Unbroken Pleasures

by Alisa Easton

  “We’re meeting the men at the restaurant,” she said ignoring me, “so we should get going if we want to make it on time.”

  “Of course.” I picked up my overnight bag since I’d planned to spend the night at Sylvia’s house and followed her out the door into the unknown.

  I locked the door behind me and gave one last longing glance at my home. I looked to the bushes at the side of the house and imagined that the stranger was there watching me, his eyes roaming over the way I was dressed, wanting me more than anyone else possibly could. I sighed again and let myself into the passenger side of Sylvia’s car resigned to my fate.

  Fifteen minutes later we pulled into a semi crowded parking lot of Damon’s Steakhouse and Sylvia tried to find a parking spot. I said a silent prayer that maybe we’d have to turn around and leave and that would be the end of the evening but of course, it would never work out that way. She parked and we made our way into the lobby, pushing past all the others waiting for their tables. Sylvia said something to the hostess which I couldn’t make out over the noise of the people and music but the hostess smiled and caught the attention of one of the waiters who led us to our table where Ben and Nick already waited. I looked around nervously. Less than two hours ago I was lost in erotic oblivion being served as the dessert to a beautiful waitress and my mystery lover. Dream or not, it still felt real and the feelings still lingered deep in my belly. I still desperately needed a release.

  I’d only met Ben once or twice during the brief time that he and Sylvia dated but he was still every bit the charming man that I remembered. His cousin Nick stood to pull out my chair for me and I noticed the resemblance between the two fair-haired men immediately. Nick smiled at me and I immediately felt at ease. I slipped into the chair and wondered if perhaps this evening might not be so bad after all. I took a sip of the glass of water that waited for me at the table and once again thanked my lucky stars that I’d had the foresight to choose the black lacy panties and matching bra rather than the plain ones.

  “It’s nice to see you again,” Ben said to me after the introductions had finished. He smiled warmly but it didn’t compare to the warmth in his eyes when he looked at Sylvia. The two seemed to be locked in some silent communication as they stared at each other. I shifted uneasily, realizing that I should probably say something to Nick, but never being one that was very good at small talk. I almost wished we could skip the pretense of dinner and an evening out and just get to the business at hand. I did a mental head slap. What was I thinking? Where was the girl that used to shy away from guys? I seemed to have abandoned her at the doorstep the moment I invited the stranger into my home. Now I couldn’t get enough. I picked up my water glass again and finished half of it as the waitress appeared at our table to take our orders. I felt relief wash over me since this saved me from making conversation with Nick.

  Dinner went about as smoothly as it could have considering the reason that we were all sitting there in the first place. Despite my reluctance, Nick insisted on paying for my dinner which left me with an uneasy feeling of obligation which I quickly tried to drown with a strong rum and coke the moment we walked into the night club. Sylvia ordered the same and we found a dark corner to sit and enjoy our drinks and thankfully, be released from our obligation to talk over the thundering of the music around us. I watched the people on the dance floor as I sipped my drink. Nick sat beside me with his arm casually draped around me. He was getting awfully comfortable at a quick rate, but when I went to pull away, I reminded myself, that was the whole point. I didn’t know how long we’d hang around at the club. Knowing Sylvia, it would only be long enough that she could ensure I’d had too much to drink to say no, and then we’d all pile into Ben’s car to go back to her place for the main event.

  I shuddered. Nick mistakenly assumed this meant I was cold and slid in closer to me until I could feel the heat of his body against me. I nearly broke out into a sweat. He was all lean muscle under the fabric of his dress shirt and Dockers. I felt my breathing increase and I’m sure my face flushed. Sylvia gave me a knowing look. She was obviously quite proud of herself for pulling this off so far. All she had to do was make sure I followed through. I finished off the rest of my drink and announced that I needed to use the restroom. I dragged Sylvia with me, to which she did not object. It was the first chance I had to talk to her alone all evening and I knew she was dying to hear what I thought of Nick.

  She wrapped her arm in mine and as soon as she was certain the men wouldn’t hear us, she leaned in and whispered in my ear. I felt a tickle in my core as her breath caressed my face and for a brief moment I wondered what it would feel like to kiss her. In all the years I’d known Sylvia, it had never occurred to me before to have such a thought. I pulled away slightly as we approached the ladies’ room, ashamed of the strange thoughts filling me.

  “What’s wrong?” she asked as we waited in line for our turn in the crowded restroom.

  “Nothing. Nothing at all.”

  “He’s gorgeous, isn’t he?” Her eyes sparkled as she said it and once again I wondered if she actually thought of Ben when she spoke.

  “He’s very good-looking,” I agreed.

  “Just wait until you get him naked.”

  “Right.” I shuffled up as the line moved forward and tried to erase the image of Nick naked next to me with Sylvia stroking my breasts. Why couldn’t I just be satisfied fantasizing about him?

  “And he’s totally into you,” she said.

  “What about you and Ben?” I asked, trying to change the subject. I was genuinely curious. I never really understood the reason they’d broken up in the first place. It was clear by the way that they looked at each other that they both still harbored feelings of some sort. I found it hard to believe that it was all about the sex like Sylvia wanted me to believe.

  “Oh, don’t you worry about Ben,” she said and I am pretty sure that I saw the hint of a blush in her cheeks when she said his name, “He will give me a night I won’t soon forget.”

  “Does this mean that you two are back together?”

  “Back together?” She looked at me as if I’d suddenly sprouted a second head. Why was it such an unlikely possibility?

  “You two seem to get along so well,” I said trying to justify what she clearly considered an insane question, “I just thought that you would want to spend more time together, that’s all.”

  “It’s not going to happen. I’m here for you and you alone.”

  “It didn’t have anything to do with sleeping with Ben again then?”

  She laughed. “Well, there are perks to this arrangement.”

  “So, will you see him again?” I persisted, knowing that I was treading a fine line with Sylvia.

  “Well that all depends,” she said moving up so that she was next in line.

  “On what?”

  “On whether or not you need another night or two like this one,” she said looking back at me with a wink as she took the abandoned stall.

  Another night like this I repeated out loud to myself. I still didn’t know that I would survive tonight but one thing I did know as I took the next abandoned stall, I would definitely need another drink.

  Eventually we found our way to the dance floor. Nick made his intentions toward me very clear by the fact that he left little space between us as we moved to the music. The constant bumping and grinding should have excited me, especially with the erotic thoughts from my earlier dream still floating around my head, but instead they only seemed to irritate me. I was relieved when he and Ben took a break to go to the bar to leave me with Sylvia on the dance floor for a chance to breathe.

  Sylvia was having a good time. I could see the lust in her eyes as she watched Ben walk away and I knew that she was counting down the minutes until she could get him alone. She wrapped her arms around me as we danced and absently ran her hands up my bare arms. I was thankful for the loud music so she couldn’t hear the way I moaned at her touch. She’d achieved with on
e touch what Nick had already spent half the night trying to do to me. I inhaled the vanilla scent of her hair and let my lips linger only inches from her neck. What would she do if I kissed her? Tasted her? I slipped my arms around her waist and rested my hands on the small of her back. She felt warm.

  I closed my eyes and moved with her. I let her lift my arms over my head as she spun me to face outward but I didn’t dare open my eyes to break the spell. She ran her hands along my sides and back upward until she squeezed my breasts. I opened my mouth and leaned my head back against her shoulder. Could she feel it too? I felt her breath hot against my ear telling me to open my eyes.

  I lifted my head and at first I didn’t see anything but then I realized that we had Nick and Ben’s undivided attention as she continued to caress me. She put her lips against my neck and kissed and licked me. She was doing it for show but it affected me. I could barely stand on my own two legs. The alcohol clouded my thoughts and I gave in to her touch even though I knew now that she was doing it for their benefit rather than mine. At that moment I didn’t care. I’d never been this close to Sylvia before, or any other woman and I was too confused and curious to make her stop. I closed my eyes again, determined to revel in the sensation and forget about our audience. Sylvia reached down to stroke my thighs, lifting my skirt with her hands so that my black panties were exposed to the club. I wanted her to put her hands down there and touch me to feel how turned on she’d made me but before I could encourage her, a new presence brought me back to reality.

  I opened my eyes as Nick enveloped me in his arms and kissed the side of my neck and my shoulder. His hands caressed my back and my behind and pressed me into the bulge at the front of his pants. I struggled to turn and find Sylvia but she was already lost to me, letting Ben handle her in a similar manner and clearly enjoying the experience, probably a lot more than she had enjoyed our little show. She was satisfied that she’d driven the guys wild. My heart sank a little. It had been her only goal. I felt Nick’s hand stroking my thigh, his fingers working their way under my skirt and tracing a line along my inner thigh. He put his lips close to my ear and whispered how much he couldn’t wait to get me out of my black panties. My face flushed. I let out a light squeal as he pushed away the lacey fabric and felt the slickness of my sex against his fingers.

  I pulled away but before I could voice my concerns, Sylvia interrupted by suggesting that we go back to her place. I tried to tell her that I wanted to go home but knew that she didn’t want to hear it. She waved me away and ushered us all outside and toward the cars in the parking lot. We all climbed into Ben’s car, our designated driver of the evening. Sylvia sat in the front next to him forcing me to slide into the back with Nick. She turned around to me and winked but I pretended not to notice. I turned my attention to the world outside my window as Ben pulled out onto the highway. Nick leaned over and took my face in his hands to kiss me, almost forcing his tongue inside my mouth. I pushed him away and even though he stopped the assault, he only smiled at me in a way that suggested I’d get more of that soon enough. I sighed inwardly and went back to watching the world pass outside my window.

  I tried to get Sylvia alone, to tell her I was tired, that I really just wanted to go home but no matter which tactic I chose, she wouldn’t hear me. The fact that she and Ben could barely keep their hands off each other didn’t help. For better or for worse, Nick and I were left alone on the living room couch as Sylvia and Ben disappeared into her bedroom. We didn’t have to wonder what was going on behind the closed door.

  I looked at Nick and he looked at me. We both looked in the direction of the hallway where we could see the open door of the guest room beckoning us. I looked back at him and shrugged. All the forwardness of the man in the car had vanished. All of a sudden, he didn’t seem to know how to approach me. It wasn’t the first time a man seemed bewildered with what to do with me. It didn’t leave me feeling very self-confident in my abilities to seduce but I figured we were here, we should do something. I inched closer so that I could invite Nick to kiss me. His lips brushed against mine lightly and we pulled away and looked at each other again. I needed another drink and suggested as much. He agreed immediately and went in search of something suitable from Sylvia’s liquor cabinet. He returned with two glasses and a bottle of spiced rum but nothing to mix it with.

  He poured a small amount in each of the glasses and raised his glass in a toast to the evening with the backdrop of moans and sighs coming from the master bedroom. I felt like an intruder listening to Sylvia’s ecstatic cries. From the way Nick looked longingly in their direction, I suspect he wished he’d ended up with her instead of me. I slumped my shoulders and took a large gulp of my drink letting the liquid burn my throat and warm my belly. If this didn’t ease the tension between us, nothing would.

  “So, you’re a veterinarian,” Nick said at a feeble attempt to make small talk. We’d already discussed my employment at length earlier at dinner. I didn’t really feel like talking about it anymore.

  “Yes,” I said simply eyeing up the bottle of amber liquid.

  “Ben didn’t tell me a lot about you.”

  “What did he say?”

  “Honestly?”

  “Yes.”

  “He said you were Sylvia’s friend, stunningly beautiful, and in desperate need of a good shag.”

  “I see.”

  “He was right.”

  “Excuse me?”

  “I mean, about the stunningly beautiful part. I’m not convinced you actually need a man,” he said chuckling lightly.

  I looked up feeling my face going red. Had I been that obvious with Sylvia?

  “I only mean that you don’t need your friend to set you up with some guy you don’t even know,” he added. If he knew why he’d suddenly made me so uncomfortable, he didn’t make any sign of it. I let out the breath that I’d held and decided that if we were going to do this, we might as well just get it over with. He seemed like a nice enough guy and between my thoughts of the stranger and my dream, I was definitely in need of something. I might as well take the chance. The alcohol gave me a coat of bravery that I didn’t have five minutes earlier.

  “I don’t seem to have much luck with guys,” I confessed. I stood up and moved closer to him reaching behind me to unfasten my dress in the process. In my mind’s eyes, I was graceful and smooth but in reality, the alcohol had made my head so fuzzy that I could barely manage the zipper. I tripped and fell into his arms. He laughed again, this time at my expense.

  “I think we better cut you off the drinks,” he said trying to set me upright again.

  We stood face to face and his eyes softened as he reached out and tucked stray hair behind my ear. He leaned in and kissed me and I melted into his kiss but once again stumbled as I tried to close the distance between us.

  “Maybe we should just go to the bedroom?” I suggested. He picked me up off my feet and carried me without a word.

  Chapter 5

  I knew the moment I opened my eyes that I was in trouble. I heard a groan and peeked out from under my elbow at the man lying next to me in bed. His hair was tousled from sleep and his eyes barely open but he was still every bit the handsome man I’d only just met yesterday. I heard movement in the hallway outside the bedroom door and Nick and I looked at each other as if we were only seeing each for the first time. I started to mumble excuses, apologies, any words that would come to mind to break the silence but he put up a finger to stop me.

  “Hello. You two sleepy heads awake yet?” Sylvia said from the other side of the door with a soft knock.

  “Yeah, we’re awake,” I said feeling my heart triple in speed. My head was still spinning from last night’s excess and I wasn’t quite ready to face an awkward morning. I slumped onto my back and covered my eyes with my hands wishing I could simply teleport back to my own bed.

  “Great, breakfast is almost ready. Come on out and join us.”

  I heard Sylvia walk away and the sounds of her talking
to Ben from the kitchen. She sounded happy. I risked a peek from behind the cover of my hands to see if Nick was still in bed beside me. It was probably too much to hope that it was all a dream. He was smiling down at me in amusement.

  “So…” he said, “This is a little awkward, isn’t it?”

  “Yeah, tell me about it,” I agreed. I didn’t need to look under the sheet to know that I was wearing nothing but the black lace panties. “So I guess we… I mean, I don’t really remember much…” I fumbled for the right words as I tried to piece together the details of a night that I probably didn’t really want to remember. I expected to feel different somehow, satiated, satisfied.

  “Relax, nothing happened.”

  “You mean we didn’t…”

  “No.”

  That explained why I didn’t feel any differently but it didn’t explain why I was in a bed wearing nothing but a pair of panties with a man I suspected was wearing equally as little. I looked at him skeptically, squinting against the pain throbbing in my head.

  “One guest room. One bed,” he said reading the questions that were racing through my mind. He shrugged as if it didn’t really matter and started to get out of bed.

  “Wait,” I said, still feeling confused. “Why?”

  He shrugged again and let his eyes trail over my body covered by the sheet almost as if he were considering the possibility that something might still happen but then he seemed to think better of it. He shook his head slowly and sighed. “You pretty much passed out the minute we made it to bed.”

  “Oh.”

  He smiled and disappeared to the bathroom. I sighed and sat up rummaging through my overnight bag. I couldn’t wait to brush my teeth. He emerged from the guest bathroom moments later wearing a pair of jeans but no shirt. I couldn’t help but notice that the muscles in his chest were well defined. I waited until he left the room before I jumped out of bed, wondering if perhaps I had been crazy to pass up the opportunity to get intimately familiar with those muscles.