The Bad Girls' Club (21 page)

‘
Yes, I am.’ I moved across so that I was straddling him. He sat still, not struggling. That was a good sign. I pressed my lips against his while I worked his t-shirt up his body.

‘
Want to play a little game?’ I asked him.

‘
Huh?’

I reached over and grabbed one of the silk scarves then held his hands out and began to bind them.

‘What the hell do you think you’re doing?’ Craig stared at me, in shock.

‘
Don’t worry, Craig. It’ll be fun. I’m just going to tie you up and experiment a little. Relax.’

‘
Look, Jules, I don’t know about this. Can’t we just watch
Evil Dead
instead? You know it’s a great film.’

I sat back against his knee and looked at him a moment.

‘Don’t be silly. You’ll like it. Just give it a chance.’ I twirled a strand of hair around my finger and looked at him. ‘Please, Craig. It would make me happy.’ Then I grinned at him.

‘
I guess. But tie those things loosely. OK.’

I tied the scarf into a knot then reached back over into the bag. I pulled out the clothes pegs. Craig jerked beneath me.

‘What the hell are those for? No, don’t tell me. I don’t know and I don’t want to know, just don’t bring them near me. And not that candle either.’

I grabbed one of the other scarves and tied it around his eyes. This would be much easier if he couldn
’t see what I was doing.

To start off, I got out the massage oil and rubbed it over his chest. He was so tense. As I worked my fingers up his chest in small spiralling patterns, his breathing shallowed and he started to loosen up a little. Finally, we were getting somewhere.

‘Turn over so I can do your back.’

Craig tried to get up but he couldn
’t quite make it with his hands tied. I caught hold of his hands and helped him up.

‘
Do you want me to lie on the couch?’ he asked.

‘
No. Kneel on the floor with your arms on the couch,’ I told him. ‘That will be easier.’ I got one of the cushions off the couch and put it down for him to kneel on.

He leaned over and I rubbed the oil over his back. His skin warmed under my touch and he was much more relaxed now. I wasn
’t relaxed though, I was ready for action. I reached around and undid the buckle of Craig’s pants, unzipping the fly and pulling them down to his knees. I could feel his cock. He was getting into this. It was rock hard and getting harder as I stroked it. I moved my hands around, running them over the cheeks of his butt. Moving them the way Mistress Sue had shown me, getting the skin all heated.

I reached out for the wooden spoon, starting to tingle now. I bit lightly into the flesh on his shoulder, as my fingers moved down his back.

Craig moaned a little. I’d never heard him respond like that before. This was definitely working. Time for the next phase.

I tapped his butt with the spoon. He jumped but didn
’t say anything. I tapped him again then ran the spoon over his cheeks and between his legs. He moaned again.

‘
Do you like that?’ I asked.

He didn
’t answer, but laughed a little.

That was encouraging. I bit my lip, encouraging indeed. He wanted it. Several short, sharp slaps around his butt. He didn
’t respond so I pressed myself against him, rubbing my boobs up his back.

I tried again, intending to go just a little harder. Maybe I didn
’t know my own strength or maybe I got too excited, but I bought the spoon down much harder than I intended.

Craig screamed.

‘Sorry, sorry.’ I bit my lip. ‘I won’t do that again. Promise.’

Craig struggled until his hands were loose, then took off the blindfold.

‘It’s OK, honey. I said I won’t do it again.’

‘
You can bet you won’t,’ he said, standing up and pulling on his pants. ‘You sure as hell won’t be doing anything like that ever again.’

He rubbed his butt cheek through his jeans.

‘Sorry,’ I said again but he stared at me as though he hated me.

‘
What the hell did you think you were doing?’

‘
But you were enjoying it. You were. You were all hard and…’

‘
Don’t be an idiot. If you rub a guy’s cock like that, of course he’s going to get hard. It doesn’t really mean anything. Where have you been learning all this stuff anyway? Is it those girls you’ve been hanging around with? You have changed, you really have.’

‘
Craig!’

‘
Have you been with other guys? Have you been going out with those chicks picking up other guys?’

I couldn
’t deny it. I blushed and looked away. What had I been thinking?

‘
Craig…’

‘
How many guys was it?’

How could I tell him?

He looked away from me. ‘They must be real sickos if they are into shit like that.’ He knocked the bag off the couch, scattering everything over the floor. ‘You don’t think anyone normal enjoys that shit, do you?’

I looked up at him, not sure what to say. I thought he
’d understand. I thought we could have some fun together.

The movie caught his attention for a moment; he looked around to see a hand coming down on a butt cheek, a look of ecstatic pain then turned back to me.

‘My God. You are into that, aren’t you? You’re been giving me the brush off every weekend so you can go out with perverts and spank their arses. You’re the one that’s the sicko.’

‘
I can explain…’

‘
Don’t bother, Jules. It’s over. And you have no one to blame but yourself.’

Craig stormed towards the door. I stared after him. He meant it. He really meant it. He
’d never spoken to me like that before. Then he turned back. Maybe he was going to apologise.

I waited for him to say something but he walked over to the DVD player and picked up a box. His copy of
Evil Dead
.

‘
I’ll take this too. You can keep everything else.’

I heard the door slam as he left. I sat on the floor, surrounded by the remnants of our night – the scarves and the oil and the candles, the movie still playing in the background. I picked up that stupid wooden spoon and snapped it across my knee.

I didn’t know what to do. I didn’t even know if I wanted to go back to the club. Maybe everyone was right. Maybe I was sick. I just didn’t know any more.

I picked up the phone. I
’d ring Imogen; she’d talk sense to me. I had almost dialled her number when I remembered she wasn’t talking to me any more.

My life was truly wretched. I sat at my desk, shovelling gluggy, reheated gnocchi into my mouth while editing press releases for Poppy. It would help if she could manage to spell the company name right. Boy, sh
e’
d been a bitch lately. Worse than usual. I think she’d expected to get back and find the place in a shambles. As if. Things had been about a hundred times better. Had run like clockwork without her messing stuff up. God, all I’d had to do was fax off a heap of press releases that she always made me write myself anyway, and meet with a few people. It was nothing.

At least she
’d popped out for lunch. Well, she’d popped out an hour ago and, if it was anything like Poppy’s usual lunches she’d be gone at least another hour. I’d get this editing done and then I could run out for a fag. Damn it. I’d been smoking like a madman lately. Well, it wasn’t as if I had anything else to do.

No one had mentioned anything more about the new job either. They
’d probably just decided it was too risky and shelved the whole project, after getting me all excited about it.

I didn
’t even want to think about stupid Beth or the stupid club. I should have stuck with my original feelings, that Beth was a frigid, niggly bitch, because I’d been right. Juliette had called a couple of times but I didn’t even want to talk to her. Probably only wanted to brag about her conquests at that club anyway and I didn’t need to hear about that. I was perfectly happy here with my gluggy pasta and my misery. I didn’t need anything else.

But hell, I was horny. And now I would never get sex. It seems Juliette got the best of it. She was one lucky girl. Maybe I should resign myself to old-maidhood, get a couple of cats and some prissy tea cups. I wouldn
’t find a decent man but at least I’d have a card game named after me. What man would want me anyway? Except for creeps who wanted to ogle my boobs, like that awful internet date guy. Come to think of it, I’d never gone back to that café. The waiter there was lovely and cute and sort of interested. Oh, who was I fooling? He probably just felt sorry for me or was angling for a big tip.

A bunch of girls laughed at something while waiting for the lift, probably laughing at me and my stupid, pitiful life and, shit, Daniel was walking in the door. Great. Hope he didn
’t see me stuffing my face. I threw the half-eaten food in the bin and wiped my mouth with a serviette. Then looked up and smiled.

‘
Imogen, how are you? You’re looking great.’

Ha, I don
’t think so. Did he need glasses? Maybe he did, after all he’d married Poppy.

‘
Thanks.’

‘
Still breaking hearts? I haven’t gotten over the sight of you in that sexy outfit the other night. My doctor’s put me on blood pressure medication.’

‘
Yeah, right.’ I laughed. Suddenly things didn’t seem so bad.

‘
So, what are you up to?’

‘
Not a lot.’

He raised his eyebrow.
‘You like being the mysterious one, don’t you?’

‘
Are you here for a social visit? Poppy’s gone out somewhere.’

‘
Yeah, I know. She called me. She’s gone house hunting. Can you believe it? We were talking last night about buying a house, maybe, one day. Then this morning she set up an appointment to go look at one. She said she knew what she wanted. But she left the address on her desk and told me to drop in and grab it.’

‘
Her door’s locked, but I have a key,’ I said, getting the key out of my drawer. ‘I’ll come in with you.’

‘
What, don’t you trust me?’

I looked at him and he looked back at me with those sexy eyes. To be honest, I didn
’t. I was starting to wonder about Daniel. I’d have put it down to just his flirty ways until Beth got so shitty.

‘
Actually, you’ll probably need a hand getting through that mess on her desk. It’s a disaster in there.’

We went into Poppy
’s office but I couldn’t see an address anywhere. He searched the desktop while I swung around on her chair. Just as Daniel sat down on the edge of the desk, his mobile phone rang.

‘
Just a sec.’

He got his phone out of his suit pocket and walked away a little. I didn
’t want to listen but I couldn’t really help it.

‘
Yeah, right. Fine. You what? You can’t put an offer in… but I haven’t seen the bloody place.’

Daniel grimaced at me.

‘No. We’re not borrowing money off your father. No way. I’m not paying for half a house I’ve not even seen. Poppy? Poppy?’

He hung up the phone.

‘She’s gone and put in an offer on this house. Can you believe that? I mean, is that even legal? I bet it isn’t. ‘

I reached out and stroked his arm. Poor Daniel. He smiled at me.

‘I thought things would be better once we were married. But nothing’s right. I got the whole bum deal.’

I got a feeling this was about more than the house.

‘What do you mean?’

‘
She’s so conservative. In bed I mean. Like a starfish.’

Poppy? Conservative? What? I
’d always thought Poppy was, well a goer. I raised my eyebrow questioningly.

‘
In what way?’ I tried to look innocent, as though I hadn’t quite understood rather than like I was filled with insatiable curiosity.

‘
She’s so obsessed with how she looks. She can’t let go and enjoy herself. Everything is about her. Does she look fat? Are her hips too wide? We never even have sex with the lights on. I don’t know why she just can’t be comfortable with herself. Like you.’

Like me? I don
’t know where he’d gotten the idea that I was comfortable with myself. I’d never felt less comfortable and, if Poppy couldn’t be happy with her perfect model girl figure, how could I be happy with my lumpy, curvy self?

I just smiled. What could I say?

‘I don’t know why she isn’t like you. It wouldn’t hurt her to get a few womanly curves. Like, we go out to a restaurant and she won’t even eat. I hate that. I like healthy appetites in a woman. Not getting a lecture about fat and carbs and other stuff that I couldn’t give a damn about.’

‘
You knew that before you married her,’ I told him.

He looked down at me.
‘You are quite the wise one, aren’t you?’ His hand stroked my face and I knew I should move away from him. I tried to, I really did. But when he looked at me that way, my insides went all squishy and my heart melted into a gooey mess that seemed to be dripping out between my legs.

When I didn
’t resist, he moved in closer. His fingers traced a path down to the top of my shirt. I looked at him and laughed.

‘
You shouldn’t be doing that,’ I said unconvincingly.

‘
I shouldn’t be doing this either,’ he said and undid the top button on my shirt. ‘But I really want to.’

What the hell was I letting him do? He leant over and pressed his mouth hard against mine. I didn
’t resist. I couldn’t resist. All I could do was press myself tight against him.

‘
You are gorgeous,’ he said as his fingers moved inside my shirt. His fingers flicked over my nipples. ‘You have great tits.’

My head buzzed
– I shouldn’t be doing this, this is wrong, this is bad, what if we get caught, oh my God, I’m kissing Daniel, what would Beth say and damn, I’ll never be able to tell her, what would Poppy say, I’d lose my job and I really don’t care at this moment, this just feels so good and what the hell he is doing with my boob and how can I make him do it some more
.

He kissed me again. I stood up to resist him but his lips never left mine and I didn
’t have the willpower to push him away. I felt his cock, hard against my leg. I wouldn’t touch it. I’d stop him. Just as soon as…

Je-sus, he was huge. Huge.

Then I heard one of the girls from the office in the corridor. I pushed him away.

‘
Whoa, Daniel, we have to stop.’

‘
Yes, we do,’ he said with his mouth but his hand said otherwise, squeezing my nipple.

With his other hand he slipped my knickers down, spreading my legs apart, stroking my thighs, moving inside me.

‘Seriously, we have to stop…’

But he kissed me again and I couldn
’t speak. He’d sure as hell had a lot of practice at this. His fingers, his mouth – it felt like he had the road map on how to make me come. Special instructions just for me. If I stopped him, I’d never get this chance again.

I was reached out, grabbing the pencil holder, grabbing the edge of the computer, biting my lip to muffle my screams, biting into the padded shoulder of his suit, clasping my mouth onto his and drinking him in.

For once, I felt gorgeous. Like a femme fatale, wild and dangerous.

Poppy. Fuck, no.

I could hear her. Outside. The click of her heels. How did she get here so fast? I pushed against Daniel but he was oblivious.

‘
Quick,’ I panted. ‘Poppy.’ She was near the door. It would take her 1 minute and 38 seconds approximately to get to her office.

‘
Huh?’

‘
Stop. She’s here.’ She’d hopefully stop at Josie’s desk to say hello.

‘
Hurry.’

‘
Please.’

She
’d be here in 50 seconds. We had to. But…

We pulled apart but I felt dazed. I struggled to stand up and fell back into the chair.

As Poppy walked in the door, I realised my knickers were hanging from my ankle. I panicked and kicked them off, under her desk. I could retrieve them later.

‘
Poppy,’ Daniel said, as though nothing had happened. ‘What’s going on with this house? I don’t care how gorgeous it is, you can’t just decide to buy a house like that.’

‘
But, sweetie. I had to. There was this other horrible man there. He was going to steal it out from under me. And, Daniel, it’s perfect. You’ll love it. Really, you will. It just needs a teensy bit of work. But otherwise, it’s just what I’ve always wanted.’

She pouted but Daniel didn
’t respond.

‘
Sweetie,’ she said. ‘Come on. We’ll be happy there. I just know it.’

Daniel moved, knocking a sheet of paper onto the floor.
‘Oops,’ he said. Bending down, he scooped up my knickers from the floor and put them in his jacket pocket. He winked at me before he stood up. Cheeky bugger. Meanwhile, I looked as guilty as sin. As guilty as the sin I’d just committed. I’d been fooling around with Poppy’s husband and she hadn’t even realised. It seemed to me that the whole office should know it, that the whole office reeked of cheap groping.

‘
I’ve got to get back to work,’ he said to Poppy and started to walk out.

‘
Come on, sweetie. Be happy for me.’ She threw her arms around him in that way she did to get out of anything. I felt sick. I wanted to leave but they blocked the door.

As I looked up, Daniel rolled his eyes at me over Poppy
’s shoulder. Maybe he wasn’t so easily pacified.

He pushed her away.

‘Look, I’ve really got to fly.’ He winked at me again. ‘See you, Imogen.’

As he walked out of the office, Poppy turned to me.

‘What are you doing in here anyway, Imogen? And why do you have that goofy smile on your face? Don’t you have work to do?’

I excused myself and walked to my desk. I couldn
’t believe this it. It was good and bad and totally wrong. I’d think of this every time Poppy called me into her office to whinge about some petty grievance. I got my cigarettes out of my bag and headed toward the lift.

I had to tell someone, so I called Juliette. Of course, I didn
’t just stand outside the office in the emergency exit doorway where I normally went for my smoke break. If you do that sort of shit, you turn around and find out Poppy is standing behind you and all hell breaks loose. I’ve learnt something from watching dramas. Instead, I went to the park across the street where I could see around in all directions.

‘
Can you talk? You won’t believe what happened to me this afternoon.’ I giggled, feeling a bit flustered still. It made me glowy-happy inside to even think of Daniel. Would he want to see me again?

‘
What?’ Really, she could have been more enthused. Maybe she was mad because I hadn’t answered her calls.

‘
Is something wrong?’ I asked her.

‘
Oh, not really.’

I had to tell her about Daniel. I couldn
’t wait. I’m sure she’d tell me what was wrong when she was ready. ‘Daniel came into the office today while Poppy was at lunch. And Jules, you really won’t believe this, but he seduced me.’