The Darkness of Sable

by Faith Bicknell

  Minutes later, after most of the story had poured out of her, Sable paused as the waitress brought them fresh drinks. Once the woman had gone, she finished, “So, Hal and I divorced, and now Cheyenne’s been missing for five years. Goldie told me that if anyone would know anything about Cheyenne, it would be here, so that’s what I’m really doing at a place like this.” She waved her free hand toward the dance floor.

  “I’ll see what I can find out for you, but I can’t guarantee anything,” he said.

  “Thank you.” Once again, she contemplated telling him about the garden perpetrator but cast the idea aside. If the guy found out she’d told a cop about him, it might cause more problems for her, or worse, for Cheyenne. “Here’s my contact info,” she said, digging a business card out of her handbag.

  He accepted it and withdrew a wallet from his hip pocket where he placed the card inside.

  She stared at the ice cubes melting into her brandy, the swirls of water in the liquor similar to her reaction to Thomas’s embrace earlier that night. The feelings he’d inspired within her were heady and intoxicating, but her rationale was sobering and dependable.

  The orgasmic cries of a woman in the booth behind them forced Sable to dwell on the memory of Thomas’s kiss. Desire whispered through her body.

  I have to concentrate on finding Cheyenne.

  For the first time in ages, she believed she’d find her daughter. She’d seen her today, so it was just a matter of tracking her down. Someone had to know something.

  “Sable.”

  She turned to find Rick’s face inches from hers, his eyes full of sexual heat.

  “Would you mind if I kissed you?”

  Startled, she blinked, her heart skipping a beat. “Kiss me?”

  He smiled, and the gold of his gaze intensified. “You’re an incredibly sensual woman.”

  “I…”

  Around them, the erotic noises grew louder. The music switched to something smooth and lulling, full of strings, a subtle bass, and peppered with foreign words she couldn’t identify. Across from their table on the nearest bed, a man groaned in pleasure. Sable glanced his way. His hips pumped in a furious rhythm, and beneath him, a woman writhed and bucked in ecstasy.

  Sable focused back on Rick’s face. A smile cavorted at the corners of his mouth. The soft lighting intensified the blue glimmers in his thick, wavy hair. Although Thomas was out for the night with his colleague, she still couldn’t stop thinking about him. An image of Thomas with Ms. Boobs and Ass crossed her mind.

  But he left me for her. And we’re certainly not involved. We’re friends, business partners…that’s all.

  Sable looked into the bullion depths of the officer’s eyes. It had been so long since she’d had anyone pay attention to her, so long since she’d had sex. Throbbing settled in her pussy, and she gulped, trying to quell the sensation. Her lust grew in crescendo. She whimpered at the feeling, but hesitancy visited her. The point of her being here was to find clues to Cheyenne’s whereabouts. Guilt settled in next to her indecision.

  Finally, she managed, “I d-don’t think it w-would be proper.”

  Laughter tumbled from Rick. “Not proper in a place like this?” He leaned closer, his lips meeting hers.

  For the first few seconds he kissed her lightly, but as his mouth roamed over hers, a pleasant tingling assailed Sable’s body as if thousands of butterflies caressed her skin. She tried to pull back, but the sensation transformed into an odd sense of inebriation. She whimpered, and against her will, succumbed to his advances. He wrapped his arms around her shoulders, drawing her tighter, and his kiss transformed from gentle to demanding.

  With effort, she drew back and placed her hands upon his chest.

  “Don’t stop,” he said. “Let me kiss you.”

  “I shouldn’t do this.” She moved her hands to his shoulders. “I’m here for my daughter, not to…not to…”

  He captured her lips again.

  A fire erupted inside Sable’s body. It spread through her abdomen, into her loins, and out along her limbs. This isn’t right. I can’t do this. But his hungry kiss swept her away. Curiosity assailed her, one that prompted her to wonder what other men were like in bed. Her experience was limited to Hal and a couple of one-night stands after rubbing elbows with the rich and famous. Now, she found herself wanting to know more, feel more.

  “Sir?”

  Rick released Sable and looked up.

  “I’ll check back in half an hour,” the waitress stated. She set down a basket of nuts and crackers and hurried away.

  “Come here,” he commanded with such authority a quiver of deliciousness needled its way through Sable’s core.

  He slid his hand into the slit of her dress and up along her inner thigh. She inhaled sharply, her body trembling with need, anticipation, and a thread of fear. Fear of what, she didn’t know, but the sensation only heightened her arousal.

  “I shouldn’t be doing this,” she said. “Not here. Someone will recognize me, and my photo will be splashed all over the Internet. I’m here to find my daughter.”

  “You’re among friends,” he whispered and bit her earlobe, sending a burst of lust to her loins. “If someone exposes you, they’re exposing everyone.” He nuzzled her neck and sprinkled kisses along it, down to the soft swell of her breasts. “There are high-profile people who frequent this place as well as others in law enforcement. Besides, you worry too much. Let yourself enjoy life for a while.” He leaned back and met her gaze.

  His eyes smoldered with longing. He wanted her badly, and, although she felt it was wrong to lose sight of the reason she was at the nightclub, it thrilled and excited her that Rick found her so desirable. Her need for attention warred with her guilt. Her daughter was the purpose of being at The Threshold, not bedding a virtual stranger. But it would be so nice to forget my troubles for just a little while. She closed her eyes and tried to get a grip on her emotions and thoughts.

  She sucked in a breath, and her eyes flew open as the pad of his thumb found her nipple through the gown. Sable arched against him, panting.

  He stroked his thumb back over the hardened nub.

  No, no…this is wrong, wrong, wrong!

  He kissed the side of her neck, nipping the skin there, and passed his hand over her breast, down over her abdomen, and settled it between at the apex of her thighs.

  Fire roared through Sable’s body. She cried out and pushed her hips against his palm. “I want you inside me.”

  “That’s not a problem,” he said, chuckling.

  Chapter Eleven

  Wanton

  I t didn’t matter that they were in a public place. The idea of fucking while everyone else wandered around, watched them, or participated in their own sexcapades only served to excite Sable further. She wriggled, body flushed with heat. Rick’s mouth tasted every exposed inch of skin along her neck, shoulders, and breasts.

  “Please,” she said, feeling both excited and dirty. “I want more.”

  “My, you’re hot-blooded, aren’t you?” he whispered against her throat. Rick feathered his hand down her leg then pushed it under the slit in her dress to palm her hip.

  At the contact of his hand, a bizarre and unexpected heat swept across her skin, as if she’d been suddenly exposed to intense sunshine and was about to burn. He touched her again, and Sable could’ve sworn the heat along her body jumped another fifty degrees. Tingles swept over her breasts and zipped to her crotch. Sable groaned loudly, but she didn’t care. Who could discern her cries from the countless others in this sex den?

  “Oh!” Her head fell back and lolled against the top of the seat. “Oh, yes…”

  Rick moved his hand from her hip.

  Her eyes popped open. “Don’t stop.”

  “I have no intentions of stopping,” he replied, voice husky. “I want you closer.”

  He pulled her onto his lap and palmed her ass, his fingers massaging the muscles there as he claimed her mouth yet again.

>   The locks of her long hair fell over her breasts and pooled on the seat next to them. He tugged her gown up around her waist with one hand and nudged her hair aside with the other.

  A voice of doubt awakened in Sable’s mind. What am I doing? I know nothing about this man. She gazed across The Threshold. Couples banged one another from one side of the place to the other. The odd, enticing song ended, but a new one began, its bass so powerful, so dominant that it matched Sable’s heartbeat and prompted the throbbing between her legs into a need so fierce it rendered her helpless.

  Rick kneaded her flesh, his cock straining against the zipper of his slacks. Sable’s anticipation mingled with lust. The two feelings urged her desire scale from seven to land on ten. Oh, how she wanted this! To just let herself go for a few minutes, allow a complete stranger to fuck her until she screamed so loudly the top of her head blew off.

  But as much as she wanted sex with Rick, it frightened her and felt wrong. The image of the Sex Goddess rose in her mind, the woman’s hand placed possessively on Thomas’s arm, her smug look of victory goading Sable. Is what I’m about to do going to upset Thomas? He didn’t seem to care about what happened at the gallery, and he didn’t want to go back to the hotel with me.

  Rick cupped one of her breasts, and she whimpered. Instead of rubbing it more, he moved the fabric aside, and his mouth latched on to the nipple.

  “Oh!” She stiffened, her eyes fluttering shut. A low keen burst from her lips.

  Rick moaned against her breast, flicking the nub with his tongue. He wrapped his arms around her waist, pulled her tightly to his body, and buried face between her warm mounds.

  He held her almost too tightly, but the close contact felt so good. She had to move onto his cock, had to travel to that precipice where she could launch herself over its edge and shatter into a million pieces. The low boom-boom-boom of the music coursed through her body and matched Rick’s heartbeats pounding through is chest and penetrating hers. The aroma of cloves wafted over Sable. She glanced to her left. There, reclining on the bed, a man smoked a clove cigarette, his lover fondling his crotch.

  They’re watching us—me!

  But it made no difference. The knowledge that others observed them pushed Sable to the edge of the coveted jump-off point. She wanted him inside her, needed to have an orgasm that would register 9.0 or higher on the Richter scale.

  “Sable?”

  The music seemed to grow louder, but so did the voice calling her name.

  “SABLE!”

  Finally, she raised her head and gazed down into Rick’s eyes. They glowed eerily in the muted lighting.

  “Sable, I’m talking to you!”

  Sable realized the voice came from the right of their booth. She turned to find Goldie staring at her with shock in her eyes, the odd lavender, blue, and white lights providing a halo effect around her curly head. Returning her attention to Rick, Sable blinked and frowned.

  “How dare you take advantage of her,” Goldie snapped, her voice brimming with venom.

  He smiled and moved a stray corkscrew curl from Sable’s face. “She has the most beautiful hair,” he said, “and a lovely, enjoyable body.”

  Shame mowed over Sable. She gasped, intense heat prickling her skin from her head to the soles of her feet. She abruptly slid off Rick’s lap, adjusting her dress over her hips and legs as she did so.

  “The restroom is back that way,” he said and pointed across The Threshold. “If you’d like to freshen up.”

  She nodded, her lower lip trembling, tears filling her eyes.

  “Come with me, Sable,” Goldie said, trying to soothe her. “I’ll show you.”

  Rick adjusted his pants and scooted out of the booth. “Sable has free will,” he stated.

  “Yeah, right,” Goldie snapped. “Free will, uh-huh. Rick, you wouldn’t know free will if it weighed ten tons and crash-landed on you.”

  On shaking legs, Sable tucked her handbag under one arm and permitted Goldie to lead her way around the people screwing, dancing, or just lounging with drinks and finger foods in their hands. The fog twisted around their calves as they approached a dark hall with a lone light at the end of it.

  Guilt stomped across the threshold of her conscience. What have I done? I must be insane! Not to mention I came here to find clues about Cheyenne. But Thomas’s lack of interest in her tonight and Yasmine’s perfect, smug face elbowed her guilt aside. Thomas is probably screwing the Sex Goddess right now. He has every right to see other people, and so do I.

  So why didn’t any of those thoughts make her feel better? A sob wrenched free of Sable.

  Goldie patted her arm. “Come on, sweetheart. Let’s wash away Rick’s seduction.”

  In the ladies’ room, Sable discovered packs of antibacterial washcloths, soap, sterilized cotton cloths, and various perfumes and makeup in tiny, sealed trial sizes. Two blonde beauties in softly colored silk dresses finished touching up their faces. One passed Sable who towered over her by four inches. Curious, she glanced at the woman’s feet—thankful that the fog didn’t cover the bathroom floor, too—and raised a brow at her lack of heels or platform shoes. Delicate, flat silver sandals shod her slender feet, their strings crisscrossing up her ankles. The other woman nodded politely as she followed her companion and stared eye to eye with Sable. Again, no heels.

  The door closed behind them. New music filtered down the corridor and into the restroom, its pace faster, urgent. It matched the rhythm of her pulse. She stared at herself in the mirror. Was that woman staring back really her? Had she almost shagged a virtual stranger in front of a crowded bar? It had been exhilarating, but it also left her feeling filthy.

  Tension squeezed the back of her neck and crept up to the base of her skull. Sable grimaced and said, “I don’t want to go back out there. I just…can’t.”

  “Just chalk it up to an encounter with a talented player,” Goldie comforted. “That’s exactly what Rick Delmont is, a player who has the ability to wield magic on a woman.”

  “Well, when you add such a handsome man’s abilities to the fact I’ve not had sex in ages…” A knot formed in Sable’s throat, preventing her from finishing.

  The Golden’s tawny eyes met Sable’s in the mirror. Her gaze traveled the length of her and back up again. A smile tugged at her mouth. “I promise, if you go back to your hotel and take a nice bath, the sensations and worry will wash away just like your makeup and perfume will.”

  Hot shame bloomed on Sable’s cheeks. She looked away and made a show of rummaging through a basket of trial-size lipsticks. “Are you sure about that?”

  “Absolutely. You’re just a victim of an expert seducer, that’s all. Luckily for you, I happened to notice you two in the booth.”

  Sable couldn’t handle the feelings of shame and remorse filtering through her. She splashed water on her face, not caring about her makeup. “Have you found out anything about my daughter?”

  “Not much, but I’m still digging. Give me your number where I can reach you. I’ll call you if I find out anything substantial.”

  Sable removed a business card from her handbag and passed it to her. “I really need to get back to the hotel.”

  “Why not stay?” Goldie asked. “I’ll make sure Rick, and anyone else for that matter, leaves you alone the rest of the night.” She slipped the card into her evening bag.

  “I just don’t feel right about this place. I-I can’t—”

  “Look, Sable”—The Golden turned and stared up at her—“no one will hurt you here. You’re among friends.”

  She shook her head. Unease scrambled up her spine, a spider bearing the first vestiges of an unexplainable terror. Hadn’t Rick used the same words? Friends? What friends?

  “No, I should go.” Turning, she reached for the door. “Thank you for inviting me.”

  Sable plunged into the dimly lit hall. Fog gyrated around her feet and grew thicker the closer she walked to the bar. How would she leave without Rick seeing her? Better
yet, how would she get home? She’d either have to pray for a taxi or call her chauffeur and wait here until the car arrived. She paused at the end of the corridor, indecision rooting her in place.

  “Ah, there you are.”

  “Oh!” Sable performed a startled jig, her heart banging against her ribs. She turned to find Rick standing to her right.

  “Would you like me to take you home or call you a taxi?” he shouted over the music.

  All around them, people had moved from the beds and other horizontal surfaces to the dance floor. The glittering fog sent tendrils upward along their bodies as if spirits wished to pull them to the floor. The music changed to something primal and full of bone-jarring bass, urging many of the dancers to bump and grind against one another.

  “Well?” he pressed.

  “Uh, no. I’m fine—”

  “Good! Then let’s dance for a while.” He slipped his arm around her waist and propelled her out onto the dance floor.

  “No, I don’t think…”

  But the music overpowered her words, and Rick’s touch incited her desire once more. Silenced, all Sable could think about was the way his body felt as his pelvis bounced in time with hers, grinding so erotically she thought she would burst into flames.

  God, help me. Every time he touches me I want to fuck right here and now. He pushed her back, grasped her hands, and then tugged her to him again, her breasts making contact with his hard, hot chest. And if he doesn’t stop touching my ass and grinding against me, I might…I might…

  Rick twirled her around so she faced away from him then yanked her to his body, her ass nestled tightly in his lap. He kept his hands on either side of her hips and pushed his crotch forcefully into her bottom.

  She gasped, and, despite her better judgment, offered him a mock thrust in return.

  He bent over her shoulder and said, “That’s it, Sable. Let yourself go, enjoy the night, the sensations, the dancing. Let me show you how liberating it can be to abandon your inhibitions.”

  Thoughts of Thomas filled Sable’s mind. How could two men make her feel so totally different? In Thomas’s arms, she’d wanted something so poignant it had nearly torn her heart in half, but with Rick, she thought only of carnal desire.