Page 59 of The Freeuse Proposal
Before I can panic, I press against him and breathe in the orange scent of his body wash. It’s too soon to talk about this. We haven’t even defined what we are, and then there’s Dane. This is technically still an arrangement that has an expiration date.
But the image won’t dissolve because this desire isn’t going away. I’m just going to have to live with it.
Chapter 4
Two days later, Leo has to work again, and he tells Dane to keep me entertained for a few hours. We eat lunch at the kitchen table, and Dane asks me about the store where I work, what I’d want to paint if talent weren’t a factor, whether I’ve read any of the poetry book he gifted me yet. The conversation meanders, and I catch myself relaxing.
After lunch, I’m loading the dishwasher while he cleans up the rest of the kitchen. I’m reaching for the last plate when his hand closes around my wrist.
“Alice.” His voice drops, and everything shifts.
My thighs press together as my entire body tingles. I’m aware of how close he’s standing and the faint scent of sandalwood on his skin.
“Yes?”
“Leo told me you had trouble following a rule yesterday.”
My stomach flips.Oh, shit.Yesterday, while Dane was out shopping, I came without permission. Leo had laughed it off and called me a greedy little thing, but apparently, the intel had been shared.
“Yes or no,” Dane says.
“Yes,” I whisper.
He releases my wrist. “Finish the dishes. Then come to the bedroom.”
He walks away without looking back. My hands shake as I rinse the last dish and set it in the dishwasher. I press my palms flat against the cool granite countertop and try to slow my heartbeat. The anticipation is already building low in my belly.
Is he going to punish me? This is what Dane does. He doesn’t rush the experience, which works me up even more.
By the time I push open the bedroom door, I’m wet and my pulse is loud in my ears.
He’s sitting on the edge of the bed, dressed. His posture is relaxed, but his eyes.Holy hell.Dark and focused, tracking every step I take into the room. I feel exposed, and I’m still fully clothed.
“Close the door,” he says.
I do.
“What’s your color?”
“Green.”
“Come here.”
I cross the room on legs that feel liquid and stop in front of him. He’s seated and I’m standing, but somehow, he still feels like the one looking down at me.
“Strip,” he says.
I pull my sweater over my head and peel off my leggings. My bra joins them on the floor. When I push my panties down and step out of them, the cool air raises goosebumps across my bare skin and my nipples harden.
Dane doesn’t touch me as he looks, slowly, thoroughly, the way someone studies a painting in a gallery. It’s more exposing than if he’d grabbed me and thrown me on the bed. Standing naked under his gaze while he takes his time, my skin is burning, and he hasn’t laid a finger on me.
“You came without permission yesterday,” he says.
“Yes.”
“Why?”
Leo wouldn’t have asked why. He’d have spanked me and moved on with a grin. But Dane wants me to think about it, and thinking while I’m standing naked in front of him isn’t easy.
