CHAPTER 1 — BELLE
I slip on my black skirt and light purple tank top and glance in the mirror. I tilt my head to the right and tap my index finger to my chin. Something is missing.
I pause, mentally scanning my closet. Then I pull back the mirror door and start shoving coat hangers to the left, frantically trying to find it. I grab the cream-colored cardigan triumphantly, like a kid finding a golden coin at the bottom of the pool. I throw it on and give myself a nod.
Just then I hear a knock. That must be Ajax.
I go to the door. Sure enough, it’s him, wearing a crisp, light blue button-down shirt and navy pants, the sleeves rolled up. And fuck. He looks somehow even hotter than normal.
“You look stunning,” he says. “Ready?”
I nod. He grabs my arm and we start walking.
“Where are we going?” I whisper again.
He laughs. “Nice try.”
I huff, and he just laughs again. He’s been refusing to tell me ever since he brought the idea up yesterday. All I know is that we’re going to some party. Where? What kind of party? Whose house? Is it even a house party? I don’t know anything.
I tried to get some information out of him by telling him I needed to know, or how would I know what to wear.
And he just told me, “You look perfect no matter what you wear,” which was flattering but also extremely unhelpful.
So I went with a safe choice: a skirt, top, cardigan, kind of dressy, kind of casual.
But judging by Ajax’s outfit, I might have miscalculated, because he usually looks much more casual.
This is the most dressed up I’ve seen him.
He opens my door at the car, always a gentleman, and I smile like always as I slip into the soft, buttery seat.
“Thank you,” I say.
He just nods and gets into the driver’s seat. I try to stay quiet for as long as I can, but after a minute of silence, my patience runs out.
“Come on,” I say. “Just tell me.”
He shakes his head, smirking. “You’ll see, little girl.”
“Are you trying to rile me up right now?” I say. “Calling me a little girl? You said I’m the one who picks fights, who’s bratty, but I feel like you’re being antagonistic right now.”
“Only because you’re so fun to antagonize,” he says, poking me in the side.
I try to scowl at him, but it’s hard. A smile sneaks across my face.
“We’re almost there,” he says.
I don’t know exactly how long it’s been now, maybe five, ten minutes. Surprisingly though, we’re already in a part of town I’ve never been.
“Are you going to keep this a secret until the very last second?” I ask.
“Not quite,” he says as he pulls over to the side of the road and parks. “Before we go in, I need to tell you a few things.”
“Okay,” I say shakily. My heart is thumping so fast, I feel like it might jump out of my chest. I feel like whatever he’s about to say is going to be big.
“Do you have any idea what this is about, Belle?” he asks.
“Maybe,” I say.
I think back to the discussions we’ve had. Well, first there was the one where Ajax tried to get me to admit that I was the most beautiful woman in the world. I didn’t totally agree, and he made a cryptic comment like, “I’m going to prove it to you,” or something like that.
And then there was him figuring out my kink, namely that I’m kind of into the idea of a gangbang. It’s something I thought I would never tell anybody, until him. He somehow drew it out of me, made me feel safe to share, and crazily enough, he seemed into it too.
I mean, there are a few reasons why I haven’t wanted to tell any men in the past. One, because it’s embarrassing, but also because I suspected they wouldn’t like it.
I get that it can be polarizing, but it wasn’t for Ajax.
It was hot. Still, we haven’t talked about it since, but I know he hasn’t forgotten, and neither have I.
“Is it about—” I drop my voice. “The video I showed you the other day?”
“What video?” he asks, smiling.
“Oh my God, are you seriously going to do this?”
“I have no idea what you’re talking about.”
“Okay, now you’re actually being the brat,” I say, and he laughs.
It’s funny though, because he actually is. This was me at the beginning of our dynamic, pretending like I didn’t know what we were talking about when I clearly did.
“At least I had a reason, though. I was shy,” I say. “You’re just being annoying.”
“Or maybe I’m just teasing you because we both like it,” he says. “Tell me I’m wrong.”
He looks at me with those icy blue eyes, and I feel like I can’t lie, as much as I wish I could. I huff. “Fine,” I grumble.
“Fine what?” he asks.
“You’re right,” I say.
“I love to hear that,” he says, smiling.
“Shut up,” I say, lightly slapping him.
He grabs my wrist. “Getting a little handy there, are we?”
He captures my eyes, and I feel that heat, the same one I felt the second I saw him, rise through my body, starting from my toes and going all the way to the tip of my head. When he touches me, it’s like I just touched an electric fence.
“That’s not very nice,” he says. “I thought we used our words around here.”
And just like that, my defiance is melting away. When he uses that voice, that low, deep, calm voice, it gets harder and harder to keep up the stubborn facade.
“Sorry,” I murmur quietly.
“Not good enough,” he says, his voice transforming and getting even lower.
The hairs on the back of my neck stand up. I clench my thighs together tightly. Excitement, dread, it all infuses into a beam of light inside me. One thing I love about Ajax is that I never know what’s coming next. He always surprises me.
“I think you need to make it up to me, sweetheart, before we go inside,” he says. “Do you agree?”
I nod my head.
“Good girl,” he says. “I thought you would. Now suck daddy’s cock and show him how sorry you are.”
Ajax unbuttons his pants and releases his cock. I gulp. I still haven’t gotten used to how big it is. I don’t know if I ever will.
I open my mouth as he feeds it to me. “Good girl,” he says, grabbing my hair. I hate it and love it when he does that. It feels so degrading, which makes it that much more hot.
“Take it all like a good little slut,” he says. “Every inch.”
My jaw aches, and he pushes it further. I gag.
“Keep going,” he says. “Just like that. Your mouth feels so good.”
He inhales slowly, and then his voice turns serious. “Now, Belle. What we’re about to do, where we’re about to go—there’s going to be other men. Do you understand?”
I look up, my mouth still full of his cock, and see a serious expression on his face. I raise my eyebrows, because it’s hard to talk right now.
“They’re going to touch you and fuck you if you want them to,” he says. “Of course, you don’t have to. We can leave right now, or you can change your mind at any time. Okay?”
Oh my God. Everything in my body speeds up tenfold. I can’t believe this is happening. I mean, I can. This is where I thought this was going. I knew Ajax hadn’t forgotten about the gangbang stuff, but it’s still surreal.
Am I ready? I’m scared. Excited, but scared.
“You’re going to do great, sweetheart,” he says. “And if you don’t like it, then I’ll just take you home and fuck the shit out of you, okay?”
He shoves his cock further down my throat and I gag once more. He groans.
“Fuck, Belle,” he says. “You’re so—”
“Well, hello.”
A distinctly Southern voice interrupts us. I release Ajax’s cock from my mouth and sit up quickly. Ajax turns around. I expect him to look horrified or angry or surprised, but he doesn’t. He smiles.
“Tony,” he says. “Good to see you.”