Stefan nodded to the waiter who backed away discreetly. He raised his own glass and held it up in salute.
“To us,” he toasted.
Their glasses clinked together softly and Renee took another small sip. Stefan was watching her over the rim of his glass and there was a dark fathomless expression in his eyes.
They ordered from the menu and the waitress refilled Stefan’s glass. Renee sat with her hands in her lap and leaned across the table.
“So why are we here?” she whispered.
“No reason,” Stefan said evasively. “I just thought it was time we went out to dinner again – and I know how much you like it here at the ‘Socrates’.”
Renee knew it was pointless to press further. She changed the subject.
“Did you notice what they’ve done to the tables?” she asked. “Last time we were here there were tables all around us. Tonight they’re all gone.”
Stefan looked around the restaurant as though he was surprised. “Yes…” he said slowly. “There does seem to be a few less tables…”
“A few?” Renee repeated. “Stefan, it’s like they have emptied this part of the restaurant. Look at all the floor space that is going to waste. Do you think the business is struggling?”
Stefan smiled. “No. I don’t think the ‘Socrates’ is struggling for customers,” he said. He frowned for a moment, staring down at the empty area of polished flooring around them. “They’re probably cleaning and waxing the floor in stages,” he said at last. “The floorboards in this part of the restaurant look like they’ve been freshly polished. Most likely they’re having the whole floor re-done, but in stages.”
Renee pouted. Stefan’s explanation made sense, but it was far too mundane to satisfy Renee’s sudden curiosity. She cast her eyes around the room once more and realized there were very few couples in the restaurant. There were just three other groups of diners, and they were all finishing up their meals. It was a Thursday night. She frowned. None of this made sense…
Their main meals arrived and Stefan attacked his food with relish. He gave the food his full concentration, while Renee picked only lightly at her plate. Her female intuition told her something was wrong; there was something happening around her that didn’t make sense, and her naturally curious mind went looking for more clues.
Finally Stefan looked up at her and he frowned, his expression concerned. “Are you feeling okay?”
“Yes,” Renee said. “I’m fine. Why?”
Stefan gestured to her plate. “You’ve hardly eaten. Aren’t you hungry?”
“Yes. I mean, no. I am fine. Really.”
“Is there something wrong with your fish? Do you want me to have Andre take it back to the kitchen?”
“No,” Renee blinked. “Really, Stefan, it’s delicious.” She ate while he watched her.
“And leave some room for dessert,” Stefan said.
Renee ate dutifully, still distracted. When she finished her meal she set her knife and fork down and leaned back in the chair with a deep, contented sigh.
“That really was wonderful,” she said.
Stefan looked pleased. “The fish is a house specialty,” he said. “I’m glad you enjoyed it. Now – how about some dessert?”
Renee put her hand up, pleading. “Oh, Stefan, I couldn’t! Honestly, I’m full. I couldn’t possibly eat a dessert.”
“Not even chocolate?”
“Not even chocolate,” she shook her head.
Stefan nodded. “Well do you mind if I order something?”
“Not at all,” Renee smiled. “You have to keep your strength up,” she raised her eyebrows in a sexy suggestion.
Stefan turned in his seat and gestured to a waitress who was standing by the kitchen doors. She disappeared, and then came back wheeling a silver serving trolley. She set the trolley beside their table and gave Renee an excited smile.
“Enjoy!” the waitress said. She whisked away their plates.
On the top shelf of the serving trolley was a large leather-bound book, and a small silver dish, covered with an ornately decorated silver domed lid.
Stefan reached for the book. It was beautiful. The leather was a deep, dark red, like the color of expensive wine. On the front was an inscription in delicate gold lettering. Stefan held the book for a moment, took a deep breath – and set it down on the table in front of Renee.
She read the inscription and her heart began to thump madly. She could feel herself breaking out in a sudden fever of heat. She reached out and caressed the lettering with the tips of her fingers.
“The Story of Us”
When she looked up at Stefan he seemed anxious. Their eyes locked and held for long seconds.
He moved the candles so the light glowed over the book, and then untied the red silk ribbon that secured the cover. He sat back and smiled.
“Open it,” he said softly.
Renee opened the book to the first page and went very still. She felt the hair on her forearms stand on end, and there was a tingle at the nape of her neck. It was her reaction to beauty. Exquisite beauty. She had felt this sensation before; when she had first seen a painting by Dutch Master Johannes Vermeer called ‘Girl With a Pearl Earring’. And she had felt the same sudden grip of awe when she had first heard legendary Canadian singer k.d Lang sing her rendition of the Leonard Cohen song ‘Hallelujah’. Now she was feeling it all over again.
It was a photograph. It was a photograph of her, and yet it was also much more than that. She was wearing her red submissive’s lingerie and she was kneeling on the living room floor. The photo had been taken from behind, and somehow the image captured the serenity, the beauty and the hope for love and acceptance that was the essence of femininity.
In the photo, Renee’s face was lifted up to the light, as if she were in the attitude of silent prayer. The symmetry of her body was a shadow cut against the warm brilliant light that streamed through the bay window in the background, and yet within those shadows, Renee could see the details of her fingers clasped behind her back and the delicate lace of the lingerie against the rounded swell of her buttocks.
The shadows, the contrast of light and dark, the lighting from the window in the background had all worked to turn Renee’s image into something sensual and beautiful and feminine. She gasped.
He had captured the essence of her; the woman, the submissive, and even the child within. A frozen frame, snatched in one hundredth of a second that spoke of her life and who she was.
Renee closed her eyes slowly. She felt herself starting to cry. Her eyelids fluttered, and then the tears began to sparkle along her long dark lashes.
“It’s beautiful,” she whispered without looking up at him. “Simply beautiful.”
She turned the page reluctantly, and when she did her tears turned to laughter. The next photo showed a candid snapshot of Renee and Stefan making faces at the lens. She remembered this moment, although she had never seen the photo. It had been taken on an afternoon they had spent in the park. Stefan was wearing a baseball cap, turned back-to-front, and Renee was wide-eyed and pouting with their faces pressed close together.
She glanced at Stefan in new wonder. He was leaning forward towards her, and the light from the candles caught the darkness of his eyes. There was a silent plea in his expression, and Renee sensed how important her reaction to this album was. He wanted her approval. Somehow this was momentous.
She turned the page again and the next photograph was a portrait Stefan had taken of her. She remembered this moment too. He had labored for an hour to get the right lighting and all the while she had sat silently and patiently, never realizing…
She turned more pages. There was a menu from the ‘Socrates’ and ticket stubs from the cinema. There were photos of Renee and Tink standing arm-in-arm, birthday cards, and more snapshots of her and Stefan – each one a precious memory.
Renee turned the final page of the book and went very still again.
There was no photograph.
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Instead there was a handwritten note from Stefan on a small white embossed card. She read the message silently. Then she read it again. She moistened her lips. Everything began to mist before her eyes.
“Will you marry me?”
Renee looked up at Stefan, tears of joy glistening in her eyes. He reached to the serving trolley again and lifted the dome lid from the small tray. On the tray was a diamond ring. Carefully Stefan picked up the ring and slid from his chair onto one knee beside Renee. Her hands fluttered, and when he took her wrist, he felt the leap of her pulse under his fingers.
Renee’s other hand went to her throat.
“Renee, I love you,” Stefan said softly. “I love you in a way I have never loved another person. You brought me back to life. You taught me how to live and laugh and love again,” he looked into her eyes and his gaze was steady and intense. “Will you marry me?”
“Yes!” Renee said – and then she was crying and Stefan was lifting her from her chair and they were hugging and kissing and laughing together all at the same time. Renee’s arms went around Stefan’s neck and she pulled his head down to hers and kissed him with the ferocity of her love for him.
Then suddenly a young man in a tuxedo took a pace forward, appearing from the shadows. He had a shiny, freshly-scrubbed face, and a mop of dark curly hair. His hands were clasped in front of him. He smiled at Renee.
And then he began to sing.
It was a love song, and the young man’s voice was deep and rich and perfect.
Stefan took Renee’s hand and led her to the cleared area of the restaurant floor. She molded her body to his and they began to dance.
The restaurant staff gathered around the improvised dance floor that Stefan had arranged. Kitchen hands, waitresses, waiters and the maître de left their workstations and formed an admiring circle around the couple. Stefan had booked the entire restaurant out for the rest of the evening and so they joined in the couple’s celebration by watching on and smiling as Stefan guided his new fiancé around the floor in a slow, romantic dance.
Seven.
When they arrived home they found Tink still in her work uniform asleep on the sofa with one arm flung across her face, and Jeffrey snuggled in the crook of her elbow, also sound asleep, making soft puppy mewling noises.
On tiptoes, Stefan and Renee snuck down the hallway and neither of them dared make a sound until the bedroom door was closed behind them.
As soon as Stefan eased the door shut Renee was all over him, smothering his face with kisses, wrapping her arms around his neck and pressing the heat of her body against the muscled hardness of him.
Stefan held her tightly and returned her kisses with equal passion. They ground their bodies against each other, building the sexual energy like the pressure in a furnace.
When at last Renee broke the kiss she was breathless and panting.
“You have made me the happiest girl in the whole world,” she sighed. Their faces were so close together they breathed the same air. Their lips were wet with the taste of each other.
“You’ve made me a very happy man,” Stefan whispered.
Renee stroked the stubble on the handsome planes of Stefan’s cheek and the solitaire diamond on her finger flashed and glittered.
“It’s such a beautiful diamond,” she said
Stefan smiled. “It should be. I bought it from a diamond merchant I know. He’s very good.”
Renee’s expression puzzled. “You didn’t buy it from the jewelry store?”
Stefan laughed softly. “Renee, no one buys a good diamond from a jewelry store. Their mark-ups are ridiculous, and they rarely deal in good quality diamonds. To buy a genuine stone of good quality, you should only deal with a merchant.”
Renee looked harder at the engagement ring on her finger. It did look particularly bright, and it did seem to glitter – even in the semi-darkness of the bedroom. But all diamonds did that, didn’t they?
“Is there a difference in diamonds?” she asked with genuine curiosity.
Stefan let her slip from his embrace. He took his hand in hers and touched the ring.
“The average man in the street buys one diamond in his life – and fortunately for him, he never sells it. I say fortunately, because if he ever did, he’d get a nasty shock. Jewelry stores have huge profits, and the re-sale value of the sort of stones they usually sell is probably around half of their purchase price. That’s because the diamonds they sell are hugely inflated in price, and rarely worth anything like the price being asked.”
“Go on,” Renee said softly.
“All diamonds are different,” Stefan explained. “They are different in the way they are cut, and, most importantly, in their color. The diamond in your ring is not particularly large, but it has perfect whiteness, and it is flawless. It’s a diamond of superior quality. A diamond that is so white it looks almost blue is the finest quality you can have. From there the color grades scale down to diamonds that appear to have a little yellowish tinge, and finally down to the stones that appear to have a brownish tinge. They’re generally very poor quality.”
“I…. I never knew,” Renee looked fascinated. “I just thought a diamond was a diamond.”
“That’s what most people think,” Stefan said. “Your diamond is five carats, and the stone itself is without a flaw. Some diamonds have flaws that a skilled cutter can work around. Other diamonds are flawed and stay that way. Flaws in the stone can also greatly reduce their value.”
She looked at him seriously then as another thought came to mind suddenly. “Stefan… how long ago did you buy this diamond? If you purchased it through a merchant, it wasn’t ready-made. That means you had to have it set into a ring, right?”
“Right,” Stefan nodded. “I bought the diamond six weeks ago, and had the ring designed around it.”
Renee smiled softly, and there was a sly tilt to her lips. “You crafty so and so!” she flashed. “You’ve been planning to ask me to marry you for almost two months?”
He smiled. “Yes.”
She turned away from him, still smiling, and thought quickly. When she turned back again there was an all-together different kind of smile on her lips.
“Since you got to do something you have been thinking about for such a long time,” she reached out and seductively traced a line down his throat to the top button of his shirt, “can I do something to you that I’ve been dreaming about for even longer?”
Stefan’s eyes narrowed in suspicion. Renee tried to look quite innocent, but her lips were slightly parted now and she moistened them provocatively with the tip of her tongue.
“What did you have in mind?” he asked cautiously.
She shook her head. “You’ll just have to trust me.”
There was a challenge in her voice – a sexy dare that Stefan couldn’t refuse. He squared his shoulders and nodded. “Anything you want. I’m yours for the evening.”
“You promise?”
“Absolutely.”
“And you’ll do anything I want?”
“Anything.”
Renee went quickly to the bedroom windows and pulled the curtains closed. She flicked on the lamp by the bedside table. Stefan watched her and there was a slightly bemused expression on his face.
“Just what do you have in mind?” he asked as Renee began hunting through Stefan’s section of the wardrobe.
She snatched up two of his ties and threw them onto the bed. Then she turned back to him. Now there was a fiercely sexual gleam in her eye that startled and aroused him. This wild lusty look on her face was something he had never seen before.
“Revenge!” she whispered, and as she said the word she slipped the knot of the tie he was wearing and unfastened his top button. Then she used the tie to blindfold him and gave him a lusty slap on his backside.
“On your knees!” she barked in the most commanding voice she could muster. “Position One.”
Stefan started to chuckle and had to bite down on his tongue.
He got down onto his knees. Renee had tied the blindfold well and he had a moment of disorientation before he realized that Renee had moved from where she had been standing. Now her voice was close in his ear, as though she were crouched right in front of him.
“You will obey all my commands,” she said softly, her words a breathy sensual tickle in his ear. “Do you understand?”
“Yes,” Stefan said around a grin.
“Good.” She slid her hand down across his chest, slipping her fingers inside his shirt and tugging until buttons popped and flew across the room. She ran her hand down across his abdomen and he suddenly inhaled sharply. With a small shock he realized he was hardening.
Renee stood up. “Straighten your back,” she said.
He did. Suddenly he wasn’t smiling. He was still amused, but he was also aroused
“Open your mouth.”
He did.
Renee stood and unzipped her skirt. She let the fabric pool around her feet and then kicked the skirt aside. She was wearing lacy red panties, and Stefan inhaled the perfumed scent of her heated arousal. She stepped closer to Stefan, spreading her legs, and laced her fingers in his hair to pull his mouth hard against her.
Damp, warm fabric filled Stefan’s mouth as Renee ground her body across the tightness of Stefan’s lips. She felt his tongue lash out, trying to bury itself within the folds of her. A sudden flood of molten desire gushed across Stefan’s tongue and he sucked at the taste of her heated sex.
Renee groaned. She threw her head back, her breath caught in her throat. A wicked shudder of pure sexual joy tingled down her spine. With her free hand she pulled the sodden fabric of her panties aside and then she began to grind and writhe herself against Stefan’s willing, hungry mouth.
Renee screwed her eyes shut and concentrated on the sensations, spreading like fire to all parts of her body. Stefan’s tongue was eager and skilled. He found her secret places and lavished them with enthusiasm. She moaned again, this time a sound from her throat so primal and urgent that she arched her back and stiffened.
“Yes!” she gasped. It was all she had time to say before her body was suddenly clenching, carrying her over the edge into dark oblivion.
Her Master's Kiss 3 (Erotic Romance) Page 3
