Tempting Bad

  “That’s weird.” I placed it back in its place and left everything as I had found it.

  I paid the caterers and sent them on their way. The house was still packed with people and I tried to have a good time with my friends, but I couldn’t help the plaguing thoughts of the card I had seen. I excused myself from my friends and went to the front of my house, where it was quiet and I could be alone.

  I reached for my cell phone in my back pocket and Googled, VIP.

  What I found would forever change my life…

  In every aspect of the word.

  Beautiful women…

  Companionship…

  Treasured jewels…

  My phone slipped out of my hand in disbelief, and as I picked it up, I stared at the cracked screen with a picture of my family. The irony was not lost on me.

  I ran.

  I grabbed my car keys and drove.

  I left my party.

  I left my friends.

  I left my family.

  I drove to the only place that could save me; to the only person that felt like home to me.

  Landon.

  It was late and I didn’t want to wake him, I wanted to crawl into his bed with him, into his arms and have him hold me, tell me that everything was going to be okay. I was going to tell him that I loved him and that I wanted to be with him. That I always had. Everything was different now; I didn’t want to be like my parents. I wanted to be happy. I wanted my own life with my own experiences and my own decisions. I wasn’t going to let their choices govern my feelings anymore.

  I drove with my heart on my sleeve and my stomach in my throat; I found the hidden key under the urn and let myself in. I quietly crept up the stairs toward his bedroom and that’s when I heard him.

  He wasn’t alone.

  I watched for the second time in my short life, another man that I loved with everything—with all my heart—fuck some other woman in front of me. I shook my head, wanting to break free of the memories that held me together with a padded lock, but I couldn’t.

  They were all the same.

  Even Landon.

  It was as if he felt me because moments later, he looked over at me, not expecting to see me. His face showed every emotion in a matter of seconds, the very same emotions I was sure I had just shared with him, without him even seeing it.

  I stepped back.

  “Fuck, Brooke!” he shouted, pulling out his wet cock, from her.

  “Landon,” she yelled back at him. “Who is this?”

  I inherently smiled. “She doesn’t know who I am?”

  “Of course not! Why are you here? I’m his girlfriend.”

  It was like taking a bullet to the heart. My love for him was splattered all over his bedroom walls, smearing its way down, right along with my dignity and pride.

  “I’m sorry… I didn’t… I didn’t… I gotta go.” I turned and ran out of there so fast you would think I was on fire.

  He caught me around my waist when I was mere feet away from my car. I turned myself around and went at him. I hit him with everything I could conjure up.

  I hit him like he was my father.

  I hit him like he was my mother.

  I hit him like he was the meaning of the word love displayed in front of me.

  I hit him like I hated him.

  I hit him for every thrust I saw and witnessed.

  I hit him for every emotion that was pouring out of me, leaving me dead and bleeding.

  I hit him like he was my worst enemy.

  I hit him for every lie and deceit.

  I hit him for every, I love you.

  I hit him…

  I hit Landon.

  “Jesus, calm down!” he sneered, grabbing at my wrists and locking me in place on the hood of my car. My legs were spread and he stood in between them, holding my arms down and my body from being able to move.

  “Fuck you! Oh wait, she already did that, didn’t she, Landon! You fucking liar! I love you, you said, you’re the only one for me, you said, please be with me, you said, my soul mate, you said. All fucking lies! You’re just like my father! I knew it. I knew I couldn’t trust you!” I viscously spewed.

  “That’s not true. I’ve wanted you for two fucking years, Brooke, for two years! You told me to move on, you told me that you didn’t love me! You did this! Not me! YOU!”

  “It didn’t take you long to find someone else, did it? Huh? Was I that easy to replace? Someone who you claimed was your everything! Your one and only! You fucking lied! I hate you! I hate you so fucking much because you made me believe you. You made me believe in you!”

  “Oh my God, Brooke, calm down,” he irrationally soothed, trying to control my thrashing body.

  “Just go! Just go back to your girlfriend! I bet you’ve had her on the sidelines all this time, huh? I bet she was your other woman! You’re a fucking liar!”

  “If you don’t calm down I’m going to—”

  “You’re going to what? Break my heart? You already fucking did that, liar!”

  “I’m not going to stand here and defend myself to you. I know in my heart that I didn’t cause this, you did. I’m not your fucking play toy, Brooke. I moved on because you told me to. Don’t you remember that day on the beach? I was pretty much groveling at your feet, just like I always had, and you turned me away, just like you always did, and now you come to me with this shit! Are you fucking kidding me?” he roared, shoving me away from him and stepping away from me.

  My body shook from the adrenaline, bowing my head in hurt and loss. “I can’t believe this… I can’t believe I was coming to tell you that…” I finally looked up at him, spent and completely exhausted. “It doesn’t fucking matter, nothing does.”

  “You’re broken, Brooke; you’ve been broken since that night. I can’t put you back together. I never could and I was drained from trying.”

  I swallowed the lump in my throat. “I never wanted you to save me. I don’t need to be saved.”

  He scuffed. “You’re right about that… you can’t rescue something if it doesn’t know it’s lost.”

  I jerked back, shocked and bewildered.

  “I’m sorry you had to see that. I would never want to purposely hurt you. You have to know that,” he honestly proclaimed and a huge part of me wanted to believe him.

  “There’s more, Landon, it’s not just his mistress anymore… there’s more,” I blurted, needing to tell someone. Needing to tell him. He was the only person I could tell, the only person that knew the truth.

  His eyes widened. “What?”

  “I found this card and it looks like some high society escort service; it was hidden in his safe,” I wept with tears streaming down my face. “The same safe that has his wedding anniversary as the code.”

  He pulled at the back of his neck. “Jesus Christ...”

  I shook my head, not wanting to say anymore. “Just go…” I whispered. “Just go back to your girlfriend, go back to your life.”

  “Brooke,” he murmured, stepping toward me.

  “Don’t.” I bowed my head again. “Don’t make this any harder than it has to be… please…” I proclaimed, crying. I cried so hard that my chest hurt and my eyes were raw.

  I cried as I heard his steps walking away from me.

  And I cried even harder when I couldn’t hear them anymore.

  My sister and mom spent months planning the wedding. They were a dynamic duo. It didn’t take them long to get everything in order for the big day. It was an intimate wedding with seventy-five guests, mostly just friends and his family.

  She looked gorgeous with her white silk dress and baby bump. She was six months pregnant and walking down the aisle at nineteen; she was glowing. My mom cried the entire time as I expected her to, as did my sisters. Alexis had turned twenty-two and about to finish her junior year of college. Lauren was twenty-four and progressing nicely in graduate school; she wanted to be a psychiatrist and help people. I never asked her why she chose that care
er, but part of me knew I didn’t have to.

  I never expected them to grow up. To me, they were still little girls that wanted my attention. I was the only man in their lives for so long, even when my dad was alive. I knew they were my sisters, but they felt like my daughters and right now, one of them was officially married.

  The baby, my baby.

  “If you ever hurt her… emotionally or physically, I will kill you,” I stated to John, whose face read of a man that believed me wholeheartedly.

  “I love her. I would never do anything to hurt her.”

  I nodded, believing him.

  “She’s not as strong as she seems, John. You need to take care of her.”

  “I know, man, I know. She’s told me about her childhood.”

  “Her childhood?” I questioned, taken aback.

  “Yeah… she told me about your dad and what happened.”

  “What did she tell you?”

  She remembered?

  “John, honey,” my Mom interrupted. “Your bride is looking for you. She’s in the backroom.”

  “Thanks, Mrs. Hill.”

  She smiled. “Honey, I’ve told you, you call me Mom.”

  “Right… Mom.” She hugged him and he excused himself.

  She turned to me. “Why do you look like you’ve seen a ghost?”

  “Mom, has Liv ever said anything to you about Dad?”

  “Dad? What do you mean?” she asked, concerned.

  “Just about what she remembers.”

  “No, baby, let’s not talk about this today, okay? Please… it’s your sister’s wedding. It’s a happy day; let’s not have him ruin it.”

  I nodded. “Yeah… you’re right.”

  She grabbed my face. “Are you okay?”

  I smiled, calming her. “Of course.”

  “You did good today. Devon, you make me so proud to call you my son, baby, you always have. I can’t express to you how much I love you and how much I appreciate everything that you do, everything you’ve always done. God sent me an angel when I had you.” She kissed my cheek and walked away.

  And I wished more than anything that she could have taken my fears with her.

  I watched her for months without her knowing. I learned her mannerisms, her demeanor, what she looked for, and what she wanted. I learned about her clients, both men and women. I studied everything and anything that I could find. She was one of the most beautiful women I had ever seen. I was mesmerized the second I saw her face for the first time. I knew in that moment that she was my future.

  I knew that she was my happiness.

  I knew that she carried the lifestyle that I craved, and I knew that I wanted the life that was promised on a black business card with three simple letters.

  VIP.

  The women she surrounded herself with were gorgeous and perfect. They were flawless to a T. They exuded a confidence that you only read about in magazines or saw in printed ads that were photoshopped to give the allure of perfection.

  VIP was real.

  I wasn’t lost, I didn’t need to be saved or rescued. I wanted to control everything around me, I wanted the power to not hurt or cry or even feel a fucking thing other than what I felt when I was in Landon’s arms.

  Safe.

  Secured.

  Loved.

  I didn’t care if it was for a day or for a night, a weekend, or a month. I wanted the feeling that sex gave me, the reassurance that came with every moan, every orgasm, and every thrust. It was the thirst for the feeling of being the only girl in the world.

  The promises of life.

  It was a new world that I wanted to jump on board, and celebrate.

  It was a new beginning, where I experienced the beauty of the sunrise and the sunset.

  The new day.

  The new me.

  Past. Present. Brooke.

  I had researched everything I could about The Madam; I stored the knowledge like it was the goddamn SATs. There was very little information, but everything I found was another piece of the puzzle, another clue to the maze, another solution to the problem that I knew would be fixed as soon as I signed on the dotted line.

  Sex was the only time I ever felt whole and I wanted to bottle that feeling up and store it away. I wanted to live and breathe it and have it be a part of my everyday existence. I didn’t care about my family or my friends or Landon.

  For the first time in my life, I wanted to do something for me. I wanted this chance to be who I truly believed I was.

  I was made for a life of pleasure.

  I was made for sex.

  I was made to be a goddamn…

  VIP.

  I had only ever slept with Landon. And I knew that if I was going to become a treasured jewel, I needed to bring out the big guns. I needed to put on a show and pretend to be something I so desperately wanted.

  I could taste it and feel it.

  It was mine.

  All I had to do was show The Madam.

  And it was the performance of a lifetime. I learned about my sexuality tremendously over the last few months, soaking it up like a sponge. Learning what made me tick and what caused me to boom. It was fun.

  I knocked on her mahogany wood office door. “Come in,” she announced, and I did.

  I could tell that she was pleased with my appearance, her breath caught as she took in my slender, yet curvy form. I was nervous and tried like hell not to show it. This was my only chance, which I was sure of. There would be no second chances with her; that much I knew to be true.

  I wore a black petticoat with fuck me heels and the click of my heels mimicked the beat of my heart as I walked toward her desk.

  She cocked her head to the side. “Hello.”

  I smiled and took a seat in front of her desk.

  “Can I help you?” she questioned, not taking her eyes away from my face.

  She was breathtakingly beautiful. I was like a moth to flame, getting pulled in deeper to the slow burn of my rebirth.

  “Not as much as I can help you,” I responded.

  She grinned. “And how, pray tell, can you help me?”

  Even her voice had a magnetic pull. I didn’t stand a chance from the moment I held the black business card in my hands. It was meant to be.

  I unbuttoned my coat from top to bottom to expose my creamy, naked white skin. Her eyes followed my fingers and once they were set on my mound, I spread my legs.

  I licked my lips and said, “I want to be a VIP.”

  She chuckled, taking in my forwardness, I knew how she operated; VIPs didn’t come to her. She went to them.

  She placed her hands on the desk in a prayer motion. “I pick you, darling, not the other way around,” she informed, but I already knew that.

  “I know,” I pulled my bottom lip into my mouth and silently took a deep breath. The next words that would come out of my mouth would be set in stone once they were heard. There was no going back after I said it. “Fuck me. If you don’t like it, I’ll leave, but I guarantee you will.”

  She smiled bright and big and her eyes lit up. “Stand up.”

  I did.

  She did a twirling motion with her finger, wanting me to turn around, and I did.

  “Stop,” she ordered when my back was facing her. “Bend over,” she declared.

  I swallowed the saliva that had pooled in my mouth and prayed she couldn’t smell my nervousness. She was testing me and I didn’t want to fail. I had never been exposed like this for anyone, not even Landon, but I leaned forward to let her inspect my pussy.

  “Turn around,” she beckoned in a sultry tone.

  I turned and raised an eyebrow, waiting for approval, praying that she would give it to me.

  “What makes you think that I would take someone throwing themselves at me? That’s not an attractive quality, darling. VIPs aren’t made… they’re born. You just seem like a slutty girl wanting to make some money; I can give you the card of a very exclusive strip club. They will love you ther
e. This is The Cathouse, not the titty bar. ”

  “I want to work for you, no one else,” I argued. “I’m a VIP.” It was time to prove it to her and to myself. I reached into my jacket and pulled out the dildo, and I could immediately tell she was proud and intrigued.

  I sat back down in the chair and placed both my heels on the sides, spreading my legs wide open. I seductively peeked my eyes up at her, asking for silent permission, and her eyes lit brighter. I knew who was in charge and I wasn’t ashamed to admit it.

  She nodded, allowing me to proceed.

  I took the impressive size toy into my mouth and deep throated it all the way in, not gagging.

  Thank you, Landon.

  I sucked the fake cock like it was an actual man in front of me. My hand and head did all the motions of actual oral sex. After I got it nice and wet, I slowly and seductively slid it down my body.

  I stroked my clit until I was turned on and then slid it in. My other hand kneaded and caressed my breast and I fucked myself with the toy, never taking my eyes off her. The months that I prepared for this exact moment couldn’t have gone any better.

  She couldn’t take it anymore and moved out of her chair to bend in front of me. “You want to be a VIP?” she asked and I eagerly nodded.

  “First lesson you need to learn is I make the rules, not you.” She placed the palm of her hand on my clit and pressed forward.

  “I tell you when to come,” she whispered in my ear as she worked my nub into a frenzy and assisted with her other hand, working the dildo in and out of me. It didn’t take long till I was withering and moaning to come. Her tongue found its way into my mouth, and she sucked on my bottom lip as I came unglued on the seat.

  It was my first time I had kissed a woman.

  It was the first time I pleasured myself in front of someone.

  It was the first time I let someone in.

  Into my heart and into my life.

  I knew right then and there that I would never be the same. I knew I would be one of her favorites.

  And all it took me was to find another one of my father’s indiscretions…