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“You might want to do those up now, don’t you think?” I said, indicating his pants.
“Oh,” he said, and then flushed as he looked down to his open tuxedo pants. “I’m allowed to—”
“Move? Yes,” I said, and walked forward, dangling the bow tie off my index finger in front of him. “You’ve been a good little lamb. Plus, I have to go and say hello to Mrs. Berkovich, and you have several more faculty members to meet. I think that would be best done with your pants zipped. Don’t you?”
“Oh, yeah, right. Of course. Umm…” Jesse fumbled around, tucking his shirt back in and zipping his pants. Then he buttoned up his shirt and went to reach for the tie.
I quickly snatched it back and said, “Come here.”
Jesse lowered his hand and took a tentative step forward, and I slipped the tie around his neck and tugged him the final step closer. I kissed him hard then, slipping my tongue inside his mouth and allowing him to taste himself on me, and when I raised my head, I said, “You’re mine now.”
He nodded, and then gave a shy smile that made me want to take him back to the den, strip him down, and fuck him until he couldn’t walk…but instead, I quickly tied his tie, moved to stand beside him, and took his elbow in my hand. “You ready?”
He had a swollen lip and finger marks just visible under his collar, but he nodded enthusiastically and said, “Yes. I think I am.”
11
“‘Authentic Fossil Mosasaur Halisaurus Arambourgi Skeleton,’” I read off the card that had come with the gift now being assembled by a team of two on my cheap coffee table. “Holy shit, is he serious?”
The two men setting up the seventy-million-year-old marine reptile didn’t answer, but I hadn’t expected them to. I fished my cell out of my pocket and called the man who only hours ago I’d been sneaking off with at the museum gala. My lips still burned at the memory.
“Good afternoon, little lamb,” Salvatore said when he answered, his voice smooth and unassuming, like he didn’t know I was calling to discuss the overly extravagant gift he’d sent.
“This is too much,” I said. “It costs more than my apartment and car and student loans combined.”
“Then I suppose we’ll have to get you a nicer place to live, won’t we?”
“What? No. Don’t you dare.”
“Really, Jesse. Do you think there’s anything I wouldn’t dare to do?”
In the short time I’d known Salvatore, I’d learned that the answer was probably not. “Please don’t buy me a house. Or a car, or whatever else you’ve got up your sleeve.”
“I won’t. At least not until after our third date.”
“Salvatore—”
A rare throaty chuckle left him. “Do you like it?”
“Do I…” I shook my head. An authentic fossil of one of the top marine predators in the Late Cretaceous period? What wasn’t to love? “It’s unbelievable,” I said, watching as the men carefully pieced together the long tail. “What made you choose this one?”
“I have a thing for hunters,” he said. “And a T-Rex wouldn’t fit in your apartment.”
The thought of that made me laugh, only because I knew he was serious. “You’re crazy.”
“I am. Did you get the rest of the gift?”
“The rest? There’s more?”
“It was in the envelope.”
I walked back over to the table and peered inside the envelope his note had come in. At the bottom was a round tube of ChapStick.
As if Salvatore could sense my confusion, he said, “I thought you might need that this morning. You might want to keep it handy.”
I touched my still-bruised lips, swollen from last night’s sensual assault, and smiled. So there would be a next time, and possibly a time after that…
“Thank you,” I said. “But really, this is too much—”
“You’re welcome. And from now on, if I decide to gift you with something, a simple ‘thank you’ will suffice.”
“But—”
“No buts.”
I rubbed a hand over my face and swallowed down the protests that wanted to come out. “Okay. You know you’re bossy, right?”
“Are you complaining?”
“After last night? Uh, definitely not.”
“I’m glad to hear it,” he said, and I imagined that pleased smile crossing his handsome face the way it did when I followed his commands. And that is so damn hot.
“Your note said to be ready by seven tonight. What should I wear?”
“Whatever you’d like.”
“Are you going to tell me where we’re going?”
“No.”
“Do I get a hint?”
“No.”
“Should I be hungry?”
“You ask too many questions. Seven o’clock. I’ll pick you up.”
I sighed, but couldn’t help the cheese-tastic grin on my face. I’d never been swept off my feet before, but Salvatore made me feel like I was someone special. Someone more than just Jesse Clark, penniless college grad.
“Thank you,” I said again. “I’ll be ready. Wait, one sec.” The men assembling the fossil had gotten to their feet, and I put Salvatore on hold as they went over instructions on how to put it together again should anything happen. Each piece was numbered, and I was familiar enough with the process that I knew it wouldn’t be too hard to figure out. Not that I planned on even touching it. I’d be guarding this thing with my life.
