“Take off your panties and give them to me.”

“Do what?” She muffled the question, whispering as loudly as she dared and glanced around the restaurant. Everyone seemed oblivious to the conversation taking place between her and Michael.

Fortunate, since she was as unnerved as she was keyed up. There was sternness in Michael’s gaze when she stopped looking around and gawked at him.

“If you want this, I want your panties— now.” The change in his voice told her that he was no longer asking.

She opened her mouth and closed it, like a guppy that jumped to freedom from the tank only to find the world outside wasn’t as it seemed. Her morality battled her sexuality. Even as she told herself it was wrong another, wilder portion of herself urged her to place her hands under her dress, tug the panties slowly past her ass and remove them so she could do as he desired.

Bless me, Father, for I’m about to sin.

After a brief hesitation, she gave in to the louder voice that appealed to her darker, more sensual nature. Kicking off her heels, she brought her hands to her dress and lifted it. Removing the clasps attached to her corset and stockings was easy. The hard part was pulling the panties down without shifting too much and drawing the attention of the server or someone in the restaurant.

Michael watched her the entire time, his eyes never losing focus. When she finally had the skimpy underwear around her ankles she bent to the side, lifted her feet to slide them off and wadded the lace in her fist.

“Hand them to me.” He extended his hand directly over the table and she froze, mortified that someone might see her passing such an intimate article of clothing to her date in public. If Michael was angry it didn’t show, though he warned, “I’m not going to ask again.”

She watched, horrified, as she did as he told her. He took the black lace into his hand and promptly brought the cloth to his nose. The visual obliterated her fear and she was suddenly aware of just how cold the air felt against her bare pussy. A pulse of wet warmth coated her cleft and she blushed as she imagined a stain on her dress, allowing God and everyone in the restaurant to know just how turned-on she was.

“I love the way you smell, Lacey.” He lowered his hand and tucked the panties into the inner pocket of his jacket. His grin was enough to make her insides wilt. “It makes me want to bend you over this table and fuck you until you can’t breathe.”

He rose from his chair, walked to her and assisted her from the seat. She frowned as he took her directly to the coat check, retrieved their jackets and didn’t bother paying for their meal.

“What about the bill?” she asked as he helped her into her coat.

“Already taken care of.” He turned her toward him and pulled her close. “The same man who owns Le Mer also owns Fantasia. All of the people seated near us are avid players.” As she gazed into his eyes, becoming lost in their blue depths, he murmured, “I would never embarrass or hurt you. That first act was one of trust. No one seated near us would ever dare say a word because it’s not something they’d even bat an eyelash at.”

“So they knew?”

“Not everything, but since I’ve never brought a woman here before, I’m sure they appreciated the importance—and significance—of the evening.”

Her gaze lowered to his mouth and a molten heat built in her belly. It had been over a week since she’d felt the pressure of his lips on hers, since she’d tasted that salty, sweet taste that was all Michael.

As if he read her thoughts, he pulled back. “Not yet.”

“Why?” She fought the wisps of fire spreading through her stomach, causing her to become wetter, priming her for whatever it was he wanted.

“Building anticipation can make the consummation so much more powerful. Trust me. When we get to the party, you’ll understand.”

“What if I don’t want to wait until the party?” she snapped, sexually frustrated and hot as hell after a week of dreaming of her date turned tormentor.

His voice was stern but there was humor in his expression. “I’d say that you’d best remember that I’m the one who calls the shots. Keep complaining and not only will I tan your beautiful ass, I’ll put a pocket rocket in that needy pussy of yours and leave you aching for hours before I let you come.”

“You wouldn’t.”

He guided her toward the doors and lowered his head. “Are you sure enough about that to take the risk?”

Deciding she certainly wasn’t, she kept her complaints to herself.

He opened the door and the winter air soared up her skirt, frigid and almost painful against her unprotected, overly warm and sensitized flesh. As the breeze cooled her off, she said a silent prayer of thanks to Mother Nature for managing to prevent at least one forest fire.

Michael opened the door, training his face to remain blank as Lacey slid into the seat and scooted to make room for him. Instead of the space he’d insisted on before, he kept zero distance between them, pulling her snug against his side, and placed his hand on her knee before guiding his palm up until it rested between her thighs.

He could feel the heat radiating from her cunt, and he remembered how delicious her panties smelled. She wanted this, even if she was a nervous and inexperienced player. While a part of him worried she might balk when faced with naked submissives at the feet of their masters, attentive to them and only them, he had a good idea that she would find some eroticism in the act. Of course the other area, in which those with a taste for exhibitionism would be, was the one place he wanted to take her most. He still recalled how her lids drooped and her eyes clouded when he’d stroked his cock, as if she were mesmerized by the act of him pleasuring himself.

In fact…

“Lacey,” he purred into her ear, aware that she shivered at the contact of his lips against her delicate skin. “Do you still want to come?” She nodded, gasping for breath, and he smiled. “Then touch yourself.”

Her eyes flickered to the black partition between the driver and the occupants before she looked at him. Although the fiber optic lighting in the back was set to dim, he could clearly see her face.

Her green irises were barely visible, little more than small rings containing her dilated pupils.

“I can’t do that.”

He removed his hand from her thigh, collected her own which was resting on the seat, and brought it back to the area where the skirt was hiked due to his touch. “No one will see and no one will know. Trust me.”

Her fingers were trembling as he released her hand and she slowly parted her legs. He lifted her skirt, revealing the loose clasps of her luscious black garters, until her mound was visible. Before she made contact, her fingertips skimming over her upper thighs, she stiffened and shook her head.

“I can’t.”

He caved to her nervousness, wanting to give her pleasure and ease her anxiety while exploring something new. “Let me help you.”

Grasping her fingers, he used his free hand to spread her legs wider as he brought her fingers to the lips of her sex. He could already see the glistening wet beads of her arousal, tempting him to take a knee in front of her, bury his head in the paradise he longed for and eat her pussy until she was panting for more. The first brush of her fingers against her labia caused her to moan and she widened her legs even farther without encouragement.

“Focus on your clit,” he ordered in a hoarse, throaty growl.

As she moved her fingers to the button at the top, he placed two fingers together and slid them easily within her satiny depths. The heat that wrapped around his digits was pure fire, liquid and blistering. When her softness pressed against his knuckles, he turned his fingers and began brushing them along her vaginal walls, searching for and quickly finding that sensitive spot within. She arched into his fingers and began rubbing frantically at her clit, her shallow intakes of air sporadic.

“That’s it, angel. I want you to come on my fingers. I want to feel you spasm all around them.

And when you do, I want you to imagine it’s my cock inside you, thick and hard. It is, you know. I’ve been hard as a fucking diamond ever since I picked you up. It’s been torture keeping my hands to myself. Make it worth my while. Show me that you’re worth waiting for.”

She groaned and he moved, aligning their bodies until their mouths met. He kissed her deeply, taking total control until she was left with no choice but to accept what he wanted. His tongue met hers, brushed against it, and she abruptly pulled away, her desperate emerald eyes practically pleading.

“Please…” The request was a whimper, brought about when he rubbed his fingers just inside her. He wanted to take his time and bask in her surrender. Instead he rewarded her for remembering to ask for permission, for submitting to him without restraint.

“Come for me.”

Her back arched and she cried out as her pussy contracted around his fingers, going tight and loose only to start all over again. He was powerless to turn away as he watched her climax. The light captured her parted lips, blush-stained cheeks and the heavy fringe of her eyelashes as they fluttered closed. As the final shudders passed, her fingers stilled at her clit, slid down and became languid over his hand.

“You’re so fucking gorgeous.”

He pulled his fingers free and took the opportunity to taste the honey he’d denied himself. This was to take the edge off, to make sure that when she arrived at the party she wasn’t so wired she’d jump the gun and do whatever he wanted just to alleviate the ache. He reattached the clasps on her garters, skimming his fingers over her stockings, and pulled her skirt down. She turned to him, placing her head in the crook of his neck.