The 2014 R.L. Mathewson Chronicle Collection (8 page)

Part V

            “Why the rush?” Nick asked, biting back a yawn as she continued to drag him through the beautifully decorated hotel lobby.

            “No rush,” she said even as her grip tightened around his hand and she quickened her pace.

           
“How did she manage to get a Yankees tee shirt on Fluffy?”
she heard Tina Reber demand as she quickly passed the obviously distraught author.

            She ignored the outburst and the small group quickly coming to see what had Tina so upset and focused on her goal:

            Getting her husband out of the hotel and to their destination without him figuring out what she had planned for him. Not that she expected him to balk at what she had planned. She didn’t. In fact, Nick was a very supportive husband and when it came down to it, her best friend. There wasn’t much that they argued about, other than her sugar intake.

            The reason behind her secrecy was quite simple really.

            She wasn’t entirely sure that she was going to be able to go through with it. Since she’d added it to her list over a year ago she’d come up with excuse after excuse to keep putting it off. She’d made the mistake of informing Nick each time she somehow found the guts to even think about going to a place like this and every time just before he managed to pull into the parking lot, she’d chickened out.

            It had gotten to the point that if she even mentioned this particular item on her list, Nick would give her a small smile, sigh heavily and grab his keys and head for the door. He never bothered changing his plans for the day or even shut the car off when they arrived at their destination, because he knew that she’d chicken out, but not today.

            Today she was finally going to knock this item off her list for good. Well, maybe not for good. If she enjoyed this item then she’d most likely be bugging Nick to do it again.

            “Can we at least stop for coffee?” Nick asked, but didn’t try to make her stop, she noted with relief, too afraid that if he gave her any excuse not to go that she’d take it.

            “They have coffee there,” she lied. Well, she was pretty sure that she’d just lied since she’d never actually been to one of these places before and wasn’t exactly sure what they did or didn’t have there.

            “Fine,” Nick said around another loud yawn that almost had her feeling bad enough to cancel her plans for the day and let him go back upstairs to catch up on some sleep.

            Almost.

            “Where are we going? The rental car is parked over there,” he said when she bypassed the walkway that would have taken them to their rental car and instead headed towards the area that the concierge had pointed out yesterday morning as the area designated for taxis.

            “To get a taxi,” she said, hoping that he’d just go along with her plan without arguing.

            Apparently that was too much to ask for, because with a sigh of exasperation, Nick tightened his hold on her hand and with a small nudge, headed towards their rental car.

            “But,-” She started to protest.

            “We’re not wasting money on a taxi when we have a rental car,” he explained in a firm tone, the same tone that he normally used when he found her curled up in a ball on the bathroom floor, praying for death and promising anyone that would listen that she would never touch another sweet morsel for as long as she lived.

            “But-”

            “Unless alcohol is involved, we’re taking the car,” he said, pausing by the silver sedan to open the passenger side door for her.

            “There’s no alcohol involved,” she mumbled as she glanced at the taxis, wondering if she should try to drag him back over there.

            When she hesitated, he looked heavenward for a moment before shaking his head and promising, “I won’t ask where we’re going. You can put the address in the GPS to keep it a secret.”

            Deciding that this was probably the best compromise that she was going to manage to get from him so early in the morning, she accepted his suggestion with a nod and climbed into the car. As soon as he shut the door, she was fumbling with her bag, frantically searching for the address before he got in the car so that he wouldn’t see the name of their location. Just as she found the crumpled up piece of paper, Nick was climbing in and starting the car.

            Thankfully he focused on buckling his seatbelt and fighting back another yawn as she quickly typed in the address to their location on her phone’s GPS application. A minute later the GPS announced that they would arrive at their destination in twenty-two minutes, more than enough time for her to chicken out five or six times and convince herself to man up before they got there.

            “Why the rush?” Nick asked in a conversational tone that she wasn’t buying one bit.

            “No rush,” she said, proud of herself for sounding so casual even as she kept throwing nervous glances between Nick and the crumpled piece of paper in her hand, wondering if he already knew what she had planned.

            “I see,” he murmured, following the GPS’s direction by taking a left.

            He didn’t say another word as they drove and neither did she, too excited to say anything. She was finally going through with it!

            She couldn’t believe it! Finally, she was going to know what the big deal was. Of course, it would probably help her with her books, she mused, barely listening as the GPS announced that they would be arriving at their destination in four hundred yards. It would definitely help spice things up, she thought, barely registering the car pulling into a parking spot or Nick putting the car in park and shutting it down. But she definitely noticed when he figured out what her plans for the day were.

            “You…..you woke me up to drag me to an adult store?” he asked in a choked tone as he shot her a disbelieving look that she really didn’t appreciate, not one bit. She appreciated it even less when he started the car and sighed heavily minute later, because he didn’t think that she’d go through with it.

            Well, she’d show him! She decided, reaching for the car door.

Part VI

               “Are you coming in?”

            Nick opened his mouth to tell her that he’d rather just dispense with the bullshit and head back to the hotel and get some more sleep, but one look at her beautiful face had him biting back his words and forcing a smile for her sake.

            “Sure,” he said, reluctantly reaching over and turning the car off, wondering why he was even bothering when he knew that Jamie would end up changing her mind before they made it to the door.

            “This is going to be fun!” she said with a nervous smile as she opened her door and climbed out, leaving him to do the same.

            This definitely wouldn’t be fun, he mused, taking off his sunglasses and tossing them back in the car before he shut the door and hit the alarm. Fun would be going back to the hotel, getting some much needed sleep and spending the rest of the day making love to his wife. Being dragged from his bed so that he could drive his wife to an adult store that she was too afraid to go inside was definitely not his idea of-

            “Where are you going?” he asked, frowning when Jamie pulled open the blacked out door of the adult store like she was actually planning on-

            “I’m going in the store,” she said with a grin as she hurried inside, leaving him standing there like an idiot as his sleep deprived mind struggled to comprehend what his wife had just said.

            When it finally registered that his wife had actually gone inside an adult store, he swore under his breath and hurried to catch up with her. He caught the door just as it was closing and yanked it open. He stormed inside, praying that it wasn’t going to be as bad as he’d feared.

            It was worse.

            Much worse.

            There were posters of naked women, men, positions and advertisements promising every kind of physical pleasure imaginable. The shelves lining the walls and the racks placed in the middle of the floor were packed full of sex toys, creams, gels, edible panties and every depraved item imaginable, but that wasn’t the worst part. No, the worst part was the large open doorway in the back with “XXX” in glowing red lights and a welcome sign and of course, that’s where his wife now stood, looking intrigued.

            “What do you think goes on back there?” Jamie whispered loudly, gesturing to the dimly lit hallway.

            Although he’d never been to a backroom of an adult store, he had a pretty good idea of what was going on back there. He also knew that he didn’t want his wife going back there and getting a-

            “
Jamie
!” he hissed urgently, making a mad grab for her, but she was already heading down that long hallway.

            “Jamie!” he hissed again, ramming his fingers through his hair as he waited for her to hurry back since he had no doubt that his wife was about to get a very unexpected surprise that would have her tucking her tail between her legs and fleeing the building.

            “Ooohhhhh, there are booths back here!” was her reply, her very excited reply.

            Dropping his head down with a rueful shake, he couldn’t help but wonder what he’d ever done to deserve this kind of hell. He’d never pushed his wife to complete this task for a reason.

              He didn’t want her in a place like this.

              As much as he loved working on her list with her and enjoyed watching as she experienced new things, going to an adult store with her hadn’t been something that he’d been looking forward to. He had no problem with his wife getting a few sex toys. Hell, it was one of the items on her list that he’d helped her cross off a few months ago and had enjoyed using with her, but this was different.

              Jamie was a beautiful, sweet woman with an innocence that he adored and never wanted her to lose. He didn’t want her in places like this, filled with assholes looking to get off who looked at her as though she was a cheap means to scratch an itch. He wanted-

              “Why are there holes in the walls?” Jamie suddenly asked, making him curse and move his ass to go after his wife before she did something that was going to leave him with no choice but to kill some dumb bastard.

Part VII

Completion

            “Hmmm,” Jamie murmured as she raised the hatch covering the round hole in the wall and frowned.

            “Why are there two of these?” she wondered out loud as she looked over her shoulder at the other hatch on the wall directly behind her.

            “Shit!” Nick snapped, reaching past her and hastily dropping the hatch back in place with a loud
bang
.

           
“Mother fucker!”
a man suddenly howled from the small room next to theirs, sounding as though he was in a great deal of pain.

            “We’re out of here,” Nick said, grabbing her by the arm and pulling her to her feet.

            “No, I want to stay!” Jamie pleaded, reaching past her husband and quickly closing the door to the small room, determined to finish this item properly so that later when she crossed off this item, she could do it with a clear conscience.

            “Jamie,” Nick said, releasing his gentle hold on her arm so that he could rub his hands down his face while Jamie tried to figure out a way to convince him to stay. “Let’s just go back to the hotel.”

            “But, I haven’t had a chance to look around yet!” she protested, quickly glancing around the small room that was really no bigger than a bathroom stall. She shifted to the side so that she could get a better look at the small room, absently noting that the floor was sticky and that the room had a weird odor.

            It had a small bench made out of what appeared to be red vinyl with a sloped back against the wall behind her. There was a flat screen television mounted on the wall facing the bench with a payment pad and remote hooked up to it. On the small shelf below the television was a box of baby wipes, tissues, hand sanitizer and a small tube of all-purpose cleaning wipes. A trash can sat in the corner with a small sign that read, “Clean up your mess after you unload,” right above it.

            Instead of easing her curiosity, it left her with more questions. Like, why was there a machine that sold condoms and personal lubrication outside the room? It seemed a bit odd, especially since she’d only seen men coming and going from this section in the last few minutes, a few of them running off nervously when they’d spotted her. It just seemed like a weird set up to have in an adult store, especially since there weren’t any beds in the rooms. Not that they could have fit beds in any of the small rooms, but still…….

            “There isn’t much else to see,” Nick sighed as he sat down on the small bench.

            “What do they use this room for?” she asked, knowing that if she asked questions that he would give in and do his best to answer them, even if it was the last thing that he wanted to do.

            “People use these rooms to get off,” Nick answered grumpily.

            “Really?” Jamie asked, her brows arching up in surprise as she looked around the tiny room in a whole new light. “Seriously?”

            “Yup,” Nick said, sounding tired.

            With a frown, she looked at the small television. “They pay to watch porn?”

            Nick leaned back, the incline of the bench making it appear as though he was relaxing. 

            “But, they can do that for free on a computer in the privacy of their own homes,” she murmured, still not seeing the allure of coming to a place like this to watch porn. “Why come here?”

            His lips twitched as he said, “To get a helping hand.”

            She thought about that as went over everything else that she’d seen so far, the men, the condom and lube machine, the holes…….

            “Ohhhhhh…..,” she said with understanding.

            “Yeah,
ohhhhh
,” Nick said with a chuckle.

            “Oh!” she said, cringing her face in disgust as she saw the room in a whole new light. Although the place looked clean……..

            “I’m ready to go,” she moved to open the door and get out of this room and find a bottle of hand sanitizer to bathe herself in as soon as possible.

            “What’s the rush?” Nick suddenly said, reaching past her and locking the door with an audible
click
.

            “Just eager to get back to the hotel in time to catch the next episode of
Pawn Stars
,” she murmured hopefully.

            “But, I thought you had questions,” he pointed out innocently.

            “Umm, no, no,” she rushed out, shaking her head, “I’m good.”

            “Are you sure?”

            “Yeah, I’m…….,” her words trailed off as she heard the sounds of men moaning in pleasure. “Yeah, I’m definitely good. Let’s go,” she said, trying not to cringe as she reached for the doorknob as she tried not to think about all the body fluids that no doubt covered the room from floor to ceiling.

            “If you’re sure,” Nick said with a shrug.

            “Harder! Oh yeah, that’s it, big boy!” a man moaned loudly as she opened the door. “Oh, spank me harder!”

            “Yeah, let’s go,” she said, feeling her face burn as she rushed for the exit.

            “Do you want to stop and look around the store?” Nick suggested, sounding amused as he followed after her.

            “No, I’m good,” she said, giving the clerk a pained smile as she rushed past him.

            “Come again,” he said with a chuckle and a wink that had her cringing.

            Instead of responding, she rushed out of the store, headed straight for their rental car and opened the door as soon as she heard Nick unlock the car. She quickly sat in the car, laid her hands on her lap and tried not to squirm as Nick drove them back to the hotel. Twenty minutes later she was practically running to the shower, deciding that it was probably for the best if she had her clothes incinerated. A minute later she was sighing with relief as hot water poured down over her.

            “Was it everything you’d hoped for?” Nick asked, chuckling as he wrapped his arms around her and pulled her back against him.

            “And then some,” she said, sighing with pleasure as she felt herself relax in his arms.

            “I’m not sure that you can cross that item off your list until you’ve given the glory hole a try,” Nick murmured, chuckling as he pressed a kiss against her neck.

            She sighed heavily, her lips twitching with amusement now that she was safely away from that place and it’s sticky floor. “I’ll just have to push through the loss.”

            “Well,” Nick said, pressing another kiss to her neck, “I might be willing to count the trip if you gave me a helping hand.”

            She felt him smiling against her neck as he took her hand and placed it right where he needed the help.