I passed her a drink and sat across from her, sipping my own, waiting for her to speak and to somehow clear up our relationship. Instead of saying anything, however, she closed her eyes and leaned her head back against the couch.
I couldn’t stand the silence. “Kenton’s having a party tonight. He invited us.”
Her eyes flew open. “You’re not going.”
“Excuse me?”
She sat up and put the drink down on the coffee table. “You heard me.” Her voice was low and commanding. “You’re not going.”
The muddle of emotions I’d kept tamped down for the last couple weeks—longing, desire, uncertainty and guilt—coalesced into a burning anger. “Who died and made you chief shit?”
Des made a derisive sound at the back of her throat. “It’s for your own good. Stay away from Kenton.”
I jumped to my feet. “Listen to yourself.”
She gazed back at me with a cool, detached look.
“Contrary to what you might think, you don’t own me.” There. I’d said it. Now was the perfect opportunity for Des to tell me different. To explain where we stood and how exactly I fit into her relationship with Josh.
But she didn’t indulge me. Instead she stood and, with a sigh, said, “No, I don’t own you. But I can warn you. Kenton is not normal.”
Holy hell, was she serious? I laughed bitterly. “What’s normal?” I gestured between us. “Are we normal?” I opened my hands to the room. “Is this normal?”
I guess Des didn’t know how to respond because she just stood there, staring at me.
I was so hurt I could hardly breathe. “I’m going,” I said. My decision was made out of a wounded sense of defiance. “You can either join me or…you and Josh can have the place to yourselves.”
“Josh won’t be home until late,” she said.
“Then you can wait for him to come home.” I turned to mount the stairs to my room to change. Tears pricked the corners of my eyes, tears I did not want Des to see.
“Tina, wait.”
I stopped on the third step but didn’t turn around.
“Am I still invited to come with you?”
I shrugged and in a ragged voice said, “Do what you want.”
* * *
Two hours later, we were driving over to Kenton’s place. Des was quiet and so was I. Despite my insistence on going, I was suddenly not in a party mood and Desi’s silence was driving me crazy. What was going on in her head? Was she thinking everything we’d done together was a big, big mistake? If so, was she, like me, considering it a mistake she’d gladly make over again?
Hell, I don’t know. All I know is the tension in the car was as thick as the smog in L.A. during an inversion. In some ways I wanted the old Des back, the ease we’d always had together. In another way, I wanted the new Des, and I wanted her badly.
“You’ve never been to one of Kenton’s parties before, have you?” she said staring straight ahead.
“No. “ I glanced over at her but she still didn’t look at me.
Within minutes we arrived at Kenton’s. I’d never been to his place before, but I knew where he lived. Everyone did. It was a gorgeous place, one of those old, Spanish-style homes in Santa Monica, but done up right. It was totally private with sixteen-foot hedges surrounding the place.
Once I found a parking spot, Des put a hand on my arm and said, “Whatever you do, don’t get involved with him, okay?” Her eyes looked large and liquid in the dark. “Promise me.”
“Why would I get involved with Kenton?” I pried her hand off my arm and got out of the car before she could say anything else. Who was she to tell me who I could or couldn’t be with? And why the hell did she assume I wanted to be with anyone? Did I mean nothing to her? Was I only her little plaything?
I strode angrily up the walk to Kenton’s place, Des hot on my heels, convinced that was my answer. I was a toy to her and Josh, a fucking sex toy? How soon would they get bored of me? Maybe they were already done with me.
“Tina, wait.”
I didn’t wait. My chest ached too much and if I looked into her eyes I’d probably do something idiotic, like start crying. So instead I plowed ahead, pushing open the front door. Once inside, I stopped in my tracks. My first impression was that I’d walked into a costume party…where everyone had forgotten to wear their costumes.
“What the hell is this?”
“Isn’t it obvious?” Des said, standing beside me in the foyer.
All I could do was stare. Most of the guests were half-clothed, if clothed at all. There were women in teddies, dominatrix outfits and gauzy see-through chiffon shifts. There were shirtless men and men in chaps. There were girls pretending to be boys and boys pretending to be girls and every combination in between.
“Is this why you wanted me to stay away from Kenton?” I asked.
She made a strange, bitter sound and shook her head.
I was tempted to leave right then. I should have left, dragging Des out the front door with me. But I didn’t. I guess I was still upset and had something to prove. I don’t know. It’s possible the new me—the person who had dumped a life of abstinence for one of physical pleasure—decided stubbornly to stay.
So Kenton was the Hugh Hefner of Santa Monica? So what? Big deal. Wasn’t what Josh and Des and I doing just as deviant?
“Kristina! Desiree!”
“Hey, Kenton,” I said as the man himself approached, looking just like I expected Hef would have in his younger days, wearing a silk dressing gown, hair slicked back. All he needed was a buxom blonde on either arm to complete the mental image.
“I’m glad you could make it.” He came up to me and kissed my cheek. With a smile he turned toward Des and kissed her on the mouth. “Desiree, it’s good to see you again.” He cupped her jaw and turned her head to whisper something in her ear as he slid his other hand down to her ass. “I was hoping we could patch things up between us,” he said loud enough for me to hear.
Whatever else he’d said made Desi’s face turn red and her lips form a thin line across her face.
“Go on now,” he said and pushed her gently in the other direction.
I thought Des was going to punch him. But she didn’t. She blinked a couple of times and I could see the tension in her jaw, like she was gritting her teeth together. Hard. “Leave her alone, Kent,” she managed to say despite her clenched jaw.
He held his hands up in mock surrender. “Sheesh, can’t a guy play host at his own party? Take it easy, will you?”
Kenton snaked his arm around my waist and pulled me in the opposite direction, I went with him with a stubborn sort of willingness. Desi’s warnings were wearing a little thin. After making it clear she didn’t want me anymore, who was she to decide the person I should or shouldn’t be with?
“What is with the two of you?” I asked once I knew Des was out of earshot.
“Don’t you know?” Kenton asked.
I glanced over my shoulder to see Des staring after us. The look on her face sent a pang of regret through my chest, but I quickly shook it off. “No.”
“We had a thing for a while. I’m surprised she didn’t tell you.”
“You and Des? When?”
“Oh, I don’t know. A couple of years ago. It looks like she’s still upset…even though she was the one to end it.”
He gave my waist a squeeze and I squeezed back. But his story baffled me and I no longer paid much attention to where we were going. Kenton and Des? It was so hard to picture. But by Desi’s strong reaction to him, there was obviously history there. So why didn’t she ever tell me? What else had she kept from me?
“I have to be honest, Tina. I didn’t think you’d come tonight.”
“Why not?”
“I didn’t think this was your scene.”
I looked down at my Capri pants and halter top then glanced at his silk dressing robe tied loosely around his hips. “Well, perhaps I am a little overdressed.”
Kenton grinned. “I hope you’re
not offended.”
I shook my head, only half listening to him, my thoughts still taken with Des.
Kenton watched me for a minute before he asked, “So, what do you think?” He gestured to the people who filled the room: standing, sitting, making out and more.
“Looks like a lot of people are hoping to get laid tonight,” I said with a half smile.
He laughed and pulled me closer. “Are you one of them?”
I shrugged and in a voice I hoped sounded more sophisticated than I felt, said, “I haven’t decided yet.”
“How about I get you a drink and take you on a tour while you decide.” Kenton steered me toward a bar and asked for a virgin margarita from the bartender, who was wearing a bowtie, a G-string and a smile.
“A virgin?” I complained. “Who do I look like? Shirley Temple?”
“Kind of.” Kenton grinned.
I laughed and asked the hunky bartender to spice up my drink.
Next Kenton took me outside to the garden lit by hundreds of paper lanterns. In the middle of the yard, amid lush foliage, was a kidney-shaped swimming pool where at least a dozen people swam and cavorted in comfortable nudity. On the lawn and deck chairs people were already forming groups of two, three and sometimes four undulating bodies.
“What do you call this?”
“A swimming pool.”
“Very funny. I mean, what do you call this kind of party?”
“I’m sure you’ve heard of swinger parties? Well, now we prefer to call them ‘open concept’ parties.”
I laughed and our tour continued. He showed me the back of the house, the orgy rooms, most of which had already been claimed by six or seven people. Off the side of the hall were smaller, individual rooms. Kenton explained if the door was closed it meant others were to stay out, and if the door was left opened, it was an invitation for others to watch.
“What’s down there?” I asked as a Dom tromped down the stairs pulling her sullen pet behind her.
“That’s the dungeon.”
“Oh.”
“Maybe I’ll show you another time.”
“Okay.”
“Close your eyes.” Kenton whispered.
“Why?”
“Just do it.”
I don’t know why I listened to him. Maybe I’d already seen too much. Maybe I was gearing myself up for what the night held in store. Maybe I was hoping to prove to myself I could do whatever the hell I wanted and with or without Desi’s permission.
“Open your mouth.”
I opened and felt a fingertip press firmly against my tongue. Kenton’s finger slid out of my mouth and across my lips. He gently took hold of my chin and closed my mouth for me.
I opened my eyes, cringing at the taste of something powdery and sour on my tongue. “What did you do?”
Kenton ruffled my hair like I was a toddler. “I just gave you a little something to relax. You’re too tense.”
“Kenton!” I was infuriated. “What the fuck!”
“Shhh, Bo Peep. It’s too late now.” He took hold of my arm and pulled me after him. “Believe me, in a few minutes you’ll thank me.”
I tried to wrench my arm free of his grasp, but he held me too firmly and kept walking me through the house and through the crowds of naked bodies, many of whom greeted him with a touch or a kiss.
When we neared the front door, I dug my heels in. “Let go of me,” I said through clenched teeth.
“Why?” he asked with a languid smile.
“Because I said so.”
“Not a good enough reason.”
I slapped him. I hadn’t planned on it, it just happened. Not that I regretted it.
Kenton dropped my wrist and put a hand to his cheek. A slow smile spread across his face. “Feisty.”
“Where’s Des? We’re leaving.” I spun around and pushed my way through the crowd to find her.
“Tina, hold on.”
I didn’t stop. I shrugged away from his outstretched hand and slipped through the throng of people. I swear to God, I searched every single flipping room but couldn’t find her. I pretty much found everyone else, saw some things I’d never seen in my entire life before, was propositioned more times than I could count, but no Des. I even tried calling her but her phone went straight to voicemail.
Finding myself back in the foyer, I decided to leave. If Des was still there, well, she could find her own way home. Hell, maybe she’d already left and that’s why I couldn’t find her.
I took one more glance around and turned to the door, but Kenton stood in front of me, blocking my way, looking at me like I was little Bo Peep and he was the Big Bad Wolf.
Chapter Six
With my hands on my hips, I hissed, “Get out of my way.”
“Tina, I’m sorry.”
“Sorry? Sorry doesn’t cut it. That was a really shitty thing to do.”
“I know. I guess I’m in the bad habit of trying to make people feel good. I should have asked first.” His hungry wolf look changed to one of sheepishness and reminded me of how he looked in his ridiculous costume at our Halloween party. “Forgive me?”
I narrowed my eyes at him and went to shove him out of the way, but something changed. The silk of his dressing gown felt incredibly soft and supple beneath my hands. Mesmerized, I fingered the collar of the robe and looked up at him in wonder, unexpectedly not as angry with him as I should have been. My hands tingled strangely where I touched the silk. The breath I’d just taken left my lungs in a sweet caress.
I touched my lips and quivered. “What have you done to me?”
“Given you what you want.”
“What I want?”
“If you didn’t want this…” He leaned down to kiss me, gently probing my open mouth with his tongue. “You would have left the minute you got here.”
“Oh.” I stared at his lips and then at his hand on my arm. How strange. I could feel the blood in his fingertips, pulsing against my sensitive skin. It was good. Hot.
I looked up into Kenton’s face; he watched me with an amused expression. When our eyes met he bent down and sucked on my lower lip. It felt like he was sucking my clit and I groaned.
“Feeling better?”
“I don’t know.”
He kissed me again and I should have pulled away, but I didn’t. “I can make your dreams come true. Whatever you want, whatever you need, I can get it for you.” He rubbed my cheek with his thumb. “What do you want, Tina? Tell me and I’ll make it happen.”
I shook my head and closed my eyes, enjoying the sensation of my hair brushing my bare shoulders. “I don’t need anything,” I whispered, swinging my hair gently back and forth across my ultrasensitive skin.
“Really?” Kenton’s hot breath tickled my ear. “Nothing? What if I told you I could arrange for you to fuck anyone in this room right now. Who would it be?”
I didn’t even think about the absurdity of the question. That fact alone should have sent up alarm bells. But it didn’t. I just turned and scanned the crowd for a potential fuck buddy without thinking about the consequences. “Her.”
I caught Kenton’s surprised expression. “Vixen?”
“Is that her name?”
“Sure.”
“Yep. That’s who I’d fuck.”
Why Vixen stood out more than others, I couldn’t really say. Maybe it was because she was taller than the rest. Her build wasn’t buxom so much as it was athletic. Maybe it was her lovely olive skin and dark hair that attracted me. Or it could have been the fact that she wore a lacy black bra and a teeny, tiny G-string that basically said “fuck me.”
“Vixy!” Kenton had to shout to be heard over the din.
But the woman heard. She lifted her head to acknowledge him and strolled over. “Hey,” she said. Her voice was deep and smoky and I knew I’d made the right choice. Except this wasn’t really happening. I wasn’t really going to go through with it. Was I?
“Vix, this is my friend, Bo.”
It
took my overstimulated brain a split second to figure out who he was talking about. Then I realized he was still calling me Bo Peep. I smiled, reaching out my hand to her.
Vixen took a hold of my hand and ran her other hand up the underside of my arm, making my skin scream with excitement. “Ooh, Kenton. What did you give her?”
“Just a little E.”
She grinned. “You ever been with a woman, Bo-baby?” Vixen asked, caressing the inside of my elbow.
“Yes.”
“Yes?” She sounded surprised.
“I mean, no.”
“What is it, hon? Yes or no?”
“No.” I was about to ask if my fantasies count. But I didn’t want Vixen to think I was more experienced than I really was. Not that anything was going to happen between us.
“You want Vixy to change that for you, huh, baby doll?”
I nodded and licked my lips, overly aware of how it felt. Somewhere in my muddled brain I realized what I’d agreed to and shook my head. “No, I want to watch,” I whispered.
She cocked her head to one side. “You want to watch?” She glanced at Kenton. “You don’t want to play?”
I shook my head longer than necessary because my hair felt so damn good against my skin. “Just watch…you and another girl.”
She winked at Kenton and said, “Okay, doll. I’ll go find a playmate and meet you in the purple room. You know where that is?”
I nodded and Vixen moved off through the crowd with a purposeful look on her face.
“Do you need a friend to watch with?” Kenton whispered in my ear before his tongue invaded that space.
Despite how incredible it felt, I pulled away, Desi’s warnings playing quietly in the background of my mind. “No. I want to go in alone.”
With one brow raised he leaned down and kissed me, tugging on the strap of my halter top and bra, lowering my shirt until one of my nipples was exposed. He circled my tight nipple with his thumb. “You sure you don’t want to come upstairs to my bedroom? A private party just for the two of us?”
“Some other time, maybe.”
Kenton smiled. “That’s a promise, Bo-baby. I won’t let you forget it.” He gave my nipple one last tweak and told me to have fun. Then he left.
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