“Ready?”I asked, pressing my hand to the small of her back and guiding her in front of me.
“Always,” she said, confidently striding forward away from my touch and leaving me no choice but to follow her.
––––––––
NO PANTIES.ERIK sentme clothing.In my size, of course, and if I was feeling charitable, I’d have to admit what he’d chosen fit my taste.I wasn’t feeling charitable because he’d also commanded I show up for our date wearing nothing but the clothes he’d chosen and the shoes I’d worn to the deposition.No hose, no panties.Nothing else.
It made me crazy.I’d shaved—I usually did as part of my work uniform—but for some reason, I felt more naked than if I’d been wearing a G-string.I think it was the contrast between the demure pencil skirt that hit below my knee and the smooth skin between my legs.It was like I had some kind of naughty secret and it made me way too aware, almost to the point of obsession of my bare sex.I’d been wet since I slipped into the expensive lace bra and sheer blouse that practically screamed classy sex, and so distracted I hadn’t been able to sit down while I waited for Erik.I’d hovered around the window, watching for his car, only bringing myself to move when he finally pulled up.
The pup crack had been a spur-of-the-moment thing, but when he called me kitten again, I had to do something.I hated to admit it, but he knew some things about dominance and submission that I didn’t.I was willing—hell, eager even—to learn more, but the pet thing had to go.Calling me kitten seemed like a step down a road I wasn’t willing to travel.I was never going to wear a collar or a leash for anyone.
That didn’t mean there weren’t a lot of things I was willing to do with Erik.Starting with kissing and ending up hopefully with him as naked as I felt.
Except he didn’t kiss me.He backed me up against the wall so I had no choice but to breathe in the spicy scent of his aftershave and feel the heat coming off his body in waves.He held his lips a fraction of an inch away from mine until I thought I might lose my mind with wanting the bastard.And then he moved away without closing the deal.He planted his hand on my back and tried to steer me like we were some kind of old married couple on our way to dinner at the country club.
That was a lie.There wasn’t a single old married people thing about the way his palm burned through the thin silk of the blouse he’d chosen for me.Combined with the overwhelming awareness of my bare sex and the residual ache of the kiss that never happened, it was too much.I hurried down the steps and away from his touch, grateful when the driver opened the door to the car parked at my curb.
The feeling evaporated the second he slid in beside me, taking up too much room in the expansive backseat.Seriously, it was like the Tardis—bigger on the inside, and it didn’t matter a bit, there was still too much Erik everywhere I looked, from the amber Scotch waiting next to a pair of cut crystal rocks glasses to the scent of rich leather advertising money and power.And that didn’t count the man sitting next to me, his muscular thigh brushing against mine, reminding me of what I didn’t have on under my skirt.
I watched him from my side of the seat, waiting to see what new kind of mindfuckery he’d pull next.It was a little like being trapped in an enclosed space with a tiger who may or may not be hungry.I couldn’t read him.I didn’t have any trouble messing with him, ignoring for the moment the fact that it often backfired.But I couldn’t get a read on what he was thinking and he rarely reacted the way I expected.I felt head blind, and I didn’t like it.Or maybe I did.I wasn’t sure about anything anymore.
“What’s on the menu today?No blindfolds?What are we doing?Handcuffs?Floggers?Assorted pastry?”I said, determined to keep poking until I got some kind of reaction I could work with.
“You’ll see when we get there.”He relaxed into the seat, appearing completely comfortable in his domain.
He wasn’t squirming because his thighs were slick and he couldn’t figure out what he wanted to do about it.There wasn’t a single thing about his posture that hinted at the kind of conflict I felt.
“Tell me about your day, Alexandra.”
“Why don’t you tell me about yours?I’m not allowed to work, remember?”Needling him about the cease-and-desist wasn’t nearly as satisfying as I thought it would be.
“I assumed you were more than just your work.”
Well, hell, I’d walked into that one.
“You had my apartment cleaned and saw last night’s bath.I figured that got you up to speed.”
“Your bath may have derailed a deal I’ve been working on for months.I was walking into dinner with a potential client when I got your photo.”
I resisted the urge to sorry/not sorry him.Admitting my picture had an effect on him was a rare kind of candor for him.I didn’t want to wreck it.
“I spent the evening imagining it was my fingers inside you instead of yours.My cock was so hard for you I couldn’t concentrate on anything else.”
His words made me shift in my seat, my arousal already slick on my thighs.Knowing a picture of me had that kind of effect on a man like Erik was heady stuff.I glanced up and caught him watching, his piercing, dark gaze pinned on me in a way that made it clear he knew exactly what I was thinking.He grinned like a big cat who had his prey clearly in his sights, and he was just waiting for me to make a move before he pounced.
“You asked for the photo,” I said, hoping I pulled off thecareful what you wish forattitude and knowing before his grin widened, I’d failed.
“Yes, I did.”
The car had taken us across the city to I-10.Asking him where we were going was useless, but that didn’t mean I was helpless.I still had weapons at my disposal, and if I played it right, I might be able to do something about the ache between my thighs.Bare minimum, I could stop feeling so out of control.
“I’m trying to do everything you tell me to,” I said with as much innocence as I could muster.
He snorted in disbelief the second the words were out of my mouth and then swallowed the sound when my leg landed on his lap.I’d hiked up my skirt and spread my legs, baring myself to him.The cool air on my exposed sex made me feel even more naked and for a moment, I was unsure of myself.Like I might have poked a sleeping bear or something.In my experience, this was the point where most men lost the ability to think clearly.Erik already said my photo had that effect on him, and I could feel the long, hard length of his cock against my bare calf, but he wasn’t making any move to touch me and aside from his initial attempt to swallow his laughter, he seemed determined not to respond.
An image of Winston Churchill and that “going through hell” quote popped into my head and I had to fight to keep from slamming my legs closed.If I did that, all I’d have accomplished was embarrassing myself.Failure was not an option.Tipping my hips forward, I slid my foot up until the point of my heel dug into Erik’s thigh.Not hard enough to hurt him—I didn’t think he was into that—just hard enough to demand his attention.He lifted my foot, slid off my shoe and rested the sole of my foot against his thigh with nothing more than a friendly pat.Fuck.
“I’m not going to touch you, Alexandra,” he said with the same tone I imagined he used with his secretary or the barista who made his morning coffee.There was no heat or admonition, nothing but a statement of fact.
