Slade

by Adriane Leigh

  “Who are you going to lunch with?” I couldn’t bite back the question burning in my brain any longer.

  “Just a friend,” was all she offered.

  “Alright. I’ll call you.” I murmured beneath her ear.

  “The fuck you will.” She grinned before bouncing down the steps to her car.

  I licked my lips and thought over last night as I watched her pull out with a wave.

  The night I’d asked her for, the night that’d left us here–all bantery and sexy. While I knew the banter was a defense mechanism, it still made my dick hard enough to pound nails. The more time I spent with her, the more I loved being with her. She was a hard ass, but so soft and sweet when I had her in bed.

  She was goddamn perfect.

  I was so fucked.

  After leaving Dillon’s, I went back to my place for a quick shower and then jumped on the expressway. I needed some tools from the hardware store that the local store didn’t carry. I hit the next town over, just fifteen minutes up the coast, and aimed for the store I’d been frequenting more often than not the past few weeks building the bench.

  In and out in less than ten, so I stopped at the local brewery. Best beer in Maine and it was made just a few miles from my doorstep. I liked to keep a stockpile of it in my fridge for when the boys came over, or when the game was on, or pretty much any time.

  With a few six packs in hand I went back to my truck, anxious to get home and put some finishing touches on the bench for Wild. The twins were due in just a few weeks and Kat was as miserable as ever. Maybe I’d stop by the marina and share a beer with him.

  How do your nipples feel? I was about to send the text to Dillon when a car passed, catching my attention. A shiny, black Audi whipped into a parking spot across the street. Right next to what looked like Dillon’s Honda.

  Then I saw her sitting at an outdoor table and a smile lit my lips when I thought about asking her just how her nipples were feeling in person when Audi dude approached her table. A wide smile covered her face and she stood to wrap him in a warm hug.

  “What the fuck?” I growled as I watched the douche in perfectly torn jeans that hung too low on his ass plant a kiss on her cheek.

  My heart galloped in my chest and my palms tingled.

  “Jesus Christ.” I sat stone still, unsure of what to do.

  Confront her? Make myself out to be a raging lunatic stalker asshole? Confirm every fear she had ever had about me?

  Or give her the benefit of the doubt.

  Sit here like an asshole watching her from across the street.

  “Fuck, fuck, fuck,” I grumbled and started my truck, throwing it into gear and roaring off down the street.

  I couldn’t fucking think straight. I knew every goddamn person in this county. Every friend she had. My mind clicked through the possibilities. Family? She had none that I knew of. Friends? None that weren’t from Rock Island. And why was she meeting him out of town?

  This was bad, way fucking bad.

  I missed my exit and kept driving. Miles passed as I worked over endless possibilities in my brain. I finally pulled off the expressway and glanced at a sign. Belfast. Fucking thirty miles up the coast.

  I stopped at a pull off, surrounded in woods, overlooking the angry ocean. All the beauty Maine had to offer lay in these quiet coastal hamlets to the north. I’d always wanted to own property up this way. It was probably the reason my instinct had me heading north when I’d left Camden and just drove.

  Rolling white-caps smashed upon granite shaded in pinks and reds. My mind wandered as it succumbed to the drugging rhythm of the waves.

  When people tell you what they are, believe them.

  The words echoed in my head.

  I’m a slut.

  I mess around with a lot of people.

  I haven’t slept with anyone since—and she made it sound like…

  “Fuck,” I muttered and cracked open a beer. There was only one thing to believe. The only thing Dillon had told me about herself. So I would believe it. I didn’t know where that left me or us or my plan, but there was nothing else to believe. Dillon was on a date. Dillon was fucking that douche.

  My head pounded in protest.

  Why was she always doing this to herself? Putting herself in situations ripe for rumor. I shook my head, irritation and an even greater sense of disappointment falling over me.

  “Fuck!” My voice boomed around the cab of the truck.

  I didn’t call Dillon that night like I’d planned to. It wasn’t that I was playing games with her. Not at all, I just couldn’t wrap my brain around what I’d seen. The next morning dawned and I’d tossed and turned all night, bags under my eyes with an attitude to match.

  I hit the marina around lunchtime to see Wild. I told him what I’d seen. He told me I told you so. I called him a useless cocksucker before peeling out of the parking lot. I hit the highway and drove, tapping my fingers on the steering wheel to too-loud classic rock, trying to get lost in the trees, pavement, and rock riffs around me.

  Three hours later and I was in Portland.

  I’d considered checking in at LUST, but there wasn’t often anything for me to do. I had a business partner and manager who generally took care of everything and allowed me to be hands-off. I wanted to keep myself removed from the sex club I owned because Maine was a conservative state, Rock Island an even more conservative town within it. Judgement would fly and I wasn’t interested in all that.

  So instead I found myself in the state-of-the-art kitchen at my apartment overlooking the city. I poured myself a glass of Scotch and planted myself in a lounge chair with a view of the Portland skyline and the bay beyond.

  I thought about calling Ridge, seeing if he wanted to get together tonight, but I wasn’t in the mood for company. I didn’t think I could put two words together if I had a gun to my head. It seemed like Ridge was fucked up these days anyway with something I didn’t want to get involved in. He had his own shit to work out with a pregnant girlfriend and an ex he couldn’t shake.

  When a man wants to be solitary it’s because he’s working through something in his head. We’re thick-skulled jackasses most of the time and bad company when shit’s bothering us.

  Then again, maybe getting lost in work wasn’t a bad idea.

  I took a shower and then pulled on dress pants and a nice button-down before running out the door. I hopped into the Jag and raced my way to LUST. The sun was just setting as I stepped into my office at the club. I propped myself in my office chair, feet reclined on the window sill that overlooked the floor below.

  Women on leashes, and leather, hemp, and toys held in the hands of Maine’s most powerful men and women. My eyes both saw and didn’t see.

  I watched a beautiful blonde walk in on the arm of an older gentleman. Distinguished. Sort of familiar. Well, son of a bitch, Senator Carver. He must’ve been a new member. That was the thing about LUST, always discreet, exclusive. We had an intensive process to gain membership as a means of preserving the utmost discretion for our clients.

  The senator grabbed them each a drink before they sat on an overstuffed, velvet couch that overlooked a couple engaging in a near-threesome. They weren’t yet having sex, but they were pretty hot and heavy into the foreplay.

  The gentleman leaned over and stroked the soft curve of the blonde’s thigh. She whispered in his ear. He ran a fingertip through her hair and down the lean line of her neck.

  She was beautiful.

  I watched them, riveted, for a few minutes and wondered what their status was. Together? Fuck buddies? Something else? Maybe they’d just met. There didn’t seem to be a lot of intimacy established between them. He finally leaned and whispered into her ear before nodding to a back room. She smiled and pointed at a girl getting worked over with a flogger.

  My dick stirred in my pants.

  I never got turned on when I was in business mode. It was a line I never crossed, but Dillon had me fucked up.

  I was down
here because of her. Sitting in this office because of her. Thinking of fucking that blonde with long legs because of her. Losing myself in another platinum angel.

  Why not choose someone here? That would make the most sense. If I was into this lifestyle, it would make sense to pick a like-minded individual. But the pull to Dillon was inescapable. She drove me in-fucking-sane, but I couldn’t help myself.

  I was lost in her web.

  I rubbed my dick beneath my pants and watched the couple head down the long hallway to the private rooms.

  Go, go, go, my mind raged.

  Get lost in a threesome. Get over Dillon. Fuck her and her sleeping around. Let her stay with that douchebag she was with yesterday.

  I swallowed the lump lodged in my throat and moved away from the window, my dick and my mind warring. Getting lost in pussy would only bring more trouble, might as well get lost in work, something that could actually bring me more money.

  I opened an email from Mark. A business proposal to expand reach, market to new potential clients.

  It was a good idea but it would require a hefty investment, something I wasn’t sure I was interested in doing, especially when our primary goal was discretion, and since I was majority shareholder, it was my ultimate decision. I sent him a quick email and then browsed the quarterlies. I didn’t know much about accounting, but I knew how to compare dollar signs. A small discrepancy caught my eye and I made a note to contact our accountant.

  I shot off an email before closing my computer, my mind already wandering, as if it’d ever gotten far from Dillon anyway.

  A few hours later I left, just as things were starting to pick up at the club, and went back to my apartment. I stripped down to my boxer briefs, Scotch in hand, and planted myself on the balcony of my ninth floor condo and watched the sun rise, no closer to any sense of resolution than I’d been when I left..

  I stayed in Portland for a week. I lost myself in business, and business was good.

  I refrained from losing myself in pussy, and thankfully, I thought about Dillon a little less every night. The anger eased.

  I headed back to Rock Island. I still wasn’t sure what I would say to Dillon, to bring it up or not, but I was ready to see her, get back to normal life.Dillon texted once while I was away and I hadn’t answered. I didn’t know what she was thinking and I couldn’t bring myself to care.

  Thursday night rolled around and I made my way to the bar, figuring she’d be working, figuring the place would be more on the quiet side. I walked in, and there she stood, chatting with a customer in a darkened corner. Hand on her hip, bright smile on her face. She lit the bar like the sun.

  My own personal sun. That hair, those lips, those curves.

  I grunted, willed my aching erection to keep it down, and then made my way to a vacant spot, opposite of everyone else. Her eyes flicked around when the door eased closed before stopping on me. Anger clouded her vision before they flicked away again. She continued to chat, ignoring me.

  Well, fuck.

  I deserved it. Sort of. I think.

  I ran a hand through my hair and then leaned over the bar to help myself to a beer. She continued to ignore me. Finally another customer came in when I’d nearly finished my beer, and she was forced to turn. She avoided my eyes as she took his order, mixed his drink, then went to turn back to the original customer.

  “Dillon?”

  Her long hair flew around her shoulders and she caught me with a death glare. Icy blue eyes bore into mine.

  “‘Nother beer?” I tipped my empty bottle.

  She rolled her eyes and went back to chatting with the customer.

  Fuck no.

  I stood, barstool scraping, downed the rest of the bottle and slammed it on the counter before taking long strides to her.

  “Don’t ignore me, beautiful.” I leaned over the bar and slipped a warm palm around her neck to bring her face close to mine. Breaths exchanged back and forth, her body panted as her eyes flicked over my face, assessed my anger level.

  “Fuck off,” she murmured and pulled out of my reach. Suddenly, being here with her, seeing her, I wanted her. Every desire I had came crashing back. I thought I’d tucked her into the dark recesses of my mind while I was away for the week, but standing before me, I craved her more than ever.

  “Not yet.” I made my way around the bar and slipped behind to stand face to face, body to body. Her body heaved, warm breaths washed across my face as anger flared and sparked in her eyes.

  “Get out, Slade,” she mumbled.

  “Talk to me.” I ran fingertips across her collarbone, warm skin touching warm skin, goosebumps popping and nerves firing. “Please.” I leaned to whisper in her ear. She shifted restlessly, her body responding, but her eyes still blazed with molten hot lava.

  I ran a hand down her sweater-covered arm to interlace our fingers. My thumb ran slow circles on her palm before my grip tightened and I pulled her behind me. “We’ll just be a minute,” I nodded at the customer she’d been talking with.

  His eyes shot up with surprise. Bastard thought he’d get in her pants tonight. Newsflash, asshole, this girl was mine.

  I pulled her down the long corridor and into the back office.

  “Hurry up.” She dropped my hand and crossed her arms over her chest.

  “What the fuck is wrong with you?”

  “Me?!” she shrieked.

  “You’re being a bitch.”

  “Don’t fucking call me that, ever.” She shot a finger into my face, breath washing hot and angry over my skin.

  “Don’t be one.” My eyebrows arched as I challenged her. I loved the fuck out of this.

  “I’m so angry at you right now.”

  “Good, you’ll fuck better.”

  Her jaw worked back and forth as she processed my words.

  “Wet, aren’t you, beautiful?” I cocked a grin as I registered her thighs shifting back and forth.

  “Fuck off.” She pushed me in the shoulder and spun to head out the door.

  “Not so fast.” I pinned her against the door, my dick pressing onto the soft slope of her ass. I plastered her arms above her head, interlaced our fingers, and held her there with my body.

  “Let me go,” she muttered and wiggled beneath me.

  “Not ready to yet,” I murmured, grazing my teeth along her earlobe.

  “I hate you.”

  “Why?” I urged.

  “Because I can’t trust you.”

  “What have I ever done to make you not trust me?”

  “Where have you been for the last week?” she gritted through a tense jaw.

  “Away.”

  “Exactly.” She wrenched her arms from my grip and spun to face me. “Get the fuck off.”

  This time the fire burned in my eyes. “I’m trying.” I rubbed my cock against her pelvis.

  “You’re on your own then.” A smug grin split her lips and just like that she was gone. With the twist of a door knob she was down the hallway and back at the bar.

  “Fuck!” I raged and thrust my fingers through my hair. “God fucking dammit!”

  “What’s got your balls in a twist, man?” Wild’s voice laughed down the hall.

  “Fuck off.” I launched out of the office, slamming the door in my wake. Wild’s amused chuckle followed me.

  “Told ya, brother!” were the last words I heard him holler as I pulled open the old wooden door and headed for my truck.

  Plan fucking B, whatever that was.

  A few hours later I found myself on her doorstep waiting with a small kitten curled in my lap. I ran my fingers through its soft fur as I thought. “Wish you could give me some insight, little one.” I spoke as I caressed. The kitten purred in response. “You’re not very helpful,” I muttered.

  I was sick as fuck of her running.

  And what did they say? The harder the chase the more you appreciate the victory?

  She pulled in just after two a.m. Her headlights flashing across the yard set
my heart to a gallop.

  “I’m tired, Slade. Can we do this back and forth bullshit another night?” she grumbled as she walked up to me, taking the kitten from my lap and nuzzling it against her neck before setting it down

  “No can do.” I stood. “You okay?” She looked worn. Beat. Tired.

  “Yeah.” She breezed past me and worked the key in the lock before pushing through her front door. She peeled garments off as she went. Discarded shoes, a dropped purse. I followed her through to the bedroom.

  She tossed her apron in the corner. The same one I’d tied her up with that night. I wondered if she thought about me inside her every time she looked at it in the days since. Every time her slender fingers crossed the strings, if she thought of the rough fabric pulling against her wrists as she arched and fought the restraint while I brought her pleasure.

  I fucking hoped so. Just the sight of it now had my dick stirring, pleading for a taste. To indulge in her sinful body just one more time. Always one more time.

  “We need to talk.” I crossed my arms and stood in her bedroom doorway while she rummaged through her closet.

  “No, I don’t think we do.”

  “Well, I do.” I watched her pull a pair of pajama bottoms and a tank top from a drawer.

  She brushed past me and headed for the bathroom across the hall.

  I sighed and ran a hand through my hair. She shut the door behind her and I heard the water kick on.

  “Dillon, stop fucking ignoring me.” I pushed the bathroom door open to find her just slipping behind the shower curtain.

  “Like you did to me?” she replied as the small space began to steam up.

  I tore the clothes from my body and followed her in. “I saw you that day,” I growled as I pressed her body against the cool shower tile.

  “What day?” she asked, the steam thick and curling around her voice, giving it a soft timbre, a gentle echo bouncing off the close walls.

  “At lunch.” I held her wrists above her head in one hand as I trailed the other up her rib cage.

  “In Camden?”

  “Mhmm,” I affirmed.