Read Beautiful Agony (A Tale Of Savage Love, Part I) for Free Online Page A

with this one.  Uh-uh.  N o dice.
    He kept staring into my eyes, un-bl inking in his perusal .  The bartender came over then and asked, “What can I get for you, Miss?”
    “She’ll have a Jack and Coke,” Bishop said, without asking me first.
    “How do you know what I like?” I asked, a little perturbed, but mostly curious.   It dawned on me that this innocuous question was the very first thing I’d ever said to him in person .   My initial words were supposed to be sexy, unique, original, engaging.
    “ Because I can smell it on you,” he replied bluntly as the bartender walked away, “just like I can smell your saffron shampoo, your almond moisturizer, and your vanilla perfume.   And your sweet, hot sex beneath those black satin panties of yours.”
    So , he had caught a glimpse down the hem of my dress as I’d crossed my legs then.  He must have peripheral vision to die for.  Then his words truly hit me and I blushed.  I opened my mouth to say something but I had no idea what.  I bit my bottom lip, tasting the oily, expensive, bright red lipstick I’d expertly touched up in the cab less than five minutes ago.
    The bartender came ba ck and set my drink down, nodding at me while his eyes lingered on my chest for a few seconds before turning and walking off.  My “date” was apparently running a tab.   He r eached out then and put o ne hot, heavy palm on my knee.
    “What are you doing?” I asked breathily.   Ridiculously, I was still sick at the thought that he had seen my poem.  It should be the least of my worries right now.  B ut even so, my self-conscious nature was tenaciously stubborn.  It wasn’t often that I exposed myself so starkly, and every time my thoughts rested on what I’d done, what he’d read, I felt uneasily nauseous.  Would he mention it?  Would he say what he had thought of it?
    “ I’m t elling all the se men who are staring at you,” he said firmly, answering me, “ that tonight you belong to me .”
    My stomach lurched crazily at that, and I quickly grabbed my glass and drank half of it down.  If I didn’t keep my buzz going, I’d never get through this in one piece.
    “Wha t sha ll I call you?” I queried hesitantly, having to raise my voice a little to be heard over the gibbering din around us.
    “While I’m inside you, or otherwise?” he replied deadpan.  Again, my stomach flipped.
    Then a sardonic smile broke across his face, lifting only the right half of his mouth.  It was as if the scar had partially severed a nerve on the left side .  When he was talking, you didn’t notice it at all, but when his lips curved; it was obvious.  I found it almost unbear a bly sexy.
    The way he was talking to me, taking control of the situation, comm anding practically every atom of my being with just the force of his presence alone, was intimidating the hell out of me.  I’d never met such a presumptuous man .  Especially when it came to t he way he was talking about sex within just a few seconds of having met me.  Even now, h e was looking at me - not just as if he wanted to eat me alive - but like he was about to.
    “You may call me Adam,” he said finally.  “And you, should I call you Eve?”
    Another hal f-smile played about his lips, both mysterious and mocking .
    “Ah, actually, my name is Ruby Evelyn S weet, and I go by Ruby,” I stammered out.  Why was I so damned nervous?
    “Ruby,” he said softly, and a chill ran down my spine.  “Okay, Ruby,” he continued, “should we go and fuck now, or do you want me to feed you first?”
    I could tell by the way he was sayin g it that the ‘should’ part simply referred to the order of things.  His intent was not to ask me if we could do so , but only to ask me when .  I also got the sense that he didn’t ask that very often.
    I paused too lo ng and so he answered for me by calling the bartender back over.  “She’ll have another Jack and Coke, this one a double, and bring us an order of