Surrender 01 - Surrender

shaking as if he really had been there stroking her flesh.
    “It was only a dream,” she said again , furrowing her brow at her reflection, as if she couldn't believe her audacity to be so turned on .
    Her one and only sexual experience had been in college and it had been horrible. The guy had only been concerned with himself and hadn’t given her body time to prepare. The pain had been excruciating when he’d thrust quickly inside her. She knew sex could be good, but she figured she was somehow broken, maybe frigid. That’s really why she didn’t understand her dream.
    She could understand the end, the painful part, but the pleasure before that? Wow. She’d never in her life felt something so intense, and since she didn’t have anything to compare it to, confusion swirled around in her head. She wished she’d never read his stupid paperwork, never filled her mind with such ideas.
    She didn’t want to be tied up with silk scarves. She certainly didn’t want him to take all the pleasure for himself and leave her hollow and aching. If only she were able to turn off her mind, purge him completely from her system. That would make her life so much easier. Though it was still the middle of the night, she knew it would be long before she found sleep again.
    Turning on her shower, she stepped under the warm spray and washed away the sweat her erotic dream had produced. As she passed her fingers over her swollen folds, she flinched. Never had a dream made her body ache.
    Pressing her hand tightly against her heat, she tried to knead away the tension and torment that still throbbed from her very core all the way down the sensitive skin of her thighs. After a fifteen-minute shower, she was no closer to feeling relief, so she dried off and climbed back in bed.
    Ari tossed and turned the rest of the night, not finding any solace in sleep. She was hungry , and when a woman craves something, there is no use in fighting it.

Chapter Ten

    “Ari, would you like to join us? We’re heading to the Temple Night Club for some sushi and dancing. We have got to have some girl time before heading home to the husbands and kids for the entire weekend.”
    Ari smiled at Miley, one of her co-workers, and thought how much she really loved her job. The women she worked with were wonderful and patient as she learned her varying tasks, and now they even included her in going out with them.
    “I’d love to,” she said, feeling truly good for the first time since her mother’s accident. She’d received an advance from work, so she had a little extra cash in her pocket even after the rent was paid, and she was succeeding on her own. To top that all off, she had a reason to celebrate.
    “Why are you in such a great mood?” Miley asked.
    “I just received the best news ever. The hospital has found the funds for my mother’s operation. I thought I might have to prostitute myself, but it turns out that waiting was the right decision to make. I’m sure my mother’s going to be just fine, and my life will finally get back to normal,” Ari answered with a wink.
    Miley looked at her in shock for a moment before laughing. Miley though t she was joking, Ari knew, but her co-worker had no idea how close Ari truly had come to signing along the dotted line for Rafe Palazzo. If the funds hadn’t materialized, she would have been left with no choice.
    A hundred-pound weight had been lifted from Ari’s shoulders that she hadn’t realized was resting there. It was time to paint the town red, and the best part of all was that she could do it guilt free.
    She gathered her purse and coat, then followed the three women from the building.
    “I got my performance bonus today, so the first round of drinks is on me,” Shelly said.
    “Mine came in too, so I claim second round ,” Amber told them with a big grin.
    “How many drinks are we having?” Ari asked with trepidation. Her one experience of getting drunk hadn’t gone well — in fact, it had gone downright horribly.
    “As many as it takes to start making my not - so - fi t and very balding husband start looking like one of the Chippendale dancers,” Shelly said, causing the group of women to laugh.
    “I’d say that’s at least twenty tequila shots if he looks anything like my husband,” Miley piped in.
    Ari stayed quiet as the other women bantered back and forth on their ride down the elevator. She didn’t want to offend them by not joining in their fun, but she was terrified to