“Give me time,” I begged, feeling my world start to crumble around me.
“How much?”
“I don’t know.”
“You better decide.” He slid out of the booth and threw a handful of dollar bills on the table. “Or else I’ll do it for you.”
“Damn it, Todd.”
“It’s the only way.” He stood by the table. “But I’ll keep your secret. I won’t tell Elaina.”
“Thanks for the small favor,” I said with a sneer.
“You’ll thank me one day,” he said, and turned to leave the bar. “See you at dinner.”
I dropped my head to my hands when he left.
Chapter Twenty-three
I eventually made it back to the suite, and since it was still too early for Abby to be back from the spa, I sat on the couch and stared at her collar.
Todd knew.
Todd knew and he would force my hand and Abby would be upset. How else could she react to the news that I’d been watching her? I had lied to her. A lie of omission, true, but a lie all the same. Would she ever trust me again?
I would have to tell her of the way I’d watched her. That would lead to the ridiculous safe word and how I’d deceived her about the lifestyle. She would know I’d misled her.
No, she would never trust me again.
I wouldn’t blame her, but . . . I didn’t have to tell her. Whatever Todd decided, so be it. Let him do it.
After the previous night, my relationship with Abby had changed, taken a turn for the better. I would not, could not, destroy it. Not after all we’d been through and not over something as silly as a crush.
What did it matter anyway? So I’d watched her. I’d never approached her. I didn’t manipulate her. It was no big deal.
Except it was.
Our relationship, perhaps more so than any other, demanded complete trust and honesty. I knew that. I’d lived that. Abby deserved that.
But I couldn’t do it. I thought back to the absolute trust she had given me the previous night and I knew I couldn’t look her in the eyes and tell her. I was too much of a damn coward.
After dinner, I’d find Todd and tell him. Abby would remain in the dark. Bottom line.
I picked up the newspaper and skimmed over the first page. Nothing newsworthy. The second page was even worse. I glanced at my watch. She would be arriving any minute.
I couldn’t wait to see her.
Finally, I heard the key in the door.
She walked into the suite looking totally and completely beautiful. The spa day had been a wonderful idea—she glowed. Her soft curls brushed her shoulders and her expression was luminous.
“Did you enjoy your day?” I asked.
“Yes, Master,” she said and her head dipped slightly.
Fuck. I loved it when she called me Master. Why did hearing it from her always make me hard?
I stood up and held out the collar. “Miss something?”
She nodded.
I walked toward her. “Do you want it back?”
She nodded again.
“Say it.” I wanted to hear it. Needed to hear it. “Say you want it.”
“I want it,” she whispered. “I want your collar.”
My collar. Damn straight. She wore my collar. She was mine. And I’d be damned if Todd would take her from me.
I slipped her shirt over her head, the bite mark from last night visible on her shoulder. I pushed her hair to one side and kissed the bruise where I’d bitten her. “I marked you last night. Marked you as mine and I’ll do it again.” I ran my teeth over her tender skin. “There are so many ways I can mark you.”
I slipped the collar around her neck. Fuck. The sight of my collar on her made me even harder. I wanted nothing more than to push her over the arm of the couch and f**k her senseless.
Instead, I fastened the collar. “Unfortunately, we have to have dinner with Todd and Elaina. Go change. I have your clothes out on the bed.”
I stood by the couch when she returned wearing the cotton dress I’d laid out after she left this morning. “Bend over the arm of the couch, Abigail.”
She lowered her body over the couch, resting on her arms, and I lifted her skirt. No panties. I chuckled. “How well you read my mind.” I ran a hand over her soft skin. “Too bad. I was looking forward to giving you a spanking before dinner.”
Elaina had made reservations for the small waterfront bistro earlier in the week. As we drove to the restaurant moments later, I remembered Abby had eaten red meat the night before. A nice serving of fish would be good for her, so I instructed her to order fish for dinner.
Todd and Elaina were nowhere in sight when we arrived. I waved Abby into the booth while we waited. She picked up her menu and started reading. I looked toward the door, waiting.
Todd entered first and spotted us immediately. Elaina looked troubled. She knew, then, that something had happened. I glanced over to Abby—she was still reading the menu.
I’m not telling her, I mouthed to Todd as he came closer.
His expression grew darker. “Abby,” he said in a rough voice.
Abby looked up warily. Shit. Now she knew something was wrong. Todd didn’t take his eyes off me when she answered; he kept his stony glare on me.
We all sat down, and the waiter came to take our drinks order.
You need to tell her, Todd mouthed while Abby and Elaina chatted quietly.
I shook my head.
Todd slapped his menu on the table when the waiter left.
“So, Nathaniel,” Elaina said, obviously desperate to keep some sort of peace at the table. “Where’s Apollo this weekend?”
“At a kennel,” I said. I could talk normally. Keep the conversation reasonable. This was possible.
“He’s better, then?” she asked. “You can leave him there?”
See? We were talking about my dog. Perfectly reasonable.
“He’s made marginal improvements,” I said.
“Glad someone has,” Todd mumbled.
So much for reasonable.
Fortunately, the waiter arrived with our drinks. “Everyone have a chance to look over the menu?”
Right. The menu. Probably would have been a good idea to decide what to order.
And then I noticed the way the waiter leered at Abby. Fucking leered. At Abby.
“Ma’am?” he asked her. Like he wasn’t imagining her n**ed at that very moment.
“I’ll have the salmon.” Because I told her to order fish and she always did as she was told. She handed the menu to me.
“Wonderful choice,” the obnoxious waiter said. “The salmon’s one of our best sellers.” Then he f**king winked at her. Fucking winked. At Abby.
I cleared my throat.
“Yes, sir,” he said. “What would you like?”
“The salmon,” I said, handing him our menus as he wrote Todd’s and Elaina’s orders down.
He would leave now.
But instead he rocked back on his heels. “You guys in town for the game?”
He said you guys, but he looked straight at Abby.
She scooted closer to me.
That’s right, loser, I wanted to say. She came with me. She’s sitting with me. When we leave, she’ll be leaving with me. And when you’re alone tonight, she’ll still be with me.
“Of course. Giants all the way,” Elaina said, once more trying to bring peace to the table. Poor woman had her work cut out for her.
The waiter smirked.
“You know,” I said. “If you put in our order, we’ll get our food faster and get out of here quicker.”
Waiter guy finally left after shooting Abby one last glance.
The tension was so palpable when he left, I almost wished he’d return. If for no other reason than to move some of the attention off Todd and me.
Elaina pushed out her chair. “I need to hit the restroom. Abby?”
“Sure,” Abby answered, the relief in her voice obvious.
Todd and I stood up as the women got up from the table and we both watched as they walked to the bathroom.
“You’re making a damn big mistake,” he said when they were out of earshot and we’d sat back down.
“It’s my mistake to make.”
“Maybe, but when that mistake hurts Abby, it’s not just about you anymore.”
“The mistake will never hurt Abby, because she’ll never find out.”
He leaned across the table. “Don’t bet on it. When she does find out, and she will, it will go easier if you’re the one to tell her. And if you tell her sooner, rather than later.”
“Leave. It. Be,” I said, leaning across the table myself.
“You’re an intelligent, well-respected man,” he said. “You built your business on principles of honesty and integrity. You live your entire life by those values. You demand it of your employees. What would you do if you knew I was keeping something from Elaina?”
“I’d trust you to make the right decision. About your personal life.”
“The hell you would,” he said, voice rising. “You’d tell her yourself.”
I slammed my fist on the table. “You won’t take her from me.”
“Damn it, Nathaniel,” he said. “I don’t want to take her from you. I want her to stay with you because you deserve the trust she’s placed in you.” His eyes shot to the side. “I suggest you calm yourself down. They’re coming back.”
I had steadied my breathing by the time Abby and Elaina made it to the table. While I was certain Abby knew something was up, I also knew she would never question me about it. My friends were, technically, not her concern.
I couldn’t remember a bite of anything I ate, though at the end of dinner, my plate was clean. I remembered only arguing with myself.
Tell her.
Don’t tell her.
Lose her.
Keep her.
The choices went around and around in my head. I didn’t know what to do. Couldn’t decide.
Later, as we rode up the elevator to our room, I knew one thing—in this one moment, for this one night—she was mine.
I slammed the door behind us as we entered the room. Grabbing Abby by the arm, I spun her against the door and slipped my hands up her dress.
“Damn it. Damn it. Damn it.” I breathed in the scent of her. She was mine. Her smell was mine. Her body was mine. Her damn soul was mine. I jerked the dress over her head and ripped her bra off.
She stood n**ed before me.
I pushed my pants off with one move and then ripped my shirt open and off, not caring that buttons flew everywhere. Abby stared at me with wild, wide eyes.
I picked her up and pushed her against the door. “Next weekend, you’re not wearing a bit of clothing from the time you arrive until the second you leave my house.”
I was so far gone, we weren’t going to make it to the bedroom. I was going to take her there. Against the door.
I slipped two fingers inside her. Thank goodness she was already wet. I wasn’t in the mood for foreplay. “I’ll take you whenever and wherever I want.” I twisted my fingers and she moaned. “I’ll f**k you five times Friday night alone.”
Because I f**king can.
“I want you waxed bare next weekend, Abigail. Not a bit of hair left.”
She blinked.
“Spread your legs and bend them,” I told her. “I’m not waiting any longer.”
With no hesitation, she parted her knees and bent them. I dipped below her, guiding my c**k into her in one smooth motion and thrusting up at the same time.
Fuck. Yes.
I pulled back and thrust into her again, slamming her into the door. She gave a small hop and wrapped her legs around my waist.
My eyes rolled back into my head.
But still it wasn’t enough. Over and over, I sent us both pounding into the door—working myself deeper and trying my damnedest to possess her completely.