Wake-Up Call [MF]

“Hey Rachel! Are you awake yet?” asked a humored, but restless Dan Ayan.

He got no response. He didn’t expect one, either. Rachel, his wife of the past two years, just laid there comfortably in bed, snoring lightly as though the morning sun weren’t blaring through the window. It always amazed him, her ability to sleep so heavily after getting to bed so late, but he’d come to appreciate it over the years.

“Out like a light on a Wednesday morning,” Dan said, shaking his head. “You just love making this difficult for me, don’t you?”

Again, she didn’t respond. He thought he knew what it meant to be a heavy sleeper. Rachel raised the bar for all of them.

He’d known that about her since they started dating back in college. Her reputation for deep sleep was the stuff of legend. Her old roommate once said she slept through a fire drill and through an actual fire when a neighbor set a couch on fire. Her brother claimed she’d slept through her car alarm going off at five in the morning during a thunderstorm, which got her in trouble with the neighbors.

Black Friday Bliss [MF] [exh]

“Hey Tom! Are you nodding off on me again?” asked Allie Avinne from the passenger side of the car.

“What? No, of course not,” her husband, Tom Avinne quickly replied. “I was just resting my eyes, preparing myself for the big open.”

“Yeah, sure you were,” she said dryly.

“I’m serious! Hell, I’m still digesting Thanksgiving dinner. Even three cups of coffee can only go so far.”

“Lucky for you, it won’t have to.”

Allie playfully swatted her husband as he sat in the driver’s seat, looking like an athlete trying to psyche himself up for the championship game. He should’ve been used to it by now. Ever since she introduced him to her unique Black Friday tradition – one, ironically, that started with her first boyfriend in high school – he’d been dedicated to helping her keep it. She gave him plenty of incentive to do so, but it wasn’t without obstacles.

The clock on the dashboard read 4:30 in the morning. Most people were still asleep and/or hung over from Thanksgiving dinner. Less than 12 hours ago, she and Tom had enjoyed an eight-course meal, courtesy of her mother and grandmother. Allie was still digesting it, so much so that she could still taste her mother’s pumpkin pie on her breath. It made falling asleep easy that night easy, but waking up much harder.

A Thanksgiving Tradition [MF] [Food]

“Are you hungry, Tanya?” asked Jeff Keniman.

“I’m starving,” replied Tanya, sounding as eager as anyone could on the day before Thanksgiving.

“Good,” he said, “because this is just an appetizer. And I need to make damn sure these sweet potatoes are perfect before your folks arrive tomorrow.”

“And you will. That, I promise you.”

It might have been the most redundant statement either of them could’ve said. He and Tanya had been together long enough to know the drill. She knew what day of the year it was. She’d come to know his unique “traditions” when it came to the holidays. Thanksgiving brought with it many traditions. However, it was the day before Thanksgiving that had one of his favorite traditions.

The stage was already set. He and Tanya spent the afternoon setting up the dining room, adding some extra tables to accommodate the dozen-or-so guests set to arrive tomorrow morning. They’d unpacked their nicest tablecloth, silverware, and dishes for the occasion. At the moment, though, the fancy stuff was piled up on a chair in the corner. Instead, the table lay bare, occupied by two plates and several bowls of food.

Veteran Vixens [MF]

“Veterans Day,” said former army grunt Matthew Antos, “a day I guess I’m supposed to look forward to. I guess that also means I should be happy for all the parades, salutes, and PSAs. And yet…”

He let his words trail off as he gazed out the window of his Washington DC hotel, watching as parade streets were cordoned off in anticipation of the big parade that afternoon. In a few hours, he was scheduled to don his army uniform and march with his old unit down the street, waving to cheering crowds praising them for their service. That was the public spectacle of Veterans Day. In private, however, things weren’t always so honorable.

Matthew had debated whether he should even show up. He’d been discharged from the army three months ago after serving for three years. He’d spent time overseas, making his way through a number of war zones and living the rigid life of a military man. That meant playing by the rules, serving his country, and being a hardened soldier. He did all of that in hopes of achieving more, but he didn’t expect to lose so much along the way.

My Demon Lover [MF] [fantasy] [occult]

The most revealing truths were often hidden blow foundations of lore and lies. That was an old saying from the world of demons, witches, and dark magic. From curious dabblers to full-fledged masters, the greatest truths about the dark forces that permeated every shadow came only to those willing to dig deep.

Victoria “Violet” Goodchild embodied that will better than most. For every hundred people who dared to explore the mystic arts, only could hope to uncover that such forces weren’t just real. They could be channeled, summoned, and experienced in a very direct way.

“By the dust of Tartarus…the mists of Elysium…the shadows of Sheol…I summon from the realm of Eurynomos the name that frail maidens dare not speak.”

Those desperate words, echoing with a lust and desire few embraced, echoed throughout the dank basement of Violet’s unassuming home. She’d turned off all the lights. She’d locked the front, back, and emergency door from the inside. Anyone looking from the outside would’ve suspected that she just wasn’t home. For someone like her, a troubled young woman who’d run away from home, it was to be expected.

Dark Mistress [MF] [BD] [Fdom] [Msub] [Fantasy]

“I need you tonight, my dark mistress,” said an anxious, but determined Ron Shermfeld. “Please, don’t make me wait longer than I have to.”

The tone and intensity of that voice was completely foreign to anyone who knew Ron. By day, he carried himself as the kind of man who everyone graveled to, especially women. In high school and college, he was a star athlete with the body of an Olympian. As a young adult, he became a successful businessman with a reputation for toughness and intimidation. He never had to beg for anything from anyone. It was always the other way around.

On some nights, though, that all changed. On Halloween, such radical change took on a far greater meaning.

“Everyone wanted me at their party, tonight,” Ron said to the locked door. “Old college buddies invited me to a frat house. They said there would be at least two dozen beautiful women there…every one of which would get naked for me on the spot if they know I won two national titles for the school eight years ago.”

He must have sounded crazy, turning down a party like that. It didn’t sound crazy to him. It just made him knock on the door even harder.

Roughly Forbidden [MF] [prost] [rough]

“I like it rough.”

There was once a time when a woman could say those words with a straight face and nobody would think much of it. They might see her as kinky tastes, but she wouldn’t be ridiculed for it. However, those days were long gone and Jessica Jermaine was too young to remember them.

At 28-years-old, she lived in a very different world. Everyone was so careful. Every intimate act, sexual or otherwise, was carried out with a level of vigilance that felt so comical in principle, but no one dared laugh. One wrong move became a single act of recklessness. A single act brought accusations. Accusations brought condemnation. Not all of it was of the legal variety, but it was sufficient to keep everyone on their toes.

“I shouldn’t have to do this,” Jessica said to herself as she sat anxiously at the foot of her hotel bed, “but that’s the world we live in. I don’t like it, but it’s too late to change it.”

After The Cure [MF]

“Another day, another bunch of lives saved…and lost,” said a restless Dr. Albert Galen.

It was a common refrain for the end of Dr. Galen’s day. It started bright and early in the oncology wing at the Walen Carter Hospital, which he’d worked at for nearly ten years. Throughout the course of his day, he met with patients who’d just gotten the worst news anyone could get about their health. They had cancer.

Regardless of how treatable it was, the news always hit hard and he had to be the one to break it down. Across from his desk, which was often cluttered with files and paperwork, there was a chair where most of his patients sat. More often than not, they were already scared, devastated, and in tears. It wasn’t uncommon for someone to break down crying while he gave them important medical information. That happened at least three times over the past week.

Dr. Galen had to be numb to all that, hardening his soul to an extent that made him feel like a machine spouting medical jargon rather than a doctor. He got into medicine for the same reason most doctors did. He wanted to heal people. He remembered how eager and energetic he’d been when he saw his first patient. Now, he questioned whether he could ever feel that kind of energy again.

Pile Of Leaves [MF] [Exh]

“I hate raking leaves,” muttered a sweaty and sore Darren Cole

“That’s that eighth time you’ve said that today. Keep it up and you’ll get a free burger,” teased Allison Drake, his fiancé and long-time lover.

“I’ll gladly exchange all the free food for the rest of my life to never rake leaves again.”

“I’d make that trade in a heartbeat if I could, but it’s October and we can’t afford a landscaping crew. This is just part of the life we have…and the one we’re trying to build.”

Darren groaned again, but stopped short of adding to the drudgery. He just gripped the rake a little harder, sweeping the last round of leaves into the sizable pile that he and Allison had made over the past four hours. It was hard, frustrating work, but his fiancé made an important point. Raking leaves was one part of an emerging life they had been forging together.

It had been five months since he’d proposed to Allison, but they had been acting like a married couple for years. Friends and family members used to joke that they were the youngest old couple they had ever seen. They’d grown up together in the same neighborhood. They’d endured puberty, high school, and multiple failed jobs. Along the way, falling in love with her just felt like a natural part of the process.

Mystery Stud [MF] [Blindfold] [Kink]

“Are you ready for this Marilyn?” asked Connie Chambers in her ever-coy tone.

“Ready, nervous, and excited as hell!” Marilyn Raven replied, trying hard not to sound like an overly-energetic little school girl.

“I’d ask if you’re sure, but you sound so giddy I’ll just skip the part where I act like your over-bearing friend.”

“I appreciate that. Now shut up and put the damn blindfold on me.”

Marilyn – or Mari, as her friends called her – didn’t usually bark orders like that. In fact, she was the kind of girl most described as friendly and soft-spoken, but a little more uptight than most women her age. Few would’ve guessed she had such a kinky side. Even fewer knew how much she loved to exercise it. Connie was among those select few and, on top of being her best friend since grade school, she had similar kinks. She even encouraged them.

“Okay, you horny slut,” Connie said, not yet matching her excitement. “I just hope you appreciate what we’ve had to go through to set this up.”

“Just shut up and blindfold me,” Mari retorted. “I’ll appreciate when I’m less horny.”