His heart was hammering in his chest. Something was coming over him, something too powerful to be denied.
“And you think you can say no to me, just like that?”
“Can’t I?” Her eyes sparkled. She was breathing quickly.
“I won’t be trifled with,” he answered.
“Oh, won’t you?” She raised an eyebrow, as if to say, what was he prepared to do about it?
“No, I won’t.”
He picked up a long leather strap lying across a wooden rail. Grabbing her, he held her wrists while he bound them tight together. He pulled her over to the side of the stall and looped the end of the strap through a ring set high on the wall, so that her arms were pinioned above her head. She struggled silently, determinedly, but to no avail. Seizing another strap, he knelt and bound her ankles together. Then he undid the bel
