Chapter One
To touch without intention is to get stung. Only a firm hand knows how to handle the sting.
I stood in line behind my best friend Cheryl and crossed my fingers for good luck. It was 80s night at Club Chaos, and I was dressed like Madonna, her early 80s look with the oversized bow and the fishnet gloves. Cheryl, my super hot best friend, went for shorn blond locks duplicating Madonna’s “Papa Don’t Preach.”
Cheryl promised me we’d both get in with the fake I.D. she’d acquired, that proclaimed we were twenty-two. The truth was between twenty and twenty-one, but what’s a few months? As we moved up the line, I checked out the doormen, a couple of huge guys carefully looking over everyone’s ID and turning away as many as they let through.
Don’t panic.I admonished myself.Cheryl would kill me on the way home if we got turned away because of my anxiety issues. When we were two from the front, I began to seriously lose it. My breath started coming in short bursts, while beside me, Cheryl’s eyes grew round with shock.Shit, shit, shit! What do I do?
My eyes were glued on the scene a few feet ahead when a gorgeous man from inside the club appeared. He was speaking with the doormen while his eyes roamed the line-up and landed on me. My breath caught as his gaze held mine.Holy shit, he’s gorgeous!Forgetting to breathe, that was my last thought as I crumpled to the ground.
“Maddie! Maddie, wake up,” Cheryl called. My attempts to answer her were in vain. My body wasn’t responding to what my brain was telling it, which was to listen to my bestie. Then a much deeper voice spoke, “Here, let me try.” Oh, wow, that voice was a sexy blend of steel velvet, and I involuntarily moaned.
“I think she’s coming around.” Oh, there it was again, the sultry voice that was like a siren's call to my sex, which gushed at the sound of his voice.
“Maddox, you will open your eyes immediately.” That did it. My eyes flew open, and I gazed into twin grey pools encased by dark thick limbal rings that highlighted his eyes in his tanned face. I lost myself in those pools and could have stayed there forever. It was the gorgeous man from the front of the line.
Our eye contact ended rather abruptly when he hoisted me to a sitting position and held a glass of water to my lips and told me to drink all of it. I did, and then he put the glass down and turned his body as he sat beside me on the couch. I must be in his office because the thumping of loud band music was coming from somewhere beyond where we were seated.
“Oh, thank god you’re awake. Are you hurt? Can you walk? Should I call for an ambulance?” Cheryl was at me, but my savior would have none of it.
“She will be quite fine. Why don’t you go and enjoy yourself, Cheryl? I will remain with Maddie a while longer to ensure she is well enough to join you.”
Not waiting for another invitation, Cheryl jumped to her feet and swayed her hips sensually, as she sashayed all the way to thedoor. “I’ll be at the bar when you’re ready, sweet cheeks.” She winked, and opened the door. I heard the Madonna cover band coming from somewhere below. Then Cheryl slammed the door behind her and was gone leaving me with the hot stranger.
My eyes must have shown my panic because the stranger held out his hand. “I’m Langden, Langden Ross. Nice to meet you, Maddox.” Something about the way his velvety voice said my name made the junction of my thighs wet.
Then recognition hit and I gasped in surprise, “You’re the owner.”
“That I am,” he smiled. A full mouth of perfectly straight pearly whites shined back at me and I was momentarily caught up by his movie star looks. I gulped but didn’t speak, not trusting myself to not sound like a complete idiot. Langden’s eyes narrowed as he watched me squirm beneath his scrutiny.
“Why are you here, Maddie?”
“Uh, here, as in here, like in your office here? Because I passed out, I gather.” He chuckled, and then his eyes darkened.
“In my club.”
“Oh, well, it’s 80’s night, and I love the eighties, so retro and cool, don’t you think?”
“You’re underage.” It was a statement, not a question, and I wasn’t sure what to say. “So is your friend Cheryl.” I felt my cheeks flush with embarrassment. I glanced in the direction of the door and wondered at my chances for making a clean escape.
“Don’t bother. You won’t make it. Now, answer my question, naughty girl.” Oh geez, naughty, really? Damn, if his words didn’t make me wet. I was so naughty, I thought and wondered what he did with bad girls. Something fun, I hoped.
“Ah, um, ah, well I yes, I recently turned twenty, and uh so did Cheryl.” His gaze continued to bore into mine, and his look was so intense that I began to squirm.
“Please, I’m sorry, please don’t call the cops. I didn’t think one year would be such a big deal. Well, Cheryl said so, and….” I was rambling like an idiot “—I can’t afford the bail, and my parents would freak. Is there something I can do to make up for my, uh, bad choice?” His gaze changed to something primal.
“Would they, Maddie, would they freak?” Oh boy, his words and his tone didn’t match the content. I knew I was way out of my league with this guy, having zero experience with men. High school was a long time ago and didn’t count in my books because they were just guys, not men, and I’d never experienced full penetration with any of them. That honor had been given to B.O.B, who never made me feel uncomfortable.
I felt a sheen of sweat break out on my skin and knew I was dancing on the edge of a knife. Langden Ross knew women, you could just tell and I knew I must appear stupid and as inexperienced as I felt.
“Um, yes, sir. My dad especially would be distraught with me as he’s always on me about, uh stuff.” I finished lamely. I knew I sounded immature in Langden’s presence, usually I wasn’t so tongue tied, but my libido was in overdrive.
At the wordsir,his eyes darkened further. Whoops, had I made a mistake? I was pretty sure Langden was one of those men I read about in my steamy romance novels who relished control. I thought calling himsirwould seem respectful, and coupled with an air of submission might be enough for him to let me go.
Langden’s fingers began a lazy pattern on my thigh, his touch was electric on my skin, and the pool of moisture at my junction increased, and I found myself squeezing my thighs together. After all, my skimpy panties would not hide much.
“Does your father spank your naughty behind when you’re bad, Maddie?”
