Slade

by Adriane Leigh

  She power smoked that cigarette until it must have been heating her fingers before she put it out under the faucet and lit another.

  “He did shit like that all the time. He’d take me out for ice cream and do a line of coke before he left. Drugs, hookers, girlfriends, that was all a part of his life. And that’s just when he was around here, what my thirteen-year-old eyes saw. God knows what he did on the road.” She visibly shuddered and stared out the window for a while, lost in her own thoughts and a cloud of stale cigarette smoke.

  I made a note to throw her clothes and mine in the washer when she was done. I hated the smell of cigarettes.

  “I was nineteen, taking care of my mom after she’d started chemo. Her and my dad had divorced by then. A knock came at the door, a seventeen-year-old kid introduced himself as Brian Young. I knew instantly…he just looked familiar. Even without my dad’s last name, I sensed it. In that moment, it was like he saw me, and we’d found each other. He told me he and his younger brother and mom were my dad’s second family.

  “I hit the floor. I shook. I didn’t want to believe him, but I wasn’t surprised. He spoke to me and my mom that night for hours, and when he left, we were linked. Best friends. My mom treats him like her own.

  “Ya know what hurt the most though? That he was with her. With them. He was their father. So many of the times he didn’t come home, he’d been with them. Then he’d go to work for a week before coming home to Mom and I. He rotated us. He fucking rotated his families.”

  She tossed the leftover cigarette butt in the sink and turned to storm into her bedroom.

  I shot to my feet and followed her. “Hey, I’m sorry.” I bent over her where she dug in the corner dresser in her room.

  “There’s a photo somewhere…” She tossed childhood photos of herself as she dug.

  Her silvery blonde hair in pigtails at five or six. Her mom looking like the weight of the world rested on her shoulders, but none with him.

  “I buried it in here somewhere. I hate seeing it,” she mumbled as she searched.

  “Dillon,” I knelt and wrapped her in my arms.

  “There’s this photo of us, a professional one at a studio, the only one we have, and Brian has the same one. It’s eerie. Same exact photo, but instead of Mom and me…he’s with them.” She twisted a school photo of herself in her hands as she spoke.

  “And the weird part in all of this is that I hate him, but I love him. He’s my dad, and despite all the bad stuff, I have a few good memories. Picnics when I was young, laughing around the little round kitchen table over dinner. And then to find out he was with this whole other family half the time …I’m angry, but I’m glad he was there for Brian too. He’s my brother. It’s the love-hate pull that doesn’t make sense to anyone else but Brian and I…”

  “Hey …” I pulled the photo from her fists and tried to straighten the edges before placing it back in the drawer. “I don’t have to understand it. No one does. It’s how you feel and that’s all that matters.” I stroked her bare arm as I spoke. “Is he still in your life?”

  “Not really,” she murmured into my chest.

  “That sounds like a loaded answer.” I pulled her away from my body to look at her.

  She ran her hands over her face and pushed the hair off her forehead. “He’s in my life every day, he fucking haunts me,” she gritted through her teeth.

  “Okay…”

  “I wish he wasn’t. I’ve tried to push him away, especially after Mom passed. She went through so much at the end, I grew resentful of how hard her life with him must have been. He’s the one that tried to buy the bar from Wild. He’s trying to buy me out of my life. I haven’t talked to him in years, but Brian can’t say no to him. His mom and dad aren’t together, but he still sees him. My brother is so wrapped up in him, but I can’t stand to look at his nasty, deceiving face.”

  “Why would he want the bar?” I frowned.

  “To control me. He sends me money, checks that I never cash. He has all this money and no one knows where it’s from. He drives fancy cars, bought Brian that Audi… like I said, Brian can’t say no to him, ever, but I won’t accept a single thing. He wanted me to move to the city for chrissake! Offered me an apartment in his building. But I won’t, I can’t. I don’t want anything from him, and I certainly don’t want to ever see him. He never laid a hand on me or Mom, but he didn’t need to. He beat us up emotionally every day in his absence, and sometimes in his presence, and still…”

  “Maybe he really wants to make it up to you.”

  “No, you don’t know him. He’s a manipulative liar. He’s probably cooking meth or something to have that kind of cash,” she huffed and started pacing the small room. “I always thought she was so weak for staying. For years I blamed her for staying with him. When Brian came to our door that night, I could see it on her face. She wasn’t surprised, Slade. She knew, or at least she’d suspected. We never talked about it, and then when she was diagnosed with cancer…it took everything she had. It took her.

  “She was so broken. Life had gotten the best of her—a cheating husband, raising a rebellious kid, she just seemed so sad. It took me years to realize that she was strong. Staying is the hard part. Raising a kid by yourself while your husband is off doing his thing is hard. Staying in this town, staying with him, she did it all for me. It took me years to realize that, I just wish it wasn’t too late for me to say sorry. Tell her I know she did her best. Thank her.” She chewed her bottom lip as she fingered a picture of the two of them together that she’d picked up off the floor.

  “For years I didn’t want to be like her. Swore I’d get out of this town, not let a man tie me down, but I was wrong. I was rebellious and ungrateful and so wrong.”

  “You were a kid.”

  “No, I was harsh to her. She deserved to hear my apology.”

  “But you took care of her when she was dying. You moved in to help her. She knew, Dillon.”

  “It’s not the same. I needed to say the words.” She shook her head sadly.

  “Dillon…” I followed and wrapped her in my arms. “Maybe we should go to bed, sleep on this, it’s been a long night.”

  “No, that’s not how this works, Slade. When I hit that pillow tonight it will be like this conversation never happened. When I wake up tomorrow, I don’t want to discuss it, not ever again. I’m telling you now because you deserve to know, because I want you to know, but this is a one-night deal. It’s not up for discussion after this—I’ll lock it away somewhere down deep and I never want to excavate it.”

  “Dillon, it doesn’t have to be like that.”

  “It does.” She nodded into my chest. “It has to, I won’t survive otherwise,” she murmured and wrapped her arms around my waist in a hug.

  “So if this is a one-night deal, let me have it then. Give it all to me so we can lock this up and throw away the key.”

  She pulled away from me and her eyes danced with tears and maybe some amusement. “Well, my brother has told me about triggers. Apparently I have a lot of them.” She laughed and wiped at a tear.

  I smiled, my heart fluttering like it had fucking fairy wings, because I was seeing her, getting a glimpse of what made Dillon Dillon, even if she was going to lock it away for the rest of her days.

  “Tell me about your triggers.” I chuckled and stroked a palm down her long hair.

  “Men are a big trigger.” She pulled away and laughed.

  “Ha, okay…”

  “Men who travel for work, leave for long periods of time, days and weeks on end…” She looked up at me under brimming navy blue eyes. “Not good.”

  “Oh, fuck.” I ran a hand through my hair and closed my eyes.

  “Yeah…so it’s not your fault. I know people have to travel for work, but it just brings up terrible memories.” She turned and sat on the bed.

  “Okay. I need to learn more about these triggers, but that’s fine, this can work. I leave sometimes, but you know I was in my own b
ed every night by ten. Meetings and the office all day—”

  “Your office at a sex club.” She pinned me with a glare.

  “I had the curtains down the whole time!” I held my hands up in surrender.

  She only laughed. “I know where you were, I know that I was on your mind with all the flowers. The florist knows exactly what was on your mind.” She laughed. “But it’s still a trigger, so it was tough for me.”

  “All right. I can work with that trigger. That’s got to be the worst, right?” My body relaxed once I realized what I was up against.

  “Well…”

  “Oh, Jesus…” I moaned and ran a hand through my hair again before sitting myself on the edge of her bed.

  “So since we’re going there…” She peered up at me under dark lashes.

  “Yes?” I stretched out, feet on the floor, arms above me.

  “Hey, you can’t hit me with this when we’re having a serious conversation!”

  “What?” I leaned up to see her eyeballing the strip of flesh that was on display between the waist of my jeans and the hem of my shirt. “Slut.” I lifted my shirt up higher to tease.

  “Mmm…” She ran a finger along the waistband and dipped it underneath.

  “Fuck, Dillon,” I groaned and threw an arm over my eyes as blood pulsed through my dick. “I thought you had a question?”

  “What? Don’t want to fuck me?”

  I looked up to find her puppy dog eyes pouting. “I always want to fuck, but I’m trying to do the right thing, what a friend would do.” I emphasized the word.

  “Such a gentleman.” She giggled and flopped down on the bed beside me, chin resting on her elbow.

  “You’re beautiful.” I ran two fingers through a lock of her hair.

  “You’re a charmer.” She tucked the errant hair behind her ear.

  “It’s not charm…it’s truth,” I replied.

  Her head turned, eyes catching mine. “Thanks.” She smiled softly.

  “You had a question?”

  “Right.” She twisted her fingers together. “Tell me about the club. How did you get into it?”

  “It’s a long story.” I locked my hands behind my head and stared at her ceiling. “I was a member for quite a while…” I glanced to catch her reaction. Avoidance. Not good.

  “Long story short, I befriended the owner, we started talking business, he sort of brought me in slowly. Worked my way up, I guess. Anyway, after a few years he got in some trouble financially, and I had money from when my grandma passed…so I bought in. Twenty-five percent at first. But the longer I was there, the more I saw. I think he was expecting a hands-off investor, which is the last thing I was. I found a lot of mismanagement, bad decisions. We argued a lot, and he never ceased to remind me that I was only a quarter owner, so when he got in some hot water with a lawsuit, I bailed him out and bought in fifty-one percent. That was the deal, fifty-one or nothing. So he took it. I don’t think he had a choice.”

  “He still works with you? You trust him?”

  “Yeah, nothing serious, just some poor business decisions. I think he was more balls than brains.” I shrugged. “It works well now that I’m majority control. We’ve been at it for nearly a year and business is on the rise.”

  “That’s great. I didn’t know you had a mind for business. That’s pretty amazing.”

  “Yeah, I enjoy it.”

  “So…sex club…BDSM…do you…live the lifestyle?” she asked as if she wasn’t sure she wanted the answer.

  “Not really. Do I like to fuck dirty? Kinky? Yeah. And I think you do too,” I whispered with a wink. She giggled, then turned to rest her head on her forearm, nailing me with wide blue eyes that nearly stopped my heart.

  “Tell me more,” she whispered. “Tell me how you got started.”

  “This is awkward…but okay.” I turned to face her. “I dated a girl who was into all of that stuff. I was seventeen, she was a few years older. She was the first girl I’d ever slept with.”

  “Wow, you lucked out.” She grinned and as she waited for me to continue.

  “She introduced me to the lifestyle. She was way more into it.”

  “So do you think…something happened to you to make you like that stuff? Rough, kinky… whatever?”

  “Was I abused, broken? Some tragic event that happened in my childhood that makes me want to tie you up and fuck you ‘til we both get off? No.”

  “Really?”

  “I think sexuality is on a scale. Just like someone is born gay, or introverted, or anything else, we’re born with predispositions to things that turn us on. Why do some guys like brunettes and others blondes? Why do some like girls in leather and others in schoolgirl uniforms? There’s no reason for it, it just is.”

  “Huh. I never thought of it that way.” She’d turned to lie on her back while she listened.

  “Same way when I call you a slut you get drenched.” I hit her with a sideways smile. “No reason for it, but it makes you cum.”

  Her eyebrows arched in surprise before a frown fell across her face. “So why didn’t things work out with her?”

  “She wanted to be collared, wanted to live it twenty-four seven, it was intense.”

  “Collared? Full time? That’s insane.” She shifted her eyes.

  “Made you wet, didn’t it?” I moved closer, took her chin in my hand and forced her to look at me.

  “What? No!”

  “Dillon…” I scooted down the bed and ran my nose along her arm, waist, hip, to between her legs. “Bet you are.” I tickled high on her thigh, just near her panty line.

  “Well, when you do that…” She squirmed away.

  “Tell me, did it make your pussy tingle? The idea of me collaring you? Making you mine to fuck whenever it pleases me?” I pushed her nightie up her thighs and over her hips as I whispered.

  “A little.” She rolled and let her legs drift open.

  “I knew it. My sweet whore wants me to take care of her. Use her body and lick her to multiple orgasms.” I ran the tip of my nose over her throbbing hot center.

  “Mmm, I love and I hate when you talk like that,” she groaned and adjusted, running her hands up her body.

  “I can read you, Dillon. When you wake up in the morning, forget whatever you want about what we talked about. Don’t forget that I own you.” I ran fingertips over damp cotton between her thighs, “Don’t forget that this pussy needs me to make it cum.” I slid two fingers under the hem of her panties and relished her slick folds.

  “Okay.” She bent her back and arched off the bed.

  “Don’t compare me to anyone else. Not your asshole dad, not some douche you slept with when you were young, no one. I would never hurt you, Dillon…not unless you wanted me to.” I savored in the hot silken feeling of her as I spoke. This was when I got the real Dillon. The one that she built walls around.

  “Okay,” she whimpered before leaning up to pull my face to hers in an all-or-nothing kiss.

  “Slade?” she whispered against my lips.

  “Yeah, baby?” I pushed two fingers into her while I spoke.

  “Use the belt.” She nipped at my bottom lip just as my dick throbbed in my jeans.

  “Baby…”

  “Tie me up, Slade. Put the belt around my neck and fuck me from behind. Own my pussy.”

  “Jesus,” I groaned against her and added a third finger as I thrust in and out.

  “Please. I need it. Need you to own me, remind me I’m yours. I don’t want to be anyone else’s. I don’t want to get away.”

  “Jesus, you get me so fucking hard. Love when you talk dirty to me.” I slid my thumb to her clit and worked it in slow circles.

  “I want you,” she murmured before thrusting her tongue in my mouth and fisting her hands in my hair.

  “I own this body, own you.” I pulled away and smoothed a hand over her collarbone and across her neck to tighten. “I’ll use a belt on you, baby, I’d fucking love that, but not tonight. You�
�re not ready for it tonight.” My eyes chased around her face, soaking up her fine features.

  She moaned before I pushed her back on the bed and began working my fingers back and forth. “So many things I want to do to you. I want your ass.” I ran a thumb between her cheeks and massaged at the entrance. “I want you gagging on my dick, I want to fuck you in public, let those other dickheads in town watch me take you. Cum in that sweet cunt, then take your ass and cum there too.” I eased a last finger in, slowly opening her, stretching her.

  She whimpered and writhed.

  “Fuck, baby, I have four fingers buried in this sweet pussy and you’re wetter than ever. Want my whole fist? Think you can take it?”

  “No…” She shook her head as she rocked on my hand.

  “I think you can. I think you can take whatever I want to give you. I think it gets you off, giving up control to me so you can do those nasty things and you’re not responsible for them.” I hovered up her body and spoke against the delicate skin of her neck while she panted and rocked, building to a slow release.

  “I’m going to make you cum tonight, Dillon. More times than you’ve ever come.” I kissed her neck before moving between her legs and sucking her tight clit into my mouth. My teeth dragged across sensitive flesh as I worked slow circles and pushed and pulled four fingers in and out of her. “Cum for me, baby. Cum all over my face. I want to smell this sweet scent all day,” I bit out as I sucked her clit between my lips and fucked her harder with my hand.

  “Oh god,” a ragged grunt echoed in my ears as her body pulsed and trembled beneath me. A gush of arousal flooded her legs and soaked my lips and chin. I drank it all. Licked her clean and ran my pussy-soaked fingers up her soft body. Smearing the juice, I plucked at her nipples and held myself over her, swallowing her soft pants with my mouth.

  I tasted her until I thought I couldn’t drink anymore. And then I tasted her again.

  “I’m nervous,” she mumbled and sipped her amaretto sour.

  “Hey, we don’t have to do this, not at all. Don’t think if you aren’t into this I won’t still want to fuck you.” I grinned and squeezed her hand.