The Pleasure Collection, Swingers Series Boxed Set: #1 House of Pleasure, #2 The Pleasure Party and #3 Possession of Pleasure (7 page)

      "I think you'll find what you need in here to freshen up," he said. "If you'd like your purse I can go find it for you."

      "That would be nice, thanks," Nicola whispered. He nodded, still unsmiling, and walked to the chair where he had thrown his clothes. He quickly and nimbly dressed, making Nicola see how much practice he must have, quickly removing a tuxedo and getting it back on. His hair was shining and perfectly in place again. He smelled of soap and fresh cologne. He had removed all evidence of their encounter. Nicola walked past him to the bathroom.

      As she combed out her hair and washed up, Nicola couldn't help but wonder if this was the master bedroom of the house, and how Perry was going to react -
if
she would react - to finding strands of long red hair in the comb she was using. Or would Jack send someone in to clean up after them, the way the security guards at the club would? She realized she was playing the game but was still unaware of many of the rules. Maybe they were written down somewhere? In a brochure?
Welcome to Jack and Perry's Pleasure Party. Please take a moment to read the rules, detailed inside this pamphlet.
This thought finally made her relax and smile a little, until she heard a knock on the bathroom door that made her heart race again. She opened the door a crack, half expecting a furious Perry to be on the other side. Of course she wasn't.

      Jack pressed her clutch into her hand. "Here's your lipstick and whatnot." He winked. "See you downstairs. A glass of wine will taste good, right now. The others are already down there."

      Nicola watched him go and then swept the red lipstick across her lips, painting over where Jack's lips had been.

     
The others. Oh, hell.

      Nicola drifted down the hall toward the stairs. She paused at a mirror hanging on the wall, surrounded by framed photos of Jack and Perry. Individual glamour shots, and more casual vacation pictures. They looked amazing together, and apart. Nicola took a step back, her eyes darting from one picture to another. She was filled with guilt and longing.

      Her heels sank into the thick carpet, slowing her steps toward the staircase. She would have been dragging her feet to get there anyway. She didn't want to face what was down below. At the top of the stairs she glanced down at the great room, at the glittery guests. As she descended, she noticed that the crowd had thinned. Some of the remaining guests were talking loudly about going for a swim.

      Nicola reached the first floor and headed around to the back, to the bar, putting a brave, smiling expression on like a mask.

      "There she is," Greg called out, raising his wine glass. And there they were. Jack, standing slightly behind Perry, who looked just as glamorous and groomed as if she hadn't just been the star of an orgy upstairs. Greg's tux looked slightly rumpled, but otherwise he looked the same as when they had arrived. Everything was the same. But Nicola didn't feel the same, and was sure it showed.

      With his hand still at his wife's back, Jack handed her a wine glass filled with cold white wine, and she sipped. He was right, the wine tasted just right after...

      Greg moved closer to her and kissed her lightly on the cheek, slipping his arm around her and squeezing reassuringly. She felt instant relief and leaned into him. But she couldn't help but glance up at Jack, as Perry chatted animatedly with the group about late night swims and how the late night guests always wanted to go take a dip after midnight.

      "We have plenty of bathing suits and towels, if you guys want to go swim," she chirped. "Or, you don't have to wear a suit, of course."

      "No, I don't think we'll be
that
late night," Greg said. "But thanks for the offer."

      Nicola looked up at her husband. He seemed relaxed. Too relaxed. She glanced at Jack again and their eyes met, as Perry turned away to talk to another guest who arrived looking for a drink at the bar.

      Jack half smiled, for the first time since he left her in the bathroom. She returned the smile, and suddenly felt another pair of eyes on them. She looked at Perry, and realized that she was watching them as she chatted with her guest. Greg was looking out at the people in the other room. Perry's eyes showed no emotion, but they were alert, missing nothing. Jack continued to gaze at her for a moment longer, either not knowing or not caring that Perry was watching their silent communication.

      "Well, this has been a great night," Greg suddenly said. His voice shattered the moment like delicate glass.

      Nicola stood frozen, afraid to move for fear of cutting herself on the shards around her. But she needed to get out of there, immediately. "Honey, I need some air," she murmured to Greg, and she stepped carefully out of the bar area and slipped out a side door onto a wide, stone terrace. The night had turned very cold, and she shivered without her coat and hugged her bare arms.

      The door behind her opened and Greg approached her side. "Are you almost ready to go home? Jack says the limo is ready when we are."

     
He wants us to go? No, he's just being chivalrous. A good host. We can go, or stay. It won't matter.

     
"Hey, are you okay?" Greg put his arms around her from behind and squeezed. "Come on, you're freezing. Let's go get our things and say goodbye."

      Nicola didn't move. "Greg...What went on tonight...Was that what you were expecting? I..."

      "Better than what I was expecting," Greg said, quickly. "Was it what you were expecting? Are you okay? You know I love you, and you love me, so we're okay."

      Did he even know what she had done with Jack? It wasn't with anyone else, just Nicola and Jack, in a room, alone together. He couldn't know. Or did he? Perry seemed to know. Surely Greg had to know.

      "I don't know if it was what I expected, or what I wanted, or what...I just..."

      "Did you have a good time tonight?" He cut in again.

      "I had a good time tonight. Yes."

      "Great. Me too."

      Nicola could hear the wind whistling through the gaping holes in their conversation. She looked out at the vast, dark landscape before them. "I'm not sure if we're ready to follow all the rules of this game," she said, softly.

      "Sure we are. As long as we remember that it is just a game," Greg said. He gave Nicola one more squeeze and released her. "Come on, let's get our things and go. I'm starving. Let's ask the limo driver to stop at Panda Garden on the way back. I don't think they close until two a.m."

      He led her back inside. A few more guests had joined Jack and Perry in the bar, and Greg caught their attention to say goodbye. They waved to Nicola and Jack started to get up from his seat but Greg insisted he not get up, so Nicola waved from the steps, and he lifted his chin to her as Greg gave Perry a quick peck on the cheek before hustling over to Nicola. The doorman appeared with their coats and led them to the courtyard where the driver was waiting.

      As they climbed inside the warm limo and sank into the buttery leather seats, they each gazed out their windows, lost in their own thoughts.

Possession of Pleasure

Part Three of the Swingers Series

By Nicola Six

Cover design by Melody Simmons of eBookindiecovers

Copyright © 2014 Nicola Six

All rights reserved. No part of this publication may be reproduced, stored in a retrieval system, or transmitted in any form or by any means, electronic, mechanical, recording or otherwise, without the prior written permission of the author.

The characters and events in this book are fictitious. Any similarity to real persons, living or dead, is coincidental and not intended by the author.

      Nicola lay back on the crisp white sheets, her mask tight against her face and not shifting as she turned her head to the side to smell the fresh linen. Her gaze traveled the length of her outstretched arm, milky white like the sheets, to her wrist, which was bound to the bedpost with black silk. She turned her head to the other side and saw that her other wrist was similarly tethered. Her long red hair tumbled over her shoulders, almost covering her bare breasts, and as she moved her head again to look up, she saw the figure of a man, also wearing a mask, his thick, nearly black hair visible above it, the blue-green eyes showing through the holes.

      "Nicola..." His voice was low and beguiling. He knelt on the bed beside her, his hands pushing her hair aside. She bit her lip, longing for his hands to return to her breasts and caress her. Instead he trailed a finger down her cheek and over her lips. "You're so beautiful," he murmured. He climbed off the bed and stood before her. She watched him slowly unbutton his black dress shirt until it hung open and she could partially see his broad chest and tight stomach. She longed to be free of the bonds so she could sit up and push the shirt off of his muscular shoulders, run her hands over his rock solid arms and down his waist. As if reading her thoughts, he shrugged off the shirt and let it fall to the floor. Nicola sucked in a breath. She wanted that on top of her.

      He moved closer to the bed and grasped her ankles, pulling her legs apart so he could kneel between them. He gazed down at her body hungrily, and ran a hand up her leg and along her inner thigh, sending waves of desire through her increasingly wet...

      "Nic!"

      Nicola jerked upright, the stack of spreadsheets in her hand falling to the floor at her feet and scattering. "What?" She yelped, staring up at Audrey like a deer in the headlights.

      Audrey snapped her perfectly manicured fingers in Nicola's face. "Where were you just now? You didn't even hear me open the door and come into your office!"

      Nicola glanced around her at the papers on the floor. "I don't know," she confessed, glumly, not bothering to retrieve them. "I'm having growing pains, I think."

      Audrey ran her hands through her shiny dark bob. "Growing pains? You're thirty-one. This is not exactly mid-life crisis time. Besides," she raised a dark eyebrow and smiled mischievously. "For women, the dirty thirties are the best, sexually. Haven't you noticed?"

     
That's the problem
, Nicola thought. Still, she couldn't help but smile at this thought.

      Audrey flopped into one of the chairs in front of Nicola's desk. "Seriously, you must have been daydreaming about something nice. The look on your face..."

      "Okay, Okay. Enough of that." Nicola felt herself grow red in the face. "Where are we eating lunch?"

      The phone rang before Audrey could reply. Nicola glanced over at the caller ID. "I'll catch up with you in a bit. It's Greg."

      Audrey stood. "Say hi to the hubby," she said, before swishing through the door and closing it behind her.

       "Nic, how's your day?" Greg's voice sounded easy and comfortable.

      "It's fine, and yours?"
I've just been fantasizing at my desk about Jack. And Audrey and I are going out to lunch soon. The usual.

      "The ER has been bloody, this morning. And busy. Bloody busy!" He chuckled at his own joke. "It's Monday. A lot of car accidents. Listen, I have to run, just checking in."

      "Okay, honey. Get back to patching up your patients."

      "See ya."

      Nicola hung up the phone. Lunch. Her stomach was rumbling. She swiveled her chair so that she was facing her computer and opened her email. She began tapping a quick message to Audrey when she noticed a new email in her inbox. The address was not familiar. JD30. The subject read
Personal email address needed
. She sighed. Junk email. There were no attachments indicated, though, so she clicked it open.

     
Nic, you left so quickly I didn't have a chance to get your personal email address. I want to be able to let you know when there are events at the club that might interest you and your husband, but for obvious reasons I wouldn't want to convey them here.

      Jack

      For a moment, Nicola could only stare at her computer screen, frozen. Why was he contacting her, after the way he had dismissed her last weekend? A slow burn of anger melted her frozen mind and her hands tapped a response on the keys. She hoped it came across as cold and indifferent.

     
Jack, thank you for offering to keep us informed. My personal email address is NTaylor. Where did you get my work email address? Yes, I would appreciate it if you would refrain from contacting me here. Have a nice day.

      She leaned back in her chair and folded her arms across her chest, pouting.
He has some nerve...Ooh, he's emailed back.

      Your email address was not difficult to figure out. First initial, last name, @company name. Presto. But I will not contact you again at this address. Adios.

     
Nicola blinked at the screen for a moment, not sure what to think or feel. The indignant feeling that had engulfed her was fading quickly. She cautiously signed into her personal email and waited, busying herself with picking up papers from the floor, tidying up her desk, and filing down a cracked fingernail. She would never be effortlessly polished and breezy like Audrey, she sighed. She could doll herself up with the best of them, but most days she felt she was fairly scrappy.