Hazel's foot slipped out of her shoe and slid up my leg. The servers brought out a tray of beef.
"This is Kobe beef imported from the Hyogo Prefecture. Please notice the exquisite marbling," the server stated. "The chef has prepared it three ways. Thinly sliced to dip in this soup—only leave it in for a few seconds—or feel free to eat it raw. Then we have a Chateaubriand cut presented in a sandwich. The beef is breaded with a light egg wash and bread crumbs then put between toasted white bread with a bit of katsu sauce. We have beef lightly seared with grilled vegetables. All of these have very minimal seasoning—the chef only uses salt so you fully experience the flavor of the beef."
"I like my meat raw," Hazel said, picking up a sliver of beef with a pair of chopsticks and slowly sliding it into her mouth.
"I think I really like watching you put all that raw meat in your mouth," I said, my eyes heavily lidded as I watched her chew it.
"It's so good," she said. "I'm not sure if we're going to be able to share. You might need to see if they'll bring you some more of that pasta."
I snagged a bit of the beef before it was all gone though the reality was that I would gladly let Hazel have all of it if she would keep making those sexy noises.
Hazel moaned when she bit into the little bite of sandwich. "It's the texture of a fully toasted marshmallow, except its beef." She held out the other bite to me. "Eat it," she ordered.
I let her feed me, locking eyes. "Delicious. Just like something else at this table."
Hazel visibly shivered.
I picked up a piece of the grilled beef and a slice of eggplant and held it out to Hazel, enjoying the way her lips parted.
"It melts in your mouth, and that's such a cliché thing to say, but it really does. I could totally eat this every day."
"Stick with me, and you can!"
"You're so romantic, offering high-end beef and exquisite works of art instead of flowers and candy. You sure know the way to a girl's heart," Hazel said.
I didn't know why I was so insistent on having Hazel stay in my life. It was starting to come off a little desperate, I thought. But I didn't want to lose her. I would do anything to keep her in my life.
The waiters brought crème brûlée for dessert, and I fed Hazel bites while we looked out over the garden. Someone was having a corporate event, and we watched the people mingle in the space below. Then we strolled through the exhibit again.
"This was the most magical evening ever," Hazel said softly, reaching up to kiss me. "Thank you."
"We should go home so I can give you an even better present," I said as we headed out to the waiting limo. "The evening's not over yet."
She snuggled up against me as the limo pulled away from the curb.
"More meat?" she asked, her hand sliding down under my waistband.
"Better. More dessert," I said, kissing her too, tasting the wine on her mouth. I kissed her slowly as the limo sped to my condo, the colorful night lights sparkling through the windows.
I poured Hazel more wine when we entered my condo. Hazel reminded me of an elegant princess or something as she wandered around.
I brought out the presents I had for her.
"Oooh, what's this?"
"Jewelry? An Ida original dildo? It could be anything! Open it and find out!"
She handed me the wine glass then carefully took off the paper.
"Are you one of those people who saves wrapping paper?"
"You bought a collage from me," she said. "Of course I save wrapping paper, duh."
She opened the box.
"It's not made out of edible anything," I said. "But it's damn sexy."
"I've kind of always wanted a corset," she gushed.
