Ardor (2 page)

It was time to act.

Chapter 1

Two Years Earlier…

I was late again; third time this week to be specific. Wondering what Cassandra was up to, I parked the car in the driveway and leaned my head back against the seat, unwilling to go inside the house just yet. A quick check of my phone showed me what I already knew: not even a text from my wife.

Cassandra didn’t fuss or become angry that the hours I sometimes kept were longer than others. I tried to justify her disinterest in my whereabouts—I found it strange, but was always willing to believe the best.

Then again, tonight my coworker’s wife had called him three times within the span of a few hours. We’d both had to stay late,. I could’ve texted Cassandra to let her know, but that shit was getting old. I was always the first one reaching out. You’d think she’d miss me, just a little one night, enough to call me with a simple, “Hey, honey, what time are you coming home?” 

Carlos, my coworker, had laughed after receiving the call from his angry wife. He’d even joked about being in the dog house for missing dinner time twice this week. However, through it all he wore the smile of a man in love, a man that missed his wife as much she missed him.

During his entire exchange over the phone, I felt foreign feelings burn through me. It hit me hard enough to make my entire frame shake, and anger the likes of which I had never felt before, blinded me. 

I was envious of Carlos. I’d only been married a few months, and I didn’t have that connection with my wife, didn’t feel that kind of devotion coming from Cassandra. 

I missed her. Missed the girl I’d interviewed and fell in love with. Cassandra was my equal in every way, but it was becoming blatantly obvious that she didn’t hold the same attachments for me that I held for her. That she didn’t miss me when I was gone. 

Was it selfish of me to want her to miss and desire me while I worked late most nights? I didn’t think so; on the contrary it would’ve been nice. 

Looking up at the house, it appeared empty, like no one was home.  Yet there were two cars parked next to mine in the driveway. 

Cassandra’s gay best friend Kurt was over again. I recognized his car. He was always there, but I usually knew in advance if he was coming over.

Great
. Just what I fucking needed tonight. Was it too much to ask to have Cassandra all to myself? To be able to speak with her alone, and not have to put up with him hogging her attention again?

Not that I didn’t like him. He was important to Cass, so he’d become important to me and I got along with him just fine. But, we were newlyweds and needed to spend time alone. I needed my wife, plain and fucking simple. Apparently, like everything else in my marriage, it was going to have to wait. 

Fine,
I thought while getting out of the car and making my way into the house. The moment I was in the foyer, I stopped. Noises were coming from upstairs; the kind of sounds that put me on edge. 

Someone was moaning.

Let me rephrase that: there was a lot of moaning with the occasional male grunt sounding

out.

I took the stairs two at a time.

It was louder up there, and it was clear that it was Cassandra moaning. I’d recognize that sound anywhere. And she was enjoying the fuck out of herself, I could tell by the way her screams were growing louder.

I reached the top of the stairs feeling like my insides had iced over. Something went numb — like my emotional processes had shut down. 

“God, I love you, Cass,” I heard
Kurt
groan out. 

No. Oh, hell no. 

I was in front of the bedroom door before I’d even realized I was moving. It wasn’t even fully closed. Through the crack I was able to see what was going on. Kurt, my trusted wife’s
gay
best friend, was holding my Cassandra’s thighs apart. His cock was sliding in and out of her pussy, clear for me to fucking see.

Standing there, I grew colder.

“Love . . . oh, yes, Kurt . . . you, too.” Cassandra’s hands were perched on his upper back,

pulling
him closer to her naked flesh.

“I can’t stand the fact that he touches you. This shit needs to end, babe,” he demanded while his hips kept on going, pounding at her. “We have enough money now.”

My fists unclenched, and I pushed the door open.

“Soon, I promise.” Cassandra moaned in pleasure. 

They were both too lost in each other to realize my presence in the room.

“How soon?”
Kurt asked.

“How about right now!”The edge in my voice scared them both enough to separate
.

Cassandra began crying instantly, begging for me to forgive her, while Kurt looked on with a smug grin.

“Cass, give it up, babe. We both got what we wanted, and half of everything you pushed him to buy is yours.” Kurt had the balls to look bored with the entire conversation.

My fist met his chin. I hadn’t even realized that I’d stormed over toward the bed. 

“Stop!” Cassandra demanded, hysterical. “Fuck, Greg, you’re going to hurt him!”

“Get the fuck out of my house!” I yelled, barely stopping myself from going at her next. 

“It’s ours remember?” Cassandra gave me a smug look. “We bought it during our second month of marriage.”

“Yes, a marriage that you’ve officially broken with your infidelity and lies. While you might walk away with some money, it will never amount to what it would take to keep you afloat. Most of what I have in the bank was
before
our marriage. You get nothing. Not one cent

of
it.”

“Bullshit!” Cassandra screeched, getting to her knees on the bed. She didn’t even have the decency to cover her adulterous flesh. 

“Go ahead and try it. Hire the best damn divorce lawyer you can find; it won’t help.

Everything from before the marriage is mine. The cars, the vacation home in the Keys, the stocks

I’ve purchased over the years that have boomed—all mine. You won’t see a dime.”

“You’re lying.”

I shook my head, wondering how I was going to deal with the ball inside my chest that was ticking away, ready to explode. “Get the fuck out, and don’t come back, Cassandra.”

Kurt, who had been quiet during our entire exchange, began to lead her out the door. He bent down and picked up a small, black silk robe that
I’d
bought her to wear for
me.
Obviously, he’d been the one to take it off her earlier.

My fists were clenched so hard that I could feel my nails digging into my palms. There was no denying that my heart was breaking, and I couldn’t stop myself from tacking on a parting gift.
“Oh, and Cassandra? You’re fired.”

Chapter 2

Two years later
…

The day had been a huge series of disasters with no end in sight. First, my alarm didn’t go off, so instead of being awoken by the rooster and tree frog combo my overpriced Brookestone alarm came with, I was roused awake by a worried cashier calling me wondering where I was. 

It seemed that my store had been chosen for, and was in the middle of being hit by, a surprise cleanliness inspection. My store was always immaculate so that never worried me, but the fact that I was late and now had a company inspector awaiting my arrival didn’t sit well with me. Those men were known to drop scores if pissed.

Arriving at the store by eight took some quick maneuvering from me on the I-95. Traffic had been bumper-to-bumper no matter where I turned, and it took reaching deep and embracing my inner Floridian to make it on time. I cut people off; changing lanes, and flipped a few the bird. But I made it to work within thirty minutes of Carrie’s call. 

“Morning,” I called out to the floor. My crew, ever the polite fuckers in front of the public, waved at me and resumed working. I walked toward the back, and into my office.

“About time, Greg,” the person I least expected called out to me from behind my desk.

“What the fuck are you doing here?” I asked, not at all surprised by the level of venom that coated my words. The entire situation was already leaving a sour taste on my tongue. Just seeing
her
face was making me want to punch the wall.

Or her.
 

I’d definitely love to punch her, but my mother had taught me to never hit a woman, no matter how much of a whore she was. 

“Is that any way to salute your—”

“Stop it right there, Cassandra. We have been divorced for quite a few years now, and last I heard you were too busy sleeping your way up the corporate ladder to be anyone’s girlfriend.”

“You’re no fun,” she pouted, “but that’s not new.”

Breathe, Greg. Just breathe. Don’t kill this bitch. She still works for the company.
“Is

there
a reason as to why you are here?”

She had the nerve to blink innocently at me. “Isn’t it obvious?”

“No, not really, and I don’t have the time or patience for your fucked up version of a guessing game. Get on with it, Cassandra, and then get out.” My eyes kept darting over to the coffee machine in hopes that it would magically brew me a much needed cup. It was way too early for me to deal with this bitch without any caffeine in my system.

Cassandra’s eyes narrowed at me before a victorious smile spread across her features. “Mr. Thomas, I’ve been here since seven this morning conducting a cleanliness evaluation on behalf of the corporate office.” 

You have got to be fucking kidding me!
 

I don’t know how, but the victorious smile she was sporting somehow got larger. “While the store and your staff are exemplary, I must admit that your attitude leaves a lot to be desired. You should have more respect for, and be courteous to, other people’s time. I worry about how you treat our customers and the employees you oversee as well.”

“Listen here, you—” There was a knock on the door. “Come in,” I called out, and Thelma—who hated Cassandra more than me –stuck her head in with a triumphant smile.

“Sorry to interrupt,” her expression was not contrite at all, “but your nine a.m. interview

is here.”

“She can wait, Thelma,” Cassandra sneered.

“No, she can’t. This young lady has to be in school within two hours, and her campus is across town.”

“Well, that’s too bad, but we aren’t done.”

“Send her in,” I said while smiling at Thelma. 

“But, Greg,” Cassandra whined, causing Thelma to outright laugh. 

This earned Thelma a glare from Cassandra, and a, “Get back to work,” from me.

“Sure thing, boss man.”
The old bat giggled and gave me a mock salute. As Thelma turned to leave, she looked over at my fuming ex-wife and said, “You walk in here and act better than us, better than Greg, but don’t forget that we know the kind of woman you are. Spreading those thighs of yours will only get you so far. What you fail to understand, Cassandra, is that when the cellulite begins to show, their bank accounts will close.”

"How dare you?" Cassandra screeched, her fists clenching and unclenching as she stared down my "at work" mother. “Fire her!” she demanded of me, and I smirked, amused.

As if I’d listen to her. 

My office had turned into an insane asylum and I was beginning to think I was the quack who had been placed here to take care of these beasts.

Thelma and Cassandra were now standing toe-to-toe while throwing insults at each other. Each barb was becoming worse than the last; I feared that Thelma would become physical and hurt the insipid bitch. 

I was so focused on those two crazy women fighting that I didn’t see someone come in, but my heart sure stopped when that voice spoke for the first time.

“I’m so sorry to just barge in . . .” 

All eyes snapped to the stranger in the doorway, and what I saw standing there left me stunned.

“I’ve been standing outside for the last twenty minutes hearing you three . . . converse?” The girl posed the last statement as a question, causing me to chuckle.

“Who the hell are you?” Cassandra sneered while sizing up the girl, and I didn’t blame her one bit.

The strange woman was beautiful. 

No, beautiful wouldn’t be enough to describe the perfection standing before me. She was a small thing. An exotic doll. With her smoldering eyes, small and delicate nose, and lips that were made to surround my cock– this stranger in female form had no doubt walked out of my most intense fantasies. My mouth watered as my eyes traveled from the tips of her toes, to her eyes.

“I’m the nine o’clock, and you are?” The dulcet tones of her voice gave my cock shock waves of pleasure. I had to turn away for a moment, and this was something that, unfortunately for me, Cassandra noticed. 

Her eyes narrowed, and spit fire at me and the young girl I was ogling.

“Oh, she’s going to fit right in,” Thelma gushed. 

“I’m sorry, but I’m almost out of time. Can someone please point me in the direction of my interviewer?”

Cassandra rolled her eyes. “You are not BJ’S material, don’t waste our—”

Fuck me, was that stupid bitch really getting jealous? “Cassandra, get the hell out of my office, and mark my words, I will be filing a complaint on your ass.” She huffed and I ignored it, adding, “And we all know how much Marcy from HR hates you.”

“This,” she said, her tone laced with arrogance, “isn’t finished, and I will be back.” 

“No, you won’t. Now, please leave, and let me get to work. Not all of us can easily pay

our bills by  . . .” I trailed off, hearing three distinctive gasps.

“Maybe I should come back another time?” The beautiful stranger at the door interjected.

Cassandra opened her mouth to retort, but Thelma cut her off with as much finesse as she could muster at the moment.

“Stores don’t inspect themselves you know.”

Cassandra turned her glare on Thelma.

“I mean, Greg could get you in trouble with the higher up’s if you continue to argue with him. I’m sure that it’s important to the company to have his personal life be the topic of discussion on a cleaning inspection.”

“Mind your own business,” Cassandra spat.

“Just trying to help,” Thelma innocently answered. 

She was anything but, and Cassandra knew this.

           The two continued to bicker as they exited my office. Luckily, the beautiful girl before me wasn’t put off by what she witnessed.
When had my life become so crazy?

Oh, right.
When I’d married that gold-digging bitch. 

A throat cleared.

“I’m so sorry, Miss…” 

“Hi, my name is Jasmine Velez, and I will be your new cashier,” she declared, holding her hand out to me.

For the first time in what had been the strangest morning I’d had to date, I laughed. A deep laugh that bubbled out at her audacity and spunk.

I am in so much trouble.

Our hands met, my larger hand engulfing hers, and I froze. My god, looking at that girl— no, that
woman,
up close had left me breathless.

Miss Velez had the type of innocence and beauty that could become the cause of many wars between the male species. Jasmine’s exotic features and curves held me spellbound, yet it was her eyes that stood out the most. Amber orbs so beautiful and deep—full of mischief.