Gently, He guided her to a darkened portion of the room. The shadows were long and reached out from the walls as if they were reaching for her. She felt His hand at the small of her back... His fingertips barely touching her skin, yet the power of that light touch held her as firmly in His grip as chains would have. She could see the outlines of something against the wall... she strained to make out what it was... gradually she determined that it was a St. Andrew's Cross. He stopped her in front of it then moved behind her in the dimness. "Stand here, My dear"... the words touched her ears and she shivered slightly at the gentle forcefulness of them and the brush of His breath on her neck. She tried to wait patiently, all the while feeling the pinch of the pins on her flesh, making it tingle.
All of her senses were on edge, she was keenly aware of her body, of the tremors moving through it, yet her sense of her surroundings was diffused. Her orientation was slightly off, she could hear Him moving behind her, but she could not fix in her mind exactly where the sounds were coming from. Slowly, she became aware of a growing light emanating from behind her. It moved closer and seemed to caress her as it approached. It was the light of a candle and as He walked in front of her, she could see Him place it in a holder on the wall. Its flame danced and chased a few of the shadows away. He disappeared behind her again and then reappeared with another and placed it in another holder on the wall on the other side of the cross. The light from the candles met and illuminated the cross so that she could see it more clearly. It was padded with dark leather and at the end of each radius were soft cuffs attached to it by short chains. Her heart raced, her breathing became shallow, as He guided her towards it. With firm, yet gentle, hands He turned her body so that her back was against the cross. She felt the cool leather touch her skin. He raised her hand to His lips, looked into her eyes and kissed it softly, then extended it above her head and fastened the cuff around her wrist. He did the same with the other hand, all the while holding her eyes with His own as a slight smile played at the corners of His mouth.