Chapter 1 Pausing our game of Fifa, Jack got up from the couch to greet Paige, his girlfriend. Paige was also the only real friend I had aside from Jack himself. Seeing as we were twenty-five years in age, having a sum total of two good friends might seem like a poverty-stricken existence but I valued what I had. I laid down my game controller while the duo shared a passionate kiss. I stared at them deliberately so as to...

Livi tied the black-and-gold mask behind her head and took one last look in the mirror. The gown was painted onto her curves, her strappy Jimmy Choos laced tight, her lips a wicked shade of red. She looked like every rich man’s fantasy. And she hated herself for giving Brad exactly what he wanted. She’d put up with his degrading shit for years, let him bankroll her med school debt, let him chip away at her confidence one...

Doing my best to be patient, I waited for a sign that Joy was sleepy. A couple of times during the movie, she stifled a yawn, then offered me a guilty smile. I knew my best friend almost as well as I knew myself. As hard as she tried to stay up till eleven, her natural sleep cycle inevitably won the battle. The film still had thirty minutes left when she grudgingly rose from the couch. Turning toward her dad, she leaned t...

After fifteen years of marriage, you feel like a stranger to me. I watch you lift a wineglass to your lips during dinner, a gesture you've made countless times in my presence, yet it's now utterly unfamiliar. Because you are. When did it start? Months ago? Years, maybe? I can't pinpoint the exact moment you began drifting away. We don't fight about sex or money; we have plenty of both. There's no obvious wedge between us....

I turned nineteen in late January, not long after I went back to school. Dad promised to celebrate the occasion the next time I was home for a weekend, but Gabe insisted on taking me out to dinner on my birthday. He'd made reservations at a restaurant I'd never heard of, and the moment we stepped inside, I understood why it was unfamiliar to me. The place was ostentatious, with a formal dress code. Wearing my finest dress...

Maria leaned on the counter, her eyes scanning the aisles of the Brigham City Petco for any signs of trouble. It was closing time, and the last few stragglers were always the hardest to get out the door. The bell chimed as it swung open, letting in a gust of cool evening air. Her outfit was meticulously chosen, a testament to the comfort she sought in her workplace. The dark brown polo shirt she wore clung to her slim fra...

I was restless at Dad's house in the few days leading up to Christmas. Though Gabe had spent only one night there, I keenly felt his absence. My father and Evelyn would be spending Christmas Eve with Evelyn's mother, and Gabe obviously wasn't invited to that gathering, so I wouldn't see him until he arrived on Christmas morning. He was the first person I told when I received my final grades: all As. You're a brilliant you...

Maybe it was only my imagination, but I sensed stares on me and Dennis as we left work later that day. Walking with me toward the elevator, he rested his hand against the small of my back, his touch light but possessive. Even after we were alone, with the elevator doors firmly closed, Dennis maintained that contact. I could easily feel the warmth of his palm through my blouse. His eyes were bright while he chatted about t...

My plea, humiliating as it was, didn't satisfy Nelson. "You can do better than that," he chided. I gasped at the feel of him using his cock to tease my clitoris. My thighs gave an involuntary shudder, betraying my arousal. Desperation made me break down altogether and mewl, "Please, Nelson, fuck me!" He laughed in satisfaction. "Aren't you the perfect little slut." I wasn't about to argue. And the reward for my submissive...

Tony had been stressed and under pressure for some time. Work was hard and he was missing his targets. We were heavily in debt and the annual bonus award decision was looming. In his early 50s, a change of career or even job was probably out of reach. I was really worried about him: Tony was short-tempered, putting on weight and withdrawing into himself. Our sex life, which at the best of times had been sporadic and vanil...