by Peyton Banks
I’d led Marnie to the band room, but I’d noted as we crossed the dance floor that it was the first time in as long as I could remember that I didn’t feel bad for myself for seeking out Arlo on Marnie’s behalf. I hadn’t seen her in months, and I was as glad to catch up with her as I would have been to see any friend, but that was all. It was a curious feeling, but I liked it. It made me feel…free.
Even when we’d found Arlo balls-deep in another chick, I’d felt for Marnie, of course I had, but it didn’t cause anger to pulse through my veins like it usually did when Arlo pulled a dick move like that. And when I looked across at her and noted her passive, untroubled expression, instead of my normal frustration, and desire to shake some sense into her, my overwhelming thought was “nmfp.” Not. My. Fucking. Problem.
Marnie had assured me she was okay, and for once, I’d taken her at her word and quickly returned to the main room of the club, ordered more drinks, and crossed the dance floor, back to Chantelle’s booth.
“The part where I’m going home, alone, and you’re…well, I have no idea what you’re doing, except to know that it doesn’t involve me.”
“That so?”
“Mmhmm. That is exactly so.”
“Well, that’s where you’re mistaken. This is the part where we skip to screwing each other’s brains out, like we’ve both been wanting to since our eyes first locked across the room. Let’s cut to the chase: you can cancel the Uber. Where we’re going is only a short cab ride away.”
I was as laid back as could be the vast majority of the time. It took a lot to ruffle my feathers, and even more to get me to act on it, but once in a while, I’d channel Arlo and release my inner a-hole. He’d just shown up, and he had zero chill.
Chantelle blinked once, twice, three times, but said nothing, and I knew I had her. Just to be sure, I leaned forward, pressed my lips gently to hers, and waited. Moments ticked by at half speed, and just when I was beginning to think I’d misjudged the situation, she moved against me, pushing her lips hard into mine. I returned the pressure, on reflex slipping my hand into her hair, pulling her even closer. She yielded to me, melting into my body like butter on warm toast.
I brought my other hand to the small of her back and pulled her against my straining erection. She responded by stretching up on to her toes, aligning our bodies better. I moved my hand from her back to lift her leg upward as she leaned against me, grinding myself into her, knowing I was hitting the spot. She swiveled her hips, rubbing against me in return, confirming my hunch.
I moved the other hand from behind her head to her neck and squeezed a little. Her moans of pleasure made me stupid with desire, and my mind strayed to all the things we could do right there in the booth, to save me the need to wait until we got to an actual bed before I could be inside her.
As if reading my mind, Chantelle pulled back abruptly, ending our kiss without warning.
“Nope.”
“Nope what?”
“I’m not doing this. I’m not that person.”
“What person? I’m not following you.” That was a vast understatement. I had literally no idea what had changed between us in those few moments she’d gone from white-hot to stone-cold.
“The girl, no woman who puts on a show with some random on the dance floor of a crowded bar.”
“Okay, so let’s go. In around ten minutes you can be the girl, no the woman fucking me six ways from Sunday in a hotel room.”
“I wouldn’t be so sure about that. Apart from the fact that you just made a whole lot of assumptions that I’d be happy to prove wrong. If nothing else, there’s no way we’re checking into a hotel at this hour, especially on a Friday night. Not one that doesn’t book by the hour, at least, and damned if I’m going somewhere like that.” She folded her arms.
Things were going in the wrong direction fast. If I didn’t do something to rescue the situation, it was going to be all over before it had even begun.
“It’s nothing like that. Trust me?”
“I don’t even know you.”
“Sure you do. My name’s Luke Jones. I sing and play in the Heartless Few. I’m an identical twin. I know almost as much about movies as you do, and I’m more attracted to you than I have ever been to any other woman in my life to date.”
Which probably wasn’t very many, given his tender age.
“Even your beautiful ‘friend’ from before?”
I hesitated, having never had to think about it that way, before. The truth was, I’d never really given way to my feelings for Marnie. I couldn’t. I’d been shutting down my feelings for her for almost as long as I could remember, and would continue to do so while she and Arlo were still…whatever they were.
“Even her.”
8
Natalie
I had absolutely no reason to trust him, other than the fact that he was right—we’d had an instant connection, even across the room, and then we’d vibed with each other from the first words that had passed between us. The fact that he was a fellow film buff had kind of sealed the deal. I had mostly always had good instincts, except when it came to Douglas, but that was a whole different story.
Somehow, having been taken in by a guy who turned out to be a total douche canoe hadn’t weakened my confidence in trusting my gut. It had definitely weakened my confidence in men, but it seemed that I was potentially ready to get back on the horse. One young, ripped and impossibly cute horse.
With Luke, I felt there really wasn’t a physical threat. He wasn’t about to drive me into a back alley and hack me to pieces, nor did he seem like the type of guy to try to make me do something I didn’t want to do.
And, unlike Doug, he certainly wasn’t an emotional threat, because there was no emotion involved, and in fact, in that sense, I was the one with the upper hand, in a potentially morally questionable way. He was right. I knew details of his life—his full name and occupation, details of his family that could be easily checked and expanded on via a quick Google and social media search of his name, and the band’s name, and hey presto, I could probably find out almost anything I wanted to know about him.
Conversely, he knew almost nothing about me, and what I had told him wasn’t enough to work with. Not that he needed any of those details to hack me into pieces and throw my body into the East River. The truth was that we knew all we needed to know about each other, which was that we enjoyed each other’s company, and were both keen to enjoy the other person in the biblical sense.
The fact was that as I stared down the barrel of thirty, I was more than likely going through a third-life crisis of sorts. Having not really dated in my twenties, and therefore not having experienced all the fun and games that entailed, I felt that now was the time to do all those things—to sow what few wild oats I had left before they became too old and dry even to make oatmeal with.
I was horny. I was attracted to Luke in a way I hadn’t been to any guy for forever, I liked him, and, rightly or wrongly, I trusted him. More than all that, though, he represented a way to knock off not just one, but two items from the Fuck It List, if hanging out alone in a bar were to morph into my first ever one-night stand. Sleeping with a guy who was legal, but young enough for me to be too scared to enquire about his exact age—I was guessing at least eight to ten years my junior—was definitely not on the list. Not that it really mattered. I wasn’t looking for Mr. Right, but in Luke’s cute and somewhat cocky form, I was pretty sure I’d found myself the perfect Mr. Right Now.
I gave myself one more tiny moment for my conscience to talk me out of going ahead, but when she failed to show up, I spoke again.
“Okay, let’s go.” For all the confidence I exuded with those words, I still hoped I wasn’t going to regret uttering them.
The way his whole body, not just his face, lit up at my words confirmed that I’d made the right decision—there was no way he was an ax murderer. We hailed a cab, jumped inside, and as we pulled away from the curb, we were both texting. I fired off a qu
ick message to my best friend, Nala, explaining everything I knew about Luke, and the address he’d given the driver—you could never be too careful—and promising to call her to explain all later. I had no idea what he was doing. Maybe the same thing.
Once we were done, we picked up where we’d left off in the club—watched in the rear-view mirror by the driver as we wound our way through the busy streets. Not that either of us seemed to care about putting on a show.
We pulled up outside what appeared to be a disused liquor store, and as the taxi sped away from the curb, I began to regret my decision. Maybe he was intending to make a skin suit out of me after all. He walked toward a keypad on the wall and punched in a code. When the door clicked, he pushed it open, and turned to me with his hand outstretched. “Trust me?”
I hesitated.
He waited.
“I’ve let my best friend know where I am and who I’m with. So if I go missing, they’ll know who to come looking for.”
He laughed at that, clearly amused by my concern.
“You’re not going to go missing. Well, not on account of me, anyway. I promise.”
I craned my neck around him and saw that the well-lit hall behind him appeared to lead to some kind of foyer, conceivably of a small hotel. I stepped over the threshold hesitantly, still somewhat skeptical.
“What is this place?” It clearly wasn’t a liquor store, as the sign outside proclaimed.
“It’s a boutique hotel. The old façade was too awesome-looking to get rid of though, so it can be a little confusing, but these days, it’s just that, a façade. The interior is one hundred percent modern.”
“You own it?”
“Hahahaha, No, I wish! It’s one of my older brother, Brad’s, businesses. It’s pretty cool having it in the family, though. It’s perfect for when we have friends or relatives visiting, or…”
“Or you want to bring someone back here for a one-nighter,” I finished for him.
He had the decency to look sheepish. “Basically, yeah. But to be quite honest, we hardly need to bother. Arlo’s ‘friends’ often don’t make it out of whatever venue we’re in—the office, the bathroom, an alley out the back or down the side, even the limo parked at the curb. Tonight Marnie and I walked in on him and some chick in the band room. And with Marnie, they mostly go to her place. That way he can leave as soon as they’re done.”
“Marnie? That’s the name of the girl who showed up? Did she leave through the stage door then? I didn’t see her when you came out.”
“Nah, I left her out back before joining you again.”
“Huh? Didn’t you just say that you found your brother in flagrante with someone else?”
“Yeah, I did. But listen, their shit’s a story for another day. Right now, it’s a total buzz kill, so can we skip it, please and focus on why we’re here?”
“Sure thing.” There wasn’t going to be another day, but I agreed that it wasn’t what I wanted to be thinking about at that point in time. We made our way into the ultra-modern reception area, just like Luke had said, and as he reached for something behind the desk, I caught a glimpse of the sliver of skin above his waistband, and I was one hundred percent back in the game.
My libido had taken a nosedive, then gone on a total hiatus when things ended with Doug, but it seemed she was back in full effect, and ready to partay. She’d apparently brought my self-confidence back with her, and it was about time.
9
Luke
I reached around into the top drawer and fumbled about among the random items until I found what I was looking for—a small envelope. As I pulled it out, I was startled to feel a finger brush along the strip of skin that had become exposed when I’d stretched over the counter, and as I turned, envelope in hand, I was even more surprised to see Chantelle standing right behind me, a small but ridiculously sexy smile playing on her lips.
Up until that point, I’d gotten the impression that although she was undoubtedly attracted to me, there was a hesitation on her part.
But that smile told me that something had shifted. She was all-in, and this thing was on like Donkey Kong. There was a challenge twinkling in her light eyes too, one I didn’t quite understand, but still wasn’t going to turn down. I figured I’d have fun along the way trying to work it out.
I looped my arms around her waist, and pulled her to me, my mouth swooping down to meet hers, pressing lightly against her lips, but promising more to come.
“If we start something here, I won’t be able to stop, and as much as I’d like to fuck you over this desk and make you scream my name for the whole hotel to hear, I know for a fact that this room in monitored by cameras, and I really don’t want to give my brother a free show. Besides, he’s uptight as fuck and would lose his shit if we caused a disturbance. Come with me before I do something the three of us will regret.”
I reached out with one hand, gently tugging her wrist, urging her to follow me. To my relief, she did as I asked, and we were shortly on our way to the “FF” room in the Wine Merchant—Brad’s bougie boutique hotel. FF stood for friends and family. If the hotel wasn’t at full capacity, the room was available to use at a vastly reduced rate—basically a nominal amount to cover housekeeping costs, though for his three brothers he went one better and gave us free use of the room as and when we needed it.
As we walked inside, I read on Chantelle’s face that she was impressed, and I didn’t blame her. Brad had done a brilliant job in theming and decorating each room, and this was no exception. I led her inside. As the door swished closed behind us I turned toward her again, caging her in with my arms, taking a few moments to admire her epic beauty before again lowering my lips to hers.
Whatever resistance had been there before had truly been swept away, and not only did she return my kiss, but she was fierce with it, biting down on my lip, then smiling against it when I jumped back in surprise.
She caught me off guard again as she started pulling up my T-shirt to reveal my chest, then indicating that I should take it off. Not one to disappoint a woman, I quickly obliged. Her eyes widened as she watched me strip, and I could tell she liked what she saw. I didn’t hesitate in removing my pants also. I knew I wasn’t going to be needing them any time soon, and, more to the point, I loved the way she looked at me as though she’d never seen anything or anyone as hot. I wanted her to see all of me.
Again her eyes widened, but this time, she licked her lips and swallowed heavily. I had an overwhelming urge to bite where she had just licked, but I resisted, instead widening my arms a little in invitation. I’d stepped away from her a little, nearer to the bed. I wanted the next move to be hers.
I didn’t have to wait long. She stepped toward me, slipping out of first her denim jacket and then her shirt, to reveal her lace-clad tits.
“You need to take that bra off, or you can come here and I’ll do it, but I warn you, if you make me work for it, I’m taking it home as a souvenir.”
She didn’t take it off, instead moved toward me, her eyes alight with the challenge.
“Really? Is that how you’re going to play it. All alpha ‘me Tarzan you Jane’.”
Even her voice was sexy in that moment—husky and needy. The sound went straight to my dick.
“Damned straight.” For some reason she brought that out in me. It was a first, but I kind of liked it. I waited to see if she was going to remove the bra, but except for the heavy rise and fall of her chest, she didn’t move.
I reached behind her and undid the clasp, freeing her sizable breasts. They were every bit as glorious as I’d been imagining all night—full, heavy and firm-looking, ripe for sucking.
I dangled the bra between us from the end of my fingertips before throwing it on the heap created by my shirt and pants. Chantelle raised an eyebrow in question.
“A deal’s a deal.” I reminded her. “So now I get to keep it.”
She looked like she was about to say something, but I spoke before she had the chance.
Her eyes drifted down to my boner, and a small smile graced her lips. If I’d thought I was hard before, that look that held so much promise sent my libido into overdrive, and my cock was stiffer than it had ever been. I was ready to unleash some pent-up frustration, and she was clearly the woman to help me do it.
10
Natalie
I couldn’t help but smirk. The kid was hot as all hell, but something about him also made me smile. He was clearly as turned on as I was, and had strong alpha tendencies, but on the other hand, he didn’t take himself too seriously. I liked that. A lot. He was so different from the seriously academic and seriously up-his-own-ass Douglas. He was perfect for my first time out the gate since Doug had done the dirty on me.
Someone young fun and flirty, who made me feel sexy, desirable and alive was just the ego boost I needed. It was also safe and noncommittal. It didn’t get more noncommittal than a one-night stand with a guy who no doubt slept with a different woman every night of the week and who didn’t know my real name; and I was there for that.
Not wanting to lose all my underwear, I slipped out of my leather skirt, and then my panties, glad I’d selected sexy lace ones that morning that matched my bra. The desire that flared in his eyes when he took in my naked body sent my arousal into overdrive. I couldn’t remember a time when a man had looked at me like that. Like I was the hottest thing this side of Venus.
I stepped toward him at the same time as he moved closer to me, and he pulled me by the wrist again, jerking my body hard into him. I let out a small squeal of surprise, and he swallowed the sound with his lips against mine. This time his kiss was nothing like before. He was raw and savage, wild almost.
