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Chapter 23
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The Fantasy Maker Chapter 24
"Is there anything you won't do?"Dante glanced at Emma as he rolled up the thin silk rope he had just removed from her wrists. "Only one.""What's that?"He dropped the rope into a cabinet where it would wait for its next victim. "Autoerotic-asphyxiation.""What's that?"Dante came to the bed where she had crawled to rest against the pillows. He moved up beside her, lying on his side as he ran a couple of fingers over her belly."It's where you put a rope around your throat and apply pressure while you, or someone else, applies sexual stimulation.""What do you mean, pressure?""This." He slid his hand over her breasts slowly before allowing it to come to rest at her throat. Then he grabbed it roughly, choking her for a brief second. "Cutting off the air supply."Emma took hold of his wrist, even though he had moved his hand back down to her breasts, to push it further away from her throat. "Why would someone want to do that?"He shrugged. "I've heard that the resulting orga
The Fantasy Maker Chapter 25
"Have you ever met one of the guys from the Ranch outside?""Outside?"Emma set down the glass of sweet tea she had been holding, reaching under the table to wipe her hand on her thigh. They were in a small diner near the campus of the University of North Texas. A group of college students walked by on the sidewalk outside, laughing at something Emma could only imagine. She waited till they had passed before she focused on Jen again."Outside of the spa."Jen studied her face, concern etched into her familiar features. "Has Dante asked you""No," Emma said immediately, lying to her best friend for what she was pretty sure was the first time. "I was just wondering if-I mean, you've been going there for a while."Jen nodded. "I had a guy ask me to have dinner with him once. I reported him to the management and he was fired a few days later."Emma picked up her glass again, but didn't drink. The tea was too sweet for her taste. But she swirled the straw around a little, watching th
The Fantasy Maker Chapter 26
Emma dropped a roll of film and cursed under her breath as she bent to pick it up. Of course, it had rolled under the desk. She had to crawl on hands and knees to finally dig it out from the pile of cords and power sticks back there that ran her computer, her projector, and the various lamps and things she had laid out, waiting to process film she had yet to use in her newly completed dark room.Who had time for hobbies with a political campaign going on?She unzipped a camera bag and slipped the film canister into one of the elastic holders alongside the three other rolls she had just put in there. She tried to think of what else she might need. She had two digital cameras and her old Canon EOS Rebel. She had a tripod and extra lenses and a half dozen filters. She had all this film, including two rolls of black and white that were still frosty from the freezer.As she studied the collection, she found herself imagining Dante, naked and forever preserved in black and white film.It
The Fantasy Maker Chapter 27
It took Emma nearly an hour to decide what she was going to wear. Every time he had seen her before, she had been dressed in one of those pink, cashmere robes. Should she be sexy, dress in a short skirt and a push-up bra? Or would that make him feel like the only reason she had come to him was for more of the same? Should she dress casually? Wear jeans and an oversized t-shirt? But what if he had asked her to come so that they could have some one-on-one time without worrying about the rules of the Ranch?She wished she knew why he was doing this.She had tossed and turned all the night before. Steve would give her the money. She could keep seeing Dante at the Ranch, could keep having those amazing mani-pedis, keep drinking all that expensive champagne, keep disappearing into ecstasy each time he touched her, no questions, no doubts. She could keep up the lie of her disguise. Could keep the mask that hid nothing except the freckles that dotted the bridge of her nose. She could keep hi
The Fantasy Maker Chapter 28
"Oh, wow!"Emma groaned as she tasted the piece of chicken Dante had just pushed into her mouth. It practically melted when it hit her tongue, the meat so tender it just fell apart."Amazing, isn't it?""Amazing doesn't even begin to describe it." She reached over and stole another small piece from the corner of his plate. "Why didn't you tell me?""The steak is good, too."She nodded, glancing at her own, empty plate. "It was."He laughed, pushing his plate toward her. "By all means," he said."You don't want it?""I'd rather watch you enjoy yourself."Emma bit her lip, memories of him watching her during other, more personal moments, making her squirm a little in her chair. "Either you're the most generous man I've ever met, or you're quite accomplished at hiding your own desires.""Oh, I think my desires tend to be quite obvious."Her nipples tightened with a tingle at that. She sat back and looked around the crowded restaurant, needing to concentrate on something else fo
The Fantasy Maker Chapter 29
It was a weird sort of déj¨¤ vu.Emma stood at his sink, studying the brands of the various objects displayed on the countertop and inside his medicine cabinet. He used Crest as his toothpaste, Listerine for his mouthwash. His cologne was a glamorous sounding Tom Ford brand, his deodorant a mundane stick of Degree. He and Steve used the same shave cream, but he used disposables where Steve had always insisted on a refillable type of razor.She could remember doing this once, shortly after she and Steve had become romantic and he left her alone in his dorm room. She remembered touching his toothbrush, smelling his cologne, and then finding a drawer full of condoms that turned out to belong to his roommate. There was no such drawer in Dante's bathroom. Only a box of cotton swabs and a forgotten package of Band-Aids.Emma caught her own reflection in the mirror and was surprised by the naked look of need on her face. Her lips were swollen, the little bit of lipstick that had been left
The Fantasy Maker Chapter 30
"Have you ever been in love?"His laughter rumbled from deep in his chest, shaking the bed a little. "You just go straight for the jugular, don't you?""You said I could ask anything I wanted.""That I did. Next time I'll be more careful." He ran his hand absently over her hip as she lay with her back against him. "I thought I was in love once, but it turned out I didn't even know who she was.""Did she cheat on you?""No." He kissed her shoulder lightly. "She told me she was the daughter of a preacher and that her mother had died of cancer. Turned out both her parents were perfectly healthy and her father was actually a garbage man in the Bronx.""The Bronx?""Yeah.""You're from New York.""Nope." His hand moved slowly over her hip again, this time his fingers reaching deep to brush against her thin bush of curly red hair. "I went to school there.""Where?""That's question number four."Emma groaned. "That's not fair.""Those are the rules." He pulled back on her should
The Fantasy Maker Chapter 31
Emma's thoughts lingered on Tommy until she crossed the city limits sign. The sun was just beginning to set, reminding her that she had missed the boys' bed time. She hoped her mother was not too annoyed with her. Her father would have expected mother to be home hours ago to make his dinner.She told the Bluetooth to play back her messages. There were five from Steve, each growing more annoyed in tone as the day wore on. The last was the call Emma and Tommy had heard from the bed.A little after eleven:"Talked to the Christian Revolution. They've promised to make Alvarez back off." A little before one:"Turns out there's a reporter from the Austin Statesman in town just for the day. Can you make a five o'clock meeting?"1:45:"Emma, I really need you at this meeting. Where are you?"At 4:30:"Damn it, Emma. Are you ignoring me on purpose?"And then twenty minutes to eight:"You're mother texted me at five-thirty, Emma, right in the middle of the damn meeting with the Austi
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