TAUT (28 page)

“You won’t?” She looks over her shoulder at me and I impulsively bite her earlobe.

“I’ll be disappointed, but not mad. If it’s not fun, there’s no point in doing it.”

“So those ten spankings—”

“Will make you scream my name five times, I promise you.”

She lets out a long breath as the elevator doors open. There’s a crowd of people waiting but she doesn’t move and neither do I. The other guests stare at us as Ashleigh tilts her head up and says so everyone can hear. “So for every two spankings I get an orgasm? It’s a two-to-one ratio?”

Snickers from the audience and I guide her forward. “For that outburst, Miss Li, you’ll get an extra swat.”

She laughs and takes my hand. “I can do that, you know. Hold your hand. I requested it and even though you said you don’t take requests, you lied.”

I pull her towards the valet area and chuckle. “You’re working on number twelve now, Ashleigh.” Our car is waiting and I open her door. She slides in and I get in after her.

“So where are we going?”

“Patience.” I put my arm around her and the driver pulls out, but we don’t exit onto the Strip, instead he turns right and we take the hotel access road around the property. “Are you excited?” I ask, leaning down to bite her ear again. I’m having a hard time keeping my mouth off her body right now.

“A bite is a kiss, right?”

“Yes.”

“What if I want a real kiss when the night is over?”

“What if I want a promise when the night is over?”

“What kind of promise?” She looks up at me and her nerves are back. I can feel her heart thrumming inside her chest as she leans into me.

“What kind of kiss do you want? A small peck to say thank you? A romantic one that says I care? Or a passionate one with some bite mixed in that will make you come in the hallway?”

She inhales and swallows. I’m really making her nervous now. “I’m not sure yet.”

“I’m not sure what kind of promise I want either. Something small, maybe—a phone number? A little more serious perhaps—another date tomorrow night at my house in Bel Air? Or maybe you just never leave and we give it a real try?”

The car stops before she can answer, but she takes those few seconds before the driver opens the door to steal a look at me. “I can’t think about tomorrow.”

“Then don’t. Forget about tomorrow. Tonight it’s only you and me and no one else exists until this date is officially over.”

The door opens. I get out and reach for her hand, pulling her gently to her feet. She looks past me into the lobby and smiles. “OK. I’m all yours.”

Damn right
, I muse.

I lead her inside to the elevators and we take it up to the top floor where the restaurant is. Our table is waiting when we arrive and the maître d’ guides us to a private semi-circle booth that faces the Strip and has an absolutely stunning view. “I said sushi, but the sushi bars in Vegas are not intimate, so we’ll have to make do with this tonight.”

She hunches her shoulders a little and gets excited as she looks over the menu. “Wow, fuck the sushi—I’m getting lobster.”

I close my eyes and shake my head slowly.
Oh, dear lord.
She’s going to drive me insane with her antics. “Why must you try me like this?” I ask as I open my eyes.

She laughs. “Ford, you think I’m adorable, you said so. How much fun would I be if I just did everything you said and behaved myself?” She looks up at me and bats her eyelashes. “You’d never have your dirty way with me if I was compliant. And by the way, your package looks so good in that suit.” She looks down and then up and waggles her eyebrows.

“I take it you’ve settled into the date, then? Your nervousness has passed?”

She sighs and nods. “Yes. You’re too wily for me, Ford. You think of everything. Why fight it?”

I slip my hand behind her neck and fist her hair as I whisper in her ear. “I do like the fight, but not tonight. Tonight you’re mine. Tonight I own you. I get to take care of you. I get to make you feel things for the first time. Tonight I promise you perfection. So just give in, Ashleigh. Give yourself to me and let it happen.”

She turns her head, just slightly, just so her lips are against my rough cheek. My free hand involuntarily comes up to her neck and presses against her throat. She moans a little before I loosen my hold. “Ford,” she says seductively into my ear. “I’m going to kiss you right now. In public.” And then I feel the stretch of her neck under my palm and her soft lips touch my earlobe, just skim across the sensitive skin before pulling away.

It actually makes me close my eyes for a second.

“See,” she breathes. “It’s nice. I trust you. But I like soft kisses. So in between the rough stuff you like, be careful with me. Give me something soft, because I really need it.”

I’m speechless. I’m still thinking about her kiss, so I have to play catch up with her words.

This confession from her unlocks something deep inside. Something that makes me want to hold her close and protect her. To wipe away all the things that have her worried and make her world perfect.

I want her. I’d let her sloppy-kiss me right here in front of everyone if she asked right now.

But the waiter arrives and we both turn our attention to food for enough moments that the insane attraction I have to this girl is checked. She gets the lobster and I get the prime rib. But my appetite is gone and my mind is only on one thing right now.

How the fuck do I keep her from leaving me tomorrow?

When we’re done ordering we sit in silence and enjoy our drinks. This place is over-the-top yet subdued at the same time. Our booth has a high back that curves around the plush bench so we can’t see the diners on either side of us. It’s just Ashleigh, me, and the nighttime Vegas skyline.

“Tell me something new, Ford.”

I smile at her request. “That’s what started it, you know. Your confession that you thought I was a hot serial killer.”

“A hot serial killer who would beat back my keen defenses with his unorthodox charm so that I’d beg him to kill me during kinky sex.”

“Hmmm…”

She laughs. “Yeah, seems like your diabolical plan is working. Please don’t make me beg you to kill me tonight.”

“I’ll make you beg for something, but death will be the last thing on your list. More, that’s what you’ll be begging for. More.”

She smiles and shakes her head a little, like I’m such a cocky bastard. “Let’s play a game.”

“You have a game for everything, it seems.” I have my arm around her shoulder and I trace the curve of her small muscles in her upper arm, thinking of her shivering touch on my back last night. “What kind of game?”

She turns her body a little so she can see my face. “It’s called Lie, Lie, Truth. You tell me three things about you, two of them lies, one not. And I have to guess which one is true.”

“What do you get if you guess?”

“A favor. To be claimed at some time in the future.”

“I’ve never heard of this game, I think you make these games up.”

“It was something my friends and I played in school. We had no boys, remember? We had to keep ourselves occupied somehow.”

“Were you a Sandy or a Rizzo when you were in school?” She bursts out laughing and I have to shush her because it’s so loud. “Stop.”

“A Sandy—are you talking about
Grease
?”

Even I laugh now. “Sorry, I’m a film producer, remember? Now tell me, Sandy or Rizzo?”

“You tell me. Ready?” I nod. “OK.” She stops, to think up her lies presumably, and then turns to me grinning. “In tenth grade I won a contest for selling the most candy bars for our school orchestra. I can play four instruments. I got kicked out of the orchestra in eleventh grade because I stood up and yelled,
Play ball
after we performed the Star-Spangled Banner for a competition.”

“No contest, number two. You’re a Sandy who thinks she wants to be a Rizzo.”

She squirms and huffs out a small laugh. “Yes, that’s true. I liked being smart as a kid. I was an overachiever. But why do you think that? I mean, how did you know that was the truth?”

“It’s pretty difficult for foreigners to get into a Japanese university. I might not know much about you, but I know you’re exceptional. Selling the most candy bars is not exceptional and I don’t think you’d ever ruin someone else’s special moment just to be a brat. You play four instruments was the only logical answer. So I win a future favor and now it’s my turn. Ready?”

“Yes, I’m ready,” she says, her eyes locked on mine.

“I’ve never had a girlfriend. I’ve never wanted a girlfriend. I wish I’d never met you.” I look down at her and her mouth is open, gaping at me.

“Um…”

“Should I say them again?”

She stares at me. “You’ve never had a girlfriend? How is that possible?”

I shrug a little. “I’ve never had a girlfriend and I’ve never wanted one… until you. I’ve had lots of sex. And I’ve been on dates. But the girls I’m usually with have strict rules and no talking or touching were two of them.”

“What did you do on the dates, if you didn’t talk?”

“I fucked them in the limo on the drive to the restaurant. I bought them dinner and drank some expensive Scotch. I fucked them in the limo on the drive back to their place. I dropped them off.”

She looks away, a little bit stunned, I think. “Why do they let you treat them that way?”

“Because they can’t stop themselves. Because finding a man who will love and cherish them is too much trouble. Because I was offering a physical encounter only. Because I was unavailable except in this very specific way. Because they’re unable to see the benefits of nothing, and instead settle for something.”

“Do you want to treat me like that?”

“Never. And now I owe you a future favor too.”

Before she can say anything else the wait staff delivers our salads. When they leave I change the subject and we talk about ridiculous things like Japanese game shows and the character development of Odd Thomas. But the entire time I’m really dying to ask her what she thinks of me. I need to know, but not yet. She needs to see all of me first. She needs to experience me and I her. We need to experience what us together looks like.

We’ll do that tonight.

When dinner is over we take the elevator downstairs and she leans into me as we wait for the car to be brought around. “Are we going back to the hotel?”

“You didn’t get your long quiet walk yet.” The car pulls up and we get in. I take the silk scarf out of my pocket and hold it out in front of her. She looks up at me with a sly smile and I chuckle. “Ready?”

“I thought we were talking a walk?”

“Trust me.”

She rolls her eyes. “I do.” And then she takes a deep steadying breath as I tie it around her eyes and knock on the window that separates us from the driver so the car can move forward.

“Do you like being blindfolded?”

“Yes,” she breathes.

“Good, because after our long quiet walk is over and I have you back up in our bedroom, I’m going to do it again.” She smiles but I can practically feel her nervousness. The car stops and we wait for the driver to open our door.

“That was fast.”

“We didn’t go very far.” I step out and take her hand, pull her into my chest, and then put one arm around her shoulder and the other on her waist as we walk forward. An attendant opens the door to the building and we’re accosted by the smell of the ocean.

“Where are we?” she asks.

The subdued bluish light from the tanks ripples across her face, making her look like an underwater sea goddess. “Guess.”

“An aquarium?”

“Very good guess.”

I slip her blindfold off and she actually claps her hands and squeals. “The Shark Reef! Are we the only people here?”

“They closed an hour ago. You can’t have a quiet walk when there are throngs of tourists around, now can you?” I offer her my arm and she wraps her hands around it and leans her head on me. “Ready?”

She simply nods and we walk forward. Slowly. Looking and thinking about life, but not our lives. We go in the tunnel and look at the reef first. “You wanted to watch life and not participate in it, right?”

“You’re amazing. That’s exactly what this is. A glimpse at life from the outside looking in. It’s perfect.”

“Yes, I think it is.” We watch the fish for a while, a part of their world, but yet not.

“I want to cash in my favor now, if that’s OK.”

“Ask away, Ash.”

“Promise you won’t forget me.”

I get this immediate pang in my chest. Like a twisting knife. Fuck, that hurts.

“You’re not promising, Ford.”

I huff out some air. “Of course not, Ashleigh. I’m never going to forget you. But I won’t have a chance to forget you either. I’m not letting you out of my sight.” She squeezes my upper arm and I turn her around so she’s facing me. I tip her chin up with my fingers and lean down, closer, keeping eye contact the entire time. My lips hover over hers. Almost no space separates us.

“Will you kiss me?” she breathes into me.

“No, Ashleigh. I need a promise first.”

“Then what are you doing?” Her gaze never wavers from mine.

“Teasing you.”

She laughs and starts to pull away but my hand slips up to her neck and my thumb traces the line of her jaw. I lean in again and she actually sighs at my small touches. “I won’t give up. And this is my night,” I say so softly that the words almost escape even my detection. It elicits a moan and I pull back.

She draws in a long breath. “I don’t want to be teased, I want to be kissed.”

“Miss Li, we have all night for that. But this part of the date is for being slow and quiet. Just like you asked. And if I kissed you now I’d end up ripping your clothes off and bending you over so I could take you from behind. And I might still do that when we go back to the hotel, but I have so many, many other things I’d like to do first.”

She looks up at me as she absently chews on her lower lip. She notices me noticing and she smiles. “You made me tingle.”

I laugh. “Did I?”

She nods, holding back her smile. “What favor will you ask of me?”

“Are you nervous about it?”