“Strong?” Jennifer asked as we watched the crowd around us. “How long has it been since you’ve had drunk sex?”

“Too long,” I said with a sigh. “Work keeps me busy and when I play at the local clubs, I keep my wits about me. I know I’d be safe here, but Rawhide has rules about getting shitfaced. And I don’t want to break the rules for real and get kicked out.”

Jennifer nodded as she took a smaller sip of her own drink. “Right. Well, how about this. Do you want to get really buzzed and make out on one of those couches?”

My pussy gave a soft throb as I grinned, “I would love to. But it looks like all the couches are taken.”

She looked over my shoulder, then shook her head. “It’s getting crowded in here. I can’t even see across the room anymore. Mind if we find an area less occupied?”

Someone jostled me from behind and I almost spilled my drink. “No problem. The couches are pretty popular, let’s go over by the bean bag area. It doesn’t seem as crowded.”

Jennifer held my hand as we threaded our way through the crowd, but I froze before we’d gone too far. Caleb was here, looking as hot as ever in a black t-shirt that exposed his well-defined arms and broad shoulders. He’d skipped shaving again, and I couldn’t help but wonder what it would feel like to kiss him. Would I get beard burn? In the low golden light his hair appeared blacker than black, and I wanted to brush it off his forehead.

As if reading my thoughts, he tossed his hair out of his eyes then turned to someone behind him. I couldn’t see who it was, but it had to be a woman. I knew this by the feminine hands sliding over his shoulders, and the orange painted nails digging into his back. Possessive anger flooded me and I growled.

“Oww,” Jennifer complained as she let go of my hand. “What the heck?”

“Some bitch is touching my guy,” I said into her ear loud enough to be heard over the music. “Look!”

She followed my pointing finger then gaped at me. “That skank!”

I was about to march over there when Charlie materialized before us. I swear he just appeared out of nowhere, and when he crossed his arms and frowned at us, I almost didn’t recognize him. Gone was the jovial middle-aged man indulging his beautiful wife. In his place stood a no-nonsense Master in every sense of the word. His dark brown eyes were steely as he looked between us, and my anger wilted before his disapproving frown.

The urge to kneel rattled around in my brain, but Jennifer’s indignant, “Move, Charlie,” kept me on my feet.

“No, little Miss, I will not move. You two were about to do something very stupid.” We both started to protest, but he held up his hand, his face that of a man enduring great hardship. “Spare me. I know you, Jennifer, and Ivy it was pretty easy to read the violence in your expression. I don’t care what girl was touching what guy, if either of you started a fight there would be dire consequences. Like a lifetime ban from Rawhide.”

My mouth hung open a little and I flushed as I closed it. “Shoot, you’re right. Sorry, Charlie.”

Jennifer giggled. “He hates it when people say that.”

I started to apologize but Charlie waved me off with a small smile. “Don’t worry, it doesn’t bother me when anyone other than Jennifer says it. When she’s in need of discipline, she’ll say it in a way that just sets my teeth on edge.”

Moving closer to her husband, Jennifer gave him a kiss on the cheek. “And you always give me what I need. I love you.”

I looked away as they gently kissed, somehow feeling like I was intruding on something more intimate than sex.

After a few seconds, Charlie cleared his throat and said, “Come on, you two. We’re going to distract all that sparkly energy and booze churning inside of you with something a little more fun than starting a fight.”

I downed the rest of my drink somewhat defiantly, setting the empty cup on one of the tables we passed. Behind me I thought I heard Caleb call my name, but I ignored him. I was tired of women pawing him everywhere we went. Yes, I realized that I was silly to even think considering we had no kind of commitment to each other, but the idea of wearing his ring on my collar became more appealing by the second.

“Spin the bottle!” a woman shouted from nearby. “We have a few spots left.”

Jennifer squealed and dragged me over to a big circle of people sitting on the carpeted floor. In the center an almost black glass beer bottle lay on its side, the infamous bottle. I’d never personally played this game, but I’d seen it in enough movies to get the gist.

The game was already in progress, and I had a great time hooting and cheering with everyone as the bottle spun and spun. It was about to be my turn when I finally saw Caleb. He was scooting into a newly vacated spot across from me, his eyes locked on me. I smiled at him and gave a little wave, giggling as he smiled back. His hair had been once again slicked back, revealing his gorgeous deep-blue eyes.

“Your turn!” Jennifer said, all red cheeked from making out with a hot guy dressed as an 80s rock star across the circle.

All too aware of Caleb watching me, I gave the bottle a spin, both hoping it did and did not land on him. The bottle whirled… then slowed down until it pointed at… Caleb. Jennifer practically shoved me into the center of the circle, where Caleb was already crawling forward a bit to meet me in the middle. I expected maybe a gentle kiss, some tongue, nothing more. What I didn’t expect was for him to grab me by the back of the head and mouth fuck me into submission.

We broke apart and I moaned in disappointment, only coming back to reality as I realized everyone was laughing. A few more people later and it was Caleb’s turn to spin. Charlie appeared behind me, whispering something to his wife that I couldn’t hear above the cheering. There was more than one tipsy woman begging the bottle to land on her. Hussies.

The bottle spun and spun, before coming to a rather abrupt stop on me.

“Oh ho ho!” Charlie said behind me in a loud voice, “Lookie lookie, a double pick! You know what that means!”

The group around us all yelled as one, “Seven Minutes in Heaven!”