A Quartet of Pleasures

by Joseph, Annabel

  “Well, I only show the rest to women I think will appreciate it.”

  Ruby sighed. “I appreciated it very, very much.”

  He lay back beside her and pulled her into his arms, and she rested her head on his shoulder. He sighed and stroked her hair. “I’ve wanted to do this for so long.”

  “Sleep with me?” she asked.

  “Well, yes, but also play with your hair. It’s so long and silky. I’ve wanted to brush it forever.”

  “I hate brushing it,” she said with a laugh. “You can brush it for me anytime.”

  “Cool. I’ll hold you to that.”

  The rope, somehow, had ended up beside her, and after he finished playing with her hair, he picked it up and used the end of it to caress her shoulder and stomach, and the tips of her breasts.

  “I can’t. No.” She pushed his hand away. “Not yet. Five minutes.”

  “Five minutes already?” He looked amused…and pleased. “I might be up to that challenge.”

  “I imagine you are. Jesus, I never suspected you were so good at being kinky. I’ve never known any kinky people before.”

  The rope’s caress was replaced by leisurely fingertips. “Oh, you know kinky people,” he chuckled. “Trust me, you know more of them than you think.”

  She lifted her head to look at him. “What does that mean? Who do I know?”

  “I’m not saying. Come here, beautiful girl. I still have about four and a half minutes to kiss you before we go again.”

  She rolled into his embrace, lifting her chin. “This is way nicer than spending the night alone in a boring hotel room.”

  “Way nicer, and I’ve still got plenty of interesting things I want to do to you.”

  Ruby wouldn’t have believed that a day or two ago, but now…

  She ran her fingers over the rope marks on her wrists as Ethan pulled her closer. Now, everything had changed.

  5.

  Ruby woke from a sex-soaked dream of Ethan and the Tchaikovsky piece they’d played at the reception. It was hard to remember what was part of her dream and what was real. They’d gone at it three times last night, until neither of them could muster up the strength for more. Ruby had learned that she liked belt spanking, extreme nipple stimulation, and bondage. She learned that oral sex could be more than routine foreplay, and that she could actually come from doggy style.

  It had been the best night of her life, sex wise, and that was a wonderful thing, but now that it was morning, reality was setting in.

  Ethan stirred beside her. “Ruby?” He reached for her hand. “What time is it?”

  “I don’t know.” She turned to grab her phone and squinted at it. “It’s almost eight.”

  He sat up on one elbow. “What’s wrong?”

  “What do you mean, what’s wrong?”

  “I know you. I know how your voice sounds when you’re upset.”

  She shook her head. “I’m not upset.”

  “That’s exactly what you say when you’re upset.”

  “Fine.” She blew out a breath and turned to him in bed. “You do know me, Ethan. Because we’re in a quartet together and we have this working relationship.”

  “Yeah, sure. None of that has to change.”

  “But what if it does?” She buried her head in her hands. “I was just dreaming about how wonderful you are, and all the things you taught me. Last night was so wonderful…”

  “And?”

  “And I wouldn’t trade the experience for anything, but…the Gold Quartet is my whole life. My entire life, Ethan. What if what we did last night ruins it?”

  “How would it ruin it?”

  “We had crazy hot sex, lots of times. It’s going to change things.” She lifted her head and let out a groan. “How could it not change things between us? And when things change between us, things might change between the whole group. My years with the Gold Quartet have been the best years of my life. I never imagined I’d be able to make a living as a musician, much less have fun and travel and make such awesome friends…”

  Her voice broke with emotion, and Ethan pulled her into his arms, so she could rest against his warmth. She felt as confused this morning as she’d been horny last night.

  “So you’re worried about the quartet?” he asked. “About the four of us breaking up if you and I start a relationship?”

  “Yes. Even now, I feel like too much has changed.”

  “Nothing’s changed.” He made her look up at him. “We’ve had a relationship all this time. It’s just a little spicier now. And seriously, nothing will ever change my respect for you as a musician, and a quartet member.”

  “It might change their opinion. You know how Jonathan can be.”

  “Jonathan can get over himself. He only gets snappy because he likes you so much.”

  She frowned at him. “Jon can’t stand me.”

  “You really are clueless, aren’t you?”

  The sting of his words was immediately soothed away by a kiss…and another kiss.

  “Don’t worry about them,” he said when he released her. “Jonathan and Steve don’t have to know. We don’t have to tell them.”

  “Whether we tell them or not, shit happened between us. It was magical and magnificent shit, but still, I can’t risk losing the quartet.” She hated arguing with him after the fun they’d had last night—and the way he’d kissed her just now—but friend groups drifted apart when the members got into relationships. She’d seen it happen so many times. “Please, Ethan, I just feel…scared.”

  “I don’t want you to be scared.” He sat up on the edge of the bed. “Last night was such a powerful thing. I get what you’re saying about the quartet, but I don’t like it.”

  She leaned against his back and stroked his tousled hair. “Thank you for showing me all that beautiful, perverted stuff. But if I ask you to show me again, like, tonight or something, you should probably say no.”

  “I won’t want to say no,” he said in a gruff voice.

  “But the quartet!”

  “Fine, the quartet.” He was pretending to be angry, but she knew he loved the quartet as much as she did. She knew he saw her point. “I guess we’d better get up,” he said. “Jon gets bitchy when we miss the shuttle. But before that…” He pulled her into his arms. “One last kiss, and you’d better make it a good one.”

  All your kisses are good ones, she thought as he claimed her lips.

  * * *

  After a quick shower, Ruby made it downstairs with a few minutes to spare. To her chagrin, she saw Ethan had just arrived in the lobby too. Steve and Jonathan watched as they took seats across from each other. Ruby pretended to check her luggage tag, and hoped her blush didn’t show.

  “So, did you two sleep well?”

  There was an edge to Jonathan’s question that made Ruby look up, but she looked at Steve, not Jonathan. Steve was always up front with her, and his expression said it all.

  “My room was on the other side of Ethan’s,” he said with a shrug. “And the walls aren’t as soundproof as you probably thought.”

  She and Ethan looked at each other, but neither of them seemed willing to talk first.

  “It doesn’t matter,” said Jonathan as the silence strung out. “You’re both adults, right? Hope you had fun.”

  “Ethan and I did have fun.” She felt she owed it to her friend to announce this to the group. “We had a lot of fun.”

  “Seriously, a lot of fun,” Ethan echoed.

  “But we also agreed it might mess with the quartet’s dynamic if we started a relationship, so last night was a one-time thing. We’re going to be friends who slept together once.”

  “Well, more than once, kids,” Steve said. “According to what I heard.” He flicked them a thumbs up. “Got kind of excited myself.”

  Jonathan rolled his eyes. “Good God. Let’s not hash over what you heard again.”

  “Again?” asked Ruby.

  Jonathan frowned at her. “I had to sit her
e and listen to the play-by-play while we waited for you two to come down. It’s up to you guys, if you want to keep your…whatever…going, but yeah, it could affect the quartet, and that’d be a shame.”

  “I don’t want it to affect the quartet,” Ruby said, although Ethan’s lips stayed mashed shut.

  The shuttle van arrived a moment later, saving them from the awkward conversation. Ruby climbed to the back bench with her violin case, and Ethan took the seat in front of her. When Steve and Jonathan struck up a conversation, Ethan leaned to the side and stared out the window. Ruby gazed at the back of his neck, at the curly, dark hair she’d clutched in the throes of ecstasy.

  Damn. No matter how they’d tried to spin the morning after, things still felt wrong. They’d made this shuttle trip to the airport a hundred times, and she usually enjoyed a feeling of ease and accomplishment the morning after a travel gig, but today she felt unsettled and horribly confused.

  After a bout with traffic and an extra-long line at security, they barely got their luggage checked on time. They were so late to the gate that they couldn’t get seats together. Normally, Ruby hated being separated from the guys, but today it was a relief.

  Damn Ethan for being so hot and seductive, and damn her for giving in to his marvelously kinky talents. She sat hunched between two businessmen, trying not to remember all the fun she’d had with him, and trying not to turn and look at him a few rows back. He might smile his famous smile, that low-key mysterious smile that had bloomed into so many more things the night before.

  “Ugh,” she said aloud.

  One of the businessmen beside her moved toward the window a couple inches, like she was complaining about the space. Ah, well, she needed the extra room for her regrets.

  She closed her eyes, wishing she could sleep on planes, because she definitely hadn’t gotten her eight hours in. Just as the white noise of flight started to relax her, her phone buzzed in her lap, showing a text from Ethan.

  This is bullshit, Ruby.

  Damn him. She covered her eyes with her hands and barely restrained herself from saying “ugh” again. She had to be strong. The Gold Quartet had to come first.

  It’s not bullshit, she typed back. I explained why we have to keep things out of the bedroom. You agreed.

  I agreed because it seemed like the gentlemanly thing to do in the moment. But I was lying.

  She wished she had the balls to turn around and beg him across the three rows of seats to stop. She was barely holding onto her willpower, her resolve.

  You can still brush my hair if you want, now and again.

  He answered her text quickly. I want to do more than brush your hair.

  I can’t risk the quartet, she typed. Already, things feel different.

  That’s all in your head. Jonathan & Steve know and they don’t care.

  Stop yelling at me by text.

  I’m not yelling. THIS WOULD BE YELLING, he wrote in all caps.

  She didn’t dignify his caps-lock with an answer. She hated that everything he’d done to her was caps-lock in her memory, screaming in her mind THAT WAS THE BEST SEX YOU’VE EVER HAD. Her phone buzzed again, and she dreaded looking down.

  Maybe it will be harmful to the quartet to deny our feelings for each other, he texted.

  It’s just horniness, she typed back. We have to be disciplined.

  I’d be happy to discipline you, you little minx.

  She shielded her screen so the businessmen couldn’t read over her shoulder. Stop, Ethan. Don’t type that stuff to me when I’m on a plane.

  Fine. But we’re going to talk more about this later, he typed, and she could hear his quiet, commanding tone in the sentence.

  “Jesus,” she said, tucking her phone beside her.

  The guy on the other side of her tried to make space. These poor dudes. “Don’t mind me,” she said. “I’m just…” She rubbed her eyes. “I’m just freaking out.”

  “About what?” the guy by the window asked. “Fear of flying?”

  She thought a moment. “No. Worse than that. Fear of being an idiot.”

  “That’s a big one,” said the guy on the aisle. “But if it makes you feel any better, people are idiots all the time.”

  The guy by the window scowled at him, like he wasn’t helping, but it did help a little. People were idiots all the time, especially when it came to lizard-brain things like attraction and sex. By the time the plane landed, she’d convinced herself that, yeah, she and Ethan had made an impulsive mistake, but they could recover by not being idiots.

  “It was a good trip, guys,” Steve said as they left the terminal to find their cars.

  “Better for some of us than others,” Jonathan muttered.

  “Sorry again for the unexpected sexual activity at the reception,” Steve went on, ignoring him. “The clients gave us a big tip, so I’m not too put out.”

  “It was a good trip,” said Ethan, looking at Ruby. His gaze singled her out. “I know you rode here with Steve, but can I drive you home?”

  “Uhh…” she began.

  “That would be great, actually,” Steve said. “I’ve got some errands to run.”

  He and Jonathan took off, leaving her to hitch a ride in Ethan’s car. She frowned at Steve’s retreating figure. He wasn’t going to run any errands on the way home—he’d never leave his cello unattended in his car. He’d done this on purpose.

  “Are you guys scheming behind my back?” she asked, as Ethan unlocked his car.

  “No, not scheming. I need to talk to you, like I said. Get in.”

  He put his viola case in the back seat, but Ruby held her instrument in her lap, maybe to use as a shield, so his sexy vibes couldn’t reach her pussy and make her lose control.

  “You’re taking this so personally,” she said, as they got on the road.

  “And you’re not being honest,” he shot back at her. “You want this as much as me, and you’re being chickenshit. Why?”

  “Did you call me ‘chickenshit’?”

  “You’re scared of our artistry getting pushed aside for other feelings, but it doesn’t work that way. You inspire me more now than ever before.”

  “If you just want to bang me again—”

  “Don’t.” His voice cut her off, hot, sudden anger. “Don’t talk about me ‘banging’ you. That’s not what it was.”

  She turned to the window, giving him her back. Why were they fighting? Why was she being chickenshit, when he was willing to take a chance? She closed her eyes and held onto her violin case until he pulled up in front of her apartment. He put the car in park, and she could feel him staring over at her.

  “I’m going to leave now.” She wouldn’t look at him, because that would be disastrous. “I’m not going to cry.”

  “I don’t want you to cry. Don’t cry, please.”

  “I’m not.”

  “Fuck, you’re crying.”

  He was right, she was crying. She started bawling a moment later because of all the emotions she couldn’t figure out, and he was reaching across the seat to hold her, because he was Ethan and he was her wonderful, longtime friend. He let her cry, stroking her hair and rubbing her shoulder, then they were kissing, and he was licking the tears from her cheeks and lips.

  “I love you so much,” she cried between kisses. “Not just the sex. I love everything about you. But I love the quartet, too.”

  “I know. Same. But we can have both, I promise. I’d never put our working relationship in jeopardy.” He drew back and made her look at him. “You know that, right?”

  She nodded, letting go of his shoulders long enough to wipe away some tears. “Maybe…if we’re careful…the occasional ‘private collaboration’ wouldn’t hurt.”

  “Private collaboration? I like that.” His blue eyes glinted, and his lips curved the tiniest bit. “I wouldn’t mind starting on this private collaboration right away. Should I park the car and come inside?”

  “Just to clarify—I’m not talking about a viola
and violin duet,” she said.

  “Neither am I, baby.”

  They took their instruments inside and laid them next to each other on her table, and headed for her bedroom to continue what they’d started in the car. He pushed her back on her quilt and used his body to hold her down instead of rope, and it was even more exciting somehow, having him in her home where they’d hung out as friends so many times.

  “Please, don’t wait. Don’t tease me,” she said, groping in her side table drawer for a rubber.

  He knelt over her to put it on, giving her a stern stare that made her pussy throb. “After all your crying and complaining, I’m inclined to make you wait as a punishment. But I won’t.”

  He surged inside her instead, lifting her hips from the bed with the intensity of his desire. When she grabbed handfuls of his hair to ground herself, he captured her fingers and imprisoned them in his fists. She felt closest to him when he was holding her down.

  “Please, more,” she begged. “It feels so perfect.”

  He complied, playing her with as much skill as his instrument. Perfect power, perfect friendship, and a magnificent climax.

  “I want more of you tomorrow,” he whispered in her ear as she trembled. “And the next day, and the next. I want to collaborate all the time.”

  She thought that would be wonderful, and told him so with a long, surrendering kiss.

  Later, when they were all fucked out and limp with satisfaction, he made her sit in his lap so he could brush her hair. He was so careful, so slow and affectionate as he tamed her long, tangled locks. She realized with a sudden burst of insight that he was right, that everything would be okay between them. They could be friends, lovers, and musicians, because he cared enough to brush her knotted hair without hurting her. Like everything between them, it was a trusting thing.

  She tipped her head back, and he bit her neck as Tchaikovsky played in her memory, all the notes sounding wonderfully right.

  Perfect and Powerful

  Where Ruby Learns to Like Jonathan