Going Down

He took me out to eat.

“You need sustenance,” he said. “I will take good care of you, if you spend the weekend with me.”

Sustenance for what? I wondered, remembering his comment about playing later. And now I was spending the weekend, not just the evening. Both fear and desire flared in my gut, making me tremble. I felt shell-shocked. He wasn’t done with me yet. That certain knowledge was exhilarating. When we stepped out of the apartment block, the noise and lights of the city street seemed even more dazzling and exciting than they already were. I was high on the afterglow, and let him lead and guide me.

He took me to a small bistro two minutes walk away from the apartments. It was simple, and busy. As if aware of my heightened senses, he asked for a secluded booth at the back. There he sat alongside me, closing me into a world of our own. He ordered for us both and fed me delicacies with his fingers, while I sat looking at him in awe, accepting whatever he gave me. A couple of hours in his company, not much longer, and he’d mastered me so thoroughly.

The claret he ordered was good, and it made my muscles relax. Was that his intention? “The woman in the photograph…”

“Yes.” He sat back and studied me as I spoke.

“She was a girlfriend?”

“Yes.” He put his head on one side. “It bothers you?”

“No.” It did. Of course it did. What woman likes to see the gorgeous ex, even if this was only a one-night stand or a wild weekend or whatever it was. “I have no right, we’re just…”

I looked away from our booth.

“Your hair is the color of honey,” he said, drawing my attention back. He eased his finger through my thick mop, admiration shining in his eyes. When I met his gaze he shook his head. “You are what I want.”

The simple statement did exactly what he meant it to.

It pushed away my doubts.

“I mean to enjoy you, thoroughly,” he added. “If you are willing?”

The doubts had gone, but the nerves hadn’t. Not completely.

Taking a deep breath, I nodded.

“Strip for me,” he said when we went back to his apartment.

I glanced at the glass walls. “Can people see us?”

I’d been so caught up in the heat of the moment during our previous tryst that it hadn’t even occurred to me. But now that we were back and he stood me deliberately at the center of the room, I felt very much on display. The lights were on and the city sky was dark above the rooftops.

“No. Only me.”

My hands shook as I reached for the zipper on my skirt. I wanted to do it, but the concept of following a man’s instructions regarding getting undressed was something I never thought I would ever do. It felt so good, though. At that moment I was under his command and loving it for as long as it lasted.

What did he intend to do with me? The question kept running back and forth through my mind, keeping me on edge and nervy. I took off my shirt. Kicking off my heels, I shuffled my skirt off then ran my thumb under the band on my lace undies, pausing.

He lifted one eyebrow.

“Will you…are you going to use the rope on me?”

“No.” There was no hesitation in his voice. “Maybe another time,” he added and smiled indulgently. Perhaps it had pleased him that I was curious about it. “I have something else in mind for you, something that will perhaps help you overcome your shyness about displaying yourself to me.”

My attention was locked.

“Do you trust me to take care of you? That is very important.”

Instinct led my judgment. “Yes, yes, I do.”

“I am only interested in pleasure…extreme pleasure, yes, but I don’t wish to hurt you. If I do, you must say so.”

I swallowed my nerves. “I understand.”