“That she’s not Nick’s property. If she’s really into him, she won’t embarrass him by accepting.”
“You’re way out of order, Jason,” Rob said.
“What do you say, Nick?” asked Jason, putting out his hand. “I could be doing you a favor in the long run.”
Nick could suddenly feel his heart pounding in his chest. On the one hand, he was facing a major humiliation, but on the other, maybe this was something he needed to know. As if being operated by remote control, he watched his hand take Jason’s.
“You’re on.”
Jason nodded, smiled, and left the table.
“Un-fucking-believable,” said Sid. “You want to give her away?”
“You should go down there and punch him out,” said Rob.
“Why?” Nick asked. “That would make me look like a jealous asshole.”
“What if she dances with him?”
“Then she’s not that serious, is she?”
Sid exchanged glances with the others.
Lucy had already upset Nick by giving Jason too much attention. Had she been doing that to test him, or had she already answered the question he had posed on the dance floor? Jason was an attractive guy and Lucy was a sexy babe. They were all adults who were free to do as they pleased, right?
Yeah, right. He knew he should do something, and right now to his friends, he looked a total pussy, but of course, they knew nothing about Lucy’s other persona. It was quite possible that she had seized this opportunity to piss him off, in order to incur some kind of punishment. But this wasn’t the two of them alone in his house. He couldn’t just grab her hair, or slap her cheek in public, even though he knew she liked it. Her friends were watching, for Christ’s sake, and again, he still wasn’t completely sure where he stood - if Lucy wanted to flirt with one of his acquaintances, asshole or not, he had no right to stop her.
“I’ve got to take a leak,” he said. He could feel their eyes boring into his back as he left the table. In the men’s room, Nick gazed down at his dick that had only a few hours earlier, been in Lucy’s mouth. He could still feel the intense passion they had shared on his living room floor and with a sudden bolt of panic; he realized that he needed to take action. Not because of smarmy Jason, or the distantly taunting Summer, or even losing face in front of his buddies - but because of Lucy. Sid was right. They all were. You didn’t just get a girl like Lucy. You had to earn her,
deserve
her. She had fallen into his lap, but the message she was sending him was suddenly all too clear -
how much do you want me?
And what had he done? Allowed some egotistical shit to take a shot at her! What kind of signal was he giving her? He hurried back to their table, desperately hoping to see Jason slumped in defeat, and twenty dollars on the table. He was not, and the expression on Sid’s face said it all.
Nick didn’t want to look, but he had to. Even though he knew what was coming, he was unprepared for the sharp twist in his stomach at the sight of Lucy and Jason dancing together. Jason had his hands on her hips and was leaning close to her, talking into her ear.
Earlier that evening, watching Jason hitting on her at the pool table, Nick had felt a kind of detached confidence. He had felt secure in the afterglow of their sex, and the way she had clasped his hand in front of everybody, that his territory had been marked. As the evening had progressed however, events had moved steadily out of his control.
Intellectually, he knew that Lucy hadn’t really done anything wrong. She had never claimed to be his exclusive property, and after all, it was just a dance. But the sight of them together was biting into him harder than he could ever have imagined.
Standing with his hands on the balcony railing, he knew that Sid and the others were watching him, and without saying goodbye, Nick turned and pushed through the crowd towards the exit.
***
He slammed his front door with such violence that Lucy’s bicycle toppled over in the hallway. Stepping over it, he went into the living room and turned over the coffee table. He went into the kitchen and opened the door, stared out into the darkness, then went upstairs, avoided looking at her bedroom door, and went into his room.
He lay down, face buried in the pillows, inhaling her sensual fragrance as tears stung his eyes.
Damn the bitch!
he thought. What was she trying to do to him? Hadn’t he made his feelings plain enough? And Jason, of all people! A terrible image forced its way into his head - Lucy’s naked body, tied to a bed and writhing in ecstasy as Jason brought a leather whip down onto her breasts.
Maybe one of your friends would like to punish me…
Nick had to physically shake his head to remove the thought. After a while, he gained a degree of composure and backtracked over the course of the evening, trying to figure out if he had done something wrong. Should he have joined in when they were playing pool? Didn’t he show her enough attention at the night club? He had deliberately held back because he hadn’t wanted to appear too possessive.
Yeah, that strategy really worked out, didn’t it?
His head was in a whirl. He couldn’t carry on like this. He needed to have Lucy completely or not at all - but the thought of the latter filled him with dread. The guys were right. You didn’t take a girl like Lucy for granted - she was a full-time occupation.
He rolled over and picked up his cell phone to see if she had called. There were two missed calls from Sid, nothing else. He put the phone down on the bedside table, and then, almost hyperventilating, picked it up again and dialed Lucy’s number. He let it ring until her voice mail kicked in and then he hung up. He lay on top of the covers, unable to sleep, torturing himself over where and who she might be with. Had Jason seen Nick’s call come in while he was fucking her? Did they both laugh? Or was she just pissed at him for walking out?
Twice, he thought he heard the front door opening, but it was only his frantic imagination. Dawn broke, filling the room with brilliant sunshine. Nick went down to the hallway, stood Lucy’s bike up, and then set the coffee table right-side-up.
He slumped into the sofa and finally sleep embraced him. When he woke, it was nearly midday and he felt better. Then he remembered Lucy and the cold churning in his stomach came back. He brooded in front of the silent television, wondering what to do. If it was over with Lucy - did it really ever start? - he wanted her out of the house. The idea of Jason coming over to pick her up was more than he could handle. He was going over the possible legal ramifications when his cell rang. It was Lucy.
His first emotion was unbridled joy, which was then followed by deep apprehension - this might be the call telling him she was moving out.
Nervously, Nick touched the receive icon.
“Hey,” she said, “what happened to you last night?”
Her casual, friendly demeanor caught him off guard.
“I… I was feeling pretty sick.”
“You could have said goodbye.”
“It came on suddenly. I didn’t want to throw up in the club. Didn’t Sid tell you?”
“No.”
Nick could tell from her voice that she didn’t believe him.
“So are you okay now?” she asked.
“Much better thanks. It might have been the drink.”
“Yeah, I had
way
too much. Summer and Tanya had to practically carry me back to campus.”
“That’s where you slept?” Nick said, trying to keep his voice even.
“Just woke up. I’ve got a hangover from hell.”
“So it was just you three?” Nick asked.
“Yeah. Who else would there be?”
Thank God!
Nick could have screamed with delight.
“I don’t know, I just…well are you coming home tonight?”
“Of course, why wouldn’t I?”
Nick silently punched the air.
“I’m not moving very quickly at the moment,” Lucy said, “so I won’t be back for a couple of hours. Do you want me to bring Chinese?”
Bring whatever you want,
Nick thought,
as long as you’re coming back.
“Sure, that sounds good.”
“Okay, I’ll see you later.”
“Right. Um, Lucy?”
“Yeah?”
“I’m sorry if I abandoned you last night.”
She didn’t answer right away and Nick wondered if she was smiling.
“It’s okay,” she said finally. “I had friends with me.”
“I know, but I feel bad about it.”
Then Lucy said something that sent a delightful shiver up Nick’s spine.
“It won’t happen again though, will it, Nick? You won’t leave me again?”
“No, Lucy. Never again.”
“Promise?”
Lucy had gotten a change of clothes at the campus - a loose, white cotton shirt, ass-hugging powder blue shorts, and black ankle boots. She wore her silky hair in bunches, which had the effect of making her look both delectably innocent and sluttish at the same time.
She carried a bag of Chinese take-out and a bottle of Cabernet Sauvignon.
“
Kitchen or
coffee table?” she chirped.
“Right here will do,” Nick said from the sofa.
She dumped the food in front of him and headed for the kitchen.
“How are you feeling now?” she asked.
“Good, thanks,” said Nick. What he really wanted to discuss was what had occurred after he had left the previous night, but he was still so ecstatic that he hadn’t lost Lucy, that he didn’t want to risk ruining it.
“I’m famished,” she said, returning with plates and glasses. She kicked off her shoes and sat cross-legged on the floor and began peeling off the foil tops. As the air filled with the steaming aroma of beef, prawns, mushrooms, beanshoots and oyster sauce, Nick discovered that he too, was starving.
Lucy spread out the cartons and handed Nick the bottle to open.
“I’m surprised you want a drink after last night,” Nick commented.
“I’m okay now. It was those cocktails that got me,” said Lucy. “What the hell was in them?”
“The Long Islands? Gin, rum, tequila, vodka, triple sec.”
Lucy picked up a prawn with her chopsticks and bit into it, letting a trail of pink juice run down her chin.
“Jesus,” she said. “Whose fucking idea was that?”
“Jason’s. Some people call it a date rape drug.”
Nick glanced at her for a reaction but she gave none.
“Cheers,” he said, handing her a glass.
“In Japanese, you say ‘Kanpai’,” said Lucy as they touched glasses. “So when I got back to the table, you were gone,” she went on, dropping some strands of egg-noodles into her mouth. “I asked where you had gone but nobody would say. They didn’t mention anything about you being sick.”
Nick pierced a mushroom on his fork, held it towards her, and Lucy clasped it between her teeth.
“I had a friend who was date-raped once,” she said.
“Really?”
“There’s this drug…”
“Roofies?”
“Uh-uh, this other one. It’s called scopolamine. It kind of turns you into a zombie. You lose all your will power and do whatever anyone asks you to. When it wears off, you can’t remember a thing. People have been known to assist in their own robberies, give away their money, cars. Ordinary decent women have been put to work as prostitutes.”
“Scary. How do you know so much about it?”
“Because it happened to my friend.”
Lucy didn’t offer any details so Nick decided not to ask.
“So apart from the Long Islands, did you have a good time?” he asked, changing the subject.
“It was fun. Your friends are nice. How did you get to know each other?”
“Sid knows Jason from the gym. Rob works at the same investment bank as Jason, and Andy is Rob’s brother,”
“Oh, that’s right, they told me. Tanya thought Rob was really cute.”
“I think he likes her too.”
“Andy was a little boring.”
“Well, he’s a bit serious. He’s training to be a pharmacologist. He told me you have a - what was it? - ‘shining radiance’,” Nick said.
“Oh really? Well, he’s not
that
boring then.”
Nick grinned. He’d sensed that she had been a bit cautious up until now. She knew she had upset him, and dinner was a make-up gesture. Now that she figured he had forgiven her, the mischievous imp was coming back out to play.
“Sid’s very fond of you,” Lucy said.
“That’s perceptive of you. He works with me. The others are just drinking buddies really.”
“Is he a carpenter too?”
“Yeah. It’s a small company, just six employees and old Bob, the boss.”
“I remember. You restore old buildings. It sounds like satisfying work.”
“When it goes right.”
“It’s nice at the end of the day, when you can actually see the fruits of your labor.”
Lucy finished her glass and let out a little unladylike belch. “Sorry.”
“Another one?”
“Are you trying to get me drunk?”
“It’s worth a try.”
She held up her glass.
“One more and that’s it. I don’t want to miss class tomorrow.”
They toasted again, and Lucy got up and sat next to Nick.
“You want to watch some TV?” he asked.
Lucy shook her head and draped a leg over his lap.
They sat in silence for a moment, Nick just happy to be sitting there, then Lucy said, “I’m sorry I danced with your friend.”
Nick didn’t respond. It was a subject that he had wanted to raise, but now that Lucy had, it felt like an intrusion.
“And I’m sorry you lost twenty bucks,” she went on. “He didn’t tell me until after.”
Nick flushed with embarrassment. He would have expected her to be furious over that.
“I was drunk,” she continued. “I know that’s not an excuse.”
“Did he ask you to go home with him?”
“Yeah.”
Lucy was sliding her thigh up and down Nick’s lap, and he felt himself stirring.
“Why didn’t you?”
She sipped her wine and rested her head on his shoulder. “Because I don’t sleep with everybody that hits on me, that’s why.”
“Sorry. I didn’t mean that.”
“You were angry, weren’t you?”
Nick kissed her on the top of her head.
“Oh, yes.”
Lucy turned her face towards him and put down her glass. “That’s why I danced with him.”
“To make me angry?”
Their faces were close, noses almost touching.
“To see if you cared.”
Nick pressed his lips against hers and they stayed that way for a while.
“Dammit, Lucy,” Nick said. “You have no idea how much I care.”
Very slowly, Lucy slid off him and walked around the coffee table. She stood before him, hands clasped in front, and bowed her head.
“Punish me,” she said meekly.
“Lucy, there’s no need…”
“If you love me, then punish me.”
Love me? Did she say
love
me?
“How?” he asked.
“Did you feel humiliated last night?”
Nick hesitated, then said, “Yes.”
“Then humiliate
me
. I deserve it.”
Well,
Nick thought.
This is interesting.
No fighting or taunting this time.
His erection intensifying, Nick swallowed and said, “Yes you do.”
If he was honest, as much as she absolutely turned him on, he wasn’t really comfortable with Lucy’s sex games. On the other hand, if this was the only way she was going to offer herself to him, then so be it. Still mindful of the scare she had given him at the nightclub, Nick decided he had better be convincing.
“You can start by standing in the corner, facing the wall.”
Lucy raised her head and gazed at him.
What now?
he thought.
Is she just spoiling for a fight?
But no protest followed. Nor did he catch a glimmer of a smile. The only reaction that he could discern was a fresh sparkle in her eyes, and he knew what that meant - he was on the right track.
“Yes, sir,” Lucy said, and went over to the corner by the front window. Nick remained seated and surveyed her splendidly rounded ass.
“Now get those shorts off,” he instructed.
Lucy popped the buttons and then bent forward, sliding the shorts down and then stepping out of them. She was wearing a tiny, peach-colored g-string underneath.
“And the shirt,” Nick said, and she promptly pulled the garment over her head to reveal that she was braless. Nick’s eyes roved over the slope of her slender shoulders, the dimples in the small of her back, and the curves of her thighs and calves. He stood up and approached her, his cock prodding against his pants.
During the previous few weeks, it had occurred to Nick that Lucy’s fetishes might have been caused by something that had happened when she was growing up. In their conversations, Nick never attempted to pry, and only learned snippets about her family life whenever she was ready to talk about them. She never spoke of her mother, and of her father, he knew little. Nick was no psychologist, but he suspected there was something missing there, and that Lucy was looking to him as a father figure - or maybe he was thinking too much. Lucy often told him that. Her advice was to stay in the moment, enjoy what you have, and keep things simple. And here she was, presenting her almost-nude body to him, awaiting her punishment.