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“Everything,” he echoed, and I shook hard. There was so much meaning in that simple word. Hesitantly, I took his right hand within both of mine, spreading it open and studying the base of his palm. I ran a single finger across the hard lines of his broad reach, unable to keep the image of his promises of what was to come from my mind. I cried out softly and lifted my gaze to his, only to see him smile with wicked intent.
Rather roughly, he grasped my upper arm and steered me forward. I was too lost in thought to really look around as the sky grew dark around us, but when he paused, I finally lifted my head to see where he’d taken me.
A beautifully decorated gazebo awaited us. Soft, warm lights were hung along the rafters, flickering as if they were candleflames dancing in the wind. There were garlands of flowers wrapped around each pillar. Each white flower petal glowed under the flickering lights, strangely inviting in their glittering perfection. There was a rectangular table set up in the center, covered by a fine white tablecloth. It was laden with platters of colorfully decadent food. There was a bowl of perfectly ripe fruit, another cutting board covered in sliced cheeses and rich meats, and a plate full of freshly baked bread. My mouth watered at the sight of all of it and before I could take another step toward it, my stomach growled angrily. He smirked just enough to tell me he’d most certainly heard it too.
I hadn’t really eaten much today. I was quite famished.
Hastily, I went to climb the stairs, but Grayson swiftly lifted me up and carried me up to the table. He placed me down and pulled out a chair for me.
“My, what a perfect gentleman,” I commented boldly, and he just chuckled.
“You say that now, my feisty bride,” he countered, and I think my face turned the same color as the grape tomatoes scattered in the spring salad right in front of me. He didn’t finish his thought, but the threat was there all the same. I watched him sit down on the other side of the table through the veil of my thick lashes and decided to play along, at least for a little while.
“You’ve promised a great deal, Mr. Asher,” I replied, unable to stop myself from smirking as my pussy tightened rather unbecomingly.
He just smiled and shook out his cloth napkin. His silence was almost worse than if he’d said anything at all and I carefully pressed my thighs together. I was far too aware of just how wet my panties were right now.
I tried to push that wicked thought from my head.
“Dr. Zoe Asher,” he purred.
“Bold of you to assume I’m going to take your name, husband,” I sassed.
His eyes almost sparkled at my challenge. His grin grew even wider, and he unbuttoned his jacket slowly, keeping his gaze on me the whole time. Carefully, he undid his cufflinks and placed them to the side before he rolled up his cuffs. I couldn’t stop myself from fidgeting as I watched him, nervously toying with the layers of tulle around my waist in a fitful need to have my fingers do something. Anything really.
“You enjoy pushing me, don’t you, Zoe?”
The way he purred my name did very shameful things to me on the inside, things I could never bear to utter aloud.
“Yes,” I replied, trying to sound brave and feeling anything but.
He cracked his knuckles and the image of my naked body over his knees flashed before my eyes. I looked down at the plate in front of me, mortified at the direction of my thoughts and casually reached for the glass of ice water right in front of me.
What could Grayson do with a piece of ice?
I almost choked as I took a sip of the cold beverage. I refused to meet his gaze, far too mortified with myself to do anything but try to swallow.
“I’m going to enjoy pushing right back,” he smirked, and he lifted his hand, signaling someone in the distance. In less than a minute, a line of three waitresses filed in our direction, one with a bottle of wine and the other two with covered silver platters. They worked in concert, filling wineglasses and serving the two of us in a show of service that felt rather indulgent. In a flurry, they removed all the covers off the platters, and my hungry eyes took in the sight of the most delicious-looking plate of seafood I’d ever seen.
Oh. I was going to enjoy this. Very, very much.
One of the waitresses guided my own napkin onto my lap and I quickly muttered my thanks, a bit embarrassed that I’d forgotten something so basic in my excitement over all this food. All three women were extraordinarily beautiful, with tight fitted white button-up shirts and short black pencil skirts that showed off their muscular legs particularly well, but the entire time they were there, Grayson only had eyes for me. He ignored the way the women’s blouses revealed the upper cusp of their breasts and he didn’t even appear to notice how their skirts hugged the curves of their asses.
He just looked at me as he sipped his glass of red wine. Only me. Never them.
“I must say, I’ve taken a liking to your favorite vineyard,” he murmured as they worked around us. One of them sliced several pieces of bread right in front of me, but I found I couldn’t tear my gaze away from him either. “Tell me, how did you come across such a small place?”
I smiled bashfully at the memory.
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“I, uh, well it’s a rather embarrassing story,” I muttered.
“I’d like to hear it,” he coaxed. I searched his face and decided to tell him. I’m not sure why, but there was a part of me that wanted to.
“Well, I was driving back from a conference in San Francisco a few years ago. I was taking back roads to avoid some rather gnarly I-5 traffic, but I got so incredibly caught up in beautiful scenery that I got distracted and umm…” I fumbled for a second, pretty mortified to tell anyone about what happened next. “I kind of forgot to pay attention to my gas tank. I had noticed when it hit a quarter tank earlier that day, but I missed the empty indicator turning on until my car rolled to a stop about a third of a mile away from the vineyard.” I rushed to say the end, wanting to rip the Band-Aid right off and tell it before I clamped my lips shut and kept it forever my secret.
He tried to stop himself from chuckling by taking a bite of freshly buttered bread, but I’d seen it anyway and that only added to my shame.
