65: Blackmail

Bryce

     Erin did pretty good for her first Friday night last night. Of course, I spent the entire time wanting to drag her back into the bathroom, but I managed to keep a lid on it until we got home.

     Today, she looks distracted again like she did all day yesterday.

     Fed up with it, I ask, "Are you going to tell me what's bothering you?" I swear she looks like she's about to say 'nothing,' so I say, "And don't tell me it's nothing."

      "It's probably nothing," she answers me quietly, and I want to scream. Luckily for her, some customers show up.

     I scowl when Bernadette walks up the stairs to the bar.

     "I need to talk to you. Privately," she says as she walks up to me. I have a bad feeling about this, but nonetheless, I motion for her to go down to this useless lower seating area.

     "Simon spoke with me yesterday," she starts.
     Great, I think sarcastically.
      "Did you know we were sleeping together?" she asks me.
      "Not until the night I fired him, no," I answer with my arms folded defensively across my chest.
      "Yeah. It made my work environment much nicer since he got what he wanted."
      "Why didn't you tell me?" I accuse.
      "I assumed you knew since you never did anything about it," she tells me.
      "Obviously not." How the hell does that make sense?
      "Hm," she replies noncommittally. "Well, so now I hear that he tried the same thing with the new girl, and she threw a fit about it."
      "Yes, and then I realized what had been going on. What are you getting at?" I ask irritatedly.
      "Simon wants me to side with him and say that what he did to Marie was no big deal," she says in an almost cocky manner.
      "Do you think what he did was no big deal?" I ask. Then, I realize that I owe her an apology for not realizing how she had to put up with Simon before. Since she's quiet, I go ahead and say, "I'm sorry I never did anything about it. I honestly had no idea." Although, I could've tried to pay more attention to what was going on around me.
       She looks at the sand for a second or two before her eyes snap up to me as she says, "I chalked it up to 'one of those things.' So one of my bosses was interested in me. In a way, I felt flattered."

      She continues, "I also hoped it would make someone jealous, but he didn't usually come to the bar when Simon worked," she states. "Of course, I'd have to be a blonde tourist to get his attention. Although, it turned out it didn't matter if I was a tourist or not, did it?"
      "Um..." I can't figure out who she's talking about.
      "Jesse, you idiot!" she snaps, explaining to me who the 'someone' was.
      "You let Simon treat you that way to try to make Jesse jealous," I state in a questioning way, asking her to clarify.
      Her face gets redder, and her eyes bulge. "Yes! They hate each other! Or were you too blind to see that too?"
      "No, but I never let it bother me. Not everyone has to get along all the time," I watch her glare at me, and I actually feel a bit of pity for her. She let that slimeball have her in hopes to get Jesse's attention? That really doesn't make good sense, ...but maybe it does from her perspective.
     The picture forms in my head: Jesse and I flirting at work around, but not with, Bernadette, and her wanting Jesse to notice her. He doesn't, so she takes the one man that does notice her to maybe make Jesse see her in a different light. Only it doesn't work, and she's stuck with that situation until she decides she's finally had enough and up and quits.

     She sadly says, "So, I thought that Jesse didn't want to be serious with anyone, and I put up with Simon because it really was no big deal to me. But then Erin shows up, and you both... What's so wrong with me that neither of you ever saw me as anything but the waitress?"
     Whoa! Holy shit! How did I get dragged into this? I think as I catch her implication.
      "So, in a last-ditch effort, I quit. No longer the waitress! You two laughed at me! Don't think I didn't notice that!" Angry tears show up in her eyes as she glares at me.
     I remember the reaction that Jesse and I had when Bernadette had brought Jesse flowers that Friday night when Jesse met Marie.
      "I'm sorry. It was a shock!"
      "So you laugh?!"
      "Flowers?" I point out to her her ridiculous method to get Jesse's attention. She continues to glare at me. I calm down and ask, "What do you want, Bernadette?" I want to get to the real reason she's here. It can't be only to stand there and complain to me.

     "I want you to set me up with Jesse," she says point-blank.
     I feel my jaw drop. I try to close it, but it drops again.
     "I think he and Marie are together-together," I say slowly. I haven't spoken to Jesse in a few days.
     Her fists clench at her sides before she says, "Either set me up with him, or I'll side with Simon in this lawsuit he has against you."
     "So, you want me to set you up with my best friend... who probably has a girlfriend, or you'll testify against me should Simon need you to. That's blackmail. You want to make it to where you can only get a date with Jesse from blackmail," I state and watch her as she takes her turn folding her arms defensively in front of her.
      "I don't want to think of it like that, but yes. And I'd hope that you'd not make it out like that's the only reason you're doing it too. If you set me up with him, I'll go in and talk about how Simon sexually harassed and used me."
      Desmond could get you to do that anyway, I think but decide against telling her that.
      "I can't do that if Jesse and Marie are together," I state.
      "Break them up," she counters. "Those are my terms."
       Shit! This woman is crazy! "Give me until tomorrow to give you an answer," I request, not knowing what else to say. Surely, Jesse would never agree to this, but I have a bad feeling about Bernadette siding with Simon.
      "Fine," she snaps and saunters off.

     Fuck, I think as I pull out my phone. I look up at the bar area and see Erin looking quizzically at me. I plaster on a fake smile and hold up a finger to tell her I'll be another minute. The bar isn't terribly busy. The heat is keeping them away. My new building will help with that.
      I have a message from my architect on my phone. I listen and call him back to tell him when we can meet since he wants my final word. Then, I call Jesse.

     "Hey, man. What's up?" he asks as he answers.
     "Hey, are you busy?" I ask.
     "Not anymore," he answers, sounding ludicrously happy. I hate that I'm possibly going to make his day worse. "I meant to call you," he says, interrupting my mental fidgeting. "You'll never guess what happened. Okay, so maybe you can guess."
      I let out a flat laugh and think, Oh shit. "Um, Marie?"
      "Yep!" he lets out happily with a thick accent. "She couldn't resist me," he finishes, and I can see him in my mind with that stupid grin on his face. I wish I could be happy he's happy.
      Damn you, Bernadette!
      Still, I play along. "Well, of course. I mean, after all, I'm the one that set you two up. Don't you trust my judgement?" Shit. Shit. Shit!
     "Stop trying to steal the credit!" he teases, and I let out a distressed exhale. "What's going on?"
     "I... may have a problem," I tell him slowly.
     "Is it Erin?" he asks, and I immediately get suspicious. Why would he automatically think of Erin?
      I do my best to squelch my distrusting attitude and answer, "No, it's not Erin. It's... Bernadette."
      "Um... dude? What the hell? What happened? Please, tell me you didn't do something stupid."

      "Huh?" He means cheat on Erin. No! "No! Nothing like that. She came by and told me Simon had been talking to her."
      "Oh," he says quietly.
      "You serious about Marie?" I ask, hating myself.
      "Hell yes. Don't you get any ideas," he growls.
       Will we ever be able to really trust each other?
       "No. Not that. Geez, man!"
       "You're not going to fire her are you? Why are you talking Bernadette and then Marie? Did she ask for her old job back? Don't give it to her is my advice. Yeah, I mean, Marie is out of commission for a little while, but-"
      "No, I'm not going to fire her," I say before Jesse can continue with his needless rant.
      He pauses for a few seconds before I hear him say, "Yes, I'm dead serious about Marie. Is that what you mean? I'm not interested in Bernadette."
      At least he thinks all I'm doing is trying to set him up with her. "Okay," I tell him.
      "Wait. That's it? So what does this have to do with Simon talking to her? Is he still bothering her, and she needs to use me to get him off of her?"

       Shit. I can't lie to him. "She wants to go out with you or she'll testify on Simon's behalf in the lawsuit," I blurt out.
       The other end of the line stays silent for a full minute, and I don't want to be the one to break the silence. I give him time to think.
        "That's blackmail," I finally hear.
        "Yes, it is."
        "That b- ..." he must suddenly remember he's at work. He makes a growling noise as I'm sure a list of profanities runs through his mind. "I can't do it. I wish I could help. I probably would if I wasn't with Marie."

      "You'd let me pimp you out like that?" I can't help but ask with a huge grin on my face.
      "Aw, man. Shut the... up!" he snarls, and I laugh loudly in spite of my stressful situation. "Here I am... willing to help out a friend in need, and you have to go and talk sh- ... stuff like that."
     "Well, I appreciate the, um, sentiment," I say in an attempt to make like everything is okay. Shit. What am I going to do?
      "How in the hell is she going to testify against you?" Jesse asks, sounding confused.
      I explain to him what Bernadette said. He agrees with me that Desmond could trick her into saying that Simon harassed her which he did in our opinion. Then he apologizes to which I tell him not to worry about it, that I thought I'd give it a shot anyway. We hang up, and I head back up to the bar proper to give Jones a break.

      Erin tries to get me to talk about what Bernadette wanted. I like how she acts a little jealous.
      Ugh. I wish I could talk to her right now about it. Maybe she'd have an idea.
      After Jones gets back from his break, I send Erin on one. Then, when she gets back, I see my architect walking up with his plans. They're great!
      I make some signs notifying the public of my imminent but temporary closing. Next Saturday is it for however long it takes to build my new building. I'll be closed during the Christmas season, but that doesn't worry me too much. I'm using a local company, and they're so happy to have the work that they want to get started asap.
     I'm excited.
     If only I didn't have Simon, and now Bernadette I'm sure, breathing down my neck, life would be great. Still, I wince when I think about how much money I'm spending to get this done. I'll be... okay, but I've gotten used to having a huge cushion of money in the bank that's not going to be there. Plus, if Desmond doesn't win this case for me, I might have to take out a loan. Why does Simon have to be such an ass, and why did I have to be so fucking blind to everything?

     Erin and I get home, um, to my house, and after we say goodnight to Pam, Erin walks up to me to ask, "What's wrong? Are you stressed about closing?"
     I take a deep breath and simply crush Erin to me, not saying anything yet.
     Well, I don't think I'll have to worry about buying an engagement ring, I think sardonically on top of everything else.
     I can sense her continued question in her posture, so I answer, "Lots of things." Then I reach down and cup her perfect ass in my hands, and instantly, I feel a little better.
     "What can I do?" she asks.
     The answer comes immediately to my head. "Get naked and into the hot tub." I'm going to fuck the shit out of you. My hands have that fantastic hot feeling as I run them all over her. She feels so damn good.
     "Then," she gasps, and I love the expression she has, "don't you have to... let me go so I can?"
     "No, I'll help," I say quickly and pull her shirt over her head.

     I think it took me three whole minutes to get us out here. Three very long minutes.
     Erin lets me do anything I want. I think she can sense how very much I need this, and I want to take advantage of that attitude. She has such a perfect ass...
     "Bryce!" she gasps when she figures out what I want to do to her. I swing my hand around in front of her and cup her pussy as I pull her back against me. "Bryce, no!"
     "Erin, please let me," I beg, and she cries out as I masturbate her.
     Her breathing is erratic as she tells me, "No one ever has."
     Fuck yes. Just me. "Then we'll take it nice and slow," I say low into her ear. "The warm water will help," I tell her, and she lets out a little whine as I encourage her to hang onto the side of the hot tub while I position myself behind her.

    "Relax, baby," I say soothingly and stroke her back. She does, and I get in a little before she can instinctively tense up again. I take in a breath and let it out to the sky as she tightens up around just the tip. Already, I can feel my stress start to leave me.
    After a lot of doubt from her and much gentle encouragement from me, I finally get completely in her. I allow my hands to run up and down her fantastic body while I stay still inside her.
    "I can't believe I'm doing this," she says quietly in a worried tone.
    "And you're doing good," I say soothingly. Good doesn't describe how I feel right now, more like euphoric. Sex is my favorite stress relief. I want to move, but I don't know for sure if she's ready. So, I give her more time to get used to me as I continue to stroke her body with my hands. Then I groan as I get an idea.
     My hand reaches once more down to masturbate her, and she gasps and tries to grab my hand.
     "Hold onto the side, baby," I instruct calmly as my fingers tease her slick center. Then I stop teasing and really give it to her. I want her good and relaxed, and this is one way to make it happen. My fingers show no mercy as I throw her into an orgasm. The way she tightens around me when she comes makes me have to draw in a quick breath that I let out in a groan. I love this woman.
     Yes, I love her, and I need her. If only she knew the power she held over me. Maybe she does, and that's why she's letting me do this. This was obviously not her idea, and yet we're doing it anyway. She really does love me.
    She enters that blissful, post-coital state, and I finally start to move. She tightens up occasionally, but never for long and with much strength behind it. We groan in unison, and the water in the hot tub sloshes around with my steady tempo.

    "Fuck yes!" I whisper loudly. "Oh, Erin!"
    She lets out a feminine whine while she holds onto the side of the tub for dear life as I hold her hips. I feel so deliciously good as I take what I need from her perfect body. Then, I start to feel my body move on its own as I start getting close. Yes! This is what I needed! I scream in my head as I surrender all my stress to the bliss that Erin's body gives me.
     I come in her sweet ass, and she cries out a little like I might have hurt her. "Erin," I whisper to her as I try to hold back a little while my body pumps into hers uncontrollably. Then I collapse onto her back.
     After a few seconds, I notice that she has difficulty holding me up, and I swing us around so that I'm sitting on one of the benches. She makes a small, whining noise as I move her with me.
    "Shh, baby. Relax," I croon in a whisper. Her breathing picks up speed as I slowly separate us. I turn her to cradle her in my arms before reaching up to push her hair out of her face.

     I can't help but kiss her once she's comfortably settled in my lap.
    I don't like it when I come and she doesn't. I feel like less of a man, and that bothers me. I'm not done with her, but I feel like I need to leave her alone for a little bit. So, I quietly watch her face as she goes from a troubled look to a peaceful one over and over, and I wish I knew what she was thinking. I don't disturb her anymore, however.
    Finally, she snuggles her head into the space between my shoulder blade and my neck, and I hold her tighter for about a minute.
    My troubles from earlier rear their ugly heads, but they don't have the power they did before. I mentally shrug and let them go, knowing I'll do what I can when I can.
    "Thank you," I whisper down to her, also wondering if she doesn't actually understand that she helped with more than just making me feel good physically. She stays quiet, so I ask, "Did I really hurt you?" I know that that must've hurt a little, so I only ask if I'd hurt her more than a little.
    "Not bad, no," she answers me quietly. I suspect she's lying, but I hope she's not.
    "You didn't come," I state.
    "I did. Before you started," she says like she thinks I'm dense or something.
    "That's not when I meant," I say to her while running my hand up and down her thigh.
    "Was I supposed to?" she asks innocently, and I swallow a small laugh. "Sorry," she finishes, and I roll my eyes. I'm still happy though.

    "Don't be sorry," I say playfully. "Just means I owe you one," I say more seriously as my hand makes its way up her inner thigh.
     "Bryce," she gasps. "Bryce, trust me, I'm thoroughly fucked. Honest." She whimpers when I reach her folds with my fingers. "We're even," she says like she's begging.
   "I need to do this to you, Erin," I say and give her a hard look to emphasize my point.
    She makes a request that shocks me. "Only if you tell me what's bothering you while you do it."
    My face must show my shock because there's a victorious look on hers. I stubbornly move my hand.
    "No," she scolds me. "Tell me what Bernadette said. That's when it started."
    "She's blackmailing me. Just like you are right now. Well, not just like."
    "I'm not blackmailing you!" she says defensively.
    "Yes, in a way you are, but I don't mind," I say and lightly kiss the hurt look off her face.
    Knowing I've given her a little information, I take my reward and start moving my hand again.
    "Talk," she commands. "How," (whine), "is she blackmailing you?"
    I tell her. "She's threatened to side with Simon unless I can get Jesse to go out with her." I feel even better now.
    "What?!" she exclaims, looking shocked for a second before what I'm doing distracts her again.
    I smile and decide to keep talking while I continue to pleasure her. I like this game/idea.
    "Mhm. I called Jesse, and he told me he and Marie are a couple. Isn't that nice?"
    "Mmm... hm," she answers me absently.
    Smiling still, I continue, "Yeah. So, naturally, he won't do it. I don't blame him, but now I'm afraid of what Bernadette will say in the lawsuit." This feels good.
     "But..." she starts breathing heavily.
     "I'll have to wait and see," I say when she doesn't continue. "Oh," I add. "And I'm stressed out about money."
     "Oh," she says, and I think it was supposed to be in question, but she failed at it.
     "Yeah. The bar, my employees, my bills, the lawsuit, something I want to buy... stuff like that." I do not want to ruin the moment and tell her about wanting to buy a ring.
     "You'll... be fine," she breathes.
     "That's it other than I haven't made you come enough."
     "Bryce..." she whines my name. "Why?"
     "Because it really gets me off," I answer her quietly. "It's a pride thing." I push three fingers deeply into her, moving them rapidly.
     She gasps, and our conversation is over as I watch her. I'm getting hard again, and I pull her hips against me and push back against her with a groan.
     She lets go of my shoulders, and her arms splash into the water. I hold her completely while my hand never stops. I am not done with you, Erin, I think as she comes. Then she goes as limp as a newborn kitten.
     I lift her body in the water and put a knee on either side of me before I move her hips down on top of my shaft, burying myself inside her. Then I let her torso rest against mine. She very quietly whines my name a few times as I do this, but I silently maintain my plan.
   I stay still while her wet body takes deep breaths. In the meantime, I let my hands wander up and down her back, brushing her hair aside and getting it under some semblance of control.
    You just thought you were thoroughly fucked, I think as I plan on teaching her the meaning of that phrase. I need her to recover a little first.
     Without falling asleep on me.
    "Wake up, Erin. I'm not done with you yet," I command in a low voice. She stirs a little, but she doesn't fully wake up. If the water didn't get in the way, I'd slap her exquisite ass to get her to wake up. I lift her mostly-unconscious body and rock myself into her while moving her hips myself. This isn't my thing to fuck an unconscious woman. She needs to wake up!
    I start sucking on her earlobe. That works. She stirs in a small complaint then lifts up on her forearms to face me and get my lips and teeth off her ear.

    "Oh good. You're awake," I say cheekily up to her, continuing to move her body for her.
    "Bryce, please," she begs.
    I smile. "You said you were thoroughly fucked earlier, my beautiful Erin. I'm proving to you that you weren't... yet." I groan softly as she tightens around me.
     "You meant it... when you said... you could go all night," she breathes, starting to help me move her.
    "Of course I did," I say, knowing I could go again after this time.
    "I'm so tired," she states quietly.
    "One more time, baby. Please." More stress equals more need to fuck. "I need it," I finish and languidly kiss her neck. She nods a quiet assent, and I really get to work. I have to do almost all of it, but I don't mind one bit. She wakes up more as her body responds to me, and as she comes, I find my own release into her. Not surprisingly, she passes out on top of me when we're finished.
    "I guess now you're thoroughly fucked, my beautiful Erin," I whisper into her ear even though she's asleep.
    I smile and move to lift her out of the hot tub with me while I exit. There's a split second where I fear I'll slip, but I manage not to, thank goodness. Then I wearily carry her up the stairs and get her settled into my bed.

    Looking down at her, I smile again and tuck her hair behind her ear to get it out of her face.
    "I love you," I say quietly to her and gently kiss her sleeping lips before I lie down next to her and pull her close.

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Sorry that was a bit longer than normal, but I didn't want to break it up because I have stuff that I want to happen the sooner the better. Sorry also for all the swearing. Bryce and Jesse do that to my writing.

Also, I'm putting in a shameless plug (because I really have no shame) for my upcoming book! Jesse wouldn't shut up in my head no matter how many times I told him he's not a main character in this story. (We still go back and forth on that, but that's neither here nor there at the moment.) Anyway, I've started a blog (click the link) to talk about my book, Guardian Angel. I've decided to use Erin Lancaster as my pen name since, well, she's a writer, and I didn't want to use my real name for this book.