Haze(41)

There's no actual protocol that states that we can't hang out with customers, especially the ones who have the same interests we do. It's not as though I can tell Cassia about what I like in bed. I tried once, two or three years ago, when I asked if she would like it if her boyfriend spanked her.

Her reaction was telling, not just the words she used but her body language. She'd laughed uncontrollably before announcing that she'd kick any guy who tried to do that to her right in his groin.

I never brought it up again after that even though it's been something I've craved since my first year of college when the boyfriend I had helped me understand the pleasure I could find in pain.

His experience was as limited as mine but together, we'd experimented and when we broke up, I felt a void that couldn’t be filled with just a good f*ck. I craved more and I still do.

Last night was the first time I felt so aroused under a man's touch. When Gabriel pulled my hands back and laced them together with the sash, I almost lost my balance. I practically came when he slapped my ass. It was so much, too much but I wanted even more.

"I think I'll take these two." She motions towards two bras on the bench next to us. "You'll think about my offer, won't you?"

"I will." I might. Then again, Gabriel may give me everything I need.





CHAPTER TWENTY-EIGHT


Gabriel




"Tell me about haze."

Her head pops up as her eyes skim the perimeter of the restaurant. "You want to talk about that here?"

"Is there a reason we shouldn't?" I take a small sip from the glass of wine I ordered after we were seated. Isla opted for sparkling water again. I might have joined her until I saw the dress she's wearing. It's the same one she had on at Skyn when I spotted her through the glass. Her body is on ripe and almost full display and if we weren't in the center of Axel NY right now, enjoying what I hope will be a quick dinner, I'd be f*cking her raw.

"This is a public place." She rubs her hand over the back of her neck which pushes her swollen nipples against the thin fabric of her dress. What I would give to suck on one right now.

I wave the server away as he approaches to take our dinner order. "Why haze? Tell me the significance of that."

"What's your safeword?"

The subtle attempt to shift the subject from herself to me brings a smile to my lips. "We're discussing your safeword right now."

"I don't know." She reaches towards a small basket of bread in the middle of the table before she pulls her hand back. "It's just a word. It's a word I wouldn’t normally say when I'm being f*cked."

Hearing that word from her mouth brings my cock to immediate and full attention.

"What do you normally say when you're being f*cked?"

"If you'd let me order dinner, we could eat and you might find out for yourself."

I chuckle, loudly. "Touché, Ms. Lane. Your wish is my command."

***

"I knew that it would be beautiful," she says as she takes in the view. "I imagined it would be beautiful because you're Gabriel Foster, but this is really incredible."

I reach for her hand. "I'll give you the grand tour."

She looks up and into my face. "I need to check my phone first. I'm expecting an important text."

The moment should be effectively broken by that but it's not. I heard her speaking to Garrett Ryan during dinner. The call ended with her promise to look over a document he was sending to her before night's end.

My natural instinct to understand everything in my world has kicked in but this is Isla's business and when she's ready to share, I'll be more than willing to listen, and help, if need be. I haven't asked about her dealings with Garrett, and I won't. I trust she'll offer when, and if, she feels the need.

She crosses the room towards where she'd dropped her clutch on a small table in the foyer. I watch her ass as it moves with each step of her feet. I don't know how I've controlled myself to this point. I'll need her naked and beneath me within the next ten minutes.

"I think I forgot my phone." I hear the panic in her voice. "I left it at the restaurant. It might be in the car. I need it."

I reach into my pocket to pull out my own phone. I swipe my finger across the screen before drawing up a number.

He answers on the first ring, as he always does.

"Charles, check the car. Ms. Lane has misplaced her phone. If it's not there, go back to Axel and find it."

He says something in response but I'm lost to those words and everything else as I watch Isla dump her clutch on the table, her hands frantically searching through the items.

It's all there as it was when she dropped her clutch at Skyn. Two condoms, twenty dollars, her actual driver's license this time and the handcuffs. The same shiny, new gold handcuffs rest on the table in my foyer.

I walk up behind her, reach forward and pull them into my hand just as my phone rings.

I answer the call immediately. "Thank you, Charles. I'll call down when I want you to bring the phone up."

She turns slowly as her delicate hand reaches for the handcuffs. She pulls on them gently.

"Take off your dress."

"Gabriel," she says in a faint whisper. "I want those back."