Desires (38 page)

“Larry, can I please remind you of the rules of
Desires?” Angel said abruptly.

“What about them?” he said, his attitude cocky.

“Do you remember this young lady?” Angel said, pointing
to Stacie.

“How could I forget? She led me a right merry little
dance. Stunning pair of fucking tits but a major attitude problem,” he said,
turning to glare at Stacie.

Dan exploded, leaping up and getting right in Larry’s
face. His face was purple. “This woman’s my client and you have just fucked up
two weekends of hard work, you
tosser
.”

Larry’s face altered almost comically. “Oh, and how was
I supposed to know that?” he rushed out, with an edge of sarcasm. “She was
flirting with me, virtually throwing herself at me. I thought she was up for
it.” A slightly panicky edge crept into his voice, as if he was just figuring
out that he’d royally screwed up.

“She came here for help with her confidence and thank
you for fucking her up and setting her so far back I don’t know if she’ll ever
recover. You are pathetic. Men like you need—”

“Thank you, Dan,” Angel interrupted. Stacie huddled into
a corner, sinking away into the background.

The room filled with shouting and aggression. Stacie
switched off, wishing she could just vanish. She understood why Dan was
aggravated. All his hard work had basically been pointless. However, it did
sound as though Larry knew which girls he could touch and which he needed to
keep well clear of.

“She was on her own. I had no idea she was with you,
Dan. I am truly sorry. Please,” he said, staring at Stacie, his face finally full
of remorse. “I swear…I had no idea who you were and I cannot apologise enough.”
He stood up. Dan stepped between them protectively. “Please, I’m so sorry. Will
you please accept my apology?”

Stacie was unsure where to look. The devastation he had
wrought hadn’t gone. Her body ached and her mind roiled with mixed feelings.
She didn’t reply. She didn’t want to forgive him. She wanted to hate the man. But
maybe she was partly to blame. She had flirted with him, she had willingly gone
back to his room and she had wanted it, at first. And he did stop the instant
she asked him to.

Stacie glanced at Larry. His face looked pathetic and
his eyes sad. She actually didn’t think he was genuinely sorry, only sorry he
got caught. The basic attitude he’d displayed to her in the bedroom was still
there. He thought women were sluts, whores, there to be used. He had shown no
interest in her pleasure while they were having sex, only his own.

“Stacie, do you accept his apology?” Angel asked.

She stared at Larry, and then looked at Dan. Everyone
was waiting for her answer.

“He needs an answer. If you don’t accept his apology,
his account will be closed and he will not be allowed back here.”

Larry stepped up his crawling a notch or ten. “Please
Stacie. I am so, so sorry. If I had known you were Dan’s client I would never
have touched you. How was I to know? I made a big mistake. I should have
checked my list. But I hadn’t seen you with Dan. Please,” he said, almost
batting his pathetic eyelids at her. “Please, I am begging you, I need this
club…”

I bet you do
, Stacie thought. No women out there in the real world would put up
with the way he treated them. But then, Desires was a sex club, designed to
cater to everyone’s desires, not just the ones Stacie approved of. She was not
sure who was in the wrong but it probably wouldn’t do him any harm to wait with
torture for a while.

Stacie stood up and moved to the office door, taking one
more look at the whimpering man, looking pathetic and desperate. She couldn’t stand
it any longer. She walked out the room, heading back to the reception area.

“Do you still have that spare key for my room?” she said
to Bailey.

Bailey dug it out of her pocket and handed it over.
“What—”

Stacie put a hand up, stopping her. “I can’t talk about
it right now. Sorry. Thank you, for everything.”

Bailey smiled. “No problem. If you want to talk, you
know where I am.”

Back in the room, she collapsed on the bed. She glanced
at the clock. It was gone midnight. She hadn’t even realised how late it had
got. She debated calling a taxi and going home, but the bed was comfortable and
her eyes were drooping. She may as well stay here tonight and get off first
thing tomorrow. She took off her jeans and got into bed with just Dan’s T-shirt
on, snuggling into the pillow. She couldn’t sleep. The events of the evening
whirled in her head. She was still tossing and turning half an hour later when
the door quietly opened and Dan came in.

“I’m not asleep,” she said, as he tiptoed across the
room. She twisted round and turned on the bedside lamp. He sat on the bed and
regarded her kindly.

“Would you like me to go and find another room?” he
asked. “I don’t mind, if you’d rather be alone.”

“No, it’s okay. You can stay in here,” she replied. He
got undressed and got into bed next to her. He leaned over to kiss her, but she
shied away. She couldn’t forget how he had encouraged her. He had to shoulder
at least some of the blame for this disastrous evening.

“Is there anything I can do? Do you want me to hold
you?” She looked at him. He looked woebegone, like a puppy that had been told
off by its master. Her heart-strings twanged.

“No. Thank you. I’m okay. Let’s just try to get some sleep.”

“Goodnight then.”

“Goodnight.”

Chapter Fourteen

Stacie woke the following morning, feeling as if she had
barely slept. She looked over at Dan. He was sleeping soundly, snoring a
little. She had stayed awake for a long time last night, going over what had
happened, trying to decide what to do, whether to leave Desires, or give it
another go. Even when she had dropped off, it seemed she’d woken up pretty much
every hour. She stared at Dan. God, he was so sweet and adorable. She had been
hard on him last night. It wasn’t his fault she had got mixed up with Larry. He
had just been doing his job. If she’d stayed with him, he would have warned her
off Larry. It was her own fault for going off by herself. And Larry’s for being
such a
knobjockey
.

She climbed out of bed, heading to the bathroom. She
took her phone with her, deciding to give Chrissie a call. Maybe Chrissie could
offer her some support and help her make a decision.

“Hello you, how’s everything going?” Chrissie said,
sounding chirpy.

“Where on earth do I begin?” Stacie answered, hearing
her voice wobble.

“Oh God…the beginning. What’s happened?”

“It all started so perfect. Me being naughty, dressing
up, having the most amazing sex—and I do mean amazing. Then we headed to the
erotic ball. It was incredible. Dan got me the most gorgeous dress. Everyone
looked fantastic, the girls were dressed in stunning gowns and the men in
tuxedos,” Stacie said.

“Yes, it’s a great night. We went a few years ago, had
such a laugh.”

“I kept engaging naughty eye contact with Dan, we were
having the most amazing evening. Then Angel took me for a grand tour, showing
me the rooms and the stalls.”

“It’s amazing what you can buy there. They have
everything.”

“Anyway, afterwards, Angel took me to the bar and, well,
she started asking a few awkward questions.”

“Like what?”

“About Dan. She subtly reminded me of my contract and told
me girls have fallen for a certain tutor before. I got the impression she was
warning me off him,” Stacie said, turning her head and trying to keep her voice
down. He was only the other side of the wall.

“Oh no! What did you say?”

“Well, I tried to reassure her nothing’s going on, but
I’m not sure she was convinced. But then again, I’m still here,” Stacie said with
a smile.

“True,” Chrissie said, giggling.

“Anyway after Angel left me,” already Stacie’s heart was
skipping beats at the memory, “I couldn’t find Dan. So I decided to dance alone
and have a good time. I saw this one guy. He was really good-looking, James
Bond type. We flirted on the dance floor. Dan had suggested I should try out
other men. He told me he wouldn’t be with me in the outside world. So I decided
to go with this man—”

“And…?”

“Oh, Chrissie, it was awful,” Stacie sniffled. “He
treated me like a whore. He brought in another guy without telling me and then
when I said I didn’t want to do it anymore, he called me all sorts of names,”
Stacie said wallowing.

“The fucking bastard. Oh God, babe, you’re still there?”
Chrissie asked, concern in her voice.

“I’m still here, but how I have no idea—”

“And Dan?”

“In bed.”

“Thank God for that. I thought you were going to say you
ditched him. How did he react?”

“Well he went crazy, I think if it hadn’t been for
Angel, he would’ve killed him,” Stacie said, wiping the tears from her eyes.

“Have you spoken to Dan this morning?”

“No, he’s still sleeping.”

“So how do you feel now?”

“Like shit. I feel like I’m right back where I started.
The whole point of coming here was to boost my confidence sexually. Now, I just
feel as bad as I ever did.”

“You were doing really well, though, with Dan. Try to stay
positive.”

“I did think Dan handled it all rather well, but he
might just have been protecting his income.”

“I can understand why you might think that, but I don’t
believe it. I genuinely believe he was protecting you.”

“How do you come to that conclusion?”

“He cares for you. It’s obvious the way he looks at you.
Would you like Jason and me to come round? We could try to get a few answers
out of Dan.”

“Like he’ll tell you.”

“Why wouldn’t he? Look, Stacie, I really would like to help
you. Forget what happened last night, put it down to experience and move on.
Don’t allow him to win, don’t give him the satisfaction. You deserve more. And
I certainly wouldn’t blame Dan. It wasn’t his fault. He did help you build your
confidence back up.”

“Yeah he did and what a waste of time,” Stacie said, the
pit of her stomach aching.

“Stop it,” Chrissie said. “I know there’s more to this
than he’s letting on. Stay optimistic.”

Stacie was still inclined to pack and go, but she would
very much like to stay with Dan for the day, and enjoy him for maybe the last
time. She wasn’t sure if she would ever come to Desires again.

Stacie and Chrissie made arrangements for them all to
meet later for lunch and they rang off. Stacie finished her ablutions and headed
back in the bedroom. Dan was sitting up in the bed watching the television. He
instantly switched it off as she came in.

“
Hiya
. How are you feeling?”
he asked, looking anxious and maybe a little nervous for her reply.

Stacie exhaled deeply. “I’m okay, I guess.”

She sat on the edge of the bed, wishing she knew what to
do for the best. Should she listen to her heart or her head? And was it her
heart speaking, or just her libido? Stacie turned to look at Dan. His eyes were
so beautiful, but filled with concern. He clearly was not sure what to say
after last night’s events. Stacie closed her eyes, steeling herself to make the
decision she least wanted to make.

She decided she was going to stay and have fun with him,
but today would be her last day. After today she would never come back to
Desires, and she would never see Dan again.

Her heart plummeted at the very thought of it. No matter
how much she told herself he was protecting his money, she couldn’t help but
find herself captured by his irresistible charm. Being with Dan had changed her
life. He had opened her eyes to the sheer enjoyment of sex again and she would
be forever grateful for that.

Dan stared at her. His expression was unreadable, as
ever. What was he feeling? What was going on behind those warm brown eyes? If
he had feelings for her also, his position was even more difficult than hers.
Stacie would only lose her membership of Desires, Dan would lose his job. Would
he think she was worth it?

Whatever happened today, whichever way her life went
from now on, there was one thing she could control here and now. She knelt on
the bed looking directly at him. She got on all fours and slowly made her way
up the bed to Dan who watched her with great interest. She straddled him,
sitting on his lap, her face inches from him, her body pressed to his. She
cupped his face with her hands, running her thumbs over his cheeks. She moved
her hands up to gently caress the curls at his temples. He gave her an odd sort
of half-smile, with a hint of puzzlement. She leaned in to kiss him, closing
her eyes and taking her time to taste his mouth, the curve of his lips, the way
his face felt under her fingers. She kissed the tip of his nose, his eyelids,
then his forehead, before pressing her forehead against his and cupping his
head in her hands.