“Can I come in?” he asked, yet took another step closer, knowing I wouldn’t refuse him.

“Absolutely.” I opened the door wider to accommodate his larger frame. Once he was through, I closed it and leaned back, taking deep breaths.

Turning, he faced me and lifted a hand. I thought he was going to touch my face like he did quite often, but instead his fingers lifted the pearl necklace. “They look beautiful on you.”

“Thank you.” I ducked my head, unable to meet his eyes after such a compliment.

“Are you ready for tonight?” Before I could even answer, he framed my body with his arms and lowered his head until his lips were just above mine. “I have an exciting evening planned, Precious.”

“I would ask where we’re going, but I have a feeling you won’t tell me.” I smirked.

“And you would be correct about that. However, part of the fun starts here.” Dropping his hands to my shoulders, he slowly trailed them up my neck to cup my face and plant a solid, chaste kiss against my lips. “Turn around, Precious.”

Taking one last look into his blue eyes, I turned to face the door.

A large, warm hand traced the opening on the back of my dress as an appreciative hum came from him.

When a cool, heavy material wrapped around my upper arm, I looked down. It was a leather band. What it was for, I didn’t know, but I knew I’d be finding out shortly. A similar band was wrapped around my other arm and something wrapped across the center of my back. I didn’t understand until I tried to move my arms forward and found I couldn’t.

My upper arms were strapped to my torso. It wasn’t tight or painful, just... restrictive. Panic welled inside me, but I pushed it back knowing John wasn’t going to hurt me. He only ever introduced me to new levels of arousal and passion.

“Does that feel okay? Not too tight?” John asked as if reading my thoughts.

“Yes, sir. It’s fine. Although I will say I’m not sure how I’m going to eat or do other things,” I said, concerned.

“Don’t worry. I’ll take care of everything.”

Like I had any doubt. I nearly snorted, but that wouldn’t go over well so I forced a smile instead.

John opened the coat closet next to the door and rifled through it before shutting it. “That’s all the coats you have? You need to go shopping. I think that’ll be one of the things we shall do together.”

My cheeks flared pink. I didn’t know how to respond. I didn’t go out and party or even socialize with people outside of work, so I didn’t have much that didn’t fall into the “boring work clothes” category.

“Come. I have something that’ll work in the car,” John said, opening the front door for me.

I turned to grab my purse and phone, but he stepped in my way.

“You won’t be needing anything like that tonight. Except your house key.” He grabbed my key ring off the counter before placing a hand on my lower back and gently, yet forcefully, showing me out of the house. Locking the door behind us, he rushed to open the passenger door for me before running around and sliding into the driver’s seat. I’d never seen a car with doors that open upward and it made me feel like I was climbing into the Delorean in Back to The Future. Well, a super nice and fancy one, anyway.

As he drove away from my house, he glanced at me and smiled broadly. “Have I told you how beautiful you are?”

“Yes, thank you.” I didn’t know how else to address the compliment. I felt like a clumsy, ball of nerves, not beautiful.

The drive passed quickly and quietly. It was possible we were both dealing with nerves or maybe it was that we didn’t need meaningless conversation to fill every moment spent together. When we pulled into a parking lot, John parked the car before reaching into the backseat to retrieve a black scarf.

“This will work perfectly,” he said before climbing out of the car. Moving briskly, he went around the car to open the door for me. I was thankful since I didn’t think I could’ve managed with the restriction of my arms. John scooped me out of my seat before letting me slide down his body to my feet. As I reeled from the feeling of his body, he wrapped the scarf around my back and shoulders.

I could feel the fabric brush against the opening on my back, telling me that with the way it was wrapped around my shoulders and upper arms it effectively concealed the contraption John had locked me into.

“There we go.” John walked a slow circle around me as his eyes took me in from head to toe from every angle. “You look perfect.”

With that, he wrapped his arm around my waist and led me toward the restaurant. It wasn't somewhere I'd been before, but from the number of cars in the parking lot I'd say it had to be pretty darn good. John opened the door, letting me walk in before him. His hand only left my back momentarily before it returned. It was like he didn't want to let me get too far from him, which was reassuring since I was limited in what I could and couldn't do. At the hostess stand, John let them know he had a reservation.

"Would you like to check your wrap, miss?" the hostess asked once she found what she needed in the book before her.

"No, she’s fine," John answered before I could even open my mouth. Obviously he'd anticipated the question.

"Very well." The hostess gave me a look that clearly stated what she thought about a man answering for his date. I didn't care. I found it kind of attractive that he took the time to consider what would be asked of me. Grabbing a few menus from behind her, the hostess stepped from her stand. "Right this way."

Pressure from John's hand told me he wanted me to walk in front of him, so I did.

"Here we are." The hostess waited for us to take our seats.

John pulled out a chair for me, which I happily sat in. After he took a seat across from me, the hostess laid menus in front of each of us and recited the specials, none of which I paid any attention to. I was more enthralled by the man across the table from me. I'd expected him to request a booth so he could sit next to me and torture me with some sexual game, but he didn't and that only drove me to wonder what he had planned. Nothing with him was left to chance, nothing was a surprise to him. If it was, he played it off as if he'd planned for it.

"I'll be ordering for us both, so no need to figure out how you’re going to read the menu." John captured the one in front of me and placed it with his own once the hostess left.

"Come here often?"  I asked when he didn't even open his own menu.

"Yes, I suppose you could say that." John shrugged as a waiter appeared with a bottle of wine. After John gave his approval, he poured a single glass before disappearing again.

I could sure use a glass, or five, of wine, but I wasn't going to tell that to John. I didn't want him to know just how nervous I was. To my surprise, John lifted the glass to my lips and tilted it so I could sip from it.

"You wouldn't be able to do it yourself and I'm not drinking tonight," John explained before giving me another sip.

"Should I not be drinking either, sir?" I asked. The fact that he wasn't drinking reinforced my idea that he had other plans for me after the restaurant.

"A glass or two will help relax you. I can tell that you’re on edge, and getting you to relax a bit would be a good thing. Although I can tell you, there is absolutely nothing to be worried about. I'm the same person you know and have spent quite a bit of time with." John reached across the table to brush his thumb against my lips. "I want to see you at ease with me the way you once were."

"It's that obvious?" I cringed.

“No, Precious. Most people probably wouldn’t even notice, but I know you. I have been with you when you are completely relaxed. That is the woman I want. The woman not afraid to show me everything about herself, all the good, all the bad. I want it all. While you are beautiful now, you are breathtaking when you let all those walls come down and I get to see the real woman inside you — the one no one else gets to see.”