“How did you do that?” She gasps, rushing to get the door open. “I thought it was empty!”
“The opposite,” I assure her. “Let’s go.”
Despite the heels on her feet, Sidney practically drags me to the large double glass doors of the indoor gardens, a single member of staff waiting to let us inside. The north wing is still closed off, but the rest of the space is open for us to walk through, and the moment I step inside, the heat and humidity hit me. The air is so thick, it’s almost hard to breathe; the path under our feet damp, despite being inside now.
Once we’re inside, they leave us to it, locking the doors behind them so no one can interrupt us. On a table is a bottle of champagne in a bucket of ice with two flutes waiting for us.
“I can’t believe you did this,” Sidney tilts her head toward the golden string lights that fill the entire space above our heads, the light touching the glitter on her skin and making her twinkle.
“I promised you warmth,” I shrug, plucking the bottle from the ice and popping the cork before I pour us both a glass. “I couldn’t get the sun unfortunately, although I did consider putting us on a flight to the Caribbean.”
She laughs, “Of course you did.”
She accepts the glass I hand to her and then lets me link our fingers with the other, the clip of her heels echoing through the gardens. Every surface is decked outin color, with flowers and plants of all shapes and sizes growing and thriving. Vines crawl up the glass walls and over the beams, wrapping and coiling like serpents.
“I love this place,” Sidney mumbles dreamily, taking a sip of her champagne.
“I know you do,” We turn down a narrow walkway, her focus entirely on the plants around her. She brushes her fingers over soft petals and waxy leaves, rubbing them between her fingers so she can get their scent on her skin. It’s earthy and floral and though the humidity is pressing to the nape of my neck and my skin is damp, I love the way she stops and smells each flower, how she traces the shape of the petals with her eyes and memorizes the texture of each leaf. It’s like she’s never been here before, never seen it, but that couldn’t be further from the truth. Every time we come here, she’s the same.
We continue through the maze-like paths, moving further and further into what can only be described as a man-made jungle, the plants growing so large, they block the view all around us.
It’s our own little world, with the twinkling lights strung above us and the sound of our steps the only noise other than our voices. Her hand is in mine, her laugh like damn music to my ears.
“Is this fair trade for the red dress?” My voice is low, a little husky.
She bumps her arm against mine. “Oh, honey, I would have worn the dress for free, but now I know what I can get out of you when you want something from me, I’ll be sure to remember to bargain.”
I smirk, “That's extortion.”
“Don’t hate the game,” she sings, letting go of my hand to slip her feet out of her heels and place her empty flute down. “Now, let’s play a new one.”
“What do you have in mind?”
She pulls her bottom lip between her teeth, smiling with her eyes, “You find me, you can take the dress off me, right here, right now.”
All thoughts leave my head but that one. Slipping the dress off her body, taking her right here in the middle of the flowers and plants, getting to see how far that glitter goes. My cock jerks at the thought, sweaty bodies writhing, moans muffled by greedy and desperate kisses.
“You’d let me fuck you right here?” I rasp. I shouldn’t be surprised, not with how hard she came when she thought we were going to get caught back in her shop.
“You have to catch me first,” she teases, playing with the strap of her dress, shoes dangling from her fingers.
“You make me a needy man, Sid, and I’ve spent years yearning for a taste of you; don’t underestimate my desperation for you. I will find you wherever you go. There is no place you can hide where I won’t be able to seek you out, so you can run, baby, but you should expect to be caught.”
Her breath hitches.
“I’ll count to ten,” I offer her, “And then I’m coming for you.”
Dropping the shoes, she makes a break for it, the sound of her laughter following her as she disappears around the corner.
I count to ten in my head, keeping my breaths steady so I can zone in on the sound of her feet slapping against the floor, and the quick bursts of nervous laughter that follow.
I make it to ten and go after her, but I don’t run; I let my steps fall a little heavier so she can hear me coming, can taste the anticipation of her inevitable capture. “I can hear you, Sidney.”
My cock is aching behind my zipper, throbbing, the need for her building so intensely inside of me I feel like I am an animal beating at the bars of a cage. Her giggle sounds to the right, and I follow the path through the vines and leaves.
“You want to be caught, don’t you?”
I hear the shuffle of feet and then a flash of red as she darts out from where she was hiding. Still, I don’t chase; I just follow, listening, watching. I let her think she may have an escape here, that there could be a possibility that I won’t catch her.
