Suited

Thirty Three

In the car, I cried harder than I did in therapy most days. They were happy tears but tears nonetheless. The Chevy was still at the estate because I was in no state to drive, nor cook, so Signore drove and cooked dinner. I'd eaten some and found a moment to slip away during the party to take my meds but he insisted we have real food once we got home. I asked to stop on the way for the weighted blanket. I needed it and he let me stay in the car while he ran into Target to go get one. Signore is a wonderful man and dinner was phenomenal.

Once I was fed and adequately soothed, he let me shower with him before I got dressed. Partially, at least, considering I'd be walking around half naked for most of the night. Signore stayed in his underwear so I wouldn't get paint on his slacks. After some deliberation, he decided my shibari should happen first. I wanted to paint him since it would need time to dry, but he made a very valid point that with him moving so much to tie me, it could crack, and there was no real rush so there wasn't a need to multitask.

Signore's work is meticulous and it starts with my new collar but the knots start against my cuffs. He did one arm at a time from my wrists to just below my elbows with columns that looked a bit like gauntlets in the end before he moved on to my chest, threading the rope through the various metal rings on my collar so he could work his way down, weaving rope like a spider's web until he connected the several sections around my thighs not unlike a set of garters. Even though the was moving quickly, stopping only to compare me to the photo I sent him, it still took close to an hour. It was just that intricate.

He took a little break to let his arms rest before I got started. I'd never done body paint before so I had an article next to me I was following. Though confused by using setting spray first, I did it so I could get to the fun part. I used sponges first to throw down a majority of the color first and ended up in a flow state until I switched to the brushes. The color was darkest just above his left hip and wrapped up toward his chest like smoke, getting lighter and bluer as it hit his collarbone. I was gone again doing the finer details, making the clouds more defined and shading. So much shading. I got a bit carried away and called it quits once my hands started to hurt but I wasn't upset. My work looked good on him.

Signore let me drown him in setting spray again before he stood in the bathroom with the fan on to dry just a little bit faster. He probably could have sat in the passenger seat and not touched anything but he wanted to wear a coat. He didn't want to smudge the paint. He liked it too.

Naturally, we were late but Signore didn't mind. He kept looking at me while I drove with this light smile on his face that I wasn't sure he knew he was making. My Halloween playlist was going and my phone was dinging like crazy making the music stop every few seconds. When I checked in the parking lot, some of the texts were from Gabriel, more were from Vic, and the rest were from Juni. All of them were asking where the hell we were.

I almost answered but Signore grabbed my hand first. "Yes, Sir?"

His eyes darted toward the line outside. It practically wrapped around the building. "If you get overwhelmed, tell me, and we will leave."

I nodded. "Understood." He kept looking out there. "Is something wrong?"

"No," he said quickly. Slower, he said, "I just recognize some people is all."

He was nervous. I decided to look too. "Do you see Sir Davies?"

He didn't so he decided to call and a moment later, Bill appeared near the front door, talking to the other security guard and pointing toward us before he walked over. He'd said to stay in the car on the phone so we did until he was close enough. Signore clipped a matching lead to my collar and wrapped it around his hand after Bill gave him a "stupid" neon wristband—Bill's words not mine—that he had to wear so staff could spot him in a crowd or something. As the gravel crunched under our feet, Signore looked like he did at work. His face didn't relax until we passed the bouncer.