Free Alice After Hours by Galia Ryan Page B

right now. Probably more confused than anything else.”
    â€œ Of course, it’s not over yet.”
    â€œ No.” Alice flushed, and looking around at the opulence, smiled a little too brightly “So how long have you lived here? You said this morning it was a lifetime.”
    The water rose and fell again as Gabe reached down for his own glass and then settled back.
    â€œ My family has owned it for years, and it’s where for the better part I grew up. But my parents always had a preference for the country, and a simpler life. So, when they moved out I took it on.” He too was gazing around, but far more critically, as if wondering if it were time to replace the tap ware, or upgrade the colour scheme.
    â€œ So where did they go?”
    â€œ Cyprus. To a small-holding with a few olive trees and a very pleasant lifestyle.”
    â€œ Sounds idyllic.”
    â€œ I guess it is. For them at least. Is that what you’d like to do?”
    â€œ What? Live on an island and go back to nature?” Closing her eyes, she shook her head.
    â€œ Why not?”
    â€œ I’m a city girl. I like my creature comforts. Plus I hate the thought of isolating myself from everything.”
    â€œ Such as?”
    She took another sip of champagne. Thought for another moment.
    â€œ World events.”
    â€œ And work?”
    â€œ Yes. Work too.”
    â€œ So if I asked you to come away with me?”
    She didn’t miss a beat.
    â€œ I wouldn’t.”
    â€œ Why not?”
    â€œ I don’t do spontaneity.”
    â€œ Are you sure?”
    â€œ Because I’m here?”
    â€œ Partly.”
    Under the water his fingers were brushing her leg.
    â€œ Touch yourself.”
    Shocked by the unexpectedness of the command, Alice opened her eyes wide, and then with deliberate slowness, took another sip of champagne. Without lowering the glass, she moved her free hand to her breast. Though familiar, the caress was still intoxicating, and her fingers grazed over the pliable roundness, circling and meeting at the tip of her nipple to enable a perfectly shaped and painted nail to flick back and forth. As the rose-pink flesh puckered and the bud engorged, she closed her eyes and with a deep sigh let her head fall back.
    â€œ Tell me what you’re feeling.”
    â€œ Horny.” The single word was low.
    â€œ Tell me what you want.”
    â€œ I want to be fucked.”
    â€œ Still thinking of yourself, Alice.”
    â€œ Nooo. I’m thinking of you too.”
    â€œ If that were the case, you would have answered differently.”
    Her manipulations ceased, and releasing her aching nipple, she let her eyes drift open.
    â€œ I didn’t tell you to stop.”
    â€œ Teach me,” she said.

Chapter 21
    H e dressed her in stockings, black and seamed, and her corset. At first she’d inwardly rebelled at his choice. The constricting ivory panels were embroidered with pink rosebuds and set off with delicate ribbons. Given the choice, she would have plumped for the black. Of course he knew that. But black would have given her a measure of power, as if she were the seductress and not the seduced.
    Other than that, she wore only shoes: the same glossy patent leather heels that were so high she would have to re-train her balance.
    â€œ Put up your hair,” he said from the sofa. “And lipstick—red.”
    She dipped into her handbag, found her makeup pouch and small mirror, and complied.
    He was relaxed, sprawled against the cushions, one arm resting along the back of the sofa, the other along the side, and she came to stand in front of him, uncertain and yet thrilled.
    â€œ So beautiful,” he murmured, and then instructed her to turn around.
    â€œ Part your legs and bend forward.”
    Alice did so, loving that the unyielding satin was digging into the soft flesh of her belly.
    Gabe stood, and coming behind her, positioned her hands on the back