Cassandra ~
I finished getting ready in the elegant private bathroom at the venue making sure the door was locked so no one walked in while I was changing. The lavish counters were too wide so I climbed on top of them to get closer to the mirror. It wasn't ladylike in the least, but maybe I wasn't classy enough to be considered a true lady.
My dark chair hung in loose curls down my back as I pressed my lips together, inspecting my lipstick before hopping off the counter and slipping on my heels.
Letting out a sigh I did some quick math in my head as I smoothed the wrinkles from my dress.
Only five hours until I can go home to my bed.
Giving myself one final once over, I did a quick turn in the mirror and headed out into the hungry mob of wealthy snobs, waiting to brag about meaningless bullshit.
The next few hours were mind numbing, but I found the few people I trusted and cared for and let them breathe life into me with humor and realness that the rest of the room was lacking.
I had bonded with the women I worked with and genuinely enjoyed their company. Joining them at the bar was like a breath of fresh air as I took a break from the surface level fakeness from the wealthy elite that surrounded me.
"You've got quite the following tonight." Molly said, taking notice of a few men who had arrived and were eyeing me up and down.
"They want my bank account, not me." I corrected her as I took a sip of my champagne.
"It certainly looks like they want you."
None of those men could handle me. Cowards with fat wallets...that's all they are.
"Oh shit." Mia said, as she quickly turned her back to one of the men with a panicked look on her face.
"What?" I asked as the entire group turned their attention to Mia.
"The guy that just walked in...right behind us with the terrible shoes." She said frantically, refusing to turn around.
"What about him?" Jessica asked, already glaring at the man.
"I um...may have slept with him a few nights ago and haven't talked to him since. He sort of ghosted me. I really don't want him to see me."
Her embarrassment radiated off of her and I watched as Lilly and Jessica moved their bodies to block Mia from view.
Mia was breathtaking and to see her try to hide behind us to avoid judgment from a man made my blood boil.
I leaned forward against the bar, lowering my head so that only Mia could hear my words.
"Did you fuck him or did he fuck you?" I asked.
Mia whipped her head up to give me a confused look as she scrunched her face and tilted her head.
"What? What's the difference?"
Letting out a sigh, I glanced over my shoulder at the man in question, knowing just by looking at him for the past five seconds that he was a bad lay.
"Did you finish?" I asked Mia, who was equally if not more horrified and confused by my second question.
"Cassie!" She practically shrieked.
"Answer the question..."
I could tell that she considered lying to me, but ultimately relented and told me the truth in a voice barely over a whisper.
"Well...no." She admitted.
"Then you fucked him, not the other way around." I corrected her, but she still seemed confused.
"If a man finishes, but can't make you come in return, it means he's a bad lay. He didn't fuck you, You fucked him. He's your bitch and should be treated as such." My words were cold, but drew a small smile from the side of Mia's mouth.
"I want you to pick yourself up and walk past him, up those stairs so he's forced to look at your perfect ass all the way up. But before you do, make direct eye contact with him...give him a look that says piss me off and I'll tell everyone how small your dick is. Got it?"
"Got it." She said with a sadistic grin that I loved.
Needing a little confidence along with the knowledge that there were safety in numbers, Mia took hold of Lilly's hand and headed toward the elaborate double staircase.
The rest of the girls and I watched in delight as they strutted past the brainless asshole who took one step toward Mia as if he were going to approach her, but ultimately decided against it. His evident insecurities and timidness put a wide smile across my face as I finished off my champagne and excused myself from my friends and rejoined the sea of sharks that had been circling me.
Another hour of conversations consisting of nothing but business deals and self-centered bragging had me bored and pissed off as I retreated back to one of the bars that was tucked off to the side and secluded in a corner.
My head was pounding and I wasn't sure if the alcohol I was sipping on was diminishing the pain or contributing to it, but I ordered another glass of champagne anyway.
"All male waitstaff? Awfully sexist don't you think?" A deep masculine voice echoed from behind me.
I whipped my head around only to find Wade Kingston standing behind me with his typical smug expression.
It was true, I had only hired male waitstaff, but for good personal reasons, having been a cocktail waitress at events just like this for years before Bennett groomed me and convinced me to marry him. Too many drunk assholes to count who would grope me or proposition me for sex. It got to the point where the behavior wasn't appalling, it was just accepted as the norm and I never wanted to put a woman in that position at one of my events.
"I have no problem working alongside other women but I have no interest in being served by them. Women deserve to be worshiped." I snapped.
"Well we don't disagree there." Wade said as he leaned his massive body against the bar. He was well over a foot taller than me, maybe more if I hadn't had heels on.
Please don't act like you have respect for women all of a sudden. I know exactly who you are Wade. You're a womanizer and I know your games. You're weak and selfish...just like the rest of them.
"Fucking isn't the same as worshiping." I corrected him, taking a sip of my champagne.
"Again, no disagreement here."
Oh you are charming aren't you? But I can see right through you.
I gave him nothing more than an eye roll, turning my back to him as if there were something more interesting to look at behind the bar.
"Did you just come here to gloat?" I sassed over my shoulder.
"Gloat?"
"Dont play dumb Wade it doesn't suit you...the Seaside property? You outbid me today." I reminded him with bitterness in my voice.
He flashed me a half smile that exposed some of his perfect teeth before responding.
"I had no idea we were in a bidding war." He said with a grin that said otherwise.
"Oh please."
"In all seriousness Cassandra, I didn't. Must have been one of my partners because I honestly didn't know."
Turning my head, I eyed him up and down, trying to figure out if his words were genuine or not.
"So you're saying if you'd have known you would have let me take the property out from under you?" I asked, narrowing my eyes at him.
"Well I didn't say that."
Such a dick.
Scoffing at his arrogance I polished off my glass of champagne and poured myself another since the bartender had disappeared to restock.
"Let me do that for you Duchess." Wade said, reaching over the top of me with his hands out stretched for the bottle.
Over my dead body.
"I'm a big girl Wade. Perfectly capable of pouring my own drink. I can tie my own shoes and brush my own teeth and everything."
"Never said you couldn't. Just offered to do it for you."
"I don't need you Wade." I snapped, lifting my now full glass up to his face as evidence.
"Oh but you do." He said in a sultry voice that he seemed to intentionally lower.
You certainly are yummy, Wade Kingston, but I'm not biting.
"For what exactly? To fuck me in the coat closet and make me scream your name like the others? That is your usual tactic at parties like these, is it not?"
Wades smile grew wider at my words and he maneuvered himself closer to me. I should have pulled away, but the feeling of his large body so close to mine was...intoxicating.
"Don't even try to deny it, I heard Violet putting on quite a show from behind closed doors at an event we attended together last week. I know how you operate Wade Kingston."
"Alright. guilty." He admitted, but he didn't move.
"But she wasn't screaming my name."
His voice was deep and gritty and as much as I wanted to dismiss him and walk away, I was intrigued.
"What was she screaming then?" I sassed with genuine interest.
"Pineapple."
The word caught me off guard forcing a loud laugh that felt good to let out.
"Pineapple? Why on earth was she screaming p-..." my brain pieced it together as soon as the words left my lips.
Wade's half smile never left as he watched my mind wrap around the fact that she was screaming a safe word.
"What no more questions?" He said arrogantly.
The only response I could muster was half of an eye roll and a sigh.
"Must mean you fully understand why she screamed that word. And you approve."
His voice was so smug and he was speaking to me as if I were an inexperienced child.
"Of course I approve of a safe word."
"Which means you have one of your own. What is it?"
His eyes flashed with a mixture of excitement and desire as he leaned in close as if I were going to whisper it in his ear.
"Like I'd tell you." I said with an eye roll, turning my back to him as I raised my champagne glass to my lips.
"You think I'm gentle enough that you wouldn't need a safe word with me?" He asked as if that were the reason my lips were sealed.
"No...I mean...that's not why I won't... you know what? This conversation is over."
"Then leave." He taunted in a voice that put a chill down my spine in the best way possible.
Every part of me knew I should storm off, throw my drink in his face or give him a snarky comeback that would insult his manhood and bring him back down to earth, but I didn't - I couldn't. He was standing so close to me with his chest nearly flush with my back as he spoke over my shoulder...and I didn't want to move.
"Interesting." He said over my shoulder.
"I think you like having me here...in your space."
Before I could react he gently wrapped his hand around my hip with a feather light touch as he tested the waters to see if I'd push him away.
"But you ultimately get to decide that."
Hmm a consent king. Can't say I'm opposed to that. You certainly have my attention Wade.
He had both of his hands resting gently on my hips, waiting for me to protest or stop him, but I was too intrigued to make him stop.
"You certainly know all the right words to say. The real question is, can you back them up?" I said in a sultry voice as I arched into him slightly letting him know I was okay with the close contact.
Wade let out a low laugh and moved my hair way from my ear so he could speak directly to me without being heard.
"Don't confuse me with these little boys who pursue you Cassandra. I know exactly how to handle a woman like you, but in order to dominate you properly I'd need to know your safe word."
The word dominate fell off his lips and prickled down my neck, causing me to lose my breath for a second or two.
My hesitation and silence was met by Wades large hands tightening on my hips as he dropped his mouth to my ear again.
"What's your safe word Cassandra?" He said firmly in my ear, more of a command than a question.
His strong hands engulfed my hips and his bruising grip had me breathless and speechless, but I somehow forced myself to answer.
"Sapphire." I rasped, feeling his jaw graze the side of my neck. The word escaped my lips before I could stop it as if his strong hands coaxed the word from my mouth.
I felt him smile against my flesh, taunting and teasing the sensitive skin on my neck with light touches of his lips and jawline as he spoke.
"Good girl." He praised me, with his lips brushing against my ear.
The words danced across my skin and settled between my legs as warmth spread through my veins and goosebumps peppered my skin.
Then suddenly, he pulled back leaving me feeling empty and exposed as I mourned the skin to skin contact and closeness.
I turned my head to find him leaned against the bar eyeing me intently with a delicious smile on his face.
"What are you doing?" I asked, trying to catch my breath and wondering why he'd stopped.
"I like to admire my work."
"Your work?" I snapped.
Wade straightened his posture and took a step forward, towering over me as he spoke.
"That blush on your cheeks and neck, that racing heart and loss of breath?" He leaned closer before he spoke his next words.
"I did that." He whispered with a grin.
He's fucking with me. I should have known better than to get caught up in his bullshit. He just wanted to see how far I'd let him take this and I fell for it.
"Don't flatter yourself." I hissed, glaring up at him as I put space between us.
"Deny it all you want, but you know it's true."
"Fuck you, Wade."
Immediately turning to leave, I snatched my glass, sloshing the contents but I didn't care.
"I hear you're selling the Sunset high rise." He called out from behind me as I started to storm away.
"And?" I snapped over my shoulder.
"And if you're nice, I just might buy it from you." He scoffed with a smile that was starting to piss me off.
"It's not for sale. Not to you."
My words seemed to sober him a bit as his smile dropped, but e quickly regained his charismatic smile just as quickly as he'd lost it.
"Oh come on Duchess don't be like that. I'd make you a mouthwatering offer." He said smugly.
"I'm not interested in your offer Wade."
My heels clicked against the marble floor as I stormed away from Wade feeling a mixture of emotions that I didn't have time to sort through.
"We'll see about that." Wade scoffed from behind me, fueling me to walk faster until I had weaved myself into the crowd and out of sight.
What an asshole.
*******************
What are your thoughts on Wade?