Smoldered

by Rachel Blaufeld

  Using my fingers and sadly, my battery-operated replacement, I moaned quietly to myself, turning my face to the side, biting down on my pillow as I came. Right away, I felt the tears form. Small droplets, but tears nonetheless.

  My leaving would be harder than anything Asher and I had endured so far. I tried not to think about it a lot, but the fact remained: Whether we were exclusive or not, he and I were so entwined with each other, making a clean break would crush us.

  It was for the best. Especially after his latest interrogation last week when I visited his house for the second and very last time.

  Tossing and turning in the bittersweet memory, eventually the aftershocks of my climax and the cleansing of emotion from my body rocked me to sleep.

  A Tangled Web

  Asher

  BY THE time Sienna and I arrived back from our getaway, she was all business and back to work as usual. My headliner danced, lit the club on fire with her moves, and went home all alone. There was nothing I could do about that at the moment.

  On the other hand, I decided to do something about my Natalie slump, and it didn’t involve being alone or attempting to spend time with the temperamental brunette causing me angst. As I walked the club that evening, it was clear that Natalie had frozen me out. She was probably pissed that I’d had Petey keep an extra-sharp eye on her while I was away, but what could she expect?

  And I’d had a few revelations while she was gracing my presence last week. Actually, more than gracing. I would say she’d inhabited my soul and took over my body, heart, and home if I were a pussy, but I’m not. Besides, to her it was more like she threw the old dog a bone, judging by the freeze-out she’d been giving me since I confronted her.

  The girl would thaw and until then, I had alternate plans. Except for the first time ever, it didn’t exactly feel right. Like wearing leather pants when it was hot and they were a bit uncomfortable and restrictive, my chest tightened at what I was about to do.

  Still, I hit speed dial for my friend, Penelope, who owned the Cat’s Meow waxing studio, and told her to come on over. “It’s gonna be a late night, Penny, so make sure you’re ready for me,” I instructed her as soon as she picked up the phone. “And while you’re at it, bring your friend Larken, sweetheart.”

  Penelope and I went way back, and we felt the same way about relationships. They sucked. At least, I thought they did.

  The only issue was Penelope was good friends with all the girls who worked for me at the Tunnel, especially Sienna, so she was the only person I didn’t entertain in my office. When I called Penny, she knew to meet me at my house. We were discreet when we hooked up; she didn’t want the dancers she called girlfriends to know, and she was the one hookup I kept hidden from Natalie.

  As the boss, I approved all schedules, so I knew Nataleigh Dallas would be on tonight until in the wee hours of the morning, so I jetted from my club. This being Wednesday night meant “Natalie the mother” was on duty the following day. Thursday was always her day off, and the Tunnel gang saw neither hide nor hair of the brown-haired beauty when she fell off the grid with her son.

  The kid didn’t know it, but he was one lucky little son of a bitch to have his mom all to himself for a whole day. I wouldn’t really know firsthand if he got this or not because his mother kept him hidden from the club family. I understood, though. She was trying to break the cycle, give him a life we didn’t have, so she erected a brick wall between her boy and us—definitely with me. But I was going to fix that for her now whether she wanted me to or not. I was going to find the kid’s father, make him own up or at least pay up, even though she said I shouldn’t.

  Screw her. I jumped on my bike, speeding home without my helmet, allowing the wind to blow through my unruly hair as I tried to cool my thoughts. But all the while, I was jealous of a little boy because he got what I wanted: time with Natalie with no interruptions.

  And how did I come to even want all that? A single woman? Did that mean I was interested in commitment? Please, that wasn’t me. Or was it?

  I pressed on faster, whipping my bike in and out of lanes, passing the few cars on the road as I rushed home to where a little piece of heaven—or at the very least, a little relief—waited for me.

  I hit the garage opener as I came gunning down the block. Screw Natalie and her putting me on the back burner. I was raging in more places than my mind, and I hoped to hell those women were ready for me, because I planned to go at it for hours.

  I SETTLED in with a drink while I waited, staring at my tumbler, tapping my boot to the hard rock music piping through my speakers. Unfortunately, the cool beverage did little to temper the heat radiating from my skin.

  Penny let herself in before she and Larken made their way over to my wet bar where I waited, sipping a scotch on the rocks. Both wore tiny hot pants, showing off long legs, barely hiding the smooth skin I knew resided where each of their long limbs met in the middle. No way they weren’t bare under the shorts, and I had to contain myself from using a hand on each one to rip the little scraps of material off in a hurry.

  “Ladies.” The word came out rumbling, my voice hoarse with carnal need, but lacking any affection. This wasn’t about emotion.

  “Asher.” My name felt heavy in the air from each woman’s mouth.

  Lust hung like a cloud of humidity in the room. There was no need for introductions or small talk. The only thoughts being broadcast were smut-filled and infused with raw sexuality, filling the air, getting ready to rain down on our threesome.

  Larken was the newest and latest girl Penny occasionally slept with. She was fucking gorgeous with long chestnut-brown hair, deep green eyes, and dark tanned skin. I owned a strip club, so naturally I noticed stuff other men didn’t. The young girl had an exotic Mediterranean look to her. Too bad she had a pretty profitable job twisting in a cage, hanging overhead in one of the hippest nightclubs on the Strip. Otherwise, I might have been able to convince her to come and dance for me.

  I liked Larken a lot, better than anyone else Penny had ever brought into the mix. She was smoking in the sheets and dirty as all get-out. She also never asked to see me outside the arrangements Penelope set up.

  She was down with the plan, if there really was one. At least, she appeared to be down. I hoped to hell Penny set her straight, but now wasn’t the time to think about that shit.

  Unable to think straight any more, I watched the decadent scene in front of me.

  The women slowly stripped off their tight tanks, revealing transparent lacy bras and hard nipples. All the soft, supple pink flesh chased me right out of my brain, leaving only my cock to do the thinking. I stood up and closed the distance between the bar stool where I was sitting and the sofa the ladies were leaning against.

  I lifted Larken, smoothing her hair around her neck to free her ear where I whispered, “You ready, baby?” She didn’t say anything, only pulled her legs up and wrapped them around my ass as I started kissing her hard. There was zero gentleness in my actions, and the duo couldn’t have cared less. Without any words, Penny slithered behind me and rubbed herself up and down my hard muscles like a cat, licking my neck, letting her finger roam along the back seam of my jeans, teasing my ass crack.

  My tongue was deep inside the brunette’s throat, fucking every corner of her wet little mouth, letting her know exactly what I was going to do down below, when the ginger behind me slipped her hands around front and unbuckled my belt, unbuttoned my jeans, and pushed them down over my waist. I was commando, and it took mere seconds before she repositioned Larken’s legs down on the floor, slithered around front of me, and wedged herself between my own feet and the other woman’s so she could greedily take me in her mouth.

  I moaned as she swallowed all of me, my tip hitting the back of her throat. I pushed Larken onto the back edge of the couch, no longer wanting her mouth. Penny didn’t miss a beat as I shifted forward, bracing my arms on either side of Larken’s toned and tanned legs. The redheaded inferno just contorted her
self smaller under me, never letting up on my dick with her rough lips.

  I didn’t need to pull off my target’s hot pants because the girl had shoved them down in the one second it took to reposition myself. All I had to do was open my mouth and let myself have a taste.

  I licked all along the edge of her inner thigh until I made my way to where it met her heat, finally landing at the center of her core, nipping at the bud. She moaned, squirmed, and gripped my shoulders, clawing at my skin while Penny picked up her pace, meeting my thrusts.

  “Good? Yeah?” I murmured to the woman spread in front of me, dropping my hand, caressing Penny’s mess of curls, pushing her deeper onto my dick.

  Larken nodded while biting her lip. Little thing wanted me to stop teasing her and finish. Well, I had no problem with that.

  My tongue was lost in Larken’s tangy flavor when I felt my own release coming. I moved my free hand around the exotic beauty’s ass, my finger grazing the crack, making way for me to trace her little hole. She was hanging off the edge of the couch, grinding in my face, screaming my name while I fingered her ass.

  It was all I could take before I shot off in Penny’s mouth.

  After that we moved to the bedroom and took turns pleasuring one another with lips and tongues in every combination, position, and arrangement thinkable. It was a good night.

  I WOKE up in a mess of legs, arms, and a tangled web of red hair. Penelope was butt naked and spread-eagled over me, her waves covering my face, making breathing almost difficult. Larken’s feet were in my face, somewhat tangled in the same fiery hair that was almost choking me, her soft cheek resting on my calf, and her own chocolate-colored tresses running down her back, landing on her perfectly round ass.

  Penny and I went way back. The curvy little redhead was just getting started in her waxing biz when I was running a nightclub down on the Strip. That was over a decade ago, and the Strip was really starting to boom; big luxury hotels were going up all the way down Las Vegas Boulevard, and the place was swimming in cash. The infamous waxer to the stars, high-priced escorts, and desperate housewives would come in for a drink in my club a few nights a week.

  After a few weeks of eyeing each other up, we decided to chat, discovered we had similar preferences, and we’d been scratching a mutual itch ever since. Penny had been firm when she said over a cocktail in the early days, “No commitments ever, Asher. Not for me. I like to explore, taste, savor whatever the evening’s buffet may spread out in front of me, but that’s it.” She had stared me straight in the eye when she said this, and I knew she meant it.

  Unlike Natalie, when she had told me “no strings attached.”

  Penelope was a woman of her own mind and body, and I doubted she’d ever settle down, which was fine with me. I reaped the benefits of it.

  Christ, I’m an asshole.

  I rubbed my hand over my face, moving the sea of red out of the way. At least I was honest. Penny knew about my off-and-on affair with Natalie. As for the other way around, Nat definitely knew I messed around when she cut me off. Just not the details. And I didn’t want her to know about this side of me. Yeah, I had a lot of dark desires and a tendency to push the boundaries when it came to sex, but if I was honest with myself, when I was with Natalie, she was enough.

  Before I could let my thoughts become any more strangled by my childhood friend turned part-time lover, I looked down. Both women were still asleep, but it was close to ten o’clock and I had to roll. Plus, I didn’t do morning-afters other than the two times she had stayed over. I didn’t know what I felt for Natalie, but I would never kick her out or make her feel unwelcome, whether we were sleeping together or not. We had too much history, and yeah, she was another one of my girls that I was protective over.

  She didn’t need the same amount of tender care Sienna needed, but I still watched out for the woman. I got a kick out of how tough Natalie acted, but knew she loved my doting.

  This wasn’t the time to get mushy. I slapped Penelope on the ass, waking her up, before I ran a finger up Larken’s foot.

  “Ladies, it was fun as always, but I got a club to run. Make yourselves at home, use the bathroom, eat, do whatever the fuck else you want to do. Just lock up behind you. Penny, you know the code?” She nodded. “Yeah? Lark, you good?” When the brunette gave me a sleepy smile, I stood up and headed to the shower.

  Lady Luck Has Left the Building

  Natalie

  THURSDAYS WERE my day off, and I tried to get all my household chores done while Quinn was at school so we could have dinner together, then spend some quality time doing whatever he wanted. It was during this one day a week that I felt normal, like a regular mom as I wore yoga pants and a big sweatshirt when I picked up my boy at school. I was pretty sure a few of the other moms knew what I did for a living but they weren’t mean about it, mostly because my son was a great kid and a good friend to all the boys in his class.

  Except today as I raced from the bus stop to the grocery store, I didn’t feel normal or right. I worried for my son because Asher was going on a witch hunt.

  I just had to make a second trip to his gorgeous home and revel in the decadent feel of the whole place, lay on the cool granite and let him lick my body, my skin radiating heat from his touch, and afterward eat breakfast from a single shared plate and fork.

  Why?

  At the end of the day, I might be a dirty stripper who had seen it all, but I was also a love-struck, round-eyed female, letting my emotions get the best of me. And now I just knew Asher was sniffing around where he didn’t belong.

  Standing in the checkout lane, completely lost in thought about my lack of self-control when it came to a certain blond-haired, silver-eyed bad boy and what it would be like to sink back into his bed and never leave, I reached for my neck to touch my charm, a nervous habit I’d developed over the years.

  My hamsa. When the mysterious gift showed up on my bedside at the hospital after I delivered Quinn, the deep midnight-blue open-fingered hand made from blown glass mesmerized me from the moment I saw it. I assumed it was a gift from the nun who had surprised me with a visit, a gesture made by a secret angel to keep my son and me safe, protected from life’s injustices. So I put it on that day, and usually only took it off when I danced.

  As I stood in the store with my groceries on the checkout belt, I started to panic when I realized the necklace holding the charm was no longer around my neck. Where was it? How did I not know where it was? How long had it been gone?

  Shit, I felt like my luck just ran out. Like the sands dripping through an hourglass, my time was up. The last tiny speck of sand had finally drifted to the bottom of the glass, leaving the top empty, barren, and alone, like me.

  Where was my hamsa? Think, Nat.

  When was the last time I remembered wearing it?

  And then with a rush, it came to me…

  I HAD started playing with the small charm on my neck while sitting on Asher’s counter. He had just turned my most romantic morning ever into a full-blown nightmare with his suggestion that both Quinn and I would be welcome to spend time at his home. He’d said something about my feeding him more bullshit and not accepting help from others. I had begun to fully twist the tiny hand now, as though squeezing extra superpowers from it would help me get out of this awkward moment.

  Asher had raked his hand through his hair, not giving me a chance to reply. “Fuck, I’ve been thinking for years, you should consider finding the boy’s dad. Guy owes you something. Money, at the very least, Nat. Lord knows, he’s never been there and it doesn’t seem like you want him to be, but still. You work so hard, seems like he shouldn’t get off so easy.”

  When his hands moved to cradle my face, all I did was lose myself in the silver depths of his eyes, barely finding the strength to say, “It’s not that. I just know he wouldn’t want that. Wouldn’t want him. Quinn.”

  “How. Are. You. So. Sure? You know this dude? More than just a one-night thing?” He trained his gaze on me, n
ot wavering in the least.

  “I just do,” I said vaguely, but Asher pushed for more.

  “Stop it, Nat. This is stupid. Do you know the guy or what? I’m starting to think it was one of the guys from where we grew up since you’re protecting him so hard.”

  I wasn’t able to stop the tiny shiver that ripped through me. Asher obviously felt it because his hand was firmly holding my shoulders steady, keeping us eye to eye.

  “Yeah? That’s it? One of the jerks we grew up with is responsible for knocking you up, and you don’t want his help? I get wanting a different life for Quinn and all, but the dude should pay up. Who are you really protecting?” He leaned into me, his interrogation becoming a full-court press.

  I shook my head. “Ash, please. It’s not that.”

  “No. Some guy gets you pregnant and you raise the baby alone, making him into a decent young man all on your own? He owes you.”

  I leaned back a little, trying to put some space between us. I desperately needed some air, as this was exactly the reason why I didn’t want Asher fishing for answers.

  When I opened my mouth to speak, he started up again. “You know what? I know who it was. Yep, that weasel Beck. He was always sniffing around you, making eyes and moves, and you liked it. You loved the attention. Would’ve done anything for that loser.”

  A lone tear escaped my eye at the mention of Beck Hadley and the sad memories his name evoked. I tried and failed to sweep the salty drop away before Asher noticed.

  “I knew it! I’m right. You don’t even need to say anything, little doll. I’m going to make this right. What a shit—Beck.”

  Smoothing my features, attempting to look neutral, I tried to gain control of the situation and said, “I don’t need you to make this right, Ash.”