by Brook Wilder
“Hey, Carla. What’s her name?” he asked, and Carla peered at his serious expression.
“It’s Elle. Her name is Elle Watson.”
As Carla turned to hurry after her friend she swore she saw him mouthing the name.
Chapter 11
It took Carla almost twenty minutes to track down her friend, finally finding her in one of the back storage rooms adjacent to where she knew Joel, and some of the others, had apartments and directly across from the room that was used as an office when they were planning their next heists. She wondered briefly again where Joel was, if he was looking for her, but shrugged it off as she finally cornered her friend.
“Elle, there you are! You left so fast I never even had a chance to introduce you to Joel, and–”
“I don’t care,” she interrupted, and Carla could see the struggle to control her emotions. It was written all over her face, still flushed from the confrontation with Honey.
“Listen, whatever Honey said to you–”
“I don’t want to talk about it, Carla,” Elle interrupted again, “I just want to go home, okay? It was a mistake for me to come here. I knew it. I shouldn’t have come. This place is awful, those people are awful–” Carla could see the tears flood Elle’s warm brown eyes and hurried to throw her arms around her in a hug she knew her friend needed.
“Really, they’re not all assholes, Elle, I promise. I trust Joel, I really trust him and this is the only way that I can get away from Maurice. They’re helping me, Elle. You know how terrible he is, how much worse it’s gotten. Joel is…he’s the best thing to happen to me in a long time. I just need you to believe me, okay?”
“Well, I don’t know about your boyfriend, but you need to be careful, okay?” Elle started, only to be interrupted by a new voice.
“Hey, is everything okay in here?” Joel’s deep, rumbling tone cut through some of the tension and Carla turned to him gratefully.
“Joel, hi. This is my friend, Elle.” Carla pushed her towards him despite her reluctance and Joel turned to her with a megawatt smile and extended his hand. Elle took it, still suspicious, but at least no longer on the edge of tears from whatever had happened between her and Honey.
“It was Honey,” Carla said, tentatively trying to explain, “He…said some things.”
“Your bartender is a menace to society,” Elle cut in, a ferocious look on her face at odds with her blond ponytail and cat-eye glasses. Joel just nodded in sympathy.
“I know. Unfortunately, he’s like a rash that you can’t get rid of, and just have to learn how to deal with. You get used to him, eventually.”
“I doubt that,” Elle said, but Carla saw the humor shining in her eyes and the smile she was trying to fight at Joel’s words. She turned to Carla, calmer than she had been before. “Listen, I’m going to go, it was nice to meet you, Joel. You ready?”
“You know, I think I’m going to stay here. I saw my truck in the parking lot so I can just drive myself home.”
“Are you sure?” she asked dubiously, but Carla just nodded her head, her gaze fastened on Joel.
“Yep. Positive. I’ll see you later, okay?” Elle leaned in to give her a hug and Carla couldn’t help but roll her eyes at her and whispered ‘just be careful’ loud enough to be overheard in the next room. Joel just grinned good naturedly.
“Don’t worry, I’ll take good care of her,” he said, and Carla was glad her friend missed the note of sensual intent heavy in his words. Or maybe it was just her lust-addled mind conjuring things that weren’t there. Either way, she sighed in relief when Elle finally left, leaving her alone in the room with Joel. The silence stretched between them, longer and longer as tension filled the air, swirling around them, encompassing them in a cocoon of intimacy. Like they were the only two people in the whole world.
“So, your boyfriend, huh?” e said softly, his voice dropped an octave as he drew closer to her. Carla blushed as she realized he’d overheard the conversation, and wondered what else he had caught.
“I, uh, I had to say something. To convince her that you weren’t an ax-murderer out to kill me and steal my kidneys,” she said with an embarrassed shrug. Joel just threw back his head and laughed. But still, it didn’t lessen the tension.
“And, you trust me?” he said, all serious again as he took another step towards her.
She made herself straighten, closing the distance between them a little more before she forced her gaze to his.
“Yes,” she said, nodding her head, unable to look away as his gaze flared molten silver at her word and he closed the little bit of distance remaining between them.He still didn’t touch her, he didn’t grab her and pull her in for a kiss, or do any of the things that her body was desperate for.
“You trust me enough to tell me the truth?” he asked, his eyes never leaving hers, not letting go for a second, and she nodded again, breathless now, and it took her a minute to be able to speak.
“What do you want to know?” she asked, feeling a trembling start in in her whole body as he slowly began to circle her.
“Tell me about your old boyfriends,” he said, and she turned her head to look at him in surprise.
“Why do you want to know?” she asked, and saw his eyes flare hot at the challenge in her voice. He leaned close so that his next words whispered against her ear.
“Tell me.” It was a command, nothing less, and her entire body responded.
“There’s not much to tell,” she shrugged, “I didn’t really date in high school, I had a few boyfriends in college, but nothing really stuck, you know?”
“No one long term?” Joel was behind her now, and she could feel his fingers edge around the collar of her jacket.
“There was, um, there was Trevor, I guess. We dated for two years but it wasn’t…it wasn’t…” Carla trailed off as she struggled for the word, and tried to keep her focus as he slowly began to slide the outer layer from her shoulders.
“It wasn’t like this?” he finished for her, and all she could do was nod.
“What about you?” she whispered on a half sigh as he drew it the rest of the way off, slipping it from her arms and dropping it soundlessly to the floor.
“Me?” he asked, his voice distracted from behind her.
“Yeah, what about you?” She moved to look back at him but he stopped her with a single, light touch. He drew her face forward again.
“Don’t move. Don’t try and look at me. Stay exactly where you are.” His words were softly spoken, but the order behind them wasn’t at all. He laid a whisper-light kiss against the curve of her neck and she shuddered in response. To the touch, or the command, she wasn’t sure.
“I’m not nice, Carla. Don’t make the mistake of thinking that I am. I don’t have girlfriends, I don’t have lovers,” his voice dropped another octave, so deep she could feel it vibrate through her, drawing more moisture and heat to her center, “I fuck. And I always make sure everyone involved knows the score. Do you understand what I’m saying?”
Carla stood there, frozen for a moment as his words ricocheted through her. He was just spelling out what she’d known all along, had been prepared for. And it didn’t matter. If she could only have him for one night, then she would take it. Because she knew that the one night with him would be so much better than anything else she’d ever had before. She was tired of living with the weight and pressure of her situation, the constant fear and worry about Maurice. She wanted to live. She wanted to let go of everything else and enjoy herself for once in this sorry year. And the fact that it was Joel standing behind her, whispering dirty words in her ear, made it so much sweeter.
Finally, he made a circle all the way around her and drew back until they were face to face once more.
“So, Carla,” he leaned forward again, so close his lips brushed against hers as he spoke soft and rough and her eyes slid closed at the intense pleasure of it all. “Do you want me to fuck you?”
She exhaled a trembling breath at his
question, her heartbeat tripped over itself in her chest as it began to race even harder and finally, she nodded.
“Let me hear you say it,” he said, his voice somehow even rougher, huskier, “Tell me.”
“I want you to fuck me.”
Chapter 12
Joel’s breath shattered out of his lungs at her words and it was as if a switch had gone off. He grabbed her hand, and dragged her towards the back, through the door of his apartment and didn’t stop until he reached his bedroom. He finally slowed when her blue eyes widened at the sight.
He looked around, trying to see it through her eyes. The walls were painted a deep, dark indigo. The closest shade he could find to match the Colorado night sky and all the furniture was a glossy black that reflected a little of the dim sconce lights, the only illumination in the room. It made everything look like velvet and silk.
There were items laid out on the chest of drawers along the far wall, a lineup of his favorites from a simple paddle to vibrators, to anal toys and restraints. He watched her breath catch as she surveyed them all and satisfaction rolled through him when it wasn’t fear or trepidation he saw shining in her deep blue eyes, but pure lust. Her gaze caught on the web of straps dangling from the ceiling in one corner and stepped behind her, pulling her body against his. He had to stifle a pained groin as her hips nestled into him, making him, somehow, even harder than he already was.
“That’s my swing,” he said, barely able to talk past the desire choking him. But he wanted to go slow. He wanted to make it perfect for her. He wanted her screaming out his name, begging him the let her come before he took her.
“It…it doesn’t look like a swing,” she said, her voice soft and breaking on a sigh as his hands slid up from her hips to cradle both breasts, kneading them softly. Okay, maybe going slow with her was going to be more of a challenge that he’d thought.
“It’s a sex swing. It wraps around your arms, here,” he traced where they would go with his fingers, “Around your thighs, and under your chest, right here, to keep you in place.”
“Oh,” was the trembling reply and he had to hide a grin, instead leaving a trail of kisses down the side of her neck, “And what do you do?” she asked, so innocently that it had every instinct in him breaking free.
“Sugar, I do whatever I want,” he turned her in his arms, swept his hands down her bared back and simultaneously praised and cursed that dress. “I can tease you until you beg me to fuck you, I can make you come over and over and over, or bring you right to edge and stop. I can take you from behind, or in front. Any damn thing I want.”
He saw her drink in his words, her eyes growing round and then narrowing with heat as the possibilities danced through her head, but he knew she wasn’t ready for the swing quite yet. No, for tonight, he had something else in mind. Carla stepped back hesitantly, but when her eyes met his, they were all blue fire.
“And what do you want now?” she asked, and her husky voice melted over him like hot syrup. With a growl he pulled her close, shredding the dress from her body and had to close his eyes when he realized she hadn’t been wearing a damn thing underneath it.
“Fuck, Carla,” the words sawed out hoarsely as his mouth dropped to hers, kissing her fiercely before he pulled back. It was a fight to get himself back under control, and he struggled as he led her over to the bed.
“Lay down,” he growled the words and sucked in a breath as she cat-crawled to the center of the king-sized mattress before finally dropping to lie on her stomach. He lost the air in his lungs altogether at the sight of her, all that pale skin stretched out across the black silk sheets, laid out for him like the most delicious feast he’d ever seen. And he was starving for a taste.
Joel walked quickly over to the dresser and grabbed two of the items before he came back towards the bed, painfully hard at the vision she made, laid on his bed. Carla looked up curiously, but he slid the soft blindfold over her eyes, blocking out her questioning gaze.
“Roll over,” he ordered, and she immediately responded, turning to her back. He raised first one arm, and then the other over her head, securing both with the silk restraints he had grabbed and attaching each to the metal ring attached to his headboard. He leaned back, his gaze drinking her in as she writhed on the bed. He knew she was ready for him, but he had a lot more in store for her than a quick fuck. Oh, she had no idea.
*
Black, everything was black. The blindfold blocked out everything, all light so she couldn’t see the room, or whatever soft material held her arms tied, or Joel. But she could feel him. Oh, boy, could she feel him. Without sight, every other sense seemed to be magnified tenfold and every brush of his finger, every feather-light kiss sent her nerves spiraling out of control. It was so intense it was almost hard to draw a breath. She felt like she was drowning in pleasure. And still she wanted more, needed so much more.
“Please, Joel.”
“Begging already?” he asked from the darkness and her body writhed beneath him. The blindfold had also stolen any inhibitions that might have held her back, that might have stopped her from drinking in every drop of sensation he gave her.
“But we haven’t even started yet.” His rough whisper made her moan and she could feel his mouth trail wetly from her collar bone, across one breast, to latch onto her nipple. The hard pressure made her arch her back after the light, teasing touches and she cried out as he moved to the other, lavishing with just as much attention until they were both drawn to hard peaks. Every graze of his teeth against the sensitive flesh sent shockwaves shooting through her body, coalescing at her core, already soaking wet and so ready for him she could have wept.
His mouth moved further south, across her ribcage to tease across her belly, and traveled down one hip bone until finally reaching his destination. Carla felt his breath first, only that, and she tensed, wondering when the first touch would come. Just as she started to relax, his tongue flicked out--hot and wet--and drew her further into his mouth with every lick. He treated her like the sweetest morsel, his tongue swirling around her clit, humming in the back of his throat with every taste and it didn’t take long for her to reach the edge.
She felt her muscles tense again as shudders wracked her. She was so close, she could feel herself start to fall and then he abruptly stopped, pulling back.
“Joel!” she cried, desperate and needing him more than she’d ever needed anything before. There was a long moment where she writhed on the bed, her body searching for any release, but it was useless. She only needed him.
“Jesus, you’re so sweet, sugar.” His voice was suddenly close, right at her ear, and she could feel the weight of his body press against her but she couldn’t reach him no matter how hard she tugged against the restraints, couldn’t pull him that little bit closer that she needed. “I wanted to wait, but I don’t think I can. You’re just too damn sweet.”
Carla felt him move away for a moment and then the tell-tale sound of a foil ripping, a moment longer as he rolled on the condom and then he was back, blessedly back. She felt his hard length press against the wet, scorching hot heat of her and she arched her back, feeling wild and out of control. For another moment he teased her and then finally it was the breaking point for them both and he slammed home to the hilt. She moaned at the exquisite pleasure of it, so intense it was almost too much, but as he began to move, thrusting into her deeper and deeper, her body adjusted to his size.
With every hitch of his hips he hit that spot deep inside her, like an electric shock through her body every time and she didn’t even realize that she was calling out his name with every thrust. Tingling spread through her body like wildfire, building and building until she was just a mass of sensation and all she could do was hang on as fireworks flashed behind her eyelids, despite the blindfold that still darkened her world.
With one last cry, she went flying over that golden edge, Joel pushing her higher and higher as he moved with her, his hips rolling against hers, faster and more
erratic now and she knew he wasn’t far behind her. His name fell from her lips as one last shockwave rolled through her, tightening every muscle, and he came with her, calling out his own orgasm as he buried his face against her neck and rocked against her to draw out every last drop of pleasure that he could.
Completely spent, Carla went boneless, distantly aware of Joel untying her wrists and sliding off the blindfold. She had to blink to adjust to even the dim light of the room and gave up, closing her eyes again. For the first time in a long time, she finally felt free. The feeling soared through her like bubbles--light and sunny--and she fell asleep with a smile painted on her lips and only one thought in her head. Joel really was the best thing to happen to her in a hell of a long time.
*
Maurice quickly closed the blinds to the office, just in case that bastard Eric actually decided to show up, then went back to sit in the chair behind the desk. It creaked under his weight and was uncomfortably tight, but he didn’t notice as he pulled his laptop from his bag and opened it up.
