Now Merlin looked at her, assessing her with a level of remove, like she was any old person in their underwear in his house. “You may have a little more to drink, if you wish. And then we are going upstairs.” He polished off his own glass and set it down. His mind was racing ahead to decide what he was going to do with her, and what he had in his room that would do the job. There were silk ties, he thought, they’d used them once before but not like this.
He walked towards the stairs, glancing back over his shoulder. “Hurry up.”
Luna didn’t grab anymore to drink, because the more alcohol that was in her, the less she would feel connected to her own body. And she needed, desperately, to feel connected to her body right now, with this happening. There was no point if she wasn’t present. So she followed along after Merlin, speeding up when she told him too and feeling the excitement and anticipation replacing the other feelings that had been feasting on her before this.
In the room she stopped and waited, and if her breathing was shaky now it was no longer with anger that she couldn’t direct at anything.
Merlin walked ahead of her, unbuttoning the cuffs of his shirt and rolling up his sleeves. He grabbed a tie from his dresser as he passed it, and seated himself on the edge of the bed. “Come,” he directed, beckoning to Luna to come and stand in front of him. “Tell me what you want from me.”