Chapter Two
Jared inhaled deep. Before he left the small room, he wanted to commit Elahn’s scent to memory. Not that a single thing about this night, or her, he would forget. It was a good thing that this was it for them. A one-night pleasure episode. The intense attraction he’d felt for her, in the dark at that, had pushed him to do things he’d never done before. Like break house rules about penetration, when it came to actual sex. If it wasn’t part of the show that some of the D/s put on who were members at Paradis than it wasn’t supposed to be happening. He was a regular here during off season and knew the rules.
Opening his eyes, he noted the room on the other side of the glass was empty now. The cleaning crew would be in before they allowed another couple to use it. He preferred the viewing rooms, on occasion when he was in clubs away from home. This one was his favorite here. He enjoyed the solitude. He usually didn’t encounter anyone else there, and was shocked that someone else had beat him to the secluded room.
Yeah, Elahn would be dangerous to have too close. Outside of club rules, he had his own personal ones. He rarely dated the same woman twice. If he did, she agreed to keep their relationship completely secretive. He had been burned once by a girlfriend who decided to launch her career as a television personality off his fame.
Shoving a hand through his hair, he headed out. He stepped on something soft. Stooping down, he picked it up. The damp scrap of material told him all he needed to know. Elahn panties.
Sure she would want them back, he moved quick to the door to catch up to her. When he got out the door, he spotted her as she made it to the landing and headed downstairs to the lower levels. Her profile was beautiful.
Elahn had light brown hair piled high and tight on the crown of her head, that complemented the creamed coffee complexion of her skin. She was small on top, however her short black dress hugged the wide curves of her ass and hips. He recalled holding her hips as he fucked her. His palm tingled as he remembered the firm backside against it. Seeing the height of her heels as she dashed down the steps let him know that she wasn’t as tall as she seemed in the darkness.
He started to call her name, stop her. That would give him a chance to discretely return her panties and see her face up close. Another woman called out to her from next level. That woman had darker skin and short hair and impressive curves that most men went for, not him. Not after Elahn.
Recognition lit Elahn’s features as she turned and looked over the railing.
He was struck by the full view of her face. She had high cheek bones surround by and oval-shaped face. Her full lips would give any man fantasies.
“Are you ready to go?” The other woman waved her down.
He decided not to chase her down for the item. Placing it into his pocket, he watched them.
“Yes. I’m going to be tired, but I’ll sleep on the flight.” Elahn continued toward the next set of steps.
“You okay, Elahn? You look a little red. Want me to get you some water?” She reached out toward Elahn as if about to feel her face.
“I’m good, Amanda.” Elahn waved away the hand of the woman looking as she was ready to mother her.
Only odd because of their current setting.
“It’s starting to get crowded on the stairs.” Elahn led the way down not giving the woman with her a chance to ask anything further.
Soon they were out of view and Jared resigned himself to going home. He no longer wanted to see if he could match up with a free sub for some spanking play, his true kink. It would be fair to the unknown sub to have another’s face transposed onto hers. To keep the submissive safe, it was important that he was fully present while dealing with her. He wouldn’t be able to do that, so he’d save the play for another night.
He went down the back stairs to look for John. It was time for Jared to leave.
~YH~
“Come on, Jared, get the lead out of your ass.” It was Mickey, one of the Miami Sharks’ Assistant Athletic Trainers. He was new, younger, but good as hell. If it wasn’t for a car accident in college, Mickey would have been drafted right out of school. They say those who can’t…teach, but Jared knew Mickey was a fucking hard teacher. The guy was three years younger than him, but on the field during drills, Mickey was in charge.
“Alright! I know.” Jared did know his head was somewhere else. New York. Four damn days later and he was still inside the room at Paradis with Elahn. He woke with thoughts of her on his mind and went to sleep was dreams of sliding into her tight, wet sheath. Being in her pussy felt right, too perfect. That scared the shit out of him.
Fuck! I really need to get it together. It wasn’t the first time he’d told himself that. The next day, he’d been tempted to seek John out and discover how she had gained entrance into the private club. Jared had been a member for years. His good friend Ian Dare, and football teammate from University of Florida at the time, knowing what he was into, had connected Jared with his cousins in New York. Ian was also responsible for pushing him into getting out of his football contract and walking on with the Sharks. Jared had played both football and baseball in college. He’d been drafted to play for the Thunders as a quarterback, but couldn’t find his rhythm. After three seasons as the second-string quarterback with third-string staring him in the face, Ian gave him a heart to heart, both as the President of the Thunders and a friend.
He’d been happy and highly successful in the last three years. If he didn’t get his head out of the clouds, he’d find a fastball upside his head to wake him up or put him down. Elahn was his past, just like every other woman he’d been with post Raquel. He gave himself a mental shake.
When another grounder came to the right of first base, he focused on it, blocked out everything else and dove. He caught it before it touched the ground. His shoulder smacked the dirt, but Jared used the momentum to roll to one knee as he extended his left leg to touch base as he threw the ball to second.
“Now, that’s the good shit I’m talkin’ about. Twenty more of them, Jared and we all just might make it home by dinner.”
As he stood, Jared turned to look at Mickey. Whipping off his hat, he saluted the guy with his middle finger.
“That finger can join your head up your ass if you don’t keep it together,” Mickey shouted back.
His other teammates and trainer that were out on the field working through their own drills laughter joined Jared’s.
~YH~
“I think we are done for the night, everyone.” Elahn stepped out of the walking refrigerator of her catering business. It was only eight at night, but tomorrow she had an early morning shipment of fresh seafood coming in and it would be a long day.
“Mia, can you be here tomorrow morning at six to turn the trout one last time before we slice it up?”
The had needed to be marinated for over a day.
Mia was a short red head with blue bangs. “Yup. I will also start on the tarts.”
Turning to the twins, she began, “John and James, I want the smoked po—”
“Pork shredded by nine and the cabbage in the same state but dressed for the crostinis.” John smiled.
Elahn smiled. Her staff was efficient and quick.
“I will pick up the crabs, oysters and buffalo milk.” Elahn was running everything on her list out loud for both her and her staff to hear. “Okay. See you all in the morning.”
“The plan still to transport and start the set up at one?” Mia was washing her hands at the industrial size sink.
“Yes.” With a final look around, Elahn followed her staff out. She locked up the front door with sketched onto it. When she picked the name while taking her final Italian course in college. That following summer she’d traveled with her instructor to Italy for two weeks. Even though after graduation she realized it wasn’t a unique catering business name, it had stuck.
It filled her with pride to see it every time she locked up for the night. Job well done today she’d tell herself. Waving good-bye to her staff, she got into her car and headed home. Forty-five minutes later, she pulled into her parking spot before her condo.
“Thank you, Florida traffic, for making a twenty-minute drive longer.” She sighed and headed in. After eating a sandwich and yogurt at the kitchen counter she went to get ready for bed. Her house was so quiet with no one to greet her when she came home, she considered getting a cat. However, she always nixed the idea afraid that one cat would become four. Wasn’t that how it started for lonely dateless ladies?
Crawling into bed was early was the best plan. Tomorrow was too important. Olivia’s birthday party would have the right people there that she could turn into business connections. Not to mention, she liked to go all out for her friends.
In her room, she went to her closet. Undressing, she tossed her clothes into the hamper. While she stood there, she thought about what she wanted to wear the next night. Something comfortable, but nice at the same time. As the catering director at an event, she needed to blend into the guests without matching them. She also had to stay away from dressing down. People who decided to ‘get a caterer’ at a fancy gathering for their upcoming event didn’t want to talk to someone in chloroform shoes, smock and standard polyester black slacks either.
Image was everything, that was something she’d learned from the school of Chris and his mother. She shoved that thought away.
She grabbed her robe and put it on. Moving deeper into the walk-in closet she moved the clothing around as she considered her options. When she came across the dry-cleaning bag with the black dress inside of it she froze. Her mind became flooded with memories of a night in New York a week ago.
If she was honest with herself, the thoughts didn’t have to travel from far away since her mysterious stranger was never too far the forefront of her mind. She had no regrets about what transpired between them, except the canyon of emptiness she felt in her life was no present. Before meeting him, work had been enough to fulfill her life. It had been her driving force of sanity in the last year, but now that it was doing well, she could see what was lacking. Who was missing. Someone to share it with.
It was odd to her, how a hot romp in the dark with a stranger could make her dream of home and hearth. She laughed at the Hallmark movie kind of thought.
“No more sappy love stories for you.” She groaned. “What I should be missing is my favorite pair of panties.” It had been too dark to search the floor of the secret room for her underwear, so she’d left them.
Someone had probably found them when cleaning the place at the end of the night and trashed them.
“They had cost thirty-five bucks.” A splurge after her break up.
She continued to the other dry-cleaned items she’d worn to different events. When she spotted her lace inlet blouse in black from bebe and the grey slacks she pulled it out. Taking it to the hook on the door over the full-length mirror so she wouldn’t forget to take it with her tomorrow.
Next, she went to her bathroom for a quick shower. In the morning she’d have to take another one, but she needed to rinse the smell of food and spices off before climbing into bed.
Once she was dressed in a large t-shirt, she got into bed and reached for her cell phone. Selecting 2 after she brought up the phone app.
“Hello, dear.”
“Hi, mom. How are you and dad?” She knew if she didn’t call her mother at least four times a week then her phone would never stop ringing at the most inopportune times.
“Oh, well. Even though your father’s arthritis in his knees is acting up, but he refuses to take his medicine or get the shots the doctor offered.” In a whisper, her mother added, “He doesn’t know I’ve started adding more turmeric, garlic and ginger to the meals.”
Elahn laughed. “Genius mother.”
“Now, if I could just figure out how to shove a pill down his throat while he is snoring, without chocking him, my days would have some peace.” Leslie Brazelton was the Joan Clever of all mothers.
She had married at nineteen and had her first child by twenty-two and her second two years later. Not a single day in her life had she worked outside of the home, unless it was volunteering. And Elahn could honestly say that her mother wore pearls even in her sleep.
Elahn loved her mother. It was how she’d developed a love for cooking. Her mom, made everything from scratch.
Her father, was where she’d gotten her work ethic and tenacity. A carpenter since he was fifteen and helping his father in the family business, Rodney Brazelton walked slow most days and groaned a lot whenever he had to sit or stand. It all came from too many years on his knees. Even as the owner, he would never simply allow the young guys to do all the labor-intensive work.
“Mom, why don’t you try bringing him his morning paper in bed. While he is reading massage some cream on his knees and cover them with a heating pad or at night when he’s doing his soduko.”
“There’s my smart girl. Never wasted a dime for college on you and your sister.”
Even though her mother never went to college, she made sure there was money saved for her and her sister. ‘It’s a different world now, girls.’ Her mother would say.
“I’m always conscious of you and dad’s investment.” They talked a little more, her mother filled her in on her uncle and his diabetes, even though not much had changed in the three days since she spoke to her mother last.
Elahn couldn’t hold back a yawn.
“Dear, you tired. Are you eating? Getting enough rest?”
“Yes, mom. I have just been busy the last two days getting ready for an event tomorrow.”
“Wonderful. Anyone I know?”
Her mother always talked like Elahn catered for the stars.
“Actually, yes. Olivia Dare. You remember I went to college with her.”
“Yes. Yes. Nice girl. It is a shame to think about what her father did to their family. However, they have seemed to stand on their own two feet.”
“They have.” Elahn never asked her friend about the situation that was national news when it broke about her dad having two families. There were enough inquiring minds on campus, she didn’t think her friend needed another person.
“Well, I’m going to let you go. Get rest, Elahn.”
“I will. Love you. Tell dad I love him and give him a hug.”
“I will wrap my arms tight around him, just for you.” Her mother made a kissing sound before hanging up.
She placed the cell on the nightstand before shutting off her lamp.
“Maybe if I’m lucky, I’ll meet a man and we will be together into our golden years like my parents.”
The image of a big shadowy figure come to her mind. “Right. New York is a little far for dating.”