I start peeling off clothes. It’s an unnerving task with her looking on, even though I only disrobe down to my underwear.
When I’m finished, she approaches me, maneuvering me this way and that, dragging the tape along my limbs and around my waist. She doesn’t write down a single number. I hope she can remember them all, because I’m not coming back.
When she’s finished, she gives me a graceful nod and purrs, “You may dress. I’ll have Marilynn show you out.” And with that, she disappears through the door, leaving me to get dressed.
Alone.
********
It’s well after dark by the time I arrive at Alec’s home on Seabrook Island. I park in the driveway and cut the engine. I sit behind the wheel, staring at the single lighted window for several long minutes before I open the door and get out. After I pull my bag from the back seat, I make my way up the steps to the front door.
It opens before I can even knock.
Alec is standing in the opening, wearing black slacks and a pearl gray silk shirt, unbuttoned at the throat with the sleeves rolled up. I’m pretty sure I’ve never seen anything sexier. “I was afraid you’d changed your mind,” he says as he reaches forward to take the bag from my shoulder.
“No you weren’t,” I blurt. He knew I would come. Maybe more than I did. It’s disconcerting, but it’s true. He knows he’s got me.
“No, I wasn’t,” he replies honestly. And he grins. For the first time, I get to see not the polite, cool gesture, but a genuine smile. And I’m totally disarmed. Here is yet another deadly dimension to this dangerous man.
“At least you’re honest,” I mutter as I step inside.
“I’m always honest.”
I could argue that, based strictly on the Alec Brand / Dr. B thing, but I don’t. There’s no room for that here. Not now. By unspoken agreement, we’ve moved on. My being here says that. Besides, this weekend is for…something else.
“Always honest, huh? Then you can tell me what you have planned for this weekend,” I say casually as he leads me through his magnificent home.
“I could. But I won’t. You’ll just have to trust me every step of the way.”
I’m trying.
Alec leads me up two levels to what I assume is the master bedroom. It occupies the entire third floor and includes a private balcony beyond the bank of windows that dominates one side of the room.
Although I associate Alec with dark colors, which suit his brooding personality, this room seems to fit something in him as well, even though it’s done completely in stark whites and rich creams. From the plush antique white duvet to the bear skin rug in front of the white marble fireplace, this room screams luxury and sensuality, both adjectives I would use to describe Alec.
Alec sets my bag in the corner beside another door then leads me through it into the most opulent bathroom I’ve ever seen. Its rich beauty is further accentuated by the softly flickering candles that cover every white surface.
My stomach twitches in excitement when Alec stops in the center of the room and turns toward me. Taking both my hands in his, he brings one to his mouth and presses his lips to my knuckles.
“I’m going to help you get ready for tonight. Your clothes shouldn’t be too long now. But first…a bath,” he says, never taking his eyes off mine.
I don’t know what to say. I feel like I should argue, at least for propriety’s sake.
We’ve only even kissed once and now he’s talking about a bath?
But no words form on my lips. Everything else in the world seems pointless compared to what I see in Alec’s eyes.
Pulling me further into the room, he stops in front of an oversized tub, half full of water, suds and flower petals.
“Those are for you,” he says. “I thought a more romantic ambience might put you at ease.”
And he was right. But it doesn’t eclipse the reason that I’m here. That we’re both here. “Thank you,” I whisper, keeping my insecurities to myself.
“This is all about you, all for you. This is to show you that I’m always considering you, that you can trust me. You must trust me. You must do as I ask. Every time. Without hesitation. Do you understand?”
I get the sense that he’s warning me. Again. But the thinking part of me refuses to heed it. Again.
When I don’t answer, he reaches up to push a lock of hair behind my ear. “All good?”
I nod. “All good.”
Alec drops to one knee and wraps his large hand behind my leg, lifting until it bends and my foot comes off the floor. He slips off first one shoe and then the other.
I watch the top of his dark head as his fingers tease the tops of my toes. “Did you know,” he asks, glancing up at me with his burning eyes, “that to some people, feet are an erogenous zone?” As he watches me, his thumb begins to make deep circles on my arch. I feel the sensation all the way in the lowest part of my stomach.
His eyes still on mine, Alec slowly stands until he’s towering over me at his full height. I feel intimidated and excited and a little fearful of what he could do to me if he so chose.
“I’ve imagined what your br**sts look like,” he says as he curls his fingers in the hem of my shirt and eases it up. When it’s free of my arms and lying on the floor behind me, he continues. “Pale white and perfectly round,” he whispers as he slides both bra straps off my shoulders and down my arms, pulling the cups over my ni**les. His eyes fixate on them in a way that feels like a physical touch. He lets out a sigh that sounds both pained and excited. “With pink ni**les that taste like candy.”
I feel them tighten as he speaks, as if begging for him to try them. And he does. In a movement so slow it almost hurts, Alec unhooks the clasp between my br**sts and bends his head to take my aching nipple into his mouth, swirling his tongue over it until I can’t breathe.
I let my head fall back, immediately lost to the sensation. It’s easier than it usually is. But I shouldn’t be surprised. From the moment I first saw Alec, I’ve found myself lost in him, lost to him.
“I’m making introductions,” he explains, trailing his mouth across to my other breast, “because you and my tongue are going to become close friends. Best friends, in fact.” He flicks my nipple with the warm, wet muscle then sucks it into his mouth. When he releases it, he licks his way down my stomach to the waist band of my skirt. “You’ll dream of it,” he says, his hands moving to the small of my back where he unbuttons and unzips the closure. Easing it over my hips, he lets it drop to the floor. “And you’ll think of it every time you go to put on your panties.” Leaning forward, Alec runs his tongue along the elastic band, his chin grazing the top of my most sensitive body part.