WhatHeDemands (domination erotica) (6 page)

She was right. Of course. Yes. But how I longed to hear his
voice.

The phone chimed. I had a text. Jill glowered at the screen.
“He doesn’t give up.” She poked the button on the side, shutting the phone down
completely.

“Maybe you should’ve read the message. Maybe something
happened.”

“He’s rich. I’m sure he has plenty of friends he can call if
his stupid private jet broke down.”

I loved Jill. She was angry on my behalf. That much I knew.
But for some really crazy reason, I felt the almost overwhelming urge to defend
Shane.

“Like I said, he wasn’t being a jerk—“

“Never mind the fact that he’s sleeping with other women,
and doesn’t even bother to deny it. He was going to hand you off to his buddy.
Who does that? A nice guy?”

She had a point. I’d been angry when I first found out about
the sharing thing. But when Shane had explained it, somehow I couldn’t hold it
against him anymore. It was just the way things worked in that world. And he
hadn’t brought me there intending to share me. As for the other thing, that was
my fault. Never had he led me to believe we were in some kind of committed
relationship.

Rather than try to explain it all, I let it drop. The sooner
we moved on, the sooner I could get my phone back…and see what Shane wanted.

A couple of hours later, I was alone. And in possession of
my phone again. With shaking hands, I powered it up and clicked on the message
icon to open my messages.

It was short. Succinct.

Please tell me you made it home
safely.

Shane.

I typed back.

I did. Thanks.

With my heart in my throat, I hit send.

And then, every minute or two, for the next eight hours, I
checked for a response.

None.

No message.

None.

Shit.

Someone was in my room. I could hear the soft sloughing of
fabric, the muted thump, thump, thump of footsteps. I rolled onto my side,
facing the door. It was dark. I couldn’t see.

Moving slowly, hoping I wouldn’t make a sound, I inched
toward the opposite side of the bed. I hoped the intruder couldn’t see me any
better than I could see him. I hoped he was looking for jewelry, money, not
flesh.

I was cold with fear, every sense alert. I heard the
intruder moving and before I could react, something heavy was on top of me. My
body was flattened on the mattress. I cried out for help, but I knew no one
would hear. The condo’s building was very well insulated. Sound didn’t travel
from one unit to another.

Letting instinct take over, I swung my arms, kicked my legs.
Something warm and strong clamped around both wrists, jerked them back and up,
pinning them to the bed, above my head.

Ohmygod, I was being attacked!

“Shhhh,” my attacker said.

“Please don’t hurt me,” I begged, blinking at the darkness
and wishing I could see.

“I won’t ever hurt you.”

I recognized that voice.

My heart jumped.

“Shane?”

“Shhhh.” He rested a fingertip on my lips. “I’m sorry for
scaring you. I couldn’t stay away any longer. I had to see you.”

I whispered, “But sneaking into my bedroom in the middle of
the night—“

He cut me off with a kiss. A hot kiss that made the blood
pound through my body. Instantly, I forgot what I was going to say. His tongue
slipped into my mouth and took command. At the same time his hands took control
of my body, pushing my t-shirt up to expose my breasts, kneading their fullness
and rolling my nipples until they were hard peaks.

I squirmed and whimpered, lost in a sea of dark pleasure.

It was so wrong for him to break into my condo like this. So
wrong. Stalkerish creepy. And yet, ohmygod. His kiss tasted so good, and his
hands were doing wickedly delightful things to my body. I didn’t give a damn
about anything but having his naked body pressed against mine, his thick erection
pushing into me.

When his hand glided down my stomach, moving toward the
aching heat pounding between my legs, I arched my spine, tipping my hips up.
Yes.
Please. Touch me there. Down there. Take me.

The kiss turned more urgent as both our bodies heated, our
need blossoming into desperation.

“Please,” I mumbled. “Please.”

“Not yet.” His touch moved back up, to my breast, circled my
nipple. “First, I need you to ask you something.”

“Yes, anything.” I tipped my hips up and reached for him,
trying to rip his clothes off. “Anything at all.”

“Will you to agree to fuck Jordan first?”

I jerked upright, blinked open my eyes.

Dammit, I just couldn’t stop having that dream.

I clenched my muscles down there, feeling the warm dampness
seeping into the crotch of my panties. Crazy as it was, the dream made me hot.
Really hot. Twice this week, I’d climaxed in my sleep. I’d never done that
before.

Still feeling the aftershocks of the dream ricocheting
through my body, I stumbled into the bathroom and cranked on the shower. After
emptying my bladder and brushing my teeth, I stripped out of my pajamas and
stepped under the warm water. Ahhh. I allowed myself to just enjoy the heat for
a few minutes before getting to business. Then I hurried out, did my hair and
makeup and dressed for work. It was Friday.

Another day.

Another dollar.

Yippee.

Then, it would be a night out with Jill, watching her work
her usual haunts while I nursed a beer.

Even though Shane had given up calling me a few days ago, I
couldn’t summon up the desire to get back into the game. The pain of our
unofficial breakup was still fresh. If the dreams were any indication, I wasn’t
even remotely close to being ready to get into another relationship.

It would be a lot easier if the stupid dreams would stop.

A lot easier.

What was it about that man? Why couldn’t I just let him go?

* * * * *

“Ohmygod, would you just look at them?” Jill screamed in my
ear many hours later. As usual on a Friday night, she was holding a beer in one
hand, a shot in another, and was on her way to a healthy buzz. We were sitting
at her favorite table in her favorite club. She was trying not to gawk at the
pack of men who’d just strolled through the door. Me, I was wishing I was at
home, reading the book I’d picked up during my lunch break.

Jill nudged me. “Snap out of it.”

“Out of what?” I countered.

“Your funk. Since you flew home from Antigua, you’ve been
moping around. I love you, hun, but it’s been two weeks. I’m getting
impatient.”

“Do I need to remind you of your post-Dave breakdown?” I
asked.

“No.”

“Give me a break.”

Jill sighed. “I’d never realized how hard it is to deal with
someone else’s breakup depression.”

“That’s because I’d never been depressed after a breakup
before. Usually I’m okay with it.”

“Not this time.”

“Not exactly. I’m thinking too much about what might have
been.”

“Yeah. That’s what I do. Definitely. What got me out of my
Dave funk was sitting down and listing all the reasons why Dave and I wouldn’t
work. Maybe you should do the same thing?”

“Maybe.” At the moment, I could think of only one reason why
Shane and I wouldn’t work. It was a biggie, sure. But I could think of a lot
more reasons why I thought Shane and I would be good for each other.

“Stop thinking about him.” Standing, she circled the table,
hooked her elbow through mine and half-walked, half-dragged me toward the bar
where the hotties she’d been drooling over were congregated, waiting for the
bartender to get their drinks.

“Hello,” she said when one of them glanced at us.

Hottie Number One beamed a friendly smile, gaze fixed on Jill’s
half-exposed chest. “Hello.”

“I’m Jill. And this is my friend, Bristol.” She jerked her
head in the general direction of the packed dance floor. “We’re looking for
some dance partners.”

“Hmmm…I don’t dance, but my buddy does.” Hottie One nudged
the guy next to him. Hottie Two glanced over his shoulder. “Hey, Rod, the
ladies want to dance.”

Rod gave each of us an up and down look. My skin crawled a
little. I hated this place. It was a meat market. It was no wonder every guy Jill
had ever met here was a loser. “Sure.” He, in turn, nudged the guy next to him,
said something into his ear, and within seconds, Jill and I were being escorted
to the dance floor. She was going eagerly. Me, not so much. But afraid I was
becoming too much of a wet blanket, I tried to act like I was enjoying myself.

As soon as we stepped onto the dance floor, I regretted it.
The guy yanked me against him, shoved a leg between mine and started grinding
against me like a male stripper. It was vulgar and nasty and gave me the
creeps. I tried to back up a little, but the minute there was a tiny fraction
of space between his body and mine, he’d close it again. We were so close I
could feel his erection through his clothes. Impressive as it was, I wasn’t in
the mood.

When the song ended, I was hugely relieved. “Thanks,” I
said.

He scowled. “What? That’s it? One dance?”

“Yes, one dance. What were you expecting?”

“Well, after the way you were dancing, a lot more.”

Me? Me!

“Sorry you got the wrong impression.” I stepped away, shoving
between a pair of couples pawing at each other while swaying to the next song that
had just started playing. I couldn’t find Jill. She seemed to have vanished.

If it hadn’t been for the fact that she’d done this to me on
more than one occasion, I might have been concerned. But she had. Lately, it
was almost expected. She’d head outside for some fresh air, and end up in the
car, shoving her tongue down some random guy’s throat.

Really, she needed to make some changes.

“Hey, I’m sorry. Come back. Let’s talk about this,” the jerk
said. He was following me. A trip to the ladies’ room would take care of that.

I pushed and wiggled and shoved my way to the back hallway
where the bathrooms were. Escape was just a few feet away. But then someone
caught my wrist. I whirled around, hand raised.

I froze.

Shane.

Shane?

Shane!

“W-what are you doing here?” I stuttered, dropping my hand.

“I’m here with a friend.” His gaze wandered over my face,
and I felt myself blushing. “You look great.”

“Thanks.” I fiddled with my hair. A strand was hanging over
my face. “Um, so do you.”

“Have a drink with me.”

“Oh…I…”

Shane took my hand in his, and instantly I felt warm all
over. All the emotions I’d been shoving aside since I’d seen him last rushed to
the surface. I was overwhelmed, unsure what to do. I craved spending time with
him, hearing his voice, seeing his face. But I knew I shouldn’t go with him. It
was a big mistake. Huge.

I went with him anyway.

I was weak. Frighteningly so.

He led me to a table toward the back of the bar where it
wasn’t so hot, or loud, or crowded. He pushed in my chair as I sat then took a
seat across from me. With a wave, he somehow managed to summon a waitress. He
ordered a bottle of wine then turned his attention back to me.

“So…where’s your friend?” I asked.

He waved his hand toward the dance floor. “She’s out there
somewhere.”

She.

My stomach twisted.

She.

“I—I should—“

I started standing, but Shane slapped his hand over mine.
“Please, don’t go.”

“Shane, I don’t want to interrupt anything--”

“You aren’t interrupting.”

Why did it make me so freaking happy to hear that? Why? “Of
course I am.”

“If I was here with someone, I wouldn’t have asked you to
join me,” he stated. “Kayla is a friend. Nothing more.”

The waitress broke through the thick wall of people in front
of our table, set the open bottle of wine and glasses down and left.

“Hasn’t it been established that men and women can’t be
friends?” I asked as I watched Shane pour the wine.

“By whom?” He handed me the full glass.

Our fingertips brushed. I tried to pretend that the little
touch didn’t send a bolt of white hot erotic heat pulsing through my body.

It’s only chemistry. Chemistry means nothing.

I said, “By the authors of movies like, When Harry Met
Sally.”

He chuckled. The sound bounced around inside me like the
reverberating rumble of thunder echoing off distant buildings. “In this case,
it’s not an issue. She’s gay and she’s the younger sister of a close friend.”

Another
close friend
.

He continued, “Every now and then, I accompany her on an outing
so she can keep up appearances. Her family is very anti-gay.”

“I see.”

“So tell me, how are you?”

“I’m fine, thanks.”

“Good.”

We stared at each other for an awkward moment.

I wanted to fill the silence. I wanted to tell him I dreamed
about him every night. I wanted to tell him I missed him even though I didn’t
want to.

Instead, I glanced around. “If you’re supposed to be keeping
up appearances, maybe you’d better go find your friend and play doting
boyfriend.”

He studied me for a moment then nodded. “I suppose you’re
right.”

“Okay, then. It was nice seeing you.”

“It was nice seeing you, too.”

Neither of us moved.

“I’d better go find my friend, too,” I said. Could this be
any more awkward?

“Sure.”

Neither one of us moved.

“She’s going to be worried,” I explained.

“We wouldn’t want that.”

“And when she finds out I was talking to you, she’ll kill
me.”

His smile was so bright and so breathtaking I practically
melted. “We definitely don’t want that.”

I stood. “Goodbye, Shane.”