Fiendish: A Twisted Fairytale (54 page)

Although Dorian seemed to be too uptight to have this kind of party, I
couldn’t help but wonder what Calida was doing. The thought of some oiled up man touching what was mine kept running through my head.

“Hey, Lover boy.
Why don’tcha join the party?”

The petite
, raven haired stripper had been trying to catch my eye most of the night. The other girls had come over, but I’d politely turned them down, instead choosing to buy more dances for those idiots.

Without waiting for an answer
, she straddled me and began moving. “You’re not like the rest of these guys,” she whispered as she leaned forward, gently grabbing my earlobe in her teeth.

The pungent smell of cheap whiskey and cigarette smoke was very pronounced on her breath. I turned my head
in an attempt to get my nose farther away from the foul order.

“No, you
’re more laid back, mysterious. I like that in a man.” She continued to gyrate herself slowly against my crotch. “There is some life in you after all,” she said with a smirk.

She turned around so that her back was against my chest. She leaned back circling her arms around my neck while grinding her ass in my lap.

“Ya know, I can give you a really private show. We all do,” she said, indicating the other girls in the room. “Off club property, of course. Manny don’t want to risk losing his liquor license.”

When the song ended
, she got off my lap, smiling down at me. I took another sip of my drink before reaching for my wallet. I placed a crisp hundred dollar bill in the side of her yellow G-string.

“Well…”

“Starla, the name’s Starla.”

“Well
, Starla, how much for that private party?”
Yes! This is what you need. You’ve never denied yourself before her. This one is giving herself to you. Take it!

“Usually
‘bout two hundred for the night.”

“Is that for each of you?”

I saw her mind working, trying to come up with the best answer to capitalize on this opportunity.

“Ya want all three of us? That
’ll be a thousand since we may have to double up considering there’s six of ya.”

I took another sip before standing to face her. Her raven hair was cut short and was dyed bright pink at the tips. Her breasts were much smaller than Calida
’s, most likely only an A cup. She had a starburst tattoo around her navel, and the light reflected off her silver hoop that pierced her flesh there. She also had a piercing in her eyebrow, and two in her bottom lip. When she spoke, I saw the tip of a tongue ring as well.

“It would only be five, but I
’ll pay you the grand anyway.” I peeled off a few more bills and handed them to her. “Show that one a really good time. He’s getting married tomorrow,” I said, pointing to Daniel before stepping around her to exit the room.

There was only one person I wanted, and it wasn
’t some overused stripper.

***

Dorian’s friends all oooed and ahhhed over another piece of lingerie she was given as a gift. Like Dorian, all of her friends were successful or married to successful men. Their conversations about trips to Italy or weekend homes in the Hamptons made me feel even more out of place. As maid of honor, technically it was my job to plan her bachelorette party, but her friend Jessica had asked to have the honor. I was more than happy to relinquish that job to her.

“So
, Calida, what do you think of Daniel? He’s quite the catch isn’t he?” It was Marla, or Melba, I couldn’t remember, who leaned over to ask in a not-so-quiet whisper.

She was quite drunk
, having had about four martinis already. She was the second wife of some old businessman. She was the youngest of the group of five being only thirty-two and the one I got along with the easiest.

“Yes…he
’s very nice. I…I think they make a very nice couple,” I answered. 

Dorian shot me a look as if she thought I was the one being loud.

I was bored out of my mind. We had played some sort of weird card game that must be the ‘it’ thing for these type of women. Then the games turned more risqué. First, we all had to state an object that we thought represented the size of Daniel’s dick. Dorian didn’t like that game, especially when one of her friends jokingly said a Pixy Stix. Then we put all our names in a hat, and once you drew a name, you had to guess the most public place they’d had sex based on three questions you were allowed to ask. Dorian was mortified at that one, even more so when I won thanks to the night at the club.

The doorbell rang
, and the ladies all let out a squeal.

“
Jessica, that better not be what I think it is!” Dorian hissed, but Jessica just waved her off as she sauntered towards the door.

“Well hi there
, officer. How can we help you tonight?” she called out loudly from her foyer.

All the ladies yelled when three beef cakes walked into the living room. The music came on, and clothes started coming off. Dorian
’s face was so red when the first dancer started shaking his ass in front of her face. I couldn’t help but laugh until one turned his attentions on me. He pulled me out of my chair, and I stood there frozen as he took my hands and placed them on his chest. He moved his body against mine while holding my hands in place. The doorbell rang again, and Marla went over to answer.

“We have another one,” she sang when she walked back in.

I froze when I saw him and quickly pulled my hands free of the officer, but he grabbed me around the waist as I tried to walk towards Seth.

“Your dance isn
’t over yet, Sweetness.”

Seth took a step towards me, but Dorian got in his way.

“What are you doing here?” she screeched.

“I was done, so I came to pick up Calida.”

The other ladies were watching with interest, trying to figure out what was going on. I got free of the dancer and intercepted Seth before he got really pissed.

“How did you know where I was?” I asked, pulling him towards the foyer.

“Daniel gave me the address. You look like you were enjoying yourself.” His gaze was hard; I hadn’t seen that look in a while.

“Seth, don
’t do this now. Please,” I begged, knowing how quickly this could turn bad.

“Do what
? I simply made an observation.”

Dorian came storming towards us. “This is my damn party. I sent you with the men for a reason! Why the hell are you here?”

“I already answered that question, Dorian,” Seth answered, not taking his eyes off me.

She was about to say something else when I stopped her. “Dorian, go back to your party. I will deal with him.”

She turned on her heel, heading back towards the party, and I pulled Seth outside. Even at eleven at night, the August, North Carolina air was hot and muggy. The change was very noticeable coming from the cool air conditioning.

“You
’ll deal with me?” He stood with his arms crossed, and a ghost smile played on his lips.

I chewed on my lip
, trying to gauge his mood. He was hard to read right now, he looked like he was in a decent mood, but something told me that truly wasn’t the case.

“I didn
’t mean it like that. I, I just thought it best to get you away from her.”

“Yes, that probably was wise.
Get in the car. We’re leaving.” He turned and started walking across the lawn, not waiting for my response.

“Seth, I can
’t just leave in the middle of her party,” I replied, walking fast to catch up with him to keep from yelling.

I stopped when he turned to face me again. He stepped closer to me, letting his arms slide around my waist. He kissed me slow and soft, pressing his body close to mine.

“Come with me,” he whispered against my lips. He wasn’t playing fair, but he never did.

“Seth, I can
’t.”

“That wasn’t a request, a
nd you know how much I dislike you telling me when you
can’t
do something.”

Our eyes met, and the look he gave me caused my stomach to clench. “Seth, please don
’t do this. Things have been going so well and…”

“And now you are making things harder than they need to be.”

He dropped his arms from my waist, and his body language tensed as he stepped away from me.

“That
’s not what I’m doing,” I pleaded, stepping towards him.

“That
’s exactly what you are doing,” he replied, putting his hands up to stop my progress. “Apparently staying here and letting some stranger grope you is a much more enjoyable way to spend your evening.” His words were laced with disdain.

The knot in my stomach got tighter. “Seth, no
, that’s not what I meant, I didn’t know there were going to be strippers. They had only just arrived. He started dancing for me; I didn’t initiate the contact.” I rushed to explain myself knowing how he feels about me being around other men. “I know I’ve neglected you a little this week, and I’m sorry, but I still can’t just leave. I’m supposed to be…”

“You’re supposed to be what?
Her personal lackey? All that’s missing is the collar and leash. That woman has not said a single nice thing to you since we’ve been here nor on any of the previous trips we took. Any attempts to do so were done with a veiled insult. She tries to make a fool of you at every turn, and you let her.”

I knew he was angry to see that guy touching me, but he hadn
’t been this hurtful in a while. I had almost forgotten how much his words could cut me. I stood there stunned. I was fully aware of how Dorian treated me; it had always been that way no matter what I did. For him to point out that fact, in the way that he did so he could get what he wanted, hurt. It hurt a lot. He closed the distance between us, wrapping his arms around my waist.

“Now, get in the car,” he said, nuzzling against my neck.

I placed my hands on his chest and pushed him away. “You…you just basically called me a dog, and now you think I’m going to leave with you. No, you need to leave,” I said with as much anger as possible before turning to head back to the house.

He snatched my wrist
, bringing me close to him again. “That’s what I’m trying to do. Get in the damn car. Now!” He spoke through clenched teeth. His fingers dug into my arm, and I knew from experience that look meant business.

Since that night at the park, he had a few blow ups, but nothing like this. I had mistakenly thought the worst was behind us, but now I stood in a virtual stranger
’s front yard with pain radiating through my arm and a very pissed off Seth staring down at me. He wanted what he wanted and right now that was me. If I went with him now, it was going to be rough. It always was when he was like this, that much I knew for sure. What worried me more was what would happen if I didn’t go. I felt tears prickling my eyes as his grip got even tighter around my wrist.

“Ow, Seth
, you’re hurting me. Please let go,” I pleaded.

He looked at me for a moment before finally releasing my arm
, and I massaged the sore spot where he held me. Even in the darkness, I could see the red imprint where his fingers had been. I weighed my options and decided that his wrath was worse than Dorian’s. I opened my mouth to speak, but he looked past me as if he saw someone. I turned to check hoping Dorian hadn’t come to find me, but there was no one there. He reached out for me but stopped when I flinched. Without another word, Seth got into the car and left.

I stood outside for a few minutes to compose myself. The last thing I wanted was for Dorian to see me crying, so I took slow
, deep breaths to get my emotions in check. I slipped back into the house grabbing, my purse and headed straight for the powder room. I quickly pulled out my compact and applied some foundation to my wrist. Luckily, Dorian was too busy enjoying the dancers to come talk to me, but that didn’t stop her from shooting me a death glare. I spent the rest of the evening avoiding the dancers. My thoughts were preoccupied with Seth and the mood I’d face when I got back to the hotel.

“I
’ll see you ladies tomorrow,” I commented after I finished helping clean up.

“Oh, are you leaving? I thought everyone is staying here so we can have breakfast before heading…” Jessica quit talking when she saw the puzzled look on my face.

Dorian apparently hadn’t included me in those plans. “
Her personal lackey,”
Seth’s words repeated in my head. Why did I protest so much about leaving with him when he was right as always? I hoped he wouldn’t be too angry and would accept my apology when I got back to the hotel.

“I
’m going to just meet you all there. I’m having an early breakfast with my dad.”

“I don
’t have breakfast with Daddy on the schedule,” Dorian said, pulling out her iPhone.

“It was just going to be us,” I replied, smiling inwardly seeing the shock on her face.