The List

by Alice Ward

  I closed my laptop with a click and began to pack my briefcase. Friday afternoon wasn’t usually a cause for celebration for me since my life didn’t typically follow the customs associated with the days of the week. I worked every day and celebrated every night, whether it was Wednesday or Sunday.

  This was the first Friday I’d had in a long time that felt… average. There was a lightness in my chest as I left the office and took the elevator down to the ground floor. I knew I wasn’t the only one feeling this way. When I’d told Kenneth to take the whole weekend off, he nearly danced a jig. For the most part, he was on call every day but Sunday. Getting the opportunity to go crazy for the weekend was a treat for him.

  Since beating the rush hour traffic out of the city was of utmost importance, I’d had my BMW brought over for me. I set my briefcase next to my weekend bag in the trunk and took off for Brooklyn.

  When I pulled up to Riley’s brownstone, she sat on the stoop in a yellow and white sundress, almost looking like she’d come right off the farm. The sight instantly made my dick stir.

  Apparently, I had a thing for farm girls. It was the first I’d heard of it, but it was also completely fine with me.

  I pulled into a parking spot a few doors down from Riley’s building. She met me halfway, a backpack slung over one shoulder.

  “Hi,” she breathlessly said as I wrapped my arm around her waist.

  I took in a deep breath and inhaled vanilla. “You ready to go?”

  She practically beamed. “Absolutely.”

  Just as we climbed into the car, my phone buzzed with a text message from Eric, Enigma’s manager.

  Dana lost the key to the new lock box. Are you near?

  “Shit,” I hissed.

  Riley looked at me with worried eyes. “What’s wrong?”

  “I have to stop by the club.” I clenched my hand around the steering wheel and flexed my fingers. “Sorry. One of the staff lost the key to the drop box. I need to take mine over there.”

  “Oh. Well, it happens. We don’t have to be at the retreat at a certain time, do we?”

  I laughed. “You’re so positive about it.”

  She grinned. “Probably because I’m about to go away for the weekend with a hot guy.”

  I squeezed her knee. “Now you’re making me feel better.”

  The drive back to Manhattan killed serious time, but Riley entertained me with stories from her week. It was still broad daylight out as we pulled onto Enigma’s block. I checked out the sidewalk with hesitation and lucked out when a car pulled away from the curb, leaving me their spot. I parallel parked the BMW and hopped out. “I’ll be back in two seconds,” I promised Riley.

  I didn’t wait for her answer. I walked across the sidewalk and rushed inside. The club was opening in thirty minutes, which meant the whole staff — and maybe Julian and Seth — were already inside. Pushing the second door open, I took a furtive look around the room. Eric was nowhere to be seen, but Julian stood onstage talking to one of the dancers.

  “Hey!” I called.

  He met me halfway across the floor.

  “Give this to Eric.” I tossed him the key and turned to go.

  “What’s the rush?”

  I paused, but only half turned to face him. “Nothing.”

  Julian’s eyes squinted. “You’re running out of here like there’s a fire.”

  “I need to beat traffic.”

  “It’s too late for that.” He crossed his arms and smiled in amusement. “Who is this girl you’re going away with, anyway?”

  “No one,” I quickly said. “Just a girl I met the other week.”

  “Anyone I know?”

  “Probably not.”

  I braced myself, waiting for him to ask if he’d get first dibs once she went on the list. Julian and I possessed similar tastes in women, and he had no problem with sharing them. Even though he was my closest friend, it didn’t change the protective instincts I had when it came to Riley. I didn’t want anyone touching her. Not even after I was done doing so.

  “All right. Have fun.” He waved two fingers at me in a goodbye and went back to the stage. My shoulders relaxed. Riley, for the time being, was still fully mine.

  I headed for the door again, but something was different. My palms were sweating, and the air in the club seemed thicker, more putrid.

  Riley had to go on the list eventually. I knew that, and I wasn’t against it. At least most of me wasn’t. A small, irrational part of me wanted to keep her hidden, wanted to keep her off the list even after I was done seeing her. It was why I didn’t want Julian or the other two guys seeing us together. Once the others knew I’d screwed and released Riley, she would be fair game.

  The trip to Connecticut was tedious, but just like the one from Brooklyn to Manhattan, Riley made it worthwhile with her stories. She told me about going on house calls with her vet parents and spending her high school summers biking to Coney Island with her girlfriends.

  “It took hours each way,” she explained, “but it was worth it. My parents always thought I was at Ann-Marie’s and her parents always thought she was over at my house.”

  “What did you do once you got there?”

  She laughed. “Mostly sat on the beach since we were so exhausted.”

  I took a turn off the interstate and glided onto a much more scenic highway. We were close to the small retreat I booked us a room at, but still had about thirty more minutes of driving time. “I’m trying to picture you disobeying your parents and riding off into the sunset.”

  “And how’s it going?”

  “Honestly… I can’t see it.”

  “What? You don’t think I have a sense of adventure?”

  “No,” I slowly answered, making sure to give some time to my response. It was the freewheeling component of the story that didn’t make sense to me. The Riley I’d come to know was hesitant, not quick to make her own decisions.

  As if reading my mind, Riley sighed. “I guess I was a little braver then. I did what I wanted to do. I didn’t want someone else, even my parents, to give me permission.”

  I could hear real sadness in her voice. It squeezed my chest so tight it became hard to breathe. “What changed that?”

  She nibbled on her lip while giving it some thought. “Nothing big happened. I think I just started to grow up, and along with that came being more careful.”

  “Or more questioning yourself.”

  She turned her face to me, looking for further explanation.

  “It’s one thing to be careful,” I told her. “It’s another to shoot yourself in the foot because you can’t make your own choices or stand up for yourself.”

  Her shoulders slumped a little bit, and she turned to look out the window. Her voice turned small and almost defeated sounding. “Yeah. I guess you’re right.”

  I hadn’t meant to dampen the mood, but, just like the other day, I seemed to have hit Riley’s sore spot at the mention of self-reliability. This weekend was supposed to be a light-hearted one. I quickly looked for a new topic to switch the conversation toward.

  “Your teenage years sound a lot more fun than mine were.”

  She looked back at me in interest. “What did you do in high school?”

  I paused. Dodged beer bottles. While my dad had never turned his fists on me, he’d thrown things at my head more than once. It was my mom who received the full force of his alcoholic anger. And it never mattered how often I tried to convince her to leave him — and fuck, did I try — she never did.

  “Mostly studied,” I answered.

  “That makes sense. I bet you’ve never had a lazy day in your life.”

  To me, it was as good as a compliment. “Thank you.” I smiled back.

  “Did you get a scholarship to college or did you work to pay for it?”

  “Neither. I didn’t go to college.”

  Riley’s mouth fell open. “You didn’t? But how did you… how come?”

  “Remember I said I came t
o New York at seventeen? And I started working three jobs? Well, I did that for a while, but I also started investing. I was really into the whole science of it. I met some guys who worked in the field, and they helped me out. One thing led to another, and real estate became my thing.”

  “Wow,” she breathed. “And here I am all worked up because I went to school and studied the wrong thing.”

  “School is good. Obviously. It’s a great path to getting to where you need to go, but it’s not the only path.”

  Riley nodded and seemed to give the idea some serious thought. “You never thought about going?”

  “I did. That was the plan all along. It was why I worked so hard in high school. But unexpected opportunities opened up. Not by accident, I do want to say. I knew early on how important it is to make and maintain connections.”

  “Do you ever wish you had gone? Just for… I don’t know… the experience?”

  I shook my head. “Naw.”

  Riley giggled. “Naw?”

  I took in a sharp breath. I was usually good about keeping my natural accent in check.

  Riley went on. “I love that.”

  “What?”

  “The way you said ‘naw.’ You sound so...”

  “Southern?”

  She grinned and cocked her head. Behind her, the trees along the highway flew by. “I was going to say you sound like a southern gentleman.”

  I pretended to think about it. “Hmm… so you think I’m a gentleman?”

  “Of course.”

  “Would a gentleman do this?”

  Before she could answer, I pushed the hem of her skirt up and revealed her milky thighs.

  “Hey,” she chastised. “Hands on the steering wheel.”

  “One of them is.”

  She pursed her lips, trying to act like she was mad at me, but it did no good. After a couple seconds, she broke into a grin and began laughing. “You’re crazy.”

  I dropped my voice, and for the first time in years, freely let my accent flow. “Darlin’, you don’t even know just how crazy I can get.”

  Riley shuddered under my hand as I worked my fingers toward the inside of her thigh. Her panties were hot and wet as I rubbed my fingers against the fabric. Riley clenched the sides of her seat and shifted her weight around.

  “How would you like it if I did this to you?” she asked in between heavy breaths.

  “I’d love it,” I volleyed back.

  “Oh, really?” Suddenly, the top strap of her seatbelt was slipped behind her back, and she was arched over my lap. My pants were unzipped and out sprung my cock. Riley ran her fingers over it, giving each inch her careful attention.

  “Don’t crash,” she teased as she slowly pumped the base.

  A slow breath left my nostrils. “Why are you speaking? Shouldn’t you be putting my cock between those lips?”

  A short silence passed. For a second, I wondered if I pushed too far with the dirty talk. Maybe Riley was about to tell me to back off, or maybe she was even about to burst into tears. Instead, though, she turned her face upwards and gave me a wicked grin. “Or else, what?”

  The words sent lava through my veins. My member tightened even more, becoming rock-hard. “Or else I’ll pull this car over and eat you till you’re screaming for me to stop,” I languidly responded.

  Riley’s eyes went wide.

  “Suck,” I commanded.

  Slowly, those perfect pink lips opened. They went down, down, and wrapped around the head of my dick. Gentle pulls tugged the pleasure up through my length. Riley pumped her hand around the base as she sucked.

  I took a long breath and held it in. The pleasure was too good. If I were to let myself go, I’d blow into her mouth before a few seconds passed. I watched the road and counted the dotted lines. One… Two… Three…

  A gentle tug on my balls made my head spin. “Christ,” I gasped.

  Riley sucked once more and then sat up. “How was that?”

  “You’re not done. Get back down there.”

  She ignored me, instead choosing to readjust her seatbelt and smooth her dress. “I’m good, thanks.”

  I slid her a look. “You want to be punished.”

  Riley shrugged and looked out the window. A deep chuckle pushed its way out of my throat. The little vixen. I’d known she had a bit of a wild side to her, but I’d never expected this. She was backtracking on what she’d started, blatantly disobeying me. She wanted to be punished.

  The BMW rounded a curve in the road, revealing a field with a dirt road in the middle of it. I pulled the car off the asphalt and onto the rough trail. Riley looked over in surprise.

  “What are you doing?”

  “Punishing you,” I simply said.

  The highway was a slow one. A car could come by and a car might not. At this point, I didn’t give a fuck. My cock was screaming with a mix of frustration and desire. Riley had made me want her more than I’d ever wanted any woman in my life. For that, I was going to make her pay. I planned on making her experience the same kind of ecstatic agony she heaped on me every time she touched me.

  Unbuckling my seatbelt, I climbed out of the car and stomped my way to Riley’s side. She still watched me with those wide eyes, partly turned on and partly afraid, but more than anything else, excited. I whipped her door open, reached across her lap, and unbuckled her.

  “Turn to face me. Legs open.”

  “What—?”

  “Do it.”

  She obeyed, turning slowly in her seat to face where I stood next to the open door. I guided her legs so that her feet were braced, one on the ground and one in the car. Her dress fell open, showing off the wet spot on her panties. Seizing one of her knees in each of my hands, I got down onto my own knees in the dirt. My pants would probably be ruined, but screw it.

  “What if someone drives by?” Riley timidly asked.

  “Then they’ll see just what happens to dirty girls who disobey.”

  Her gulp was audible. Seizing the fabric between her legs, I dug my nails into it and ripped the panties in half. Riley yelped in surprise as her underwear came off in shreds.

  Pressing my fingertips into the soft flesh of her inner thighs, I thrust my tongue against her wet opening. She squirmed against my touch, but I tightened my grip and held her in place. Soft moans issued from her as I licked her slit up and down. As she got closer to her climax, I increased the pressure of my tongue.

  With as much force as I could muster, I sucked and lapped at each part of her delicate pussy. In and out my tongue went, before making its way upward to press against her clit. I fucked Riley with my mouth, making her wiggle and cry out for more.

  She burst against me, her slick juices coating my lips.

  “Stop,” she gasped. “S-stop.”

  Her hands pressed into the tops of my shoulders, urging me to stop touching her. But I didn’t listen. I sucked on her now overly sensitive bud, showing it not one shred of mercy. Riley shuddered out my name, begging me to let her be. Each cry that left her lips only urged me on. I held her legs tight and kept lapping.

  Her cries took a turn again and changed from ones of torture to ones of pleasure. Moans rushed from her lungs, and she shook with another orgasm.

  Not until her second eruption passed did I lick her clean and finally release her legs. I drew backward, stood, and looked down at her. Her panties were in pieces in the dirt, her dress rumpled, and her hair disheveled as she gazed up at me. Her chest heaved with each exhale, and her long lashes fluttered.

  “That’s just a taste,” I told her. “Act petulant again, and you’ll really be paying.”

  Riley’s pupils widened, and her lips parted.

  “Well?” I prodded. “What do you say?”

  Two words left her lips, so soft I could barely hear them. “Yes, sir.”

  The excitement that ripped through me was groundbreaking. My dick instantly became hard and my vision blurred.

  I didn’t even tell Riley the rules to thi
s game—I never even mentioned them once—and there she was… playing it absolutely fucking perfectly.

  Christ. I was in trouble.

  CHAPTER ELEVEN

  Riley

  The moonlight glimmering on the lake was mesmerizing. I didn’t know how long I’d been standing there staring at it, but I did know that I hadn’t looked away since coming outside. Little drops of light danced around like diamonds on the water’s surface, the difference being the sight in front of me was more rare and precious than any stone could ever be.

  “Enjoying the view?”

  I turned and found Xavier coming down the side walkway from our cabin. After arriving at the lakeside retreat, we’d dropped our bags off and gone for a hike in the woods, where Xavier surprised me by naming at least a dozen different trees and plants. The evening had begun with dinner at the main lodge and ended with us walking back to our private cabin.

  “It’s amazing,” I told him. “I’d forgotten.”

  He stopped next to me and put his hands in his pants pockets. Even out there in the woods, Xavier wore dress pants. I had to wonder if he owned any other kind. “What did you forget?”

  “About nature, I guess. It’s easy when you’re living in the city, always rushing from this place to that place.”

  “Let’s go swimming.”

  “Okay, let me go get my bathing suit.”

  “Don’t bother. Let’s go as we are.”

  I could feel my eyes nearly popping out of my head. “In those?” I gestured to his pants.

  Xavier dryly laughed. “No.” He started to unbutton his shirt. “In nothing.”

  My heart flipped. I glanced around us, just to make sure we were still alone. The nearest cabin sat halfway down the side of the hill. A thick line of trees separated the two buildings, only showing some light glowing through a window.

  “Don’t worry,” Xavier assured me. “We’re alone.”