Chapter One of SEX BOOT CAMP
Braden sat in his Mustang outside the office building. Dread pooled in my stomach. He never met me after work. Had he come to tell me our relationship was over?
“Cara, get your ass in the car. We’re going away for a few days. Just you and me, babe.”
Braeden’s domineering attitude just didn’t do it for me anymore. Serve him right if I walked the other direction and spent my time off moving out of the apartment and moving on with my life. But why pass up a holiday?
I shrugged and glanced back at my friend, the one person I would miss during my week off. “Remember, I’m on holidays.” With a final wave, and some reluctance, I did get into the car, hoping whatever Braeden had planned either brought our relationship to an end, or somehow mended the ever growing rift between us.
“I’ve already packed your bags, so we can go directly to our destination.”
“You packed for me?” I tried to swallow down the trepidation at the thought of what he put in my bag, but failed. I hoped we were going on a cruise or to some tropical island where I only needed to wear a bikini. Fashion wasn’t one of Braeden’s assets. He couldn’t even be bothered to do his own laundry. I’d be lucky if he even packed me a bra. “Where exactly are we going?”
“Calm down, babe. It’s a surprise.” He started the engine then pulled into traffic, earning the blare of a horn from the car behind us. “And don’t worry, I packed everything included on the list they sent. It’s going to be fun.”
List? What kind of resort sent a list? To me, lists were for work. And fun happened when I left work, or put it aside at home. I never let the two mix.
“Please tell me where we’re going.” I needed to be prepared. Surprises in my life too often ended with someone mad. Usually me.
“You’ll find out when we get there.”
Just my luck. As he drove, the gag-inducing exhaust and impatient drivers laying on their horns and looking for a couple of inches to weave in front of another car in the hopes of getting ahead left my head pounding. I leaned back in the seat and closed my eyes. When I opened them again, we had left rush hour traffic and entered the countryside. The fields contained no fresh growth, only mud from the recent rain, and last year’s corn stalks. There were no houses, no people, only emptiness and the occasional large cluster of trees. I preferred the city where help was a lot closer if a car broke down, or if....
We turned onto a side road that cut through the woods, and shivers of fear rippled down my spine. Definitely not the airport, as I’d hoped. No, we were in the middle of nowhere where everything looked the same, and the gravel so loose as if no one had travelled on the path for days. We could have sex in the middle of the road and not have to worry about someone catching us. He could kill me and dispose of my body if he wanted to. And no one would report me missing for over a week. I glanced at him, hoping our relationship hadn’t become that adversarial.
“Um, honey, maybe this isn’t such a good idea. I mean, I’m expecting my period, so I don’t know how much fun I’m going to be.” Anything to get him to turn around and return to civilization.
“No, you had your rag last week. I made sure of the timing before I planned this.”
What the hell?
“Oh, and we’re here.”
I glanced up slowly, afraid of where he’d brought me. But at the sight of the enormous log chalet in front of us with newly-stained wood, and a wraparound porch, I gasped. Maybe Braeden wanted to fix our relationship instead of ending it—or me. Then I read the vinyl sign hanging across the front of the building.
Welcome to Sex Boot Camp.
Sex wha—? I studied the sign to make sure I’d read it correctly. Why the hell would Braeden drag me out to the boonies for a… sex boot camp? And what was that anyway? While I enjoyed our romps in the bedroom, I didn’t want to have him fuck me for hours on end. My body had limits.
“So, what do you think?” He rubbed his hands to together and stared like a little kid about to go into a giant toy store. “Sounds like fun, right?”
“What the hell were you thinking?” Boot camp meant drill sergeants and a group of others in a squadron, too. I dreaded someone yelling at me while having sex, telling me I was doing it wrong, and especially for anyone else to watch.
“I thought this could help, since we never have sex anymore.”
“And that’s all my fault?”
“Well, you admitted to not being all that experienced. I thought you could get some pointers.”
“All I need is for you to be home and awake. Sex is a two-way street.” I did not want to spend my time off at this place, getting the blame for our failing relationship. “Take me home. I don’t want to be here.”
He stepped out and grabbed our bags from the trunk. I remained in the passenger seat, arms crossed. I was not getting out, would sleep in the car if he refused to take me home.
After dropping the bags on the porch, Braeden returned to the vehicle. He opened my door and crouched down beside me. “I’m sorry, Cara. I should have told you about this. It’s just that I really want things to get better between us. I’m trying, okay?”
The hint of vulnerability surprised me. I’d never seen this side of him before. As much as the place filled me with the urge to run far away, I also wanted things to improve between me and Braeden. Ending the relationship took just as much work as trying to fix it. We were here already. And if sex boot camp worked, why not? Maybe he could learn some new moves, too.
“Okay, I’ll give this a go, but there are some things I just won’t do.”
He stroked my cheek with his thumb, the gentlest touch since...forever. Could he really become the lover I desired? If so, I would have come here long ago.
“I know.” He helped me out of the car, lacing his fingers with mine as we walked to the porch of the chalet. A definite improvement, and hopefully a sign of things to come.
A man and woman came out the front door of the chalet when we reached the porch. They didn’t wear military fatigues like I’d expected. The man’s faded T-shirt hugged his wide, muscular frame. His khaki shorts and the stubble across his jaw only added to his casual appearance, taking away some of my tension. If he looked relaxed, I could be, too. He stared at me, his eyes a cerulean blue that left me mesmerized. I glanced away before I started drooling.
He seemed the total opposite of the woman beside him wearing a finely tailored black suit. Her blonde hair up in a bun and black-rimmed glasses completed the businesswoman look I was all too familiar with. But my heart pounded with one glance at the clipboard she held. What did she want to know? What did she already know?
“You’re Braeden Jones and Cara Taylor?” She lifted her glasses, glancing back and forth between us.
I froze. What if we pretended we were lost? We could get back in the car and pretend we’d never seen the place. I could spend my time off doing what I wanted all along. But Braeden would never go along with the story. He’d driven us there. Since I didn’t have an escape, I kept quiet.
“Yes, we are.” He squeezed my hand, another unexpected move. A spark of hope flickered in my chest. This really was where we needed to be.
“Great, let’s get started then.” She lowered her clipboard. “I’m Denise. Cara, you’re with me. Braeden, you’ll be escorted to your quarters by Daemon.”
A sexy name for a sexy man. I hoped to see him around during my stay. A little eye candy never hurt.
“But I thought....” Braeden gripped my fingers, almost cutting off the circulation. “I thought we’d be staying together, at least. I don’t remember this detail on the website.”
“Great! You signed us up for something you read about online?” So much for fixing anything. Of all the lame-brained things for him to do. I stepped back, out of his reach. I never should have gotten in the vehicle to begin with. One sexy man taking my jerk of a boyfriend away was not going to convince me to stay all week.
“Hold on.” I help up my hands. “I didn’t agree to any of this, only found out where we were going when we pulled up. So, if you would call me a cab, I’ll be going home to pretend this was all a horrible dream.”
“Unfortunately, taxis don’t travel all the way out here,” Denise said. “Why don’t you come with me and meet the other ladies? Camp doesn’t start until tomorrow. I’m sure once you get to know everyone else here, you’ll decide to stay.”
“But....” I hadn’t come to socialize, hadn’t even come on my own. These were supposed to be my days off, my reprieve after handing in the marketing plan that I’d spent so much of my free time on. I just wanted to zone out. And after this, move out. My boyfriend wasn’t going to change. “I need to go home, Braeden. Now!”
“Sorry, Cara, but I’m staying. I didn’t drive all the way out here to turn around and go home.” He pressed his lips together in a thin smile, the same one he gave me every night he went out.
I hated that look. Meant he didn’t care what I thought, he was going to do what he wanted.
“That’s the spirit.” Daemon slapped him on the back. “Grab your bag and follow me.”
I glared at Braeden’s back as he walked away. It was probably best we weren’t spending time together during boot camp. I’d likely have smothered him in his sleep. But, what would I be doing without a partner? Did they have blow-up toys for us, or something even closer to the real thing? I hoped mine resembled Daemon rather than my skinny-ass boyfriend.
Denise stood in the doorway of the chalet. “C’mon inside. I promise you will enjoy your time here. Otherwise, I will give you, not Braeden, a full refund on the last day.”
With no ride and a guarantee like that, I couldn’t complain. Where else could I go? I followed her inside, gazing around at the structure. Logs all around, holding up the vaulted roof, and used as supports for the second story. Antlers and heads of various deer hung on the walls, and other preserved animals roosted on the beams of the place. So far from what I knew in the city, and any connotations of what I expected boot camp to be like.
Excited squeals came from the second floor. I peered up, but only closed doors met my curious gaze. Were people having sex already? An unexpected thrill rushed through me.
“Those are your roommates, a great group for this week’s camp.” She smiled and headed for the staircase. “Let’s go meet them.”
My legs shook like jelly. I gripped the banister so I didn’t fall on my ass, following Denise up the stairs. “How many other women are there?”
“Four others. They’re all young like you, and no one is married to the guy they came with. Should make for an eventful week.”
What did being unmarried have to do with camp? Sweat beaded across my skin. The lump in the back of my throat made it difficult to breathe. I needed things to be planned, not unexpected. Like Braden’s death. I’d already started plotting.
“Cara, we’re here.”
Squeezing my eyes shut, I tried to calm down before going inside. I hated being the center of attention even more than the unknown.
Peeking inside the room, I breathed a sigh of relief. Five double beds butted up against the wall, all in a neat row, each with their own nightstand. On the opposite side of the room, a flat screen television hung above a long dresser, and a small table with two chairs was pushed into the corner. The other women sat on their beds, wearing cotton shorts and shirts, with their hair loosely up in ponytails and buns. Looked more like a slumber party than boot camp. And I could live with that.
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