The Silken Edge (Silken Edge 1) (10 page)

“Tenant?” His voice raised and octave.

“She’s renting the apartment across from mine.”

“Oh.” That little word, and the surprised look on his face said it all; Jonathan was on board with how crazy all of this was.

“So Kristy, are you staying for the band?” Jonathan asked.

“I think I’ll have one more drink and head home.” She held up her glass and took a sip.

“No, you won’t,” Jake said.

Kristy’s head snapped in his direction. “What did you say?” She put down her drink and narrowed her eyes.

“You will not drive after you’ve been drinking! Sorry. You work hard to stay in shape. What good is that if you’re dead from drinking and driving?” Kristy’s disregard for her own safety made him angry.

“I’ll be fine. You’re not the boss of me.” She snatched up her drink and guzzled it down.

“Not like I’d be going out of my way to take you home, or anything,” he shot back.

She wasn’t being submissive to him now, and by the grin plastered on Jonathan's face, Jake knew that's what his friend was thinking. He shot Jonathan a look.

Jake turned his attention back to Kristy. “I’m sorry. I’m tired or something. Let me give you a ride home. Please?” He reached out and touched the back of her hand.

She glanced around the room and didn’t appear to be looking at anything in particular. Keeping her gaze away from him, she said, “Fine, but you need to bring me back tomorrow to pick up my car.”

“I’ll let the bartender know you’ll be leaving it behind.”

“Thank you.”

***

She was thankful Jake insisted on driving her home. The drinks had more of an effect on her than she wanted to admit. Walking up the stairs, her foot didn’t quite clear one of the risers, and her toe caught on the edge. She stumbled and started to fall forward. She screeched, but there was no need, Jake's strong arms wrapped securely around her pulling her back firmly against his chest.

“Careful, little one,” he said, and froze. The second his pet name for her slipped from his lips, her world shifted on its axis.

Master Jay?
Kristy didn’t move or say a thing for a long moment before she turned to look at him. She looked at his lips. They looked familiar, but the eyes, the eyes would surely tell her. She blinked and looked up quickly. Yes, up close she could tell those were the coppery brown eyes she saw staring at her from the black hooded mask at the club. Her mouth dropped open and her heart thumped against her chest.

She ran the rest of the way up the stairs. Reaching her door, she fumbled with the keys. She heard him approach from behind, and she dropped her key ring.

“Let me get the door for you,” he said.

“No, get away from me!” Overcome with embarrassment and anger, she fought back tears. She needed to be alone.

Jake picked up her key, unlocked her door for her, then left without saying a word.

Inside, Kristy sunk to the floor and cried. The combination of her letdown after a good night ruined, combined with the alcohol, and the fact that the man across the hall, who she thought was a friend, lied to her. Well, he hadn’t told her the truth which was the same difference in her mind.

“That miserable fuck!”

***

Morning came all too soon with the memory of last night screaming in her head along with a hangover.
Great.
Had she really drunk that much? Apparently so.

She needed to text Sherry to ask her for a ride to her car. Grabbing for her cell, she heard a knock at the door. She tiptoed toward it and listened. At first she heard nothing.

“Kristy, if you can hear me, we need to talk." Jake's voice. "I’ll be back in half hour to drive you to your car. We’ll discuss things then.” His voice boomed through the wooden door.

She paused for a moment on her text. Did she really want to text her friend who obviously lied to her, too? It all made sense now. The peculiar looks Sherry and Jake exchanged, the chummy relationship they had that seemed more than a gym acquaintance, and the things they’d say to each other that seemed odd to Kristy. How blind could she be? Slapping her hand against her forehead, she winced as it throbbed from the consequence of drinking the night before.

Footsteps trailed away from her door.

“I’m such an idiot to have fallen for everyone’s lies.” She didn’t know who else to call so she called Steven.

He came right over. As soon as she opened the door, she threw herself at him and began sobbing. He grabbed her and held her tight. “Honey, what’s wrong?” He rubbed her back.

She tried to speak but it came out all blubbery. Steven walked her to the couch, pulled her on his lap and cradled her. Playing with her hair, he let her calm down. He began trailing his fingers along her face and down her neck, but she straightened and crawled off his lap to sit next to him. She didn’t want to be touched that way, not when she was upset over another man, and besides he was with Mona.

“I seem to have surrounded myself with liars. I feel a little betrayed by some friends. I’ll get over it. I didn’t know who to call, and I need a ride to get my car. I left it at the bar last night. Too much to drink, which probably is another reason for my emotions being out of whack.”

“Not a problem, should we go now? Unless you want to tell me about the lies, but something in your eyes tells me that you’d rather not discuss it.” He eyed her and waited.

She nodded. “Let’s just get the car.”

Leaving the apartment they ran into Jake. Kristy flinched at the sight of him. Jake said nothing but looked between her and Steven, then entered his own place.

Steven looked Kristy over, and shook his head.

***

When Kristy called, Steven dropped everything. Her voice sounded all wrong. Something wasn’t right. He told Mona he needed to go to her. Mona didn’t argue, but didn’t look pleased either. He jumped up out of their breakfast in bed to rush off to his ex. He could understand her disappointment, but Kristy was still a friend and he cared so he would just have to deal with Mona later.

When he finally saw her, his heart dropped. Her face was splotchy and her eyes were full of tears. He held her and tried to talk to her, but it was no use. He knew she wasn’t going to share. All he knew is she felt betrayed by her friends.

As they headed out to get her car, he saw Jake and his reaction. Apparently something went down with Jake because Kristy froze at the sight of him and the silence in the hall was uncomfortable.

When they made their way outside, he just had to know. “Kristy, was it Jake? Did he do something to you?” His stomach flipped at the pain that filled her gaze.

“No, Steven nothing like that. We just had some words. It will blow over.” She rubbed at her temples.

“You sure? Because you can come stay with me in the guest room if need be. Mona won’t mind.” He helped her into the car.

“I’m sure.”

Steven walked around the car and slid in the driver’s seat. “All right, but if you change your mind just come over.” He reached across and touched her arm, and Kristy gave him a reassuring squeeze.

The rest of the drive was quiet. When they got to her car, he helped her in and buckled her up. “You drive safe, okay? And call if you need anything else.”

“Thank you, Steven.”

“You’re welcome, and I mean it.” He leaned in and pressed a kiss to her forehead.

He watched her drive off until he couldn’t see her anymore. Kicking some rocks on the ground, he finally got in his car to head back home to do damage repair with Mona.

“Fuck, fuck, fuck.” Jake sunk in his couch and dropped his head into his hands. He really liked Kristy and was foolish enough to let his feelings for her cloud his judgment. He should have walked away the first night at the club, should never have taken her into Room Ten, and should never ever have offered her an apartment across the hall from his. He was certain she’d be moving out, and probably be canceling her gym membership. She would vanish from his life forever. The thought tore him apart, and his heart ached like never before. “What the hell did I do?”

After sitting in misery for hours, he got up. Feeling restless, he dressed in gym clothes and decided to use his personal gym rather than go downstairs. He opened his apartment door slowly in case she was there in the hallway. She wasn’t, no noise filtered out of her apartment, and no light streamed from underneath her door. It was late, she probably went to sleep.

Jake pulled a key from his shorts and unlocked the new lock on his personal gym. Once inside, he kicked the door closed and turned on the lights. He looked around his room at the special order gym equipment housing cuffs and chains. His two favorite pas
t times rolled into one—a gym of pleasure and pain. He thought about how he never shared this special place with anyone, and loneliness gnawed at him.

He dropped his head with a sigh. His plan was to wait and tell her that he was a Dom, but only when the time was right. It shouldn’t have happened the way it did. “Fuck it, fuck this, and fuck her.” He closed his eyes and moaned. “God, I’d like to fuck her, and fuck her hard.” He snatched his iPod off a shelf and shoved the ear buds in. He cranked the music loud, walked over to the mirrored wall, and grabbed a set of hand weights. Closing his eyes he began his repetitions in sync to the music.

When he opened his eyes, the mirror reflected someone behind him. He gasped. The door must not have closed behind him.

Standing just inside the door was Kristy, wide eyed and look
ing around the room.

He slowly placed the weights down and turned, leaning up against the shelf. She wore a long, cotton t-shirt, and it appeared she had no pants to speak of underneath. At least he couldn’t see any.
Aw hell.

When she looked at him he took a step in her direction, but she took a step back. He stopped and took out his ear buds. “Is everything okay, Kristy?” His voice sounded soft and gentle to his own ears.

“I—I couldn’t sleep.”

“Do you want to go somewhere and talk?”

She shook her head, and pulled her gaze from him to scan the room. She walked slowly around, looking at each piece of equipment, ending up at an assortment of whips, canes, floggers, and paddles lined up into a recessed cove in the wall.

Jake didn’t move, unsure why she was there. He expected her to run at any time, but she didn’t.

She walked up to him and stood a few feet away, not making eye contact. Shifting from foot to foot, she asked, “So, this is your
special
gym?”

“Yes,” he whispered. “You’re the first to see it.”

She finally raised her head and looked directly into his eyes.

Holy shit.
He thought he saw several things flash through them, but he was convinced the predominant one was need. His dick twitched and he slammed his eyes shut. Opening them slowly he saw her watching him. He clenched his jaw and relaxed it to speak. “Kristy, what is it? Did you want to talk to me about something? Are you planning to move out? Because, damn…you don’t have to, but I'll tear up our rental agreement. And if you want to cancel your membership downstairs that’s fine too, I will waive the cancelation fee for you…if you want.”

“Jake, no. I don’t want to move out. I have nowhere else to go.” She looked down and shook her head. “And if it’s okay I want to keep my membership.” She peered up through her eyelashes.

“You do?” He could hear the surprise in his voice.

“Yes, I’m the one who is sorry. I took a nap and woke up realizing how badly I’ve behaved. I’m sorry. I felt blindsided; everyone was in on it except for me. I didn’t know. I felt stupid and embarrassed. In the club…I thought you were a stranger, but you’re not a stranger, you’re my friend, and I didn’t know how to handle the whole situation.” Her cheeks pinked up. “It’s awkward for me.”

Out of everything she said, the word friend rang loudest in his ears. There’s nothing more than a damper on your libido when hearing the word “friend” from someone you find attractive. He turned and walked to the door. Holding it open, he said, “Kristy, I’m glad you’re staying, really I am, but you need to leave. Now.” His voice came out husky.

If she didn’t leave soon, he couldn’t be held accountable for what he’d do to her, and he’d enjoy every minute.

She walked to the door, and stopping just shy of his body, she looked over her shoulder back at the room. Glancing up at him she sighed, and with a worried brow she looked dejected.

What the fuck? What does that look mean?

“Good night, Kristy.”

“Good night, Jake.”

***

She hurried back to her apartment feeling vulnerable and half naked. Her heart raced in her throat as she closed the door behind her. Just before the door latched, she spotted Jake’s eyes burning in her direction. Was that anger she saw? Or something else? The soft click of the door jolted her from her frenzy. She leaned up against the nearest wall and slid down to the floor.