Haze

He, on the other hand, looks striking. He's dressed completely in black. This is one of the few times I've seen him outside his penthouse without a tie.

"This is where I live," I state the obvious out of nervousness. Of course this is where I live. I'm the one who gave him the address when he asked if he could pick me up for dinner.

I move aside as he brushes past me. "It's larger than I imagined. It's comfortable?"

"It's no penthouse overlooking Central Park," I tease. "I like it a lot though. I really like it now that my roommate has left."

"I thought she was moving out on Friday."

I thought the same until she told me that Nigel's roommate had bailed on him so she was going to move in there. It's financially the best decision for them both and as she packed up what was left of her things last night, I'd given her a huge hug and watched her walk out the door.

We'll still meet for lunch and dinners. We'll hang out sometimes but our lives are moving in different directions.

"She had an opportunity to move sooner, so she took it."

He reaches for my hands, pulling them into his. "You're trembling, Isla. What is it?"

I glance towards my bedroom. There's no reason for me to be nervous. This is what I want. It's why I stopped on my way home from work last night in a small store I had peered in night after night. I'm not doing this for him. Well, not just for him. This is for me.

"Kiss me." I perch myself up on my tiptoes. I have yet to put on my heels, or my panties, for that matter. The only thing I'm wearing is the navy blue sheath dress he's never seen me in before.

He cradles my face in his palms as he kisses me slow and deep, his delicious tongue diving into my mouth, coaxing me. I moan into the kiss as he trails his teeth over my bottom lip. This time I don't pull back when he bites me.

"What was it for?" I say breathlessly against his mouth.

"You did open your dress for a customer." His smile presses against mine. "Cicely wasn't impressed."

"I give zero fucks about Cicely. Zero."

He laughs then. The sound vibrates through me. How did I get this lucky? What did I ever do in my life to deserve the attention of this man?

"I want the things we do to be just about us." I stop to kiss him again.

He pulls me closer, his hands now wrapped lightly around my neck. "They are, Isla. Everything we ever do will just be about us."

"I bought you a gift."

His fingers run through my hair. "A gift? For me?"

I close my eyes, doubting for just a moment whether this is a good idea or not.

"Show me?" Expectation laces his words. "I want to see what it is."

"Gabriel." I press my mouth against his one more time, reveling in the sweet taste of his breath and the scent of his skin. "My bedroom is the first door on the left. Please give me five minutes. Just five and then you'll come in."

He kisses me with a low growl. "Five minutes, Isla. Not a minute more."

***

My heart stops for two beats when I hear the door open and the sound he makes. It's not a moan, it doesn't resemble a word. It's a slow, guttural sound that drives every ounce of desire to my core instantly.

"Jesus, Isla," he hisses as he walks into my view. "This is for me? You did this for me?"

The only light in the room are the vanilla scented candles I've placed around the space. There may be a dozen, maybe less. I lost count when I lit them with my shaky hands.

I'd pulled my dress off then, securing the black fur collar around my neck. I pulled the crop from the box I've kept it in since I bought it. I held it in my palms, imagining his strong hand wrapped around the handle as he pulls it over my skin, before he brings it down in a harsh snap.

"Isla," he says my name softly as he takes off his jacket, tossing it on a chair near the bed. "I've never seen anything more beautiful than this."

My body is completely on display. My thighs spread not more than a few inches, my pussy wet, wanting, aching for him.

He rolls up the sleeves of his shirt, his eyes never leaving mine.

I whimper faintly when he lowers one knee to the bed as he scoops up the handcuffs I'd left on the nightstand. He kisses a trail of soft bites up my right arm before he closes the cuff around my wrist. He wraps them around the post of my headboard before a soft line of kisses dot my left arm. When I'm finally bound he leans down. His index finger loops through the metal ring on the front of the collar. He pulls it up, my neck slowly bending with the movement as he pulls me into his waiting kiss.