In Flight (Up in the Air #1)(28)

It made me very nervous to live paycheck to paycheck, so I was quickly trying to rectify the situation. I would have three days total off for the week, and planned to pick up extra hours on at least one of them.

I hung the work clothes that I had uncharacteristically strewn all over the floor into a dry cleaning bag. I had many uniforms, but at least half of them needed a trip to the dry cleaner.

I gathered them up and put them in my car, planning to stop by on the way to James’s house. We got a small dry cleaning allowance from the company. They wanted us to look polished on the job, but it didn’t cover even half of the cost that I spent at the cleaners. Perhaps it was all of those extra hours I worked that wracked my dry cleaning bill up so high…

I showered and washed my hair. I shaved just about every part of my body, the actions giving me a feeling of anticipation that they never had before. I always shaved my legs. But I’d never done it for a man before. I felt odd, so unlike myself.

I rubbed oil and then lotion into my skin, and left my hair to air dry. I could do some painting outside while it was wet. Las Vegas in the late spring was like nature’s hair dryer.

I wore a baggy old teal-colored cotton sundress outside to paint. It was comfortable and I didn’t really care if it got some paint on it, so I often wore it and several other threadbare dresses when I painted.

My backyard was small, but it had high walls. This made it fairly private, so I could wear what I wanted. I hadn’t worn underwear. I often didn’t if I was just puttering around the house by myself, but today it felt different.

I moved my easel around, and felt the brush of my br**sts against my threadbare dress in a completely new way. It was like James could do foreplay without even being present. I was priming myself for him with no effort on his part. It wasn’t fair for anyone to be that wickedly attractive. I kept picturing the way he had looked at me while he put that handkerchief to his face, brazenly inhaling it. I shivered at just the thought. I kept thinking about his spanking threats, as well. In fact, I thought of that the most.

Would he do that tonight? Would he spank me and then take my virginity? And tie me up? In what order? I squeezed my legs together just at the thought. The not knowing was a pull to me, even if it did frighten me.

If I was honest with myself, being frightened was a pull for me as well. I knew James could take me to some dark places, but I would find pleasure there, and I wanted that.

I had a board mounted with some watercolor paper that I had prepped before I left. I began to paint with an uncharacteristically short amount of prep. Usually I did a lot of sketching and planning, taking pictures and pinning them up. But today, I just painted. I knew exactly where to start.

I mixed some blue, a bright azure with a watery aquamarine and then added a touch of green. It didn’t take long to mix exactly what I wanted, a vivid turquoise blue that I shaped into a pair of eyes that I couldn’t get out of my head.

CHAPTER TWELVE

Mr. Dominant

I got caught up painting, and so lost track of time. When I noticed the time, I cursed. I was actually running late, which I never did. Now it had happened twice in two days.

That can’t become a habit, I thought. It was hell on my nerves.

I knew it wasn’t a date, but I still had to take some time and care with my hair and makeup, lining my eyes with a soft brown, and putting a double layer of black mascara on my lashes. The effect was dramatic for a bit of makeup. I added a light gold shadow to my eyes, and stained my lips with a dusky red.

I smoothed my hair out, and left it down and straight.

I wore a short black dress with violet flowers splashed across it. It was a little transparent, not see-through enough to need a slip underneath, just enough to hint at the figure beneath. It was sleeveless, with a scoop neck that showed more cle**age than I usually preferred.

The thin black lace bra I chose clearly outlined my ni**les. I wouldn’t normally pair the two together, but it seemed appropriate for a night like this.

I found one of my lacy thongs that matched the flowers on my dress. Someone would probably be seeing my panties tonight, so why not have them match?

As I studied my reflection in the mirror, I reached a hand up, gripping my breast, massaging it and plucking at the nipple until it showed clearly through the thin dress.

What am I doing? I wondered, even as I inched my dress up to my hips, running a finger inside my panties. I’m late, I thought, but even so, began stroking myself.

My phone rang, and it startled me out of my strange little trance. I answered in a breathless voice. “Hello?”

“Where are you?” James’s voice bit at me with no preamble. He sounded harsh, almost angry.

I looked at the clock. It was 5:49 p.m. I was supposed to be at his house in eleven minutes.

“I was just about to head out. I’ll be there in about twenty minutes, if I don’t make any wrong turns.”

“What’s going on? You sound strange. And you’re going to be late. This is one of many reasons why I wanted to send a driver.”

“I’ll be right there.” I had started stroking myself again, the sound of his voice turning me on, even angry, perhaps because of that.

“What are you doing? Why do you sound so breathless?” he asked, his own voice changing to a purr.

Oh God, I thought, he knows what I’m doing. “Nothing,” I told him, but I hadn’t stopped.