Shifting Michelle's Boundaries (Siren Publishing Ménage and More) (2 page)

“Uh, too late for that.”

“What?”

“Yeah. Also, I replied to her.”

* * * *

Michelle’s day started with a bang. More accurately a small explosion somewhere behind her eyes as her hangover decided she’d slept long enough and that it was time to face the day with a groan and a muttered promise never to drink again.

When had she gone to bed? The last thing she remembered was a trip to the recycling bin in the kitchen to drop off the empty bottle of wine, and then nothing till her brain had started to melt a few minutes ago. She sat up in bed and rubbed at her bleary eyes.

“Hot water needed. And mouthwash.”

Twenty minutes later she dropped onto the couch with a coffee cradled in her hands. The rest of the day could wait until the caffeine started working. She wriggled into a better position and thumped her feet onto the coffee table, the motion knocking and drawing her attention to her cellphone. She turned it off standby to find that she had three new e-mails. With a yawn she flicked through them. Spam, a terrible sale on furniture she didn’t need, and an e-mail to confirm she’d joined a site she didn’t recognize.

“Casual sex on…Oh, crap.”

Parts of the previous night came into sharp focus. The website, the cute pictures, the e-mailing of something incredibly slutty to a guy she didn’t even know the name of…

She dropped the phone like it was on fire. It bounced off the cushion and landed on the other end of the couch.
I actually e-mailed someone!
She picked her coffee back up, holding it close like a shield from her stupidity.
Of all the dumb things.

“I need to stop surfing when drunk and horny.”

Still, the whole point of the site was that it was anonymous, anyway. Nobody knew it was her who sent the message, so there was nothing to worry about. So what if some random guy got his hopes up? He’d find someone else on the site soon enough. She remembered the picture of the two guys.
He was the one on the left?
Yeah, he’d have no trouble at all.

She left the phone where it was and instead flicked on the television. Maybe there was a dumb comedy on that would distract her from last night. Something with a character being even dumber than her would be ideal.

She couldn’t keep from glancing at the phone, though. What-ifs kept running through her head. Had they replied yet? Had they sent another photo? They could be waiting for her reply right that second.

She threw a cushion on top of the phone and took a big gulp of liquid gold.

“Never. Drinking. Again.”

* * * *

Craig stood over Jack’s shoulder and tried not to strangle the man. He was always doing this. Trying to set Craig up with women. Jack seemed to consider it his duty as best buddy and pack mate to make sure Craig was happy. It was touching in a way.

“Why can’t you just leave dead birds on the carpet like a normal cat?”

Jack grinned and brought the reply up on the screen. “Yow. She isn’t pulling any punches.”

Well hello there, cutie
, it started.
I was just sitting here, having a little drink and browsing the site when I saw your picture. At first I thought both guys in the picture were looking for a little fun, but I suppose I can make do with just the cuter one.

Craig smirked. It was rare that he was considered the cuter of the pair.

I think we should meet up some time. I’m a thirty-year-old woman with brown hair, green eyes, a great body, and a tight pussy aching for a pounding. Think you can do something about that?

M.

Craig almost choked. “Whoa! She gets right to the point.” The part about having a little drink may well have had a bearing on that, though.

“Well it
is
a site for hookups, dude.” Jack shrugged. “So, where shall I tell her to meet you?”

“Nuh uh. No way.” He raised his hands and backed toward the bathroom. “I don’t do one nighters. Besides, I’m going to be late for work.”

He stepped into the bathroom and closed the door while he shaved. He wasn’t being entirely truthful. He’d had more than his share of one-night stands, and most had been a hell of a lot of fun. Still, he knew where Jack was going to go with the idea, and didn’t need the future headaches.

“Oh come
on
, Craig,” Jack said from just outside the door. “A little fun is good for you. You never know, she could be the one, too.”

Craig rolled his eyes but didn’t reply. Jack was back on
that
idea.

In the past, whenever either of them dated, two things would happen. They would start spending more time with their partners and less with each other, and then the pack would get pissy. He and Jack were pack mates, and that went deeper than just hunting together on occasion. Far deeper.

In their pack, other than the head of the group, all members were paired with another. Any and all duties in the pack were shared between them, and that required a lot of time spent together. Craig and Jack’s work was more involved than most other pairs, too, so it meant they practically lived like a married couple—especially since Jack had moved in. Every time one of them started dating, it would cause issues.

Which is why Jack was about to bring up what he was about to bring up. Craig counted off on his fingers. By the time he got to seven, Jack spoke.

“If we find a woman who’ll be with both of us, it’ll solve so many problems.”

Craig sighed and quickly finished his shave, tossing the razor into the sink a little too hard. “And that worked
so
well in the past.”

“All right, so it’s a hard sell. Especially when you add the revelation that I turn into a beautiful jungle cat and you become a mangy mutt, but that doesn’t mean we shouldn’t try.” Craig opened the door to find Jack leant against the frame, a smirk on his lips. “And the sex is always awesome.”

“Can’t argue with that part, at least.”

“Look. The fact of the matter is that we’re bonded. Soul mates without the sex. Every relationship we’ve had since that bonding hasn’t worked out because we need someone who will accept both of us.”

Craig sighed and nodded. “I know. Still, we’re talking about a quick fuck in a hotel here.”

“Dude, if it’s quick no wonder you’re never with a woman for long.” Jack laughed as he dodged Craig’s arm punch. “I just like to think ahead, that’s all. And anyway, if it turns out to be nothing more than a damn good night, how is that a bad thing?”

He had a point. Craig eyed the computer in the corner of the room and chewed at his lip.

“All right. But I’m only going into this as a one-night thing. If anything else comes of it, I’ll see how it feels.”

Jack rolled his eyes. “You wolves and your instincts.”

Michelle took her days off from work seriously. She unplugged the phone, wore her comfiest pajamas, and ate nothing that required more than ten minutes to prepare. That usually meant chips and things she could nuke in the microwave. Her one concession to socialness was her cellphone, and only then because she’d made sure nobody at work had the number.

Even knowing that, when it beeped from its place under the couch cushion, she immediately thought it was work trying to bug her into doing overtime.

“Get lost,” she muttered, not turning her head from the old comedy movie she had found. “It’s my day off. Bother somebody else.”

Her resolve lasted the time it took to remember she had a lunch date in three hours, and that it could be Alison wanting to change the time or something. She reached over and grabbed her phone, ignoring the dull ache in her temples that the movement triggered.

She looked at the screen to find that it wasn’t a text, and was in fact an e-mail. She tapped on the mail icon and read the subject line. ‘Message received from user at CSotQ!’
Who?

Her stomach lurched as she realized it was the site from last night. The guy had sent a reply. With a shaking hand, she read the reply.

Hi there, M.

You certainly don’t beat around the bush, do you?

She winced, suddenly remembering her somewhat frank e-mail to him.

How does tonight sound? There’s a hotel in the city named The Smith Inn. Meet you at 9?

C.

“Oh god.” She tossed the phone back into its new favorite position.

Shouldn’t there be talking first? Some back and forth, maybe a few more pictures? He didn’t even ask to see one of her.
The site’s for hooking up, not dating.
She closed her eyes and let out a breath.

“Okay, just relax. It’s not like I have to go if I don’t want to. All he knows is that my name begins with M and I probably drink too much.” She took a swig of her second coffee of the morning. “It could be fun, though. Heaven knows it’s been a while…”

She glanced at the clock on the wall. It was still only nine in the morning. He’d hardly be expecting her to e-mail right back, would he? She shook her head and ran a hand through her frizzy hair.

She had set up a rendezvous with a stranger based on a headless photo. A cute headless photo, yes, but she still knew nothing about the guy other than he obviously worked out and could throw her around a bed like she was a doll.

That idea certainly didn’t hurt to think about. His big hands on the bed either side of her as he worked on top of her, making her writhe on the sheets in unrestrained ecstasy. She shivered and furtively glanced at the phone once more. She needed to talk it out with someone calm and logical. Unfortunately the only person she knew wasn’t working was Alison.

* * * *

“Meet him, strip him, ride him, ditch him.”

Michelle glanced around the crowded coffee shop. “Geez, Ally!”

Alison sucked at her coffee spoon, a virtuous look on her face. “What?”

“We’re in public. Someone might hear.”

She shrugged. “We’re in a noisy coffee shop. Nobody’s listening to us. They’re too busy pretending to write, or discussing with their friends whether they should buy the latest smartphone. They don’t care about your illicit hookup with a guy in a hotel room.”

Michelle risked another look around the shop. Alison was right. Not one person appeared to be paying them any attention whatsoever. Michelle sighed and sipped her coffee. She loved Ally like a sister, but she was a damned imp at times.

The woman brushed a few strands of long black hair off her face with a finger. “How long has it been since your nethers saw something that wasn’t battery powered?”

Michelle felt her cheeks heat as she blushed. “It’s been too long, put it that way.”

“And this would just be a one-night thing?”

“Yeah. That’s how the site works.”

Ally nodded. “Then I say go for it. Worst-case scenario is you get laid and never see the guy again. I fail to see a downside.”

“What if the guy’s a serial killer?”

“Honey, serial killers don’t use fancy hotels with CCTV cameras in the lobby.”

“He could wear a hat.” Michelle knew she was losing the argument. “All right, fine. I’ll e-mail him back, but you need to be nearby. Deal?”

Alison smiled. “Fine. I’ll be in the hotel’s restaurant, and I’ll call after twenty minutes. If he turns up looking like Shrek, or he brings handcuffs and lube, tell him I’m your mother and I just broke my hip.”

“Deal.” Michelle took a breath and pulled out her phone. “Now’s as good a time as any, I guess.”

She opened the old e-mail and hit reply. She kept it brief, confirming the time and place, then hit send.
Please don’t be a serial killer.
Or look like Shrek.
She put the phone away.
The handcuffs and lube, though…
She felt herself begin to blush again and switched the topic.

“So, how’s work?”

Alison put her cup down and ran a finger around the rim. “Yeah, about that.”

“Fired again?”

“This time it wasn’t my fault!”

Michelle sat back in her chair and listened to Alison’s latest debacle. She managed to pay enough attention to nod in the right places, but her mind was elsewhere. In a few hours she’d have to get ready for something she’d never done before. The last time she’d had a one-night stand, she’d been nineteen, and every encounter after than had been after several dates and chaste kisses in doorways.

That said, she’d never lost the urges she’d had at nineteen. Every time she’d met someone a part of her had wanted to skip the small talk and jump straight to the sex. A big part, if she was honest. Her ex hadn’t helped, either. He’d put her off dating for a long time.

Maybe this was what she needed. Something new and exciting, and a tiny bit dangerous.
Pity it wasn’t both of them after all.

* * * *

Jack dipped into his last push-up, straightened his arms again, and then rolled onto his back, panting softly. His arms and shoulders ached as he put them behind his head, but it was a good ache.