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

  Her ass is fucking sexy as hell. She is perfect.

  I look down and I see that she has a police symbol on her pelvic bone. I want to know if she lost a loved one to the force but she said no questions.

  I have never wanted to talk to a woman more than I do with her. There is something about her that makes me want to know everything about her, but I know that in the morning I will leave her bed and I will never see her again. “Love em and Leave em.”

  Our night tonight was simply amazing. So one last time tonight and this time I am going to make love to her.

  So I turn off the water and grab a white fluffy towel and wrap her up. Then I grab one for myself. I pull her out of the bathroom and dry her off with her towel, and now she is standing before me in all her glory. I can’t help but stare at her.

  “Like what you see.”

  “Yes mam I do. I’d be a fool not to. You are stunning and have a killer body. Come on let’s lay here for a little bit, normally I am not a cuddle type of person but tonight I can make an exception.”

  “Well, if you insist, but you must know I sleep in the nude.”

  “Hell yes! Then I may be able to have my way with you one last time, but if not I can say it has been fun.”

  “I agree it has been a blast, and I will keep my word and not ask any questions. But I will say if you ever find your way in this part of town, feel free to stop by and say hello.”

  “Will do darlin’.” I could tell she would be asleep before long.

  Within minutes, her breathing leveled out and I laid there and listened to her sleep. I think to myself what the fuck has this amazing woman done to me. Normally there are no feelings, but tonight with her I want to stake my claim on her. Unfortunately, though we agreed to one night only.

  I get up and get my clothes on, look over at her one last time, and walk out the door knowing I will never see her again.

  I get home a few minutes later and look at the alarm clock, it’s a little after six in the morning, there is no point in going to bed as I have to be up in an hour. So I lay on my bed and think of her. Who is she? I know I could very easily find out who she is, all I would have to do is phone in her address and they would be able to tell me within minutes, but she made the rules and I will obey them.

  Next thing I know my alarm clock is going off, and I look over at the alarm clock and it says eight thirty.

  Oh Fuck, I am late. So I haul ass out of bed and don’t even bother to change clothes as it’s just a new rookie coming in today.

  I am at the station within minutes and walk through the door at the same time as some female.

  “Hey watchhhhhhhhhh where you are going” is the last thing I hear before the wind is knocked out of me.

  Chapter Eight

  “You cannot control everything that happens to you; you can only control the way you respond to what happens. In your response is your power.” – Unknown

  Addyson

  I wake up to my alarm clock gawking at me. I look over and smell cologne. What the hell? I go to move and my body is sore but nothing that I can’t handle.

  I walk over to my bathroom and glance on the floor and I see two towels laying on my floor.

  “Damn how much did I have to drink last night?” I think to myself. I am about to get in the shower when I hear Jazmine’s ringtone yelling at me from the other room, so I turn off the water and move to grab my phone.

  “Hey Gutterslut, how was it?”

  “What are you talking about?”

  “Girl don’t play dumb, tell me about Mr. Harley. I saw you on the dance floor and next thing I know you were gone.”

  “I don’t remember just yet, I woke up like literally four minutes ago. Give me a recap please?”

  “Damn you had like 9 sex on the beaches and 9 shots of Jose’ at last time I talked to Dawson. I told him to cut you off then I saw you on the dance floor with Mr. Smexy, and the next thing I know you are gone. So please tell me you got some of that action?”

  “Are you fucking kidding me? No of course you are not. Why would I drink so much? Oh my god are you talking about Harley as in the hot as hell guy with the bike?”

  “Uh yeah, the one and only. You told us you would be claiming him, so did you? And if you did I hope like hell you wrapped that shit up. I know he was fine and all but damn you don’t want something Ajax can’t wash off.”

  “Let me think for a few minutes and I will call you back.”

  “Okay Hooch, love ya face.”

  “Love you too babe and I swear I will call you back.”

  I walk over to my bed and suddenly last night comes crashing back to me. I slept with a man I did not know, and I reach over for the trash can, and there is no wrappers in there. I get down on the floor and look around, nothing. Fuck… Fuck... Fuck I don’t have time for this right now, I don’t even get in the shower, I throw on my rookie clothes and my black heels and lock my door and head to the station.

  As I am in a hurry to get in the door I don’t even notice a man standing there, and the next thing I know I am laying on top of him

  Hey watccccccccchhhh out you ASS!

  Last night suddenly hit me in the face. Holy shit I just slept with my boss.

  The End

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  Acknowledgments

  This is my first inclusion in a box set and it’s all because of M. Dauphin. Mallory, thank you for thinking of me. I’d like to also thank my fellow box set bitches: L.E. Chamberlin, H.Q. Frost, Terri George, Autumn Grey, Nicole Hite, Alora Kate, Layla Stevens, and Brooklyn Taylor. Don’t forget to check out their books. My thanks to Daphne Watson, Harper Miller, and Connie Chavis for pre-reading this story in its various stages.

  Epigraph

  I can’t say why people lie; they just do. Everyone has their own reasons for not telling the truth.

  ~Eric Carr

  Now...

  “That was beautiful,” she whispers, using the remote to press the stop button. How she continues to look so absolutely endearing while staring forlornly at the screen amazes me.

  “Not as beautiful as you,” I mutter, not loud enough for her to hear, but just so it’s out in the atmosphere and out of the deep recesses of my heart.

  We lapse into lengthy silence. It’s not uncomfortable, but it’s heavy...heavy with all my unspoken thoughts, unexpressed emotions, and repressed desires. After a while, after a long while, her lips part and my gaze lands on the lower one, the one that slightly juts forward, the one that needs no lipstick because it’s—well they both are—naturally red. I’d love to feel the softness of her lips as they sigh or even as they talk or laugh. But, again, I know that’s wishful thinking. As are all the other forbidden thoughts I have about her.

  “I should, um, I should...” She looks down at her watch.

  “Am I rushing you out the door?” I ask after mentally reminding myself to put some bass into my voice so she can hear me.

  She shakes her head and her heart-shaped face lights up. Ah, that grin. We both have other places to be, but I don’t want her to leave, not yet.

  “Gabe, I only stopped by to say hi,” she reminds me.

  Those were the same wo
rds she told me when I opened the apartment door a few hours ago, yet we ended up eating dinner together, and watching one of her favorite movies.

  “Relax, you’ll make it to Kellie’s,” I tell her.

  The back of her hand grazes mine as she drops the remote on the couch. My heart thumps uncontrollably, and while her head is down, I press my hand over my heart, hoping to muffle the loud sound. I wonder if she can hear it. I feel as if my heart is about to burst from my chest.

  Her head snaps back up just as my fingers leave my chest. “Why are you always so nice to me?”

  Because you own me. Of course, I don’t say that aloud. Her dark eyes, which remind me of a newly opened Hershey’s Kiss, lift to my face. Her sweet smell, slightly tinged with the outdoorsy smell from the May heatwave sweeping Manhattan, engulfs me and makes me want her more...want what I can’t have...want what could have been mine if I had his confidence.

  “Why shouldn’t I be nice to my soon-to-be sister-in-law?”

  The irony isn’t lost on me, and her new place in my life is kind of surreal because I saw her first.

  Then...

  “I’ve seen you checking her out. Just go say hi, you pussy.” He nudges my shoulder, hard.

  The truth is I’ve been checking her out for the last month, since the beginning of our Organizational Leadership course, but it’s just like him to gloss over that fact. My view of the ‘her’ in question is blocked by her friend, Kellie Smith. I guess Kellie would be considered a knockout. She’s model-tall with creamy skin and an hourglass figure. But, Kellie doesn’t hold a candle to the woman on her left. Try as I might, my gaze comes back to Kellie’s friend just as she gets animated, gesticulating wildly with her hands. A small grin flits over my lips. But as quick as it appears, it leaves my mouth because I know the truth.

  Leaning back and staring up at the ceiling, I wish my life could be different. A twitch on the side of my face brings me back to reality and pushes a sigh from between my lips. “Just leave it be, Gage.”

  I’ll be glad to graduate from New York University in seven months. Everyone tells me the world will be my oyster with a Management degree in hand and working for one of the top consulting firms in the northeast. I wouldn’t mind having someone to come home to at the end of the day but...

  Her rich and syrup-like laughter reaches my ears. It’s the same laugh I hear in my head when I get the nerve to speak to her, which will never happen because—

  “If you don’t go talk to her, I will. You’re being a dillhole.”

  Just then, Lorielle Williams, Kellie’s friend, looks over in our direction as if she knows we’re talking about her. I can’t look away. Her dark brown eyes never waver from my face even as her hand covers her mouth to muffle her gasp. A part of me lights up when she turns beet-red when our classmates turn toward her. Everyone, except me, loses interest in Lori after a few minutes. What made her gasp? Nothing out of the ordinary happened and nothing fell. I don’t understand Lori’s outburst. It’s not until I see Kellie begin whispering into Lori’s ear that I put two and two together. Damn it. They’re talking about me. Kellie swivels her body and faces me, staring boldly.

  I can feel her eyes dissecting my entire body and putting everything they land on under her microscope. My skin crawls and my palms feel clammy. This never gets easier…

  Turning my face toward the classroom door on my right is a foolish move, although I want nothing more than to hide. I know what she’s staring at. My hand creeps up, covering the exposed side of my face before I slouch down into my chair.

  From the corner of my eye, I see Lori’s arm shove her friend before Kellie shrugs then turns away from me. I catch Lori peeking at me through her dark curtain of hair—almost as if she’s shy—and smiles in my direction. Her smile makes me tingle. All of me tingles. Even it. The smooth imperfection under my finger reminds me that she, in fact, anyone, isn’t a possibility for me.

  Gage’s shadow towers over me, cutting off my view of Lori. “Fuck it. I’m going to say hello since you’re being a pansy ass.”

  “Gagian McIntyre, get back here,” I hiss out, but I’m talking to the back of his stubborn, tall frame. Asshole!

  “I have time,” he shouts at me.

  If only this professor wasn’t always so late! I pretend not to see him saunter toward both women. My pretense dwindles when I hear giggles and his responding loud chuckles. I want to know what’s going on over there; but the blackboard is my safest bet, so I concentrate on it even though my head wants to swing back over to Lori. I’m trying to hold on to the little bit of dignity I have left to appear unconcerned by Gage’s conversation. I pluck the pen from the spiral in my notebook, flicking it every now and again just so my hand has something to do because my brain is on overdrive. Has she fallen under his charms? It wouldn’t surprise me if they both do. That’s what girls do around Gage.

  I’m not sure what’s being said, but he points my way before going back to talking and grinning at them. I sit up when I see his head lower to Lori’s ear. Please don’t fall for him. Please don’t…

  Her laugh, genuine and carefree, pushes me down in my seat. The smidgen of foolish hope I had fizzles. Gage comes back looking happy as a lark with a piece of paper in his hand. I’m tempted to ask about it, but I know already what’s on that paper. It’s her number. It has to be Lori’s number. He plunks back into his seat beside me and begins to whistle. I know what he’s trying to do. And, because I know him like I know myself, I wait. I wait because he can’t keep a secret to save his life.

  “You’re like a fucking vault. Just ask me already!” Gage huffs out.

  By the time I face him, his chin is resting in his palms as if he’s patiently waiting on me. And even though I don’t want to, I smile at him because my own reflection is right in front of me: same patrician nose, sculpted cheekbones, square jawline, and blond hair. We’re identical with the exception of a few things like his eyes that’re always brimming with teasing, the confidence pouring from his aura, and his unscarred face.

  For the first time in my life, I’m jealous of my identical twin. In his clutches is the information Lori freely gave to him. My eyes dart over to her, and there’s a small smile titling up her pillowy lips.

  Gage’s eloquent, “Oh shit,” breaks through my fake, undercover stare at Lori. It’s then followed by mumbled words that sounds like, “I knew it.” Gage slaps his hand on his desk, pulling my focus back onto him. When I face him this time, there’s none of his usual mischief. It’s like he’s torn where to look, at me or at Lori. For a few seconds, his sight bounces between the two of us.

  “You, ah...do you...?” He waves a finger in the air between Lori and myself.

  He doesn’t have to finish his question. I know he’s asking if it’s okay, as if he needs my permission, to go after her...to date Lori.

  Mom always tells us that even though we look the same, we’re as opposite as night and day. I’m the calm to his hyper. Where he hunts for attention and the spotlight, I shrink back from them, which happened even before my life changed close to six years ago. Moreover, he has a knack for reading people while I can barely tell heads from tails about the confusion swirling around in my own head let alone in another person’s.

  Out of habit, my finger graze my scar. Not that he needs to hear it, but I give him my blessing. “It’s cool,” I answer the question still swimming in his eyes.

  Gage looks at me again, longer. “Uh huh.”

  His hazel eyes meet my green ones, and I know he knows I’ve just lied to him. But I shake my head, begging him to let it go, just as the professor pushes his way through the door. My lie will shut down any advice that’s always on the tip of his tongue about how great I am and how I need to put myself out there.

  * * * *

  Before I know it, Gage and Lori are in a relationship, but so are Lori and I. Our friendship is the easiest thing for her and me.

  “I like Juneau, but I don’t want to live there forever.” In add
ition to this, I find out that Lori’s sister, Taylor, and her parents are still in Alaska. “While you and Gage were at summer camps, I worked at my family’s souvenir shop during the summers.”

  “That icebox has summers?” I tease.

  She shakes her head at me, which she does often, but I don’t mind. I learn she hates all things slimy but mostly frogs. “They’re just icky,” Lori says as her upper body shivers in disgust.

  As much as she shares with me, I tell her a few things too.

  “I grew up about an hour from here in a town called Scarsdale. Of course, we didn’t have any dog sledding or gold mines in our backyard.” I pause at her shy-like grin before continuing, “But Gage and I were always in something.” I like the bright gleam that takes over Lori’s face. She leans toward me, and I know she wants to hear more about Gage’s antics. “One time in first grade, Gage dared me to touch the class’s pet hamster. I’m not bold like Gage, and that thing must have picked up on my fear. I almost lost a finger. Now, I hate all furry animals.” I’m sure I lose a few man-points. I duck my head and wait for the ridicule.

  Her soft hand covers mine for a brief time before she nods. “They’re all gross, Gabe.”

  Over the months, we talk about everything and anything with one exception: the jagged, reddened two-inch length scar that’s slightly sunken into my skin and runs down my left cheekbone to my jawline. Sometimes, I feel her pointed stare and when I catch her, she quickly busies herself or prepares to leave the dorm room I share with my brother.

  It makes me wonder if she wants to know. I don’t like talking about my scar. Even after three years at the university, the few friends I’ve made have never asked me about my scar, mainly because Gage told them the subject wasn’t up for discussion. I find the harder I fall for Lori, I could tolerate telling her the story, if she were to ask. But she never does.

  By Thanksgiving break, Lori and I have built up a solid connection, but something is happening between Lori and Gage. Now, all I hear are his muttered grumblings about her. At first, I think he’s joking, but then his words and tone change. They become louder and have now morphed into full-blown complaints.