Once: A Collection of Sinfully Sexy and Twisted Tales Read online

  "Ivy." She grinned, putting her hand out.

  "Rule."

  Her shake seemed to falter when he spoke his unusual name.

  "So why don't you drink, but you're drinking tonight?" He nodded toward her glass that she was quickly emptying.

  "I don't go out much. Want to dance?" She pointed toward the crowd, not wanting to chat. She wasn't looking for a potential boyfriend, for once, she just wanted to have fun and enjoy her buzz.

  Taking her hand, he finished his drink, then set the glass on an empty table. The alcohol loosened him up and he let her take the lead, and thankfully, because the way she danced was nothing like any other woman he'd ever danced with. She was flirting on the brink of making him explode in his jeans. Suppressing his groans, he let one slip into her hair and the noise shot through her, making the need between her thighs almost unbearable. Her mouth found his and her hips didn't stop swaying. The lascivious growl he let out into her mouth, while he slid his hand into the back of her hair, made her whimper. Never in her life had she lost herself in a man while in public, but alcohol was her guide and it guided her right out the door with Rule.

  The thought he was too buzzed to drive was the last thing on his mind and he pulled her to his motorcycle. Without hesitation, Ivy straddled it and he strapped the too-big helmet on her before getting on and pulling her closer to his back.

  Alcohol definitely blurred her judgment; she wasn't a one-night-stand type of girl, but all she could smell and see was Rule, and the alcohol wasn't the only thing intoxicating her.

  When he pulled her into his house, she jumped into his arms and found his mouth again, diving in with her tongue. Lifting her off the floor, she wrapped her legs around him. While he headed toward his bedroom, he pushed her heels off that were wrapped to his back. Setting her on his bed, he took a step back and she got to her knees. Her hands went to the buttons of his shirt and her eyes locked with his. Being drunk guided her forceful actions and made her ideas seem genius.

  It all seemed so right for the both of them. The right person, the right time, the right idea. They held each other's stare while she removed his shirt. When he pulled hers over her head, breaking it, their gaze found each other again while they worked on the other's pants.

  "You're so beautiful," he breathed, breaking their gaze to claim her mouth.

  "God," she moaned as he kissed down her throat, digging her fingers into his dark hair that was styled before she twisted into it.

  His mouth covered her nipple and she loudly moaned from the missed attention.

  "You taste good, Ivy," he groaned, moving to her other nipple. "So fucking good," he whispered and began tracking his lips down her stomach while he laid her to her back.

  Her back lifted as his mouth bit over her hip before drifting to the green silk between her legs and when he kissed her through it, she gasped and bowed again. With a satisfied smile, he slowly began to lower the obstructing fabric and let out a shaky breath when he was faced with her glistening opening.

  "So beautiful," he breathed before wrapping his mouth around her to fill his tongue with her taste.

  "Oh God!" she screamed, sitting up to watch him. "Oh my God, oh my God," she panted, and it didn't take long before she screamed, "Rule!" and her body burst into a fit of vibration under him.

  A skilled mouth brought her to climax faster than her vibrator ever had.

  Not taking his time, he slid up her and found her lips.

  "Christ, you taste like ice cream and smell like sugar.” He lifted her left leg around his arm while positioning himself to sink inside her. "You're fucking delicious,” he breathed while slipping into her.

  Her eyes rolled back before floating closed. A fulfilled moan left her lips and her hips swiveled to get him deeper.

  "I know this was sudden," he spoke through shallow breaths while he slowly pumped inside her. "I haven't done anything like this since I was in college. Every time I did it then was for one sole purpose, but I don't want that. I want to see you again. I want to take you out properly. I want to get to know you."

  "Yes," she panted, nodding her head. "Me too," she spoke through the pleasure she hadn't felt since Derrick.

  "You're so damn sexy."

  Her mouth slamming to his shut him up. They rolled and she was on top, rocking her hips to the music of their moans. They rolled and he was behind her, thrusting hard, wanting to hear the slapping of their flesh louder than any other sound. They rolled and she was on her side, giving him the perfect angle to penetrate deep to the stopping wall inside her. They rolled and he was on top again, their eyes met.

  "Rule," she breathed.

  "Tell me, Ivy."

  "I'm going to cum.”

  "And I can't wait." He grinned, making her giggle, but it was lost to moans as the pleasure built.

  “Cum with me. I want to cum at the same time," she urged.

  "I'll give you anything you want," he said before claiming her mouth.

  Her ascending whimpers built him up and when her mouth pulled from his to scream out in pleasure, he burst with her, emptying all he had to give inside her pulsing pussy.

  Sweaty, tired, and thirsty, they lay side by side, panting to catch their breath. Grabbing the glass of water from his nightstand that was from the night prior, he handed it to her first.

  "Here," he panted.

  "Thanks." She sat up, still trying to catch her breath while she drank the stale water, but it was so refreshing.

  When she handed it back to him, she fell back to the bed and he finished the glass, too relaxed, too drunk, and too tired to get up for more. Glancing over at Ivy, he saw she was already asleep.

  "Shit," he breathed and rubbed his eyes so he could look at her more clearly. The haze was still there, but he knew she was beautiful. When the girls sat at their table at the club he wasn't drunk and he remembered getting one look and forgetting everyone else. If one woman could make every other woman in a club disappear, he knew he was a goner.

  His eyes raked down her petite, naked body and it made him giggle. He hadn't giggled since he was a child.

  "God, you're cute," he whispered to her sleeping form. “You’re so fucking beautiful.” Covering her, he then wrapped her in his arms as if they had been doing it nightly for years.

  ***

  Ivy's internal alarm went off at six; she'd only gone to sleep at three. Her body was buzzing, possibly still drunk, and feeling sore. Immediately, her heart began to hammer when she felt the arms around her. She began to tremble and the only thought she had was to get the hell out of there. Her mouth was so dry and sticky, giving proof to the fact she was too drunk the prior night. She clamped her lips closed to silence the small popping noises her tongue made against her sticky gums. Slipping out of his arms, she almost fell to the floor from the tall bed.

  She began crawling around the floor for her clothes. Then, staying crouched, she dressed, throwing her shirt on backwards, but had no time worry about it.

  "Shoes?" she very quietly whispered while frantically looking around. "Shoot, shoot, shoot." She crawled out of the bedroom, grateful to find her shoes in his hallway, feet apart from each other.

  Snatching them up, she darted down the hallway and glanced around for an exit. The back sliding door lead her to his deck and she took a minute to observe the view of the lake, shining like glass. With a smile from the beautiful view, Ivy slipped out his privacy fence and put her heels on. There wasn't much around except sumptuous houses and she had no idea where she was. Yanking her cellphone from her pocket, she turned on GPS to get her location. Knowing Kate slept with her cellphone under her pillow, she hit dial.

  "Ivy?" Kate grumbled.

  "Kate," Ivy whispered. "I need a ride."

  "What's wrong?" Kate blurted, shooting to a sitting position. "Your car okay?"

  "I don't have my car—”

  "Is D okay?"

  "Kate!" Ivy snapped then glanced around, making sure she didn't disturb the silent street. "Pick me
up at Harris and Jefferson."

  "What're you doing there?" Kate giggled that Ivy was in such a prestige neighborhood.

  "Please come get me," Ivy whined. "Just call when you're close and I'll be on the corner."

  Ivy wasn't the only one who got 'white-girl wasted' last night, so none of the girls realized or thought twice about Ivy disappearing with Rule.

  "Ivy!" Kate gasped when she got into the front seat. "You went home with someone! Oh my God!" she squealed, breaking into a fit of giggles. "I just thought you were being your weird self and shopping at six in the morning. Oh my God! What the fuck, girl? Who was it? I don't even remember seeing you with anyone!"

  "Doesn't your head hurt?" Ivy grumbled with a squint.

  "Fucking spill it!" Kate shouted, getting too much enjoyment from Ivy being a slut.

  The only thing Ivy spilled was she made a huge mistake and she wanted nothing to do with Rule.

  "You gotta stop this shit," Kate huffed as she pulled into the driveway.

  "You mean not go to clubs? You're right, and I will." Ivy pushed open the door.

  "Iv," she sighed. "So what? You're just going to be single the rest of your life?"

  "I'm twenty-six with an eight-year-old daughter and a dead husband. A relationship is the last thing I want to even think about, okay? You guys need to stop. I'm happy with it being me, my job, and Deluché. If you guys can't handle that then find a friend that actually needs your constant meddling with their dull life. I like quiet, I like simple, I like my routine."

  "You like staying as safe as possible. You like shutting people out because you're afraid," Kate responded with sympathy.

  "I'm not afraid, I just refuse to go through something like that again. Thanks for the ride, Kate, I really appreciate you coming to my rescue last minute."

  "You do it for me all the time." Kate grinned and Ivy softly smiled. "Call me later, slutty!" Kate called out.

  Ivy turned back and gave her a nasty scowl, making Kate burst into laughter and drive away.

  ***

  "So what, man. It was a one-night-stand." Luke shrugged while Rule sat at his table with his head in his hands.

  "But I don't want it to be," he groaned.

  "You were fucking drunk. She could be a total bitch like her fuckin' friend."

  "That you fucked!" Rule boasted, getting to his feet.

  "She was hot. All I had to do was shove two fingers in her mouth and she shut the hell up and let me do whatever I wanted to her." He grinned at the memory of his night with Ashanti.

  "You gonna see her again?" Rule stared at him.

  "Fuck no. I hope not. After I got finished giving her the best orgasm she ever had, the bitch had the nerve to complain about my pants again." He shook his head.

  Rule shook his head unsympathetically. "I gotta get to work," he glumly mumbled.

  "Dude, it's just a chick. Don't be such a pansy. When Jill broke up with you, you went out and celebrated."

  "She's nothing like Jill, or Carla—”

  "You don't even know that, Rule. You don't know the damn girl, man."

  "Her name's Ivy. Her fucking name is Ivy," he groaned and leaned his head against the wall.

  "Really?" Luke chuckled. "That's kinda funny."

  Rule looked at his friend begrudgingly.

  "It's not a sign or something, you pansy ass. Go to work, save people and shit."

  Rule rolled his eyes and walked out the front door.

  His bad mood was noticed by all and his colleagues left him alone, letting him have a quiet evening at work, but the quiet brought on nonstop thoughts of Ivy. Yes, he was drunk, which caused him to carelessly sleep with her, but that alcohol-induced mistake was the greatest night of his life. He remembered everything about her, her smell, taste, touch and it was driving him insane.

  "Dammit!" he growled, unable to focus on the screen in front of him.

  "Rule?" Deloris softly said. "Need some help or something?"

  "No. I'm fine," he grumbled, walking by her without as much as a glance.

  There were whispers about him for the next few days because his mood hadn't lightened. Luke didn't have Ashanti's phone number, so Rule's plan for Luke to find anything out from her was nixed. There was nothing to do except get over her… or go back to the club every weekend, hoping she'd show up.

  ***

  "Mom!" Deluché called out with annoyance. "It doesn't fit!"

  "Hold on, baby!" Ivy yelled in frustration while trying to zip the back of her dress.

  "I'm not wearing it!" Deluché pulled her dress off and threw it on the ground.

  "Honey, you're putting it on wrong," Ivy softly said while walking into her bedroom. After properly dressing her daughter in the mint green dress, she smiled adoringly. "You look so beautiful. Like a princess." The girls giggled. "Let's get your hair started before Aunt Ashanti comes.”

  The drive to the wedding was quiet. It'd be Ivy's first time seeing Derrick's extended family since the funeral.

  "You all right?" Ashanti squeezed her shoulder.

  "Fine." Ivy smiled then glanced into the backseat at Deluché, who was busy on her iPad.

  "I can't wait for you to see Nevaeh's fat ass squeezed into that dress."

  "Ashanti!" Ivy laughed.

  "She's a bitch," Ashanti said simply. "She's gonna look like one of those dinner mints in that mint dress." Ashanti burst into laughter, making Deluché look up and smile, then turn her attention back to the iPad.

  "Oh my God." Ivy giggled while her attention went back out the window.

  "Hey," Ashanti quietly said, then glanced at Deluché in the backseat. "We're going out to the club this weekend. Wanna go?"

  Ivy shifted to stare at her.

  "Iv, it's been almost two months since you went out last. I won't let you get white-girl wasted again." She laughed. "No hooking up with strange men, just us girls. I already talked to Kate about it."

  "You girls do this stuff all the time," Ivy said quietly. "So once we all get a little tipsy, we're all gonna be a little stupid and do whatever the hell our body tells us to," she grumbled the last part and looked out the window again.

  "Yeah, but your body was happy. My body would have been. He was fine—”

  "Ashanti," Ivy said in a warning tone.

  "Just sayin', girl. He totally was," she mumbled.

  "I don't even remember what he looked like," she lied. "But that's besides the point. I don't want to talk about it."

  "Why not? I didn't even get any details."

  "And you won't," Ivy said simply. "I couldn't give them if I wanted to. I was trashed and don't remember," she whispered harshly, then glanced back at Deluché.

  "Mm-hmm, whatever." Ashanti rolled her eyes. "Anyway, we're going out Saturday."

  "I'm not," Ivy said. "If you girls want to get a glass of wine, maybe a movie, sure—”

  "Bitch! I ain't sixty!" Ashanti boasted, sending Ivy into a fit of laughter.

  "Ignore Aunty, baby. She's gonna get a timeout for her potty mouth," Ivy said to the girl who wasn't listening to a word they were saying.

  "Ivy, dammit, you're twenty-six. Life isn't over—”

  "That life is, for me. My life was shot and killed by trash that's still out there. My life is over."

  "Derrick wouldn't want you sayin' that shit," Ashanti snipped.

  "I don't care. Derrick knew he was my life."

  "The love of your life ain't the same thing as life in general."

  "No, he was my whole world. My universe revolved around him. We were so in love, Ashanti. Derrick was my husband, not just a boyfriend of a few months. You know how long we were together and every day was like the first." Ivy fondly smiled.

  "Ya, ya'll were freaks of nature."

  "Jealous." She chuckled.

  "Uh-uh." Ashanti cringed at her. "I don't want no boyfriend from the ninth grade to knock me up at eighteen, then marry me at twenty."

  "Don't worry, honey, you're well past that. You haven't seen eig
hteen… or twenty, for that matter, in years."

  "Ooo, you bitch.” Ashanti laughed along with Ivy.

  Like usual, Ivy busied herself with the kids because it was easier facing them than Derrick's family, who always looked at her with sympathy. The kids were all too young to remember much about Derrick, so they didn’t bring him up.

  "Come dance, Aunty." DeAngelo pulled Ivy to the dance floor.

  By eleven, the kids were too tired to entertain Ivy anymore, so when Ashanti offered her a drink, she took it, and a second, and third.

  "Baby." Derrick's mother smoothed her hand down Ivy's face. "You're such a pretty girl. So pretty."

  Ivy watched her eyes fill with tears and she knew if she started crying it'd only cause a chain reaction.

  "I miss you. You come on in and visit next time Deluché stays and I'll make dinner. I'll make you and Derrick's favorite."

  "Sounds great." Ivy chuckled to keep from crying.

  "You know you'll always be my daughter, Ivy." She pulled her into a hug. "My angel is up in heaven smiling down on us. You know that?"

  "Yes." Ivy squeaked, trying to keep the tears choked back.

  "He loved you. Oh, girl, so much. You made my baby the best man he could be."

  "He was the greatest man there was." Ivy sniffled.

  "Ain't that the truth, and you know it was because of you. You're going to turn another good man into a great man one day." She pulled out of the hug and looked into Ivy's eyes; both women had tears rolling down their faces. "Whether or not Derrick would want you in the arms of another man, you know you can, right? It's been four years, sugar. It's time to start living your life. You used to be such a wild child." She laughed. "You and Derrick both. There was no holding you two down! You would get up and go, and get everyone going with you." Her laughter deepened. "Sugar," she sighed. "You ain't gonna hurt nobody by living."

  "You been talking to Ashanti?" Ivy laughed, wiping her face.

  She patted her on the cheek before walking away. After that, Ivy had her forth and final drink, and thankfully, without any more incident, it was time to leave.

  Luckily, Deluché slept in because Ivy's hangover kept her in bed. The girls spent the day watching movies and Ivy couldn't have been more grateful. She swore off drinking if the sobriety gods would just let her get through her hangover from hell.