing. Then he came forward with the garment in his hand. “All right, step into this. Hold into my shoulder if you need to do so. It"s tight.”

It certainly was, such that he helped stretch the fabric over every curve. It outlined her pubic mound, her breasts and nipples, the cleft of her ass, as if she was wearing paint instead of clothing. She felt a little self-conscious about the unavoidable mid-section thickness that came with being a mother in her forties, but he brushed her concerns away as he adjusted the body suit here and there, indulging himself with a far less functional caress or squeeze, a stroke or pinch that had her arching into his touch and drawing erratic breaths.

Distributed inside the fabric of the suit were more thin wafers. They had some type of metal component though, because he was adjusting their placement with a magnet, moving them here and there, so that when he finished they were centered at her nipples, her clit and her throat, for the suit came up high under her chin. More were at her wrists, ankles, the base of her spine…over two dozen places, including chakra energy points, she noted.

He"d commanded her to remain utterly still while he made the alterations, but after he finished, he wanted her to move. A full forward fold, where that magnet and the brush of his fingers moved along her spine, to the impression at the top of her buttocks, then lower. Then a twist of her upper body, a lift of her arms, showing the full range of movement. He did something else with the device she"d assumed was only a magnet, and suddenly it felt as if all those points, and the fabric itself, had melded to her, the wafers moving with those erogenous points. It was a little claustrophobic, like getting an unexpected second skin, but as he encouraged her to keep moving about, it became more comfortable.

“All right, how"s that?”

“Good. May I ask…what does this do?”

His expression reflected his approval at her deference. “The easiest explanation is it simulates sexual stimulation and intercourse through a combination of direct contact and acupressure.”

Rachel blinked. “What?”

He gave her an absent half smile, studying something on his handheld and scanning her body with the magnet sensor at the same time. “I was going to use Dana or Cassandra for the first test, but a much better option presented herself.” She glanced over at the props. “And the podium and book, what are those for?”

“Take a seat and I"ll show you.”

She sat in the wooden chair as he adjusted the podium so that she could view the book at eye level. When he opened it to the middle, she saw the pages were blank, the Kama Sutra cover a façade. Before she could ask about that, he"d moved to a monitor on a workbench nearby. When he hit several keys, she heard a beep. “There you are. As we do this, it will record data on your reactions. I can use that to make the suit even better.”

“Have you named your invention?” She tried to ask it casually, though she was feeling more than a little unsettled, thinking about what he said it could do.

His lips twisted. “They call the one at the conferences „the sex suit". Pretty unimaginative. I"d like to come up with something far more aesthetically pleasing to a woman"s ear. If I have Justin market it in his store, maybe he can help me come up with a proper name.”

His attention went back to the monitor, fingers tapping, hair tousled over his brow.

A man in T-shirt and jeans who nevertheless looked as in control of his environment as he did when in a suit. “Keep your hands on the chair arms and put your heels outside the legs, so your knees are spread. Don"t be alarmed by this next step.”

“What—” She gave a short yelp as her wrists and ankles were suddenly immobilized.

“I used that technology first at a board meeting where Lucas was winning over Cassandra. The suit doesn"t require bracelets on the wrists and ankles though. It uses highly sensitized magnets to hold the arms and legs to the chair. Don"t worry about tipping it. It"s anchored to the floor.”

“Okay, the serial killer thing is coming to mind now. Only it"s an elaborate Hollywood movie where he chooses diabolical, complicated ways to immobilize his victim.”

Hearing the note of panic beneath the desperate humor, he glanced up at her, those blue eyes blinking through a few strands of dark hair. The silken brows drew down and he came to her then, moving with his lithe grace to take a knee between her restrained feet. Cupping her face with his strong fingers, he brought her attention to that commanding touch, his serious features, the firm, sensual mouth. “Unless it"s for your pleasure, like a spanking, I will never hurt you, Rachel. I promise.”

“You scare me. On so many levels. You"re…so much at once, you know?”

“You"ve been imagining me in your mind well over a year. And I"ve been imagining you. So it"s not at once. It"s just we"re finally making it real.” He gave her that look that scared her most of all. “In a few moments, I"m going to make you mindless and crazy with desire in a way you"ve never felt before. And that will be far bigger than any fear or worry. All right?”

“Okay.” She swallowed. His smile didn"t quite reach his eyes.

“Because I"ve got you restrained where you can"t run, you"re going to hear me say this for the first time, but it sure as hell isn"t going to be the last. As much as you deny it, you know exactly what kind of Master I am. I don"t say something important unless I"ve given it a great deal of thought, from every angle. You"re what I want, not just until I find the next pretty face. I love you, and you better get used to that, and everything it means.”

He"d been so absorbed in his invention, she hadn"t been expecting such a declaration, though even if she"d had some type of warning, she didn"t think it would have prepared her. As she stared at him, stunned, he leaned forward, dropped a provocative kiss on the rise of her breast before he raised his head, his face inches from hers. His intense gaze registered her gasp, the widening of her eyes as he slid his hand down over her pussy, a firm, possessive grasp rather than a caress, holding the pressure there as her heartbeat quickened, the pulse of her clit fluttering wildly against his touch.

“You don"t believe me now,” he said quietly. “But I"ll have plenty of time to punish that doubt out of your head. A lifetime.”

Did he understand how knocking her off her axis like this could dredge up the debris of her life? Maybe he did, because he"d chosen to tell her now when, as he"d pointed out, he"d restrained her so she couldn"t run. Before she could find words, he rose, returning to his monitor. “Now, focus on the book. Let that take your mind wherever it will. Instead of getting bogged down in thoughts and emotions you don"t want to deal with right now, that you don"t have to deal with right now, start imagining something else.”

He"d given her an out she was more than willing to take, dangerous as she knew that could be. But the lights were dimming, putting the platform in the spotlight and Jon in the shadows. As that happened, the white pages of the book shimmered, an electronic tablet. It had a similar theme to the Kama Sutra, however, because the first image was a sketch of two people in coitus. The female was on her hands and knees, the male entering her from behind, his fingers pressed into the generous curve of her buttock. Rachel could see his cock partially entered into her, and her hair was thrown forward, her breasts hanging loose, begging to be squeezed and touched.

On the edges of the platform, vertical streams of air started up, wavering with light that formed images, making the workshop disappear entirely. Deer, bounding through a field of lavender flowers on one side… A rainbow delving into a valley… Clouds slipping away directly before her, as if she were flying.

She let out an amazed sound, watching the holographic images dance around her, but there was more. A ripple of sensation passed along her throat, her wrists, as if she was being caressed there. She tipped back her chin, feeling the sensation of it drift down her sternum, past her breasts and along her rib cage. A stroke along her hips and upper thighs, behind her knees, like a lover"s scattering of kisses, awakened her body without touching any of the more typical erogenous zones, thereby heightening their need to be touched further. As always, for her, Jon knew denial was the most powerful aphrodisiac.

Remembering his command, she returned her gaze to that tablet. Another page, this time a man on his knees, eating a woman"s pussy. Both beautiful, sexy and sensual figures, absorbed in what they were doing. While she lay on her back, her legs were pointed straight up and crossed at the ankles, a rope attached to a ceiling hook holding them in that position. It reminded Rachel of the Legs-Up-The-Wall pose, or viparita karani. Her arms were stretched out to either side of her, each wrist held by another man, both naked. All three were fully erect, implying that each would have his turn with her.

Her pussy contracted, and then she gasped, because it wasn"t coming from her, not exactly. The picture helped her easily identify what she was feeling. It felt as if a man was stroking her with his tongue, teasing her clit, then sliding down from there to push his tongue inside of her, lap and lick, thrust, getting her ready for his cock. Arching up into the feeling, she found the restriction was not limited to her ankles or wrists, but included her back and thighs as well. She was totally immobilized, except for her head and neck, her tightly curling fingers and toes.

Now it felt like a man"s hands were caressing her lower back, another"s sliding along her throat. The soles of her feet were being teased by nibbling lips, though the body suit only came to her ankles. The pressure points being stimulated were awakening other parts of her, things that had no sensors on them all. It increased the sense of helplessness, the feel of being totally, deliciously out of control. He could do anything to her. She could die of pleasure here. Her body was making tiny jerks, her mind spiraling among all the different sensations, her pussy throbbing hard. She felt like kundalini energy from the strong sacral chakra was dancing through her body in a swirl of deep ginger color. It coated her skin, engaged her mind and deeper.