Page 70 of Taking Turns

But I see them. I see all three of them when I get home from work.

Bric is in the bar talking to a good-looking man and a woman I recognize from the first night I was here. Quin is chatting with four men in the main lobby and even though I catch his eye for a second, he doesn’t acknowledge me. Smith is sitting up in that private bar they have on the second floor.

He never stops looking at me while I climb the stairs.

“Come here, Chella,” he says from his balcony seat as I wait for the elevator.

“No,” I say, just loud enough for my voice to carry up to his ears. “This isn’t your night.” When the doors open, I step in and make sure I don’t turn around until the they close me up tight.

When I get to the apartment I find the dress already laid out for me on the bed. I look around for the cameras I know are here, but can’t seem to find. And then I put them out of my mind.

That’s a lie.

I undress for them.

For him.

For Smith.

I undress and sit at the makeup vanity in the large master bathroom, naked. And when I’m happy with my dark eyes and red lips, I lie back on the bed and finger myself until I come so hard, there’s a wet spot on the comforter.

The dress slips over my flushed body in seconds, and at exactly seven o’clock, Bric walks through my apartment door.

“Wow,” he says. “I like you in the black, but red is your color.” He kisses me, a long, lingering kiss with one hand around my throat and one hand between my legs.

“You’re wet,” he whispers into my mouth.

“I just came,” I whisper back. “I’m sorry. I couldn’t wait.”

“You filthy whore,” he says, smiling.

I want to undress him right now. Tell him to forget this party and fuck me instead.

But I’m being good. I’m being very, very good.

“Are you hungry?” Bric asks. “For something besides my cock?”

I laugh with him. “Not really,” I say, my answer more truthful than he suspects. “But I’m happy to wait for that later.”

“Like a reward,” Bric says, grabbing a black coat from the front closet I’ve never seen before. He drapes that over one arm, places his hand on the small of my back, and then leads me out into the hall. We get on the elevator and look at each other the entire way down to the second floor.

“I saw you come in but I didn’t want people to know I was looking.”

“I saw you as well.”

“We’re having dinner in the Black Room tonight.”

“I thought that was a bar?”

“It is, but the booths by the window are nice.”

They are nice. I know this because I already sat in one when Smith first brought me here. “I saw Quin and Smith too. Are they joining us?”

“No,” Bric says as the elevator doors open. “They’re both busy tonight. And we can’t stay at the party long.”

“Good.” I laugh.

“We might want time to ourselves before I have to drop you off at your house.”