Chapter 14

Author’s Note: Let’s talk plainly -- shit is just going to keep getting real. I hope you enjoy. But please be warned: this chapter is dark. Thanks for reading.

The only thing that went right over the next two days was that Nicole flew back to Vegas the same day she arrived, taking the redeye back home again so she could go to work the next morning. When she left, Kat already was overdue from returning from her appointment with Tommy. Jess wasn’t concerned, and we were wiped out, so we went to bed.

Tuesday morning, however, Kat’s side of the bed was still empty. She hadn’t texted either of us, so I immediately called. It rang but went to voicemail. Jess texted Tommy. We didn’t hear anything after thirty minutes, so we went to breakfast and tried to come up with a plan.

“You don’t have his address?” I asked Jess. “Not in your database?”

“I don’t,” she said, shaking her head.

“We ought to be able to track it down,” I said.

“But then what?” Jess asked. “We can’t go over there. That would be such a privacy breach and potentially could undermine the whole agency.”

I understood that, but, at the same time, Kat was missing. “It’s a safety issue,” I argued.

“Is it?” Jess said. “She’s with Tommy. They probably just fell asleep. She was partying pretty hard.”

“That’s a good point,” I said.

We finished breakfast and went home for a swim. It was another excruciatingly hot day, and it was nice to enjoy the water and read. It made the time go by quickly, but when neither Kat nor Tommy had communicated by dinner time, I started to get legitimately concerned. We were sitting in the great room, having a glass of wine.

“This is more than just sleeping it off,” I told Jess.

“You’re right,” she agreed.

“So what do you want to do?” I asked. “I’m going to get his address.”

Jess hesitated, and I noticed a look of resignation pass over her face.

“Don’t get his address,” Jess said. “She’ll be back. But there’s something you should know.”

“What’s that?” I asked. A feeling of dread took hold in my chest.

“Kat sees Tommy outside of work,” she said.

“What do you mean?” I asked.

“What I just said,” she said, unblinking. She put a hand on mine.

“But how?” I said. “Both of you have barely been out of my sight since her first appointment with him.”

“Basically every time she hasn’t been with you or me,” she admitted.

“You’ve been covering for her,” I said flatly.

“I have,” she said. “There have even been some fake appointments so she can go be with him instead.”

“Why?” I asked with a fallen face.

“Do you really need to ask?” Jess said. “Tommy is exciting. He’s fun. He just has that way of seducing you and making you become infatuated with him.”

“And you just let her do it,” I said.

“It’s harmless, John,” Jess said.

“It doesn’t feel very harmless right now when Kat is missing,” I said.

“She’s just working it out of her system,” Jess said casually. “She’s going through a dominance phase. I get it. A really hot guy just forcing you into your life? Making you let him have his way with you?” She shivered. “I don’t care what anybody says, every woman loves that once in a while, and Tommy is the best I’ve ever met at it.”

This was a total gut punch. I thought I had been open in my communication with Kat. She had lied to my face. Boldly. She knew my concerns, and she assured me there was nothing to worry about.

“How often?” I asked.

“Almost every day,” Jess said. “A lot of quickies. Like you said, you’ve been around a lot.”

“But when?” I said. I couldn’t wrap my head around it.

“Every time she went to do something normal,” Jess explained. “It would always take twenty or thirty minutes longer than it should have. Tommy likes to do stuff in public. So if she went to the grocery store? He might meet her and fuck her in the car or bathroom. Stuff like that.”

“Jesus,” I whistled. “Have you?”

“No,” she said emphatically. “Not yet, anyway.”

“Not yet?” my eyes flashed with anger.

“He wants a threesome,” she said. “I’ve held out. I know it’s dangerous. I was going to bring it up with you at the right time. But, let’s face it.”

“Face what?” I said.

“After Dr. V passed away, I’m starting to realize just how rare it is to find a dick like what I know Tommy is packing,” she said. “It’s a unicorn dick. I’m just being honest with you.”

“It’s about time somebody started being honest,” I said.

“Oh, John,” Jess said. She had a wry smile on her face. “Come on. You just had that slut casino host from Vegas show up on our doorstep? You can’t complain. Kat is making a lot of money from Tommy. Who cares if they run off and have some quickies? The infatuation will pass. It might be a unicorn dick, but what you and Kat and I have? That’s unicorn love.”

“I’m sorry about Nicole,” I said.

“It didn’t bother me,” she said. “You and Kat are the one who push each other’s buttons with sexual partners. I thought she was fun.”

“I’m mad at you,” I said. “You know I hate secrets.”

Jess waved her hand dismissively. “You’ll get over it,” she said. “You love me.”

“I’m still pissed,” I said.

“So why don’t you take it out on me?” she asked.

“Excuse me?” I said.

“You heard me,” she said. “Sometimes you’re too nice. I lied to you. I help Kat have an affair with Tommy behind your back. You should take it out on me. That’s what Tommy would do. He wouldn’t let me get away with it. He’d hate fuck me so hard that I knew he meant business. God, my pussy is creaming at the thought.”

“Is that what this is, really?” I said. “You just want to bait me into hate fucking you?”

“I guess,” Jess said, ramping up her sassy tone. “But I don’t think you’re up to that. You care too much. And because of that, Kat and I will always find someone who scratches that itch of ours. Someone who will use us in a way that honestly is just abusive. And it’s exactly what we want in the moment when we choose to give ourselves to that kind of guy.”

My blood boiled, and I was glad Jess and I weren’t doing coke because I truly believed for a moment that I could kill her. So instead, I put my nose inches from hers. I looked at her in the eyes with wild, shaking anger.

“You fucking cunt,” I said with as much spite as I could muster. “You really are nothing more than three holes waiting for the next cock to fill them.”

“I know,” she said with a bratty grin. “What are you going to do about it?”

I didn’t know how to respond. I was pissed. I could feel my face flush. All I could think about was Kat telling Tommy she loved him.

“Does she love him?” I spat out.

Jess laughed hysterically. “Oh my god!” she said. “You are such a fucking sap sometimes, John! Kat doesn’t love Tommy. I don’t love Tommy. Jesus Christ. Have you heard one thing I said? Ugh. I’m so frustrated. I may need to get on Tinder and find a real man to just split me in half with his baseball bat-sized dick!”

“Shut up! Shut up, you fucking dumb cunt!” I screamed.

She continued grinning. “You said that like you meant it,” she said with a sincere level of seduction in her voice. “I swear to god I think it just made me gush into my panties.” She reached a hand inside her loose-fitting shorts. When she pulled it out, her fingers were a mess of moisture. “You did. Holy shit, look how wet I am.”

“Trying to seduce me isn’t going to make me forget this,” I said with enmity.

“Seduce you?” Jess laughed again. “I just want you to fuck me and not be a little bitch about it.”

“What do you propose then?” I said.

“Oh my god,” she said with mocking indignation. “If I have to tell you what to do, then you obviously aren’t man enough to do it. But by now? Tommy would have slapped me. Jesus, I want to slap me. I’m such a sniveling little bitch right now!”

Something broke inside me. I backhanded Jess right across the face. She shrieked, but it wasn’t a sound of terror that came from her. It was a familiar one. It was a shriek of pleasure. She looked at me with absolute joy, a red mark forming on her face.

“You did it,” she said. “Holy shit. I didn’t think you had it in you.” She was gloating. “I swear, if I have to tell you what you need to do now, I’m going to walk out this door and let you wallow in a sea of pussy-whipped self-pity.”

I backhanded Jess again, this time across the other cheek. She gave a delighted squeal and looked at me expectantly. I channeled my evening with Kelsey the submissive. Inside myself, I felt confident this is what Jess truly wanted.