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"Mmm. " He laid the cloth on the counter again and moved her back a step with him, helping her skirt fall back into place. Bringing the bodice back up, he kept her turned away from him as he re-fastened each frog, adjusted the shoulder seams and smoothed the fabric over the curves of her breasts. When he turned her in his arms, desire still glowed in his eyes. "Well, I think you do now. " Glancing toward the floor, he bent and retrieved her torn panties, put them in his pocket before she could take them.
"I owe you a pair," he said.
"So you owe me a shopping trip. "
"That sounds suspiciously like you just invited me on a date, angel. " He smiled at her discomfiture, stroked a wisp of her hair over her ear. "Tuesday night, eight o'clock.
Anything special I should do to prepare? Which room?"
"I'll leave instruction with The Zone staff as to how I want you prepared and where. I typically don't tell my subs what to expect. It's none of their business what I'm planning, just that they be there on time and submit to it. " Why were the words making her shake, as if the ground were about to open up beneath her under that unreadable gaze? "The rest is a surprise. "
He nodded. Before he could step back, she caught the front of his ironed shirt and yanked hard. Buttons clattered across the floor. He made an involuntary movement toward her but otherwise held his stance as her gaze coursed down over the muscled chest, the fine mat of hair, the tapered waist.
"Now we're even, on clothing at least. " The physical act helped her find her Mistress voice. Deliberately she raised her gaze back to his face, taking time to enjoy the territory in between. "All you owe me is Tuesday. "
"A promise that's a privilege to pay. " His eyes burning, he took her hand in a firm grip, raised it to his lips and turned it so they brushed her palm. "I'll see you then, Mistress Marguerite. Don't forget me. I'll be waiting for you. " She watched him move out the kitchen side door, which would allow him safe passage to the parking area without the children seeing his state of dishabille. It intrigued her that he'd scoped out her exits in so little time. Then she discovered that the other entries to the kitchen, the one to the garden and the swinging door, had been quietly secured when he came in. Even the blinds on the garden door were closed so no little people could have surprised them in their very adult moment.
He was considerate, giving and courteous in all the important ways. Passionate, demanding and ruthless about getting what he wanted, also in all the important ways.
She bent and picked up every button, lined them up on the counter, stared at them as if they were jewels that had fallen into her lap. She had no idea what she was doing anymore. For some reason, that didn't really matter at the moment.
Placing the tip of each of her fingers on five of the buttons, she moved them across the counter idly as if they were tiny skates, making patterns. Spoke his words aloud, thinking about them.
"A thousand tiny imperfections can make a perfect life. "
Chapter Sixteen
The purple light of The Zone's gold-edged neon marquee threw a wash of surreal light over the parking area. It was a good crowd for a Tuesday night. Marguerite sat in her car, watched the security patrol make its second lap since she'd pulled in ten minutes ago. Apparently the ownership of the club had taken prompt steps to ensure there would be no repeat of her unpleasant experience.
It was yet another of the many ways The Zone made it clear that the protection of their members was a number-one priority. But beyond admirable management style, it was a personal message from Tyler to her. A message she chose to push into a closet in her mind where she wouldn't see it. She needed her focus tonight. She took a deep breath. One. Two. Three.
Tuesday nights were about finding and keeping the balance she needed to run the rest of her life. She harbored no illusion that this night would do that. She felt like a restless sea, waiting for the arrival of a storm to give her the fuel to explode with power and pounding fury. Ravage a coastline, demolish homes, stack up boats like a pile of children's toys.
She'd taken his offer, recognizing it as a high compliment. Her pride wanted to show him what being under her Dominance would be like. And now she felt a way she'd never felt before. Always before, the moment she drove into the parking lot she'd feel a calmness settling on her shoulders, her mind centering on her intentions for the evening, on what she'd demand of the man she would choose.
Tonight she managed the ripples of unease by letting them pass around her like rush-hour traffic on the highway. She'd let them get by, then find her center as she always did. She'd know exactly what she wanted to extract from Tyler to feed her own soul.
Getting out of the car, she pulled the velvet cape around her body, her pale hair gleaming against the unrelieved black. She didn't take anything else with her.
Everything she'd requested would be in the room. Just like Tyler.
She nodded to the doorman. From the barely restrained speculation in his eyes, she understood the reason for the crowd. She'd requested that the ceiling view screen be left open. The staff posted what groups and scenes would be available for viewing via email blasts sent out twenty-four hours before the session. She imagined such an unexpected face-off between the two most powerful Dominants at The Zone would create a standing-room-only crowd.
An audience didn't faze her. In her mind it was always between her and her sub, but the ceiling view could rattle the chosen slave. Especially a private man like Tyler.
Stepping inside, she went through the reception area and straight down the side hall to the private video rooms. As she'd requested, her tape was being queued up, by a Zone staff member named Stacey who'd likely been radioed by the doorman as Marguerite was crossing the parking lot.
"We just finished getting him ready, Mistress. He's ready when you are. "
"How long is the tape?"
"About fifteen minutes. "
"All right. Please have someone stay in the room with him for the next twenty minutes. I'll be down by then. "
The young woman nodded, turned for the door. Marguerite noticed the spots of color high on her cheeks, the averted eyes. "Stacey?"
"Yes, Mistress?"
