Page 34 of Set In Stone

Once Luca and the other server were gone, I went to reach for the bread but Alexander beat me to it. Tearing off a piece of the loaf, he dipped it into a small bit of oil and brought it to my mouth. Accepting his offer, I opened my lips forhim.

“You’re beautiful. So enticing and radiant,” hemurmured.

I blushed at his compliment, never one to accept them graciously, as I moved my mouth around the warm and flakey crust. Swallowing the bread, I reached for my wine. However, Alexander caught my wrist and stopped me. As he had with the bread, he brought the glass to my lips. Feeling awkward over such a public display of intimacy, I gently pulled my wrist free and took the glass from his hand. I took a sip and met his gaze. His eyes were intense as always, but there was something more in them that I couldn’t quiteplace.

“Matteo has really outdone himself. The wait staff he hired –,” I began. I stopped short when I saw the way Alexander’s eyes flashed hot. Smoldering almost. Baffled, I asked, “What isit?”

“I’ve asked once, but now I’m going to ask you again. Are you trying to give me a hard on inpublic?”

“What in the world are you talking about? I haven’t done anything,” Ilaughed.

“Angel, you’re not wearing anypanties.”

My eyes widened insurprise.

How could he possibly knowthat?

But then I remembered the way his hand lingered on my hip right before we sat down at the table. I was fairly confident that was the moment he discovered the absence of my usual laceundergarment.

“Look, I didn’t do it to be kinky,” I tried to explain. “It’s just that the dress is somewhat fitted through the hips and you could see my underwear and stocking lines through it. That’sall.”

“No stockingseither?”

“Well, er –,” I faltered. “I have on thighhighs.”

His eyes burned even darker. I was familiar with that expression of burning hunger. I knew it all too well. Alexander was undeniably aroused. That knowledge caused a sudden tightening in my core and I squirmed a bit in my chair. To my astonishment, I felt his hand move up the side of my calf, over my knee and to my thigh. He squeezed, biting into the skin of myleg.

“No panties and not following my instructions. I did warn you that there would be punishment if you were gone for too long,” he reminded me. His voice reverberated through the hum of conversation and the gravely Louis Armstrong lyrics that piped through the overheadspeakers.

“I wasn’t gone that long,” I practicallysqueaked.

I tried to move away, but he gripped tighter and rendered me immobile. My pulse quickened as his hand traveled up further. My breath caught in mythroat.

“Angel, any amount of time you’re away from me is too long,” he said in a gutturaltone.

I looked around the room. People were everywhere, conversing and eating, completely unaware of what was happening at the booth in the corner. To the casual observer, we were just two people enjoying dinner together. At least I hoped. I silently prayed that the tablecloth was long enough to hide Alexander’s roaminghand.

Inch by inch, his fingers crawled. For some ludicrous reason, the Itsy-Bitsy Spider song began to play in my head. As Alexander got closer to the mark, I began to feel slightly panicked. I glanced around the room again. Nothing seemed out of the ordinary. All I saw were normal people enjoying a normal dinner. Except for our table. Nothing about this wasnormal.

“Alex,” I hissed. “People mightsee!”

“So what?” he replied to my horror. His voice was deep and husky, challenging me to deny him. When his fingers finally made contact with my sex, I sharply sucked in a gulp of air. My nipples tightened as he slid expertly over my folds until he found a slick bundle of nerves. The fear of being caught was appalling, yet so incredibly erotic at the sametime.

He swiped up. Once. Twice. I stifled a moan as I tried to, once again, recall the length of thetablecloth.

It’s long enough to hide. Isn’tit?

It had to be. I was coming apart at the seams. It was all I could do to keep it together. The only thing stopping me from giving in was the fact that Luca was approaching our table. I clamped my legs closed tightly, but my plan to make Alexander stop backfired. I only succeeded in locking his fingers inplace.

“Alex,” I breathed. “You have to stop. Luca is headed thisway.”

A knowing smile curled up the edge of his lips and his sapphire blues flashedhot.

“Oh, no. This is your punishment, MissCole.”

My eyes widened from utter disbelief as I stared athim.

He couldn’tpossibly…

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