Ascension (Book 4, The Watcher Chronicles) (13 page)

“I guess,” I say hesitantly, “if it would make you happy.”

Mason walks out of the bathroom presumably to retrieve what he envisions me wearing that evening. After I have my make-up and hair done, I walk back into the bedroom and see Mason laying out a sleeveless yellow-gold silk chiffon mini-dress. It has a metallic sequined band for a collar and a thin matching metallic belt which covers a band of elastic around the waist creating a pleated effect for the short skirt.

“It’s cute,” I say, wondering why Mason is dressing me up in what I would term a sexy dress.

He turns to me and unties the belt of the robe I’m wearing, sliding his hands in to cup my bottom in his palms. I wrap my arms around his neck and lean up against him.

“Don’t wear a bra,” he tells me. “Your breasts are perfect. They won’t notice.”

I wasn’t sure how I was going to wear one anyway since there isn’t really a back to the dress. Mason lets me go and leans down to pick up a pair of nude colored thong bikinis. He kneels in front of me and holds them out for me to step in to.

“I might as well wear nothing down there either,” I say, only seeing a small patch of lacey fabric in the front and two strings holding the panties together around the waist and back. “What exactly are you trying to do?  Make me into a tempting treat for Chandler’s eyes just to see how he’ll react?”

Mason grins. “No nothing that diabolical.”

Mason stands to raise the panties up to around my hips. He then helps me into my dress and makes me sit down on the side of the bed to slip slim metallic high heel sandals on my feet.

He holds out my heavy black coat for me to put on because the dress he picked is really more suited for summer than winter. It might be L.A. but it’s still only February. Even California isn’t immune to the chill of winter in the evening.

Mason holds a bent arm out to me.

“Ready?” He asks.

“Yes,” I say taking his arm but still suspicious of Mason’s motives in dressing me so provocatively.

In an instant, I find myself standing outside the Koi restaurant. The entrance has various potted bamboo plants scattered around, a Buddha head mounted against a wall and lit candles leading the way to the door.

“They might be inside already,” Mason suggests. He kisses me on the lips lightly and opens the door for me. “Go on in.”

“Ok, I’ll call you when I’m ready to leave,” I tell him.

Mason just smiles and waits for me to go inside the restaurant, closing the door behind me.

When I walk in, the hostess asks me the name of my party and I tell her Chandler Cain’s. She smiles brightly at me from the name recognition and asks me to follow her. She tells me they are seated in what they term the back patio section of the restaurant. I see Chandler sitting in one of the U-shaped dark green leather booths. The booths are butted up against the inner wall which is decorated with an array of bamboo shoots. A man with dark brown hair and a woman with blonde hair sit across from him with their backs to me as I approach.

Chandler excuses himself from his parents and stands to meet me half way to them.

“Hey sweetie,” he says to me. He rubs his cheek against mine like he’s kissing me but doesn’t. “Let me help you out of your coat.”

Chandler steps behind me as I unbutton the coat and let him slip it off my shoulders.

I hear Chandler take in a sharp breath behind me when he sees what I’m wearing. He clears his throat and holds his arm out to me and escorts me to the table to meet his parents.

Chandler’s father steps out of the booth when we approach. He’s a handsome man with an open, friendly face and smile. He looks a lot like Chandler, or I guess it’s really Chandler who favors his father.

“Dad, this is Jess. Jess, this is my dad, Paul Cain.”

I hold my hand out to Mr. Cain and he shakes it firmly, not treating me like I’m fragile just because I’m a woman, which I appreciate.

“Nice to finally meet you, Jess. We’ve heard a lot about you from Chandler.”

Mr. Cain turns to the woman in the booth. “I would like to introduce you to my wife, Beth.”

Chandler’s mother smiles brightly at me seeming to truly be happy to finally meet me.

“I wasn’t sure if Chandler was ever going to introduce us to you,” Mrs. Cain tells me with a lilting laugh. “I thought he might be embarrassed by us or something.”

“Mom,” Chandler says with a roll of his eyes, “you know we’ve both been busy. It was just hard to find the right time.”

“Well, I guess that doesn’t matter now,” Mrs. Cain says, smiling at me sweetly.

She pats the seat next to her indicating I should slide into the booth and sit beside her. This position puts me in the middle of the U in the booth. Chandler slides in after me but doesn’t try to sit right up against me. He gives me room which is something his mother isn’t doing. I’m sitting so close to Mrs. Cain she’s able to put her hand on top of mine on the seat of the booth.

“You’re even lovelier than the pictures we’ve seen of you on the news,” Mrs. Cain says to me, squeezing my hand like I’m already a part of her family.

This small action just adds to the guilt I feel. I don’t want to lie to these people. I make a mental note to talk to Mason about letting them in on the truth once everything is over. I don’t want them to think badly of Chandler, and to be honest, I don’t want them to think badly of me either.

A waiter dressed in a blue vest and white shirt comes to take our drink order. As the others are telling him what they want, I notice the hostess escort an unexpected patron of the restaurant to a small table directly across from the booth I’m sitting in.

Mason sits down at the table in the chair facing me. When our eyes meet, I feel my forehead crease in confusion. The hostess tells him a waiter will be there soon to tend to him, but Mason doesn’t really acknowledge what she says because he’s too busy staring at me.

Chandler doesn’t notice Mason’s presence, and I feel thankful for that small blessing. Mason and I stare at each other across the expanse separating us. He sits slouched back in his chair with his right arm draped across the table, his fingers playing absently with the long glass stem of his water goblet as he watches me intently.

I’m faintly aware Mrs. Cain just asked me a question.

I break my eye contact with Mason to look at her and ask her to repeat the question.

“I was just asking if you and Chandler have decided on a date for the wedding,” she says.

I shake my head. “No, we haven’t even discussed it, Mrs. Cain.”

“Oh please, just call me Beth, Jess. You don’t have to be so formal. We’re practically family.”

Inwardly I cringe. I hate lying. I especially hate lying to good people.

Chandler slides a menu over to me. “You might want to try one of the signature dishes,” he says to me. “They’re all good here.”

I’m grateful to be given an excuse to end the conversation with Chandler’s mom. I lift the menu in front of my face but find myself peeking over it to look at Mason. He’s still in the same position, just staring at me with hooded eyes. I have no idea what game he’s playing at. Is he here to keep an eye on Chandler?  It doesn’t seem like it. He hasn’t even looked in Chandler’s direction, just at me.

I watch as he takes a sip from the long stemmed water glass. He drains half the contents and sets it back down. Someone comes around and fills it up for him again. Without missing a beat, Mason picks the glass up and drains half the contents again, never taking his eyes off of me. I lower my eyes to look at the menu, determined to find a dish I’ve never eaten before. I mostly do this hoping for a distraction from Mason’s gaze but find my eyes drawn back over the menu to look at him.

How can I not look at the man I love as he sits across from me staring like he wants to devour me whole?  I see the corners of his mouth lift slightly because he knows he has my full attention. He picks up his glass again and drinks the last of the water left in it. Another waiter comes up to his table to fill it up. The small cubes of ice from the pitcher tinkle against the glass as the man pours the water in.

“Where’s the bathroom?” I ask Chandler.

Chandler stands from the table and points me in the right direction. I tell him to order me the Kobe beef potstickers for my entrée before I make my way to the ladies room.

As soon as I step into the restroom, I instantly conclude it’s one of the cleanest public bathrooms I’ve ever seen. The décor is what you would expect in such an establishment with various Koi motifs everywhere.

I’m drying my hands at the granite lavatory when I hear someone enter the room behind me. I hear the click of a key and look up into the large gold gilded frame mirror mounted on the wall over the sink.

Mason is standing by the door and I see him let go of a gold key which is now securely jammed inside the lock on this side of the bathroom. Our eyes lock. Neither of us says a word as he walks up behind me.   He rests his hands on my hips and pulls my backside fully against him.

Through the thin fabric of my dress and barely there panties, I feel the hardness of him hidden behind his own clothing against me. We continue to look at one another in the mirror, and I feel his hands dip down below the hem of my skirt finding easy access to my naked thighs. Understanding dawns and I know why he picked this particular outfit for me to wear tonight.

He slips the fingers of his left hand behind the thin lace at the front of my panties, sliding his middle finger against the most sensitive part of me. His right hand ventures up my side until he’s cupping one breast in the palm of his hand. He uses his fingers to gently tease my nipple through the thin fabric all the while watching my reaction to his caresses in the mirror.

As a wave of pleasure from his expert teasing of my body wracks my body, I place my hands on the edge of the granite top in front of me to help maintain my balance and bow my head down as the intensity of what he’s doing overwhelms me. I feel Mason’s right hand leave my breast, and before I know it, he has a fistful of my hair in his hand. Roughly, he tugs on the strands forcing me to lift my head and meet his heated gaze in the mirror.

The only sound in the room is the harshness of my ragged breathing as he continues to watch me in the mirror.

Mason slides both of his hands from my body and takes a step back. I whimper from the lost contact. As we stare at one another through the mirror, I try to calm my racing heart by taking in deep breaths of air. I question him silently, not understanding why he’s stepping away without satisfying both our needs.

I see a pleased look enter his eyes and know he accomplished exactly what he set out to do. Finally, he breaks eye contact with me and faces the door to turn the key in the lock before taking it out of its slot. He looks back at me and smiles. Suddenly, he phases, leaving me feeling completely devastated.

It takes me a few minutes to regain enough strength in my legs to walk out of the bathroom without wobbling precariously on my high heels. When I reach the table, Chandler slides out of the booth and looks at me in concern.

“Are you feeling ok?” He asks me. “You look a little flush. You’re not getting sick are you?”

“I don’t think so,” I say, feeling my cheeks begin to burn even more.

When I retake my seat, I notice Mason is no longer sitting at his table. In fact, the table he was at is void of any signs he was ever even there.

Chandler and his parents chat with one another and they attempt to bring me into their conversation but my mind is somewhere else. I can’t seem to concentrate on anything that’s being said. All I can think about is the man in my life who knows just what buttons to push on me to completely bend my mind and my body to his will.

I hear my phone’s ringtone go off indicating I have a new text message. I look down at my coat realizing I’m not the one who increased the volume of the ringer. I prefer it to be silent and only vibrate. I quickly find my phone to read the text.

I want you…

I immediately dim the screen because I don’t want Mrs. Cain to see the message.

The ringtone sounds again.

I need you…