Gina nodded. “Was he hot?”
“Not so much. He was…kind of in my space all the time. But that’s not the whole story. The guy drugged my drink.”
“Oh, Scarlett, no.”
“Wait. It gets better. Or worse.”
Gina was quiet, but Scarlett could tell it was killing her not to talk.
“When we got back to the bar, Wesley punched Kyle.”
Gina’s eyes went wide. “You’re kidding? Really?”
“Really. Wesley was behind the bar, and he tried to take my drink away, told me Kyle had put something in my drink. Kyle got mad, grabbed for Wesley or took a swing at him over the bar, and Wesley just hit him. Dropped him to the floor with one punch. The bouncers dragged him out.”
“Wow.”
“So anyway, Wesley got me a club soda. And we started talking. He asked if I wanted to go for drinks someplace quieter. So we left.”
“And then he took you home?”
Scarlett shook her head. “Not really. Turns out he thought I was at the bar for the same reason every other girl was…for kinky sex.” She stopped, biting her lip, searching for the right words. “Not kinky…sort of a fantasy thing.”
“Like make your fantasy-come-true kind of sex? That would be pretty cool if you could find a guy who’d do that.” Gina laughed. “He’d be one in a million though.”
“No, not that kind of fantasy. Wesley thought I wanted something else. What he’s known for at Diablo, I guess.” Scarlett looked down, fidgeting with the edge of the sheet. It sounded tawdry and cheap, hearing the words.
“Spill it, Scarlett. You’re making me nervous.”
“He drugged me when we were at the other bar.” She looked up at Gina. Her friend’s expression had changed from voyeuristic interest to frank concern.
“Scarlett, no.”
Scarlett hurried to explain. “But it wasn’t malicious, not like Kyle.”
“But he drugged you…”
“Yeah. I know. But he thought I wanted him to. He assumed I was at Diablo for the same reason the other girls were. So he didn’t think he was doing something I didn’t want him to do. He didn’t think he was doing anything wrong.”
“What did he think you wanted?”
Scarlett took a breath, held it a moment before speaking. “To be kidnapped and tied up, forced to have sex.” Her words came out in a rush. It really did sound bad.
Gina stared at Scarlett for a long moment. “That’s horrible. I mean, not for the girls who want that, but for you…” Gina reached out, setting her hand on Scarlett’s leg. “You’re not that kind of girl. You must have been terrified.”
When Scarlett didn’t answer, Gina’s brows drew together. “Scarlett? Really? You liked what he did?”
“Yeah. I did.”
“What did he do to you?” Gina sat up, hugging her knees. “Were you scared at all?”
“I was at first, I think, but the drug…whatever he gave me made everything feel so wonderful. By the time I realized I was tied up, I didn’t care anymore.”
“So it wasn’t really Wesley then? Just the drugs?”
Scarlett shrugged, then shook her head. “Maybe at first. But then the drug started to wear off. He had tied my wrists to the bed with these red silk ties…” She held out her wrists toward Gina. The red marks had faded, but they were still visible.
“Scarlett, he hurt you.”
“I hurt myself, tugging against them. But the pain…” Scarlett tried to think back to how she felt, to find the words that could make Gina understand what it was like. Scarlett wasn’t sure she even knew how she felt.
“The pain made everything clearer, sharper somehow. And it made the sex amazing. When he started spanking me…”
“He spanked you? Did you like it?” Gina’s eyes lit up, and Scarlett knew she was back into territory Gina was familiar with.
Scarlett nodded. “I did. It surprised me at first, but it was pretty amazing.”
Gina flopped back on the bed. “This is a whole side of you I never knew existed, Scarlett. Really. This doesn’t seem like you at all.”
“I don’t know what this is, to tell the truth.” She sat up, leaning toward Gina. “All I know is that I want more of whatever Wesley did to me last night. I want to see how far he’ll go…how far I’ll let him…and what it feels like.”
“You know those BDSM clubs can get pretty out of control. Are you sure you trust Wesley enough to not let you get hurt?”
An image of Wesley rose up in her mind, the reflection of him in the window. He’d been in control, of himself and her. Even though her muscles ached and every part of her Wesley had touched with his hands and his mouth felt raw and sensitive, that image was enough to send a rush of arousal through her. She closed her eyes, Gina forgotten for the moment as something clenched deep inside her.
When she opened her eyes, Gina was watching her, one eyebrow raised and a knowing smile on her lips.
“Well, that answers my question. I don’t think you care if you can trust him. I think you’re more interested in whatever it is he did to you…and if he’ll do it again.”
Scarlett frowned. Was it just the scorching sex? She didn’t really want to believe she was that shallow, that she’d possibly fallen for a guy who was hot and had given her the best sex she’d ever had and mistook that for something else, something deeper.
“I’m hoping it’s not just that.” Had she misread the whole experience? Was she making all this up?
“I do, too, Scarlett. Because you’re playing with something here that could be dangerous.” Gina sat up and leaned forward, her face close to Scarlett’s.
“Because if you’re not careful, you could get hurt. We’re talking about your body here, not just your feelings.”
Scarlett knew Gina was right. She could get hurt, in more ways than one. But for once it didn’t matter. She’d been hurt by Tyler, and she’d walked away from him.
She took a breath, looking at her friend. “I know you’re only looking out for me. If things get bad, I can just walk away from Wesley. No strings attached.”
Scarlett frowned at Gina’s snort of laughter. “Yeah, right. You’re so in over your head with this guy, you can’t even see straight. You’re not thinking with your head. You’re leading with your heart.”
“But for once, I want to lead my heart, not think about it. Or have you think about it for me.”
Gina rolled her eyes. “You’re really going through with this, aren’t you?”
Scarlett sat back. It all felt right, even if it felt scary. “I really am.”
* * *
Gina left a short time later after picking out a short black skirt and simple tank top for Scarlett.
“Don’t you have something I could borrow, something leather maybe? Or latex? They wear that, right?” Scarlett eyed the outfit as if it was a visible sign of her lack of experience. “I don’t want to look like a complete neophyte.”
“Leather might be cliché. And despite what you think of me, I don’t own any latex.” Gina held up the clothes. “I think you want easy access along with sexy. And you’re going to look amazing no matter what you wear. You know that.”
Scarlett took the clothes from Gina, fingering the fabric of the skirt. It was silky and she knew once she had it on, it would hug her curves and swirl around her legs. She might feel awkward for a few minutes, but then she’d be with Wesley, and it wouldn’t matter.
“Yeah. I guess you’re right.” She thought about wearing these clothes, being in a public place where there was the distinct possibility that she would be out of them. The prospect was exhilarating. Especially when she knew it was going to be Wesley who would be taking them off of her.
“Scarlett, you okay? Having second thoughts?” Gina put her hand on Scarlett’s arm. “You don’t have to go if you don’t want to.”
She looked up at Gina. “Oh, hell, no. No second thoughts at all.”
“You’re sure you’re not still drugged?”<
br />
Scarlett shook her head, a smile spreading across her face. “Not in the least. I’m exhausted, but my head is clear.” She didn’t miss the look of concern on Gina’s face, the doubt she saw there. “I’ll be fine. You can stop worrying about me.”
“You’re my best friend, of course I worry. And this isn’t just a date with a guy…this is something totally different. Like I said, you’re not that savvy with guys. I just don’t want you to get hurt.”
Chapter Six
The doorbell rang while she was combing her hair. She’d had it up, down, in a ponytail, curled and straight, and she was still not happy with it.
Scarlett dropped the brush on the bathroom counter and walked across the living room. Her hands were just the tiniest bit clammy, and she rubbed them against her hips.
Was she really going through with this? Maybe Gina was right. There was still time to back out. She’d just tell Wesley how she felt, let him down easy, and everything would be fine. She took a deep breath and opened the door.
“Hey Scarlett.”
Her heart took off like a horse out of the gate and for a minute, all she could do was stare. When he’d dropped her off earlier in the day he’d been wearing sweats and a hoodie, and they’d both acted strangely shy in the car. She’d been exhausted and Wesley had seemed distant. He’d given her a chaste kiss on the cheek at her door and then he’d been gone.
But he was here now, showered, wearing a black shirt and dark-wash jeans. His hair was still a sexy tousled mess, a shadow of dark beard on his cheeks. And all of it—Wesley—took her breath away. There was no way she was backing out of anything now.
“May I come in?” He gave her a crooked smile. “Unless you’ve changed your mind about tonight?”
“No…I mean, yes. Come in.” She stood back and Wesley walked into her apartment. She caught his scent as he moved past her, something clean and fresh. Beneath that was Wesley’s own deep, rich scent, the scent she remembered from the night before. It brought back a rush of images and the heat that went with those images. It took her a minute to realize Wesley was talking to her.
“Have you changed your mind? It’s okay if you have. We can just go…”
“No. I haven’t changed my mind.” She took a step toward him, placing her hand on his arm. “I still want this…whatever it turns out to be.”
Wesley smiled, and she caught a look of relief in that smile. So he’d been looking forward to this just as much as she was.
“You look really nice, Scarlett. Really.” His eyes traveled over her body, lingering at the neckline of her shirt, glancing down at her hips.
“Is this okay? Because I wasn’t sure what to wear.”
He laughed. “There’s no dress code. As long as you’re comfortable, things will be great.”
“Okay.”
He leaned forward, his lips brushing against hers. The touch sent an electric shock through her body and she reached to wrap her arms around his neck, eagerly seeking his mouth. But he pulled back.
“Not yet.” The heat she saw in his eyes was a direct contradiction to his words. “We need to talk about what you expect—and what I want you to experience—tonight.”
She kept her arms around his neck, but he straightened, putting space between them. She wanted to pull him back down to her again, to feel his lips on hers, but she stood in the circle of his arms, waiting, wondering what he was going to say.
“You liked being restrained, didn’t you?”
She nodded. “I did…do, I mean.”
“I think I’d like to explore that with you. The owner of the club does intricate knot work. His sessions are very intense. I’m not that creative.” He breathed out a soft laugh. “Actually, I’m not that patient.”
“What does he do? I mean, does he tie them up and then have sex?”
“There are a lot of different techniques, or preferences, I guess. He does some beautiful work. I watched him in a session with a woman…” Wesley’s eyes drifted away from her face and his voice dropped. “He had her restrained with this beautiful white rope, arms out, legs spread.”
He looked into her eyes, his hands tightening around her waist. “It was the single most erotic thing I had ever watched. She was completely under his control, physically and emotionally, and he was totally into what he was doing. She went off into some sort of trance toward the end. It was amazing. And yeah, it did go all the way to sex.”
Scarlett watched his face, watched his expression change, the heat in his eyes deepen. Her own heart took off again, her breath coming up shallow. Whatever he saw must have been amazing. Suddenly Scarlett wanted to be that girl, whoever she was, the one Wesley had watched. An irrational spear of jealousy pierced her heart.
“Is that what I could have? With you?” Images of being tied to Wesley’s bed rose up in her mind. She had been that girl, and she wanted that again.
Wesley pulled her a little closer. “I have no idea what will happen, Scarlett. Each time is different. Each person is different.” He looked down at her. “It’s all new for me, too…with you. It’s part of the thrill.”
“Is that why you don’t…play with those other women more than once?” The word play seemed foreign, out of place.
For a moment, Wesley’s eyebrows drew together, his eyes darkening. Scarlett had a moment of panic, wondering if she’d said the wrong thing, gotten too personal with her question.
“I’m sorry…”
He shook his head, his expression clearing. “It’s okay. Fair question, I guess.” He shrugged. “I don’t really know. I’ve never put much thought into it.”
Scarlett wondered if she’d gone too far, stepped across some line with Wesley. She hardly knew him, and she was in no position to question his lifestyle.
He leaned forward, resting his forehead against hers. “But I can tell you that it’ll be something you’ll never forget.”
She closed her eyes briefly, smiling, breathing in his scent. “I’m sure it will be.”
“Then if you’re ready, I think we can go.”
“I’m ready.” She took a step back but he still held her, looking at her intently. She frowned at him. “What?”
“I want to do something first.”
A thrill ran through her. “What?” Her voice sounded almost giddy. She took a deep breath, but she couldn’t stop the smile from spreading across her face.
Wesley reached up, fingers running through her hair, pulling it away from her face. “I’d like to put your hair up.”
“Oh.” She blinked, her smile fading. “Is that all?”
Wesley laughed. “Don’t look so disappointed. I’ll tell you a secret.” He leaned forward, fingers brushing against her cheek. “I like the back of your neck. It’s sexy.”
Scarlett felt herself blush. “Really? The back of my neck?”
“Yeah. The back of your neck, among other things.” He smiled, dimples and all. “Come on, let’s find a brush and some bobby pins.”
She returned the smile and turned toward the bathroom, Wesley following her.
“Stand in front of the mirror.” He took her by the shoulders, turning her to face her reflection.
“Have you done this before?” She met Wesley’s eyes in the mirror.
“I have.” The brush was still on the counter and Wesley picked it up. “Pins?”
She reached down, opening the drawer beside the sink. “In there.”
For the next few moments, Wesley brushed her hair, gathering it behind her head in a thick ponytail. With a few deft movements, he twisted her hair into a knot. A few pins went in and he stepped back.
“Done.”
Scarlett turned her head to the side. He’d gathered her hair into a knot low on her neck. “Pretty damn perfect.” She caught Wesley’s eyes in the mirror, and his smile. His eyes lingered on hers a moment, then drifted to the back of her neck. She watched as he lifted his hand and then she felt his fingers lightly tracing a line along the nape of her neck. Goose bumps fl
ushed across her arms and she leaned back, closing her eyes, seeking more contact. But Wesley pulled away and she lost her balance, staggering slightly. She felt his hand on her elbow.
“Then I think we can go.”
Opening her eyes, she turned to look at Wesley. “Did I do something wrong?”
A brief look of surprise crossed his face, his brows drawing down. “No. You’re perfect.”
“Then…” She motioned to the space between them. “You’re…distant, I guess. I feel like I did something wrong.”
The frown on his face deepened, a darkness coming into his eyes. “Come here.” He took her hand, leading her into the living room. “Sit down a minute.”
He motioned toward the couch and she sat down, Wesley dropping down beside her. “Listen, Scarlett, this is all new for you. It’s new for me too, in a way. Like I said before, I usually find girls at the club. I might have seen them, or met them once or twice, but for the most part, they’re strangers. And that’s how I do things.”
“I’m cramping your style?”
“No, not at all.” He reached over and took her hand. “It’s just new, that’s all. I don’t usually have to talk girls through this.”
“So I am cramping your style. You don’t have to lie to me, Wesley.”
“I’m not lying. I want this as much as you do. Maybe more. I want your first time to be as amazing as it can be. So maybe I’m feeling a little bit of pressure, or performance anxiety, or something.” He squeezed her hand, his eyes locked with hers. “But I’m in this for you, Scarlett. I’m in this with you.”
Chapter Seven
Wesley turned down a side street, passing through an area of town Scarlett had never seen before. She looked up at the building as they passed, dark storefronts, abandoned-looking industrial buildings. “It’s an odd place for a club, isn’t it?”
“The owner, Chase Mitchell, is kind of an unusual guy. You might get a chance to meet him. He’s usually out with the crowd if he’s not in a room or running a session.”
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