A NIGHT OF SURPRISES

Molly hurried down the crowded city street, her high-heeled shoes clicking a rapid tattoo against the cracked pavement. She was going to be late for work again, she just knew it. This would be the third time this month, and she had a feeling that her boss’s patience was wearing thin. She thought of Rick and her stomach did a little flip flop; then she cursed herself. Thinking of Rick always had that effect on her and she hated it, but there was little she could do about it. He was a pine marten, very handsome, with shining brown eyes and a body to die for, and he was also the owner of the club at which Molly danced. If that wasn’t enough to make him off-limits, he was also already going out with someone else, another pine marten named Mari who tended bar at the club. Molly shook her head disgustedly. This was a bad time in her life to be lusting after a man she couldn’t have. She had enough problems. For the past two years, Molly had been attending a small liberal arts college in the city, where she had decided to major in business. The first year and a half had been fine; her parents had been paying her tuition and she had been able to live the life of a normal college student: going to class, working a couple of hours at a burger joint, studying until the wee hours of the morning every weekday, and then partying until dawn on Friday and Saturday, before sleeping until two p.m. on Sunday. Then her parents had both been killed in a hit and run accident, and everything had changed. They had left her a little money, enough to finish paying her tuition for the year and to keep her fed and clothed, but nothing else. When she had returned for her junior year, Molly had been in a panic. She knew that there was no way that she could raise tuition money working a couple hours here and there at the burger restaurant she had cooked at in the past. She had been walking aimlessly through the streets near campus one day, wondering what was going to become of her, when she had spotted a “Dancers Wanted” sign in the window of a club called The Goddess. Molly had danced all throughout high school, and although she hadn’t pursued the sport in college she thought she might as well look into the job. It couldn’t hurt, after all. She had gone inside the club on a whim, and upon entering had realized immediately that the place was a strip club. She had been expecting some kind of theatrical revue or a cabaret, but the large silver pole in the middle of the stage, and the pictures of naked women on the walls had told a different story.

She had been on the verge of walking out again when a voice had called out from behind her, asking her if she needed some help. She had spun around and that was when she had seen Rick for the first time. He had been behind the bar, polishing glasses, and she had said something inane about having read the sign wrong. Then they had begun to talk, and Molly had walked rather dazedly out of the club almost a half an hour later, clutching a new worker’s contract in one paw. To this day, she was rather unsure of how exactly Rick had managed to talk her in to working for him, but that had been the beginning of her time at his club. She had considered herself a fairly free spirit when it came to sex, but taking her clothes off in front of all those people the first few times had been a terrible experience. The feeling of all those hungry eyes upon her had made her feel more than just naked; they had made her feel completely exposed and utterly vulnerable. The other girls, hard bitten strippers the lot of them, had laughed at her when she had walked off from her first set shaking and near tears, but Rick had comforted her, told her not to let it bother her, that it would get easier with time. She had hated showing weakness in front of a stranger, but he had made her feel better.

“Hell,” he had said that first night, “you might even come to enjoy it.” Dancing gave you a strange kind of power, he said, because a good dancer commanded the fantasies of every single man in the room. Molly shook her head, marveling at how naïve she had been only those few months ago. Rick had been right in a way. She had come to enjoy it, but it was a bitter enjoyment, a pleasure that came from the knowledge that she was taunting these men with what they could never have. She understood that her audience projected their fantasies upon her, gave her their own little back stories detailing what she did behind closed doors. For an hour or two or three, they would live out their fantasies by watching her dance, and then they would go home to their frigid wives or to their empty apartments, feeling a little bit emptier than when they had left. Molly glanced at her watch and increased her pace. She was ten minutes in the hole already, but she only had a few blocks to go; maybe Rick wouldn’t notice.

*******************************

“Where the hell is Molly?” Rick shouted to no one in particular. He looked down at his watch. The panda was over fifteen minutes late, and she had already come in late three times this month. He released an exasperated sigh and ran his paws through his already untidy brown hair, making it stick out in every direction. He liked the girl, really liked her in fact; she was a nice change from the hardened, cynical women he usually had to deal with, but this was getting out of hand. He knew she was trying to juggle this job with being a full-time student, but he had to think about his business, too. He would have to talk to her after she got off tonight.

“What do you want us to do boss?” asked a voice from behind him, and Rick turned, coming face to face with Christina, a harshly pretty lynx female currently wearing only a golden g-string and an annoyed expression. “Molly has the first set, and she isn’t here yet.”Rick ran a paw through his hair once more, closed his eyes, took a deep breath and then said,

“Ok, tell Jennifer to take over Molly’s set. She’s always bugging me for more stage time anyway.”

“Wait! Wait! I’m here!” Both Christina and Rick turned to see Molly hurtling through the stage door and almost tripping over a pair of shoes someone had left in the middle of the floor. “I’m sorry I’m late,” she said, throwing her purse down near a dressing table and beginning to strip off her clothes. “My professor wanted to talk to me after class and he just wouldn’t shut up, and I really couldn’t just walk out on him because I’m worried about failing that class, and--” Rick cut her off.

“Just get dressed, Molly. You’re first set is in five.”

“Right, five, got it.” She proceeded to strip down to her underwear, and then ran over to the costume rack, where she hastily selected her favorite costume, a criminally short, bejeweled version of a Chinese hanfu, with matching g-string and bikini top. She also took down a pair of large oriental fans from the prop rack. It looked as if it was going to be the ever popular fan dance again tonight. Rick nodded approvingly. The girl had sense. She knew how to play the audience, using her Chinese heritage to tap into a few fantasies. He shook his head, eyeing the Panda’s shoulder length white hair, her long legs, trim waist, and large but incredibly upright breasts. She really was every man’s dream. He realized that he was staring and hastily turned away. It was bad business to get mixed up with employees, but damn it, he did like the girl. She was intelligent and had a sort of sharp sweetness which set her apart from the other dancers. Not to mention the fact that she was a total knock-out in the looks department. Get it together Ricky boy, he told himself as he walked from the dressing room into the club itself. You already have a girlfriend, remember. Said girlfriend was standing behind the bar, making a vodka martini.

“Hi, Babe,” He said, leaning over the bar to give Mari a quick peck on the cheek. “How’s business?”

“Slow,” she said, “But it’ll pick up later tonight. It always does.”

“Yeah,” Rick said, his thoughts straying back to Molly.

“What’s on your mind?”

“Huh? Oh, nothing.”

“Nothing doesn’t make you get that cute little half-smile on your face. “ Mari smiled. “Thinking about me?”

“Yeah,” Rick said, a little bit too quickly.

“Hmm, not me. Ah, it was Molly, wasn’t it?” Rick started and looked at Mari with wide eyes.

“How the hell did you know that?”

“Lucky guess,” she said dryly. “I know you have a thing for that girl. I’d have a thing for her myself, if I was that way inclined. She’s a cute kid. You should go for it if you ever get a chance.”

“What?”

“Do I have to spell it out? We’ve been through this Rick. I don’t mind if you sleep with other women, just as long as I know about it. I think she’s cute, and I can tell that she also has a thing for you, so I would not be averse to seeing the two of you hook up.”

“Did I ever mention how much I love you, Mari?”

“Just a couple of hours ago, actually.”

“Well, I think it needs to be said again. How did I ever find a girlfriend like you?”

“Luck.” They both laughed, and Mari stretched over the bar to give him a firm, lingering kiss. “Make sure you tell me about what little Miss Molly is like in the sack. Part of the deal is that I get to know details.” Rick found that he was almost blushing.

“Cut it out Mari. I don’t even know if she likes me.”

“Of course she does. Have you seen the way she looks at you?”

“Oh lay off. I’ve got work to do.”

“Alright, alright, but when you come home late some night this week, I’ll know where you were.”

“Mari!”

“Shoo, you have work to do, and I have thirsty customers.” Mari flapped her dish towel at him, and he left, shaking his head in bewilderment. He would never understand women, not if he lived to be a hundred.

*******************************

Molly swayed and twirled to the music on the narrow stage, smiling and flirting with the audience. She was down to her bikini set now, and she bent down slowly to pick up one of the fans that she had stored at the back of the stage, using it to cover her breasts as she untied the bikini with her other paw. She smiled at one of the guys in the front row, and dropped her top on the stage directly in front of him, still covering her breasts with the fan. She went to retrieve the other fan, and began to do a slow, hypnotic dance, thrusting her hips to the music, and moving the fans in serpentine arcs so that her breasts were revealed for only a fraction of a second before they were covered by one of the fans again. At the music’s crescendo, she tossed the fans away, grabbed hold of the silver pole in the middle of the stage and twirled slowly down it, landing with her knees spread and her hands on the floor. She tossed her shining white hair and crawled towards the edge of the stage, dollar bills raining down around her. A raccoon in the front row was holding out a fifty dollar bill. Molly snatched it, and smiling seductively at him, she slid off the stage and straddled his lap. She pumped her hips against him, never actually making contact with his body, and he gave her the look of vapid hunger that she had already grown used to receiving from members of the audience. She pulled away, still smiling, and blew the raccoon a kiss. Then she hoisted herself back onstage and finished the song in a series of wild twirls around the pole, ending on her hands and knees, looking out at the audience through a curtain of her hair. There was a smattering of applause, and Molly gave a little curtsey before scrabbling to collect the bills on the stage, and the pieces of her costume, before hurrying off. This had been her last set, and it had also been the last dance of the night. She glanced at the large clock on the wall of the dressing room as she went to find her clothes and saw that it read two o’clock a.m. She shook her head and sighed. She still had an article to read for her comparative economics class. She hated working the last shift, but she had to take what she could get.

All of the other girls had already left, so Molly got dressed in silence. She folded all of the dollar bills she had collected and secured them with a thick rubber band before placing them in her purse. She would count them later. She had just turned to leave when someone cleared their throat behind her. She turned and saw Rick standing in the doorway of the dressing room.

“Could I talk to you, Molly?” Molly felt her stomach contract. Was he going to fire her already? She couldn’t afford to lose this job. She swallowed, her throat giving a dry click.

“Sure, Rick. What’s up?”

“Why don’t we sit down,” he said, gesturing to the old sofa that the dancers had pushed against the wall of the dressing room.

“Ok.” She dropped her purse and then walked over to the sofa perching herself nervously on the edge of the cushions. Rick joined her a moment later, giving a sigh as he settled into the deep cushions.

“Is Mari still here?” she asked, trying vainly to avoid the conversation that she knew must be coming.

“Nope. She just left.” He picked at a speck of lint on his jeans. “Listen, Molly, I need to talk to you about how often you’re late for work--”

“Rick, please don’t fire me. “ Molly said, and although her voice didn’t shake, her eyes were abnormally bright. “I need this job. I’ll try harder I promise. I’ll do whatever you want, take the late shift every night, I don’t care, just please, please don’t fire me.” She drew a breath to say more, she wasn’t sure exactly what, but Rick held up a paw.

“I’m not going to fire you, Molly,” he said, “I just wanted to make sure that you were ok.” This was not quite a lie. He hadn’t wanted to fire the girl, but he had wanted to chastise her for being late all the time. Somehow he just couldn’t bring himself to do it. She seemed so upset by the thought of losing her job that he couldn’t find it in him to worry her further.

“I’m fine,” she said immediately, and he smiled disbelievingly. That usually meant that things were far from fine. She seemed to see that he didn’t believe her, because she sighed and shook her head. “Well, I guess things aren’t that fine. I’m having trouble in my classes, and I haven’t really been getting much sleep lately. Then there’s juggling school and work…Well, you don’t want to hear about my problems. I can cope.” Rick looked at Molly as if seeing her for the first time. The girl really was tough. And beautiful. He found himself staring at her lips, full and pouting, still covered with the scarlet stage paint she used for performances. He wondered what it would be like to kiss those lips. “Is something wrong Rick?” Molly asked. She was smiling at him in a way which made Rick think that she knew exactly where he had been looking and to which direction his thoughts had been straying.

“No, nothing wrong, just, um, thinking.”

“Ah, ok.” Molly kept her face calm, but her insides were in turmoil. She had just seen Rick looking at her as if he wanted to kiss her. That must mean that he liked her. And if he liked her, why shouldn’t she let him know that she liked him back? It had been so long since she had been romantically attached to a man, and she found herself longing for even an affectionate brush of Rick’s paw across her cheek. She thought of Rick’s girlfriend, and tried to tell herself that he was off-limits, but it was no good. He was too close to her, and her feelings for him were too strong to listen to logic. She didn’t know if it was lust or genuine affection, or a mixture of the two. All she knew was that she wanted to kiss him before he got away from her. Without another word, she scooted close to Rick and pressed her lips to his. At first Rick simply sat there, his body stiff and his eyes wide with surprise, but then he began to kiss Molly back. He opened his mouth to her, and their tongues touched. The kiss deepened and became something hungry, something all-consuming and more intoxicating than the headiest liquor. Molly found herself getting lost in it as their tongues stroked and tasted at one another, and their lips melded together in a searing vice. She realized that they had lain back on the sofa together, that Rick was on top of her, kissing her with his paws buried in her hair, and she couldn’t remember how they gotten into this position. Her thoughts seemed to be disintegrating. There was something wrong. What was it? She pushed against Rick’s chest and he pulled away, looking puzzled.

“What is it?” he asked, lowering his head again to trail kisses over her throat.

“Mari.” Molly gasped. Rick’s kisses were making it hard to think. “You have a girlfriend.”

“She doesn’t mind.”

“What?”

“It’s kind of hard to explain. Mari says that she doesn’t mind if I’m with another woman, just as long as she knows about it. She told me that she wouldn’t mind if I was with you.”

“How did she--”

“I have no idea.” Rick propped himself up on one elbow and looked down at her. “So, do you want to do this Molly? I really like you, but I’m with Mari, and if that bothers you, we should stop right here.” In answer, Molly tangled her paws through Rick’s hair and pulled his lips back down on hers. That seemed to be all the answer that he needed. Their kissing fell into a familiar and delicious rhythm, their tongues mimicking the desires of their bodies, and Rick began to run his paws over Molly’s body, feeling her curves through her clothes. She moaned, and reached her own paws down to raise the hem of her shirt, revealing her breasts in their lacy white bra. Rick took the hint at once, and raised his paws to cup her breasts, weighing them and giving them a few gentle squeezes before running his thumbs back and forth across her lace covered nipples, which immediately stiffened at his touch. Molly moaned deep in her throat, and Rick broke their kiss, only to begin kissing his way down Molly’s throat and chest, pausing when he reached her breasts. He then planted a final kiss on her collarbone and fastened his mouth over Molly’s left nipple. He stroked it with his tongue, relishing the feeling of the little bud continuing to stiffen, separated from him only by a thin layer of white lace. He began to suck at it, drawing it deep into his mouth, making Molly gasp and squirm beneath him. When he pulled his mouth away and then began to show the same attention to her right nipple, Molly’s breath grew labored. She reached down with one paw and found the bulge at the crotch of Rick’s jeans. Now it was his turn to moan as she began to massage that bulge, running her paw over it, and gently squeezing until Rick found it difficult to concentrate on what he was doing. He removed his mouth from the Panda’s nipple and looked into her face, which was currently smiling mischievously.

“It’s my turn now,” she said, her smile widening into a grin that made his fur stand on end. Molly sat up, taking off her shirt the rest of the way as she did so. Mike followed her example, stripping off his t-shirt so that the panda could see his well toned body. Molly almost licked her lips. Rick looked just as incredible without his shirt as she had imagined he would. She ran her paws over the hard ridges of his abs, and then trailed them lower, so that they hovered just over zipper of Rick’s jeans. Still smiling, she carefully slid the stiff button of his fly free of its slot, took hold of the tiny zipper, and pulled. Rick was a boxers man, it turned out, and was currently wearing a pair of plaid green shorts which were now being stretched to their limits by a sizeable bulge. “Help me get these jeans off, ok?” Molly asked Rick, who could only nod and arch his back so that his hips left the couch, allowing the panda to slide his jeans downward and then off. “Ah, that’s better,” she said, winking at him. Then she grabbed hold of the waistband of Rick’s boxers and tugged them down, freeing his cock, which jutted suddenly upward, fully erect and flushed with arousal. Molly gave a little gasp of surprise and delight, thinking how often it turned out that men with great bodies were somewhat deficient in other areas. This was definitely not the case with Rick. Molly reached out one of her paws and began to caress the pine martin’s balls, weighing them and squeezing them gently before moving up to fold her paw around the circumference of Rick’s cock. She stroked her paw up and down a few times, measuring his length, making him moan and thrown his head back against the sofa’s cushions. She slid her paw to the base of Rick’s cock and then scooted her body forward, poising her lips just above the jutting organ’s swollen head. She licked her lips and then took Rick’s cock deep inside her mouth. Rick felt his cock slide between Molly’s beautiful, pouting lips, and his eyes, which had drifted closed, flew wide open. He gave a strangled cry, and watched, fascinated, as the panda took almost his entire length down her throat. He felt himself being caressed by her soft, careful tongue, felt her using the muscles of her throat to squeeze him, and then she began to bob her head to a steady, maddening rhythm, her lips sliding up and down his rigid length. Rick moaned and tangled his paws in Molly’s hair, holding on to her as if for his life. It was hard for him to believe that this was finally happening. Molly had seemed so distant, so unattainable, and now she was here, she was here and just the touch of her lips on his cock made him feel as though he was going to come. He gave Molly’s head a gentle pull, and she surfaced, her lips glistening with saliva. “Is there a problem?” She asked.

“Just that if you keep doing what you’re doing, this night is going to be over in about ten more seconds.” Molly laughed, a deep throaty laugh that seemed to caress Rick’s very mind. He gave a shiver, and then said,

“Now it’s your turn.”

“It’s good to know that you believe in equal rights,” said the panda, flashing him another one her grins. She lay back down against the couch and lifted her hips, pulling down her skirt as she did so, and throwing it to the floor. Underneath she wore a white lace thong, which only just covered her sex. Rick got up and knelt on the floor, pulling Molly’s legs out so that they straddled his head. Then he pulled the thong to one side, exposing the panda’s sex, which was now glistening with moisture. He lowered his head, breathing in her scents, and then began to lap cautiously at the outside of her sex. Molly moaned, and threw back her head, thrusting her hips forward so that she was pressed firmly against his mouth. He pressed his tongue inside of her, licking at her opening and then stroking upwards towards her engorged and throbbing clitoris. When his tongue grazed the stiff little bud, Molly’s whole body twitched, and Rick, smiling with delight began to lick her furiously, stroking her clit with his tongue until the panda’s breath came in short, harsh bursts. “Stop, Rick! Oh gods, you have to stop, or I’m going to come right now!” He paid no attention to her, and she didn’t put up much of a fight. He formed two fingers of his right paw into a point and thrust them gently inside of her, and Molly bucked against him, but still he didn’t stop. He only began to move his fingers in and out, matching their pace to the rhythm of his tongue. Suddenly, Molly began to convulse. Her sex clenched and unclenched spasmodically around his fingers, and her hips rose and fell in an erratic dance of pleasure. Her body had flushed scarlet, and she released cry after hoarse cry until she fell back against the sofa, limp and panting for breath. As she came down from the orgasm, Molly felt disappointment slice through her. He shouldn’t have let her come. Now she felt lethargic. It just wouldn’t be as much fun now. Rick began to lap at her clit once more, and his fingers, which had remained inside of her, resumed their pumping. Molly jerked, and tried to wriggle away but Rick held her still. Her clit was incredibly sensitive, and her nerves jumped and sparked as he continued to lavish his attentions upon it. It was almost painful. “Rick stop! What are you doing?” The pine martin raised his head, just long enough to give her a sly smile and say,

“Hush. Mari told me about this trick you can do if it hurts. Try taking a bunch of deep, even breaths. It’s supposed to help.” Molly looked at him, puzzled, but he only lowered his head and went back to his maddening licking. She began to do as he asked, taking a series of deep breaths as her nerves jerked and twitched. To her surprise, it really did help. It made the hypersensitivity of her clit not only bearable, but pleasurable. As Rick’s mouth continued to work upon her she began to feel heat building inside of her once more. She moaned, and saw Rick smile at the sound. A few minutes passed and Molly began to pant. Gods help her, she was just as aroused as she had been before she orgasmed, even more aroused in fact. If she didn’t get release soon, she would die.

“Rick,” she panted, tugging on his hair to get his attention. He looked up at her, his eyes heavy-lidded with passion. “We need to do this now, before I go crazy.” The pine martin nodded, and got slowly to his feet. Then he took Molly by surprise by jumping on top of her, bracing himself on his arms so as not to hurt her, and giving her a deep, almost violent kiss. Molly could taste herself on his lips, could feel Rick’s cock, still achingly erect, pressing against her belly, and she thought that she had never wanted to make love to anyone more in her entire life. Rick reached up and tore her bra away from her chest, murmuring,

“Sorry, I’ll buy you another one,” before taking her breasts in both of his paws. He kneaded and stroked them, running is fingers over Molly’s rose colored nipples and making her whimper. She reached between their bodies then and grabbed Rick’s cock roughly with one paw. Rick understood what she wanted, and he slid downward so that his cock pressed against the opening to her sex. A moment later, he thrust himself deep inside of her, and Molly gave a cry of satisfaction that she was sure could be heard down the street. Rick began to thrust his hips back and forth, and his cock glided in and out of the panda’s glistening sex, creating a friction which threatened to drive her mad with pleasure. She worked her hips against him, and began to clench and unclench her inner muscles in time with Rick’s thrusts, squeezing him as he withdrew and opening to him as he plunged inward. Rick’s eyes opened wide, and he gave a surprised cry when he felt her muscles working on him, and it drove him to thrust faster. He worked his hips in a feverish rhythm, and Molly gave cry after cry as he rode her, unable to contain her voice. Struggling to pull her senses back together, Molly raised her head so that she could speak into Rick’s ear.

“I want to be on top,” she gasped, and Rick only looked at her dumbly for a moment before nodding. His body came to a shuddering halt, and he lifted himself up so that Molly could slide out from beneath of him. Then he turned over and lay on his back, his paws laced together behind his head. Molly climbed on top of him, straddling his cock, and then reaching down to position it at her opening. She took a moment to steady herself and then impaled herself upon Rick’s organ and began to ride him. The pine marten moaned and reached up to clasp Molly’s quivering breasts with his paws as she worked herself up and down on his cock. She set a steady rhythm, which was slow enough to madden them both but fast enough to keep their breath coming in harsh gasps. Rick ran one paw down from her breast and used it to stroke Molly’s clit, and the panda moaned, increasing the pace of her strokes as the waves of sensation pulsing through her strengthened, becoming almost too large to contain. Rick began to thrust up to meet her every time Molly came down upon his cock, and together, they hurtled towards climax. Rick gave Molly’s swollen clit a particularly hard pinch, and suddenly she froze. Her eyes opened wide and she opened her mouth in a silent scream. Waves of electricity began to course through her, setting her every nerve on fire. Her sex began to spasm wildly, clenching and unclenching around Rick’s cock, and she began to jerk her hips helplessly, all rhythm deserting her. The world seemed to dissolve into a swirling mass of colors and sounds. There was nothing but this enormous feeling, nothing but the ecstasy of her climax. Then she felt Rick beginning to come as well. His body went still for a moment, and then he was pumping into her with equal wildness. She felt his hot salty liquid shooting into her, and the sensation sent her to new heights, turning her soundless cries into wails of ecstasy. It seemed as though hours passed before she began to drift back down to Earth. She collapsed on top of Rick’s chest, his cock still inside of her, both of them breathing as if they had just finished running twenty miles. After a moment, Rick spoke.

“That,” he said, “Was incredible.” He wound his arms around Molly, and she snuggled against him, a smile overspreading her face.

“Likewise,” she said, planting a kiss on the time of the pine marten’s nose. “I don’t think I’ve had two orgasms with a man since…well ever. You are amazing.”

“I could say the same about you Molly. Where’d you learn to do that thing with your muscles? You know, that squeezing thing.” Molly smiled.

“Feminine secrets, Rick. If I told you, I’d have to kill you.”

“Ah well, better not tell me, then.” They simply held one another for another few moments, and then Molly got carefully off of Rick and began to collect her scattered clothes.

“So, what now?” she asked as she straightened her panties and pulled on her skirt.

“I don’t know. Do you want to do this again?”

“Yeah, I do. But if you don’t want to, I’ll understand. I mean I know you have a girlfriend and everything.”

“No,” Rick said quickly. “I want to. Trust me, I want to.”

“Well then, I guess I’ll see you later.” Molly looked as if she wanted to say more, but she bit her lip, and gave her head a small shake. She was fully dressed again, and holding her purse in both paws. She headed to the door that led out to the street, but just as she put her paw on the door handle she turned and said, “I really like you Rick, and no matter what happens, I’m glad we did this.”

“Me too Molly,” he said, his face serious. “Walk home safely, ok?”

“Don’t worry, I will,” she said, and then with a final smile, she was gone. Rick ran a paw through his hair and began to get dressed. He shook his head every once and awhile, muttering to himself as he did so. Molly had been unbelievable, utterly unbelievable. He was glad that they had slept together, he hadn’t lied about that. It wasn’t just that she had turned out to be amazing in the sack, it was the sense of connection he had felt with her. He sensed that he could fall for this girl, and the thought scared him, because he loved Mari, or at least he thought he did. Well, it had been an eventful night, to say the least, Rick thought as he locked up the club and began to walk the few blocks to Mari’s apartment where he slept most nights. The night air was cool, and it braced him, cleared his head. He smiled ruefully. Mari was going to be insufferable for days. She never could resist gloating when she was proved right.

The End