The Beginning

"Yeah,"Jess chuckled around a mouthful of pasta. "It hit me when he rushed off with the other peoples food."

Just then Tucker reappeared at their table with a fresh Grey Goose and tonic and another carafe of coffee.

"This is on me, love,"he said. "Let me buy you dinner tomorrow night."

Jess grinned at her, practically vibrating excited energy.

Rose smiled up at him. "Oh sorry, I'm going out dancing with the girls tomorrow night."

"But Saturday she's completely free,"Jess quickly interjected with a big smile. "And Sunday too, you know in case dinner becomes brunch... Ouch!"

Rose kicked her under the table, glaring daggers at her for a moment.

Tucker laughed, flashing them another heart stoping grin. "Perfect. Meet me at The Melting Pot on the north side of town, eight o'clock. It's fondue, so by design it's an intimate affair, with food sharing and assorted morsels to, taste. You'll love it."

Rose liked how he was the polar opposite of her ex who couldn't decide on something as simple as diet or regular soda. This was a man who took charge and made a decision, never really asking but more of just telling her. And the insidious way he kept saying the word 'taste' hinted at a mind just as far in the gutter as hers.

"Ok,"she said, holding out her palm. "Hand me your phone and I'll put in my number."

He pulled his phone out his back pocket, handing it to her. Boyish mischief made his eyes seem to sparkle. She immediately imagined her nails digging into that firm ass pulling him deep into her. A feint blush crept in her cheeks at the image and her heart pounded in her ears. She quickly added herself as a contact, hoping he wouldn't notice her trembling fingers.

"There you go, handsome,"Rose said handing him back his phone, careful to slide her fingertips along his exposed forearm, from the crook of his elbow down to the very end of his middle finger. "I'm all yours."

He flashed a dimple popping grin at her before gently grasping her fingers and bringing his deliciously thick lips to the back of her hand, eighteen hundreds style. His eyes never left hers.

"I won't disappoint,"he said against her hand.

Her stomach somersaulted. That move was so incredibly sensual and erotic, she couldn't stop the small gasp from escaping her. God how she wanted those lips on every single inch of her body.

-Tucker-

Slipping into the break room, he mentally kicked himself for kissing her hand like some corny old western, but he couldn't resist. The feel of her creamy skin still stung his lips, her silky, seductive voice continued to echo his head, Here handsome, I'm all yours... Pulling out his phone, he flopped down on the worn couch, and pulled up her name in his contacts.

"Rose Edwards, 102-920-13 ... I guess not all of me, yet. If you want the last two numbers, handsome you'll figure it out. ;)" Stared back at him.

He dashed out of the break room, retying the apron strings around his waist as he went, and collided with Lisa—a decent looking waitress, with more boobs than brains, who was always attempting to flirt with him.

"Move Lisa!"he said swinging her around by the shoulders just as smooth as if they were long time waltz partners, ignoring the harumph behind him.

"Rose wait,"he said as she was putting on her heavy wool pea coat. "You didn't give me the last two numbers of your cell. You're not trying to blow me off are you? I mean if you're not interested just say so."

She brought her mesmerizing eyes up to meet his and smiled, making his blood boil. He still had a good three or four inches on her, but she was taller than he expected standing nearly eye to eye with him, which he found her all the more alluring for. God, he just wanted to grab her right there and shove his tongue in her mouth.

"Trust me, Tucker,"Rose said, smirking. "You'll know it if I'm blowing you, off."She purposefully dropped her gazed directly to his crotch before planting a quick peck on his cheek. "This is just me making you work for it. If you really want my number, you'll figure it out. Hopefully, I'll see you Saturday night, handsome."

He smiled like an idiot as she and her friend walked right out the front door without a second glance. Once out of eyesight he rushed back to her table and thoroughly searched the whole table for the remaining numbers. He checked in every fold of the drink napkins, in the little drink menu, in the sugar dish, under the salt and pepper, even on the bottom of the glasses and carafe. He came up empty. He went to the register and searched through the credit card slips, finding hers with her neat swirling signature but no numbers out of the ordinary.

He closed the drawer with a heavy sigh feeling both defeated and exhilarated. He had a mission, now she was his prey. Damn, that beautiful woman knew how to catch a man's attention hook line and sinker.

*Rose*

"Ok, who are you and what have you done with my friend?" Jess said as soon as they were past the restaurant doors, her breath a white cloud from the cold.

"What? It's still me,"Rose said, adjusting her purse strap on her shoulder. She stuffed her hands into her coat pockets and bounced on her toes.

"No, my friend doesn't turn to mush and randomly kiss a strange guy."

"I was being polite...European style."

"Uh-huh. Anyway I'll see you tomorrow afternoon right? We can have wine and cupcakes,"Jess said, drawing out the last part as if she were trying to coax a stray animal to her.

"Ok fine you win. Wine, cupcakes and overturning your closet...sounds like fun. Come on lets go its freezing out here."

"Great! Bye friend see you tomorrow,"Jess said, hugging Rose tight.

Rose's car apparently learned to drive itself, because she blinked and her front door was standing in front of her. The short trip across town to her modest apartment, a complete blank spot in her mind. The only thing on her mind was X-rated thoughts of Tucker.

-Tucker-

By the time Tucker's shift ended several hours later, he was completely stymied about what those last two numbers were. By this point he was starting to get royally pissed off, not to mention so horny he felt like he had been force fed handfuls of little blue pills. Her voice had been on replay in his head all day, Here handsome, I'm all yours.

But it slowly morphed into a fantasy—she was naked on his bed, her hands bound in leather cuffs to the headboard and a spreader bar between her thighs, her thick soft hair tossed over her shoulder, looking at him with those big amazing, turquoise eyes saying, Fuck me hard, Master! I'm all yours.

He was just about to call off the search for the missing numbers, and head straight to his Dungeon to release some of his tension on one of the little pain-slut's ass, when something jogged his memory making him stay. He cocked his head to the side, remembering, as the rest of the day shift servers filed into the break room to count, compare and complain about their tips.

She left him a tip on her credit card as well as cash. At the time he just thought she really liked him but thinking back, the bills were folded—neatly lengthwise then with the bottom corner folded up and the numbers of the two bills side by side. He pulled two random bills from his apron pocket and mimicked the folds.

"It's an arrow, but pointing to what?"he said aloud rotating the bills this way and that. He grabbed a soft sided check holder and placed the bills against the internal spine, opening and closing the flap. Nothing. Then he stuck them under the plastic meant to hold the receipts, and there it was. The corner of the bill pointed to the first number and the plastic underlined the second. Although his two bills were a ten and one.

"Haha!"Tucker said aloud, as if he were a pirate who just solved where X marks the spot. "I found it. Cleaver little fox."

"What are you going on about Tuck?"Brian said from across the table.

"She gave me her number, sorta."Tucker mumbled pulling a pen and post it out of his pockets. "It has to be single digits so it must have been either a five and a single or two singles. So that leaves three possible choices, 51, 11, or 15."

"Are you still harping on that one table from earlier today you had me go check out?"Brian said sounding only partially interested.

Tucker looked up from his scribbles with a big dopey grin. "Hell yeah. I asked her out and she put all but two of her numbers in my phone and made me figure out the rest. It's really cool that she would think of that. Kinda like a treasure hunt."

"Oh god,"Brian said rolling his eyes. "Any woman making you jump through hoops just to figure out her number is way to high maintenance man, not to mention a tad on the bat shit crazy side."

"No, its smart and very clever. She made damned certain I would think about her all day until I figured out her riddle, plus now she gets to be the treasure. She knows things are far more valuable when you have to work for them."

"Whatever man, don't come crying to me when she becomes the psycho ex that trashes your ride just because you didn't put the toilet seat down. I'll jut give you my I told you so now, bro."

"Duly noted,"Tucker said distracted. He filled in her number with the first option, 51 and sent a text, "Is this my clever little fox?" He repeated the message for the next two options.

A few minutes later option number two replied with, "Sorry wrong number."

An agonizing ten minutes after that, option number three replied, "It is if this my dangerously handsome hunter." Option number one never responded.

Tucker smiled to himself and replied, "I'm glad I got to be your server, Miss Rose...That little kiss on my cheek drove me crazy today."

"I couldn't resist that sexy dimple, Tucker... Maybe I'll kiss more than just your cheek, if you're good."

"Baby, you have no idea how good I am," he replied.

"And you have no idea just how bad I can be," her response immediately buzzed in his hand.

"Don't worry, I know how to handle pretty little things who get out of line..." The moment Tucker hit send he instantly regretted that message. Sending a message like that to a woman in the normal world would surely make him sound like a psycho. He was right in the middle of an apology message trying to explain away his meaning when her reply popped up on the screen, utterly shocking him.

"Ooh, I hope so... See you Saturday at 8 ~XO"

Chapter 2—The Ember

*Rose*

Saturday night had finally arrived. Rose spent the entire next day shopping (and not helping her size-two friend decide between a dozen different things that all looked fucking fantastic on her) for the perfect cocktail dress—a deep olive green, V neck dress with three quarter length sleeves and a smooth lace overlay of the same shade giving it a textured appearance. It made her eyes shine like emeralds and dared anyone not to appreciate her ample cleavage and her hour-and-a-half-glass curves.

She took a deep settling breath, swallowing the self consciousness of being in a tight dress and four inch heals, and opened the cab door. She clipped her way inside the posh restaurant.

"Hi, I'm Rose. I'm meeting someone. He said he was already here, his name is Tucker..."she said politely to the cute host who looked like he could be a teen idol.

"Of course. Right this way Miss Edwards,"he said.

The host helped her out of her black, wool pea coat, and took her soft blood red scarf. He draped them over his arm as he lead her past the reception area and into the dinning room. The restaurant was made to give the seamless illusion of dinning al fresco on a Parisian terrace, with Frank Sinatra crooning in the background from hidden speakers.

The ceiling was entirely made of glass with only the slimmest of metal seams, offering an unhindered view of the night sky. There was a giant faux oak tree in the center of the room with twinkling fairy lights strung through out it. Several other smaller faux trees also with little lights, dotted here and there. Then off to one side there were a row of private booths, seeming to be nestled under the buildings arched awnings with their own intimate lighting. All of the tables had a center cook top, for dunking gourmet morsels of assorted breads, meats, and sweets into a pot of boiling cheese, flavored oil, or decadent chocolate.

The host lead her to one of the private booths where her date was waiting, and seamed to vanish as Tucker stood to greet her. She had a moment of panic when she realized she was the same height as him in her heals. Through sheer conscious effort, she resisted the urge to fidget with her dress or touch the messy but sophisticated knot of her hair and flashed her best smile.

He looked good enough to eat. His dark charcoal grey dress shirt was tucked neatly into black trousers, and a slim black leather belt hugged his lean hips with fine, black Italian leather shoes. The day or two old stubble on his jaw along with the unbuttoned collar, no tie with his sleeves rolled up to his elbows gave him a sexy roguish tinge to his polished attire.

"Wow, you look amazing,"Tucker said as his eyes did the involuntary dip of an appreciative once over. His smile got even bigger as he noticed the flowers on her foot. Handing her a small bunch of violet Forget-Me-Knots—matching her tattoo—with a two white daisies in the center, tied with a thin white ribbon, he said, "These are for you, love. Although if I had know you already had purple ones, I would've got you pink or yellow ones."

"Thank you, these are lovely. I never get flowers, hence the permanent ones on my foot,"Rose said placing a quick peck on his prickly cheek. The clean scent of his soap mixed with the woodsy but sweet/spiciness of his cologne nearly made her eyes roll, he smelled so good. "I love that you're original with these by the way. Most guys, if they even get me flowers at all, always seem to think they're witty and ironic and get roses."

He scooted in the semi circle booth after her and gave her a dimple indenting smirk. "I figured as much. That clever little trick with your phone number had my mind totally focused on you. So, I just wanted be in the forefront of your mind as much as you've been in mine. I've never had anyone do anything like that before."

Rose gave him an impish grin. "I just figured a good looking guy like yourself gets a fair amount of girls numbers and I didn't want to get lost in the crowd."

"Oh trust me, I would notice you even in the most crowded of places."

"Only because of how tall I am, most people do, but then quickly turn their attention to the dainty little women in my friend circle." She shrugged a little sheepishly, "Past the initial height notice I'm quickly forgotten. You totally took me off guard asking me out and not my friend Jess."

"I find that very hard to believe, Miss Rose," he said, gently placing his warm, rough palm innocently on her knee. "You have the most incredible eyes, I think I have ever seen."

"Thanks,"she said with a small smile.

Tucker seemed to sense her hesitance and scooted a little closer so their covered thighs were touching, "Ah, I see. I'm guessing you've heard that many times over, am I right?"

"Yeah,"she said a little embarrassed. "I'm sorry. It sounds so vain to say people compliment my eyes all time, and that it kinda looses its affect...But thank you though."

"Well, let me tell you something a little more personal then...I think you are absolutely gorgeous. And I think you have a little bit of a naughty sense of humor, which is a very sexy trait to have. From the second I saw you, I have thought of nothing else but you. Granted, not one of those thoughts have fallen into the PG-13 category, but still..."He slid a fingertip across her knee, just under the hem of her dark olive dress, for emphasis.

Rose laughed out right, letting him keep trailing his fingers across her skin, electricity following in its wake. That was most likely a line he used all the time, but the way he said it made it seem almost as if he just admitted a secret. "I can honestly say I have never been told I'm the source of someone's fantasies...But I like the idea of being center stage in your mind, handsome."She seriously doubted his lustful thoughts were as dark and wicked as hers were about him.

"Come on you're kidding right? No one's ever told you that? A guy would have to be blind as a bat not to fantasize about you, you're sexy as hell. You've got a body that was made for very sinful things, your smile lights up a whole room and your eyes...You've been my personal Jenna Jameson for the past two days. And as for your friend, she was no where near my type. I'm not attracted to fourteen year old girls therefore I am not attracted to women who look like fourteen year old girls."

The idea of this insanely sexy guy stroking himself to an image of her was erotic and exhilarating. "So Amazons are your type then,"she teased taking a sip of her ice water.

Pushing her dress up another inch, his hand slid daringly higher on her thigh and his voice took on a sexy gravelly quality, "You better believe it baby. There is nothing sexier than a tall, strong woman with curves I can sink my teeth into."

Her stomach flip-flopped, she secretly loved it when a man left teeth marks on her skin, despite it only ever happening a couple of times with an ex. She playfully swatted his brazen hand on her thigh. "It's not nice to tease, you know."

"I get the feeling there is much, much more going on behind those hypnotic eyes then you let the world see."

"There is. But in my experience, people are easily offended and would rather listen to the sound of their own voices,"she shrugged, "so I let them. You can learn a lot about people when you watch from the sidelines."

"Being offended is a sign of a weak mind. I assure you love, you cannot offend me..."he shifted back in his seat, spreading his arms along the back rest. "Tell me something interesting about you."

She could tell he was just as cocky and self assured as any other good looking guy trying to get laid. But he was going to have to work a little harder than pretending to be interested in her interests and hobbies. So, as was her custom, she turned the conversation back around to him.

"Um,"she said tapping a manicured fingertip—painted to match her deep olive dress—against her lip. "How many tattoos do you have?"

"What makes you think I have any at all? Do I have tattoos when you picture me naked?"

Now there are, she thought. Despite her best efforts, heat crept into her cheeks. She playfully nudged her fingertips into his chest. "People with tattoos are more fun to look at naked... Plus, you just strike me as a little bit of the rebel type. You didn't really ask me out, more just told me to go with you, and you could've just as easily followed the men's dress rules and wore a tie and jacket but instead, you didn't."

"Sounds about right...Yeah, I've got several. They're on my back and shoulders, and a couple on my legs and one on the underside of my bicep,"he said touching his right arm. "What about you? What other pretty little things adorn your gorgeous body?"He suggestively wiggled his eyebrows, "I'll show you mine if you show me yours."

God, he was so hot she just wanted to tear his shirt apart and trace her tongue across whatever ink he had covering those broad shoulders. "I think naughty little secret body art, like under the arm or on the ribs is super sexy...I have a humming bird on my shoulder, a quote, some books and a cupcake not on my shoulder, and a genie lamp really not on my shoulder."She gave him a saucy little wink, purposefully forgetting to mention her piercing.