by Joanna Blake
“What are you-“
“Shhhh…”
He grabbed the salt and the lemon wedges and pulled them across the table to him. He lifted my foot and looked at it.
Then he smiled and licked it.
Slowly, he ran his hot, wet tongue up top of my foot from my ankle all the way to my toes. I gasped at the feel of his tongue on my skin. He shook salt over the spot and smiled. Then he held a lemon wedge and put it between two of my toes.
“Squeeze.”
I pinched my toes together and exhaled shakily as he poured a shot. I knew what he was doing. He was doing a body shot off my damn foot.
And it was giving me all kinds of crazy feelings.
He grinned and licked the salt off my foot. Slowly and thoroughly. Then he did the shot. What he did next made me slide a little lower in my seat.
He sucked the lemon. And my toes. Oh lord, he wasn’t in a hurry about it either. I moaned and he opened his eyes. That’s when I felt his tongue swirl over my toes and between them. He stroked the sensitive spot between two of my middle toes and I felt it between my legs.
He knew it too. He looked at me right freaking there while he worked his tongue in and out of the little space between my toes. There was no mistaking it. He stared at my pussy as his tongue slid in and out as I slowly turned to mush.
“Oh…”
He lowered my foot to his lap and winked at me.
“Next hand, I want that shirt.”
Connor
“So. Where did you grow up?”
She frowned, adjusting that tiny little scrap of stretchy lace she called a camisole. It was cropped and barely covered her ribs. I stared at the silky roundness of her breasts, letting my eyes sink lower to the soft curve of her taut belly.
I could do a shot out of that belly button. I’d lick up every drop. Hmmm… maybe later.
“That’s a complicated question.”
I’d won two hands in a row now. She was topless, more or less, and I still had that sexy little foot of hers in my lap. I was rubbing her leg now, my fingers sliding up and under the edge of her jeans.
They were just stretchy enough for my fingers to graze the back of her knee. Every time I did it, she lost her train of thought. I smiled to myself.
Casey Jones had very sensitive skin.
Silky, and smooth and warm and so tender I wanted to lick every inch of it. I thought she might let me. Hell, if I kept teasing her like this, she might even beg me.
I would have given every damn thing I owned to hear her beg.
But not tonight. I was not an animal. I would control myself tonight. I groaned as her foot brushed my cock. I knew she didn’t mean to do it but it nearly snapped my last thread of control.
The fact that she wanted me too… well that was only making it harder. The girl was clearly inexperienced and not good at hiding her response to me. And damn if I didn’t like that about her.
Still, it didn’t seem right to take advantage of the situation.
She was drunk and horny and might well be a virgin. I grinned to myself as I noticed how hard her nipples were. I might be taking the moral high ground but I sure did like making her horny.
If I was going to be pent up and frustrated, well then, so was she.
“I have all night. Pay up, Jones.”
I pulled my fingers away, dragging them down her gracefully curved calf. Her skin was so juicy and plump. I felt like a big, bad wolf, thinking about eating a lamb.
And what a sweet little lamb she was.
Her eyes lifted to mine and I froze at the raw honesty reflected there. Raw and painful. She exhaled shakily.
“You know that’s not my real name.”
I nodded slowly, putting the deck of cards aside. I had been about to deal again, or try to with one hand. But she deserved my full attention.
Both hands slid to her leg, making comforting circles. No teasing now. I wanted to soothe her.
I wanted to know.
She looked away and shrugged.
“I was born near Charlotte. I had a nice family. Not rich, but nice.”
Had. She said ‘had.’ I felt my stomach clench up.
And then I realized that was all she was going to say.
“How did they die?”
Her eyes shot to mine and I regretted the question immediately.
“Sorry.”
She shook her head.
“It’s okay. It was a long time ago.”
I felt something inside me crack open. She was so real. There was no artifice in her. She was so strong to have survived everything she’d been through.
And yet in that moment, she looked like a broken-hearted little girl.
“How did you end up with Mason?”
She raised an eyebrow at me, looking playful again. But I could tell she was putting on a brave face.
“Is that your stake?”
I shook my head slowly. I wanted her jeans off. It was stupid and dangerous and wrong. But I was battling with the inner caveman inside me.
And I was losing.
“No. I want these.”
I tugged on her jeans and she blushed.
“Fine. We play for pants.”
I smiled slowly and picked the cards up.
“Pants it is.”
Cassandra
He’d taken my damn pants.
I tugged my knees up and then put them back down again as he smiled at his cards. His smile widened as I tried to find a way to arrange my legs that was somewhat ladylike.
I’d caught him looking me over twice already. Even now he was peeking at my legs over the top of his cards. I could practically feel them as they slid up and down my thighs.
He wasn’t even trying to hide it! He hadn’t stared between my legs but I knew the cotton of my panties was thin.
I knew he could see more than he should!
And he still had his damn pants.
He raised a lazy eyebrow and the smile dropped as he looked at my face. My face! Instead of my body.
“Stakes?”
I grit my teeth.
“Pants!”
He shook his head.
“You really are a glutton for punishment.”
I crossed my arms.
“What do you want?”
He grinned at me and this time he did look between my legs. I gasped as his eyes flitted up to my breasts next, like he was considering… dammit, there was no way I was going to get actually naked!
He sighed and shook his head. He opened his mouth, as if he was going to speak and sighed again.
“Don’t you dare!”
His eyes snapped to mine and I braced myself.
“I want to know about Dante.”
“What about him?”
He smiled.
“Everything.”
I lifted my chin. I wasn’t going to tell him about the murder no matter what. But I could tell him other stuff.
“You’ll have to win the hand first.”
He won.
He tossed his cards down and leaned back, his hand on his waist band. I’d noticed his bulge before but now it was different.
It was… bulgier.
The man looked like that part of him was oversized too. Like his damn ego! I bristled as he grinned at me.
“So. Dante.”
He waited, his eyes on my body. He started at my feet and travelled up. I shrugged, crossing my arms over my chest.
“He comes in.”
“Yeah?”
His eyes were on my face now. On my lips.
“He… likes me.”
Now he was looking at me. Paying attention. He looked disturbed.
“I stay away from him as much as I can. I know if he and Mason got into a fight, he’d do something nuts. He scares the shit out of me.”
“He should.”
I swallowed and reached for the cards.
“Stakes?”
“That’s it?”
I nodded stubbornly. He exhal
ed and shook his head at me.
“That wasn’t really enough to satisfy me, honey.”
“Fine. Name your prize.”
He smiled slowly, his eyes on my panties again.
“Don’t even think about it!”
He shook his head slowly, like he was disappointed. Then he stood up and grabbed his jacket. I stared as he pulled my battered old romance novel out and held it up.
“How about a bed time story?”
“What?”
“How about a bedtime story instead? I think we’ve had enough cards for the night.”
Considering I had almost hardly any clothes left to lose, it wasn’t a bad idea. I yawned and nodded. He was being strangely magnanimous. I knew he’d expected me to tell him more about Dante.
“Okay.”
“I want a reenactment.”
“A what?”
He smiled and held the book up.
“I read. You reenact.”
I swallowed and stared at him. That book was… dirty. It was about a master and a sub. It was about stuff I knew nothing about, not really.
Even if I had read the damn book a bunch of times.
I stared at him as he flipped through and started reading.
Connor
“Jasmine assumed the position.”
I cleared my throat. Casey was staring at me, bright red on her pretty cheeks. She looked outraged.
She also looked curious. More than a little bit. She hadn’t told me to go to hell.
Not yet anyway.
What the fuck are you doing, Conn? Just fuck her already. That’s what you want to do. Fuck her so hard the walls come crashing down around you.
I shook my head as if to clear it. Shut up Danny. You are not helping.
Stop playing games. You’re going to lose your job over this anyway. Maybe more. Because Mason is going to fucking kill you. You might as well get a taste of her- just a taste-
Danny was right. I might as well-
No. No no no.
I cleared my throat again.
“Jasmine knelt in front of her master, her back straight and her eyes demurely lowered.”
I rested the book on my lap and looked at Casey expectantly. Like I knew what I was doing. Like I wasn’t playing with fucking fire.
“I’m waiting.”
“You want me to- to kneel?”
She looked so uncertain. I smiled at her, my eyes on her collarbone. Skin shouldn’t look so touchable. The girl practically glowed.
“It’s your book.”
“It’s my friends- Daphne. She loaned it to me-“
I shook my head.
“You don’t have any friends. Now, unless you want to take off another piece of clothing…”
She exhaled shakily and I felt like a bastard. For exactly two seconds. Because after those two seconds she walked over to me and started lowering herself to her knees.
Oh my fucking Christ.
“Closer.”
Her eyes darted up and she swallowed. Then she moved in. Right between my thighs.
Her eyes were on the floor as she knelt there, waiting.
I picked up the book again, my heart pulsing all the blood in my body to my engorged cock. I was doing this to myself.
“Her lips were open and waiting for her master’s touch. Her thighs sweetly parted.”
I skimmed ahead. Jesus, who wrote this shit? It was fucking filthy. I wasn’t going to be able to read much more without crossing the line.
All the lines.
“She put her head on her master’s thigh and begged him to allow her to pleasure him. With a groan he agreed.”
My mouth was dry as Casey hesitated and rested her cheek on my thigh. She didn’t beg though. She didn’t have to.
I could have had her right then and there. On the floor. On the chair. I closed the book, my voice low and rough.
“She had been a good girl. His pleasure was her reward.”
My hand reached out and stroked her hair away from her face. Her eyes were closed. She was trembling slightly. I groaned as I realized her lips were open. Her thighs too.
Just like in the book.
I scooped her up and held her in my arms. For a heartbeat, I just stared at her, so ready to carry her up the stairs to my bed.
Instead I lowered her to the couch and leaned over her, my lips hovering just above hers.
Her breath came in little gasps, like a tiny bunny. I was struggling to control myself. To stop myself from doing something bad.
Something bad that would feel way too good.
We stared into each other’s eyes, neither of us moving.
Well, I was moving. Just one hand. Reaching… lower… wrapping my fingers around the silky leg of her calf…
Her eyes widened as I snapped the cuff back into place.
Cassandra
‘EAT ME.’
I stared at the note propped up on the coffee table. It leaned against a bagel. I could smell coffee brewing in the kitchen.
It must have been set on a timer, because I was alone.
I lifted the blanket and looked down at myself.
Mostly naked and alone.
I groaned and grabbed my head. It was throbbing. My mouth was dry and felt fuzzy. What the hell had happened last night? I was not ready to eat a bagel, but I did notice more writing on the back.
I picked up the note and flipped it over.
‘OJ in the fridge. Drink it all.’
I forced myself to stand and padded barefoot over to the kitchen.
I noticed the pets had been fed and watered. Good. Because if I had to bend over I had a feeling I would upchuck all over the nice hardwood floor.
I swung open the fridge. A bottle of OJ sat there with a smiley face post-it note stuck to it. I wanted to punch that smiley face.
Instead, I pulled out the OJ and poured a glass. I leaned against the kitchen island and drank half of it. Then I filled the glass again and shuffled back to the couch.
The sound of the chain clanging against the floor reminded me that Connor was a bastard. He had left me here alone and hungover. Chained up like a dog.
Still, he had fed me.
I sat down and forced myself to eat a bite of the bagel. I chewed slowly and took another bite. I thought about turning the TV on and decided it would hurt my head too much.
I wondered where Mason was and if he was mad at me. I wondered where Conn was and why he was such a bastard. I wondered why I had been naked when I woke up.
I wondered why I wasn’t more concerned about that.
PING.
I glanced down. There was a text on that locked phone of his. I put the bagel down and picked up the phone.
You alive?
Barely.
I could almost hear him laugh. I wanted to talk though. I had a few really weird memories that were all a blur.
Any news? How’s Mason?
He’s safe. That’s all I can say ATM.
What happened last night?
You don’t remember? I’m offended.
Dude, I am not wearing clothes. Did we… do anything?
Sweetheart, I promise you that you would know if we had.
I chewed my lip, staring at the phone. He was being daft. Or deliberately obtuse. I decided to keep pushing. Besides, texting with Connor was strangely fun.
But… why am I naked?
You were not naked when I left.
Okay, almost naked.
Oh that…
Yes. That.
You really shouldn’t drink so much. We played strip poker. You were losing.
Oh. So I was naked and you were a gentleman.
I didn’t say I was a gentleman. But I would not take you the first time when you were black out drunk.
I stared at the phone.
Take me. He said take me. Images of his huge hands lifting me up and throwing me over his shoulder came to mind.
PING.
The phone beeped again and I realized I was
gripping it so hard my fingers were turning white. I’d been trying to think of something witty to say, with zero luck.
No matter how tempting it was.
Oh. My. God.
My breath was shaky as I stared at the phone. I set it down and scooted away from it. Like it was a snake and I was afraid it would bite me.
But I wanted it to bite me. I was hungover and confused and trapped and worried. But that didn’t change a thing about the heat building low in my belly.
All I could think about was what he had just said. That he had been tempted.
And how badly I wanted him to give in.
I realized my headache was fading and finished the bagel. I put the volume on low as I flipped through my favorite channels. I drank two more glasses of orange juice before I fell asleep with Cheeto on my lap.
Connor
“You are free to go.”
“Like fucking hell I am.”
“Mase, if you won’t talk, it’s going to have to be her.”
“I didn’t see anything. And she didn’t see anything! She would have said something to me dammit!”
“Trust me, Mase. She did.”
“Don’t fucking call me that. Only she calls me that.”
Mason ran his hands through his hair. He sat down heavily. I crossed my arms, waiting for the inevitable to sink in.
“You’re sure?”
“I’m sure. She’s scared out of her mind. Mostly about you.”
“Promise me one thing, DeWitt.”
“If I can.”
“You won’t hurt her.”
I nodded slowly. The last thing I wanted to do was hurt the beautiful girl. That’s why I had hidden her away and risked my job.
I wanted to protect her. I needed to. Among the many other things I wanted to do with her. Less noble things.
Filthy, dirty things.
But there was no reason to tell Mason that. Besides, he already knew I wanted her. He just had no idea how bad.
There was a sharp knock at the door. Micky’s face appeared in the window. I went out into the hallway to talk to him. He handed me a plastic box with Mason’s personal effects.