The sun was barely up, and finding his clothes in the dim light of the morning hour wasn’t easy. When he did, he made his way to the bathroom and got dressed. Taking one last peek in her bedroom at her sleeping form, he left her apartment and headed out to his truck.
And he didn’t look back. He couldn’t.
His night with Bethany would forever be the best night of his life, and at the same time, it was also the most frightening emotional experience he’d ever had.
Folding into the front seat of his pick-up, he cranked the engine and let it idle long enough to get the engine warm. They fucked. They talked. The connected. Bethany did things to him he never dreamed he’d be into. He wanted more of her, and Rig cursed himself for it. She fucking owned every part of him—mind and body.
He sure as fuck wasn’t going to give her his soul too. But she’d taken some of it anyway with all her questions.
Bethany was dangerous because she’d opened doors inside him that he’d needed to close in order to survive. All the shit about his football injury, how he lost his scholarship? Those skeletons needed to stay in the closet he kept them locked up in. Christ, he hadn’t even told her that he was the one who dropped out of college—even though he could’ve gotten federal aid and loans to finish his degree.
The worst part was he’d wanted to tell her all of it. He’d wanted to wrap himself up in her warmth and comfort, in her love and strength, and let it all float away. But somehow, he’d stopped himself from walking through that emotional door to freedom. Instead, he skulked off in the wee hours of the morning like a coward.
He didn’t leave his cell number for her, and he hadn’t gotten hers. There was no way for her to reach him and he preferred it like that. A knot lodged itself in his throat and Rig tried to swallow past it, but couldn’t.
As he drove away from her apartment complex, a hot ache bloomed in the center of his chest. Why did it feel like he’d walked out on the best thing he’d ever found? As if he was walking away from a chance at something real, something solid? Typical of him. After all, he’d walked away from a promising future once, why not the chance at love too? “For fuck’s sake!”
Love? The instant kind even? So totally ridiculous!
The last thing he wanted to give Bethany was his heart too. She’d taken enough. But Rig had a feeling he’d left his heart and his soul in that bed with her anyway.
#
Bethany rolled over and blinked the sleep away in the morning light. Her bed was empty. Closing her eyes to the reality she wasn’t awake enough to face, she smoothed her palm across the mattress over the empty space. Instead of finding Colby’s big warm body, she found only the coolness of the sheet.
At some point in the early morning hours, he’d left. He’d left her bed. He’d left her.
Hoping against hope, Bethany tossed the blankets off, pulled on a nightshirt and padded out to the living room. Pushing her hair back from her face, she scanned the coffee table, end tables too. Nothing…
She blew out a breath, and swallowed down the lump that had lodged itself in her throat and moved into the kitchen. She tried to ignore the lack of any sort of “I miss you already. Here’s my number,” note on the counter as she hit the start button on the Keurig and popped a K-Cup inside, ready to brew. After placing her mug on the drip tray, Bethany scanned the countertop bar…just in case.
There was no note. There was no phone number. There was no Colby.
All her hope was plain…stupid.
Sipping her coffee, Bethany tried to tell herself it was no big deal. What they shared had been special, regardless of whether or not she ever saw him again. What he’d given her…his submission, his secrets, all of it had been a gift. An incredible gift she’d cherish forever.
Better to have it once, then never at all, right?
All her self-talk was all sorts of rational and true. She’d done a fantastic job of convincing her head, but her heart wasn’t getting the message. In addition, none of her foolish pep talking had done a damn thing to soothe the ache she felt in her chest as if she’d been hit by a sledgehammer. Or the empty pit that took up residence in her stomach, stealing her appetite. It definitely hadn’t reduced the lump the size of a boulder in her throat, which no matter how hard she tried, she couldn’t swallow past.
Bethany stepped in the shower…and cried.
Once the water flowed over her hair and face, she couldn’t pretend anymore that Colby leaving didn’t hurt as much as it did. It fucking killed. The sting of her tears mixed with the hot water, and she tried to convince herself that the feel of them washing away meant she’d be okay when she emerged from the darkness of heartbreak.
So, her first one-night stand had resulted in the greatest night of her life…that just so happened to end in tragedy. Awesome. That’s sure as hell not how it worked in all those damn romance books she’d read. A bitter laugh bubbled out of her and she shook her head. Good grief.
She’d be okay. Of course she’d be okay. Why wouldn’t she be? She was young. She was independent. And she had her whole life in front of her. She had to be okay.
But truth be told, Bethany might never be as free and trusting—and dominant—with anyone else in the same way she’d been with Colby. The experience with him may have been out of this world, but taking the same risk with someone else was a double edge sword she wasn’t willing to fall on.
Bethany coughed as the taste of bile filled her mouth. The thought of being with another man had her stomach folding in on itself, and she went to her knees on the shower floor. Bending over her legs, she laid her head down on her knees. As the hot water beat on her back, she focused on breathing through the wave of nausea. In and out. In and out. God, please? Please…take this from me? It hurts too much.
When the water ran cold, Bethany got to her feet, and stepped out of the shower. She wanted to call a friend, her mother, anyone. But she didn’t want to sound like some pathetic little clinger who bit off more than she could chew.
After toweling off, Bethany crawled right back into bed. Grabbing her cell, she called in sick to work and then pulled the covers over her head. Hiding in the safety of her blankets was about all she planned to do for the rest of the day and night. Casual sex was great, but it wasn’t for everyone.
Clearly it wasn’t for Bethany.
CHAPTER EIGHT
“I said, step the fuck off! Now!” Badger grabbed Rig around the waist and yanked him away from the customer Rig had pinned against the wall by his throat.
“What the hell!” Rig glared at his boss.
Taking him by the arm, Badger walked Rig down the back hall and out the back door of the strip club. “What the hell is your problem this week? Never seen you like this.”
Rig pulled himself free of Badger’s grip and paced in a circle, trying to tamp down the rage still boiling in his veins. After a few moments passed, and Badger had lit a cigarette, Rig stopped his pacing and faced the man. “All good, boss. Sorry. Guy just pissed me off, is all.”
Badger grunted and blew out a stream of smoke. “That all, huh?”
“Yeah. Give me a break, all right? That’s it.” Rig put his hands on his hips and though he tried not to, he knew his tone sounded defensive.
“Let me ask you something—” Badger dropped his spent cigarette on the ground and smothered it out with his boot. “I look stupid to you?”
Rig knew he was treading on thin ice. Badger was irritated, and Rig was the cause. “No way, boss. Come on now. It won’t happen again. You have my word.”
“Damn right it won’t. I got no time to be bouncing my bouncers. As it is, I’m late getting home to Rosie and the baby now. I got no time for late either. Whatever’s got your panties in a bunch, you best take care of it. I don’t care what the hell it is, just fix it. Tonight. We clear?”
Is that clear—We Clear? Rig winced, his chest clenching at the similarity of words to Bethany’s. But then shame blanketed him like a thick fog and he hung his head. Badger ha
d been an awesome boss. But more than that, he was a badass who pretty much commanded respect, and not because he hadn’t earned it. He had. In spades. The last thing Rig wanted was to damage the good thing he had working at Deuce’s Cabaret.
The past week had been a special kind of hell for Rig. Bethany haunted his every waking thought, and when he managed to sleep at all, she occupied his dreams. He tried, for all it was worth, to bury her. But she wasn’t going away and as a result, he’d become a walking time bomb. He’d lost it on three customers throughout the week, and tonight made the fourth. Badger was over it, and frankly, so was Rig.
He was over not sleeping. He was over being in a bad mood. And he was definitely over depriving himself of the one thing he knew would make it all go away…make it all better. Rig knew what he needed to do.
Drawing in a deep breath, he stepped up to Badger and held out his palm. “We’re clear, boss.” Badger clasped hands with Rig. “If you don’t mind, I’m gonna skip out the rest of the night, to go…fix it.”
Badger’s lips curved into a smirk. “Good luck. Hope she’s worth it.”
“She is.” Rig smiled his first smile since he’d left Bethany’s bed and took off for his truck. With only a little over an hour to get showered and be in the parking lot behind The Whiskey Barrel, Rig hauled ass to his small studio apartment.
He’d fucked up big time, but he’d do anything to earn her forgiveness, and hopefully she’d give him a second chance. Because like he knew the night he met her, Bethany was right where he was supposed to be.
#
“Night, Cassy. Hope you feel better.” Bethany stepped out into the warm Arizona night and headed around the side of the building toward the back parking lot. The night had been busy, as usual thank God, because she hardly had any time to think about Colby. Plus, Cassy had been extra bitchy, which had served as an awesome distraction too.
She’d still thought of him though. Actually, she hadn’t stopped thinking about him.
Keeping her eyes on her booted feet, Bethany stuffed her hands in her shorts pockets, and made her way across the back alley and into the parking lot.
“Ma’am?”
A bolt of heat shot up Bethany’s spine. She jerked her head up and stopped dead in her tracks. He was there. Waiting. For her. The levee of hope broke and filled her chest again and she tried to hold it back. She did, but it was impossible. She swallowed past the lump in her throat and blinked, trying to ward off the tears threatening to fall. “Wh…what are you doing here, Colby?”
“I fucked up. I made a mistake.”
Bethany drew in a deep breath and let it out slowly before walking the few remaining feet separating them. Standing in front of him, she tilted her head back to stare into his eyes. “What are you saying?”
He cleared his throat and then got down on his knees. Bethany’s eyes went wide. What the hell was he doing? Colby linked his arms behind his back and bowed his head. “Take me home with you, Bethany. For however long you’ll have me. I’m saying, I want another chance. May I please have a second chance?”
“Oh, dear.” Tears fell, stinging her cheeks and she placed her palm on the top of Colby’s bowed head. Good grief, this man! What on earth was she going to do with him? How could she turn him away, ever? She couldn’t and she wouldn’t.
Bethany smiled as relief filled her heart and she felt, for the first time in a week, like she could breathe. Smoothing her hand over his head and then down to his cheek, she cupped his chin and tilted his face up to gaze into his eyes. “You realize that if we do this, I’m going to need to make a few more rules for you?”
Colby’s beautiful lips spread into the most beautiful smile yet. “Yes, ma’am. I’m counting on it.”
Letting Go
Lacey Wolfe
LETTING GO
Scarlett paced her bedroom. Her nerves were heightened as she tried to imagine what this evening would be like. She’d never been wild and had always been a by-the-book kind of girl.
It had been a long time since she’d been out on a date, and she didn’t even want to think about when she’d had sex last. That had been even longer, because most of those men she had dated, were dicks. She craved much more than just a romp in the sheets, but a connection with a man on a deeper level. A way she hadn’t yet been able to figure out quite herself. When she was with a man, she’d always given herself to him fully, but had yet to find the right guy who knew what to do with what she offered. She needed someone who could take control of her pleasure.
Sometimes she wondered if there was something wrong with her desires and she tried to push them away, but lately it was getting harder and harder to do just that.
Turning toward her best friend since grade school, Angela, as she dug through her make-up bag, Scarlett said, “I don’t think I want that many people having my phone number. Maybe we should do something else this evening.”
“It’ll be fun.” Angela rolled the lash curler over her lashes.
Scarlett wasn’t sure she’d call this ‘fun’, but made a mental note that after tonight she’d call her cell phone service provider and have her number changed. There was no telling how many weirdos would be at this function she was being dragged to. She’d wanted to get a prepaid before going, but Angela insisted she was being a nutcase.
Trying to calm her nerves, she went into the bathroom to check her own hair and make-up, wanting it perfect. She felt as though she was going to be on display tonight for all kinds of men. Her legs wobbled and she didn’t even have heels on yet. She’d been on one blind date in college and that had been a disaster. Tonight wasn’t going to be any different, but she had promised to keep an open mind. She went into her bedroom to see what Angela had picked out for her to wear. For this one evening, she was in her best friend’s hands. Her friend was so sure she would find the man of her dreams. Scarlett, however, was doubtful, but she had also promised herself to finally let loose and not be so uptight. So why not give a room full of strangers her phone number to text her whenever they pleased.
On the bed, Scarlett found a tiny red garment. Picking it up, she stared at the thing with disbelief. This was what she was to wear? The dress, if it could be called one, would hardly cover her ass.
“Angela, you can’t be serious.” She dropped it back on the bed.
Angela came toward her. “Why?”
“I’m no size two. There’s no way I can wear this.”
Angela picked the dress up, held it out, then handed it back. “It’ll fit perfect. Now get your booty dressed. We don’t want to be late.”
“I’m not wearing this,” Scarlett argued.
Angela ignored her as she glanced through the shoes before settling on a pair of black stilettos with a hundred different straps and shoved them into Scarlett’s arms as well. “Yes, you are and you’re wearing these shoes.”
There was no point in fighting this anymore because there was no way she was winning with her bossy friend. She’d put on this ridiculous outfit and would show her friend just how horrible it would look on her. Only problem was, once it was on, Scarlett couldn’t take her eyes off her image in the mirror. It was as though this dress was made for her. No one else. It fit like a glove and it accentuated her curves in all the right places. She looked…hot. No, she looked sexy. A self-confidence she hadn’t expected overtook her. Oh yes, she was ready for whatever this event had in store for her.
****
Angela parked the car in front of the massive hotel forty-five minutes later. Apparently whoever had put this shindig together had rented out the entire hotel for the evening. There was no charge for a room in the event you found someone you just couldn’t resist. She couldn’t wrap her head around the idea she’d find someone tonight to have sex with on a whim.
As Scarlett walked through the brightly lit glass doorway, she wondered if she should run back to the car and hightail it out of there. This was absolutely crazy. It was as though Angela sensed her hesitation, because she took her by
the elbow, lightly rubbed, and pulled her along to the sign-up.
“Welcome,” a stunning red headed woman greeted them. “Please look over the rules then come over here and I’ll help sign you up.”
Scarlett looked at the poster board and read.
Welcome to the first Text Me Date Night.
We’ve tried to make tonight as safe and enjoyable as possible. Please take a moment to look over the simple rules.
-Every person is assigned their ID that is associated with their phone number.
-You will display your ID with a sticker on your back.
-If you find someone you are interested in, you will check the board for their ID and find their number.
-Always identify yourself with your ID.
-All communication is through texting. No talking allowed.
-If you find someone you’d like to get to know better, stop by the welcome desk to get a room card and leave your ID number so we know who is where and with whom.
We Love Kink - Erotic Romance Anthology #1 Page 9