Chapter Fifteen

The next day was Sunday. On the weekends, Tori always tried to make time for a big run along the Thames from Canary Wharf to London Bridge and back. Strapped to her arm, her mobile phone played her favorite music, providing a running beat. Today the sun had made a rare appearance, and she tilted her smiling face up, the warm rays suffusing her. Vitamin D at its finest.

As she approached the midpoint of her run, her mobile buzzed. She stopped in the shadow of London Bridge to look and didn’t recognize the number. Clicking on the text, hope flared.

Randy: Hi. I enjoyed meeting you last night.

Excitement raced through her. He hadn’t even waited a full twenty-four hours to contact her. Standing there by the river, panting and sweaty, she typed a reply.

Candi: Me 2. Thanks for making my 1st time at Club E super!

She started to put her phone back onto her arm but paused. Hoping again.

It buzzed.

Randy: I’m counting the days till Sat

Candi: Me too! Only 6 more to go

Randy: Talk to u tomorrow. Bye

Smiling, she strapped her phone back in place and continued running, her steps extra bouncy the last five miles home.

On Monday, after arriving at her chambers, she took a look at her docket. Her courtroom nemesis wasn’t scheduled the entire week, and she sighed in relief, not wanting anything to ruin her high over her mystery man.

Her mobile buzzed, and a rush of pleasure flooded her.

Randy: Hey Sexy. Hope you have a nice day! Hard to concentrate. All I can think about is u.

She wondered what he did for a living. They hadn’t talked about it, but then again, they hadn’t actually talked about anything. She giggled.

For once in her life, her habitually hyper careful conduct hadn’t ruled her life. Not worrying about the consequences of every little action had freed her to have some fun. And, hell yes, she wanted more. Rapidly, she typed a reply.

Candi: Ditto back at you! This job is super boring when I’d rather be dancing w/u

Randy: Are you free to come sooner than Sat maybe?

She was torn. Would it be fair to ask Diana to drop everything and take her midweek? She didn’t want to be totally dependent at the club as Randy’s guest. At least not until she knew him better.

Candi: I wish but not possible. You know. busy busy even if it is boring. TTFN

Randy: Okay sexy thing. Till 2moro

And so began a week of flirting via text, something new and exciting in her life. She checked her phone constantly.

On Tuesday he sent one first thing in the morning.

Randy: Hey sexy. Still 4 days to go! I’m losin it :(

She liked that her mystery man was so antsy to meet up again. For the first time in years, she stopped worrying that every utterance be perfectly professional and worthy of her silk robe. Or maybe it was the secrecy of the medium that allowed her to let her hair down, figuratively if not yet literally. Whatever! She didn’t care. Giggling like a schoolgirl, she typed whatever she felt like.

Candi: Oh, poor you! Is Randy randy?

Randy: Definitely! Randy and Candi sitting in a tree… K I S S I N G

Candi: Is there by any chance a jungle room at the club?

Randy: No. I wish, cause u and a tree, some rope, maybe a swing. So many possibilities.

Candi: Too bad. :(

Randy: But there are swings. Special swings. And of course, rope.

Swings? She sucked in a breath, and her pulse raced. What would it be like to do it in a swing? Desire flooded her where she sat in her chambers, but in a good way—not the frustrated, no-end-in-sight way that had driven her crazy for so many years.

She dared herself to take the next step.

“Go on, Tori! Become the brave woman you’ve always wanted to be.”

She typed quickly, before she changed her mind.

Candi: I think we need to FINISH what we started!

Hitting send, she sat in her chambers and counted slowly. She got to six.

Randy: U mean the full monty????!!!

Candi: Only if you are…UP for it?

Randy: U r kidding. Right? My knob is ready, willing, and able

Candi: Super

Randy: Do we REALLY have to wait till Sat? I can’t STAND it

Again, she was torn. She’d happily meet him tonight, if it were up to her. Right now, even.

Candi: Tell u what. I’ll ask Sandy and we’ll see. It’s all I can promise

Randy: TY, TY, a thousand times TY :) I’ll be waiting to hear

Candi: Keep your knob at the ready LOL

She kept him waiting most of the day on Wednesday. Diana, although surprised by her request, had easily agreed to take her the next evening. “I never go on Thursdays, so it’ll be fun to see who’s there,” she said.

Tori thanked her profusely and then sat on the information, wanting to make her man earn it. Midafternoon, after she’d adjourned but before leaving the courtroom, her mobile buzzed.

Randy: Well?????

Chuckling, she tapped out a retort.

Candi: Patience, patience

Randy: You’re killing me

She laughed aloud. The clerk gave her a funny look—Judge Whittingstall wasn’t known for her jolly personality. She waited until she’d made it to her chambers and shut the door.

Candi: Thursday 22:00 I’ll be the lady in a mask

Randy: Ha-ha. I’ll be the man jumping up and down w/excitement

Unadulterated happiness flooded her. While she tried to think of a cute response, he buzzed again.

Randy: A part of me is already up

Candi: Full or half-staff?

Randy: Full, baby, full

Candi: Candi’s ready to play with a randy Randy

Randy: OMG. Tonight? Please!

Candi: Tomorrow

Randy: Pouting

She laughed, big belly laughs in the privacy of her chambers. Pleasure filled her, making her more effervescent and lighthearted than any martini ever could.

Candi: I’ll make the wait worth it, I promise

Randy: Brilliant! Till 2moro then

It was Thursday afternoon at last! The day had dragged so slowly she’d wanted to pull her hair out at times—or perhaps her constant state of semi arousal drove her impatience. Finally, it was over. She took off her black silk robe and headed home to prepare.

Walking from the Canary Wharf Tube station, she couldn’t stop thinking about the coming rendezvous, although she did spare a few minutes on her nemesis. A last-minute change in the docket had had Ian appearing before her for a motion earlier this afternoon. As he’d approached the bench, she’d girded herself for another dose of his sexual innuendo, but nothing had happened.

Perhaps he had finally accepted that she was off-limits. Although, the more she thought about it, the more it seemed he’d been distracted, not completely present.

Well, it didn’t matter. She had more exciting things to think about. And playing with her mystery man came without consequences—the club’s secrecy would protect her career and free her to finally become the sexual being she’d longed to be.

She’d waited all day for her mystery man to text her, but her mobile had remained silent. As she was walking home, her phone vibrated, and she stopped in the middle of the sidewalk to whip it from her purse.

Randy: Hey sexy. Super busy day. Sorry couldn’t txt b4 but u were on my mind all day

Candi: No problem but glad to hear you aren’t losing interest

Randy: Not a chance. Had a boner all day thinking about tonight

She grinned, fingers poised to reply.

Randy: Hope you don’t mind me saying that. But if you could see me…HUGE!

A passerby jostled her. She’d been completely lost to her surroundings, and her eyes went wide at seeing the throngs of pedestrians hurrying around her. Here she stood on the busy sidewalk, a dame commander of the Order of the British Empire, breathless and excited, her knees mush. She needed to sit down before her legs gave out. And she was wet! In the throes of passion…with her mobile phone.

Her gaze swept the crowded sidewalk, taking in the expressions of those nearest her. No one paid her any attention, although she got a few glares as people had to swerve around her. Once again, her vibrating phone caught her attention.

Randy: R u still there?

Candi: Yes, sorry. An interruption

Quickly she typed another.

Candi: But as to your HUGEness. You have a high opinion of yourself LOL

Randy: You can judge my amplitude yourself anytime sexy thing

Candi: A hands-on appraisal would be the most accurate test. Perhaps a tasting, too?

Randy: STOP! I’m going to blow my wad right here at work

Candi: Well, don’t! Save it for me

She stunned even herself with her brazen demands, but she loved this new side of her.

Randy: Sexy Thing, I want you so much I could polish my knob all day long & I’d still be ready, willing, and able…for you

Candi: Mmm! Can’t wait!

Randy: To quote Usher, Ooh baby baby

She tittered and started walking. She didn’t know who Usher was—a singer, most likely—but still it made her feel old. Definitely older than her mystery man.

How old was he? She silently asked that question more each day but had no intention of ever actually asking him.

“Don’t worry about it!” she admonished herself.

She wasn’t marrying Randy, just screwing him, and didn’t men date younger women all the time?

I won’t let the old me ruin this. It’s finally time for my inner goddess to live.

And a goddess would be bold and assertive—she certainly wouldn’t worry about age. She would thrust and parry instead.

Candi: I think you’ll know exactly how to make me whisper Ooh

Randy: Whisper? I’m going to make you scream

Oh my! She shivered in delight, her insides curling and tightening.

Candi: I’ll hold you to that

Randy: I’m a man of my word. See you ASAP!

In a daze, she waved hello to her doorman, Johnny, and rode the lift to her flat. It was hard to believe that only a little over a week ago she had felt defeated, old, and worn-out. Not any longer—she had taken a chance, pushed her boundaries, and now life had become something she looked forward to. It blew her mind.

She gazed out at her favorite view of the Thames and hugged herself. Tonight, she’d risk her heart, but she wasn’t afraid anymore. Finally having been given this chance, she’d explore with her whole being the thrust and parry of human sexuality. She would play the game full out.

Whatever else happened, she would finally have her wild sex.