"Wow," Javier said quietly.
"Amazing," Stephan breathed.
I moved to the window beside Stephan, equally awed by the now familiar view.
James wrapped himself around me from behind, leaning down to my ear. "I need to go. Your security will be waiting at the elevator at ten thirty to take you to my office. If you need to go anywhere before then, just call the security number saved into your phone."
A door opened from the kitchen, a smiling Marion peeking in. She got our breakfast orders and cheerfully bustled back into the kitchen.
"Walk me out?" James asked softly, mouth still right at my ear.
I shivered, nodding.
James said his goodbyes to Stephan and Javier, tugging me swiftly from the room.
He took a shortcut to the elevator. Or rather, I thought it was a shortcut, right up until he was yanking me into a small sitting area.
I barely got a glance at the vaguely familiar room before he was closing the door and crushing me against it, kissing me like his life depended on it. The kiss had none of his finesse, and not an ounce of his restraint. It was a rough, bruising kiss, and I reveled in it. I would have kissed him back, but it wasn't that kind of kiss. All that I could do was submit, my mouth softening for him-my whole body softening.
He pulled back abruptly.
I moaned a protest.
He wrapped one hand around my throat, squeezing just enough to make me gasp, the other hand going to my mouth. He pressed just one finger over my lips. "I have to go. But I need to have you. Promise me you'll come to my office at eleven."
I met his beautiful eyes, searching them. His face and voice were raw with need. And fear.
"I told you I'd be there," I said to him, not sure what he needed from me, or how to take that awful look from his eyes.
"Promise me," he said softly, his voice close enough to a plea to make my chest hurt.
"I promise," I said softly.
He just nodded, his face painfully solemn. He tugged me after him, and I followed him to the elevator.
He pushed the button, pulling me into his chest as he waited for the car. It wasn't a coincidence that he pressed my cheek over his heart. Right over the place where he'd tattooed my name in crimson.
He didn't kiss me again. In fact, he barely looked at me. His professional mask was in place as the elevator closed on my last glimpse of him.
I walked back to the dining room on heavy feet.
We finished breakfast quickly, all of us ready for a nap.
Stephan and Javier were staying on the floor below my bedroom with James, lined up with that perfect view of Central Park. I walked them to their door, giving Stephan a perfunctory kiss goodnight before heading up to the room I shared with James. I could hear their amazed and excited exclamations even as I walked away, and I smiled fondly. That was the greatest benefit of wealth, I thought. To make others happy.
I made my way to our lonely bedroom.
I stood frozen in the doorway to our room for long moments, feeling so odd being there without James. It felt so empty and strange.
I did the minimum amount to get ready for bed, crawling into bed only after I had carefully set an alarm. I would only be getting a short nap, but it would be worth it to see James in a few hours.
I woke up groggy and disoriented but as the fog cleared from my brain and I realized whose bed I was in, and who I would be seeing in just one hour, the fog cleared completely, and I rushed into the shower, nervous and excited.
My phone beeped a text at me right as I was re-entering the bedroom, and I went to read it, still wrapped in a towel.
James: Wear a skirt.
It was an innocent enough request, from anyone but James perhaps, but from him, my breath caught in breathless anticipation. I hadn't known just what we would be able to do at his office, so I had been braced for just an innocent lunch, though of course I had been hoping for more. My mood soared as I got ready, excitement pulsing through me. He had plans for me; I just knew it.
I tried not to be intimidated by my new wardrobe as I browsed through it for a skirt. The labels were things I never could have afforded on my own though, so it was hard for me not to dwell on the fact that I was letting James spend a fortune on me. I had been counting my pennies for so long that I couldn't help but think it was all a bit of a waste. Half of his colossal closet was now filled with extravagant designer women's clothing. There was no way that he hadn't spent tens of thousands of dollars on it all.
I knew it was silly, but somehow the clothing intimidated me even more than all of the diamond jewelry that he seemed to need to lavish on me. Yes, it was silly, but the fact was that I knew enough about clothes to have a clue what those labels were worth, whereas my knowledge on the price of jewelry was beyond negligible.