I take the bag from him. “Okay.” I lay it on the bed and unzip the vinyl. Inside is a corset, garter belt, lace thong, and fishnet stockings. My eyes widen.
“I’ll help you with the corset,” he says. “I want it nice and tight.”
“O…kay.” I peel my designer business clothes from my body as I throb all over.
Braden removed the anal plug before dinner, and I feel oddly naked without it. Perhaps I’d have felt less invisible at dinner if I were still wearing it. Will he put it back in after I’m dressed in these gorgeously sexy things?
He watches, his eyes heavy-lidded, as I don the thong, the stockings, and I fasten them to the garter belt. He stands, heads to his closet, brings out a shoebox, and hands it to me.
I’m topless, and I open the shoebox. I gasp. Inside, against black tissue paper, lies a pair of platform stiletto sandals.
“Braden, I’ll trip and—”
“Put them on,” he commands.
I sit down on the bed and slide the shoes onto my feet, buckling them into place.
He groans low in his throat. “Stand. I’ll help you with the corset.”
I obey and adjust the corset over my breasts and abdomen.
“Turn,” he says.
I comply, my back now to him.
“A corset is an amazing piece of clothing,” he says as he laces it up the back. “It’s sexy as hell, of course, but it’s also a method of control. I can control how you look, the size of your waist.” He tightens it, and I inhale sharply. “It’s a type of bondage.”
His words turn me on more than they should. “Braden…”
“Don’t worry. You’ll be able to breathe fine. Trust me. Besides, you won’t wear this all night.”
“Are you going to tie me up tonight?” I ask, anxious but excited. “Like in the book?”
“Maybe,” he says, his breath a hot whisper against my neck. “You’ll have to wait and see.”
I look around the room. “It’s different here. So bare. Do you have another room? Like in Fifty Shades of Grey?”
He chuckles. “Never read it.”
“Oh.”
“I think what you’re asking me is whether I have a dungeon in this penthouse. The answer is no.”
“Oh. Then where—”
“Quiet,” he says harshly. “Your questions will be answered, but they’ll be answered on my time.”
He moves to his briefcase sitting on one of the chairs in the bedroom. He opens it and pulls something out. Then he turns back to me, holding a black velvet case. He opens it.
I gasp.
It’s a diamond choker. At least I assume they’re diamonds.
“Kneel before me, Skye.”
My eyes pop open into circles.
“Kneel before me,” he says again. “I’m going to collar you.”
“But I—”
“This is for your own protection.”
“Braden, I—”
“I said kneel!”
I drop to my knees in front of him. “May I speak?”
“Yes.”
“I don’t understand,” I say. “I don’t know a lot about this lifestyle, but doesn’t a collar mean that…?”
“That you’re my property? Yes, it does.”
“But we haven’t discussed this.”
“I know that. It’s for tonight only. As I said, it’s for your protection.” He places the choker around my neck.
It’s cool against my skin. Heavy, as well. I inhale sharply.
“This is temporary, Skye,” he says. “You may rise.”
I stand and meet his gaze. “Temporary?”
“You begged me to introduce you to my lifestyle, and I will, but I cannot do so without adequately protecting you. By wearing my collar, you are off-limits to anyone else. You belong to me, and no one else will touch you.”
“No one else? What do you mean? Why would anyone else be in our bedroom?”
“Because we’re not staying here, Skye. We’re going to a club.”
Fear surges through me. Or is it excitement? Since I met Braden, the two feelings are difficult for me to separate.
“I can’t go out in public wearing this,” I say.
He walks to the closet and pulls out a black trench coat. “This will adequately cover you. And don’t worry. We aren’t going far.”
“What will you wear?”
He’s still dressed in his suit.
“You’ll see.” He walks back into the closet, closing the door behind him this time.
I wait.
And I wait.
Finally Braden emerges, wearing another black trench coat that covers him from shoulders to knees. From his knees down, he’s dressed in simple black pants and leather shoes.
What the…?
“Are you ready, Skye?” he asks, his voice low and dark.
I swallow. Then I nod.
“I need to hear you answer affirmatively.”
“Yes, Braden,” I say. “I’m ready.”
I force myself not to stumble in the stilettos as we walk out of Braden’s living quarters and through his makeshift office, which is now eerily empty—a massive change from the night we got here.
“Where is everyone?” I ask.
“I sent them all home,” he says.
“Does that mean your business is concluded?”
“My business is never concluded. It simply means they’re working elsewhere.”
“But why—”
“Enough questions, Skye. I don’t think anything I tell you can adequately prepare you for what you’ll experience tonight, so I’ve made the decision to take you in blind.”