Unintended Consequences (Act One) Completed

Chapter 1: The Beginning From The End

Unique woke up to the sound of a jackhammer in the distance. The pounding in her head seemed to intensify as the machine buzzed along, forcing her to open her eyes and move her body. Two things that she had been avoiding for the better part of an hour.

During that time, she was able to make out a few undeniable facts.

One: this wasn't her room. The pillowcases in her room were softer and smelled like expensive linen.

Two: she drank way too much at the wedding. She recalled wandering into another wedding party at some point and everything got fuzzy beyond that point.

Three: the general ache in her hips, waist, and thighs told her that her night had been... interesting, to say the least.

And the last, and perhaps most important thing...the man lying next to her was a complete stranger.

Next to was a mild way of putting it. They were spooning, and she was definitely the little spoon. His "little soldier" pressed against her behind assured her of that. Unique rubbed her thighs together, trying to discern if the fabric wrapped tightly around her body was a sheet or her dress.

Please be my dress, please be my dress, please be my dress, she prayed silently.

No such luck.

Okay, it'd been a while since she'd found herself in this kind of situation but she was still up on her morning after a one-night-stand etiquette. First, there is NO GOOD WAY to extricate yourself from the situation when you're the little spoon. None! Just the act of sitting up will alert your partner that you are on your way out and most people will feel it impolite to simply lie there and pretend to be too drunk to wake up.

Unique stretched slowly, waking her bed partner. He rolled over and did the same, extending his limbs like a cat and taking a deep breath. Everything was going along well until she looked up at her outstretched hands.

"What the fuck!"

Unique sat up on the bed and stared at the shiny titanium shackle that had been secured snuggly around her wrist. She wasn't sure whether she should be freaked out about being shackled to a stranger or happy that, whatever happened last night, he obviously had no intentions of "getting away" with his crime.

"Oh shit," Rayyan said, pulling on the chain that tethered them together. He examined it closely. It looked like a regular set of handcuffs except that there were diamonds laid into the closure and the chain that bound both cuffs was long and elaborately crafted. It was like the world's most expensive sex toy.

"Did we?" Unique tried hard to remember but couldn't be sure about anything that she recalled.

Rayyan looked down at his naked chest and hesitantly lifted the covers.

"Looks like," he nodded.

"No, not that. we obviously did THAT. I mean, did WE chain ourselves together? I mean this isn't part of some elaborate elkes lodge initiation ceremony is it?"

"No," he shook his head. He didn't remember buying it, but it looked like the kind of thing he would buy.

"Okay, well, we should find the key," Unique tried to remain calm.

"Yeah," he agreed, coming closer to her. His proximity made Unique more aware that they were both almost completely naked. It was a little late to be feeling shy, but she grabbed the sheet and wrapped it around her body anyway.

Rayyan stood up, yanking Unique's arm up with him as he stretched. She looked up and got her first real look at this stranger. He was tall with dark brown, wavy hair, that made soft curls on the crown of his head. He was muscular, but they were obviously gym muscles. They were too evenly developed to be the result of hard work or daily labor. Thankfully, he was wearing briefs, but Unique noticed that he wasn't lacking in that department either. His skin was almost blemished free, save a few tattoos along his chest and back and a few fresh scratches that she had obviously given him.