You, Me, and the Crazy Ex: A Club Stigmata Novella

by Luckett, Elle

  “I think I’d like to meet your sister. She makes you smile.”

  “You sure? There’s no pressure. She’s just being nosy, and she doesn’t know about—” Denton silenced me with his lips, dragging me under his spell for a while longer until he retreated again, those gorgeous eyes flaring to life as he studied me.

  “I’m more than capable of behaving and maybe even keeping my hands to myself.” He laughed and brushed his lips against mine again. “Now, are we coming back here? Or can I bring Brees with us?”

  He wanted to stay at my place?

  There was something oddly satisfying about that, and when I beamed a smile up at him, he met it with one of his own, his eyes completely lit with pleasure. Denton enjoyed looking after me and making me happy, almost as much as I enjoyed doing the same for him. We were two different animals with the same goal, and it seemed to work well for us.

  “Bring Brees with us. My sister may try to kidnap him, but I can kick her ass.”

  “Duly noted.”

  Denton eased his body from mine, and I missed the heat of him immediately, even when he took my hand and pulled me up and against his chest. The contact between us was minimal and not nearly enough. It was moments like this when I was suddenly overwhelmed by my affection for him. This man was willing to meet my sister and disrupt his life to stay at my place for the night without me having to really ask. I couldn’t remember the last time I’d had a guy stay at my home, but the thought of sharing my personal space with Denton was exciting.

  Denton Strake was one of the most selfless men I’d ever met, and all I wanted to do was sink beneath the surface of his skin and live there. How that was possible after a week was beyond me, but I wasn’t going to argue. Not when I felt so content in his arms like I did now.

  “Let me grab some things,” he finally said, slipping his hand down the back of my jeans and grabbing the fleshy part of my ass hungrily, making me squeak. “I’ll grab your bag while I’m in there.”

  “Such a gentleman.”

  “You say that.” He leaned in and sank his teeth into my bottom lip, tugging playfully before releasing it and sliding his hand out from its denim prison. “But I’m gonna ask you to wrangle the beast.”

  As though knowing he was being talked about, Brees lifted his head and let his tongue fall from the side of his mouth in a doggie grin. When I turned to playfully complain, Denton was gone.

  * * *

  It didn’t take us long to get to the Garden District. Brees had his head out of the window the whole trip; his excitement making him stomp around the back seat from side to side as he tried to take everything in. When we pulled into my part of the driveway, Denton stared at my parents’ house with obvious appreciation.

  We didn’t stop at my place long. I changed into an acceptable dress while Denton situated Brees in the smaller guest bathroom with a dozen toys and one of my old blankets. Then we were on the road again.

  The restaurant my sister had chosen was one of her favorites. One of those rare jewels that not many tourists had discovered, and that still accepted reservations. Denton and I headed inside, my hand firmly wrapped up in his as he followed my directions to a table I knew she would have reserved in the back of the darkened restaurant. Skylar and Nate were locked in conversation when we approached, and they only glanced up when we stopped at the table.

  Jumping to her feet, Skylar almost froze in place when she finally caught sight of the man who seemed so at ease beside me. She forced herself to hug me first but extended her hand in welcome with her brightest smile as she handed me off to Nate.

  “I’m Skylar Henley, the annoying younger sister,” I heard her sing.

  “Denton Strake, the manservant,” he responded, the smile lacing his tone.

  Nate flashed a grin as I hugged him, and we turned just in time to see Skylar turn and mouth an oh my God at me. Yeah, Denton seemed to have that effect on me, too. I didn’t think it was just a Henley girl thing either. Half the women in the place were eyeing both Denton and Nate with appreciation.

  “I like him,” Skylar stage whispered as the two men shook hands with the usual masculine nod of greeting.

  “He’s good with palm leaves but needs work with the grapes,” I teased, slipping into the seat he was now holding out for me, with a wink aimed in his direction. Denton reacted with a subtle brush of his thumb over my bare shoulder. The gesture sent a small shiver down my spine and straight to the butterflies suddenly swarming inside my belly. He didn’t even have to try, and he made my body react. When he took his seat next to me, he slipped his hand over mine under the table and squeezed.

  I glanced over at my sister again, who was watching us with a dancing glint of excitement in her eyes. It would have been sweet if she’d managed to sit still, but like a kid at Christmas, she shuffled in her seat and fussed with the cutlery in front of her. This wasn’t her usual behavior. Skylar was always moving but not this odd purposeless dance of excess energy.

  “You’re freaking me out, Sky. What’s going on with you?”

  Skylar glanced at Nate and back at me with a huge grin. “We’ll get to that. I want to hear about you two first.”

  “What would you like to know?” Denton asked before I could respond. He squeezed my hand, and I conceded. Letting him take the lead, I shuffled closer to him, leaning into the stroke of his finger at the nape of my neck as he waited for Skylar to reply. It felt almost too natural to be this casual with him and my family, and as Skylar shot questions at him, he answered with ease and the honest truth, all without letting her know about my personal life.

  “Where did y’all meet?”

  “At a club. I was showing some of my furniture pieces to prospective buyers, and Emerson tried some of it out, and we got to talking,” Denton said, running his thumbnail up into my hair. “She was compelling. I had to know more about her, so I asked her out on a date.”

  “Just like that.”

  “Just like that,” he said easily. “I saw those beautiful eyes, and they were all I could think about.”

  “Damn, dude,” Nate said, resting his arm over the back of Skylar’s chair. “I suffered the same affliction with this one. It’s those Hoffman eyes. Their mom’s eyes.”

  Skylar and I both grinned at him. It had been a topic of many family gatherings—one my dad always sided with Nate on. I found myself gravitating toward Denton, my smile growing wider when his arm wrapped tightly around me and pulled me close.

  “Have you…?”

  “Nope. Tit for tat, brat,” I said, cutting her next question off before she could go much further. “What’s going on with you?”

  “But—”

  “Later,” I said gently as Nate chuckled.

  “Okay,” she said, taking a deep breath and shuffling in her seat. “We’re getting married.”

  I paused. I already knew this. They’d been engaged for months. Not knowing this, Denton nudged me.

  “Uh, okay. Weren’t you already?”

  Skylar let off another guarded giggle and took a sip from her water glass, her engagement ring sparkling in the dim light. “Yes, but we kinda have to pick a date soon because we’re also pregnant.”

  I was on my feet and pulling Skylar to hers before she’d managed to place the glass on the table again. The desperate desire to hold her hands and bounce was undeniable, but instead, I gathered her to me and rocked us. “Holy shit. I’m gonna be an aunt.”

  “Holy shit. I’m gonna be a mom,” Skylar chirped, her arms folding around me and squeezing with every ounce of emotion she was feeling. “Mom and Dad don’t know yet. We just found out, like, two hours ago. I wanted to tell you first.”

  I hugged her tightly again and moved onto Nate, squeezing him so much harder and whispering congratulations as Denton swept Skylar into a hug she clearly appreciated.

  The celebratory air lasted all through dinner, and even though Skylar was more than happy to talk about her new wedding plans—which would be held in our parents�
�� back yard in a small ceremony—she really wanted to know more about Denton. Information he was happy to supply her with.

  I hadn’t known what to expect when he’d accepted the invitation to go to dinner with my sister. I hadn’t known how comfortable he would be, but he eased into my family dynamic with the same ease and grace he did everything, and the added bonus of him getting along with Nate was something I hadn’t even considered before that moment. As I watched him banter with them both, genuinely happy for them, I felt the stirrings of something deep inside myself. I probably should have been scared by that, but I couldn’t find it in myself to be. I wanted to grab onto this feeling of happiness and cling to it for as long as I could.

  Chapter Ten

  I woke up the next morning, warm, comfortable, and happy. For the first time in my twenty-seven years, I’d had a man stay in my bed with me all night. As ridiculous as that sounded, it was the truth. As a teenager, I was too scared to bring boyfriends home. In college, I preferred to spend time in the larger apartments of the boys I was seeing because mine was a shoebox, and living above my parents’ garage, I hadn’t wanted to give them the wrong idea. Having Denton here felt natural. His warm arm slung low over my waist, our shared body heat, and even Brees’s gentle snore had all become familiar to me in the time we’d spent together. Being in my own home just made it all more memorable.

  I felt Denton stir next to me as I stretched. His arm tightened around my body and pulled me closer, his full day-worth of stubble scratching erotically at my neck, making my legs tangle with his and my ass push against his erection.

  “You sure know how to start a guy’s day off right,” he grumbled with a gentle thrust of his hips.

  I turned my head to kiss him, and he immediately indulged me, while his hand slid over the naked skin of my stomach to my thigh and pulled my leg over his hip. Even as twisted as our bodies were, and lying on our sides, he still found his way inside me. He angled our bodies, moved slowly between my legs, and eased into my pussy, inhaling my gasp of pleasure as though he lived for it. I found that I was beginning to live to give this man what he wanted just for the simple pleasure of hearing him growling my name as he filled me.

  Keeping his thrusts slow at first, he timed them perfectly with the ministrations of his tongue, then ran his thumbnail over my clit in the same rhythm, making me jump. Every muscle tightened around him as the pleasure rushed over the surface of my skin like static. Denton already knew my body so well he could read my reactions like the words were printed on my flesh. He slowed his own movements, his hand relinquishing the steady teasing of my clit to push my thigh farther back over his hip to give him more room to sink deeper inside of me.

  Locking me in place, he moved his lips from mine and hovered over my ear, while my breaths slowed from pre-orgasmic panting to a low groan of denied pleasure. My body was on edge, my flesh sensitive to his every touch and breath.

  “Come to Stigmata with me tonight,” he asked, sinking inside me again with a slow, measured rock of his hips. He pushed deep until our bodies were fused together, and then he stopped.

  I couldn’t imagine going to Stigmata with anyone else at this point. I was so lost in the feel of my body stretched around him that I was completely at his mercy. He wouldn’t break my trust, but he would happily torture me now to use it later. The thought of playing in the club had brought out that Alpha male in him.

  Denton studied my face, noting my reactions, and he growled when I closed my eyes against the subtle roll of his hips against me.

  “Yes,” I breathed the word out.

  “I enjoy that word on your lips.” He gave one last rough retreat before sinking deep again, his teeth biting into my shoulder as he was pressed up against my ass again.

  Then he slipped away and rolled from me.

  “What…?” My body twisted so I could catch sight of him, and for a moment, I lost my words. He was already on his feet, stretching out his long muscular body, his cock still hard and standing proudly. He was a work of art that I found too distracting. “Denton?”

  My personal Adonis smiled and held up one finger before heading to the bag he’d packed to stay, while Brees ventured from his bed with a slow wag of his tail, his nails clipping on my hardwood floors. Denton acknowledged him with a cluck of his tongue, and it appeased the dog enough that he sat and watched curiously as his owner pulled out a small box and headed back to the bed.

  My eyes didn’t know where to look. Every inch of skin on the man was beautiful, every muscle was perfectly formed and rippled under the surface, demanding my attention, but his erection… that was what held my focus. I felt like a rabid animal hungry for more.

  Climbing onto the bed, Denton dropped the box beside him and sat back on his knees, his hands finding one of my ankles, and holding it gently in his hand. Picking it up, he brushed his lips along the bone of my ankle, while his eyes lingered on my pussy, his own unsatisfied hunger evident.

  “You’re beautiful, Emerson.”

  My cheeks flared. “Thanks.”

  “As hard as it is for me to walk away from fucking you senseless, I think we’d both benefit from a little withholding.” Reaching out with his other hand, he ran a single finger along my labia. My head hit the pillow hard as the breath rushed from me again. “Will you wear something for me today?”

  Lifting my head again, I stared at the corner of his mouth. This wasn’t our usual exchange, this was a Dom-sub moment, and he hadn’t had to explain that to me. I could feel it.

  “Anything,” I whispered.

  His lips curled into a gentle smile, and I could see the subtle creases in the corner of his eyes without having to look at them. Resting my ankle on his shoulder, he opened the box beside them and took out a small package. Taking his time, he opened the box and pulled out some new underwear that dropped out a small remote and device as he unfolded them.

  Vibrating underwear.

  I’d never used them before, although I’d seen them. The pair Denton held were high end. The underwear was a black lace boy-short style that he knew I would appreciate. My eyebrow twitched, but I restrained my reaction and smile instead.

  “You know what these are.”

  “I do.”

  With a small admiring look at them, Denton placed them on the bed beside me.

  “I want you to wear them today and use it at the highest setting every time you think about me.”

  “All the time, then?”

  Denton chuckled, his lips brushing against my calf before he lowered my leg to the bed.

  “The only rule I have is that you can’t orgasm.”

  A noise fell from my throat without permission. I was already feeling jittery and on edge from the denied orgasm. Going all day, teasing that, was going to border on painful. Yet, I only wanted to please him, so I nodded in agreement.

  “It’ll be worth it. I have a reward in mind for you tonight.”

  “Yes, sir.”

  His answering smile was a reward of its own, and one that I met with just as much enthusiasm.

  “Can I use your shower?”

  “Of course. I can come in—”

  “Nope.” He rubbed my thigh. “I’m still a man, and you’re still a temptation I hate denying myself.”

  “Rats.”

  Denton slipped off the bed, and I collapsed against it, watching him disappear into my ensuite before rolling my head back and staring at the ceiling with an awkward, cheek-aching smile plastered to my lips.

  I was still stretched out on my bed when I heard the shower cut off. I probably should have gotten up and slipped in behind him, but I was having trouble moving, and being closer to the office gave me a luxury of an extra thirty minutes in bed. I was using that time to freely think about the naked man in my bathroom before I had to torture myself with our temporary separation. It was too quiet without the gentle drone of the water running though, and reluctantly, I started to sit up.

  The movement was like the start of a chain re
action. As I sat up, the door to the bathroom opened, and my personal sex god in a towel stepped from the steamy room at the same time as Brees rushed to his feet and scampered toward the front of the apartment, meeting my mother as she stepped around the corner.

  “Mom!” It was half screamed and croaked as I grappled for the sheet and pulled it over my naked body, but she wasn’t looking at me. She was staring at Denton with horror at the predicament and appreciation of the beauty of the man in front of her.

  “I’m sorry, I…” Her voice trailed off as she tried to look anywhere but at him, her hands fluttering to her chest and neck. She spun once but landed right back where she had been, her eyes on Denton’s torso. It would have been funny if I hadn’t been buck-ass naked on my bed.

  Denton was standing completely still; the towel hung low over his hips while he rubbed his hair with another, entirely at ease with the extra person in the room. This was when I envied his confidence the most. He was calm and composed while I was screeching like a parrot faced with a cat.

  “Mom!” I repeated myself and scrambled from the bed, almost falling flat on my face as the sheet tangled in my legs. Denton caught my elbow, his glance offering a sense of calm that made me take a breath that gave me some much-needed clarity. “What’s the matter?”

  That fleeting moment of calm had made me realize that my mother, as much as she appreciated Denton’s chest, hadn’t left as she usually would have in a situation like this because there was something else. Something bigger that was concerning her.

  “Get dressed and come outside. Your father is calling the police.”

  “What? Why?”

  “Just… come.” She gave a last look at Denton, smiled warmly, and dashed from the room with Brees dancing at her heels until she was gone.

  One glance at Denton, and I could see the confident man I knew and was growing to love was being replaced by the man I’d seen in the workshop that first afternoon at his house. It was then that I suspected what I would find when I went outside.