by Nikki Sloane
We crossed two intersections, and the headlights flicked on and off on the SUV parked at the curb. “This is me.”
Of course it was. The beautiful black Range Rover looked practically new. Street lights gleamed off its pristine body, defying the salt covered asphalt around us. Like his luxury vehicle was too nice to get dirty, immune to the snow plow sludge.
“What happened to the Acura?” We’d had some fun together in the back seat of his car during our year together.
“I sold it when I moved back.” He opened the passenger door for me, but I didn’t move to get in. “What’s wrong?”
“No. No romance.”
He glanced from me, to the open door, and back again, his expression broadcasting disbelief. But I held my ground, firm. This wasn’t supposed to be a date.
“Why don’t you get in and we can discuss where it’s warmer than ten degrees.”
He had a point. Why did he have to have so many perfect points? I got into the passenger seat and grumbled to myself as he shut the door and hurried around the front of the Rover. Dammit, his SUV was nice. All sexy leather and luxury, and probably a bigger back seat than his old Acura . . .
“Okay.” He climbed into the driver’s seat and started the engine, which purred instead of roared. “Explain why me being a gentleman has you upset.”
“No dates, no flowers, no opening doors. This,” I motioned between us, “is just sex.” I needed to keep him firmly compartmentalized, or my feelings would stray into a muddy, gray area of emotion.
His expression was smug. “Please point out to me where in our agreement it says I can’t do anything you label as romantic.”
My face twisted as I tried to recall the exact wording he’d used in the text. Surely it was in the non-negotiable final paragraph.
But, was it?
Oh, shit. No. It wasn’t.
His tone was evil, yet attractive. “If I want to open doors for you, Ruby, I’m fucking going to.”
And with that, we were off.
For the first few minutes, we were quiet. I stared out the window and settled into the seat. Should I have been surprised I felt comfortable? Like no time had passed between us? I frowned. So much had changed.
I studied him as the stop lights and glowing neon of shop signs strobed colors over his face. One hand was perched at the top of the steering wheel and the other was on his thigh, fingers splayed out. He looked at ease, yet in command. His brown hair was perfectly styled, and when I drew in a deep breath, I caught a hint of his sexy cologne.
His head was fixed forward, but the corner of his mouth curled into a half smile.
“What?” I asked.
“You’re looking at me.”
“And?”
He braked slowly as we hit a yellow light, and his gaze turned my direction. His voice was smooth as velvet. “I like having your attention.”
Uh oh. I turned away from him so fast I risked getting whiplash. I didn’t want him to see the effect his words held. After what we’d done this afternoon in his office, anticipation was thick between us. It clung to my skin like a matte coating. It couldn’t be seen, but it could certainly be felt.
“How is it,” he asked, “over at Sterns and Clifford?”
“It’s all right.” My voice went quiet. “I thought I’d be out of the junior pool by now.” He made a noise of agreement, and when he didn’t say anything else, it prompted me to ask him, “What about you? How is it working for your parents?”
It was so subtle, the way his shoulders tensed and his grip increased on the steering wheel. “It’s fine.”
Yeah, that was convincing. I wasn’t going to press him, though. Kyle had always been closed off, and perhaps it was good to keep distance. “Sounds like they keep you busy. Today was the only spot I could get. Your assistant said you were booked solid.”
He grinned, and before he said anything, I knew.
“Shit,” I groaned. “You set me up.”
“I wasn’t sure how much convincing you were going to take.” He shot me a quick look and his eyes were full of mischief. “Or how loud you’d be while I was persuading you.”
“Asshole.” But was I mad about his manipulation? No, I wasn’t. I liked to think I could dish it out as well as I could take it.
The turn signal on his car ticked as we waited to make a left. Traffic was cooperating for once, and I wasn’t sure if that was a good thing or not. Being in this quiet, confined space with him was overpowering.
His voice dipped low. “Did you fill out your list?”
My heart beat faster. “Yes.”
“Did you bring it with you?”
Of course I did. This was supposed to be a business meeting, and I wasn’t going to show up for one unprepared. The fucking list was burning a hole in the purse sitting on my lap, and I’d swear I could feel the heat of it on my legs. Most definitely between them. It fried the ability to be anything but serious.
“Yes,” I whispered.
“Keeping with our honesty policy, I can tell you, I’m very, very interested to see what you put down.”
I raked a hand through my hair, forcing my voice to stay level. “It’s the same for me.”
“The stuff I checked . . . I just want to add, no judgement, okay?” He looked almost stricken for a moment. “Just because I’m interested in something doesn’t mean I need to have it, or that I’ve done it before.”
It was strange to see him unsure, and I couldn’t stop grinning. “Whatever you put down, I’m sure I can handle it. There’ll be no judgement from me.”
“Good.” He said it like he was only trying to be polite. “The same for me.”
Did he think he was going to out-freak me? Unlikely. I squeezed the handle on my purse. What if none of our desires aligned? I shook my head in response to my internal question. The sex on New Year’s Eve proved how compatible we were. We’d fuck each other out of our systems, and then move on.
We parked in the parking garage, rode down to the street level in the freezing elevator, which smelled like someone lived in it, and then strolled toward the restaurant.
Glowing candles flickered in the windowsill and gold lettering arched on the glass, announcing The Bedford. We were ushered into the main dining area, where the lighting was subdued. Flames lapped at wood in the two-sided fireplaces encased in glass, but the focal point of the room was at the back.
“It used to be a bank,” Kyle said when we reached our table.
The room had once been the bank lobby, but now it was occupied with tables. Beyond the old teller windows near the back, an enormous vault was open, its round mouth wide and welcoming. There were couches in there, where people from the bar mingled, and the walls were lined with safety deposit boxes.
Who would have thought a bank would be sexy? Because that was exactly what this restaurant was.
I’d been too busy gaping to realize Kyle was helping me take off my coat.
“Stop that.” I jerked away.
He seemed to enjoy my irritation. “I’m going to pull your chair out next, and you’re going to deal with it, Ruby.”
The waiter arrived and listened to us bickering with a puzzled expression. In the end, I submitted, just so we could get this show on the road. The sooner dinner was over, the sooner the weird sensation that this was a date would pass.
“Wine?” Kyle asked, staring at the menu. “You still into cabernet?”
Dammit. Would I get used to this? He hadn’t been around the last five years, but he knew me better than any other man. Once I showed him my list, hell, it’d solidify that title.
“Sure,” I choked out. “That’s fine.”
We made small talk until our order was placed and the waiter arrived with the bottle of wine. Kyle hadn’t even hinted at the willing list. He must have sensed I was going to need some liquid courage before handing over my darkest fantasies in easy-to-read text.
“You can fill ’er up to the top,” I said to the waiter who poured my win
e. I wasn’t even joking.
My breath became shallow when the man slinked away, leaving the two of us to get down to business. Kyle’s fingers disappeared inside the leather jacket he’d hung on the back of his chair, and he produced a folded sheet of paper.
Oh my God, it was really happening. It was an asinine thought, as this was specifically why we’d come here. Hopefully he couldn’t see how nervous I was as I dug my list out of my purse. I clutched the paper tightly. “I, uh, have a few things I wasn’t sure about.”
He blinked. “You’re not sure if you want to do them?”
“No, like, there are things on here that I don’t know what they mean.”
“Oh.” He looked somewhat relieved. “An example?”
I unfolded the paper, keeping it close, even though no one would be able to read the small print unless they were right beside me. “DVP?”
His face went totally blank, disguising the thoughts beneath. He kept his voice quiet. “That’s . . . two P’s in the V.”
I didn’t get it. My voice went so low he probably couldn’t understand me, but I mouthed the words. “Two pussies in the . . .?”
He gave a weird, choked off laugh and matched my near silence. “Two penises in the vagina.”
My mouth rounded into an “Oh.” Christ. I stared down at the list.
“What else?” he asked.
“That’s it,” I lied, folding the paper slowly. Hopefully nothing he had checked was stuff I didn’t understand. My belief was if I didn’t know what it was, chances were I wasn’t going to be interested.
“All right.” Kyle set his paper down on the table, but his fingers lingered. “To reiterate, no judgement.”
“You’re making me a little nervous.”
He pushed with his fingertips, gliding the folded paper along the tabletop. I passed mine to him, and my heart launched into my throat. Every unfold he made was like peeling back a layer of my clothes until I was fully exposed and naked in the room crowded with strangers.
My face burned as I unfolded his paper and looked at Kyle’s desires, the ones he’d been so nervous to reveal and worried I’d judge him. I scanned the checkmarks beside the items and my mouth went dry.
Holy.
Fucking.
Shit.
I’d marked almost twice as many boxes as he had.
Chapter
NINETEEN
KYLE
It was a miracle my jaw didn’t hit the table with an audible thump. I stared at the columns of text and her perfectly ticked checkmarks beside them, and my dick hardened at the speed of light.
“Jesus,” I breathed.
I’d made a colossal mistake.
Her face turned bright red, and she folded my list back in two, setting it before her and ripped her gaze from mine. Embarrassed and ashamed, and I couldn’t fucking stand it.
“Fuck, Ruby. Give that back to me, I need to add to it.” I’d been so stupid. This had been my chance to communicate whatever I wanted, and I’d blown it.
“This was a mistake,” she said, still refusing to meet my gaze.
“No, no, the only mistake was mine.” I leaned across the table, grabbed the paper, and dug a pen out of my jacket as fast as humanly possible. “I thought I’d scare you away, and I played it safe. I’m sorry I underestimated you.”
She sat completely still as I marked off all the boxes I really wanted to. Her posture was stiff. “You were supposed to be honest.”
“You’re right, and I’m sorry.” I didn’t want to start this thing off with a lie, but the idea of losing her before we even began had made me second-guess myself. At least my genuine apology seemed to soften her. “Look at me,” I ordered when I’d finished. “You’re fucking amazing, you know that?”
Her reluctant gaze trailed over the table, up my chest, and finally reached my eyes.
“I’d forgotten how perfect we are together. I won’t forget again.” It was skirting the line of our agreement, but fuck it. I thrust my willing list back toward her. “This time, it’s one hundred percent.”
She took it from me, looking reluctant.
I hadn’t gotten a chance to examine her list before. I had opened it, saw the high number of answers, and my brain went haywire. This time, I savored each ticked box.
Everything I wanted to try was here, and to get a chance to do it with Ruby? “I feel like the luckiest fucking guy in the world.”
She still hadn’t looked at my revised answers, and I scrambled to salvage. My priority was her not walking away. If she did, I was certain we’d be done for, and I wasn’t going to allow it. She was back in my life now; I wouldn’t tolerate the alternative.
“Please,” I said. “I’ll give you whatever you want. Anything. I’m so excited about your answers, I’m harder than I’ve ever been in my goddamn life. Just look under the table.”
Her lips twitched, threatening a smile, but it didn’t break.
“Or look at my list,” I added, “and see how much fun we’re going to have together.”
She latched a hand on the bell of her wine glass, brought it to her lips, and drained the entire glass. When it was done, she set it down, her fingertips pausing on the rim as if deciding our fate right then and there.
I exhaled as she unfolded my paper, and her blue eyes scanned downward. My expressive girl tried to maintain indifference, but she failed when she licked her lips, and her gaze focused with interest.
“Your list is impressive,” I said, full of appreciation. The spankings weren’t a surprise, and neither was the girl-on-girl action. But there were several items on there I wouldn’t have guessed, and I was fucking thrilled. “Have you done much of the stuff—”
“No.” Her eyes widened a degree. “Like, not any of it.” She turned her empty wine glass on the table, as if needing something to occupy her hands. “But . . . I’m all for trying new things.”
“Me, too.”
How fast could I rush her through dinner and get her back to my place? Tomorrow I’d talk to Joseph and get his advice on how to proceed in the areas I didn’t have experience. It’d be awkward for me, but I could deal. Joseph had admitted during his time running the club, he’d trained several men who wanted to become Doms.
Which was appealing. In court, I was used to persuading the jury, controlling the way they interpreted the facts. In my personal life, I controlled my emotions. So it wasn’t a leap that I craved controlling pleasure, both hers and mine.
The waiter appeared tableside, his attention on Ruby. “Would you care for more wine, miss?”
“Yes,” we answered at the same time.
She seemed to loosen up after her glass was refilled. She wasn’t drunk by any means, but the wine took the edge off, and I hoped my enthusiasm played a role as well. When she seemed comfortable and confident again, I made my move.
“You’ll come home with me tonight.”
Her movements slowed to a halt. “Oh, will I?”
Under the table, I ran my palm over my dick, smoothing out my discomfort. It had to be my place. From the limited amount of hers that I’d seen, it was too . . . comfortable. My apartment was an advantage.
And there was the fucking wall of photos at her place which had dug under my skin. Her whole life was up there, including a picture with some burly guy, who I’d never met, when she’d graduated from Randhurst law school. I hadn’t made it on her wall, which of course I didn’t deserve to, but he had. Was he one of the three since me?
Focus.
“You think I can wait after reading your list? I can’t.” My tone was rich and deep. “I’m going to be like a kid in a freaking candy store when I’ve got you in my bed. I don’t even know where to start.”
A blush crawled across her face in the firelit room, and the gleam in her eyes was unmistakable. She’d marked bondage. She’d marked edging. Fuck, she’d said she was interested in not only anal play, but anal sex. She wanted what I did, at least as badly.
Maybe even more.
Her expression turned playful. “What are you thinking for tonight?”
“Yeah, that’s not how this is going to go.” Unlike her, I didn’t need any alcohol in my system to feel ballsy. “You like it when I’m in charge. I do, too. A whole, fucking, lot.” She sucked in a sharp breath, but didn’t deny my statement. “Will you do everything I tell you to, Ruby?” I leaned forward over the small table, which made the space between us feel secluded and intimate. “Starting right this very second?”
Her bottom lip was snagged between her teeth and, Jesus, she looked incredible. All turned on just at the idea of my control.
Her single word was breathy, but her eyes lidded heavy. “Perhaps.”
This wasn’t helping the dire situation in my pants, but I ignored it. “Are you wearing underwear?”
The large sweater she had on couldn’t hide how her breathing picked up. Her tone was concerned. “Yes.”
“I don’t like that. Take them off.”
Her gaze flitted around to the other tables. She whispered it with fear. “Right here?”
A smile warmed my lips. “I’m sure this place has a restroom.”
It drove me insane how quickly she shot to her feet, as if eager to follow my command.
“Wait,” I added. “Before you go, I’m going to need proof you’ve done as told.”
Her gaze shift upward as she considered my statement. Something was decided, she grabbed her purse, and then her boots clomped away.
I used the alone time to get a grip. I had to come up with a game plan for this evening, but my mind was racing with different scenarios. I didn’t want to do too much, too quickly. And I didn’t have any of the heavier BDSM things at my place.
Julius would.
I shook my head, pushing the thought away. Giving Ruby the willing list was as close to the blindfold club as I wanted her to get. If things progressed between us as I hoped they would, I didn’t want her to know my sister’s secret. It wasn’t mine to tell, and I didn’t want it to color Ruby’s perception of Payton if they ever met.