Page 33 of Taking Turns

“I know.” I’m trying my best to be patient with her. “The gallery. We know Matisse. We’re all going to that opening. So I’m going to pick you up at five-thirty and you and I are going to go together.”

“You and I?” she asks.

“Quin and Smith will be there, but you are my date. Understand?”

She says nothing, so I wait her out. When the seconds continue to tick off with no answer from her, I explain it another way. “It’s a job interview, Marcella.”

“A job?” She pulls away from me, her upper body leaning back against the granite countertop.

“A job with lots of benefits.”

“Like the sex?” she asks.

I can’t tell if that’s a snide comment or one filled with longing. It comes off as something in between and I decide Smith was right. She wants in. She wants this. She likes the dark.

She just needs to tell herself she doesn’t. That’s why she’s fighting.

“We can have a proper discussion after the show. We’ll have drinks at the club and discuss the details.”

I wait for her answer. And after a few moments of thinking, she says, “And then you’ll all fuck me together?”

That was not the answer I expected. “No,” I say. But I think I catch a little disappointment in her expression. So I add, “Not unless we all agree. And I’m not sure Quin will agree to that.”

I reach under her short skirt and slip my hand between her legs, pulling her panties aside. She closes her eyes when I do this. A soft moan. One finger presses inside her. She is so fucking wet, just like Smith said.

My other hand uncrosses her arms and she lets them fall helplessly to her side.

I lean into her, kiss her mouth. She kisses me back as I finger her pussy. “Don’t fight it,” I say. “We can give you what you need, Marcella.” I play with her clit, flicking my finger back and forth. “I’d fuck you right now if I could.”

Her eyes open and stare at me. “Why can’t you?” Her voice is deep and throaty. Oh, yeah, this girl is a dirty slut. She’d let me do anything I want right now.

“Because if I fuck you first without the other guys involved, then you’d be mine and not ours. And I’m more interested in ours than mine.”

I pull my fingers out of her pussy. They are slick with her juices. And when I bring them up to her lips, she opens her mouth and sucks them like she’ll eventually be sucking my cock.

“Five-thirty, Marcella. Wear something spectacular. And no panties. I want to finger you again at that gallery. In front of your boss.”

I pull my wet fingers out of her mouth and wipe them on her cheek. Kiss her softly on the lips.

I leave her like that. All hot and wet. All ready for more.

She will come to understand what this offer is. And even if it’s not her brand of forbidden, she will stay. At least for a while. I know addiction to the dark when see it.

And she’s a junkie.

Chapter Nine - Chella

Even with the distraction of the last-minute preparation of the Matisse installation on Thursday, I’ve spent the last three days sick to my stomach about what might happen tonight. Bric was blunt and it was unexpected. Maybe I’ve come to expect that from Smith—if you can form expectations based on just a handful of encounters. But I always saw Bric as the sensible one. The practical one. The one she went to talk to when she had problems. That was Rochelle’s description of him.

He was everything but those two things at my house on Tuesday.

The way he checked me for my arousal, just like Smith. The way he caught me off guard. His cold commands and heated stares. His kiss. God, his kiss.

I know this is the wrong choice, even as I dress for him.

Wear something spectacular.

I hold the collar in my hand. The gold one that Smith clamped on to my neck on Sunday night. And I know this too is wrong. Put it away, I want to scream to myself. Don’t do this, Marcella. Don’t give in to their promises. Don’t wait for him to pick you up. Just get in your car and drive yourself to the opening. Then ignore them. Forget about Rochelle. Forget about Quin and the way he fucked you. Forget about Smith and the way he claimed you. Forget about Bric and the way he dominated you.