Chapter 1 : Her Missing Ring

I saw her sitting at the hotel bar and thought she had promise. "May I buy you a drink?" I asked.

She looked up at me from where she was sitting, fidgeting with her hands. "I'm not really looking for someone." she said.

Clair was working bar, so she set my usual drink next to me. I smiled at her and sipped my drink, which was a rum and coke, easy on the rum. "I don't believe you," I told the woman. "May I be blunt?"

"Will that make you go away?"

"If after what I say you want me to go away, I will," I said.

"Then, by all means," she said.

"You are fidgeting with your wedding band, or rather where your wedding band should be. That tells me that you've either taken it off -- to appear not married, or you're recently separated, and this brings you distress. I don't think it's distress, because the dress you are wearing is a very sexy one, but a couple of years out of date. Someone coming to bar to drink in distress wouldn't wear that dress, but someone looking for someone would. Someone who I think wants to cheat on their spouse."

"Maybe I changed my mind once I got here."

"Then why not leave?" I said. "Unless you're still not sure."

"I'm just so angry at him," she said."He deserves this."

"Well, I'd like to help you make up your mind, one way or the other. So, about that drink?"

She took a deep breath. "Okay, one more won't hurt."

I signaled to Claire, and she brought over another drink. "I'm Brian, by the way."

"Madeline," she said. "Everyone calls me Maddy."

"Which do you prefer?"

"Whichever," she said waving her hand. "It doesn't matter."

"Okay, Madeline," I said. She was playing with her missing ring again, so I took her hand in mine, "Tell me why you are here."

"I thought you knew that," she said. "Revenge sex."

"Why here, though? Do you work downtown? Are you staying at the hotel?" I ran my thumb over the back of her hand, soothing her. I'd seduced enough women at this bar to know the tricks of the trade, so I leaned in closer to her like a conspirator.

"No, no. I live up north of Polaris," she said. "This is where he met her two weeks ago. I think I thought I might see her, you know? Figure out who she was and if she was more beautiful than me. And here I am the only single woman in the bar."

Madeline from Polaris. That seemed somewhat familiar to me, although I was sure I hadn't met her before. She leaned into me a bit, and my eyes darted down her dress, which had fallen forward. I could see that there was no bra with the dress. She was dressed to seduce, but was having doubts. She hadn't moved away from me, so I moved in a little closer, sliding my hand up her arm, caressing it a bit. "Well, lone woman anyway," I said.

She laughed wryly, and pulled back from me then, "Rub it in."

"I like being with married people," I told her. "It's practically a fetish." It's exactly a fetish, but I didn't say that to her. No reason to seem desperate. I put my other hand on her knee, and again she didn't push me away.

"So you help them cheat."

I shrugged. "By the time they meet me, they've already decided to cheat. I just make sure they enjoy it." I began drawing little patterns on the inside of her knee. Nothing regular, just drawing the alphabet lightly in a sensitive place we're rarely touched by other people. I smiled at her.

"Confident, aren't you?" she said. She took a sip of her drink.

"Confident," I said. "Dominant. Sure of myself. All those things." To emphasize it a bit, I slid my fingers a bit further up her thigh. Her lips parted a bit; her pupils dilated; her legs parted the tiniest fraction... "Let me ask you this, Madeline. When was the last time your husband touched you like this? Just a little teasing, a little touching to show he was interested?"

"I-- I don't know," she said. Her legs widened just a bit more, and I slid my hand further up her leg, finding the hem of her very short black dress.

"It's being married," I said. "There's not time for playfulness, no opportunity for spontaneity. There are kids and plans and there's no time, so you grab it when you can, quick and simple, the old in and out. Maybe you do something special a couple of times a year, your anniversary or Valentine's Day, but then sometimes you don't. Maybe you haven't in a very long time."

As I spoke my fingers continued to play on her thigh. Madeline stared at me, her breathing short, her nipples hard and poking against the dress.

"I love him," she said.

"Of course you do," I said. "But you aren't getting what you need. Maybe he wasn't either." I leaned forward, and kissed her on the ear. Then I whispered, "Madeline, I can give you what you need."

She shuddered in need then, and pulled back from me. "I ... I need to go to the bathroom."

She was close, I knew, but wasn't sure. If I let her go, this was over, so it was time to force the decision. I also wanted to see if she was as submissive as I hoped. "Wait," I told her. "Here's what I want you to do. Take off your panties, and give them to me."

"Now, now?" She looked shocked to me, but she also looked horny. She also didn't slap me or go away. I kept teasing her thigh with my finger. "You do mean now, don't you?"

"Right now, right here," I said. "Then you can go to the bathroom."

"What if I don't want to?"

"I'm not giving you a choice, Madeline. Or I am, but this is the last one. Give me the panties, and you don't have to decide anything else tonight." I teased her thigh again, and ran my hand up her arm as I spoke. "Just let go. I promise you will love it."

Madeline took a deep sigh and looked around; I already knew no one was paying attention to us. Clair was at the other end of the bar, mixing drinks and giving me space. Everyone else was busy talking in their private groups. She slid her hand under her skirt, and hooked her finger under her panties. She wiggled in her chair, slipping it down her thighs. When it got to my hand, I pulled it a bit, and let it fall down to her ankles. She stood up out of them, and I scooped up the lacy thong she'd been wearing.

I have a spare key for my room, so I pulled the card out of my jacket pocket and handed it to her. "This will get you to the 25th floor, where my suite is. I'll be waiting for you there, room 2501."

"2501," she said.

I nodded, and stuffed the panties in my jacket pocket. I smiled at her and watched as she slipped away. I patted my second key -- this wasn't the first time I've done this, and I doubt it'll be the last. It would be a good night, though. I had a feeling about this one. Something about the timing of the whole thing.

My suite on the 25th floor was nominally set aside for corporate use, but I'd personalized it a bit. The stereo system had my favorite music in it, and I'd changed out a few of the random hotel decorations for things a little less boring. It wasn't my home, but it was damned near close, considering how much time I spent there. All I have to do is keep things running smoothly and profitably, and no one will question the little touches. And even if they did there were explanations for that as well.