Take the Heat

“I see.”

“No, I don’t think you do, Ivy.” Before I could blink, he was on me, hand sliding down the length of my body, neck to knees. My nipples pebbled in response, and when he rested his hand between my legs, playing with the lace, I could feel my pussy become liquid. Readying for his touch. For his inevitable invasion. “I can’t take you with me now. Too much heat and you would only draw more, but I am coming back for you. I realized it when we made love. This…obsession I have with you isn’t going anywhere. It’s only going to get deeper.”

I blinked. “That’s crazy. We…well, I’m not sure what we did last night, but that is done and over. What I really am is your hostage.”

“What you are, Ivy, is mine, and don’t you forget it.” With that pronouncement, he plunged two fingers deep inside me. “You belong to me. We both felt that last night, and no one will keep us apart, not even the federal government.” He leaned down and kissed each of my nipples in turn, punished each with a little bite. Then he claimed my mouth with his, stealing my air and causing me to undulate against his questing fingers.

He finally drew back, his breath labored. He very deliberately licked my juices from his fingertips. “I need to go before they get too close.”

He buttoned my shirt, set my panties to rights, and covered my bare legs with the blankets. “I’m going to leave, Ivy, and when I’m safely away, I will leave an anonymous tip as to your whereabouts. Don’t worry. You won’t be here long. I would untie you, but I know you are still coming to terms with our relationship.” He paused, searching my eyes. “Unless you can tell me, Ivy.”

“Tell you what?” I gasped.

“That you belong to me.” His dark gaze pinned me.

I opened my mouth to speak. To deny it, but somehow I couldn’t say the words, nor could I say what he wanted me to. I shut my mouth, shook my head.

“That’s okay. You aren’t ready yet. I am a patient man, and one night in the not too distant future, you are going to wake up in my arms.” He walked to the door. “See you soon, my love.” And with that, he was gone.

The trouble was? I believed him. I’m just not sure whether that news filled me with dread. Or joy. Perhaps a bit of both.

This Might Hurt a Bit

Shoshanna Evers

Courtney couldn’t help watching the clock. It was almost closing time—almost eleven PM. The little sex shop she’d bought three years ago was practically her whole life, and she had even more work to do when she got home. Somehow she had to dig herself out of the mess she’d gotten into. Her new kinky calendar didn’t exist, but she’d sold over a thousand copies of it online—on preorder—so yeah, she was officially screwed.

Stupid fucking boyfriend. Ex-boyfriend. After everything she’d done for him, to just up and leave her like that? The main reason people went to her website was—unlike most other online sex-toy shops—hers was a high-quality pornographic experience. Enter the site, and not only did customers see the toys, they saw them in action, in all those pics of herself and Travis. No wonder everyone was excited to order her calendar, even if it hadn’t been shot yet. Travis was hot. She had to give him that. He was also a grade-A asshole for leaving her in the lurch.

How was she supposed to produce her own porn calendar, completely exclusive to Courtney’s Kink Adult Shop, without Travis?

Using stock photos wasn’t an option—she had to organize her own shoot to utilize her products and specialty toys. But finding a hot guy willing to do all sorts of kinky things for the camera was not easy out in their truck-stop town in the middle of nowhere. She’d be the woman in the calendar, no problem.

Still, she couldn’t afford a professional male model. Her budget to shoot the calendar was, at max, three hundred bucks. Almost all of the money from the preorders had already gone to pay her medical bills from when she spent a month in the hospital with meningitis (and no insurance) two years ago.

What hot guy (other than Travis because he “loved” her, or pretended to so he could use her bank account) was going to pose nude doing naughty things for three hundred bucks? The only men who’d answered her ad on craigslist were not exactly what she’d call appealing.

“Come on,” she murmured at the clock under her breath. As if that would make time move faster.

Fuck it. She’d close up early. She made most of her money online anyway. So the real-life customers could suck it for the next half hour.

Courtney got up from her stool behind the counter and stretched, then came around to the front of the shop to do her nightly walk-through. It only took a few moments to make sure the sexy lingerie was all hanging properly¸ that the costumes were in the appropriate spots, and that none of the sex toys had been messed with.

Everything looked fine, save for a couple of butt plugs that had been put back in the wrong place.

The bell on the front door rang, and she paused, butt plug in hand, and pasted a smile on he

r face. It was a guy, by himself, (a really good-looking guy! Wonder of wonders.) which probably meant he’d go straight to the DVD section with some excuse about a bachelor party, or a gag gift (yeah right). Why did they even have a DVD section anymore, anyways? All the best porn was online; everyone knew that. Hell, some of it was even on her own site.

“Welcome to Courtney’s Kink Adult Shop,” she said.

The guy nodded, leaning back against the door so it shut all the way. She’d never seen him before—maybe he was from the next town over, or maybe he was on a road trip. Who knows. He looked around the shop but kept his black hoodie on his head, his shaggy dark hair falling over one eye.

“You alone here?” he asked.

Instantly her smile faltered. Why the hell did he ask that?

Chill out, Court. Maybe he’s just embarrassed.