After over an hour, Wes knew he was safe to drive and more than ready to leave. He walked over to Jessica. “How are you getting home?”
“Leaving so soon?” Jess laughed.
Wes leaned in closer. “I said, how are you getting home?”
Jess stopped laughing. “Erin told me she would DD for Sasha and me if you left, we all knew it was inevitable.”
“Who’s Erin?”
Jessica nodded to her right. There sat a woman, drinking water with lemon, casually chatting with several women dressed more like they were at a day at the office then a BDSM club.
“Okay. Call me if Erin has even one sip of a drink, and I will pick you up. Is that understood?”
Jessica laughed, waving Wes away with her hand.
Anger flared. Wes knew full well that Jessica was a grown woman who led a slightly wild, life. But it was different when she was flaunting it right in front of his face.
Wes grabbed Jessica by the arm and drew her in tight to him. He whispered harshly into her ear, “You may be the Dominatrix around here, Mistress, but if you aren’t safe, I swear to God I will light a fire on your ass that you will not soon forget.” He leaned back out and locked eyes with her. “Understand?”
Jessica’s eyes went wide. “Yes,” she stuttered out, looking instantly sober.
“Good. I’ll see myself out.” Wes headed out the door. “Be safe,” he called over his shoulder.
Only an hour later, Wes heard a car crunching the gravel of the driveway under its tires. He got out of the guest bed, wearing only pajama pants. Holding one curtain back, Wes looked out the window. Jess got out of the front seat of the car of the woman he had seen at the bar. Seeing him staring, the driver gave a small wave. He waved back.
Jessica came up the stairs. Wes held the front door open for her.
“Thanks.” She walked in, looking at him shyly.
“I’m glad you’re back.” Wes had laid on the bed, worried sick about Jessica. He knew that she was a grown woman and doing this stuff every weekend, but when it was right in front of his face, staying at her house, it somehow affected him. He was surprised by how much he cared about her safety.
“Can we talk?” Jessica asked. She sat down on the edge of the couch, nervously.
“Sure.”
Wes sat next to her on the couch, their thighs touching. The heat radiated from her leg to his. It felt good.
“Um, I’m not sure how to say this, so I will just say it.”
“Shoot.” Wes placed a reassuring hand over hers.
“When you threatened to spank me at the bar, I'll be honest, it just shocked me. And it made me think.”
“Good.”
Jessica smiled. “Maybe I am tired of going from man to man, always controlling things. It was nice to feel like a man was taking care of me, looking out for me for once. I think I’m ready for a man like that. Maybe it’s time to stop playing.”
“I’ll be honest, Jessica, I’ve been worried sick. I didn’t like seeing you with strange men, and I don’t like to see you drinking so much.”
“I know. I could see it on your face. Wes, I think I’m in love with your brother. And I know you are in love with Carrie.” They both knew it but the situation sounded so desperate, when it was said out loud. “We couldn’t make it work between us, we’ve tried that.”
“Yeah, been there, done that.” Wes traced circles on Jessica’s exposed thigh, watching the chill bumps rise on her flesh.
“But we were good together in one way. Let’s be that for each other once again, if only for tonight. Let me comfort you.” She ran her hands through his hair. He closed his eyes. When he opened them, he met Jessica’s gaze. A former lover, a best friend, and tonight, he wouldn’t over think it.
Wes stood, pulling Jessica up with him. He wrapped his arms around her, embracing the familiar. Tonight, he would accept her comfort.
Wes picked up the shrilling phone.
“I’m getting married.” Even though his mom had already come to him days earlier, gushing that Garrett had asked her for her mother’s engagement ring, it was like a punch to his gut.
“Congrats, brother.” Wes feigned excitement, but his tone felt flat.
“Thanks.” Garrett either didn’t detect, or didn’t care about Wes’ lack of excitement. “You know, you had something to do with this.”
“Really?”
“Yes. When you told me that I don’t love Carrie, I realized you were right.”
“Then why are you marrying her?”
“I mean I do love her, I just wasn’t loving her in the right way, and you saw that. You were right, I’ve been selfish, and I need to give Carrie more attention. I mean, I didn’t even know she preferred Carrie to Karen.”
Wes was silent on the other line and felt tension brewing. That was the last thing he wanted.
“That’s great, man.” He forced the words out. They sounded strained to him.
“I’m going to take good care of her, Wes. Thank you for opening my eyes to how special she is.”
“You’re welcome.” Wes almost choked on his words.
They exchanged pleasantries, and Wes hung up as soon as he was politely able to.
The phone rang again.
“Hello.”
“Hello.”
The voice on the other line was small, high, and clear as a bell.
“I’m getting married.”
“Yes, I heard.”
“I just thought I should tell you, myself.”
“Thank you; I appreciate that.”
Silence.
“Wes, I just feel like I should tell you why.”
“Okay.”
“I feel like there are two of me. Like a Wes, Carrie.”
“And a Garrett, Karen?”
“Yes.”
“And you chose Karen?”
“Yes.”
Silence.
“I’ve only know you a week, you know.”
Silence.
“When I’m with Garrett, I feel like a grown woman. I don’t fit in with the sophisticated circles still, but at least I don’t feel out of control.”
“You feel out of control with me? You seem always to be fighting me to be in control.”
“It’s a façade.” Her voice was quiet. “I want you to be in charge when I’m around you, and that makes me feel out of control. And I don’t like that I want you to—you know.”
“Spank you? Discipline you? Lead you?” He paused, then added, “Be your daddy.”
“Exactly. I mean what grown woman wants to be spanked? Needs a daddy?”
“You do.”
Silence.
“I know.”
He couldn’t tell her how he felt. It wouldn’t be fair to lay that on her. She had made her decision, and he had to respect that. But he could tell her the truth about who she was.
“Carrie, you are a strong woman and a good little girl.”
A gasp came at the other end of the line. Then more silence.
“Goodbye, Wes.” He could hear the tears in her voice.
“Goodbye.”
Wes hung up the phone, let out a string of cuss words, and punched a hole in the wall.
He pulled his truck into her driveway. He picked up a brown paper bag on his truck seat, the label of the whiskey peaked out. The door swung open before he reached the porch.
Jessica stood, hand on hip, red-rimmed eyes.
“They are getting married.”
“I know.” She opened the door fully for him. “Your mama called me.”
Wes held up the bag. “Drink?”
“Hell, yes.”
Wes and Jessica had gone completely back to their normal friendship after that night at the club. There was an underlying sexual tension that hadn’t been there since they dated, but so far, they had both chose to ignore it after giving in to it that one night.
Jessica took the bottle from his hands and went to the kitchen. She returned with two glasses; whiskey
poured over ice. She sat down on the couch next to him. “To friends.” She held her glass up to Wes.
“To friends.”
They clinked glasses.
“Distract me,” Jessica said. “Let’s talk about anything other than—”
“Them?”
Jessica nodded.
Wes stretched out on the sofa, drink in hand. Jessica’s brother was handling the ranch tonight, and he had a glass of whiskey. Along with the company of a beautiful woman that just happened to be his best friend.
“Okay, what did ya do last night?” Wes leaned his head back and closed his eyes. He was feeling relaxed for the first time since he had heard the news.
“Well, I went to the club, no surprise there. Got drunk, went home with some guy, then after doing my thing, I somehow found my keys and got to my front door. Don’t remember anything after that.”
“Damn, Jess!” Wes sat straight up and slammed his glass on the coffee table. “Are you serious?”
Jessica looked taken aback by Wes’ anger. “Yes,” she whispered. “I guess I wasn’t thinking.”
“Damn right you weren’t thinking.” Wes grabbed Jessica’s drink out of her hand and took the two glasses to the kitchen. He dumped them into the sink. Then he took the bottle of whiskey and poured it all down the drain.
“What are you doing?”
Wes looked over his shoulder and saw Jessica standing in the doorway. “What do you think?” He continued to hold the bottle watching the last drop swirl down the drain.
“It looks like you are wasting perfectly good whiskey. Whiskey that we could be drinking.”
“No more drinking. I shouldn’t have brought this over here.”
“Why not?”
Wes turned around to face Jessica. “Because you are out of control. We all deal with heartache differently, but your method,” Wes agitatedly ran a hand through his hair to calm himself, then put his hands on his hips and locked eyes with Jessica, “is going to get you, or someone else, killed.”
Jessica looked down and away, tears sparkling in her eyes.
Wes took a quick step towards her. He put one of his hands on each of her shoulders. “What did I tell you would happen if you weren’t safe?”
She continued to look away, “I think the exact words were, ‘light a fire on my ass?’”
Wes grabbed her hand, “And that is just what I am going to do.” He dragged her back over to the sofa, she held back. Wes dropped onto the couch and pulled the tall woman right over his lap, locking her in with his right leg. Still holding her hand, now pinned behind her back, he started to spank. “Don’t you dare, for a second, think you can keep driving drunk and not pay the consequences.” Jessica wiggled under his tight hold as he spanked, hard, and covered every inch of her butt. He continued his lecture, “You are just lucky that it’s your ass this time and not someone else’s life. Selfish.” Jessica was crying. Wes spanked her until she was lying limply over his lap. He stopped as soon as he could sense that he had her submission. He righted her. She sat in front of him on her knees, crying. He pulled her up into his lap. “I’m sorry, Jessica, but this has got to stop.”
“I know.” Jessica wiped away her tears, then taking Wes by surprise, leaned in. She kissed him, hungrily. There was a sexual, animal-like need behind her kiss, and Wes responded. He would end this soon; they would end this soon. But tonight, they needed one another.
Chapter 5
The plane touched down on South Carolina soil. Wes and Jessica looked to each other for comfort. Months had passed since the news of the engagement. And now it was time for a wedding.
Wes had forgotten his promise to himself to end it with Jess. Instead, their friendship had blossomed into a relationship. It was a unique romantic union. The two were not in love but their friendship and physical attraction formed a bond, and they had helped each other through the past few months.
Jessica and Wes had fallen into a comfortable routine. Jessica came down to the ranch for dinner on Sundays, and they made plans a few nights each week. Sometimes they went out, other times they hung out at Jessica’s just watching old movies. No formal commitment was made but they enjoyed each other’s company, and the town enjoyed the talk.
With the wedding date looming closer, they had made plans to go as an official couple, offering one another support.
“We can do this,” Jessica said firmly, with a nod.
“Yes, we can.” Wes stood and removed the luggage from the overhead compartment. They strode, arm in arm through the airport, the heads around them turning, admiring the handsome couple.
“This was my favorite part about us when we dated.”
“What?” Wes asked. “Me carrying your stuff?”
“The stares.” She turned to him and smiled. “Even you have to admit that we make a good-looking couple.”
“That was the best part of our dating, for you?”
“Oh, not the best part, just my favorite part. The best part was the sex.” She winked at him. “Glad to have that back in my life.”
Wes laughed. He was getting comfortable with Jessica, more so than ever before. Maybe they had a shot this time. He smiled, happy to feel like he was finally moving on. It was crazy to fall for a girl after only really spending twenty-four hours with her, and her being your brother’s girlfriend. Being with Jessica just made sense; they had a history and knew each other well.
Feeling Jessica stop in her tracks, Wes looked up. There at the exit to the terminal stood Garrett and Carrie.
“Damn,” Jess muttered under her breath. “I thought I was over this.”
One look at Carrie and Wes knew he was lost. Everything that he had built with Jessica over the past few months washed away in an instant, and he knew it was the same for Jess. The feelings that he had for Carrie, he had pushed down, deep, and they rose to the surface, threatening to take him under.
Carrie’s golden curls were soft around her face. She wore a rose-colored dress and tan cowgirl boots. She looked at Wes, almost expectantly. Garrett had one arm around his fiancée, and the other was waving at them.
“Smile, Wes. We need to smile.”
Wes looked at Jessica, assuming that the grimace on her face matched his own, he started to laugh. It was the borderline laugh of a madman, but he figured it was a good start. He locked eyes with Jessica. “Kiss me.”
Without giving it a second thought, Jess gave a laugh of her own. Then she grabbed him by the sides of his face and planted a huge kiss on his lips.
They made their way to the soon to be married couple. Carrie’s face had unmistakably fallen, the smile gone from her lips.
“You two are together?”
“Well, hello to you too,” said Wes. He shook his brother’s hand and gave Carrie a chaste kiss on the cheek, careful to keep a distance from her.
“Back together, actually,” Jessica interjected. “We have such a solid foundation.” Her smile for Carrie was genuine. She looked skittish as Garrett leaned in to kiss her on the cheek. Wes wrapped an arm around her possessively. He’d be damned if Garrett was going to make Carrie his bride and try to get Jessica’s attention as well.
“Let’s go back to the house, you have so many people to meet.” Garrett was jovial and was unaware of the foul moods and misplaced emotions swirling around him. “I can’t wait for you to meet Carrie’s family. And that’s so cool that you guys are a couple again.” He looked wistfully at Jessica, but it was only for a second, and only someone who knew him as a brother would have caught it.
“Yes, let’s go.” Wes left his arm around Jessica and steered them around the other couple, so that he was between Jess and Garrett, and walking nowhere near Carrie.
Carrie remained silent the entire car ride back to the farm. Garrett chattered endlessly about South Carolina and his experiences since arriving one week prior. Wes sat silently as well, and Jessica kept up the conversation for the two of them. Her quick wit mixed with Garrett’s intelligence was a perfect match,
and Wes had a hard time not thinking that Jess and Gare should be together as they bantered back and forth on the long car ride.
Sitting behind Carrie, with Jess and Garrett engaged in chatter, Wes spotted a free, gold tendril cascading over the back of Carrie’s seat. He tugged on it gently. Carrie turned around, her face looking sad and unsure. Wes smiled at her and gave her a wink. Looking relieved, Carrie smiled back. He might be hurting, but he wasn’t going to hurt her.
Finally, they arrived at the farm. It was as beautiful as Carrie had described it to him. The land was flat and grassy and stretched out to meet a dense pine forest. Magnificent oak trees dotted the property. There was a split rail fence along the quarter mile entrance. Animals grazed in the sunlight, dotting the land.
They pulled up to a large white two-story farmhouse. The porch stretched out across the entire front of the house and even wrapped around the sides. There were porch swings on either end and rocking chairs in between. There were people everywhere, eating, drinking, laughing.
Wes stood out of the car and stretched his legs. Garrett handed him the keys and said, “You can use this car while you’re here. You’ll need one to pick up mama.”
“Thanks, brother. Looks like a party,” Wes said.
“My family has been arriving over the last few days. You know; aunts, uncles, first cousins, second cousins, third cousins. I have a big family,” Carrie said.
“I’d say so,” Jessica said, looking around.
People began to meander down to the car, and the newcomers were introduced. Garrett was fond of saying “Wes and Jess.” He kept slapping Wes on the back, saying, “I’m happy for you, man.” But Wes noticed that Garrett's smile never reached his eyes.
Wes had a hard time understanding some of the older people, through their thick, southern accents. He had to say, “Pardon me,” more than once. Carrie’s accent got thicker by the minute, and it was adorable.
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