Crossing the Lines (30 page)

“You’ll tell me what you’re fantasizing about, Alice. In the car. Come along.”

The car. Part of the game? She adjusted the fantasy, exchanging the padded bench for the backseat of Henry’s car.

He tucked her arm around his and walked her down the hall to the living room. Jay, seated on the couch, stood at their approach. Well-dressed this evening, in sleek black slacks and a formal black shirt, he’d left his collar flipped up.

He whistled when he eyed her before his gaze moved to Henry. “The reds? You’re sure?”

“I’m certain, yes, my boy. It’s an appropriate statement.”

Jay’s grin split his face. He pulled two ties from a pile draped over the back of a chair. Red. To match her dress, it seemed, although why red made him happy remained a mystery.

He brought the ties to Henry, who made swift work of Jay’s tie and fixed his collar before donning his own.

Amused, she nudged Jay with her elbow. “Can’t tie your own tie, eh? Will you ever be a grown-up boy, do you think?”

Jay smirked at her, shaking his head. “Call it a renewal of vows.”

A
what
?

Had he and Henry talked about marriage after she’d stumbled into the subject two weeks ago? Maybe they’d had a commitment ceremony before she met them and hadn’t told her. No. Ridiculous. Henry would’ve disclosed that.

Jay’s smirk grew. “Besides, he dressed you, too, didn’t he?”

“You’re telling tales out of school, my boy.” Henry’s mild tone didn’t fool her, not when he raised an eyebrow and tugged on Jay’s tie. “It’s time to go. Do you have the keys?”

Go? Out? Together?

Jay pulled a set from his pocket and jangled them. “Ready and waiting.”

“Go on and start the car, please. Alice and I will be down in a moment.”

Jay departed. Not a joke, then.

“As you’ve undoubtedly surmised by now, my dear, we will be leaving the apartment for tonight’s games.” He swept her hair back with his fingers, his palm resting against her cheek. “You needn’t be anyone but yourself tonight. You’ve been wanting something more, hmm? Something akin to a relationship? You’ll have it tonight.”

He leaned in, replacing his hand with his lips.

“I’ll answer one question before we depart, Alice. I know you’ve several buzzing around in your mind.” He pulled back and studied her. “Choose one only.”

A dozen questions waited, and more arrived by the minute. But she trusted him to have her welfare in mind. She was content to wait to find out where they were going. Dinner. The theater. A concert. The possibilities were endless. What she really wanted to know, though…

“What statement are you making with the ties? How does it relate to what Jay said about the vows?”

Henry tapped her lips with one finger. “Those are two questions, my dear. I’m not inclined to answer either if you cannot follow instructions properly.”

“It’s a single question,” she argued. “One question with a nested corollary for clarification purposes.”

He laughed, a short but delighted bark, as he helped her into her coat. “Clever, Alice. Quite clever. I’m afraid it still won’t provide the answer you seek, however. You’ll have to phrase your question more precisely next time.”

A challenge. Damn straight she would.

Taking her arm, he led her toward the door. “The only statement I am making with the ties is to match the red of your dress, my dear.” He turned off the lights and locked the door behind them. “As for Jay’s words…beneath his boyish charm beats the heart of a romantic. But I expect you knew that already, Alice.”

How like Henry to give her no answers at all.

He escorted her down the stairs and outside in silence.

Standing beside Henry’s car, Jay opened the back door. Henry helped seat her before joining her, and Jay took the wheel.

“Where to, good sir?” The rearview mirror reflected Jay’s smirk as Henry rattled off an address. “Very good, sir.”

Jay dug into the fun of playing chauffeur. Although he wasn’t driving for the reasons she assumed, because Henry didn’t make any sexual demands during the ride. And it wasn’t as if he didn’t have reason to. He ordered her to describe the fantasy scenario she’d imagined in the bedroom, which made Henry growl and Jay whimper, but he only kissed her cheek and commented that the idea had merit.

“Tonight, however, it wouldn’t be appropriate to arrive at the gallery so mussed.”

“We’re going to an art show?” That could definitely be fun. Like a day at the museum. She’d always enjoyed her outings with Henry.

“We’re attending an opening reception.” Henry paused. “For my new exhibition.”

“You have a new show?” A thrill danced down her spine. She’d get to see what Henry had been working on. “How come I didn’t know about this?”

Jay laughed. “Knowing ahead of time only means you carry wood crates to the car and help deliver them to the gallery.” He caught her gaze in the rearview. “I still don’t know what the pieces look like, either.”

Henry raised his hand to her jaw, his index finger and thumb tipping her face toward him. “Surprising you is an irresistible temptation, my sweet girl. One I hope you’ll forgive me for, as I cannot promise to stop.”

“You can’t?”

“The delight on your face is much too enjoyable to witness. As bright as Jay’s smile when he knows he’s done well.”

“Nothing’s that bright,” she teased. Joy unfurled in her stomach. She’d been part of his plans, not an afterthought. “Not even the sun on a clear day.”

“We’ll have to be certain to give our boy praiseworthy things to do when we arrive home this evening, won’t we, Alice? So we might enjoy the sun’s warmth after dark?”

Jay squirmed in his seat. He sat tall, his shoulders pushed back, and controlled the car with smooth confidence.

“He’s an excellent chauffeur,” she pointed out. “That’s one praiseworthy thing already.”

“Keeping a running total for the night, Alice? What a lovely thought. Jay will have to thank you for it when the night is over and he reaps the fruits of his good behavior.”

Jay pulled into a parking space, turned off the engine and blew out a breath. He gripped the steering wheel.

“It’s all right, my boy.” Henry’s voice soothed, though she couldn’t for the life of her figure out why. “We’ll wait until you’ve calmed yourself. Best for the artist to be fashionably late, in any event.”

Calmed?
Oh.
Yeah, okay, Jay probably didn’t want to walk into Henry’s exhibit with his own exhibit going on in his pants.

Henry talked about the show arrangements and the tedium of the afternoon, when he’d been overseeing the installation with his agent, until Jay indicated his readiness to step out of the car. Henry sent a quick text to his agent, who met them at the gallery’s back door.

“It’s going well, Henry.” The agent was a slender man, not slender-but-muscled like Jay, but more gaunt. “I have a woman interested in picking up one of the pieces, and I think you might entice her into taking a second, so we’ll start there.”

About her own height, which made him shorter than her in the wedge heels. And busy
.
Fidgety busy. Much too busy for Henry, but maybe he needed that in an agent to balance his own unflappable calm.

“Yes, thank you, Elliott.” Henry slipped off her coat and handed it to Jay. “To the left, my boy, you’ll find the manager’s office. The coats will be fine on the chair. Elliott, you remember Jay, of course.”

“Of course. Jay. Pleasure to see you in person again.” Elliott nodded and turned toward her. “And this is your new muse? Wonderful.”

“This is Alice, Elliott.” Henry stroked the back of her neck, and she burned with pride beneath the possessive touch. “She’s been quite the inspiration.”

Henry wouldn’t lie. If he said she’d inspired him, she had. Pride crossed the sound barrier, well on its way to transforming her body into shimmering light.

Elliott leaned in as he shook her hand. “Whatever you’re doing, please, keep at it, Alice. Tie him to the canvas if you must. He’s pulled together some beautiful new pieces for this show.”

She edged closer to Henry’s side. Wicked impulse made her speak. “Usually I let him tie me to the canvas. He needs his hands to paint.”

“She’s a quick one, Henry. You ought to let her do the talking.” Elliott waved his hands in a flitting gesture. “Play up your enigmatic persona all you like tonight. I can make sales with this girl doing the rounds. Where did Jay run off to? He’s good at parting the cougars from their money.”

* * * *

Jay mingled on his own while she accompanied Henry and Elliott, attempting to be witty but not embarrassing and charming without screaming to the unattached browsers that Henry was taken. They’d never turn into buyers that way.

The first hour passed in a whirlwind of faces, and the second much the same.

The night was half over before she had a chance to stand in one place and appreciate Henry’s paintings on her own. Elliott continued his schmoozing campaign alone. Henry left her to check on Jay, with the promise of his return.

Beautiful examples of Henry’s work filled the gallery. Still lifes, mostly. Each painting took her deeper, a tour into his mind via the colors and themes and elements he’d highlighted.
Daylily
held her enchanted. Pink, rose and red petals spread, trimmed in gold, every crinkle and fold painted in delicate detail.

Stepping in close at her side, Henry swept his arm across her back and curled his hand around her opposite hip. “Have I done you justice, Alice? If I stripped your clothes from you right here, would the colors match?”

He wouldn’t strip her in public. Doing so would force everyone in the room into their game without consent. He wouldn’t do that to anyone, even if she wanted him to.

Not that she wanted him to. The notion that he could, though. Just because Henry was a painter and not a performance artist didn’t mean he couldn’t…
oh God.

Arousal. The rush of heat prepared her body for him, flushed her pink and red with desire.

She slid her cheek against his in a nod, as close a caress to the one she wanted from him as she dared in public. “They would now.”

He chuckled, low, for her ears only, and kissed her cheek. A flash went off as someone captured the moment.

“You’re wonderfully responsive to my suggestions, Alice. I wonder, would you follow instructions here, in a public setting? Would you like that?”

Folds of flowers. Folds of skin. Both opened to his talents. Had he held a brush or his cock in his hand when he’d conceived this painting? Bringing her here tonight might be more than playacting. Not her contracted dominant supplying her with what she needed from him but her lover showing her he valued her.

Unless this show marked the culmination of his work, his nearly yearlong project, and he wouldn’t need her afterward.

“It’s a contract night, Henry,” she answered him, her voice as light as she could make it. “You know I’ll obey you if I’m able.”

His fingers tightened on her hip, and he pressed his forehead to her temple, but he stayed silent. Maybe she’d misstepped, and he hadn’t wanted to be reminded of contracts. Maybe he wanted to be free to enjoy her without the polite fiction that dictated their actions only because they allowed it to. Or maybe she’d projected her own desires onto him.

“Of course, my dear. How could I expect otherwise?” He grazed her cheek in a kiss, and his tone grew brisker, more focused. “Very well. Listen and obey, then.”

She had nothing to fear. Henry wouldn’t suggest anything obscene. Humiliation, public or otherwise, wasn’t part of their arrangement.

“Have you ever played the game Simon, sweet girl?”

“Uh, sure.” His conversational pivot had her scrambling for an answer. “Memory and pattern recognition.” This was sexual how? “Flashing lights and sound.”

“Precisely. I’m going to demonstrate a pattern on you. You’re to seal it in your memory. And then I want you to repeat it on our boy.”

“A pattern?” She rarely fell so far behind in discerning Henry’s intention, but now she struggled to catch up.

“Of dominance.” He drew teasing spirals in the small of her back. “A claim. A chance to play go-between.” The heat of the overhead lights deepened his scent, mimicking the musk of arousal. “To share a taste of power.” He licked his lips, the act slow and mesmerizing. “A kiss.”