Chapter 18

CHAPTER 18

A ugust 21 st

Is it the more the merrier, or three’s a crowd? Ask me in a couple of hours.

Eli texted up a storm as they hurried from the bar. Jack had offered a ride, but Eli said he had a ride waiting out front for them. Eli rattled off the address and they were off with no time for Paige to second-guess herself.

“I don’t know this hotel,” Paige said, looking up at the hotel. It wasn’t exactly posh, but it wasn’t a dump either.

Eli shrugged and turned his phone around. “This is Calista and her boyfriend, Axel.” Calista was a cute pixie with a pink streak in her blonde hair and a couple of colorful tattoos on her arm. Axel was sexy in that leather and tattoo way. “They are in room 439. She asked if you needed to be paid, but I told her no. I still have dreams about Max putting me in cuffs. Notice I didn’t say nightmares. I also didn’t give her your name. I just said you were a friend of mine and I vouched that you weren’t a serial killer.”

“They don’t want my name?”

Eli shook his head. “This is a once in a lifetime experience for them. They want sexy stranger sex and then be done.”

Actually, that made Paige more at ease with the situation. “Okay. I’ll call you when I get home.”

“You better! Go get it, girl!”

Paige got out of the car and looked at her work attire. She unbuttoned the top three buttons of her blouse before sashaying through the lobby to the elevator and pressing the button for the fourth floor.

As the elevator climbed, so did her heart rate. This was crazy. She was walking into a threesome with two people she’d never met before. She’d only ever kissed Amelia in the dark for all of two seconds. She didn’t know what she was doing.

The elevator came to a stop on the fourth floor and Paige was strongly considering pressing the button for the lobby and sneaking out. But when the doors opened, Calista was standing there with a worried look on her cute face, wearing a maxi dress.

“Are you Eli’s friend?” she asked in a sweet voice that matched her cuteness.

“I am.”

Calista clapped her hands. “Oh, thank goodness! I was so afraid you wouldn’t come. I know what we’re doing is crazy, but it’s something he’s talked about for years and I thought, why not try it? But I totally didn’t want to do it with one of our friends. That would be way too weird. Can you imagine going to game night together or something after that?” Calista rambled a mile a minute as she took Paige’s hand and escorted her down the hall. “I didn’t tell my boyfriend. I told him I was going to get ice. And oh my gosh, you’re so pretty. This will be perfect. I’m a little nervous though. Have you ever had a threesome? I haven’t.”

“No. I haven’t, so I’m a little nervous too.” Liar. Paige was a lot nervous.

Calista used her key and opened the door. Inside, there was sensual music playing on a phone and Axel was naked on the bed. “Wow, I didn’t know you could do a tattoo there,” Paige blurted out as she stared at the giant dragon wings on Axel’s pelvis going down to the “dragon body” itself tattooed on his dick and balls. The bright greens, oranges, reds, and yellows made it beautiful, if not incredibly strange, when you realized the mouth of the dragon was his urethra, his shaft the neck, and his balls the belly of the dragon. “So, it looks like he’s spitting fire when you pee?”

Axel scrambled to cover himself. “Babe?”

Calista giggled. “Babe,” she replied. “This is your birthday gift.” Calista turned and surprised Paige by kissing her.

After a shocked second, Paige kissed her back. It was so different kissing a woman. Soft was the best way to describe it. Gentle. Thoughtful.

“Oh, yeah, baby,” Axel grunted and Paige opened her eyes to see the dragon growing. “You’re letting me have a threesome?”

Calista pulled away, her eyes full of desire as she ran her hand over Paige’s arm and around her waist. “I sure am, baby. Hot, right? Here’s the rules. No names and one time only.”

“Hell, yeah!” Axel patted the bed and Calista moved to pull off her dress in one motion, leaving her standing nude before Paige. Calista had tattoos too, but they were dainty and feminine. There was a moon and stars on her hip, a rose on her stomach, and a butterfly on her wrist.

Calista climbed onto the bed and rose up to her knees. Paige didn’t know what to do during sex—let alone a threesome— but Calista took the lead. She reached up and unbuttoned the rest of Paige’s blouse before pulling it from her arms and dropping it on the floor.

Calista rose back up and kissed her. Her lips were warm as they slowly opened. Her delicate hands ran over Paige’s stomach, sending a shiver of excitement through her body.

“That’s so hot,” Axel grunted again as his dragon bobbed against his stomach. “My turn, babe. Pull off her skirt.”

Calista scooted to the side, bent down, and unzipped Paige’s skirt. Her heart was racing. Every fiber of her body was on edge, as if she’d been electrocuted. Axel took Calista’s spot, ran his fingers through Paige’s hair, gripped it in his fingers, and pulled her in for a kiss.

His kiss was completely different. It wasn’t delicate or gentle. It was demanding and plundering. Honestly, after the sweetness of Calista’s kiss, it took a moment for Paige to stop the reaction to pull away since Axel’s kiss was so forceful. It wasn’t bad. It was just so completely different.

His take-control kiss left Paige’s head spinning as she felt her skirt being shoved to the floor. Axel’s hands didn’t slowly explore. They conquered. His hands went to her breasts and squeezed. Paige’s breath hitched as he expertly tweaked her nipples. Although, it was hard to get fully into the moment with Calista staring at her. Paige felt as if she were cheating and rubbing it in his girlfriend’s face. Especially when Calista climbed onto the bed next to Paige and suddenly Paige felt herself being pushed to the side. Literally.

Paige tumbled over and Calista shoved her hand onto the dragon to get Axel’s attention on her. Axel turned to his girlfriend and kissed her as she stroked him. Ummm? Seriously, what did Paige do here?

Paige scooted closer and tried to run her hand down Axel’s back, but Calista shoved her hand off of Axel. Calista’s eyes were no longer filled with desire but anger and they were aimed right at Paige. Okay, maybe she should touch Calista. Axel really liked that and Calista had too.

Paige moved closer to Calista. Axel opened his eyes and looked right at Paige’s bra-covered breasts as she tried to press against Calista.

“Oh, babe, this is the best birthday gift,” Axel groaned as he began to gasp over Calista’s handjob.

Paige bent her head, intending to kiss Calista’s neck, when Calista suddenly spun toward her. Calista’s shoulder hit Paige’s face with such force it sent her falling off the bed and onto the floor with a grunt.

“Yes, baby! Ride me!” Axel shouted.

Paige pulled herself up to her knees and looked onto the bed to find Calista riding hell bent on Axel’s dragon. Paige blinked. Wasn’t there supposed to be more group activity? Like all of them involved somehow? Paige crawled onto the bed as Calista started chanting Axel’s name. Before Paige could even climb onto the bed to try to join in somehow, Axel grunted and gripped Calista’s hips tightly. And then it was over. Calista fell down onto his chest and Axel tossed his arm over his eyes.

Paige froze with one leg on the bed. Calista looked proud of herself as she smirked at Paige as if she’d just beaten her at something. She rolled off Axel and stroked his chest. “You can go now,” she said as Axel’s dragon shrank back into its cave and soft snores filled the room.

Paige felt as if she’d been smacked in the face as she quickly dressed. Calista had loved making out with her. But the second Axel kissed Paige, Calista’s whole vibe changed. She was clearly not the one wanting the threesome.

Paige groaned as the door to the hotel room shut on her. How was she going to explain that she went to a threesome and didn’t get laid? In fact, she didn’t even get naked. She was pretty sure being excluded from a threesome was more embarrassing than being in one.

The elevator doors opened on the first floor and Paige found a whole new level of embarrassment. Flashing police lights filtered in the doors and windows of the small lobby. Men and women were being led out in handcuffs and the person leading the arrests was none other than one Detective Max Caldwell.

Their eyes instantly connected and Paige felt as if she were dying a slow death by embarrassment. The flames creeping up her chest and covering her face were surely going to kill her.

Max said something to an officer and stepped her way even as Paige tried to pretend she didn’t see him. Hard to do when Max literally stopped right in front of her.

Paige held up her hands as if she were innocent. “I swear it wasn’t prostitution. We didn’t have sex and I wasn’t paid.”

Max struggled not to smile. “Good to know, Jailbird. We’re not here for your sex life. We’re here for an illegal medical operation. Those people were doing fillers and implants in hotel rooms with stolen supplies and no medical license.”

“Oh.” Paige looked over at the people walking out, some with very over-injected body parts. “Eww, why?”

“It’s super cheap,” Max answered. “Do you need a ride home? I have to handle this, but I can have an officer drive you home.”

“No, let me slink off in shame.”

“What shame?” Max asked. “Hey, are you okay?”

Paige felt tears begin to press on the back of her eyes. “I’m fine.”

“Sweetheart, I may be a dumb guy, but even I know fine does not mean fine.” Max put his arm around her, pulled her against him so her head was in the bend of his shoulder, and led her outside. “Jones, take over for a minute,” Max called out.

Paige sniffed, taking a deep breath, trying to stop the tears from falling.

“Go back inside. You have a case to handle.”

“Paige,” Max said gently. “What’s the matter? Did someone hurt you?”

“Yes, you!”

“Me?” Max looked as if she’d slapped him. “What did I do?”

“You made me question everything. I was finding myself, discovering my sexuality, and then you told me I was doing it wrong.”

Max hugged her to him. She felt his warmth and his strength and it only made her feel worse. “I’m sorry. I didn’t mean to do that. I just think you deserve someone who knows how special you are. Not some jackoff that only lasts three seconds and falls asleep on you.”

Tears instantly dried as a laugh escaped Paige’s mouth with a snort.

“Oh no. Don’t tell me that’s just what just happened?” Max groaned even as he smiled. “See, that’s what I mean. You deserve someone to worship you. Not fall asleep on you.”

Paige pulled away from Max’s embrace. He was trying to help. “Thanks, Max. I’m just feeling down on myself. I’ll get over it eventually. Get back to work, detective. I’m sure I’ll see you the next time I’m arrested.”

Paige hurried to the curb and hailed a cab. She was almost in it when she heard Max call her name. “Paige! Wait, he couldn’t be a one pump and dump. You said you didn’t have sex!” Max looked confused as everyone turned to look at his outburst.

“You’re the detective. Figure it out!” Paige called back as she closed the door on this chapter of her adventure. The question was if she was going to close the door on the entire book. Right now, she felt defeated, unwanted, and unattractive. She wanted to DNF this whole thing. She was in a funk and she didn’t know if she wanted to get out of it or sink into it.