Jenny led us across the front of the line and straight up to the bouncer. She rested her hands on his arms and went up on tiptoes to whisper something in his ear. He put his hand in the small of her back and we followed as he ushered her to the entrance. The music was pounding before we even got inside.
We stepped inside, into the care of a private concierge. Jenny was pulling all the strings for tonight. As I passed him my coat, he looked me up and down and settled his eyes on my cleavage. I smiled and walked away, feeling more confident in the heels. The effect they were having on sculpting my calves was going a long way to boost my acceptance of the shoes.
The place was already busy and a lot of those people would be standing out in the cold for a very long time. A circular dance floor was in the middle of the room, with several curved bars and a few tables and stools around the outside. Upstairs was a gallery, with several men hanging over watching the dancers.
“Let me pay,” I said to Jenny as we approached the bar.
“No need, Collin is comping us the entire night.”
“Score,” Sam said.
“Collin will score when he calls in this favor,” Marla said.
“Okay, but you have to promise me you’ll let me treat the three of you to dinner next week.”
The concierge arrived at our sides with a bucket of Champagne and glasses. We each took a glass, and he poured us a drink.
“I’ll open another bottle for you and leave it on that table,” he pointed at one of the tables. “I’ve reserved it for your use.”
“Thanks. And please make sure you tell Collin thank you for us,” Jenny said.
After he walked away, I raised my glass and said, “I owe you all such a big thank you for how you’ve all helped me. To friends.” We clinked glasses and had a sip, and I gave them each a little hug.
My throat was already getting sore and raspy from shouting over the music, so I took another big gulp of bubbles and herded Jenny, Sam and Marla to the dance floor.
I was self conscious at first, worried about toppling over in my shoes and making a fool of myself on the dance floor. But I soon forgot my inhibitions and the music took over. It felt amazing to forget myself and have fun after my self-imposed confinement in my condo.
Endorphins coursed through my veins as I waggled my hips and waved my arms. Strong hands clasped my waist, and I jolted. He moved with me to the music, and I spun around in time to the beat.
I came face to face with a gorgeous blue-eyed blond. He smirked at me as his eyes raked over my body then zeroed in on my jiggling tits. Even though he wasn’t my type, and even though I was still hurting from Jay, the man’s attention surged the endorphins throughout me and in a moment of madness I reached out and ran my hands down his arms.
Hard, defined muscles bulged underneath his shirt. The culmination of so many factors — Jay, the new job, the way I felt in my outfit, the Champagne — caused me to want this man. I wanted him to take me home and rip off my clothes. Then Jay would be well and truly gone from my life.
We danced together for several more songs, our hands roving over each other as we moved. I was sweaty after a few songs, and needed a drink.
“I’m thirsty,” I shouted into the blond’s ear.
“Let’s get some drinks,” he said, kissing my cheek. His lips warmed me.
He followed me off the floor and I led him to the reserved table. Jenny had disappeared ages ago, I assumed with Collin. Sam and Marla were busy dancing with what seemed to be twins.
The blond poured two glasses of bubbles from the bottle that had been sitting there, and I eagerly took one off him. He laughed and pointed at a man doing crazy spins on the dance floor. I looked over and enjoyed the show the long-haired guy in a purple top was putting on.
The blond nudged my arm and we clinked glasses. My throat was so parched I drank half of it in one go. I sipped at the rest while we rested. My feet hadn’t hurt, or at least I hadn’t noticed the hurt, until I sat down.
“I have access to the VIP area,” the blond said, pointing upstairs.
Wow. Jenny had described the club’s legendary VIP lounge. Even she couldn’t get us in there. But my new friend could.
“Sounds great. Let’s go.”
He stood, and I followed him across the room to an elaborate staircase. A bouncer was standing in front of it, but the blond flashed something and he stepped aside.
“After you,” the blond said, motioning for me to go first. I climbed the stairs, the heat of his eyes on my ass as I went.
The VIP lounge was quieter, with sofas and low tables. It overlooked the dance floor, and I looked down in search of Sam and Marla. The action gave me sudden vertigo, and I had to shut my eyes.
I hadn’t realized how drunk I was until I got in the relative calmness of the lounge. I moved to sit down and had to put my arm out to catch myself.
“Come, my table’s over here.” The blond put his arm around me and guided me to a sofa away from the edge of the balcony.
I collapsed onto it like a rag-doll. The blond sat beside me, put his arm around my shoulder and held me tight to him. I kept opening and closing my eyes, trying to stop the room from spinning. Each time I closed them, I got more and more tired until I could barely re-open them.
The blond held me tighter, and I opened my eyes to see him touch the diamond on the necklace, then move his finger down between my cleavage. I was so out of it, I felt like I was in a dream. Except I didn’t feel anything. I wasn’t at all excited by the man’s attention. My skin barely registered his touch.
I tried to move, to wiggle my body away from him and clear my head with some water, but I couldn’t move. My limbs were not responding to my commands. I opened my eyes again to see the blond slide his hand up under my skirt. I think he was saying something but I couldn’t be sure.
A movement caught my eye, and I watched a man walk over to us. He yanked the man from the sofa, from me. I tried to utter thank you, but couldn’t. The man looked familiar. I was searching my mind, trying to figure out who he was.
He punched the blond. In the face. Again. And in the stomach. And the nose. Blood streamed down the blond’s face, reddening his pale shirt. Then my eyes were too heavy to hold open any longer, and I closed them.
Chapter 41
My head throbbed, as though my brain was sliding around and ricocheting off my skull. I wanted to sleep. Sleep more. Sleep forever. But my stomach churned and I went staggering from the bed, looking for a spot to throw up.
Through a headache so bad I couldn’t see straight, I managed to locate an en suite, just in time to vomit in its toilet. I knelt, sank my behind into my ankles, and rested my head against the coolness of the toilet seat.
A flash of heat hit my body and I cozied up to the toilet to get any coolness I could from the porcelain. I vomited again, and stayed in my spot. My eyes closed from exhaustion. It must have been the middle of the night. I had to get back to bed.
I rinsed my mouth in the sink, splashed some of the water on my face and in a moment of lucidity, wondered where the fuck I was. Alarm bells started ringing on top of my already sore head. My heart pounding, I moved to the door to get out of here. Flee. Something was wrong, and I needed to get help.
But each step became harder, my legs so heavy I could barely lift my feet as I zigzagged to the door. In more a crumple than a fall, I ended up on the floor. And closed my eyes.
* * *
“Abbie, are you okay?”
“Huh?” I peeked my eyes open to see an out-of-focus man. The same man who rescued me earlier.
He scooped me up in his arms, and cuddled me against his body. He smelled just like Jay. I opened my eyes again. In the gray light of the room I could make out his facial features. They were the same ones I had seen as I laid in my bed and traced over with my fingers. Definitely Jay.
“You sleep more. You’re safe here.” He laid me in the bed, and stroked my hair. Comforted, I fell back asleep.
I don’t kno
w how much later I woke again needing to pee. I climbed out of bed and returned to the en suite. The dizziness wasn’t as bad, and it was a bit easier to walk in a straight line but I felt like I’d been hit by a Mack truck and hadn’t slept in a week.
More lucid than my earlier trip to the en suite, I re-entered the cavernous space. Tiles were on every surface, a massive walk-in shower, granite counter with his and hers sinks on it.
What had happened to my clothes? I was wearing a loose white nightie that came almost to my knees. I’d think I’d borrowed it from my mother, except the top was low cut with spaghetti straps. The diamond pendant still hung around my neck.
I walked back into the bedroom. The blinds were drawn and it was difficult to see, especially with my pounding head. The space was larger than my entire condo, with a sleigh bed as wide as it was long. But I couldn’t remember the night before, or how I ended up here. Those answers would come later. Right now I needed to get back to sleep.
As I climbed into the bed, I noticed a glass of water and bottle of ibuprofen had been set on the bedside table. Wonderful, though I thought I’d need more than one bottle to get rid of the pain in my body.
I closed my eyes, my mind racing in slow motion with the questions of what happened at the nightclub and how I got here, but it was a blank. As much as I knew I should find Jay and demand answers, exhaustion overwhelmed me and I fell back asleep.
The next time I opened my eyes, a flash of heat hit me and I flung the covers back to get some relief. I was lying there, like a starfish, when the bedroom door opened.
“Jay?” I asked, my voice almost inaudible. The dizziness returned, my head swimming at the sight of him.
Jay rushed to my side and perched on the side of the bed. “How are you feeling?” he asked, stroking my hair.
“What? How?” I couldn’t get the words out.
“Don’t worry, you’re safe now.” My brow furrowed with confusion and I gave my head a little shake. The movement sent my brain screaming in pain, and I reached my hand to my forehead to calm it.
“I don’t understand.”
“Do you remember anything?”
“No,” I said.
Jay shuffled closer and leaned on his arm, my legs underneath his arm. “You were dancing with a guy. Do you remember that?”
“Sort of, I think.”
“He drugged you. Slipped something in your drink.” My heart thudded hard and fast at his revelation.
“Drugged me?”
“Yes. And tried to do things to you in the VIP lounge.” None of this sounded familiar to me.
“Did he… rape me?” I was afraid of the answer.
“No. I stopped him. You’re safe.”
“But…” I struggled to put the pieces together. “How am I here?”
“I brought you here. You can stay here as long as you need to recover. The doctor said it might be several days.”
“Doctor?” None of this sounded remotely familiar to me.
“Yes, but you’re fine. She said you would feel terrible when you woke but that each day will be better until you’re back to normal. You will be fine in a few days.”
“But I might not have been fine. I was…” I started crying at the prospect of what might have happened to me. Except Jay saved me.
“You rest now. I’ve instructed my housekeeper Rosie to keep an eye on you. She will get you anything you need. Are you hungry?”
The prospect of food churned my stomach and my face grimaced. “No.”
“I didn’t think so. The doctor has left some medication to keep you hydrated.”
“Oh.”
“You rest now,” he said, and stood. I watched helplessly as he crossed the room.
“Jenny?” I managed to say as he reached the doorway.
“Don’t worry, your friends know you’re safe.” He left and closed the door behind him.
* * *
I fell in and out of sleep. Jay and Rosie always seemed to be at my side whenever I woke, day or night. Bringing me water and pills. Mopping my sweaty brow with a cool cloth. Sometimes I even ate a few crackers or a bit of banana.
Each time I woke, I felt a little better. My head hurt a little less. My joints and muscles ached a little less. But as my physical ailments subsided, my mind became more and more unsettled.
How did I get to Jay’s house? How long had I been here? I hadn’t really talked to either Jay or Rosie, only for utilitarian issues. I needed water. I needed more painkillers. I needed to sleep. But now I felt a little better. I needed answers.
* * *
Jay came in. I was sitting on the bed, happy my head no longer hurt to be upright, at least not more than it hurt lying down.
“You’re sitting, you must be feeling a little better.” He opened the blinds, and I squinted as bright sunlight flooded the room.
“So much better than I was.”
“Good.” He sat on the end of the bed and twisted his body to me.
“I don’t know how to thank you.”
“You don’t need to.” The corners of his lips moved, almost forming a smile.
“What happened?”
“The man drugged you. The doctor thinks with GHB because of how severe your symptoms have been. You’re lucky, it can be fatal.”
“But how did I get here?”
“I saw you at the club and stopped the man.”
“Why were you at the club?” I asked, trying to fit the puzzle pieces together.
“I saw you there. Dancing with him. Rubbing up against him on the dance floor. The flash of red of your shoe soles as you moved.” I stared at him, disbelieving this was happening to me. “And then he took you upstairs. He was all over you, but I realized you’d been drugged. Your body was floppy and your eyes glazed.”
“And you stopped him?”
“Good thing I was there to protect you. God knows what he would have done to you.”
“Yes, thank you.” Though I still didn’t understand why Jay was at the club, I would be eternally grateful for his intervention.
“The necklace looks beautiful on you, I’m glad you decided to wear it.”
I turned red. My hand went to the necklace, and ran my fingers down the chain until I was holding the diamond between my fingers.
“Thank you for this too. How…” I hesitated, “how long have I been here?”
“Three days. Do you feel up to coming downstairs? You must be sick of this room.”
Three whole days? The news shocked me. Still, I liked the idea of getting out of bed. The idea that I could get out of bed now that my body didn’t feel like I was on the verge of death. “I think so.”
“Good, there’s a robe for you in the top drawer. I’ll wait for you outside.” He patted my leg and left the room.
I pulled myself from the bed and stretched. The muscle pain I’d felt had given over to tightness and cramps from being in bed so long.
A selection of robes was inside the top drawer. All pale white. One silk, one terry, one cotton, one satin. Those were on the top row. There were more underneath but I didn’t want to keep Jay waiting. I grabbed the cotton one and pulled it on.
I gripped the doorknob, ready to turn it when I paused. What would be waiting for me on the other side?
Chapter 42
Jay was leaning against the wall opposite the bedroom door. It was a wide curving hallway with several wooden doors and alcoves with vases of flowers. He took my hand. The contact with his skin sent the familiar spark of electricity through me. I squeezed his hand, needing reassurance.
“Wow, your house is amazing,” I commented as we came to a large, sweeping staircase.
He looked at me and smiled, then led me down the stairs, through a huge landing and into a living area. Georgian-style windows spread across one wall, and an elegant white fireplace was in the center of the opposite wall.
I sat on the sofa, already tired from walking the short distance, and Jay sat in the adjacent armchair. He stared straight
into my eyes the way he used to. I shifted in my seat.
Rosie walked in carrying a tray with a pot of tea, a pot of coffee and some cups. Without saying anything, she placed the items on the low table and left us.
“Tea or coffee?” Jay asked. He hadn’t taken his eyes off me when Rosie came in. And now, like then, he continued to stare into me.
“Tea, please.” I fixed my gaze on my mug, keeping my eyes away from his.
Jay picked up the teapot and poured me a cup, then poured himself one. He then picked up my cup and passed it to me.
“Thank you,” I said. I’d said thank you to him so many times in the past few minutes. And I did have many things to thank him for. I could almost feel my body warm, but then I remembered the email. Not so much the photo. But the words James McAllister screaming out from the text.
“Would you like any food?”
“Uh, yes please, James,” I tried the name out on my tongue. He visibly flinched when I said it but quickly regained his normal composure. He took something from his pocket, a small plastic oval with three buttons on it. He pushed the blue button.
“The blue button is for Rosie,” he said, handing it to me. “You’ll keep this while you’re here, and she will come to you.”
“Yes?” Rosie asked as she entered the room.
“Abbie and I will have lunch soon, in the dining room.”
“Yes, sir.” She turned and left the room as quickly as she had entered it.
We finished our tea and I followed him into the dining room. I gawked at the room as we entered. The table sat twenty and original artwork graced the walls.
We talked through our meal, the easy flow of conversation still between us. I realized how famished I was after hardly eating for three days, and lapped up all the chicken soup placed in front of me.
“Did you get enough to eat?”
“Yes, thank you.” That phrase again. Thank you for everything Jay, except for being a liar.
“Come, you should get some rest.” He stood and without protest I followed him back to my room.
Desire Page 62