Page 1

Chapter 1

Raven

L ife fucking blows. There isn’t another way to put it; it’s so goddamn boring. Why does it have to be so blah with all the little menial tasks and bullshit? The only thing I look forward to lately is getting off work and curling up with my newest dark romance novel.

Day in and day out, it’s the same endless cycle on repeat. I go to work and then go home. There’s nothing else. It never has been, and I’m fucking tired of it. I’m tired of sitting back and watching everyone around me have fun. Tired of only reading about the lives other people live. I’m ready to be part of it.

“Hey Beth, are you guys still headed out tonight?” I holler to my kind of friend on the other side of the office.

She spins around and hauls ass toward me.

“Raven! Are you saying that you are finally going to join us at the bar tonight?” She squeals, gripping my arms in her tiny manicured talons.

“Yeah, I think I might give it a chance. But I swear to god if I get bored, I’m going home to my books. They never let me down,” I bite out, peeling her fingers out of my flesh.

I rub at the tiny fingernail marks on my arm and give her the best smile I can manage. We are the absolute opposite of each other, and despite that fact, we get along reasonably well.

“I promise it won’t be boring! You have no idea the fun we have on our girls’ night,” she rushes out, sliding her arm through mine while pulling me along behind her.

“So, where are we going?” I ask, suddenly aware of my office attire that I’m now forced to wear out tonight.

“We’ll be hitting The Zoo first for our pregame – and then we will most likely end up at Midnight Secrets. Every one of us needs to let off some steam, and it’s the perfect place to do it.”

I stop dead in my tracks and spin her to look at me.

“Midnight Secrets? As in the sex club?” I ask, confused.

There is no fucking way these stuck-up, preppy girls go to that place to let loose.

“Damn straight. Why screw some random guy in a filthy bar when you can do it discreetly in a club that has strict rules,” she says, bewildered by my question. “Plus, you can order exactly what you want and who you want.”

The devilish smile that spreads across her lips when she says the last part has me feeling a little apprehensive as to who exactly she is. She sure in the hell isn’t the person I thought she was. I shrug and let her know that I’m going to head home for a bite to eat and shower before going out. If I’m going to Midnight Secrets, I’m going to look my best. These boring office uniforms sure in the hell, aren’t it.

“See you there!” I call to her before tucking into my car and shutting the door.

She waves me off, and suddenly, I feel very uncomfortable about it all. Maybe I'll bail. The last time I went out, I attended a local rave, and while I had fun, I came home with a fresh tattoo and no idea where it came from. I’m a messy drunk. One that has the tendency to keep drinking, just to push away the social anxiety until I black out.

“What do I have to lose?” I ask with a hint of hysterics in my voice.

My eyes land on the little skeleton duck on my dashboard.

“What are you looking at?” I hiss at the little thing. “I’m not crazy for this. I’m bored and could use some dick for once.”

It just stares back at me, and I shake my head at myself and shove the key into the ignition. In This Moment instantly blares through the speakers, and I giggle a little when I realize what song it is. Maria Brink screams the lyrics to Whore through the tiny speakers in my doors, and I find it way too ironic. Shit. Maybe it’s a sign.

Have I officially entered my hoe phase? Please say I have. I need to open up and have some fun.

Stepping out of my car near The Zoo, where I told Beth I would meet her, I suddenly became nervous. This is the first time I’ve agreed to go out with anyone since I moved here eight months ago for work, and every part of the introvert in me is screaming for me to get back in the car and drive straight home.

Instead of listening to that little voice, I slam my door shut and click the lock button on my key fob before dropping my keys into my purse. I look around for a moment when my eyes land on a little shop in front of me. It's my reflection. I see me in all my glory, and what I see shocks me. I went all out tonight with my outfit, and the way the night lights of downtown shine around me, make me look like an angel of death, and I couldn’t be more proud.

The leather skirt I chose rests just across the bottom of my ass, where the fishnets I picked out today disappear underneath. Up top is a sheer top that leaves absolutely nothing to the imagination, and I made sure to put on my pasties before leaving home. I don’t need to get slammed with indecent exposure because I want to look good while I have fun. The cute little X’s cover my nipples perfectly, but they’re kind of a pain when I move a certain way, and they pull at my piercings underneath. I also decided to forgo the panties against my better judgment, and I’m starting to regret that, too. It’s freezing out here, and the cold draft running straight up my skirt has my pussy freezing shut.

Grabbing the edges of my overcoat, I pull it tight around my body to hide all the exposed skin from the bite in the air. It does little good since there is more skin than clothes tonight.

Why did I subject myself to living somewhere where the air hurts my skin?

Oh shit, that’s right. Bugs. There are no big bad poisonous bugs here, and there surely aren’t any giant snakes and alligators, either. That is why I torture myself with all this cold and snow here in South Dakota instead of moving to Louisiana as I had initially planned.

Stepping into the bar, I’m assaulted by pounding music so loud I can hardly hear myself think, and a swarm of people vying for a drink at the bar. I’m just about ready to say fuck it and head home when Beth eyes me from across the packed place. Not sure how she recognized me considering the outfit, but sure as shit, that tiny blonde and pink bundle of already buzzed flies at me, and latches onto me for dear life.

“I’m so fucking happy you came, Raven!” She beams at me, hauling me to the front of the line at the bar.

People all around us grumble and complain about us budging, but Beth must have some hookups around here because the moment the cute guy behind the bar sees her, he lights up and comes straight over. I place my order for a whiskey on the rocks and am served quickly. Beth yanks me over to her table, where her friends are swaying to the music pounding overhead.

I sip away at my drink while I stand next to them while they gush over the guys hanging around the table like vultures. It would seem like the more songs that play on, the closer they get, and I’m getting pissed. If I wanted to get felt up by a bunch of college punks, I would go to a frat party.

“Beth, I think I’m going to get out of here,” I yell over the drop of the next song.

“No! You can’t go yet,” she pouts. “We were just about to head over to the club. Don’t you want to be there for that?. Trust me when I say it’s so much better than this. The only reason we deal with these young horny bastards here is because it’s cheap alcohol.”

I watch her for a moment, trying to decide if I should go along with it or not, but she makes up my mind for me when she throws back her entire drink and pulls me toward the door.

“Let’s go, ladies! It’s time to get fucked!” She screams to us all.

Her brazen words make me giggle wildly, and I can feel the unease and tension cause me to giggle wildly and I can feel the unease and tension drain from my body.

Maybe it’ll be a good night after all.