"Who is this?" I drop to my knee and hold my hand out for him to smell.
"Bentley."
The dog comes up to me, and I rub his big old face. He's beautiful. "Hello, Bentley." I laugh. "You are a big boy," I say in my baby voice that I save only for dogs. I sit on the floor as I rub behind his ears. "I miss my dog."
"You have a dog?"
"No, my family dog. His name was Digger. He died when he was thirteen. Best dog in the world. Do you have a ball, Bentley?" I baby talk again.
"Oh God." Sebastian rolls his eyes. "He hates that voice."
"Oh, you love it, don’t you, big boy?" I babble on as I rub behind his ears.
"Don’t wind him up. He'll be running around the house all night."
"Where's your ball?" I mouth to tease Sebastian.
"Jesus," Sebastian mutters dryly, sipping his drink. I look up to see that he's trying to hide his smile. "He's hungry. I'll feed him." He gets up and walks down the hallway. "Benny, come on."
The old dog waddles up the hall to follow him. I listen on as he feeds him and puts him out.
Sebastian walks back out into the kitchen.
"What did you have for dinner?" I ask him.
He shrugs. "I didn’t get around to it yet. I was supposed to be going to my friends but—"
"You wanted to see me instead?"
His eyes hold mine. "Something like that. I'll get something later."
"By something, you mean my vagina?" I ask innocently.
He gives me a smile. "Precisely."
I stand and go to the fridge. "I'll make us something."
"That’s not necessary."
"I love to cook." I open the fridge and peer in. "It’s the one thing I'm good at."
"There's another thing you're very good at."
My eyes flick over to him and he gives me a sexy wink.
I smile to myself, feeling proud of myself. "What do we have in here?" I see that his fridge is fully stocked. "You cook?"
" I have a cook."
"Well." I take out some chicken and put it onto the counter. "Now you have two."
His eyes hold mine as the air crackles between us.
I take out some fresh garlic, cream, and bacon. I open the pantry and find some fettuccini. "Do you like Carbonara?" I ask.
"Doesn’t everybody?"
"Maybe not." I get to washing my hands, "Put some music on, will you?"
"What do you want to listen to?"
I narrow my eyes as I get out a chopping board and knife.
"I’ll play your anthem," he says.
"What's that supposed to mean?" I start to chop the onions.
"This was the song that you walked down the catwalk to in the Escape Lounge."
The song Sexual Healing by Marvin Gaye sounds through the speaker system.
I stop what I’m doing and glance up. "Was it?"
"Uh-huh."
"How do you remember that?"
"I remember everything about you. You're not easy to forget."
I smile as I go back to chopping. "You do know that I'm going to rob your house while you're unconscious, right?"
He laughs and walks over behind me to refill my glass. Then, he pulls my hair to the side and begins to kiss my neck.
I smile as goosebumps scatter up my spine.
"Do that, and I'll tie you up in the basement for a couple of years and use you as my sex slave," he murmurs against my skin.
His teeth graze my neck. "I'm totally down with that." I smile, "Stop distracting me, or you won't be eating.”
"Let's skip the main and start on dessert."
"Sebastian." I turn my head and kiss his big pouty lips. "You need to build up your energy. I'm hoping that dessert will be a marathon event."
He chuckles, bites me hard, and slaps my behind before he goes back to his stool and sits down.
I turn the hotplates on and begin to fry the onions and garlic. I put the pasta in the boiling water, and we chat and laugh as I cook.
It’s not awkward, and it's not sleazy. It feels like I'm meant to be here doing this with him… whatever this is.
Marvin Gaye’s Sexual Healing plays throughout the house.
If this song is my anthem, I'm making it my bitch.
We've drank two bottles of wine over dinner.
After washing up, I now have Sebastian sitting in the armchair in his bedroom. The room is lit only by the bedside lamp. His bedroom is big and luxurious, like him.
It wouldn’t matter where we were. It's only me and him now, and this desire between us.
Sebastian and I have a lot of things that are good about us, but it's the sexuality, the raw hunger for each other's bodies that's next level. He makes me crave a deeper connection, a different kind of dominance. One I've never needed before him. But now that I've had it, I can't get enough.
My eyes hold his as I slowly undress to the beat.
He sits back, legs wide, his hunger real. I slide my jeans down my legs and throw them to the side. I lift my T-shirt over my head and stand before him in a skimpy white bra and G-string. I unhook my bra and throw it to the side, and then I drop to my knees between his legs. He hisses as he sits back, awaiting my mouth.