CHAPTER 17
I climbed inside Alexander’s Tesla at five o’clock. After I buckled in, I leaned my head back against the seat and looked to him as he sat down in the drivers seat.
“I can’t believe how relatively easy you changed that deal for me,” I told him.
“I can be reasonable, Krystina. You should have given me a chance before deciding to ignore me for a day and half. Don’t do that again,” he warned.
I threw my hands up in mock surrender.
“Sorry, but I thought I was going to have to fight in order to get you to agree to it. The research took some time and I wanted to make sure that I had all of my ducks in a row first.”
“Honestly, I would have preferred if you just took the company free and clear. But in hindsight, I should have known that you would have never accepted it. I can understand your reasoning, as well as appreciate it. Besides, your way of thinking sat much better with Stephen and Bryan.”
I thought about the meeting with Alexander’s accountant and lawyer that began two hours earlier. Initially, they seemed more than just a little bit hesitant. It was as if they were sizing up the woman that Alexander wanted to hand a portion of his company over to. If I were in their shoes, I wouldn’t trust me either. We ended our meeting on a more positive note, but I still had some reservations.
“Do you think that they approved?”
“It doesn’t matter if they approve or not. That’s not what I pay them for. This is a business arrangement between the two of us. They were just there to work out the figures and the legalities.”
Alexander assumed that I was talking about the deal, but I was more concerned over whether they approved of me or not. After watching the three men together, it was apparent that they were more than just business associates. Their casual banter was too friendly at times. If they were truly his friends, their approval meant significantly more to me for some odd reason.
Why do I care if they approve of me or not?
I stayed quiet, choosing to not clarify what I meant or voice my concerns.
Alexander flipped on the car stereo and backed out of the parking space. Green Day’s latest release pumped through the speakers as we made our way to the costume shop in Chelsea. I began to wonder what sort of outfit I should buy. Having never been to an upscale costume ball of sorts, I didn’t know how elaborately dressed people would be.
“A penny for your thoughts,” Alexander said after a time.
“I was just thinking about how decked out people may or may not be. I don’t want to look stupid.”
Alexander laughed.
“Angel, you could never look stupid.”
“That’s debatable,” I said dryly.
Apprehension crept into my veins. I still didn’t know if I was ready for this extravaganza.
When we pulled up to the front of the shop, I looked out the window. A red awning hung over the entrance with the name 25th Street Vintage written across it. There were mannequins in the storefront windows; each one dressed in 1920’s styled long and flowing gowns that were a kaleidoscope of colors. The jewel tones of them were simply breathtaking.
Alexander came around to my side of the car and opened the passenger door for me. He took my hand as I climbed out.
“Ready to have some fun?” he asked, his eyes full of mischief. I was still eyeing up the dresses in the windows. Each one looked as if it might weigh fifty pounds.
“Ready as I’ll ever be I guess. Let’s go.”
We entered the boutique and bells chimed on the door. Almost instantly, we were face to face with a young, cheery faced girl. She didn’t look to be a day over seventeen years old.
“Hello and welcome! My name is Brielle. What can I help you with today?”
“Thank you. We are in looking for –,” Alexander began. He was cut off by a woman that exited from a curtained off room.
“You must be Alexander Stone,” she announced. I looked to Alexander. He appeared to be taken aback by the woman.
“Why, yes I am. And you might be?”
“I am Dejah,” she said in an accent that I couldn’t quite place. As she came nearer to us, she began to chuckle. “Don’t look so surprised, dear. I’m not a psychic. Your sister telephoned me to tell me that you would be in this evening.”
“Ah, Justine. I can only imagine what she said to you. She can be a bit overzealous at times,” Alexander said lightly.
“Oh, not at all monsieur! She said that I should be on the look out for a tall, dark haired man, most likely wearing a suit. However, she failed to tell me how handsome you were,” Dejah added with a wink.
Alexander afforded her compliment a small smile. I may have been jealous, but the thick streaks of gray that flowed through her long black hair told me that she was easily twenty or thirty years his senior. Between that and her oversized jewelry, she reminded me of a carnival gypsy.
“Dejah, this is Krystina Cole. Both her and I are in need of specific attire for a function that we will be attending together. Did Justine explain to you what we are here for?” Alexander asked.
“Yes, of course. She told me all about the event. It sounds like it’s going to be a marvelous occasion.”
“Yes, it will be,” he replied.
“If I might add, I’m rather envious over missing it. I can just see it now – the costumes, the setting, the air of a French cabaret come to life,” Dejah rambled on wistfully.
Alexander cleared his throat, albeit somewhat impatiently.
“About the costumes,” he began.
“Yes, yes. I talk too much. Your sister did say that your time is precious. Come with me and we will start going over everything that you will need. You’ve come to the right place!”
She spun on her heel and began walking away from us. I looked to Alexander, but he just shook his head and motioned for me to follow the eccentric woman.
She took us past long rows of clothing from eras gone past. Everything seemed to be organized according to decade, starting with Gucci trends of the 90’s all the way back to treasures from the turn of the century. I expected our shopping to take place in this area of the store, but the woman motioned for us to follow her up a set of wooden stairs.
“This way, please. The second floor is what you need.”
When we reached the top of the stairs, I gasped at the archival collection before me. It was literally a living museum of burlesque fashion. From the frills and ruffles of the can-can dress, to the beaded corselets of some long ago courtesan; Dejah’s collection was astoundingly authentic.
“This piece here,” she said as she ran her hand along the lacey lines of an ivory colored gown. “It is rumored that it was worn by Mistinguett at the Moulin Rouge. However, I have been unable to verify the truth of that rumor, as many photographs and records were lost after the Second World War.”
My eyes widened in surprise.
“Are you saying that this clothing is the real thing? Not just costume replicas?” I asked incredulously.
“Of course, my dear. My shop is not called 25th Street Vintage for nothing,” she proudly stated. “Now, I’ll leave you two to look around for a bit. When you are ready to try something on, give me a holler and I will assist you.”
I looked at the displays that surrounded me. I walked slowly over to a rose colored silk dress. It was a beautiful gown, but not as ornate as the others in the room. I peeked at the price tag. Not surprisingly, it had a four-figure dollar amount attached to it.
I moved over to a different dress, one that was a breathtaking emerald green with black lace. Rhinestone buttons secured the front of the bodice, while crisscross ties laced up the back. I fingered the satin material as my eyes traveled down the long train and over the beaded detail. The dress was exquisite, and I could picture myself wearing it. However, it came with a five-figure price tag.
Yeah, there’s no way can I buy anything from here.
I turned to Alexander.
“That green dress would look s
tunning on you,” he remarked.
“Alex, this is a little out of my price range.”
“Who said that you were paying?”
“These dresses are outrageously priced. You’d be a fool to pay that much for something that I’ll most likely only wear once. I’m sure that we could find someplace cheaper.”
“It’s only money, Krystina. And I have plenty of it.”
“Well, now that’s arrogance for you,” I said sarcastically. He frowned.
“This is not about money. It’s about you being my date. And as my date, you will need to dress appropriately for the occasion.”
“This is asinine. I mean, these costumes are beautiful, but I highly doubt that the other women in attendance will be dressed so extravagantly.”
He ignored my comment and walked over to the stairway.
“Dejah,” he called down. “Miss Cole would like to try on the green dress that you have on display up here.”
“Alex! I do not!” I hissed.
“Yes you do. I could tell by the way you were looking at it. Now be quiet. Dejah is on her way back up. I’ll not have an argument with you in front of her.”
I half wanted to stomp my foot like a child, but refrained when Dejah reached the top of the stairs.
“Lovely choice, dear,” she said as she began to remove the dress from the mannequin. “We do alterations on premise, but you may not need them. This looks to be about your size.”
She held the dress up against me.
“The color will suit her,” Alexander commented. I scowled at him.
“Yes, yes it will,” Dejah mused. “Fitting area is just this way. Once you have it on, I will help you tie up the back.”
I begrudgingly went behind the curtain that she pushed aside for me and took the dress from her hands. I expected it to be heavy, but it wasn’t too bad considering my assumption about the dresses in the storefront.
As I stripped out of my clothing, I could hear Dejah and Alexander talking. She was explaining the various items that he could wear, pointing out which would go best with my dress.
My dress.
I scoffed to myself as I stepped into said dress. I slipped my arms into position and arranged the sleeves until they felt comfortable. There was not a mirror in the cordoned off fitting area, so I could only assume that I put it on correctly.
“Dejah,” I called out to her. “I think I’m ready to be laced up.”
She came behind the curtain, spun me around, and began to roughly tie up the laces. From the base of my spine to the middle of my back, the higher she went the tighter she pulled. All I could envision was that scene from Gone With The Wind, where Scarlett O’Hara was yelling at Mammy to tie it tighter.
Women from back then had to be out of their minds. If she pulls any tighter, I won’t be able to breathe!
When Dejah finished, she spun me around.
“Come out here so that I can look at you properly, dear.” I followed her out of the fitting area to where Alexander was looking at a display of suit coats with tails. Dejah stepped in front of me and gave me a slow look over. “Oh, monsieur. She is stunning. Absolutely stunning.”
Alexander turned at her words, and took in my appearance for the first time. His eyes lit up with appreciation.
“Is it okay?” I asked him. “There wasn’t a mirror in the fitting room so I couldn’t see.”
“Oh, how mindless of me!” Dejah exclaimed and motioned to her left. “The mirror is right over there.”
I stepped over to the full-length mirror and slowly turned in a circle. The front of the dress was shorter than the back, leaving the tail of the train to barely brush the floor as I turned. Black beads were woven into the lace detail, sparkling as they caught the light. Sprigs of glittery feathers were used to accent the bust and waistline, giving the dress a luminous appeal.
I truly loved everything about it. Not only did it look astonishingly elegant on me, but it also made me feel mysterious – like I could be anyone I wanted to be when wearing it. However, I was still silently fretting over the extravagant price Alexander would have to pay for it.
“It fits well. Perfect actually,” I said hesitantly and ran my hands over the bodice.
Alexander stepped up behind me and placed a simple headdress of rhinestones with green and black feathers upon my head. He ran his hands down my arms as he took in our reflections.
“Krystina, it’s more than perfect. Dejah, we’ll take the dress.”
CHAPTER 18
“I still think it was a ridiculous amount of money to spend,” I insisted as we entered the kitchen of Alexander’s penthouse. I dropped my purse onto the breakfast bar and bent over to take off my shoes. I sat on one of the bar stools and began to rub the balls of my feet. After a ten-hour workday and four hours of shopping, my feet were killing me. I resigned myself to the fact that shoes and I would always have a love-hate relationship going on.
“Forget about it. You’re going to look fabulous, and that’s all that matters,” he insisted for what may have been the ninety-ninth time.
“Are you sure that I won’t be too overdone?”
“Krystina,” he said in a warning tone. “I thought we settled this in the car.”
“Okay, okay. I’ll let it go,” I conceded, even if I still thought that the expenditure was beyond insensible. He came over to where I was sitting and placed his hands on my shoulders.
“I want to buy you things. I enjoy spending money on you. Why can’t you accept that?”
“I don’t know. I just…” I trailed off, unable to find a suitable argument. He could spend money on whatever and whomever he wanted. I should be grateful that he was choosing to spend it on me. However, the independent side of me always wanted to resist.
“We’ve talked about this before. I’ve explained what it means to me to be a Dominant, even if you fight over every aspect of it. Please, allow me this much,” he said and placed a soft kiss on my lips.
“About that,” I murmured against him.
“What about it?” he asked and pulled back to look at me.
I contemplated how I should broach the subject of his kinkiness without seeming like I was dwelling on past issues. I looked up into his sapphire eyes, so intense that it felt like he could see right through me. I couldn’t think when he looked at me that way, so I stood up and began pacing the kitchen.
“Well, I was thinking about that night at Club O, at least the part before everything went bad.”
“Yes,” he said cautiously.
“I’ve been thinking about how far you’d like to take things. Don't get me wrong; things have been great between us. Perfect actually. But I feel like we have a lot of unfinished business there.”
His blue eyes flashed as he narrowed his gaze on me. I stopped pacing and tried to get a read on what he was thinking. However, before I could explain further, I found myself pinned up against the wall with Alexander’s hard torso pressed against mine.
“You’re impossible. Do you know that?” he growled.
“I don’t mean to –.”
“Stop. Now,” he demanded.
“This is important to me, Alex. I can’t just let it drop. You’ve done stuff with other women, a lot of stuff that I can’t even begin to imagine. I’m not very well versed on these sorts of things and I don’t know what to think about it. I don’t know what my limitations are.”
“Kristina, listen to me. Yes, I have done things that many consider taboo in the past. I have been with countless women and have pushed their boundaries. I’ve shown them pain and I’ve given them pleasure, but never once did I give them a second thought afterwards. Now it’s all about you. I only want what you can give me. Nothing more. We have spent the majority of our time together talking about what was or what could be, but that isn’t going to happen anymore. Going forward, we will be living in the present.”
“I won’t argue with that, but there are –.”
“Have you enjoyed everything that we
’ve done so far?”
“Yes, of course,” I told him, taken aback that he might think otherwise.
“Do you feel secure enough to use your safe word if needed?”
“Yes, Alex. But, again, there is –.”
“End of discussion,” he said, completely cutting me off for a third time.
“You’re not being reasonable,” I pointed out.
“Actually, I’m making perfect sense,” he said, his voice noticeably lowering an octave. He gripped my hair into a ponytail and gave it a slight tug. “You need to trust me. I’ve already sacrificed and given up so much of who I am for you, Krystina. I won’t let you take this from me, too. Your body will always be mine to do with as I please. I will own it and you won’t question it.”
The command in his voice sent a delicate shiver of delight down my spine. I looked into his eyes. They swirled with a dark primal need, but there was also a challenge in them. It was almost as if he were daring me to push back, like this was a test.
He will own me. I am not allowed to question it. Can I do that?
He tightened his grip on my hair and yanked a bit harder. Pulling my head back, he placed his mouth on the shell of my ear and grazed his teeth over the delicate skin. I shivered again when I felt the hardness of his erection that strained through his pants and pressed up against me. A familiar tingle began to form in my belly, rapidly intensifying until I was astoundingly aroused.
“Tell me, Krystina. Say you’ll fully submit to me. Give me the words that I need to hear,” he said gruffly as he tightened his hold.
There was an edge to his voice that was an aphrodisiac to my senses. I found that I didn’t want to challenge him on this. I wanted Alexander to take complete and total control over my body. I wanted to feel like that woman on the stage at Club O and let go of my inhibitions. She trusted her Dominant to take complete and total control of her body. Her Dom was her entire universe and nothing else mattered.
I wanted to surrender myself to Alexander, and not just in the physical sense. I had finally reached the point where I trusted him enough to give my full emotional surrender as well. He was just waiting for my consent.
Stepping Stone Page 14
