Vanessa Booke - Bound to You

The back of the club is almost as crowded as the front. I spot a door that leads to an outside patio for guests who want to smoke. As tempting as it is to be outside, I can’t stand the smell of the heavy smoke. I linger just in front of the door hoping to catch a passing breeze, but the night air is still. This isn’t helping. Maybe I should just go back to Carol’s loft.

On my way back from the women’s restroom, a pair of hands thrust me back against a dark corner. I nearly scream, but stop myself as Nicholas steps forward out of the shadows. The look he gives me melts away the words I have. He doesn’t wait for me to question him. He simply takes. His lips crush into mine with full force, almost knocking me backwards. The wall is the only thing that stops us from crashing. A million things race through my head, but the one thing that hits home is the knowledge that somewhere, his fiancée is waiting for him. I don’t want to be like Scarlett. I’m not someone who goes around taking someone else’s man.

“What are you doing?” I ask. It’s more of an accusation than a question.

“Doing what I should’ve done 40,000 feet in the air.” He crosses my wrists and pushes them above me. I fight the urge to grab a fistful of his hair and kiss him.

“No, I can’t.”

The phrase resistance is futile has a whole new meaning. He pushes open my legs and strokes his hand up and down my center. As much as I want him to stop, I can’t seem to verbalize my plea. My hips meet his hand and he continues the friction of fingers. He pauses to slide up my dress baring the bottom of me. I’ve never been the type to want to have sex in public, but god does he make me want to. He skims his tongue across my neck and the act nearly sends my body into spasms. He finds his way inside my lace underwear.

“I want you.” His words set my nerves on fire. He slowly parts me, slipping his fingers inside me. His fingers rock back and forth against me as he delves deeper inside. I’m lost in oblivion. Falling farther and farther down the rabbit hole and I can’t seem to stop myself. He presses against my clit and I nearly lose it. He growls lightly against my ear as he plants his lips below it. The sensation sends my head spinning. I need to stop.

Nicholas loosens his grip of my wrists and reaches down toward my breasts with his free hand. His thumb circles my right nipple and it grows hard beneath his finger. He leans forward and places it in his mouth, leaving a damp warm spot on my dress.

“I want you to come for me, baby.”

The words aren’t said with a silent plea. No, the way he says it is more of a command. I honestly haven’t felt wanted like this since Miles. He wasn’t always a caring lover. A lot of the times he was just selfish. The thought of him sends a pang to my chest. Cheating on me was the most selfish thing he ever did. But how am I any better? Here I am, letting Nicholas touch me.

“Where’d you go, sweetheart?” Nicholas asks, breathing heavily. He caresses my cheek drawing my attention back to him.

“Stop,” I whisper. I can’t give myself up like this. He doesn’t get to see that part of me. He doesn’t get to unravel me just to watch me break. It frightens me to want him. It frightens me that someone like him could make me forget everything. Including myself.

“Wait,” he says, grabbing my waist, but I don’t. I push his hands off and yank my dress down. I don’t look back. I just push past him and run out of there as fast as I can. In the distance I can hear him calling after me. I don’t think anyone’s ever told him no, but he’ll get over it. I’m just another girl to him. Someone he thinks he can have without any conditions.

I find Carol at the bar ordering a drink. The distress on my face must be obvious because she immediately asks me what’s wrong. I don’t tell her about Nicholas. I can’t. Part of me is ashamed that it went so far. She doesn’t poke or prod me to explain my sudden need to leave. She simply gives me a hug and calls Steven to pick me up.

“Steven is coming to take you home. Are you sure you don’t want me to come with you though?”

“No, Carol. Stay and mingle. You need this account.” I smile, trying my best to reassure her that I mean it.

“Oh, don’t worry about that. It’s in the bag,” she says, winking

“Thank you for taking me out.”

“No problem, make yourself at home back at my place.”

“Thanks, I will.”

It doesn’t take long for Steven to arrive, and it takes even less time for us to get back to Carol’s apartment. Somehow, Steven knows just what streets to avoid on our way back. He walks me all the way to Carol’s door and shows me where to find the spare key.

As much as I want to sleep, I wait up for Carol to get home. She doesn’t get back to the apartment until 4 AM.

“Hey, you waited up?” she asks, whispering as she crawls into bed next to me. “And made yourself at home in my bed?”

“Yeah, I wanted to wait up and you said to make myself comfortable.” I giggle as Carol swats me with her pillow. It’s like we’re in junior high having a sleepover. She slips off her shoes and jumps into bed.

“You totally didn’t have to wait up, but thank you. I had to stay late to make sure the clean up and break down crews were doing their jobs.”

“It’s a lot of work being a mega PR person.”

“Yeah, but a lot of the time I end up being more of an event planner. By the way, I got the account with Tristan Knight,” she squeals.

“That’s fantastic! I’m so happy for you,” I say, hugging her.

“Thanks. Oh yeah, I wanted to tell you, I think your blue-eyed friend was looking for you.” She doesn’t have to mention his name. I know she means Nicholas.

“He’s not my friend.”

“Why do I get the feeling there’s something you’re not telling me?” Carol says with a motherly tone. “Is he the reason why you left so early?”

“I’ll explain tomorrow,” I say, forcing a smile.

“Promise?”

“Sure.”

Carol turns and shuts off the lamp beside her nightstand. The room is quickly engulfed in darkness, with the exception of the glittering city outside our window. It sits shining beneath the moonlight and the stars.

“By the way…” Carol starts to say. “He was totally looking for you. He didn’t say your name, but when I came back without you… the look on his face was like someone had killed his puppy.”

As I close my eyes and let the darkness overtake my senses, the last thing I see is the image of Nicholas’ stark blue eyes staring down at me, burning with need and desire.

Monday morning arrives far too quickly. The weekend was anything but restful. It was more like a painful and arduous process of replaying Friday’s events over and over in my mind. To make things worse, I’ve been daydreaming about her for the past two hours. Her, as in Rebecca Gellar, the vivacious redhead I met on my flight back home, with her sharp green eyes that sized me up from the get-go. It’s stupid of me to let her get inside my head, but I can’t stop the chain reaction she’s started. I want her.

The events of the Friday night seem so serendipitous, that it’s hard to believe it actually happened. Out of all of the clubs in this city, she was at Riptide. When I saw her, I wanted to peel off her dress and kiss every inch of her. I can still taste those sweet lips on mine. One minute she was unraveling in my arms, moaning beneath my touch, and the next she was gone. I haven’t stopped thinking about the way she felt. God, she was so wet. I remember my fingers sliding inside her with ease… my cock still twitches at the memory of her soft gasps. She shifted my world upside down, turning it on its axis with one simple kiss. Unfortunately, Alison ruined everything when she decided to just show up unannounced.

Rebecca’s eyes opened up like saucers when she heard her introduce herself as my fiancée. I can only imagine what thoughts were going through Rebecca’s head. From the tightlipped grimace on her face, she was pissed. She had every right to blurt out about our kiss on the airplane, but she didn’t, and while I would’ve been more than happy to get rid of Alison, it would’ve royally fucked things up for the company.

I didn’t want to chase Rebecca away, but it’s probably better that I did. I’m engaged. Engaged… I’m still trying to sort out the ramifications of this reality in my head. I don’t even do long-term relationships, but this is as permanent as one can get. Rebecca’s face flashes in my mind. She must think the worse of me. I know she shouldn’t mean anything. She’s just another number in a city that’s overflowing with women begging to be fucked, but all I can think about is finding her and punishing her for leaving me with blue balls.

I’ve been stroking myself for the past 30 minutes, but each time I get close to peaking, I lose the image of fucking her mouth. It’s like she’s cursed me. That fiery siren is my impending death by no release. Perhaps I should’ve taken Alison’s offer for sex last night. She was all too willing. I’m surprised she didn’t cup me in public by the way she was marking her territory. It didn’t take much to notice the angry and jealous glances at Rebecca. Rebecca. Her name will forever be ingrained in my mind.

I begin stroking myself again, trying to imagine her face as I touched her soft folds. I grab a towel as I get closer and closer to my release. I’m almost there.

“I’m home!” a familiar voice shouts from across my living room, instantly stopping me. Before I have time to throw my towel on the floor, Emily, my little sister, walks straight into my bedroom. Her eyes widen as she spots the towel in one hand, and my other hand underneath the sheets. Her cheeks flame bright red against her fair skin. This is awkward.