“Paolo is clearing out the restaurant for us.”
I blink at him. “He’s what?”
“He’s asking all of these people to leave,” he says matter-of-factly. “And then his staff will go home, he’ll go to his apartment upstairs, and you and I will have the place entirely to ourselves.”
I open and close my mouth, feeling distinctly like a goldfish. “You—what? You can’t do that.”
His eyes don’t leave mine. “I just did.”
“But … these people are eating. You can’t just toss them out in the middle of their meal.”
His jaw ticks. “They’ll be given twenty minutes to finish. Their checks will be taken care of, and their next visit will be free.”
I gape at him. “That’s going to cost you a fortune.”
“It will be worth it, corazón.” He checks his watch and smirks. “You have about twenty minutes until I get you alone.”
I swallow hard. The threat in his tone is clear. He’s pissed at me. We haven’t had any serious arguments since the day after we were married, and I have no idea how he handles conflict. Although his reputation in the courtroom is ice, he’s always been a blazing fire where I’m concerned, and something tells me I’m about to get burned.
After our food is delivered, I sip my wine and chew my pasta until it turns to glue in my mouth. All the while, I watch Nathan calmly finish his steak and wish I had an ounce of his composure. My legs are shaking beneath the table, but it’s not from fear. My blood sizzles with anticipation.
After the last customer leaves and the staff files out the door, Paolo bids us both goodnight and reminds Nathan to make sure he closes the door firmly when we leave.
Now Nathan and I are entirely alone, and although I won’t meet his gaze, I feel his eyes on me as keenly as if they were flames licking my skin. My entire body thrums with nervous energy.
“Look at me,” he commands.
I lift my head, allowing my gaze to travel up the thick column of his throat, the fine dusting of stubble that peppers his jaw, over his full lips, and finally to his piercing brown eyes. “What now?” I ask, aware my voice is barely a whisper.
His eyes darken. “Strip.”
I blink at him like an idiot. The muscle in his jaw ticks, and I glance around the restaurant. It’s now entirely empty, but the lights are still on—muted but still too bright for me to be thrilled about getting naked—and there are windows. Giant windows. And although we’re tucked away in a corner and can’t be seen from outside, it still feels very public.
“I said strip,” he commands again.
My pulse hums against my pressure points. I tip my chin at him. “And what if I don’t?”
The corner of his mouth curls, and he cups my chin in his hand, dragging the pad of his thumb over my bottom lip and making me shiver. “You know what edging is?”
I nod.
He keeps a firm grip on my face. “I will have your cunt aching and dripping for me before we leave this restaurant, corazón. And on the way home, I’ll make you beg for the promise of relief that I won’t deliver. Then I will take my fill of your beautiful body over and over again until you’re burning up from the inside out with the ravenous need to come. And tomorrow”—he presses a chaste kiss to my forehead—“I’ll do it all again. So that by the time you go to work on Monday, you won’t be able to think straight with the blood screaming in your ears and the throbbing between your thighs.”
I swallow, my heart thumping in my ears.
“So don’t make me ask you again.” His tone is low and demanding, but I don’t feel powerless here. Whatever else is between us, I know that I trust this man. He would never humiliate or embarrass me, no matter how pissed he might be.
Wrenching my head out of his grip, I stand and keep my eyes fixed on his as I reach for the zipper at the back of my dress. I slowly pull it down until the black fabric pools at my feet.
His face remains impassive. “Everything, corazón.”
My fingers tremble on the hook of my bra, but I manage to unhook it and let it fall to the floor. Nathan’s jaw is tight, his hands balled into fists at his sides. He’s not as cool and calm about this as he’s pretending to be. I make a show of hooking my thumbs into the waistband of my panties, swaying my hips as I peel them over my curves.
Growling, he leans forward in his seat, his eyes raking greedily up and down my body. A thrill of excitement runs through me. He makes no attempt to hide the effect I have on his body, and the knowledge that he wants me as much as I want him makes me feel sexy and empowered in a way I never have before.
I kick my panties off my feet.
“Keep the heels on.” The deep timbre of his voice melts my core, and I press my lips together to stop myself from whimpering.
He trails his fingertips over the curve of my hip and skates them down my abdomen. His free hand rests on his thigh, and he clenches and unclenches his fist, just like that night at the zoo, as though his palm is twitching with the need to spank my ass. The thought of being bent over his lap and spanked makes liquid warmth seep between my thighs.
“You’re so fucking beautiful, Mel.” He grabs my wrist and yanks me toward him. I bump against his thigh and fall right over his lap, my ass in the air and my elbows on the bench. “But that’s not going to distract me enough to spare your ass, corazón.”
“Nate.” I gasp out his name on a stuttered breath.
“Have you ever been spanked, Mel?”
“N-no,” I stammer truthfully.
He runs his palm over my ass cheeks before squeezing one in a bruising grip, but it only makes me grind myself against his thigh. “I’ve been waiting for a reason to spank this ass since the first time you sassed me on our first date.”
“I did not sass you,” I protest.
A dark laugh rumbles out of him. “Yes you did, and you know it. From the moment you climbed into my car you were trying to push my buttons.”
Okay, maybe that’s true. I glance over my shoulder at him and arch an eyebrow. “Pretty sure you did some pushing yourself, Ice.”
He delivers the first stinging slap to my ass, and I yelp in surprise more than pain. Surprise that I feel the ache leftover by his hand between my thighs rather than anywhere else. I hiss out a breath, and he spanks me again, a little harder this time.
