Page 52 of Spades

I know exactly what those men were going to do to her, and the idea makes me sick to my stomach.

“Are you sure?” I ask.

She swallows, nodding. “Yes. Please come in.”

“All right.”

She opens the door and I follow her in.

Her place is clutter-free. A brown leather loveseat sits opposite a flat-screen TV, in between them a coffee table with neat stacks of magazines and pastel-colored coasters. Across from the living room is a kitchenette with gleaming stainless-steel appliances. Next to it is a small round table with two matching chairs. A red wingback chair sits in another corner, framed by a vintage floor lamp with a fringed mossy-green lampshade on one side and a bookshelf on the other. From there I can see two doors, one of which I imagine leads to Alissa’s bathroom, and the other…

To her bedroom.

Fuck. My cock shouldn’t be hardening given the circumstances…

“It’s a nice apartment,” I say.

“Thanks. It’s cozy.” She reaches into a cupboard and pulls out two glasses and a bottle of wine. She uncorks the bottle, pours two glasses, and hands one to me. “It’s a new brand I just found at the liquor store. It’s an independent label.Drink MeVineyards.”

I chuckle. “Very to the point.”

Her lips twitch upward. “I guess so.” She examines the label. “It’s a red blend from California. Should be pretty nice. Not too complex.” She eyes the loveseat. “Please, sit down.”

The loveseat is comfortable, and she slides next to me and takes a sip of wine. “It’s not bad,” she says. “Goes down easy. Try it.”

I take a drink. She’s right. It’s wine that tastes like wine. Robust, a little bit earthy, but very tasty. On the dry side, which is my preference.

“You’re right. Not too complex.”

Unlike the woman sitting next to me. She’s a layered, multifaceted individual. Thirty minutes ago, she was leaving Aces in a huff, probably planning to never see me again. Now I’m cozied up next to her in her apartment withDrink Mewine.

I draw in a breath. Time to face the music. “Alissa…”

“Yeah?”

“I want to apologize for how insensitive I was back at Aces. You had every right to be appalled by some of their practices, and I’m sorry for trying to sweep them under the rug.”

She shakes her head. “No. I wouldn’t let you get a word in edgewise. I certainly won’t say I approve of what they’re doing behind those velvet curtains and ropes, but as long as what you say is true and that it’s one hundred percent consensual… To each his own, I guess. I was just shocked. I’m sorry I threw my drink at you.”

I chuckle. “Not my preferred method of ingesting alcohol, but it still tasted pretty good.”

She bites her lip. “At any rate, you saved me from those thugs. Thank you.”

She leans in and brushes her lips against mine. My cock immediately reacts. It was already hard—just being near Alissa does that—but now it’s fully engorged, desperate for a sweet pussy.

I kiss her back, gently at first. After all, she just avoided being raped in an alleyway. She’s probably in no mood to?—

Her tongue probes my lips.

Perhaps I’m wrong.

I open and let her in—not just into my mouth, but into my heart, my soul.

I hold her tight, clamping my mouth down on hers and deepening the kiss. We kiss and kiss and kiss. She pulls me down as she lies back on the loveseat. I grind into her. God, I want her. Fuck. Too many clothes. Can’t get close enough. I move forward, try to?—

Damn. I knock my glass of wine off the coffee table. The purple liquid slides over the wood and onto her floor.

“Shit, sorry.”

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