Odalisque

“Now, honey--”

“Jess! You invited my wife? Seriously?”

“Your ex-wife. It’s been a year already, and she happens to be one of my best friends. And her new guy is just--” Jessamine licked her lips and rolled her eyes back in her head. “Too yummy to leave out!”

Kai took her arm and scowled at her. “You are truly an epic bitch. You know that?”

Jess was nonplussed, pulling away and laughing off his anger. “I love when you get rough, Kaivalyan. Look, just be a grown up. Veronica has moved on. Why can’t you? You have your pretty little girlfriend to keep you happy.” Jess flicked a hand over at Constance, who was watching every word between them. He felt bolstered by her expression of outrage, and the narrowed eyes she turned on his ex.

Kai hated that Veronica looked better than ever. Jess moved off to welcome her and the guy she was with. Kai refused to look at either one of them, heading over to Constance instead. She touched his forearm.

“That’s her? Your ex-wife?”

Kai gritted his teeth. “Unfortunately, yes.”

“Can’t you make her leave? Get rid of her? If you want me to be the bad guy, I’ll happily boot her out on her ass.”

Kai grabbed her hands, feeling unlikely laughter bubbling in his throat. How she could have him going from furious rage to mirth in the space of a few seconds, he’d never know. But he thought about his sweet-tempered odalisque marching over and strong-arming Veronica out the door, and laughed again. He pulled Constance close, shooting a look over at his ex. Veronica was watching him, and he could see the curiosity in her eyes. Did she think she could just show up and ruin his New Years?

He looked down at Constance. “As much as I would enjoy watching you drag Veronica out to the street by her fake-blonde hair, I have a better idea. Let’s have a fun time in spite of her, and show her how little I really care.”

Constance smiled back at him conspiratorially. “I think that’s a fantastic plan. But what if you’re the one who finds her after we scatter?” she signed, raising her eyebrows.

“Fuck that,” answered Kai. “I’ll walk on by.”

Jessamine clapped her hands, calling for everyone’s attention. If Jess had wanted a big scene when Veronica arrived, she was certainly disappointed. Kai detected an edge of pique in her voice.

“Everyone! Listen!” Jessamine started taking off her top. That brought the room to a standstill. She flung it across the room to land on top of Kai’s piano, and picked up her champagne glass with a grin.

“I want to begin by thanking everyone for coming together tonight to ring in the New Year the best way I know how--with lots of horny sex!”

A chorus of cheers and ribald comments went up from the assembled company. God, they were all a bunch of pervs, thought Kai. And he was included in that group. He looked over at Constance. She smiled back at him, then returned her gaze to Jessamine’s lips.

“So, you all know how this works. You have ten minutes to hide in some secret corner--preferably a corner conducive to fucking. Whoever finds you gets to have you.” Kai reached over to squeeze Constance’s ass, eliciting a giggle from her.

“Tonight is going to be a three rounder,” Jess continued. “As our gracious host Kai reminded me, it’s the men’s turn to hunt first. The ladies hunt second, and then for the third round, it’s whoever stumbles across whoever first.” Another round of cheers went up as Jessamine batted her eyes suggestively. She really was good at this stuff.

“Around midnight, we’ll reconvene and ring in the New Year all together”--she raised her eyebrows--“if you know what I mean. Just so everyone knows, the rooms up those stairs are private and off-limits. There are plenty of rooms down here and in the back wing, which you can get to behind the kitchen. Men must wear condoms. No exceptions. You have one hour to play with your prey, and then we reassemble here. And no searching out the same partner in subsequent rounds!” She gave all of them a vixenish look. “Variety is the spice of life, no?”

Kai scanned the room, lightly rubbing Constance’s back. Who would he end up with first? Who would his odalisque end up with? He knew all the men, except for Veronica’s other half. He hoped to God she didn’t get found by him. He knew for sure Constance wouldn’t seek Veronica’s guy out in the second round, unless it was to kick him in the nuts. Kai tapped her shoulder while Jessamine fielded some last minute questions.

“You’re okay with this?” he asked. “Now that you’ve seen the candidates?”

Constance swept a look around. “Pretty impressive company,” she signed with a grin. “I like you best, but I guess they’ll do for one night.”

“Oh!” Jessamine’s voice rose again over the chatter. “I almost forgot. Kai’s partner Constance is deaf. She can read lips, but if she wants to talk to you she’ll use her notebook.” All the eyes in the room fixed on the woman beside him. Constance held up her notebook with a half smile. Kai wanted to say more, the overprotective owner. Don’t cover up her eyes. Make sure you look at her when you talk. Don’t startle her. But he held his peace, because he knew Constance preferred to take care of herself.

With the preliminary announcements done, everyone downed the last of their champagne. Jessamine started distributing boxes of condoms she’d grabbed from the counter, like some perverse dessert course. “I think it’s time for the first round to get underway. We don’t want to miss the ball dropping at midnight. So ladies...” She started working at the waistband of her skirt. “If you would all so kindly disrobe and prepare to scatter. Men, time for you to get naked too.”

Amid cracks about balls dropping, sixteen revelers started to undress, some coyly, some with bawdy glee. Again, it struck Kai how jaded they all were about sex. He was no exception, of course. Constance was evidence of that.

Kai piled his clothes on the sofa with everyone else’s, and didn’t even glance at Veronica, who seemed to intentionally flaunt herself to him. Was she insane? When all the women headed off in their various directions, Kai went the opposite way from where she went. He heard Jessamine’s hiss and let her pull him into the coat closet. So much for guys finding girls. It was okay though, they had a score to settle. He closed the door behind him and regarded her across the cramped space. “Down on your knees,” he said in a gruff tone.

Jess stiffened for a beat, and then her eyes went liquid and hot. She knelt in front of him, feigning some very realistic fear. “Are you angry with me?” she whispered. “Are you going to...force me to do reprehensible things?”

“Jessamine,” Kai replied, grabbing a fistful of her hair. “By the time you leave this closet, you won’t be able to face yourself in the mirror. Now open.” He jerked her hair again, using the other hand to roll on a condom. “You can start by sucking my cock.”

*** *** ***

Constance’s first partner was one of the older men. He was tall, taller even than Kai, and slim. In fact, he was quite attractive, one of those old guys who was too rich to ever look aged and worn. He reminded her a lot of Bastien, so when he found her in the laundry room and ran a hand down her arm, she acquiesced right away. They fucked on a pile of towels. He was v

ery slow and leisurely, and very skilled. She came twice, which seemed to delight him. He spent a long time afterward just looking at her, running his fingers over her body until the hour was up. She learned later that his name was Michael, and that he was the second most powerful studio exec in Hollywood.

After that, they returned to the living room with everyone else. Kai and Jessamine stumbled out of the coat closet, both of them a bit worse for wear. When Constance grinned and eyed the scratches on Kai’s chest, he shook his head at her. Then he asked, “Did your first partner work out for you?”

Constance nodded and signed, “I won’t ask about yours.”

Jess announced the second round. Now the men had to scatter, and the girls got to do the finding. It seemed like most of the ladies already had a man in mind. Constance saw two or three go off like a shot in Kai’s direction, including his ex-wife. But Kai was a big boy, he could handle it.

Constance wandered down the hall and stopped in front of the only door that was still open. She poked her head in and almost left, seeing no one. But then a hand closed around her wrist. She almost dropped her notebook.

Mason Cooke was crouched behind the door. Hiding.

He pulled her down beside him and kicked the door shut. He took her head in his hands and gazed into her eyes. He looked miserable. Constance reached for her notebook and wrote What’s wrong? Aren’t you having fun?

Mason read it and gave her a rueful smile. He wrote NO in capital letters, underlined twice.

Constance grimaced and wrote, Who was your first partner?

Veronica. Mason tapped the pen and thought a moment. She spent the whole time talking about Kai. Which is fine, because I couldn’t get it up for her anyway. She wants to get back together with him. Apparently Jessamine agreed to help.

Constance’s mouth fell open. She wrote Traitor! and turned the page. Kai is going to be furious.