Awakening

AWAKENING

AWAKENING

Sydney Holmes

AWAKENING Copyright © 2014 SYDNEY HOLMES

All rights reserved. No part of this book may be reproduced, scanned, stored, or distributed in any printed or electronic form or by any means without the prior written permission of the publisher.

Published by: Crespi House Publishing

ISBN: 978-1-941591-00-0 Print

ISBN: 978-1-941591-01-7 E-Book

www.SydneyHolmes.com

Formatting by Amy Atwell at Author EMS

Cover design by Karen Windsor-Worrel at KWW Design LLC

Edited by Susan Cole and
Valerie at Loud Lit Chicks

This is a work of fiction. Names, characters, places, and incidents either are the product of the author’s imagination or are used fictitiously, and any resemblance to actual persons, living or dead, business establishments, events, or locales, is entirely coincidental.

Coming Soon by Sydney Holmes

Awake

Escape Part One

Escape Part Two

Escape Part Three

The Things You Do To Me

To my husband because you are my everything

CHAPTER ONE

Jack London’s is crowded and we all squeeze into a table near the back. We’re far from the bar, but close to the bathroom, so I guess it works out.

Carrie, Joanne, Willow, and I are here with Sophia to celebrate her 24th birthday. We all met at Stanford; Joanne, Sophia, and I were starry-eyed freshmen and Carrie and Willow were sophomore roommates giving us the lowdown on college life. Even back then, Sophia was a cute, whip smart, blonde with an athletic body. Not much has changed over the years.

“Okay, girlfriend. What’s next? Wine, more champagne, mixed drinks? What’s your pleasure, birthday girl?” Carrie stands to make her way back to the bar. Even for Carrie, tall, dark haired babe that she is, it will take a while to get more drinks.

“Um—How about some food? I gotta drive home soon. I need to sober up a bit,” Sophia yells her response across the table.

“Whatever! Fine. I’ll order some appetizers, too.” Carrie marches off into the depths of the bar in search of sobering appetizers and more booze.

Of all of us, Carrie is the most successful and the most confident. She knew going into college that she was destined to be a rich corporate lawyer working her 80 hours a week, partying like a madwoman on weekends, as well as the occasional weeknight.

Willow slides in next to Sophia, taking Carrie’s seat. Bags and wrapping paper litter the table and floor. I move the presents over to a corner.

“How’s life? How goes the job?” Willow almost has to scream in Sophia’s ear. Maybe this wasn’t the best place to celebrate.

“Oh, my God. David is a nightmare! You can’t even believe it.” Sophia’s delicate features look exaggerated as she speaks of the horror of her job.

“Yep. I so could have called that one.” Willow downs the rest of her drink. She has long flowing hair to her waist and, as her name suggests, she was raised a flower child in Northern California. She had hopes of becoming a lawyer to help the poor and advocate for change, however, she soon learned that often the poor can’t pay retainers and the banks holding her student loans didn’t care, she still had to make her payments. Begrudgingly, she now works at the same firm that Carrie does as a junior associate. She hates it, but she is paying off her loans and saving money. Looks like her new coping strategy is drinking. Heavily.

“Okay, you two. We’re not going to get into a ‘who has the worst job’ competition.” I reach over to slide my drink back away from Willow’s sticky hands.

“So, Nora. Checked out any law schools lately?” Joanne smirks at me across the table. I narrow my eyes at her.

“No, but thanks for asking. How’s the novel?” She bursts out laughing. Back in college, Joanne and I used to stay up late talking about our hopes and dreams. She wanted to write the next great American novel, and I wanted to take on the Supreme Court, changing laws for the betterment of womankind.

Joanne now works as a staff writer for a fashion magazine and I work in corporate events. We often joke that we jinxed ourselves with those late night talks. Yeesh, what a lot of hot air we wasted.

“How’s it going, Nora? Is Darren still as kooky as ever?” she asks.

“Yeah. Darren is still Darren.” I sigh, reaching for my drink.

“When are you going to wake up and realize that guy doesn’t hold a candle to you? He’s a freak, and you need to move on.” Wow, Joanne is diving straight in tonight. We’ve had this conversation before and I really don’t want to have it again. They just don’t understand what it’s like with him. What I’m like with him.

“Actually, he seems to be perking up. He almost got wild with me last weekend.” I smirk at her.

Joanne’s eyes shoot up in surprise. Before she can ask me anything else, Carrie is back with a pitcher of margaritas and some chips.

“There’s your damn food. Now drink up!” She sits down and takes a large swig of her drink. “Okay. What are we talking about?”

“Nora just told me that Darren had wild sex with her last weekend,” Joanne yells. Everyone within earshot turns to look at us.

My jaw drops open for a second before I snap it shut self-consciously “Nice.”

“Oh, really?” Sophia chimes in. “And when were you going tell me?”

Sophia and I work together and she knows way too much about my failings with Darren.

“No!” I say truly exasperated. “I did not have wild sex with Darren. I said I almost had wild sex. You know how he is.” My face is red and my hands are shaky. “I’m slowly pulling out his wild child. Very slowly,” I say when I have recovered enough.

“Wait a minute.” Willow tunes in, drunkenly. “You had wild sex with wild child? Who?”

We all start laughing hysterically. Thank God for Willow.

“Excuse us.” A male voice interrupts our hysterics. We all pull it together and look up at the voice. A group of young, buff men stand near our table waiting for our attention. Three of the men look like they came from the office wearing slacks with collared shirts, but one has on tight jeans and a tight long sleeve shirt. He is sporting a day old beard that works well on him. My eyes linger on his pants.

“You’re excused!” Joanne says smartly, and then bursts into more laughter.

“We noticed that the birthday girl hasn’t had her birthday dance yet,” Mr. Nice Package says.

“Oh! Is that like a tradition?” Willow looks up at the men.

There are four of them, together they look as if they are posing for a Hot Guys calendar photo.

“Yeah!” Green shirt guy steps up from the back of the group. He sweeps his thick black hair back and flashes a sexy smile. “It’s a tradition. The birthday girl gets to have first choice, then the rest of you get the leftovers.”

“The leftovers? Ha! You guys are more like first course.” Carrie starts to stand up.

“Wait a minute!” Willow drags her back down. “It’s Sophia’s Birthday. She gets first pick.”

Sophia’s eyes are huge and she looks mortified when she glances at me. I smile and nod at her, encouraging. She hesitates and eyes all the men standing in front of her.

“Come on. It’s just a dance.” Mr. Nice Package says, looking as innocent as he can, offering her his hand.

Shaking her head and laughing, she stands up grabbing a clean cut man from the back and leading him to the dance floor. He’s dressed in black slacks and a white shirt with his sleeves rolled up. Not a bad choice at all. The rest of the guys all hoot and howl as they pass.

All at once the remaining men turn expectantly towards us. I watch in awe as Carrie gets up and pulls Green Shirt guy to the dance floor. That leaves Mr. Nice Package and a dark haired man with a cocky grin playing along his mouth. Joanne and Willow turn toward me.

“I’ll sit this one out. Go for it!” I shout to them, sitting back happy to watch my crazy friends.

Joanne and Willow slide out of the booth and pair up. I watch as they make their way through the crowd. What a night. Sipping my drink, I realize that I’m once again watching events unfold in front of me and not fully participating.

“Are you okay?” A deep, smooth voice asks behind me.

Turning, I see that a man with dark hair just long enough to create that messy-sexy look has slid into the booth next to me. A surge of adrenaline rushes into my body leaving me breathless. Oh, he’s gorgeous with a strong jaw and the most amazing eyes I have ever seen. Even in the dark light of the bar, they are glowing chestnut brown. I take him in and can’t stop myself from smiling.

“What? Yeah. We just ran out of men!” I say, laughing.

“And I am?” he says.

“Are you with them?”

“No. But I see that you’re sitting here alone. A beautiful woman should never sit alone while her friends are having all the fun.”

I pause and look at him. He doesn’t look like a creep, but still my eyes narrow as I look him up and down. He sits, watching me scrutinize him.

Finally he smiles and stands up. “Do I pass?” He asks, lifting my hand from the table and pulling me out of the booth.

Swept up in the moment, I abandon caution and join him. He guides me to the dance floor as his hand slips onto my back, just at the base of my spine, his thumb rubbing back and forth across my back. A chill starts low and climbs up my body.

When we get to the dance floor, I expect him to let me go so we can start dancing, only he doesn’t. He spins me into his arms and holds me against his body. I almost gasp when his hard chest presses into mine. His arm wraps tightly around my waist while he holds our joined hands high. For a second it feels like we are going to Tango, but thankfully we don’t. He pulls my pelvis into his and grinds his hips erotically into mine.

A jolt of electricity hits me so hard I would have stumbled if he hadn’t been holding me so tightly. The music is fast and loud and everyone around us is spinning and rocking out, but not us. Slowly, he moves our hips together as if he is listening to his own music. I look around self-consciously. Feeling his breath on my neck, he whispers something into my ear, but I have no idea what he said. He drops my hand and moves my hair behind my ear, caressing my neck. Shivers run through me. This man is all sex, and he knows it. Loosening his grip from my waist, both of his hands land on my hips, holding me in place while he rubs his pelvis into mine. Heat races across my skin followed by shivers.

Good God, I am so turned on right now. The alcohol is not helping me hold it together. I feel his hard cock dig into my pelvis, right where I want it. I need to get the hell out of here. This man is too good at this.

“Shit. I’m sorry.” He says after I pull away from him.

“It’s okay.” I say shaking my head. I look around, stunned at myself. I can see my friends all dancing with these strange men. None of them seem to have even noticed that I’m on the dance floor. The alcohol seems to be at full power, coursing through my blood. Glancing back over my shoulder at my dance partner, I see that he is watching me, his pelvis back to undulating against mine.