Indulgence (Taking Chances #1)

by Jeanne McDonald

  The lights dimmed and the room burst back to life. All at once, people began to strip. My mouth dropped at how easily the crowd discarded their clothes, as if it were nothing.

  “Told you to give it time,” Amber chortled, “we’d be naked soon enough.” She reached behind her back and unzipped her dress, allowing it to slink down her now naked body.

  I looked away, feeling flushed. It wasn’t as if I hadn’t seen her naked before, but this was different. “Holy shit! You didn’t wear panties?”

  Amber laughed at my sudden shyness, and tugged on the thin strap that held up my dress. “They’re pointless. Now, c’mon. Get undressed and let’s go have some fun.”

  I grabbed my dress before it fell to the floor, moving my eyes out over the room. The tingly feeling I had was gone, and so was Sebastian. Disappointed, I allowed my dress to pool at my feet and shimmied out of my panties.

  A young woman, dressed much like the rest of Sebastian’s staff, appeared out of nowhere and collected our clothing, marking our cards with our claim numbers. Her eyes remained upward, careful not to look down at our nakedness. Not that I blamed her. If I were in her position, I’d probably be walking around with blinders on.

  Naked as the day I was born, I fought the urge to cover myself. You never realize how awkward placing your hands can be until you’re exposed, butt-naked, to the world. To make matters worse, I was kicking myself in the ass for allowing Amber to talk me into a full Brazilian wax a few days earlier. If I’d know what she intended for me, I probably wouldn’t have done it. Any covering at this point, even curly pubes, would’ve been nice.

  All of my senses felt heightened through my anxiety. Bare human flesh in all various shapes, sizes and colors invaded my vision. The smell of sex already overpowered the scent of cinnamon. My mouth watered with lust at the sight before me. The hair on my skin rose. My nipples were harder than they’d ever been in my life. A thin sheen of moisture glazed my thighs. To say I was aroused by the stimulation in front of me would’ve been an understatement.

  People began to migrate from the main room. Some by themselves. Some coupled. Others grouped up. But the pattern was all the same. Men, women—all touching, fondling, laughing, and wanton. Did I really want to be a part of that? The thought was fun, but the execution, well, that was a different story.

  “Where do you want to go first?” Amber asked, rubbing her hands together like a kid in a candy store. “Usually I’d go straight to the BDSM room, but I think that’s a little too advanced for you to start off with. You know, it’s been awhile since I’ve done vanilla. This could be fun.” She tapped her finger to her chin, contemplating our options. “Hmm. Let’s see. We could check out voyeurism? Or maybe straight couples? Masturbation could be fun, too.”

  My head swirled with all of the options. I’d never thought of sex in the terms of vanilla or not. Sex was sex, was it not?

  “Um, wherever,” I swallowed down my nervous energy, reaching behind me for the liquid courage I’d left sitting on the bar as I disrobed, “you think.” My fingers wrapped around the glass. Condensation coated my fingers, making them nearly as wet as my thighs. I pulled the straw to my lips and drained the glass dry. There wasn’t enough alcohol in the building to give me the courage I needed to make it through the night.

  Amber bounced up and down, almost giggling in glee. “The possibilities are endless. God, this is going to be so much fucking fun,” she snickered. “Literally.”

  Damn, I was in trouble. Lord only knew what she was about to put me in the middle of.

  Just as I was about to tell her to lead the way, that tingling feeling burst a new round of goose flesh over my already over stimulated body. I searched the crowd for Sebastian, certain he was nearby.

  “Another drink, Miss,” came the sultry voice from behind the bar. I turned around, positive Sebastian was behind me, only to be disappointed to find another employee of his.

  Piercing blue eyes peered at me from behind a basic black mask. Unlike the other bartender, a velvet boiler hat covered his hair, and he wore a black vest over his crisp white shirt. Shapely lips twisted into a lopsided grin. There was something all too familiar about his features. His chiseled jawline, the shape of his mouth, even his posture seemed familiar to me. “Do I know you?” I blurted out.

  He chuckled. “I don’t think so. I’m sure I’d remember a beautiful woman such as yourself.”

  “Smooth,” Amber jibbed.

  The bartender laughed. “Not intentionally, I assure you. Is there anything I can get for you, ladies?”

  I placed my empty glass back on the bar. My body was a livewire, making me still believe that Sebastian was in close proximity, but this bartender suddenly had my attention. He was charismatic, and from what I could tell behind the mask and the tailored clothing, he was quite a tasty morsel of a man. Choosing to ignore my instincts about Sebastian, I scooted my glass toward him and smiled. “Another Sprite and vodka, please.”

  “I’m here to serve,” he remarked, taking my empty cup, making it disappear behind the bar at the same time he made a fresh glass appear. An apparent master of mixology, he went straight to work pouring my drink. He finished it off with a squeeze of lime and placed it in front of me. “Here ya go, Red. Enjoy.”

  My eyes widened and mouth went dry. Even Amber stood unmoving, staring at the poor guy.

  “What? Did I grow a third head in the last ten seconds or something?” he asked, his tone quite defensive.

  I shook my head and guzzled down the drink he’d presented to me, savoring the carbonated bubbles invading my mouth. My mind whirled with a million thoughts. Could his familiarity be because he was Jacoby? Could that be why I recognized him? But it couldn’t be. He didn’t sound like my ex, and he most definitely wasn’t built like him. It was a coincidence that he happened to call me Red. A strange, freak accident.

  With my liquid courage gone, I had no choice but to tell him why there was now an awkwardness between us.

  “Sorry, um,” I pretended to stutter, “um, I don’t think I caught your name.” It didn’t hurt to put a name to the practically faceless man.

  A partial smile appeared, but it didn’t reach his eyes. “It’s Lukas, but you can call me Luke.”

  Well, that was one mystery solved. “Sorry, Luke,” I began again. “My ex used to call me Red.”

  “Shit. I’m sorry. I have the worst habit of shoving my foot in my mouth. I promise not to call you that again.”

  I was unable to contain my smile. He really was sweet and sincere. Deep down, I felt a twinge of disappointment. I sorta liked the way that name sounded on his lips.

  “You know what, call me Red.”

  “Really?” Amber sounded shocked.

  “Yeah. It’s time I get over the past.”

  Amber wrapped her arms around my shoulders, pressing her boobs into my arm. “That’s my girl.”

  “Red it is,” Luke agreed. His bright smile returned. My insides flip-flopped at the sight.

  “Ladies.”

  Amber and I turned away from the bar to see David, in all his nude glory, stalking toward us. “There you two are. I’ve been looking everywhere for you.”

  Naturally, his dick had to be in my immediate line of vision. I tilted my head upward to keep from staring at his hard cock, which bounced with each step he took. In the end, my curiosity won over my moral dignity. The man had a bigger dick than my last two boyfriends combined. He put poor Jacoby to shame. Other than porn, I couldn’t recall ever seeing a penis that large. It had to be surgically enhanced. There was no way any man could be that big naturally.

  Amber jabbed me with her elbow. At this rate, I would be bruised black and blue, not from sex, but from Amber’s elbow, by the end of the night. “Stop staring,” she whispered so only I could hear.

  “So, this is where you’ve been hiding out,” David teased. He appeared so comfortable with his surroundings. Unable to help myself, I allowed my eyes to drift down his long, defined torso. His
tan skin rippled with muscles. I stopped my gaze right at the point of his hip flexors. There’s not a woman on the planet that doesn’t love a man with a well-defined “V.” It was bad enough that I could see the tip of his cock in my peripheral vision. If I dropped my eyes any lower, I’d be staring at his dick again. “Have you decided where you’re going to start?”

  “Not yet. Any suggestions?” Amber purred, sensuality dripping from her lips.

  David stepped closer to her, trailing his finger down her arm. “Have you ever considered being a submissive?”

  It was a good thing I didn’t have a drink in my mouth, because it would’ve surely spurted out my nose with that one. Amber, submit. In his dreams. Her control freak nature wouldn’t have it.

  “I’m not the submitting type,” she told him. “But I would be more than happy to spank a little submission into you.”

  “Oh good grief,” I mumbled, slapping my hand over my eyes. Luke snickered from behind me. The sound of his breathless laugh made me tingle all over again. That’s when it hit me; I hadn’t stopped tingling. Maybe my Sebastian radar was faulty and it had been the sex-crazed nympho in me all along that only made me believe Sebastian had something to do with the weird and wonderful way I felt in his presence.

  Amber must’ve remembered I was there because she immediately straightened up and locked her arm around my shoulders. “Although, that might be a little too much for Addison.”

  A look of disappointment flittered across David’s face. “Actually,” I started, shimmying out of Amber’s grasp, “how about you two go have some fun. I think I’ll hang here for a little while.”

  “What? No. I couldn’t leave you,” Amber argued.

  I patted the side of her face. “You can and you will. I’m going to have another drink and build up my courage to venture out. I’ll be just fine.”

  “I’ll keep watch over her,” Luke chimed in.

  Amber glanced over her shoulder at the sweet bartender and then back at me. “Are you sure?”

  “Positive. Now go have fun.”

  She nodded and placed a quick peck on my cheek. “Come find me if you need me. And please don’t stay at this bar all night. You’re here to explore and have fun. Okay?”

  I nodded. David extended his arm out to Amber. She accepted and was escorted to the staircase. As she started to climb the stairs, she looked back out toward me. I wiggled my fingers in a little wave, letting her know I was okay. She returned the gesture and disappeared around the corner.

  When she was completely out of sight, I turned back to the bar to find Luke standing there. “Want another drink?”

  “And another, and another,” I replied.

  “You got it.”

  Chapter Seven

  I slurped down the remainder of my drink, only stopping when my straw indicated that my cup was empty. Couth was not in my repertoire for the evening, or so it seemed. Shedding one’s clothes and sitting their naked ass on a barstool, along with copious amounts of alcohol, can really make people forget themselves.

  How long I’d been sitting at the bar, I didn’t know. There didn’t seem to be a single clock in the house from what I could tell. Stupid me didn’t think of wearing a watch, either. Who wore a watch in this day and age, anyway? That’s what cell phones were for.

  Luke meandered over to me again, taking my empty cup from the bar and magically producing another from thin air. I gave him my best grin. “Thanks.” He returned my gratitude with a cute, little wink as he made his way to the end of the bar to take drink requests from a group who’d kept me entertained when Luke was taking care of other guests. He’d been attentive throughout the evening, never allowing me to be alone for too long. When he smiled, my heart fluttered. The sound of his laugh made the butterflies in my stomach come to life. It was safe to say I liked Luke.

  One of the girls from the group burst into a fit of laughter. My head jerked in their direction to see what was so funny. There were four of them, three girls and a guy, and they’d been rather loud about their expectations of the night and their previous sexcapades. I was annoyed by their near childish behavior, but amused by their conversation.

  “You’re so silly,” the laugher chortled.

  “No I’m not. He’s fucking gorgeous,” one of the blonde girls said. I cringed at the sound of her giggling. “I bet he has a really big,” she leaned in, pointing down between her legs, and whispered, “thingy.”

  I almost died at her calling a man’s penis a ‘thingy.” Really? We’re at an erotic masquerade and she can’t even say penis, cock, dick, or dong? Hell, that was just scratching the surface of the many descriptives I could come up with for the male genitalia, and “thingy” wouldn’t have made the list.

  Placing my elbow on the bar, I rested my head in the palm of my hand, tilting it so I could get a better look at these people. They were everything I’d expected them to be. Two blondes and a brunette all hung off of a Fabio wannabe whose hand was cupping two of the girls’ butts. Lord, if Sebastian handpicked these four, he had to have done it for pure comedic value only. Looking over their practically perfect bodies, I assumed it might be easier to measure how many body parts were real rather than fake, because they’d all spent way too much money on cosmetic surgery.

  “Hmm. I bet he does. Big and thick,” agreed the other blond. “I would love to suck him off.”

  “Me too. I’d give him a blow job he’d never forget.” The brunette flipped her hair away from her shoulder, pushing her boobs into Fabio’s back. Blonde number one moved just enough for me to see Fabio’s erection. I could check that off my list of possible fake body parts, because that boy wasn’t packing.

  “We could all do it together,” Blonde number two suggested.

  “And I could fuck all of you while you do,” Fabio added.

  I dropped my face into my hand, rolling my eyes. Oh, these four were priceless.

  “Who are they talking about?” I muttered under my breath.

  A warm whisper caressed the side of my neck. “They’re talking about me.”

  My head popped up to find Luke staring down at me. “You?” I exclaimed. “Seriously?”

  “Is that so hard to believe?”

  I opened my mouth to respond, but nothing came out. It wasn’t hard to believe because I had to admit, I too had wondered how he looked without his clothes. It seemed a little unfair he got to see me naked and I didn’t get to see him in all his glory.

  From the corner of my eye, I caught sight of someone beckoning Luke. “Be right back,” he stated and dashed off to take care of his customer.

  The warmth that exuded from him left me feeling higher than the alcohol I’d ingested. I sighed and watched him chat with the other patron, a pretty brunette with perky breasts and long, flowing hair. Well, I couldn’t expect him to cater to only me all night. Although, I hadn’t expected to feel the twinge of jealousy either. I shrugged it off as me being silly, and returned my attention to the group at the end of the bar. I sucked on my straw, trying to look inconspicuous. I didn’t want to them realize I was eavesdropping. That would’ve killed my fun.

  “I bet he doesn’t fuck as good as you,” busty blonde number two purred to Fabio.

  Oh, so they’ve finally decided to make it with this guy. About time. My brow furrowed as I caught another glimpse of his poor, little dick. Wonder if he’s on Viagra because he’s been sporting wood for quite awhile.

  The man leaned in toward the women, the tip of his erection brushing along blonde number two’s thigh. “What do you say we take this conversation upstairs? Maybe we could be lucky enough to have him watch me fuck you three senseless.”

  I sputtered and choked. They hoped that Luke would watch them? Now, that was priceless. That’s when it hit me. Luke was pulling my leg. They weren’t talking about him. They were talking about Sebastian. Still coughing, I mentally smacked myself. I stepped right into that one. Alcohol apparently made me gullible.

  All four of them turned, gl
aring at me as if I’d interrupted something important. “Sorry,” I gasped, banging on my chest before realizing I’d just given the entire bar a great boob shot. “Wrong pipe.” I quickly crossed my arms over my chest, leaning back against the bar.

  “That’s never comfortable.” came Luke to my rescue.

  I squirmed a little in my seat at his sudden nearness. His dulcet tone embraced me, seducing me. My heart rate spiked and my desire pulsed between my thighs. My eyes fluttered and I smiled, clearing my throat. “No, it’s not.”

  “Are you okay?” Fabio feigned concern.

  “I’m fine,” I replied, waving my fingers from under my arm, to further my point.

  Fabio’s eyes moved up and down me. The way he looked at me made me feel uncomfortable, almost sick. He reminded me of a predator, and even though he had three beautiful women ready to bounce his balls, he was still on the hunt, and I was his new prey. Luke seemed to sense my discomfort and moved to intervene. “Weren’t you just about to take these beautiful ladies upstairs?” he suggested.

  The three women looked between Fabio, Luke, and me. A voracious snarl curled the brunette’s lips, but the blondes seemed lost in translation. “Would you like to join us?” he asked me, moving out from the ring of women that surrounded him. “I’m sure that you’re a fiery fuck.”

  My mouth dropped and my eyes widened in disbelief. This dude had no game whatsoever.

  “Thanks, but I’m waiting for someone,” I lied. It was the first thing I could come up with.

  Fabio licked his lips and wrapped his arms around each of the blonde’s shoulders. “Maybe later.”

  I grabbed my glass and shoved my straw in my mouth, slurping down the watered down liquid. “Yeah. Whatever,” I slurred from behind my straw. Anything to get rid of this guy.

  “Enjoy your night,” Luke heralded, waving the foursome off. Fabio and the three bimbos migrated to the staircase and disappeared.

  “Wow, that dude seriously needed to buy a clue,” I claimed, placing my once again empty cup back on the bar.