That still didn’t feel like an accurate way to describe it, but Lane had said it was fine. It was starting to feel like he was ready to open up—or maybe just test the waters. When I opened the door, the flowing white shirt was the first thing that drew my eye. It made me want to slide my hands over it and see how it would feel against his skin.
The jeans made his legs look even longer and almost curvy as they led down to the heels. I couldn’t remember ever seeing a man wearing shoes like that, but I loved the way they made women look, and it was easy to see that the same thing was true with men.
Evidently, everybody’s legs looked better and ass looked rounder in heels.
Lane looked relieved to see my clear appreciation of his clothes, but his nerves hadn’t stayed calm for long. Even as we sat on the floor, eating Chinese around my coffee table and laughing over a bad movie, I could still see some hesitation in his eyes. But I had a feeling words wouldn’t make a difference. Lane needed to see that it wasn’t going to scare me off.
I’d done enough research online, even just browsing through his site, to know that the clothes didn’t bother me in an abstract way. Lane’s photos, in particular, looked incredible. I was a little bit nervous and curious, but not especially worried. He was going to look beautiful, and we were both going to have fun as I stripped them off him.
Since he was already nervous, I figured I might as well ask some of the questions that had been on my mind. Texting them or asking them over the phone might’ve been easier, but I wanted to see his face. Voices could lie and text messages could obscure the details, but most people couldn’t hide the truth in person.
“You liked when I took control the other night, didn’t you? It was more than just something casual. Wasn’t it?” Lane hadn’t been expecting the question because he choked on his bite of beef and broccoli and it took him a moment to catch his breath.
“Are you okay? I didn’t mean to startle you.” Choking him to death hadn’t been my goal.
He shook his head as he finished taking a drink of his soda. “No, it’s fine. I just wasn’t expecting it.”
That was an understatement. “Yeah, I’m not trying to kill you before we get to the good part of the date.” The humor was a little bit inappropriate, but Lane didn’t seem to mind.
“So now you’re turning into a serial killer, but you’re going to let me die happy?” Lane smirked.
“Of course, I’m looking forward to the rest of our date.” We both knew what I was thinking about.
Lane blushed faintly but didn’t seem upset with the direction the conversation had taken. He just started poking at his food and seemed to be gathering his thoughts. When he finally spoke, he still didn’t look at me, but his voice was firm. “I like that, yes. I also like mild pain, like what you did the other night. I’ve never been in an actual relationship with BDSM, but I’ve fooled around with it a little bit. The formal side of things doesn’t really appeal to me. But things like nipple play and spankings are stuff I enjoy.”
I appreciated the way he laid it out, not making me dig for answers, or even worse, guess. “I’ve never done anything formal with that either. Have you ever been to a club or anything like that?”
“Eli dragged me a few times. It’s not really my thing. I know it sounds odd with the pictures and all, but being watched makes me nervous.” Lane was starting to grow more confident with the discussion, because he glanced up at me.
He cocked his head and just seemed to be analyzing my reactions. “Is it something you ever wanted to explore?”
I shrugged. “I like what we did and I like being in control, but it’s not something I ever felt the need to explore seriously. Maybe if it was something that my partner needed it would be different.”
I rolled the idea around in my head, trying to figure out how I felt about it. “Aside from taking control in bed or something like a scene, I don’t think I would need to be in control of the rest of the relationship. What about you?”
Lane finished chewing and took another sip before answering. “I have a lot of friends who are in the lifestyle in different ways. I can see why some of it appeals to them, but I’ve never needed that much of it in my life. Having a serious relationship doesn’t make me uncomfortable, but I don’t need someone who wants that much control over the rest of my life. It feels like it would be hovering, and I like my space.”
“I can understand that. I feel the same way.” Then I gave him a teasing grin. “Not that I mind spanking you if you’ve been naughty.”
Lane laughed. “I’ll remember that.”
That definitely wasn’t a no.
I filed the information away for later. “I know there’s the stoplight system and safewords in the BDSM lifestyle, but what have you used?”
Lane seemed to find the question easier than the others because he answered right away. “I’ve done both, depending on the situation. The stoplight method is probably the best just in case, but what do you think?”
“I think red, yellow, and green are the safest. But unless I knew someone really well, and it was strictly a role-play scenario, no would mean no for me.” I’d seen enough of the lifestyle and had enough interesting conversations with people when they’d come in for tattoos and piercings that I understood why no didn’t always mean no, and maybe I was too cautious, but it made me uncomfortable.
“I understand.” Lane went back to eating, but his eyes kept glancing over toward the front door. With another date, I would’ve thought they were ready to leave, but I knew he was looking at his bag, not an escape route.
Finally, I decided to address the elephant in the room.
I knew he would bring it up eventually, but I figured there was no reason to wait. I also didn’t want him to think that I wasn’t excited for it or the idea made me uncomfortable. “I’m assuming the gym bag has the stuff you’re going to model for me?”
His blush flared back to his face and his eyes darted between me and the bag. “Yes, I grabbed the stuff that you liked and a few other pieces for you to see.”
He said it very matter-of-factly, but he was clearly nervous. Maybe too nervous. There was a fine line between showing him I was okay with who he was and pushing him. I might have reached that line. “If this makes you uncomfortable, you don’t have to.”
He shrugged, and his shoulders went down like the stress was slowly easing out of him. “I like the clothes. I guess I just worried about…” His voice lowered and he glanced down at his plate again. “I’m enjoying getting to know you, and the idea of scaring you off makes me…uneasy.”
It felt a little bit like we were back in school, trying to work out how the other person felt. It was almost like I should be passing him a note and asking him to check yes or no if he liked me. But as crazy as it would probably sound, I was enjoying every step of our relationship.
It’d been a long time since anyone had made me feel like Lane did. “I’m enjoying getting to know you too. But I want to get to know all of you. Eventually, I’d like to see you at work, and I want to know the whole person, not just the part of Lane who doesn’t want to surprise people.”
He looked up, a cautious smile on his face, and nodded. “I’d like to see your work too. I’ve never seen anyone get a tattoo or even inside the shop. I looked at some of the sketches you have in the window, but that’s about it.”
“What? Stalking prevents you from coming into the business?” I grinned as he laughed. “You’re not a very thorough stalker.”
He shook his head in mock remorse. “I’ll have to practice more on you, then, so I can get better.”
I liked the sound of that. “Practice all you want. I’m going to start paying better attention, though.”
He snorted. “I’m not sure it would be possible to pay less attention.”
Laughing, I shrugged. “Okay, that might be true. But I noticed when you came into the coffee shop the other day.”
Lane grinned. “Eli is kind of hard to miss when he’s i
n drama queen mode.”
“Okay, you might have a point there. But I still noticed. I’m going to count that as a win.” There’d been no way I could’ve missed Eli. “Why was he screaming about the UPS man?”
The guy was quiet and slightly mousy. I couldn’t imagine him doing anything that would upset someone.
Lane’s laugh was almost a giggle and was the cutest sound I’d ever heard. “The guy is really curious about what happens at the company. At least, that’s what we figure. But he won’t come out and ask about the clothes or the models or whatever has caught his attention. He just finds reasons to wander too far back into the studio. Eli wasn’t really upset about it; most of the time he finds it funny. He was just frustrated about something else and was taking it out on the UPS guy. This time he kind of had a point, though.”
The look on his face said there was more to the story than he’d let on. “I really can’t see him doing anything. He’s so quiet.”
Lane nodded. “He is quiet and cute, but the other day he came in to drop a package off and most of the office staff were in a meeting so he came upstairs. We were all in the middle of a shoot and he got an eyeful. Eli didn’t appreciate being interrupted, especially since he was shooting something with Roman at that moment. Those two are nearly combustible, they’re so hot.”
“I can’t believe we're talking about the same person. The short guy with the brown hair that’s on the longer side?” I could see why Lane described him as cute, but he was so reserved I might never have noticed if I hadn’t seen him so often.
“Yeah, that’s him. We can’t decide if he wants to be a model or has a crush on someone who works with us. Roman fussed at Eli for scaring the guy, though. At least he didn’t make the guy cry like the pizza boy.”
I wasn’t sure asking about the pizza guy was a good idea. “It sounds like you work with insane people. You know that, right?”
Lane nodded, grinning widely. “Absolutely. It’s one of the reasons I love it.”
We both seemed to be finished with dinner, so I leaned back on my hands and cocked my head. “Are you ready to show me some of the other reasons you love it?”
If he wasn’t, I’d understand. But I wasn’t going to back down until he told me he wasn’t ready. I had a feeling that if I let it go he’d take it the wrong way. I wouldn't give him any reason to think I wasn’t interested in seeing every part of my sweet stalker.
Lane seemed to take a moment to make a decision or maybe just to gather his courage before he spoke. “Yes. Is there a room I can use to change?”
I probably shouldn’t have teased him, but I couldn’t help it. He was too cute. “What? I distinctly remember hearing Eli say something about a striptease the other day.”
Lane blushed and shook his head. “He likes to make me insane. He’s going to get us kicked out of that coffee shop one day.”
“It wasn’t that loud, so I was probably the only one who heard.” Well, besides the barista; she’d been standing close enough to hear but hadn’t seemed to take offense. She was probably used to Eli by that point.
“You can use my bedroom or the bathroom. The bathroom might be easier, though.”
I loved the views and the open feeling of my apartment, but the bedroom wasn’t really designed for privacy. The staircase leading up to the sleeping area loft was beautifully done and looked like the stairs were simply coming out of the wall. The bedroom area was a good size and had plenty of storage, but the half wall that blocked it from the living room wouldn’t hide much.
Lane glanced up before shaking his head. “I’m not going to try to do those stairs in heels. Bathroom it is.”
Laughing, I nodded. “I agree. I wasn’t sure if you were going to put the heels back on.”
Lane grinned as he stood up and started walking toward the door. “Heels make everything sexier.” He leaned down and grabbed his bag before heading back over toward the living room. “Any requests first?”
I’d seen too many fascinating things on the site to be able to pick. “Surprise me. But I don’t think there’s anything you could pick that I wouldn’t find sexy. Am I just allowed to look at the model, or is this a special case where I get to…handle the clothing?”
Lane blushed as he started walking toward the bathroom. “I’ve never encouraged it before, but I think I’ll make a special exception just for you.”
Before I could give him another comment, he was in the bathroom with the door shut. Realizing it would probably take him a minute, I stood and started cleaning up the living room. The bathroom was frustratingly well insulated, so I couldn’t hear anything as I took the leftovers back to the kitchen.
By the time I had the trash thrown away and the food in the fridge, I was checking the bathroom door about every ten seconds. I wasn’t sure where all my patience had gone, but I didn’t seem to have any where Lane was concerned.
I headed back into the living room and moved the coffee table out of the way, then sat down on the couch to wait. It had a good view of the small hallway where the bathroom was tucked, so I wouldn’t miss a single moment.
When the door finally started to open, I was nearly holding my breath. The anticipation just kept building and as slowly as the door opened, I knew that where I was excited and eager, Lane was still nervous. “If you make me wait much longer, I might die of impatience.”
Laughter came from the bathroom. “I’m not sure that’s possible.”
“Oh, it has to be.”
More laughter rang out in his voice. “I guess I can’t keep you waiting any longer, then.”
“Not without risking my health.”
The door continued to open, and finally, he stepped out of the bathroom, the high heels clicking on the floor. The sound drew my eyes toward his feet, but as my gaze moved up his long legs, every teasing thought went out of it.
He was beautiful.
His legs were long, and the muscle gave them a curvy look. He was wearing a short, silky nightgown with thin straps and it ended high enough up his thighs that I knew he wouldn’t be able to sit or even raise his arms without giving me a teasing eyeful.
For a moment, I worried that my lack of response would upset him, but Lane didn’t seem to need the words. Something in my face must have shown him how I felt because his hesitant smile turned teasing, and he started walking across the room in a slow, sauntering way that had his legs almost crossing in front of each other as he moved.
His hips swayed causing the fabric to move, and as it shifted on his body, I could see the outline of his cock. It seemed to be tucked up and to the side, and I imagined a pair of panties holding it to his body. It made me curious to see how the nightgown would look if he wasn’t restrained.
“You look beautiful, Lane.” I didn’t move as he walked toward me, but my fingers itched to touch him, and I was so hard it was painful.
“Thank you. I thought you’d like this one. It’s one of my favorites.” Lane slowed his walk as he got closer, drawing it out and making me wait. He was clearly enjoying my reaction.
I wasn’t sure what to expect, but he kept going until he was right in front of me. It was all I could do to keep my hands on the couch. He gave me a little grin and turned slowly around. The heels made his legs look incredible and made his ass look even sexier, just as I’d known they would.
As he finished the turn, I found myself leaning forward and forced myself to settle back down on the couch. This was his show, and I wasn’t going to rush him.
“What do you think?” The flirting tone in his voice almost didn’t sound like Lane.
“I think I can’t wait to see everything you brought with you.” He shifted slightly and moved near enough that the hem of the nightgown came maddeningly close to my fingers that had somehow inched their way to the edge of the couch without my realizing it.
Taking his closeness to mean that he was okay with my touch, I slowly started reaching for him. He had plenty of time to move if it was unwelcome or too much. But La
ne just watched my hand, and I knew that if I could’ve felt his pulse it would’ve been racing.
I leaned forward again, and let my fingers start a teasing caress up his thighs. His skin was surprisingly smooth, but it felt perfect against the silky fabric as I started stroking higher up his body. He was soft and dressed in beautifully sexy things that I’d never associated with a man, but it would have been impossible to forget he was all male. Everything from the firm muscles that the fabric draped across to his erection that was still hard and tucked into his panties made it clear.
But it didn’t scare me away. It just made me want to explore him.
As I ran my hands up his legs and then over his hips and abs, I felt him shiver under my touch. “You’re incredible. This looks perfect on you.”
Lane started to say something, but when my fingers skimmed over his nipples, the words were lost. It made me chuckle, and I had to tease them again before continuing my exploration. “That feels good, doesn’t it?”
Moving down his body, I wrapped my arms around him and loved the way the muscles in his back bunched and flexed under the silky fabric. Lane just stood there, trying to be quiet, but needy little sounds kept escaping.
When my fingers started sliding over his ass, I felt him shiver again, and he seemed to be holding his breath. Caressing his cheeks, I felt the panties that were covering him, and I slowly started working my way down lower.
Nothing in Lane’s responses said I was going too far or too fast. So as my hands dipped under his nightgown and started wandering back up to his ass, I pulled him closer. The flimsy scrap of fabric didn’t seem to cover him, but I knew they would look just as incredible as the nightgown.
As I moved my hands around his hips to the front of his body, the nightgown started to bunch up and the panties came into view. The black lace was just wide enough to keep his cock tucked to the side, but it wasn’t designed to hide anything. No, the patterns and holes in the fabric only drew more attention to his straining erection.
Leashes & Lace Books 1-3: MM Romance Boxed Set Page 44