The crowd at the tables had reached its typical mid-week slow down. Jessa had joined Alex at the bar with a core group of the regulars. The lusty factory workers were enjoying Jessa’s new outfit as she bent over to serve whatever Alex slid her way.
“We’re friends of Jessa’s,” the brunette eagerly offered.
The pieces of the puzzle snapped together. But instead of welcoming the ladies, Connor wanted even more to throw them out. These were the country club bimbos who had spent so many years tying Jessa into tight little knots. She’d come so far so fast. An encounter with the bitches standing before him wasn’t in her best interest. It wasn’t in Connor’s either.
Seeing a piece of Jessa’s past standing before him, a few things began to make some sense. The brunette was the only one with a shred of hope. Her curvy body was draped in a horrible dress two sizes too large. The sack hid her large breasts and hips. Connor knew it was probably her intention. Their preppy uptight society told them they were fat and ugly so often that they started to believe it. It wasn’t until someone like him with a little taste and a streak of bad a mile wide helped them turn loose that they started to realize their own feminine power.
“Hey, Connor, they’re okay.”
Jessa’s sweet voice reached him seconds before she did. Connor could smell her unique scent as she swung the cage door back and gained the platform.
“Wow Kitty, I didn’t think you guys would make it down here.”
Connor crossed his arms impassively over his chest and watched Jessa retreat into her shell before the obvious alpha bitch of their little pack. Restless hands tugged at the fabric of her skirt in an attempt to force a little more coverage of her legs. Eyes downcast, the steel went out of her spine as the temptress turned demure.
“Jessa darling, we had to see what all the fuss was about,” Kitty returned, leaning over and invisibly brushing her lips against Jessa’s cheeks.
“It’s so rough!” the redhead said before she, too, greeted Jessa.
“Not a lot of women in here, Jessa. I don’t guess the men are picky are they?” the black haired waif didn’t bother with the greeting.
“Jessa sweetheart, you look fabulous!” the brunette gushed before flinging her arms around Jessa’s neck and giving her a real hug.
Connor grunted in approval. His instincts had definitely been on track. They were like fish, cold fish. And everyone but the curvy girl in the ugly dress needed to be tossed back.
“Ladies,” Jessa cast a glance at Connor. “This is Connor. He’s the owner.”
Connor gave them a clipped nod.
“Connor, this is Kitty, Georgia, Courtney and Anne. We’ve all been friends for years.”
“Our husbands play golf together,” Kitty said with a pointed look at Connor.
His eyebrow twitched. He wondered if he were being warned away from Jessa. But something in Connor’s gut told him that the kitty cat didn’t believe he could possibly be interested in Jessa anyway.
“Come on down, you guys. I’ll introduce you to Alex. He makes a wicked apple martini.”
Her voice trailed away as she led her friends out of the cage into the bar. Only Kitty lingered behind. The manicured nails clutching her evening purse were painted blood red. Connor thought it an appropriate color for the blood-sucking wench standing before him.
“Owner, bouncer, resident gorgeous man with a huge cock.” Kitty pursed her lips. “Anything I’ve forgotten?”
Connor grimaced. Odd, but the raging hard on he’d been fighting all night had immediately gone away when Kitty started her little game. He arched one eyebrow and held her pale blue eyes. “Not interested.”
A knowing smile curved her lips. “Oh come on now. A big guy like you left all alone tonight is such a shame. I could keep you very comfortable.”
“Little kittens shouldn’t venture into the jungle,” Connor rumbled dangerously. “Some big cat might tear them apart.”
Her breathy laugh carried all the way across the bar. The hair on the back of Connor’s neck prickled as he realized Jessa was watching this little interlude. Kitty knew it too. And no matter what the truth might be. Connor had a feeling Jessa would only hear Kitty’s version.
“Your friends are calling you,” he told her roughly.
“I’m sure they are.”
Her thick perfume filled his nose long after she’d joined the other women across the bar. The scent coated his tongue and turned his stomach. Connor longed to pull Jessa into his arms and bury his face in her soft hair to chase it away. But the night wasn’t over yet. And watching the room had just become a lot more important. Connor had no intention of letting these women run all over Jessa’s budding confidence.
* * *
Alex passed Jessa another shot of raspberry liqueur and she tossed it back. She’d settled her friends at the far end of the bar. She could’ve found a quiet table somewhere but Alex’s presence gave Jessa a much needed confidence booster.
Jessa placed a hand on Anne’s forearm. “I’m so glad to see you out and about, Anne. You need to quit staying at home waiting for a man who isn’t going to keep promises he never meant to begin with.”
Anne shook her head in amazement. “Jessa, I swear you’ve changed so much I hardly know you!”
“That’s a fact,” Courtney snorted. She sipped her margarita.
“Oh, we’ve been working very hard on that,” Alex quipped as he pulled another beer for a customer and gave Jessa a suggestive wink.
Georgia delicately slid an olive into her mouth. “Are you intending to keep this job for long?”
“Until Connor fires me,” Jessa said, sharing a look with Alex.
Anne sighed. “You look so happy. And where on earth did you buy those clothes?”
Jessa dissolved into giggles. “You really want to know?”
Anne nodded eagerly. Even Courtney and Georgia looked curious.
“There’s an adult store a couple of doors down. I made friends with the girl who works there and Morgan helped me put all this together.”
Courtney’s mouth fell open. “Seriously?”
Kitty chose that moment to approach, swinging her hips in an open invitation Jessa’s gut instinct told her was meant for Connor. Jessa chanced a glance at the door. Connor met her curious gaze but she couldn’t hold his black eyes. Too much fear and doubt swam inside her chest.
Now he’d seen what everybody else always did, plain old Jessa standing right next to gorgeous Courtney, Kitty, and Georgia. It was silly to hope there would be any more wild nights for her and Connor once this twilight zone evening had played out.
“There you are, Kitty.” Georgia looked relieved at the change in topic. “Where have you been?”
A knowing smile split Kitty’s pretty face. “Oh, you know, just exchanging a few comments with Connor.”
Courtney chanced another look at the door. “That is one sexy man. He makes the guys at the club look like little boys.”
Tension drew Jessa’s smile into a frown and she snapped her fingers at Alex. Without breaking his rhythm Alex slid her a bottle of cranberry juice followed by a fifth of top shelf Vodka.
Alex lifted an eyebrow. “Lime?”
“Please.”
Jessa caught several wedges of ripe lime as Alex lobbed them in her direction. Grabbing a huge glass, she upended both the juice and the vodka into it in equal measures with her recently reawakened bartending skills. Squeezing the limes into her newly discovered favorite concoction, Jessa took a long pull and tried not to hate both Connor and Kitty.
“Did he make an offer?” Georgia wanted to know.
“Oh, I’d say his intentions are obvious.”
“I want something like him to play with after hours, Kitty. You’re lucky!” Courtney purred. “Wonder if the bartender cutie has a girlfriend.”
“Jessa?” Kitty demanded. “Does he?”
Jessa smirked behind her cranberry stained lips and lifted the glass to her mouth for another long pull. Somehow,
it seemed less painful to think about Kitty and her crew taking over at Phoenix Rising if she was protected by a drunken haze. “Alex likes lots of women, Courtney. I’m sure he’d accommodate you without too much trouble.”
Courtney slid her finger around the rim of her glass and shot Alex a loaded smile. “Jason’s gone this week on business. Maybe I’ll see if Alex would like a place to crash after hours.”
Jessa chuckled. “Oh I don’t think he makes house calls, Court. But if you’re feeling a little horny he’d probably be happy to bend you over a table and fuck you right here in front of everybody.”
The group went dead silent. As one, they turned to stare at Alex. He ignored their gaping stares. There were several more moments of shock before Kitty’s low laugh rippled across the room.
Jessa’s stomach clenched uneasily. She didn’t know why. But they were all laughing at her as if she’d just told them the funniest joke ever.
The truth was a double-edged blade. They didn’t believe her. And better that it stayed that way. She couldn’t be telling these tight assed bitches what went on in Phoenix Rising. A few bad eggs could ruin it for everyone.
So Jessa listened to them laugh and poured herself another drink. Alex brought her two more lime wedges, leaning over her shoulder as he did.
“Things are clearing out pretty fast. I think Connor’s going to close early. Your friends can stay if you want them to,” Alex murmured.
Jessa looked around in surprise. She’d been so preoccupied with her personal issues she’d failed to notice that there were only two guys left sitting at the bar. Wade and Tommy were more than regulars. They were a habit.
Wade caught Jessa staring. “Hey Jessa, why’re you making Alex serve us drinks. You know we’d rather see you do it.”
“Us girls have got to stick together, Wade. You know that. Besides, Alex is much better at tending bar than I am. Your seven and seven would be more like ten and four if I made it.”
Tommy and Wade erupted into uproarious laughter, pounding the bar as they swore and smacked each other on the back.
“You’ve got a way with people, Jessa. You know that?” Anne told her.
“So it seems.”
“Don’t let Kitty get to you.”
Jessa gazed at the three women knotted together sharing whispered comments while darting secretive glances about the bar. “Why do you hang out with them, Anne?”
“Because my Paul and Kitty’s Chase have been best friends since college.”
“Is he really your Paul, Anne? Or does he belong to anyone with tits and a willing pussy?”
Anne’s jaw dropped at Jessa’s crass description. But they both knew it was on the mark. Paul’s philandering put Will to shame. “I should leave him. I know I should. But where would I go?”
“You got a prenup?”
Anne sighed. “There was nothing to nup when we got married.”
“Good. Then you’ll have him by the balls. Do you know how easy it would be to catch him cheating?”
“You really think I could?”
“Isn’t it worth a try?”
Anne offered a half hearted shrug and finished off her second beer. Jessa rubbed her shoulder consolingly. She’d been lucky. She’d never had to go through this if, and, or but bullshit. Will had done the hard part. Jessa had just picked up the pieces. Actually, it’d really been Connor who’d begun picking up the pieces.
Jessa stole another glance at Connor. He was still staring at them. But Jessa couldn’t help wondering who the target of that hell-black stare really was.
“So what did he say, Kitty?” Courtney prodded, voice growing louder with impatience.
Their change in topic drew Jessa’s attention forcefully. What had Connor said to Kitty?
“He wanted to know if I was married.”
Georgia paled. “What did you tell him?”
“I mentioned that my husband and I do what we please and try to stay out of each other’s way.” She paused dramatically. “And he asked if doing what I pleased included him.”
Courtney moaned and her eyes fluttered shut. “How big do you think his dick is? I bet you can’t even cover it all if you wrap both hands around and put him in the back of your throat!”
“Courtney you are so bad!” Georgia gasped before clasping both hands over her mouth.
“He’s going to close early. No doubt he wants to get an early start on me,” Kitty announced with a lusty giggle.
“Wow Kitty, you work fast.” Anne’s voice was calm.
Kitty shot a triumphant glance at Jessa. “Oh c’mon Anne, a man like that can’t resist a woman like me. Nature made us to be together. It’s just biology.”
Jessa glowered into the remains of her drink before polishing it off. Apparently, bar owner trumped pool boy, though it might not carry the same value as neurosurgeon. Of course, Kitty had never been one to follow her own rules when it came to the ins and outs of society. The people at the top never did.
Anne nudged her arm. “Hey Jessa, if you’re going to get off work early, you can come back to my place before you go home. I want to check out all those new clothes you were talking about.”
But Jessa couldn’t answer. She couldn’t rip her eyes from Kitty’s smug face. Her vodka-clouded brain could focus on only one thing. Kitty said Connor was going to take her home. She didn’t wonder over the little details of Kitty’s story that didn’t exactly mesh with the ironclad facts Jessa knew about Connor.
Alex said they were closing early. How would Kitty know that unless Connor had told her?
“He kept calling me little kitty cat,” Kitty continued as Georgia and Courtney launched into titillating laughter.
That gained Alex’s attention. Tommy and Wade were already standing up to leave. Alex lounged back against the counter and fixed his cobalt gaze on Kitty. A look of cool indifference masked his face.
“I could’ve sworn his erection was going to burst out of his pants,” Kitty added with relish.
Unbearable pressure built behind Jessa’s eyes. She couldn’t decide if it were anger or hurt. But whatever it was twisted her insides until she was gasping for breath. She’d been such a fool. Convention might be a drag. But it was a safe drag. Her freethinking idiocy in college had landed her with Will. Even that wasn’t going to be as bad as losing Connor.
“Jessa, are you all right?” Kitty asked with false concern. “Should I ask Connor to let you go home?”
Alex’s smooth voice interrupted. “I don’t think you’re in a position to ask Connor anything, kitten.”
Kitty gave him a hard stare. “What do you know about it?”
Alex’s soft chuckle warmed Jessa, easing the pressure and giving her hope. “If you don’t know that love, then you don’t know Connor very well.”
“How well do you need to know someone for a quick fuck?” Kitty snapped.
Alex pushed away from the counter and approached slowly. “You don’t need to know them at all. But you, little girl, are making assumptions about a man who does not tolerate your kind of game.”
“You’re in way over your head.”
A feral smile made Alex’s blue eyes gleam. “Careful honey, kitties don’t run with the big dogs, they stay under the porch.”
Jessa gasped as Alex grabbed Kitty and slanted his mouth over hers again and again until she no longer had the strength to fight him. She clung to his neck, nails scraping his skin as she moaned into his mouth and writhed against his body.
Courtney, Georgia and Anne watched with something akin to fascinated horror as Alex’s masterful domination of their friend reduced her to nothing but a puddle on the floor. A curl of heat began to wind its way through Jessa’s insecurity.
Leave it to Alex to give every bitch her due.
Alex’s hands were splayed across Kitty’s ass when he’d finished. Her legs were spread to cradle his erection. She was all but dry humping him there in front of everybody.
“Look at that,” Alex murmured wickedly.
“The little girl is so overwhelmed that she’s panting like a bitch in heat.”
“Yes,” Kitty moaned.
“I could tell you to strip naked, kneel down, and suck my cock in front of every one of your friends and you’d do it.”
“Yes!” she moaned again, her voice increasingly desperate.
Alex hiked the hem of Kitty’s dress over her thigh and reached up with his hand. “You’re wet little kitty cat. Admit it. You want to beg me to fuck you like the bitch you are.”
Kitty trembled in his grip. “Please, fuck me, Alex.”
A cruel smile crossed his normally friendly features and Alex kissed her again. His thumb pulled her chin down and he forced her to submit to his tongue as he dominated her open mouth.
Silence reigned supreme as the four remaining women watched the alpha female of their pack submit to Alex’s dominating sexual prowess. Not one of them protested. How could they? Kitty was all but begging Alex to keep going. Her body quested for more, sliding against Alex’s muscled frame like a cat in heat.
“Pull up your skirt, kitty cat. Let me see you,” Alex ordered.
Kitty didn’t seem to think twice about the command. One manicured hand gripped the edge of a table and the other hiked up the skirt of her little black dress. Her long legs spread like an invitation. Her pale ivory satin panties shimmered in the dim overhead lights.
“Next time wear a thong,” Alex rumbled.
“Anything you want,” Kitty panted.
A round of gasps followed the descent of Kitty’s underwear to the bar floor. Alex kicked her legs further apart with one foot and used a hand to spread the cheeks of her ass. Her pussy was swollen, wet, and pink as he bared it for all to see.
Jessa trembled as she watched. The compounded arousal she usually experienced when watching Alex masterfully rule a lover was mingled with anger and tension that came from Kitty’s involvement. Part of her loved the scene, reveled in the way Alex forced Kitty to submit, to beg, to debase herself. But a niggling doubt in Jessa’s mind made her jealous. If Alex could fall prey to Kitty’s allure, what would keep Connor from following along?
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