by Sasha Gold
“Everything all right there?”
His voice was a sexy rumble. She was instantly taken back to the night before. He’d held her all night long and every so often would stir and murmur something to her, about how good she felt, or how crazy she made him.
“Everything is fine,” she said.
“I’m going to start stalking you if I think you’re in any danger. I don’t just mean tonight. I mean in a permanent sort of way.”
“I think you’ve been stalking me for a very long time. Way before tonight. I think we can agree on that.”
Both Ashley and Olivia jerked their heads to look at her. Sage waved their concerns away.
“You’re the person who stole a picture from my father’s house. A picture of me. Seems sort of stalkerish to me.”
She could hear the smile in his voice. “I am not a stalker.”
Olivia snorted.
Sage turned away from the girls. She tucked the phone between her shoulder and ear while she stirred the eggs. “I am not a stalker. I happen to like that picture. You look handsome in your fatigues.”
“I can wear them for you tonight, and you can wear that little toy you were going to give Emma.”
She gasped and the phone slipped, falling to the floor with a clatter. She grabbed it and lifted it to her ear. “Sorry. Are you there?”
“You vandalizing my phone, Sage?”
“I’m sorry. It slipped from my grasp. I’m sort of hard on phones. That’s probably why mine won’t charge. I need to get a new one.”
“I just ordered you one.”
The eggs were done and she turned off the heat. She kept her back to the girls. It had been less than thirty or forty minutes since she said goodbye to him, but she was aware of a pang of yearning. She missed him. He was sweet and thoughtful and impossible and she couldn’t wait to get back to him.
“That’s so sweet of you to get me a phone, Theo. I don’t know what to say.”
“You think I’m sweet?”
A noise in the back ground of his voice caught her attention. It was a gentle humming noise that clicked on and off. What was he doing? Suddenly the image of Emma’s toy lying on his desk came to her. She felt the blood drain from her face.
“Theo,” she whispered, “did you put batteries in that thing?”
She looked over her shoulder to find Olivia and Ashley watching her intently.
“What thing?” he asked. “Remind me what it’s called.”
“Breakfast is ready. I have to go.”
“I took a picture of the thing you don’t want to talk about. With your phone. I thought I might send it to a few of the people in your contacts.”
His phone pinged and she glanced at the screen and yelped to see a picture of the vibrator, laid out obscenely on his desk.
“You going to demonstrate this thing for me tonight?” he asked.
“Absolutely not,” she hissed.
The sound of a cat’s meow came from behind her. She turned and saw Ashley looking at her phone. “This says it’s a text from you, Sage. It says, ‘I know you want to try.’”
Sage stared at Ashley with a mixture of horror and disbelief. “Someone stole my phone.”
Ashley’s phone meowed again. “This text says, ‘Sage is lying’.” Another meow and Ashley frowned at her phone. “Now the person is asking if I want to see an interesting picture.”
“Theo, stop. I’ll do whatever you want.”
The phone meowed. “Do you promise?” Ashley asked.
“I promise. Theo, you blackmailer. I’ll do whatever.”
“All right, baby,” he said. “That sounds pretty good because what I want is to play with you just a little, make you come once, really hard.”
Sage smiled broadly at Ashley and Olivia. “That sounds great!”
“After that I want to have sex with you. Bareback. Nothing between us. We’ll make a baby tonight. See you soon. Be sure and call me if you need me. Hurry home. Clock’s ticking. I gave you an hour and a half to go do your own thing. I expect you back by five thirty.”
“See you in a bit,” Sage said, keeping the smile firmly affixed. She disconnected the call.
Ashley and Olivia stared at her.
She put the phone in her pocket and heaped the eggs on two plates and set each one in front of the girls. She continued to ignore their stares and poured them a glass of juice, then buttered a couple of pieces of toast.
Olivia leaned forward on her elbows. She narrowed her eyes. “So… Theo’s stalking you?”
“Not really. We were just kidding around.”
“Are you banging him?” Ashley asked.
“Nope. How’s the breakfast. Nothing like breakfast for dinner.”
They both sat motionless, gaping.
She tried not to think about what he was planning. Her heart raced. She wiped her damp palms on her jeans. What she needed to do was focus on the reason she’d come to her apartment in the first place, Ashley’s supposed fall.
Sage eyed Olivia. “Did you happen to see who was around when Ashley fell?”
“I wasn’t here. I was having dinner with my grandparents.”
There was a knock at the door and Trey walked into the apartment. “Sure smells good.” He spoke with forced cheerfulness.
Sage didn’t miss the groan coming from Olivia who stared sullenly at her plate. Trey carried a bouquet of carnations and a pizza box. He set them down and went to Ashley, wrapping her in his arms. She moaned and leaned into his embrace.
“Hey Sage, how’s it going?” he asked.
She stared in disbelief. How was it possible that Ashley had taken him back? Slow simmering rage crawled through her gut. When had this happened??
Trey kept his gaze fixed on her while he hugged Ashley. She expected him to say something about her losing her job at the Cabaret. Nothing about his expression showed he knew she no longer worked there. His gaze wandered down her body and back up again. Usually she averted her eyes when he did that, but not this time.
“You got your step-brother to pay back your loan. I was a little disappointed. I had plans on how to get you to pay it back to me.”
Sage was startled by his words but she realized she shouldn’t have been too surprised. Theo didn’t want her owing anybody, especially not Trey. She pointed at Ashley. “You did that to her?”
Trey smirked. “It was just a little misunderstanding that’s all.” He rubbed Ashley’s back and kissed the top of her head. “Isn’t that right, baby?”
Ashley muttered something about not making a big deal about things.
“Let me think for a minute,” Sage said, tapping her chin. “What do you think the owners of the Cabaret would think if they knew you did that to their top dancer?”
A smile spread over his face and he dropped his arms from Ashley. “Listen to you. Talking about owners of the Cabaret. For your information one owner is in Atlanta, and the other is in Phoenix. So neither of them are going to have an opinion about it.”
Sage took out Theo’s phone and snapped a picture of Ashley.
“Don’t take a picture of me,” Ashley cried. “I don’t want people seeing that.”
“Yeah, I bet you don’t.” Sage scrolled through Theo’s contacts then sent the picture.
“Sage, you don’t want to piss me off.”
She leaned her hip against the counter and clenched her jaw. His gaze drifted to Ashley. The man had no remorse. Ashley’s face was purple and blue and he was gloating.
“Get out of this apartment Trey,” she said quietly. “Before I call security.”
Trey’s smiled widened. “Hey, I was just leaving anyway. I have somewhere to be tonight.”
Ashley let out a small sound of disappointment. “Where are you going?”
He tousled her hair. “How ‘bout you just not worry about it?” With that, he took his pizza and walked out of the apartment, slamming the door behind him.
Both Olivia and Ashley stared at her. Even with her face
distorted from her injuries, it was clear Ashley was shocked that Sage had stood up to Trey. Olivia’s mouth hung slightly open, her fork poised in mid-air. In the past, Trey acted like he owned the apartment, taking what he wanted out of the fridge, sitting on the couch on Sundays, watching television. No one told Trey to leave or do anything. Not ever.
Sage said nothing. She’d acted differently because she felt differently. Not only was she mentally moving out of the apartment, but the sight of Ashley’s face made something inside her shift. She wasn’t going to hang around and hope the girls changed their ways. Not if Ashley was going to accept that sort of treatment from Trey.
Olivia let out a bark of laughter. “Did that dick just take his five dollar pizza with him?”
Chapter 6
Theo stood in the garage, leaning in the doorway, waiting for her. He wore camo pants and boots. His chest was bare. She smiled at the sight of him. He’d dug out those fatigues just for her. He looked strong and sexy and she wanted to run her hands all over his shoulders. She wanted to explore the bands of muscles. But when she saw the look in his eyes she drew a sharp breath. His eyes were dark with anger. His mouth pressed into a thin line.
She parked the truck and got out. He filled the doorway and his posture suggested he wasn’t going to let her past. Hands shoved in his pockets, shoulders tense and eyes focused intently on her, he spoke in a voice that was a little too soft.
“You were supposed to tell me if Trey was there.”
Sage’s mouth went dry. “He was just there for a minute. How did you know?”
“You sent a picture to your phone. Of him and Ashley.”
Shit. She wasn’t thinking. When she took the picture, she wanted to send it to Darryl, one of the club owners. The contact was in Theo’s phone, but in an instant of indecision she’d sent it to her own phone instead.
“I think Trey beat her up,” Sage said.
“I think he’s doing more than that.”
“What do you mean?”
“He’s doing a little pimping. Some trafficking. Ashley doesn’t want to play his game so he roughed her up. He has plans for you.”
Her stomach clenched and air huffed from her lungs as if she’d been struck. “Shut up, Theo.”
“It’s true. My little innocent girl. Men would pay big money for your cherry.”
She recoiled at his words. He’d never said anything so coarse to her before.
“From what I’ve heard he’ll get to add a zero to his usual rate if he delivers you.”
“Jesus Theo. That’s disgusting.” She tried to push past him.
He stood, unmoving, a mountain of strength and stubbornness. His shoulders were tense and his eyes blazed with rage. It made her sick to hear him speak about this and she wanted to get past him, to gain a little distance until he’d calmed down.
“While you were gone I took care of any sort of plans Trey might have for you.”
His eyes wandered down her body and back up again. They were arguing again, or was still. He was infuriating, but she couldn’t deny the way her body responded to him. His eyes flicked up to hers and she saw the gleam of recognition there. He knew exactly what he was doing to her.
She pushed against him. His chest was eye level and the expanse of muscle was distracting and a little intimidating, but she wasn’t going to let him keep her here.
“I know how put an end to that lily-white reputation you have.”
“That’s great Theo. I can’t wait to hear about it. I love how you stroll into my life and take everything apart, taking every plan I have and wrecking it.”
“You think I wreck things?”
“I know you do.”
His lips tilted into a teasing smile. “Not a nice thing to say to your husband on Valentine’s Day. Sometimes the old needs to be knocked down to make way for the new. ”Maybe I wreck things so I can give you something better.”
She scoffed. “Let me past. It’s cold out here.”
“I think I should carry you over the threshold.”
“If we were newlyweds I think you’re…”
With a quick motion, he lifted her and swung her over his shoulder. A shriek escaped her lips. She pummeled his back with her fists. Somewhere in the house, the dogs started barking. Theo stepped through the doorway and kicked the door shut behind him.
Tango and Charlie came bounding into the hallway. Their frantic barking echoed in the room.
“Good boys,” Theo said above the din. “Tell them you’re okay, Sage. They’re worried about you.”
“I’m okay, boys.” The dogs trotted behind her, quiet but alert, hackles raised as Theo strolled through the house.
“Put me down, Theo.” She kept her voice a gentle lilt so as to not upset the dogs.
“I like carrying my wife around. I’m fixing to punish her a little for not minding me and putting herself in a dangerous situation.”
He took her down the darkened hallway.
“Okay, fine. I’ll bite. How is it that we’re married suddenly?”
He stopped at his bedroom door. “Go on, boys. Go to your beds.”
The dogs turned and trotted back the way they came. Sage watched them trot away. So much for her guard dogs. She’d felt vindicated when they’d come to her rescue, but just as quickly they abandoned her on Theo’s command.
“They know I’m in danger and they just abandon me?”
“They know you’re not in danger. Not with me. They heard you scream and were ready to kick some ass.”
“Maybe I should scream again,” she grumbled.
He smacked her bottom and set her down. She backed away from him but he ignored her, shutting the bedroom door, and locking it. She looked around the bedroom. Candles lined the mantle, sending flickering shadows across the room.
The space between them hummed with a different energy. The look in his eyes was no longer playful, or gentle. It was possessive, angry and protective all at once.
“What’s going on?” she whispered.
“I made two calls. One to Darryl, the owner of the cabaret. He told me he planned to fire Trey anyway. He’d heard from clients about the pimping, and that Trey was trying to sell the rights to you to the highest bidder, since you were a virgin, and they don’t see a lot of virgins at the club.”
She shook her head. It couldn’t be true. Things like that didn’t happen in small towns. Not in her small town, anyway.
“You’re scaring me, Theo.”
“You’re safe with me. If anyone wants you they’ll have to come through me. I’m going to make sure everyone knows you’re off the market. That was the second call I made, to make it one hundred percent clear to everyone in town you’re not a virgin anymore. That you belong to me.”
A breathless laugh escaped her lips and she backed away from him. “What are you talking about?”
He crossed the room and cupped her shoulders, pulling her close. “I had Millie write up our wedding announcement. Knowing Millie it will be something really lovely. Hearts and flowers and all that good shit. It’ll go out in the morning paper.”
“What are you talking about?” Her voice was shrill, bordering on hysterical. “You can’t just announce you’re marrying someone and broadcast it.”
“Sage, tell me you don’t want to marry me. Look me in the eye and tell me.”
“Who… who proposes like that?”
“I do.”
Before she could respond, he lowered to kiss her. The kiss was urgent, hard, almost punishing. He pressed his tongue against the seam of her lips. Immediately she yielded to him. His hands tangled in her hair. He overpowered her, but she couldn’t resist, nor did she want to.. Pressing her against the wall, he skimmed his hands down the front of her sweater. He tugged it off and flicked the clasp of her bra open and let it fall to the floor.
Now his kiss was slower and hotter. His bare chest pressed against her breasts. Arousal swirled inside her, sending darts of pleasure and aching need to her core. Her breast
s felt heavy.
He straightened. “Clothes off. Now.”
Crowding her against the wall, he left her just enough room to tug her boots off and shed her jeans. His gaze drifted down her body.
“Everything, Sage. Panties too.”
“I don’t want to give you a lap dance, Theo.”
“I think we’re a little past lap dances.”
She set her hand on his shoulder. “What’s happening?”
“You’re going to wear that little toy for me.”
Her heart seized in her chest. The toy. Of course he hadn’t forgotten. Heat and arousal gathered inside her. Need made her slick. The idea that he would make her wear that seemed filthy and wrong and beyond even her dirtiest fantasies about Theo. “You seem mad. You’re scaring me.”
He lifted her chin. “I think you want to try it.”
“Maybe,” she breathed. “Just a little.”
He nodded. “”
She bit her lip and tugged her panties off, letting them drop. He reached down to a pocket on his thigh and pulled out the toy. A smile played upon his mouth as he fastened the belt around her waist. His fingers were rough and calloused. She shuddered as he moved to the strap meant to go around her thigh.
“Ready?” His voice was soft.
“You’re not still mad at me are you?”
The corner of his mouth quirked. He reached into his pocket again and took out the remote control. “Maybe a little. But I have the feeling I’m about to forgive you.”
“I’m sorry I didn’t call you about Trey.”
He set a hand on either side of her, caging her. “Apology accepted.”
She held out her hand for the remote.
He snared her wrists in one of his hands and lifted them, pinning them over her head. “I’m driving.”
“You didn’t tell me …”
Her words were cut off by a tiny click. Movement against her sensitive folds made her whole body jerk with surprise.
“Oh yeah,” he whispered.
The vibrations on her waves of pleasure, emanating from her core and rolling through her entire body. Like waves in the ocean, the vibrator’s intensity increased and decreased in a regular, intoxicating rhythm.
She closed her eyes and panted softly. Her body responded without any conscious thought of her own. She writhed and moaned. The sensation was both too much and not enough. She found herself lifting to her tiptoes, a reflexive attempt at escaping the torment. When she did that, she tightened her thighs and it made the sensation more intense.