Total pages in book: 110
Estimated words: 103530 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 518(@200wpm)___ 414(@250wpm)___ 345(@300wpm)
Estimated words: 103530 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 518(@200wpm)___ 414(@250wpm)___ 345(@300wpm)
“It’s going to be crowded,” I mused. “What time does this thing start?”
“Five,” he said, bracing his hands on the railing on either side of me and leaning in to whisper in my ear, “And it goes until question marks.”
I turned in his arms and gave his shoulder a playful slap. “You did not put question marks on your invitation.”
“You caught me. I’m too classy for question marks.” He kissed my forehead, and I had the strangest urge to stand on my tiptoes and kiss him right back, on his gorgeous lips. But I restrained myself.
That was a girlfriend kind of thing to do. And I wasn’t that.
I turned back to my view of the pier. “If we don’t get ready, we’ll be late to your party. There are probably already naked people feeling each other up in your birthday cake.”
“I’ve been reliably informed that my birthday cake isn’t a real cake,” he warned.
“I assume some sexy girl is going to pop out of it.” I paused. “Or a sexy guy, since you’re into both. But a girl is traditional.”
“We’ll see,” is all he said, and I had the feeling that his fake cake had been elaborately planned out by him. I couldn’t imagine Matt, at least, the Matt I knew, having any kind of party he hadn’t controlled from the ground up.
After all, he was in the business of making people’s fantasies come true. He used that line often enough. There was no way it didn’t also apply to him.
He only proved my point by saying, “I hope you don’t mind, but I thought that, because it’s my birthday, you’d wear a little something special for me.”
And of course, I would wear something special for him. I would have jumped out of the damn cake, myself, if he’d asked. That desire to please him was starting to frighten me a little.
It didn’t make me frightened of him. In fact, everything he’d done since the moment we’d first hooked up had reinforced my impression of him as a safe harbor, a secure vault for all my most secret desires and twisted fantasies. And it was that security that terrified me. I couldn’t make him one more person for me to rely on.
But I smiled and said, “Depends on what you want me to wear.”
He took me by the hands and led me into the bedroom. “I liked your wrapping so much when you were delivered, I wouldn’t mind seeing it again.”
It wasn’t the same ribbon as before; this was a pale pink, and I wouldn’t be tied up in it. There were already two huge bows, one adorning the front of a strapless bra in the same shade, the other attached to a steel butt plug, like the red ribbon had been.
“Let me go do my makeup,” I said, arching a brow. “And then you can help me get dressed.”
He followed me to the bathroom, where I playfully ignored him and set to work on my face. I slathered on some moisturizer, then tapped primer over my eyelids while he watched, faint amusement twisting his lips.
“I just realized you haven’t been wearing makeup most of this trip,” he said, tilting his head as I rummaged for an eyeshadow brush.
I shook my head. “No, I have not. You didn’t notice because of my natural beauty.”
“That’s true.” He stepped up behind me, one arm slinking around my waist. He palmed my breast over my satin nightgown, then slipped his hand inside.
I arched my back, pushing into his hand. I liked the way his hand looked on my body. I liked the way we looked together.
I would miss that when I left.
I force aside my pang of sadness. This evening was about partying in the most degenerate ways possible. “What should I expect tonight?”
He kissed his way down the side of my neck, sending a shiver through me. “You should expect all that pretty makeup to get ruined.”
“I have very good setting spray,” I shot back, and squirmed out of his grasp. “But seriously. I’m your present, right? You get to use me however you want.”
“I like the sound of that,” he interjected.
“But,” I went on with a roll of my eyes, “It’s only fair that I know what I’m walking into.”
“You’re right.” He gave my shoulders a squeeze and stepped back. “You were at the castle before, so you know more or less what you can expect. Except this time, with balloons. And people fawning all over me.”
“People fawn all over you, regardless.” I paused. “Balloons are a fetish for some people”
“That party is the second Thursday of every month,” he clarified. “But I’m not going to stop you if you want to indulge.”
“Hard pass.” I hated balloons. Carefully patting shimmering eyeshadow over my lid, I asked, “What do you want me to do, while I’m there?”