Devoutly to be Wished Ch. 03

"Help her," smiled Bijou. "Go and show her how much you mean what you say. How extraordinary she is. Prove it to her. You do... want her, yes?"

More than I can possibly even describe. So much it hurts my head, it hurts all over, so much I can't even think straight, thought Will. He couldn't speak. But Bijou didn't need anything but his expression. She grinned. "Of course. What's more, you deserve her. And she deserves you. And believe me, that is saying a great deal. I ought to know." She turned him so that he was facing the hall, and shoved on his back a little bit until he took a hesitant step.

"Will," she murmured into his ear, "Stop thinking." And she was gone. He walked slowly down the hall, and soon after that it was impossible to think anyway.

***

Sara was agonized. She had lain there for what must only have been a minute or two, but seemed like an hour already. Bijou had said something as soon as she turned the corner, which meant that Will must have been in the hall. God, in the hall, right there. But then their voices had moved back down toward the living room, and now she could barely hear the occasional tone. It was maddening to lie here, waiting. She loved it. She hated it. She couldn't take it.

She opened her eyes, sat up, her forearms still bound tightly together and her hands pressed palm to palm in front of her mouth. It was a little difficult to come upright without her arms, and she moved her hands to the side of her face, clasped against her cheek. It was the pose of a silent movie actress, and as she stood up she caught herself in the mirror. Not bad. Kind of adorable, even, with her arms up like this, like Clara Bow longing for her distant beloved.

The kimono had fallen open a bit, but she couldn't do anything about it. Momentarily, she regretted disturbing Bijou's careful arrangement of her, but her patience had snapped. She couldn't hear anything now, and she crept silently toward the door, her heart pounding. Somehow it heightened her sense of drama to have her arms bound into this position, and she giggled a little at the strangely innocent gesture. Innocent until one noticed the binding, that is.

Gingerly, she leaned around the door frame, just slightly, straining to hear the conversation.

And looked up to see Will, standing perfectly still, just a few feet away. Their eyes locked. Neither of them breathed.

Will had, in fact, been standing paralyzed in the hallway for at least a couple of minutes. He couldn't quite wrap his mind around the idea of just walking into the room. He couldn't make his feet move.

Sara looked breathtaking, just her head and one shoulder, and her folded hands, leaning curiously out around the door. On seeing Will, she jumped, froze, and then took a single step further, standing still partially hidden by the door frame. Her wide eyes, her startled look, framed by the wispy hair that curled along her cheekbones, made her look even more like a silent film star. Will was disconcerted by the pose she was in, but eventually he noticed the bond around her forearms. Seeing that, he took a deep, shuddering breath.

The red kimono had fallen further open, and her arms were all that blocked the view of her breasts, now mostly exposed. But what took his attention, besides those incredible, doe-like eyes, was the fact that her mons was now exposed, framed by the red silk. The dark blond patch of her fur was wispy and entrancing, and he finally tore his eyes away again and looked at her face, which had not changed. She looked like a startled deer, lithe, delicate and frozen in panic.

His body took over, thank god. He walked the two steps to her, and without hesitation wrapped her into his arms and bent down, and he pressed his mouth down onto hers as he had wanted to do, for years, for his whole life.