Page 52 of Free Fall

“In the afternoon?”

Cole shrugged. “Fucked if I know. But she’s ‘getting herself back out there’.” He threw up the most sarcastic air-quotes I’d ever seen, then pressed his lips together, pulling himself back, forming his face into his signature scowl.

“Do you know which?” Rage was clouding me, only Leo on my chest preventing me from storming away.

“No, but it’s not the biggest town. I can’t imagine many will be open this time of day.”

He was right, a quick one-handed browse on my phone told me that. There was only one operating at 2pm on a random weekday.

Twenty Eight

Zelda

Hewasafriendof Seren’s from the office, someone she liked, said was a good fit, someone she’d been pushing me toward for months. So fuck it, after caving to her persuasion to get myself back out there, I relented.

Not a date, though. No, I had no time for romance and getting to know someone through three hour long dinners or awkward cinema trips. We were meeting with the intent purpose of a good fuck.

One drunken night after work, he’d revealed his preferred proclivities to Seren — a taste for domming and absolutely no desire for a relationship. So I was hooking up him, Brendan, in a sex club during the only time we were both free. The middle of the fucking afternoon for a soft domming scene.

What had my life come to that I was excited? I hadn’t slept with a single person since Luca, not even flirted back with anyone interested. Not that I made myself at all available. To be honest, I’d had no drive to do anything other than masturbate to the handful of porn videos I had on rotation. There was comfort in knowing every moan, every spurt of cum or slick of a tongue.

It got me off, a bit of self-care, and it was all I needed to get by. Or it had been.

I agreed with my friends. It was time to get a move on with my life. And an emotionless scene with a friendly, unassuming but experienced dominant, was the best way to go about it. Brendan liked impact play, breath play and deep submission from his playmates. All things I could embrace with a smile on my face. An interesting workplace they must have to get into conversations that could reveal a tidbit like that, but I put nothing past Seren.

The thought of Seren and her nosy mind made me smile. I had to trust her gut was correct on Brendan, and I think I did. She wouldn’t steer me into any harm on purpose. Still, nerves tickled my belly as I pulled up, parking in a shady spot of the lot, before striding to the main entrance.

The club was quiet when I stepped into the small, dark foyer. Only gentle pop music played from hidden speakers, and a petite woman sat behind a desk with the tall counter almost blocking her from view. Her cropped black hair was all that was visible, her nails clacking at a laptop overtaking the music.

Seren and Avery knew about everything I’d done with Luca, about how much I missed the dynamic. The power shift, the limit pushing… they’d convinced me I would be way more relaxed in life if I gave myself over to someone trusted for an hour or so once a month. I was willing to try. An orgasm by someone else’s hand would be great. Worth the effort of socializing first, and considering it had an end goal we both knew, even better.

Cole had Leo for the afternoon, one of their brother play dates that Leo always came home exhausted from. He’d chatter about all sorts of things as he slipped to sleep fast, a big sleepy grin on his face.

Seren had helped me get ready on her lunch break. I already had to be shaved and shiny for the strip club, so it was only bickering over outfits and hyping me up. Slipping me a shot of tequila before I left because most self-respecting adult clubs were dry bars. Patting me on the ass as I left, double checking my birth control even though I’d not had sex since I had it put in after Leo was born.

The receptionist caught my eye, encouraging me to snap out of my second thoughts and get a move on. She smiled as I signed in and directed me to the bar area. Brendan sat at a table, already waiting, and for meet-ups like this the club insisted on an hour spent in their public bar first, before we moved to the private room we’d booked.

Brendan was a regular, and I guessed had the system down. Fair play.

The bar wasn’t busy for a mid-week afternoon, with only a smattering of people around the small space. When I saw him sitting at a tall table, sipping what looked like a coke, I paused again. He was handsome, sure. Sexy, even. He had his dark hair cropped close to his head, and he had about ten years on me, give or take. Some wrinkles creasing the edges of his eyes and a sprinkle of salt in his pepper hair added to his charm, his sense of safety. I watched his large hand wrap around the glass, imagining it squeezing my neck instead, and waited for that glimmer of attraction.

He looked up and our gazes locked, and that attraction warmed my belly. Kinda. Enough to get my feet moving, anyway. His smile spread as I neared him, and my stomach clenched. I was so damn ready. This was it. I could sense it. I was going to have sex with this man, let him do deliciously filthy things to me. Didn’t want to wait the damn hour that was recommended so we could get to know each other, go over our boundaries in person and whatever else.

“Hi.” I smiled, reaching his table.

“Good afternoon, beautiful,” he said, dragging his eyes from my legs to my head. He grinned when our eyes met again. So confident. Maybe a bit too much. I fought not to scrunch my nose up, trying to look past all the little things I’d let get in my way before. He knew what he was doing, that was all. I thought of Avery and Seren waiting for my tale. I had to listen to their stories all the time, all the dodgy men and the creative places they fucked them. They never brought them home because of Leo. Or maybe because of me. But it was fun to live vicariously. I needed a good story for them. I wanted to live a good story. Theirs made me damn jealous. Woke up my cravings.

Brendan and I sank into easy pleasantries when I settled opposite him, ordering myself a green tea to sip while we discussed the list we’d already been over. It was such a refreshing thing, to be so open, to not have to keep our voices down.

It was only in the last few minutes that apprehension gathered in me. Brendan’s face grew serious as he listed limits and boundaries, sharing his own, agreeing to mine. I listened, rapt. Apart from that fucking word cherries, I’d never had a discussion like this with Luca. He read my body, decided what he wanted, what I wanted, and told me to shout if I didn’t like it. No preamble, no warning, no pre-approved kink list to work from.

“No fisting,” I blurted, making Brendan’s eyebrows quirk up. We’d already discussed this, he’d already seen it crossed off, but still, the idea of him doing that to me created a bubble of panic. I watched other women get stretched by their partners, had even enjoyed a double anal fisting video that made me come harder than I had in years, but it… it didn’t belong to anyone else. I almost laughed at the thought I was clinging to such a hardcore kink for a man who wanted nothing to do with me, but ah well.

“Of course,” Brendan replied, appearing keen to ask more questions about why. “I have your hard and soft limits. Don’t worry, little pet.”

Pet. Did nothing for me. It reminded me too much of Hawaii when I was Cole’s ‘pet’ for all of five minutes. Not a name for me to sink into. But I let it go. I wanted to get things moving, not nitpick terms of endearment.

“Your room is ready for you,” a staff member in leather boy shorts came up to us, collecting our empty glasses once our hour was up. “But of course, take your time. You’re room three.”

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