Flesh: Part Ten (The Flesh Series Book 10) (4 page)

My days are spent
waiting for Lucian to contact me. When Friday hits with no
correspondence from him, I decide to send him a casual text message
asking how he's doing. Not surprisingly, he doesn't respond.

On Saturday, I watch
Janice prance around the apartment in a new leather outfit. Sometimes
it makes me sick how flawlessly attractive she is. She's wearing a
tight black corset that clasps at the front with thigh-high stockings
and knee-high lace-up leather boots. The bust is conical with a
swirling pattern that caps off at her nipples. It reminds me of
something that Madonna would wear though not so dramatic. Her blonde
hair falls over her shoulders in soft ringlets. Her eye makeup is
dark and her lips are cherry-red. I pray to God that Lucian doesn't
see her like this.

“
I'm
gonna hop on Sir's dick tonight.” She wiggles her butt as she
dances around the living room.

I can't help but
grin. “You go get you some.”

“
I
plan on it. It just sucks that I have to pay for it. Mayhaps I'll
suggest a more permanent arrangement for us.” She wiggles her
eyebrows. “Surely, he would want a gorgeous submissive like
me.” Janice presses a dainty fingertip to her lips and pouts.
It makes her look absolutely stunning and completely sexy. If I did
something like that, I'd just look like an idiot.

“
You
never know,” I sigh, not wanting to be a downer but also
wanting to speak my mind. “I have a feeling that all of the
Doms who work at Flesh have commitment issues.”

“
Pfft.
Not everyone is Blue Eyes.”

“
I
suppose not.” I shrug.

“
Speaking
of which, how are things going with him?” She sits down on the
sofa beside me.

“
You
actually want to know?” I smirk.

“
Not
really, but what are friends for.” She wrinkles her nose.

I roll my eyes,
knowing that she's not really being sincere. Janice cares, even if
she doesn't want to admit it.

“
I
haven't heard from him since he banged me in the furniture store.”
My shoulders slump a bit.

“
He
banged you in a furniture store?” Janice's eyes go wide and her
mouth forms an O.

“
Yep.
One I occasionally visit for work, no less. And to top it off, we got
caught.”

“
Holy
shit, Amy. That is so fucking kinky. I never knew you had that in
you.” Her lips split into a huge grin and she pokes at my side,
causing me to squirm.

“
Stop.”
I slap at her hand. “I don't have it in me. He kinda forced me
to.”

“
Even
hotter.” She pokes me a final time. “Well, one definitely
can't say that he's not interested in you.”

“
You
think so?” I relax and smile.

“
At
least he's interested in your V.” Janice smacks my arm before
standing up.

That doesn't make me
feel any better. For a split second, I thought she was genuinely
going to comfort me. I suppose that was high hopes though.

“
If
you see him there, tell him to return my text messages.” I
twist to look at her as she walks around the sofa to grab her trench
coat.

“
Will
do.” She mock salutes me before picking up her purse and keys
from the bar. “Are you sure you don't want to come?”

“
Nah.
It's too late to make an appointment, and I kind of just want to take
it easy tonight.”

“
Alright.
Well, I doubt I'll see him, but I'll tell you if I do.”

“
Have
fun.” I wave to her over my shoulder, then listen to the sound
of the door opening and closing.

As soon as she's
gone, I let out a deep sigh and pick up my phone off of the coffee
table, scrolling through my text messages to the ones that I left for
Lucian. I really wish he'd text me back...or call me. Anything.
Nothing would make my weekend better than spending it with him.
That's probably not going to happen though, which means that it's
going to be a lonely weekend filled with television and unpleasant
thoughts.

After looking at my
unanswered text messages to Lucian, I scroll up to read my last
conversation with Derrick. To be honest, I feel kind of bad about how
things turned out. Maybe I made the wrong choice by going with Lucian
instead of giving Derrick a chance. I believe what Janice said though
about him just wanting to date me because he feels threatened that
there's another man in my life. His confession of love was too
unexpected—too out of the blue.

Against my better
judgment, I tap out a text to him. “I hope you're having a good
weekend. I just wanted to let you know that I'm sorry and I miss
you.”

After hitting the
send button, I set my phone down and stare at it, waiting for him to
respond. Minutes tick by and then they turn into hours. For as much
as I'd like to pretend that he's at a club and just hasn't had time
to look at his phone, more than likely he's purposely ignoring me.
Perhaps he and Lucian aren't so different after all.

***

With nothing better
to do, I go to bed early, so Janice doesn't get a chance to regale me
with her tales of BDSM glory until the next morning. We sit at the
kitchen table together eating cereal, and she lifts up her shirt to
show me the red marks that her Sir left behind.

“
I
let him cane me,” she tells me, her eyes going wide.

I cringe at the
thought. “Doesn't that hurt?”

“
Yes,
but it's a good kind of pain. A different kind of pain than the
flogger. I don't think it's something I'd do all the time, but it's
good for a more intense experience.

He also put these
really tight nipple clamps on me and shoved ice up my pussy. I
honestly thought that the ice would hurt more than it did, but my
body melted it fairly quickly. Then he made me lick the puddle off of
the floor.”

“
Ew.”
I screw my face. “Weren't you worried about...I don't know,
getting something?”

She laughs. “Oh,
Amy. Loosen up. I bet Blue Eyes likes to do all of that stuff too.
Speaking of which, I didn't see him, but that doesn't mean he wasn't
there. You know how the process goes. You see the guy at the front
desk and then he sends you to a room. If Blue Eyes was with a client,
I wouldn't know.” She shrugs before shoving a spoonful of Cap'n
Crunch into her mouth and chewing noisily.

“
I
suppose not.” I try not to let the information dampen my mood.
If anything, it should make me happy that she didn't see him. Just
knowing that he could have been there though causes unpleasant
emotions to pass through me.

“
But
anyway, I talked to Sir about becoming his submissive, and he said
that he'd have to get to know me better first.” She frowns. “I
have a feeling that you were right about the Doms there.”

“
It
makes sense.” I shrug. “While I know it's not out of
order for Doms to do what they want, I doubt the guys who work at
Flesh would have time to manage their own submissives when they're
spending so much time at Flesh.”

“
Yeah.
It kind of sucks though.” She pokes at her cereal with her
spoon. “I really want a Dom of my own. I guess I should start
attending some munches.”

“
No
more Flesh?” I quirk an eyebrow at her.

She sighs as if the
thought displeases her. “I enjoy going, and I kind of like that
the experience is always custom designed to me. I'll probably keep
going until I find a Dom of my own. At least that way, I can rack up
some more experience instead of coming off as a noob to potential
Doms.”

“
Whatever
floats your boat. It's a rather expensive addiction.” I dig out
a few raisins from my Raisin Bran and pop them into my mouth.

“
I
know.” She frowns. “But I like it so much.”

“
Well,
it's your time and money.” My eyes widen to indicate that I
think it's a waste. For what she wants, she'd be better off trawling
munches for a Dom. At $150 for a thirty-minute session and $300 for
an hour, I don't see how she's going to afford going as frequently to
Flesh as it sounds like she wants to go. I know I was cringing when I
handed over the money for my session with Lucian.

“
It's
something I enjoy. Some girls like to get their hair and nails done
every other week. I like to let a hot, muscular leather-bound man
make me submit.” She grins.

“
To
each her own.” I raise my glass of water in mock cheers.

CHAPTER FOUR

I return to work on
Monday hoping that Derrick might have cooled down over the weekend.
The text I sent him was proof that I'm ready to make amends. Now the
ball is in his court. And from the looks of it, he's still not
interested in patching up our relationship.

He doesn't even
acknowledge me as he passes by my desk to go to his. It hurts that
he's being so dismissive, and I'm beginning to wonder if he'll ever
forgive me.

My inbox is woefully
empty. Lucian didn't send me anything over the weekend, not that I
expected him to. I spend the day playing games on my computer and
glancing down at the little envelope icon on the toolbar at the
bottom of my computer screen every few hours. The only time it shows
anything other than a big fat zero is when Tyra sends me something.
Each time I see the one pop up, my heart skips a beat, hoping it's
Lucian. It never is though.

Monday passes, and
Tuesday is another boring day with no friendly interaction from
Derrick and no contact from Lucian. By Wednesday, I'm beginning to
get worried. Apparently, so is Tyra, because she swings by my desk to
see if Lucian has reached out to me. It makes me sick to tell her
that he hasn't. Hopefully, she's not thinking that he's going to
renege on his contract. Everything we've working on with him so far
has taken a long time, so maybe this isn't so abnormal.

On Thursday, I
finally get sick of waiting and send him an email.

Doctor Reddick,

It has been a
while since anyone at Environ Design has heard from you. I am just
contacting you to make sure that you're alright and to see if you'd
like to schedule a time to go shopping for the furniture for the rest
of your house.

Regards,

Amy Underwood

Interior Designer

Environ Designs

Short, sweet, and to
the point. It's professional and not personal, so hopefully he'll
respond.

I wait and wait,
staring at my inbox, counting down to the end of the day. By the time
my shift is over, there's still no response.

On Friday, I shoot
an email to Derrick asking if Lucian has contacted him. He responds
with a simple 'no'. I'm not sure if that makes me feel better or
worse. Of course, I'm not happy that no one has heard from Lucian.
But when Derrick is upset, he typically responds with something
snarky or rude. 'No' is such an emotionless word coming from him.
It's too impersonal—too careless. Like we're not friends
anymore.

It feels like
there's a heavy weight on top of me. Depression presses into me,
making me sad and mopey. It's been an entire week without contact
from Lucian or any sign that Derrick has forgiven me. I'm miserable
the likes of which I haven't been in a while. My lips feel frozen in
a downward curve, and I'm constantly on the brink of crying.

I'm worried that
Lucian has forgotten about me, that he's decided to back out of his
contract. The loss of his business doesn't bother me half as much as
the loss of his interest. Maybe this is a sign that it's finally
over. That it's all finally over. Both Janice and Derrick told me
this would happen. Why didn't I listen? Why did they have to be
right?

By the end of the
day, I've stopped watching my inbox. Lucian isn't going to respond. I
know that now. I would be an idiot to think otherwise. If he has any
inclination to continue on with his interior design project, he'll
contact me at his leisure with no regard to my feelings. There's no
way I can rush his response. Even if I sent him something desperate,
a text message begging him to reply, I doubt he would. He's cold as
ice.