Chapter 41 - Blackout

"Would you look at that? Everyone is staring at you," Jaime said smugly and I shook my head amused as we cut in line and the bouncers let us through.

"You know, I was beginning to doubt this, but you've proven yourself. How did you get us in?"

"Ralph," he said distastefully and I laughed.

For Jaime being an only kid in a rich family has to be the best thing that has ever happened to him. But the only con is that they are never around and have help to take care of Jaime. That includes Ralph, his 25 year old bodyguard, who he believes has a secret vendetta against him.

"How did you manage that?"

"I told him, if he could get me VIP in the most exclusive club here , I'd never tell he banged the housekeeper," he said and I shook my head amused knowing about the crazy rules in that house that included no sexual relationship among workers.

"You are so mean."

"Well, I'll say I learnt from the best when it comes to not playing fair," he said winking at me. "But then again creepers wouldn't know the hottest thing in town tonight."

He said and I shook my head as I shrugged stepping ahead of him and though I pretended not to care, I couldn't hide my smile. The gold dress he'd brought along had to be the most divine of dresses I've ever seen. The material was long satin and silky, with a high slit running from my thigh and held up by two thin straps criss-crossing on my back leaving the whole length of my bare. Elegant and stood out, but as we venture in I can feel my jaw drop slack and I stop short. Under the glaring flashing lights, most people are half naked and entangled with one another.

"Hot right?" Jaime said and I mentally facepalm. Of course, I forgot I was dealing with Jaime. Such a place would of course be high on his list.

"Yeah. Fantastic," I said throwing him a nasty glare but he doesn't seem to notice it, or my bluntness and I decide to bite my tongue. "But then again people seem more open to expressing themselves and their desires. Rather, my style."

"I knew you'd like it," he says with a grin and I try not to burst his bubble. It isn't the first time I've been in such a club, courtesy of Eve, or at least drunk Eve, but I keep my look of innocence intact, knowing he could be whiny if he wanted to.

"But it's not always like this, free I mean. This club is one of part of a chain. Has had a couple of names but stuck to Blackout. Basically it was a random event. All lights out. During this, partners can touch however they like, till eventually it has become a fail anticipated spectacle. Of course there are lots more events but I'll explain in due time."

"They can go all the way?" I asked cringing inwardly at the thought. I was not prepared for this.

"No. Rent a room, go to a hotel. Just like all other clubs, no penetration. For instance, dickward over there," he says and I turn where he's looking and I see a male roughly thirty pushing a woman against the wall. It's not hard to tell he's drunk and out of control as he loosens his buckle. "In that instance, the bouncers will throw him out. So keep it in your pants doll."

He said winking at me and I rolled my eyes.

"But you don't have to worry about that now. Drink?"

"Yeah sure," I answer and he walks off. True to his word, two muscly bouncers appear and head towards the man and pull him off the woman before throwing him out like trash and it bothers me for some reason. How can he let himself lose control over his body like that?

In the midst of these thoughts, I hear an all too familiar chuckle out of the blue and I turn around to see who it is. My first thought is today he seems too full of himself, then again isn't he always. He's alone in the dark booth is the first thing I notice, before my eyes fall on his cocktail and the pack of cigarettes beside him. Though opened, somehow I can tell he hasn't smoked but the way he's sitting there I can tell he looks like a business man, sans his age and the fact he's still in highschool and I frown. Is he laughing at me? I wonder narrowing my eyes at him and yet I can't tell if he looking at me but I'm sure he is as his lips curl up into a grin. But I'm way past wanting to know why he was here and instead wanting to know why he's laughing.

"If you have something to say to me..." I started making my way towards him but before I can step any farther I'm suddenly pulled back.

The stench of tree sap and butter reaches my nose and I turn angry towards the male who roughly in his early twenties and seemingly loves to play dress up of the era of the old southern country.

"What's a pretty thang like you doing in the club alone? It's an injustice," he slurred with a slight lisp and I cringed as he slid his hand to my hip and I swear I was about to wretch. "It think it's your first time here. May I help you?"

Thanks a lot, Jaime, I thought turning to the creep as I tried taking my hand back but with no avail.

"You can go ahead and try."

"I will but you shouldn't talk to me like that, little princess. If you want it, you beg for it," he said gripping my wrist tightly.

Okay, this should be reason enough for him to change that nickname.

"Mwa. But I was going to try you out instead of my toy," I said and he looked shocked as his grip loosened.

"But I thought....What kind of talk is that?" He said seemingly miffed before he roughly pushed me against the wall. "Maybe I should fix your nasty attitude."

But as soon as he says that he's suddenly flung away from me and there he is. I have trouble wondering if he's at all mad, at me or at the creep glaring daggers at him but he was calm. Way too calm.

"Ugh! Who the hell are you?" The Texan asks almost tripping over his feet and I try not to cringe at the revolting smell and instead focus on Ryder.

"Me? I'm her partner," he said confidently with that duh tone and for a moment, I register my heart skip as he wraps and arm around my shoulder. "You alright, babydoll? Are you hurt?"

If this were another situation, I would have immediately shut this down. But a girl can only take so much of a beat down to her ego in one night and I wrapped my arms around his waist willing to cooperate.

"Ha, baby. Where did you go? I was looking for you. I couldn't believe my luck when I almost thought I would have to spend Blackout with this lousy pervert."

"I'm sorry but I was watching you infact," he said in a low tone lifting his hand to my cheek and running the pad of his thumb over my lips. "And like I thought, it's good to know I'm the only one for you."

Maybe it was the lights, or the atmosphere of the club or how sincere his tone was but I can feel my heart beating abnormally fast.

"You think I'm going to fall for this awkward charade?" The man sneered once more and I remembered we weren't alone as I turned away.

"Charade? I'll admit, your ego is rather strong. You still don't get it. A shame. But I wonder how it would handle being crushed by my man," I said wrapping my arms around him like a lover would do and I was slightly reminded of Heather but I didn't let it bother me as a chill passed through my heart as I whispered in his ear.

"Thank you," I said and he turned to me with a mischievous glint to his eye.

"Your man?"

"Would you believe me if I said I didn't expect you to pick anything else from that?" I said and he chuckled pressing me against his side as I ran a hand through his hair. "Close your eyes, Ryder. I'd like to get this over with. Don't tell me you like this fellow creep as an audience."

"Alright. After all I am the only creep in your life," he said tucking a stray hair behind my ear and kissed my earlobe as he whispered. "Am I allowed to touch you? I'll warn you we might end up like the exhibitionists you saw when you came in."

His whisper rang over and over in my mind and I couldn't help but think of sounded like a caress, a dark caress, one that had made everything hazy and blurry as my head spin when he bit my earlobe and the hand on my waist dropped to the curve of my derriere.

"What if I can't control myself and pull your dress down or maybe I'll control over my fingers and lips and they ended under the fabric of your dress? This is just the beginning. I don't doubt you can survive this but will you be okay afterwards?"

His breathing was increasing almost as rapidly as mine was and I could feel its intense effect from the tips of my ears to my toes and back before looking back in my ears. Just as I'm weighing the pros and cons if I should indulge in this fan, everything goes dark and I'm reminded of the event.

"Don't worry. I would never do anything you don't want me to. But I'll ask are you really willing to miss out on this chance?"

"Chance?"

"For you, to keep away all the useless pervert clinging onto you. For me, it is a chance to kiss you."

He doesn't explain further but he doesn't have to. He can kiss me without any chances of me flying off the handle like the last time and I immediately feel guilty but maybe it's because it's dark and this prospect makes his idea sound so appealing and I pull his head down. The darkness doesn't seem to affect anything and our lips clash in a hot tangled mess as he pulls me unbelievably close to him letting out what I can describe as a guttural groan as he presses me against the wall I was previously against.

"My God, Diana," he groaned pressing his lips firmly onto my own and let's his hand wander and fervent heat licks under my skin following the path of his hands as he strokes my spine and I arch my back pressing against him grabbing fistfuls of his hair and he groans softly, letting his hand skim along my side where the fabric ends meeting the bare skin of my back and he squeezes my breast making me gasp as his tongue ventures into my mouth.

For a few minutes, the world around us is forgotten, the club, the southern and it just me and him kissing as if we depended on it. His kisses drive me crazy, he drives me crazy. Maybe it's the way he holds me to him as if I might just disappear, or the way he relinquishes his dominance and I can't help but feel as if it's a test. Probably one to see if I'm ready to stop but I don't and just as I have my hands on my own dominance he takes back the reigns having me follow his lead as he hitches me up against the wall and I wrap my legs around his waist for support and I realize the kiss, I doubt I can be called a kiss anymore, affects him to as I feel his hands skimming around my bare thighs and the front of his pants brushes against me and I could feel my own legs quivering.

"Ryder..!?"

"Fuck! What are you doing to me?" He  mumbles kissing along my jaw and I swear I'm moments from melting or maybe it just the heat pooling in between my legs but I can barely concentrate as he nibbles against the skin on my neck that is probably one of my erogenous zones and my eyes roll to the back of my head. It's a sure-fire that it will leave a mark as my hands drop to his shoulders running my hands on the bare flesh of his neck onto his chest peeking from his shirt that may or may not have been the work of my straying hands.

Though my mind is barely functional, I can figure that this is not like any of the other kissing we've shared. It was intense, passionate and nothing less of carnal and we both know it's no longer about keeping the creeps away. His lips venture down the length of my neck and he nestles his face on the valley of my breasts, nibbling, sucking and kissing along the way and I let out a breath sigh as I shift my body trying to deflect the uncomfortable heat but with no avail as I brush against the hard length hidden under his pants and he groans, a callous hands fondling the skin of my thigh as he rocks back against me and I'm ready to let go as the venturing hand brushes against the skin of my stomach and paws against the hard mound on my breast. Between the rocking between us, the fingers tweaking the hard mound and his dirty words urging me to prove to the lousy pervert from earlier I'm doing fine without him all that was left was me losing my goddamn mind which is what I do over a string of curses, with his name alternating a few selected times as the lights go on and my eyes flutter open briefly as I look into his eyes and he smiled before leaning towards me and he pressed a kiss at the corner of my lips.

"You did good snowflake," he mumbled against my cheek as both his hands cupped my butt as he rested his face against my neck and took a deep breath making me shiver as he placed a chaste kiss on my collarbone. A climax, from a kiss. Who would have thought, I wondered as I ran a hand through his disheveled hair courtesy of my wandering hands, trying to figure out what had just happened as it hit me. Fuck, I'd just dry humped him and climaxed from it. What on earth..?

"I don't think I have ever heard you curse so much ever since I met you, or ever for that matter," he said looking up at me with a look I've never seen before as he adjusted the drooping straps of my dress.

"What can I say, you bring out this side of me," I said cupping his face and he smiled but seemingly our time was up.

"Diana!?" An angry voice called out and I looked up to find Jaime marching towards us with a look I've never seen before as Ryder set me on my feet and he immediately pulled me away from him and shielded behind him.

"Jaime, what the heck?"

"Out of all the people you could have chosen here, him?" he asked looking pissed and I furrowed my eyebrows in confusion.

"Why are you so mad? What's your deal?" I asked shifting my gaze to Ryder who looked oddly smug as he winked at me despite his swollen lips and disheveled hair and I diverted my gaze embarrassed.

"Are you kidding me? He's Ryder Stone. His name alone should make you keep away from him," he said as I pinched the brow of my nose.

"So he's Ryder Stone? What's new?" I asked and the said male chuckled as Jaime figured I was a lost cause.

"He's Ryder Stone. He came after you because you're acquainted with me. I didn't recognize him from the theater before but I do and he's bad news."

"Still thinking less of me Chase," Ryder called out and I looked at him quirked an eyebrow in question. Not many people knew his name was Chase Jaime Reyes *his parents couldn't decide on the names they wanted and gave him both*. There was another one in there but Jaime wouldn't repeat it for the world.

"Shut it Ryder. I'll never forget what you did and I won't let you pull her into the middle of this," Jaime said coldly and I looked at him shocked as he grabbed my arm. Just what I needed. "We're leaving."

"What the hell is going on? Jaime!?" I asked taking back my hand and he looked at me shocked and for a moment I swear I saw Ryder smirk.

"I'm taking you home."

"You should let her decide."

"We are leaving."

"Not until you tell me what's going on?" I said and he cast a glare towards Ryder as if blaming him for this and my gaze shifted between the two.

"You want to know. Alright. He's bad news and you should stay away from him," he said and I could see Ryder roll his eyes before he shifted his gaze towards me and I groaned inwardly knowing that they both expected me to make a choice and I straightened my back looking at both of them.

"Okay fine don't tell me. As far as I'm concerned, Jaime you've always been a decent gentleman since I met you," I said and Ryder scoffed making me raise an eyebrow at him. "I'm not sure what exactly you did to have him treat you like this but keep me out of it. And yet putting this aside, I'll see you around."

I finished keeping my gaze on Jaime daring him to say something against it but he didn't.