When Tessa walked into the restaurant, she could feel the eyes of everyone on her -- "Come on now, girl," she thought to herself, "don't go being all paranoid now!" After all, it's not like anyone there knew what she had come for. She forced herself to smooth her short, silk skirt down over her thighs and walk over to the hostess.
"May I help you?" the youthful blond bubbled.
"Yeah, thanks. I am supposed to meet a friend here ..." Tessa looked across the dinning room, scanning the men sitting by themselves. He had said that she would recognize him when she saw him, although she wondered about that. She had no picture, no description, no nothing. Just his silky voice over the phone telling her to come into the dinning room and she would recognize him. Just when she was about to turn back to the hostess and excuse herself to the bar to wait, she saw him. She wasn't sure how she knew that it was Gabe, but she was. She walked slowly across the room, swaying her hips gently but provocatively. At first her eyes were locked into his, but as she approached him, she dropped her gaze and let it wander about him. At first all that she saw was darkness...dark hair, dark eyes, dark clothes. If she hadn't been so nervous, she would have giggled. The only thought in her head was the opening scene from that western ... "The lights seemed to dim just for him. Just when you thought he would come into the light, the shadows would change and he would sink back into the darkness." Curse her pictorial memory to Hell!!
She stopped about six inches from the table and she held onto his gaze with gentle desperation. It's not that he was all that good looking. He was just a man, but there was something about him. He had an angular face with sharp cheekbones that betrayed his Native American heritage. Soft brown curls wrapped around his ears to tease his collar. In this light it was plain brown, but she wondered if he would have red or blond highlights in the bright sunshine. His body was lanky but slightly softened around the edges. Somehow she knew, though, that there was power here. The breadth of the shoulders, the shape of the hands, the thickness of the fingers. Here was the kind of strength that would not fade with age, not disappear into a six pack of beer.
He smiled a gentle smile that showed off his lush lips and his fine white teeth, all the whiter for being set against that dusky skin. Encouraged, she lifted her eyes back to his and was stunned by what she saw. How many Native men have violet eyes, she wondered? And long, spiky lashes that most women would have killed for, or had to get from the cosmetics counter.
"You're right on time," he said. "Why don't you sit down? You'd like a drink, wouldn't you?" Tessa gingerly sat down on the soft chair and nodded. "Wine?" he asked.
"Please." Was that her voice? Normally, people told her that she had one of those voices that carried... to the next state, but that single word seemed uttered by one whose voice had trouble projecting past her lips.
"I'm glad you decided to join me," Gabe said as he reached across the table to take her hand in his. "You have decided to join me, haven't you?"
"Yes."
"You understand the agreement as I described it to you?"
"Yes."
"Repeat it to me," he commanded.
"I am your property. I will come with you tonight to live in your home. For the next six months, you will train me to be your slave. I will not be allowed to leave the house at any time during the next six months. I will not be allowed to wear clothing for the next six months. You will decide what I will do and when I will do it. You will tell me when to eat, when to bathe, and when to sleep. You will introduce me to all the forms of punishment that might be employed against me during my life with you. During the next six months, I will learn how to please you and..." She paused.
"And?" he prompted, but she remained mute. "And in that time," he continued, "I will teach you how to please yourself and be pleased with yourself."
"Yes."
"Good. Did you follow my instructions?"
Tessa blushed furiously. "Yes," she mumbled.
"Tell me."
