Beyond the Velvet Rope

by Tiffany Ashley

  * * *

  Her lusty moans furthered his craving for her. He groaned against her ear. He was on the brink of climax. Thandie let out a shout of elation and shivered beneath him. Her natural dew spilled forth, and she pulled him into her. Elliot was powerless to deny himself any longer. He came inside her. His hips jutted forward sharply, emptying his essence into hers.

  When it was all over, a blanket of calm silence fell over them. Elliot lifted his head, balancing his weight on his forearms. Though she had not complained, he knew his weight was in part to blame for her choppy breathing. Looking down into her face, her classic beauty stirred him. He wanted her all over again.

  Denying himself, he came off the bed. Pulling down the covers, he slapped her bottom lightly to indicate he wanted her to get beneath them. He watched as she slid under the sheets. She was clearly still upset with him. He could tell by the rigidness of her body.

  Claiming his glass from the nightstand, he made his way over to the wet bar for a refill. Elliot drank the liquor slowly, as he made his way back to the bedside. Looking down at her with keen eyes, he marveled at the way the shadows played off the smooth contours of her body. Her skin was still flushed and dewy from their recent lovemaking.

  “You’re great, puss.” His voice was warm and yet teasing. “I could screw you all night.”

  Although she knew he intended the words to be comforting, they had the opposite effect on her. Hearing the word screw so soon after sex made her feel cheap. The more she considered it, the angrier she became. It was the same feeling she had earlier tonight at the club when she’d seen him flirting with those women.

  Abruptly, Thandie rolled onto her side, turning her back to him. She knew she was acting like a needy child, and she despised herself for it. But she despised him just as much for making her feel so insignificant.

  She heard the delicate click of his resting his glass on the nightstand. Felt the mattress sag under his weight. His warm hand captured her shoulder, pushing it against the bed, urging her to lie on her back. He pushed her thighs apart and rested between them. Immediately, he was embedded inside her. She gasped at the invasion, but her body treated him like a returning emperor. Her womanhood cradled him by memory, clinging to him like a glove.

  He groaned his approval. His gaze met hers. A slight smile played across his lips. “Why are you upset, pussycat?”

  “Don’t call me that,” she snapped.

  “Pussycat? But you are my pussycat.”

  She meant to roll away from him, but his hands were suddenly on her shoulders, pressing them into the mattress, diminishing any hope of escape.

  He tsked. “You’ll find any reason to hate me, won’t you? Why?” He shrugged his shoulders dramatically. “I hold you on the highest level of adoration.” He leaned forward to kiss her, but she turned her face away. “Thandie,” he said, his voice losing its humor. “Your anger is misplaced, pussycat.”

  She bit back a retort, but her eyes threw daggers at him.

  “Fine, Ms. Shaw.” He lowered his head to take a taut nipple into his mouth. He sucked hard, forcing her to moan in response. “You want to play hardball. So be it. We’ll play your game.” Gritting his teeth together, he eased himself out of her sex. Still leaning over Thandie, he fixed her with a sharp and penetrating stare. “You have my undivided attention. What’s on your mind?”

  Thandie took her time meeting his gaze. When she finally did, there was a determined look in her eyes. “Tell me what happened between you and Sophia?”

  The question caught him off guard. His expression went blank for a moment. It was possibly the first honest reaction she’d ever seen from him. She was slightly gratified to have invoked it from him.

  “Well?” she urged. “Are you going to tell me?”

  Elliot appeared to be considering the question. Finally, he bent forward, lowered his head and laved his tongue around her nipple before answering. “You already know what happened between Sophia and me. We fucked. End of story.”

  “She wasn’t your girlfriend?”

  “No.” His answer was absolute.

  “Do you want to elaborate?”

  He shrugged his shoulders lightly. “We hooked up occasionally. When it stopped being fun, we parted ways.”

  “It sounds as if you were the one who parted ways.”

  “She wanted a relationship,” he explained. “I don’t do girlfriends. She had difficulty dealing with that. I moved on.”

  “You don’t sound remorseful.”

  “Why should I? I was sleeping with other women before, during and after Sophia.” He reached between her legs and slipped his fingers inside her. “You’re wet. Do you enjoy hearing about me with other women?”

  “No.” She pushed his hand away and rolled over, giving him her back. “I don’t like to hear you brag about your many conquests.”

  “I wasn’t bragging. You asked me a question and I answered it.”

  “You...you...” She couldn’t find the words to fully capture her displeasure with him. She was glad he couldn’t see her face. She felt the lowest of the low. She was ashamed of her behavior around him. She’d seen the way women fell over themselves to get just the smallest piece of attention from him. She had seen the adoration in their eyes. They loved him on some base level and he regarded them as if they were merely dolls, silly playthings for his amusement. He spoke so uncaringly about his past lovers. It felt like a slap in the face because now her name could be added to that long list.

  Elliot pulled himself up against her, wrapping his arm around her waist to fondle her breasts. “I know you turn your back on me when you’re upset, but you’re really doing me a favor. I love to look at your lovely bottom.” He nuzzled her neck. “If you’re still mad, tell me so I can begin to make it up to you.” She moved to get out of bed, but his arm was unmovable. He held her closer. “Are you envious of my past...involvements? You shouldn’t be.”

  “I want to sleep in my room.”

  “We can go there but I must warn you I have an extreme appetite tonight.”

  “I want to sleep alone.”

  He shook his head. “I can’t give you that.” He nibbled on her shoulder then laughed. “Damn. You’re really pissed. I can feel the tension in your back.”

  “I won’t share you, Elliot.” Her words were spoken softly, but they might as well have been amplified through speakers. Each syllable fell between them like an avalanche of jagged rocks; weighing the bed down with meaning. “I won’t tolerate you taking up with women at the club or anywhere else. If you want to keep me in your bed, it can only be us.”

  He did not need to search her face to know she meant every word. “You’re not sharing me,” he said quietly.

  Thandie licked her lips, digesting what he’d just said. She clung to the words, desperate to believe them and too afraid to question their validity. And then she couldn’t think, because he’d begun to brush his lips against her neck.

  “Roll over,” he whispered. When she did not immediately respond, he gently eased her onto her back. “I want to apologize properly.”

  His eyes glowed with intensity as he looked down into her face, but he said nothing, only stared at her until she was nervous. Parting her legs, he lowered himself until his head was cradled between her thighs. He used his fingers to push apart her pussy lips and stare at her. He looked up at her and smiled wickedly.

  “I apologize, Thandie.” He licked her slick nether lips. “Can you find it in your heart to forgive me for upsetting you?” He licked her again only this time he deepened the tease with an open-mouthed kiss. Her eyes rolled in the back of her head. She ran her fingers through his hair, pulling him closer to her. Her moans quickly turned to pants for breath. Elliot’s hands reached up and cupped her breasts, squeezing them until they tingled from his touch. Just when she thought she couldn’t take it any longer he pulled away and allowed her to come freely. Her body shook violently from the pleasure. When she was finally able to breathe regular
ly she opened her eyes to see him watching her. He was stroking his hard cock vigorously.

  “Did you enjoy it, sweetheart?” he asked in a strained voice.

  “How did you—how do you know how to make me...”

  He hushed her words as her crawled between her legs. “I’m hungry for you, Thandie.” He held the tip of his cock against her sex. “Tell me you forgive me.”

  “I forgive you.”

  Chapter Twenty-Three

  A few hours later, Thandie woke. She’d slept fitfully, barely gaining more than snatches of slumber at a time. Her mind was crowded with unanswered questions and unspoken expectations.

  Thandie eased out of bed, trying hard not to make a sound. She kept a careful eye on him as she slowly made her way around the bed. She did not want to wake him. With so much on her mind, she wasn’t quite ready to deal with him first thing in the morning.

  Her eyes stayed trained on him, measuring every breath he took. Then, a sharp pain shot up her leg. She looked down to see she had again stubbed her toe on the bench at the end of his bed. It was a cruel reminder that she had done this sneak routine before. She clamped her hand over her mouth, muffling a whimper of pain just in time, and limped out of the room.

  The day passed slowly. Thandie and the girls busied themselves working on details for the next production at Babylon. When the time came to get ready to go to the club, Thandie did it with a sense of apprehension. She dreaded running into Wife Number Five again.

  When they arrived at the club, the management meeting had just concluded. Adam, Markie and the rest of the team filed out of Elliot’s office laughing and shoving one another like playful frat boys. Seeing Thandie and her assistants, they greeted them warmly before disbursing to their separate stations. Following Adam to the VIP area, the ladies got to work livening up the atmosphere.

  When Elliot finally stepped out his office and entered the arena floor, Thandie’s gaze latched onto him. She expected him to begin making his rounds among the guests. She was taken aback when he took to the stairs leading to the upper level and made a direct path toward her. He further shocked her by greeting her with a kiss to the neck. Len and Raja’s eyes grew the size of saucers. If they hadn’t know before that Thandie and Elliot were engaged in an affair, it was clear now. Slipping his arm around Thandie’s waist, Elliot whispered into her ear, “Let’s meet the guests together.”

  With Thandie at his side, Elliot began making his rounds. For many minutes, she was in a daze. It was the closest Elliot had come to publicly claiming her as his. Thandie felt like Cinderella hanging on Prince Charming’s arm.

  * * *

  When Thandie came downstairs the following evening, she was startled by the sight of another large box resting on the dining room table. A single envelope rested on top, with her name spelled out in Elliot’s crisp and precise handwriting. She stared at the box, still sleepy from a late night with Elliot.

  Cautiously, Thandie picked up the envelope and read the short message. “4:00 p.m. this afternoon. Wear nothing underneath.... Or else.-E. P.S. You’ll need your passport.”

  Thandie wrinkled her brows at the last words of his note. What did he have planned?

  Putting the note aside, Thandie opened the large box. Inside was another dress. Pushing aside the tissue paper, she lifted the garment from the box. The dress was long, backless and had twin high slits on both sides. It was made of snowy white silk, which looked nearly transparent. Thandie peeked at the label and blushed. Elie Saab. Elliot certainly wasn’t cheap when it came to fashion.

  Gingerly, she put the dress back inside the box and carried it up to her room. There, she hung it in her closet and squandered several minutes simply gazing at the gown. By the time she finally stopped her daydreaming, she could hear Len and Raja moving sluggishly about in their rooms.

  Thandie returned to the dining room and sat behind her laptop. When the girls eventually made it downstairs, Thandie was on her second cup of coffee, well into her emails, and grinning happily.

  Len and Raja were discussing their approaching Key West trip. Apparently, they’d asked members of the Babylon staff if they wanted to join them. So far, the girls managed to sway the interest of three dancers, Adam, Michelle, Tiny and Warren.

  When Lucinda arrived, Len and Raja followed her into the kitchen and felt compelled to regale her with trip details. Thandie, who’d been glued to her laptop the entire time, didn’t have the heart to tell them Lucinda probably didn’t understand a majority of what was being said.

  The front door opened and Romero appeared around the corner. He nodded at Thandie before strolling into the kitchen. Neither Raja nor Len paused in their chatter to acknowledge him. Thandie imagined the girls were doing a good job of giving him the cold shoulder.

  The atmosphere became noticeably frigid when Romero announced he was contemplating going to Key West with their party. There was a high-pitched screech, followed by something slamming.

  Moments later, Len and Raja stormed into the dining room. Abruptly, they took their seats behind their laptops and began working, scowling the entire time. Catching movement from the corner of her eye, Thandie looked up to see Romero leaving the kitchen. She could have sworn he was grinning.

  What remained of the day passed rather blandly. After Romero’s visit, the girls refused to say anything else about Key West.

  Meanwhile, Thandie struggled to stay focused. It was a futile attempt. Hourly, the dress seemed to beckon her back to the bedroom to marvel at it, or if nothing else, rub her cheek against the fabric.

  Around two o’clock, Thandie gave up the fight and called it quits. Len and Raja leaped from their chairs, and changed into their swimsuits. By the time she powered down her laptop, the girls were lying poolside with earbuds in their ears.

  Thandie retired to her room to get ready for her date with Elliot. After she’d showered, fussed over her hair and applied her makeup, she had little time to spare. As she was slipping on the heels she planned to wear tonight, it crossed her mind she should warn the girls she would be going out for a little while. She didn’t want them to worry.

  Slipping on her robe, she went downstairs. Without having to step onto the back patio she could tell it was no use. Both girls were lying comatose on their lounges. She could hear Raja snoring loudly from where she stood in the living room. Not wanting to disturb them, Thandie scribbled a note on a Post-it and adhered it to the patio door.

  When she turned around, she saw Elliot standing in the foyer, watching her. She hadn’t heard him. She hadn’t even known he was in the house. As she came forward, she studied him. He wore a light gray suit and white dress shirt. The top two buttons were undone, hinting to the smooth skin at the base of his throat.

  When she standing before him, he pulled her against him and his mouth was on hers. His hands slid over the curves of her bottom, caressing her possessively. Then he pulled his head back, stared down into her face and said, “You’re not dressed.”

  “I just need to slip on clothes,” she said thickly. “I should only be a minute.”

  Elliot released her and stepped aside. “By all means.”

  Slightly disorientated from his kiss and feeling unreasonably shy, Thandie slipped past him and hurried up the stairs to her room. She went to her closet and pulled out the gown. Again, she sighed at the sight of it. Taking it off its hanger, she stepped back and nearly jumped out of her skin when she heard a sound behind her. Thandie turned to find Elliot standing a few feet away.

  His gaze was sweeping the room, examining the clothing piled on top an unmade bed. Thandie swore to herself, wishing she’d tidied up. Elliot sat down on the edge of her bed, and continued surveying her belongings. The room felt smaller with him in it. Carefully groomed and dressed in his tailored suit, he looked out of place in the cluttered room. However, he seemed unaware of this. He was much more intrigued by the items spilling out of her open suitcase.

  Finally, his silver gaze settled on her. Lifting one dark bro
w, he asked, “Do you need help with your dress?”

  She shook her head mutely. When he continued to stare at her, she realized he wasn’t going to give her privacy. She supposed none was really needed. He’d seen and touched just about every inch of her body already.

  Slipping off her robe, she tossed it onto the bed. Extremely conscious of her nudity, Thandie turned her back on him as she stepped into the gown. She could feel his eyes roving over her bare backside the entire time.

  There was not much to the dress. There were no buttons or zipper to fuss over. Only two clasps at the nape of the neck held the whole thing together. Once fastened, the halter looped loosely over her torso, exposing glimpses of the gentle curve of her breasts on either side. The silk felt soft against her bare skin.

  “You look lovely,” he said in a low rumble.

  Thandie glanced up at him from beneath her lashes. He looked enigmatic, as always. The only hint that she had any effect on him was the bulge at the seam of his slacks. For a moment she was transfixed on the swelling mass of flesh beneath the fabric of his trousers, well acquainted with what it was capable of.

  Elliot coughed and suddenly stood to his feet. “If you keep staring at me like that, we aren’t going anywhere.” Taking her hand in his own, he said, “Come along, kitten. The world awaits.” With just enough time to grab her purse, Elliot guided her down the hall. Locking the front door behind them, he guided her to the Range Rover.

  When they were buckled into their seats, Thandie asked, “Where are you taking us?”

  “You’ll see,” he said vaguely.

  “And my passport?” she asked.

  “Keep it close to you. It will come in handy.”

  When it became apparent he wouldn’t say anything else, Thandie settled back in her seat and looked out the window. As they rode, Elliot reached out and placed his hand on her thigh. His hand easily slid between the dress’s high slits. Thandie now understood why this particular dress might have appealed to him.