Part 5 (1/2)
”Like he'll buy that pack of lies.” Jason stepped to the door and then turned back. ”Call me. I know you two have a lot to discuss, but please call me.”
Lori nodded.
In an instant he was gone and the apartment was silent.
Lori wrung her hands in her lap. ”I'm so sorry.”
”You've said that. If you keep harping, I'm going to develop a complex.” Margaret stood and left the room. Moments later Lori heard the shower running.
Lori leaned back on the couch and stared at the ceiling. What the f.u.c.k was she supposed to do now?
She had no idea what Jude knew about Margaret. He could have spoken to Carlton, or any other member of the club for that matter, since she'd seen him. Would he leave her alone if he found out she was in a relations.h.i.+p, that she hadn't been simply enacting a scene with a stranger last night?
No. If he wanted Lori back, he would fight for her. That's the kind of man he was. No way would he bow out and leave things be. She knew him well enough to make that judgment. No matter what he ascertained from someone else, if he was back, he'd hunt her down and make every attempt to win her over.
Lori took a deep breath and let it out slowly. Her entire body tingled thinking about him. She closed her eyes and allowed herself to remember the feel of his hands on her body for the first time in two years. She'd never entertained memories of him since he'd left. To do so would have driven her mad.
And now...now he consumed her thoughts. ”s.h.i.+t.” She ran her hands through her hair and then trailed them down her body, grazing over her nipples before gripping her thighs.
Her heart rate sped and she pictured Jude gazing intently into her eyes. She pictured his hands on her b.r.e.a.s.t.s, pinching her nipples until they stood out stiff and sore. She loved the way he could bring her close to o.r.g.a.s.m from the simple stimulation to her b.r.e.a.s.t.s.
Her breathing increased and her nipples rubbed against her sweats.h.i.+rt. She hadn't worn a bra when she was with him. Almost never. With the possible exception of certain clothes she wore outside the house, Jude preferred her b.r.e.a.s.t.s to be bare, always available to him.
Even when they were out of the house, he would pull her against him in the car and reach under her s.h.i.+rt to fondle her t.i.ts until she squirmed with need. He'd insist she remain still with her hands at her sides while he worked her into a state of arousal. He knew exactly how to time his attention to her chest just right so that the moment they arrived at their destination, she was a ball of need.
Lori squeezed her hands into tight fists and let them fall to her sides, remembering how he would step from the car as though nothing had happened and demand she follow him so fast she could barely make her legs cooperate with the command. Like jelly, she would wobble at his side, her p.u.s.s.y pleading silently to no avail for release.
Lori wanted to rub her p.u.s.s.y, let her fingers delve between her legs and press into the nub that now felt constricted beyond belief. But she couldn't do it. Even masturbating to the memory of Jude felt like a betrayal of his orders. Orders that were old and in no way effective.
And yet, here she sat for so long her hands hurt from gripping them into fists. But she didn't dare touch herself. As though the demands of a long-lost Dom still ruled her every waking moment.
She had no idea how long she waited. She couldn't move. She didn't even know what she would do if she stood. She was frozen in time. Waiting...for what?
Finally Margaret returned from her shower.
Lori jerked her head to see over her shoulder. Her neck ached from sitting there so long, stiff from lack of movement.
Margaret walked by without a word and headed for the kitchen. Seconds later she padded back down the hall with another bottle of water.
What the f.u.c.k was Lori supposed to do now?
She stood, wiped her hands on her jeans and headed for the master bath on resistant legs. Facing Margaret head-on was the only respectable way she could handle this. She leaned against the counter and twisted her hands while she waited for Margaret to dry her hair.
Margaret finally set the dryer down and met Lori's gaze.
”I never meant for this to happen.”
”I know.” Margaret sighed. She put on the clothes she'd set next to the sink and reached for her comb. Her gorgeous black hair shone.
Finally she turned to Lori. She paused as though thinking about her next words.
Lori decided to spare her the confrontation. ”I need some time.”
Margaret nodded and glanced down.
They stood in silence for long moments.
”I'm in love with you,” Margaret said.
”I know.” Lori squeezed her hands into fists. d.a.m.n Jude for putting her in this position. She'd been going along fine without him. One night and he'd shaken her to the core and made her doubt her position. f.u.c.k him.
Margaret opened her drawer under the sink and began removing things. She stuffed them into her toiletry kit. ”I'm going to go stay with some friends. You need to sort this out.”
”Yes.” Lori's throat closed. Tears formed in her eyes. She was hurting the most important person in her life. And she had no choice. Now that Jude was in town, she had to find out what the h.e.l.l he wanted from her. And she had to decide if she could risk her heart on him. She swallowed a mixture of aggravation and sorrow.
When Margaret paused to look at her, Lori stepped closer. She tentatively wrapped her arms around Margaret's middle and held on for life.
Margaret returned the hug but not with the same amount of intensity she normally would have used. Before Jude. ”I have to go.” She released Lori and scrambled from the room.
Lori didn't move. She stood rooted to the bathroom tile, listening to Margaret as she quickly packed a bag. Margaret paused in the bathroom door before she left. ”I love you. I hope you figure things out. I want the best for you.”
And then she left.
Jason pulled up to the rear of Emergence and stepped from the car before he saw the man leaning casually against the back wall. He paused for a moment as he shut the car door, his gaze landing on a larger, tanner, balder Jude than the one he remembered.
He ambled slowly toward the man who used to be his closest friend.
”Is she okay?”
Oh, so right to the chase.
Jason unlocked the back door and stepped inside, Jude on his heels. ”What do you think?” he asked without turning around.
”I didn't mean for it to go down like that... Last night, I mean.”
”Really?” Jason turned on him as he entered his office. ”And how exactly did you intend for it to 'go down'? Did you think she'd be sitting at the bar, waiting for you to return to her side? Perhaps wearing your collar?” He circled his desk and tapped on the surface with one hand. ”Or maybe you thought she'd be with another Dom or married with a kid and one on the way. What the f.u.c.k were you thinking, Jude?” His voice rose as he finished the line of questions.
Jude slumped into the chair Carlton had been sitting in the first time Jason entered the office this morning. Where was Carlton now? For his sake, he hoped the man was out to lunch or running errands.
Jude swallowed. ”I didn't think. It was stupid and irresponsible of me.”
Jason plopped onto his chair. ”Ya think?”
”How bad is it?”
”The damage to Lori's relations.h.i.+p with Margaret? Not sure yet. But that's the only thing you should be concerning yourself with right now. Anything else isn't yours to worry about.” Jason leaped up as anger coursed through his body. He rounded the desk and got into Jude's personal s.p.a.ce.
What he wanted to do was slap him, but he was too big of a man for that sort of behavior. ”What the f.u.c.k is wrong with you, man? Who do you think you are? Do you know what you did to that woman? You broke her spirit, ruined her for other men. f.u.c.ked with her mind until she was a shredded sh.e.l.l of her former self. She's finally whole again and she's been in a committed relations.h.i.+p for over a year.”
He stepped away and paced back and forth to keep his hands from acting of their own accord. ”Lori isn't yours anymore. She's moved on. I helped her for months to pull herself together. She's. Not. Yours. Don't toy with her.”