With Enzo, she’d discovered the true meaning of coital bliss.
A tingle shimmered through her and her nipples puckered as she recalled their session just this afternoon, the power of his relentless demand as he'd slammed his thick cock inside her. But more than that it was the way he'd vocalized his pleasure that made sex with Enzo so hot.
The dramatic cut of her blue silk halter-top had meant no bra tonight and the material chafed with a delicious pleasure-pain sensation, which causing her to bite her lip. Warmth flooded Lexi’s face as she acknowledged that no matter how often she made love with him, she always yearned for his touch. Enzo had become her drug and she'd given up ever getting him out of her system. The moment she thought about him, she craved him. And as she’d come to realize, there would be no relief from that craving until she received what she wanted - him between her legs.
She shifted in her seat, desperate to ease the swirling heat in her pelvis. The seam of her thong pressed against her clit, the damp material causing delicious friction. A moan escaped, but the sound was thankfully swallowed by the loud music. Eyes shut, she took a deep, restorative breath. Another hour, give or take, and she’d be with Enzo. He’d ease her need and make things right.
As for Cara…
The shout of the returning conga line ended her thoughts. She arranged a presentable smile on her face, pressed her thighs together to stem the throbbing, and looked up as Cara plopped down on her seat. The silver and jade beads of her long necklace swung over the bosom of her tight green tube dress.
“Ready to leave?” Lexi asked the trio of sweaty, smiling women.
Fiona, the pint-sized, blonde American friend of Cara’s, reached for the pitcher and poured drinks. “Not yet. I need to cool down a bit first. That guy I was dancing with sure sent my temperature soaring. Woohoo.” She fanned herself with one hand and tipped her glass to her lips with the other.
“Yeah, his hand soared all the way up your top,” Sally grinned, flicking her black hair off her shoulders and reaching for her drink.
“He was just making sure his number was stored in a safe, secure place.” Fiona grinned back, batting false eyelashes.
“That rules out your panties, then, doesn’t it?” Cara winked at her.
“It would’ve, if I wore any,” Fiona shot back.
The table erupted in hoots of shocked laughter, and Lexi couldn’t hold back her grin. As much as she would’ve preferred the spa, she was glad to see the girls enjoying themselves.
When they tottered off for one last dance, Lexi pulled out her cell phone and saw Enzo’s text.
How much longer, baby? E
Smiling, she responded.
Another half hour. Your place or mine?
He responded within seconds. The thought that he’d been waiting for her to get in touch thrilled her.
Mine. Hurry. Been thinking of you all night. Dying for you to come home and fuck me. Dying for you to use that gorgeous mouth on me, make me come harder than ever.
Heat engulfed her. God, she loved him, especially when he didn’t hold back about what he wanted from her! And hell yeah, she loved his thick, beautiful cock too.
Be there soon. Promise xx
She thought of saying more, of vocalizing what she wanted but she wasn’t quite there yet even though she let him coax her every now and then...
Biting her lip, she put the phone away.
“Right, shall we go?” she asked as soon as the girls returned from the dance floor, itching to be away.
“No!” Cara protested. “Five more minutes, please?” she pleaded, and gulped down another drink.
Biting back her irritation, Lexi succumbed. “Okay, five minutes, but no more.” It was almost three o’clock in the morning, and she’d had enough.
She wanted Enzo. Knowing he was waiting for her made sitting still near impossible. But she gritted her teeth and fixed a smile on her face.
“I know what we can do. Truth or dare. One question each. Then we’ll leave. Deal?” Cara asked, earning rapturous enthusiasm from the other two. But she didn’t look at them. She stared straight at Lexi.
Foreboding crept up her spine.
“Umm, I don’t think—”
“Exactly,
don’t think.
Just play. Can you do that?” Cara taunted.
Before she could respond, Fiona piped up, “Okay, I’ll go first. Someone ask me.”
“Right,” Sally jumped in. “Truth or dare.”
“Dare,
always
,” Fiona replied.
“Fabulous! I fucking dare you to go flash your tits at that bald guy sitting at the bar.”
“Done!” Giggling, she rose on unsteady feet, sashayed to the man in question, leaned down, and whispered in his ear. He shot up from his seat, eyes wide, and nodded eagerly. Fiona yanked up her top, giving him, and everyone else in the vicinity, an eyeful of her bountiful, braless breasts. Throaty wolf whistles and pleas for an
encore
followed her back to the table.
“That was exhilarating. I
love
English guys! Can I do it again?” she begged, licking her full lips.
Cara shook her head. “No, you shameless slut. You’re in town for my wedding, not to get laid every other night. You’re only limited to one flash,” she grinned. “Now, my turn.
I
, too, will take a dare, if you please.”
Whoops erupted round the table and Lexi cringed at the brazen look in Cara’s eyes.
“Okaaay,” Sally looked around. “I dare you to do whatever it takes to get a hundred quid from that guy over there with the pouting blonde.”
“Sally!”
“Oh relax, Lexi, it’s just a game,” Sally remonstrated.
“Yeah, stop getting your thong in a twist, girlfriend, and watch a professional at work,” Cara chided.
Pulling out her compact mirror from her purse, Cara checked her appearance, and tweaked a few hairs. She pushed back her shoulders to display even more of her D-cups, stood up and with casual ease strode toward the blonde entwined around her target.
She tapped the girl on the shoulder. When she had her attention, she leaned up to the taller woman and whispered in her ear. The girl jerked back, surprise in her eyes as her mouth dropped open. She leaned over and spoke to her boyfriend. A broad smile broke over his face and he whispered back. The blonde’s wary stare at her boyfriend gradually turned sensuous and, with a slow sexy smile, she handed her glass to him, turned to Cara and nodded.
Cara stepped closer, ran one hand up the blonde’s arm until she cupped her shoulder. She squeezed gently, then continued the trail up to slide around her nape. Gliding her other hand around her waist, she pulled the blonde closer and covered her mouth in a sensual kiss.
For several seconds, the kiss went on and, even though the others couldn’t see her, Lexi tried not to cringe at such a public display. As much as she hated the prude label and wanted rid of it, she knew she would never have enough confidence to discard her inhibitions long enough to participate in such a voyeuristic act.
While the other girls giggled uncontrollably at the outrageous floorshow, she fixed a smile on her face and cringed inwardly.
When the two finally parted, she breathed a sigh of guilty relief. Cara sauntered back to the table, triumphantly holding up the money the boyfriend had coughed up.
She slapped it on the table and turned to Lexi. “Your turn.”
“No, I’ll go last. Sally, truth or dare,” she asked, and prayed her friend wouldn’t go for the latter. She couldn’t stand another floorshow like the last one, and she’d had enough of being called a prude for one night.
“Truth.”
Relief eased through her.
“Okay. Something I’ve always wondered,” Cara broke in, her feverish gaze raking Lexi’s face before returning to Sally. “Have you and Lexi ever slept together?”
Sally splattered her drink all over the table, surprise plastered on her model-thin face. “
Are you kidding?
I always have and always will prefer my bed partners with a whole lot of meat between their legs. So does Lexi, I believe.” She winked at Lexi and took another sip of her drink.
“And last but not least, Lexi. Truth or dare?” Fiona asked.
She bit her lip, knowing she was caught between the proverbial rock and a hard place. There was no way she’d take a dare after seeing what the other two had entailed; but the avid faces of the other three girls told her whatever truth she’d be asked to reveal would be very personal and very sexual. She’d look like a spoilt sport if she chickened out. “Truth,” she all but whispered.
Cara pounced before anyone else could. “Have you ever fantasized about being fucked in a very public place, maybe with other people watching?” She grinned at the gasps around the table. “I just, you know…wondered, you being such a prude and all.”
Lexi froze. Somehow, Cara had tapped into her deepest, wildest fantasy. She knew she talked a lot when she was drunk. The last time she’d been off her face had been at her birthday party. Had she blurted out her secret then, at the one occasion when she’d drank way more than was good for her?
After years of being called a prude, she’d often wondered if she was perhaps too conservative when it came to sex. With Enzo, she’d begun to think she wasn’t, but for years she’d fantasized about what it would be like to break out of her shell sexually. And the one recurring fantasy she’d had was of being fucked in a public place, where all the guys who’d mocked her inhibitions could see her and regret their name-calling. But how the fuck had Cara known?
“Come on, Lexi, we’re waiting.
Truth, truth, truth, truth
,” the girls chanted.
She bit her lip. “Okay, okay. Yes, I’ve…thought about it, I guess. No more than anyone else, I’m sure.”
“And?” Cara pressed, as she took another healthy slug of her drink.
Lexi shrugged self-consciously. “And nothing. I’ve only thought about it.”
“W-would you like to?” Cara slurred.
“Stop it, Cara, now you’ve got her all hot and bothered. Here, Lexi, have a drink, calm your nerves.” Sally shoved a cocktail glass in her hand.
“No, I’m driving, remember?”
“Fuck it, one little drink won’t hurt. Besides I’d rather have you driving with calm nerves than all twisted up the way you are now,” she teased. “God, you’d think we’ve asked you whether you love anal.”
Jesus.
Sometimes, she wondered why she called these girls her friends.
“Fine.” Willing her cheeks to stop burning, she grabbed the glass and downed the mouthful. The unexpected heat of the vodka worked its way down her throat. Grimacing at the tartness of the cranberry juice, she set the glass down and looked up to find Cara’s gaze on her.
“So-o you gonna anssswer my question?”
Not in this lifetime.
“No more questions. I’ve played the game, fair and square. Now, I think it’s time to go.” Hurriedly she stood, gathered the purses and handbags, and busied herself with making sure the tab was settled. All the while, she felt Cara’s drunken gaze on her. Without looking her way again, she led the other two girls out into the pre-dawn air. She paused, inhaled a welcome breath of fresh air, only to have it whoosh out of her when slim arms closed around her.
“I l-l-ove you, Lexiiii. You’re my best friend, e-ever!” Cara exclaimed.
“Hey, I thought I was your best friend ever?” Fiona whined from behind them.
Cara tried to focus on the voice behind her, failed, and swayed on her feet. “Sure y’aarr, Fi,” she shouted, then turned to Lexi, “But I’m reeeeally glad you’re going ta be my sisthher, well, sort-a.”
Regardless of the hopelessly slurred and contrary words, Lexi experienced a rush of warmth and relief at hearing them. She clung to the hope that Cara’s negative attitude had just been the unfounded fears of an insecure sister, rather than a future sister-in-law who hated her guts.
She mentally crossed her fingers. Everything would be fine. She’d probably imagined Cara’s disapproval. After all, why else would she offer herself as bridesmaid if she didn’t like the idea of her marrying Enzo?
“Love you too, Cara. Now, are you okay to walk, or do you want to sit over there while I fetch the car?” She indicated the bench nearby. Secretly, she hoped they could make it to the car under their own steam. Enzo waited for her. In half an hour, she would be in his arms again. If she hurried.
“I’m fine, fine, fine,” Cara sing-songed, then broke into,
“I’m getting married in the morning, tra-la-la-la-la-la-la-la-la…”
Relieved, Lexi chuckled as she hooked an arm around her and steered her away from the curb. “You’re not getting married for another eight days, love, and the car’s this way. Girls, are you all right back there?” she threw over her shoulder at the other two, who propped each other up behind her.
“We’re fine, mistress. Lead the way,” they chorused.
She smiled. Aside from a few bumps, the evening had gone well. In less than half an hour, it was going to get way better.
She quickened her steps to her car and waited till everyone piled in.
Cara and Fiona were belting their way through a
Coldplay
anthem song when the truck veered across the street and careened straight into their path.
Horns blared.
Someone screamed.
The last thing Lexi saw was the flash of her engagement ring as she threw up her hands in useless defense.
Then the black cloud engulfed her.
CHAPTER TWO
Twelve Months Later
Lexi stepped from the car and sucked in her breath as the hot Los Angeles air stung her nostrils. She still wasn’t used to how warm the weather was here compared to the constant wet in London.
In the fading evening light, she looked up at the austere façade of the building in front of her. Pain and sorrow gripped her as it did every time she came here.
Everything remained the same. The sign at the top of the building still read,
St. Jude’s Hospital
. The automatic doors she approached would delay in opening until she stood right in front of them, the elevator would creak and groan its way up to the seventh floor, and the smell – the cloying mingled smell of disinfectant and death – would tighten around her throat, as if to strangle her.