Between a Rock and a Hard Place

by Jenna Galicki

  “Don’t be mad,” she said.

  He took a long time to answer and everyone else in the room waited for his reply, much like everyone had watched Jessi with Tommy and Angel a few minutes ago.

  Damien let out a deep breath. “I guess I can’t force you to go if you don’t want to.”

  Jessi realized that it meant Alyssa would be here to keep her company, and wondered if it were a ploy in order for them to have some fun without the boys. She felt a little less guilty for abandoning the first leg of the tour and giddy about sharing the time alone with her friend. “That’s perfect. You can stay here at the house with me.”

  Alyssa glanced toward the stairway that led to the rest of the house. “I’d love to stay here with you.”

  Jessi felt better about staying behind, but she needed to find someone to fill in for her on the tour. “Do you think Audra would be interested in my job? She’s interning for her father at Falcon. I’m sure she’d love to go on tour with Immortal Angel.”

  “I like that idea,” Jimmy was quick to reply. “She’s a cool chick. Since we’re outta here in two weeks, when you talk to Marissa tell her we want to play The Quadrangle before we go. I love that place, man. We haven’t played there since before the national tour. We owe them a show.”

  Jessi nodded. “I’ll tell her. I guess it’s settled then. I’m staying here with Alyssa while the band goes to Asia.”

  Chapter Two

  Tommy was having a hard time dealing with the idea that Jessi wasn’t coming with him to Asia, even though he pretended to accept it. He couldn’t fathom spending four weeks without her. His heart sank deeper into the pit of his stomach and dread overshadowed the anticipation of the tour. She had been at every show since they first met. He couldn’t imagine being on stage and not seeing her at the curtain.

  She knew him better than anyone, and she was a constant tower of unconditional love and support. She meant everything to him. He found her in her sewing room, working at the table. “I know you’re busy, but can I talk to you, hon?”

  “Of course, baby.” She put down the leather material in her hand and sat on the sofa at the opposite end of the room. Concern covered her face as she waited for him to begin.

  Tommy sat next to her, took her hand and gently pressed it against his chest, over his heart. It crumbled at the reminder of their impending separation. He hadn’t been this torn up since he was a teenager dealing with his sexuality.

  “I’ve had a lot of time to think about our life together these last few days since you told me you weren’t coming with us to Asia. I feel very guilty for a lot of things and I don’t think I’ve been exactly fair to you in our marriage. I want you to know how sorry I am. I would never intentionally hurt you.”

  The slight shake of her head and confused frown made him continue.

  “I’m talking about Angel. Everything that happened in L.A. That shit with the DVD.” He moved her hand to his lips and pressed a kiss into it. “I never expected to bring a third person into our life. It doesn’t mean that I love you any less. I love you more because of everything we’ve been through. It’s going to be hard to be away from one another, and I’ll be with Angel and you’ll be here. I didn’t plan that. I don’t want that. I just want you to be happy, and I want you to know how much I love you.”

  Her lip quivered slightly, then steadied. “I’m at peace with everything and I don’t have any qualms about Angel. I love him, too. Our life is fuller because he’s part of it.” She threw her arms around his neck. “I’m going to miss you so much. A part of me keeps saying, fuck everything and get on the plane with you, but I know I’d regret it.”

  “I’d never let you do that, Jessi. You’re graduating and opening your store. It’s your time to shine.” He looked across the room at her work table and the strips of black leather. “What are you making?”

  She turned toward the table with enthusiasm. “It’s a jacket for Angel to wear at the show in Hong Kong. Let me show you.” She waved her hand for him to follow her to the work table.

  There were panels of black leather cut for the front of a jacket and various sized spikes and grommets arranged into a pattern on the table.

  “I’m going to put the larger spikes up on the shoulder. Up here.” She ran her finger over the top part of the piece of leather. “Then they’re going to graduate in size down the back in a V-shaped pattern.”

  Tommy touched the tip of one of the spikes and quickly retreated his finger. “That’s sharp. I’m going to get my eye poked out with that.”

  Jessi laughed. “Just be careful. I made you something, too.” She pushed some fabric out of the way and held up a matching black leather guitar strap. She used the same long spikes that she was going to use on Angel’s jacket. The long threatening spikes sat high on the shoulder, then graduated into smaller spikes as they went down the back of the strap.

  He placed it over his shoulder. It was pretty damn awesome, even though there was a good chance the spikes could puncture his cheek if he turned too quickly. He would have to remember to keep head banging to a minimum. “Thank you. It’s perfect.”

  Her face lit up. “I’m glad you like it. I wasn’t sure because spikes are generally Angel’s aesthetic.”

  “I love it.”

  “Good.” She touched the strap. “This way, even if I can’t be at the show with you, a part of me will be right there next to your heart.”

  After Tommy left her work room and reminded her about the content of the infamous DVD, she found it difficult to return to the jacket she was constructing. The knowledge of Tommy and Angel’s little trysts that involved bondage and that God damn flogger kept working its way back into her head. Several sleepless nights on the tour bus after the incident first took place had allowed her to explore the sea of emotions that it triggered, and she came to terms with the situation. Now she reflected on the content of the DVD with indifference. She didn’t like that they had rough sex, but she couldn’t stop them. She realized that viewing it as a third party made it seem more extreme than it actually was, and she decided to accept that it was a game she needed to learn how to play . . . and she wanted to learn right now.

  She found Tommy upstairs in the center of the bed. He was on his stomach, jotting something down in a notebook, wearing nothing but a pair of briefs. She sat on the bed next to him and admired his naked body. His blond hair trickled over his powerful shoulders like a splash of sunshine. She ran her fingers through his hair and over the broad muscles of his back. Their strength contrasted with the softness of his skin. She let her hand glide down his lower back and over the curve of his butt cheek, and patted his bottom lightly.

  He gave her an affectionate smile before returning his attention to his pen and paper.

  She pulled down the waistband of his briefs and caressed Tommy’s bottom again. She patted it once more, this time with an audible tap, tap, tap.

  The blue of Tommy’s eyes glanced over his shoulder with a smile. “What are you doing?”

  Her sly smile teased him. “I just gave you your first little spanking.”

  He rolled with laughter, took her by her forearm and pulled her down on the bed. “Do you have any idea how adorable you are? Do you have any idea how much I love you?” He placed an exaggerated kiss on her cheek.

  Angel appeared in the doorway and paused, wearing only his Calvin Klein’s. His finger was pressed to his iPad, and the black strands of his hair fell over his eyes. The muscles in his chest rippled as he leaned against the door frame, and it sent a flaming heat through her body. “Why am I the only one wearing clothes?” Jessi asked.

  “Because it’s midnight, sweetheart. We’re going to sleep.”

  She had no idea it was so late. She waved Angel over to the bed. “Put that thing down. I want to talk to you about having some fun with our prince.”

  Angel tossed the iPad on the chair. “You have my undivided attention.”

  The fluffy bed rocked as Angel crawled onto it and sat in
a lotus position on the other side of Tommy. His eyes washed over Tommy from head to toe with rabid anticipation. Angel’s passion was never restrained. It was one of the many things she loved about him.

  “So, what would you like to do to him?” Angel asked.

  She was sure he never expected what she was about to say. “I want you to show me how to play. I want you to show me what Tommy likes, but I don’t want to do anything too rough.”

  “Are you sure?” He raised his eyebrows with intrigue. “You might like it just as much as he does. Don’t you remember how much you liked it when I did this to you?” Angel crawled up to her on his hands and knees and clenched the back of her hair in his hand. He pulled her head to the side to expose her neck and sunk his teeth into it.

  She gasped, surprised at the force behind his touch, and her legs went weak. If she wasn’t already sitting on the bed, she might have fallen over. She was flushed and wiped the moisture from her forehead with the back of her hand. Before she realized what was happening, Angel turned her over, pulled her lounge pants down to her knees and slapped her bare butt with the palm of his hand. The sound of a sharp slap against her skin made her wince, but it sent a jolt of electricity straight between her legs. She inhaled sharply, and her eyes fluttered, momentarily disappearing under their lids. Tommy pulled her pants the rest of the way down her body and threw them on the floor. The two of them could rip your clothes off in a fraction of a second. She slipped her top over her head and rubbed her naked body against Tommy’s. Eager to start the game, she dug her fingernails into his chest. “What do you want me to do?”

  Tommy’s cock rose to the ceiling at the unexpected display of aggression. She knew that he was going to like this new assertive side of her in bed, although she was still unsure how far she would go.

  “I want you to tie me to the headboard, and I want Angel to blindfold me.”

  “How will I know if I’m hurting you?”

  He chuckled. “Because I’ll tell you.”

  “Oh. I thought there would be a code word or something.”

  He laughed again. “No. It’s not that intense, hon. We’re just fooling around.” He held his arms up and flipped his hands over. “I said I wanted to be blindfolded and tied up, and here I am, free to get up and walk away.”

  “You’re not going anywhere,” Angel said. “She has a lot to learn. You’re going to be exhausted by the time we’re done.”

  Jessi was eager to get started and didn’t waste another second. She picked up her panties, which were little more than a piece of elastic, and quickly tied one of Tommy’s hands to the headboard.

  The skimpy material dug into his wrist like a wire and cut off his circulation. “That’s too tight.”

  She gave him a sadistic smile to tell him that she was serious about playing their game, then pulled the ends of the panties a little tighter. She wasn’t going to be prissy about it. If Tommy wanted to play rough, she wanted him to know that she was ready, but she still grimaced, fearful that she caused him physical pain.

  His eyes widened with surprise and a hint of fear looked back at her before she untied his hand.

  He promptly rubbed his wrist and examined the mark from the elastic. “I get the feeling you’re going to enjoy this.”

  She took his hand and placed a soothing kiss on his wrist. She was excited about the idea of trying something new and joining in an activity that Tommy shared with Angel, although she still harbored a tiny bit of apprehension.

  Angel handed Jessi several silk scarves from the drawer of his night table. “These work best,” he paused to smile at her, “but I really liked that you used your underwear.”

  She had seen the scarves before, haphazardly left on the bed or on the dresser. She knew they were Angel’s, but before she had a chance to inquire about them, they had always disappeared, and she never gave them a second thought. She fingered the satin scarf in her hand with remorse. She wished she had asked about them when she first saw them. They could have slowly introduced her to their game, but that was all in hindsight.

  Tommy turned onto his stomach, and Jessi carefully tied both of his hands to the headboard this time. The knots were loose enough so that he could free himself, if necessary.

  “That’s better, hon.”

  She roughly gripped his face between her hands and gave him a hard kiss on the mouth. She felt him smile against her lips, and she smiled back through their kiss. She tucked his hair behind his ear and gently smoothed it down his back.

  The bed rocked as Angel spread Tommy’s legs apart.

  “Are we going to blindfold him, too?” she asked.

  “Not yet. That comes later, when we pleasure him. He needs a little thrashing first.”

  She sucked in her breath, unsure how far Angel prepared to take her on this initiation.

  He dug around in his night table again and produced a common schoolhouse ruler made from plain natural wood. She stretched her neck to peek inside the drawer, wondering what other devices he had hidden only inches away from where they slept.

  She eyed the ruler with curiosity. She expected something a little more hardcore, perhaps a paddle or the infamous cat o’ nine tails that caused the uproar back in L.A.

  Angel lay on top of Tommy, ruler in hand. He twisted Tommy’s hair into a pony tail and yanked his head back. With his other hand he traced the edge of the ruler down Tommy’s torso, leaving a bright pink line across Tommy’s fair skin. Angel put his lips to Tommy’s ear and lowered his voice. “You need to be taught a lesson and Jessi’s going to give it to you. She’s going to redden your bottom and I’m going to watch. I’m going to tell her how many times to hit you and how hard. And, maybe, I’ll get a couple of licks in myself. When we’re done with you, you’re not going to be able to sit for a week.” He bit down on Tommy’s neck and pulled at the flesh with his teeth.

  Tommy let out a deep sigh and his eyes rolled up into his head.

  Angel’s harsh bite turned into a succulent kiss and he licked his way down Tommy’s spine. The combination of rough and tender left Jessi wet between her legs. She hadn’t expected the erotic charge or the anticipation. She no longer wanted to participate. She’d much rather watch the show.

  Angel sat back on his knees and passed the ruler to Jessi. She tapped it against the palm of her hand with a mischievous, yet slightly nervous smile. Tommy was ready, with his butt perched up in the air, as he waited for the first strike of the wood against his flesh. She depressed the pointed edge of the ruler into his skin, and he rose a little higher on his knees. She leaned down and kissed the mark it left. Her tongue took over and glided across his soft buttocks and found the warm crevice between his cheeks. She flicked her tongue against his opening and it invited her inside.

  Just as Tommy started to moan, Angel gently pulled her off of him by the back of her hair. “Not yet. He needs to earn that.” He held her hair in his hand and kissed her. His tongue assaulted her mouth with a ravenous hunger. It was the kiss he always bestowed upon her during one of their passionate encounters, and she knew that Angel was as aroused by this game as much as Tommy. She had the feeling that before it was all over she would equally enjoy it.

  She teased Tommy with the ruler and gently bounced it off his buttocks. She knew he wanted more by the way he grunted and postured himself in the air. Angel watched and encouraged her with the nod of his head, while he held his erect cock in his hand.

  She smacked Tommy harder but still soft enough not to leave a mark, and she was surprised that she anxiously awaited the delivery of the next blow. She struck him again, several times in succession, pausing for a brief second between each strike. Every time she connected with Tommy’s flesh, he gasped and jolted off the bed. He had several bright pink rectangular marks across his buttocks, but she wasn’t concerned. She struck him again, and he moved to his knees, with the arms still held wide apart by the sashes that secured his hands to the bed post.

  He looked over his shoulder at her and then
glanced at Angel. “Take turns,” he said. “I want one from you, then one from Angel.”

  Angel greedily took the ruler and delivered a blow that was much harder than the ones Jessi offered. She flinched, but at the same time, wetness dripped onto her inner thighs. “Do it again.”

  Angel obliged, sending two or three harsh whacks onto Tommy’s now reddened bottom.

  Jessi leaned over so she could see Tommy’s face. His head was hung into his chest and his hair was draped over his face. His breath came in heavy gasps from pain mixed with pleasure. Her eyes traveled down his body and she saw the head of his cock. It glistened and bubbled. She wanted to grab it in her hand and suck it dry, but she didn’t know if that was in violation of the rules. She stroked and teased his inner thighs, but never touched him where he wanted to be touched. Every time her hand avoided his ready-to-erupt cock, he released another drop of precious fluid.

  Angel placed the ruler back in her hand and motioned for her to use it. She sent another sharp smack onto Tommy’s bottom, which caused him to buck. She was empowered by the authority and control. She wanted to use it again, but thought Tommy had enough. Her eye caught Angel as he stroked himself and gazed at Tommy through half-closed lustful eyes. She smacked Angel on the butt with the ruler instead, much harder than she hit Tommy.

  Angel’s surprised gasp turned into a provocative chuckle. “You vamp!” He returned the blow with his bare hand on her behind.

  It sent an unexpected jolt through her body, and she fell back onto one hand. Angel quickly reached out to her, concerned that he hurt her, but it was the rush of endorphins that knocked her off her knees and blinded her. She took his hand, and he pulled her up. She circled her hands around his neck and whispered in his ear, “You can hit me like that any time you want.”

  Tommy strained his head in their direction. “If you two are going to put on a show, you’d better untie me because I want a front row seat.”

  Oh how she wished there was truth in Tommy’s statement. One day, she kept telling herself, one day Angel would fall and delve into the forbidden fruit between her legs. Since she stopped pursuing him, the limited interactions they shared were spontaneous and passionate and often at Angel’s initiation. His interest in her had advanced a great deal since he first joined their bed.