With Abandon Novel Bethany and Malcolm – Bethany found her boyfriend in an alley with his leggy blonde classmate on her knees. Bethany shouldn’t listen. Eavesdropping wasn’t polite. “But you promised me! I’ve been waiting all day for the chance to suck your shaft.” The woman’s voice got louder—she must believe she was alone in here. “I’ve been thinking about it all day, baby.” The voice was breathy now, pleading. “I’ve been wet all day thinking about it. And you want it, don’t you? You love it, don’t you?” The woman gave a hot little mewl into the phone, which Bethany guessed meant the guy had agreed. “Now. Right now. Sneak out the back. No one will know we’re gone. And I want to get my mouth on you so bad.” Bethany’s heart rate ratcheted up a couple of notches. The heels clicked again as the woman made for the door. “I’m already outside, baby. Don’t make me wait.” And then the door shut, and Bethany was alone. She smiled to herself as she made her way back to the sofas, thinking about the night to come. Then she found her boyfriend Tom wasn’t anywhere to be seen. So does the blonde classmated.
Bethany JUNE 17 “Ladies and gentlemen,we’re beginning our final descent into London’s Heathrow Airport. Please return your seat backs and tray tables to their upright and locked positions.” Bethany hurried to comply with the flight attendant’s instructions, then leaned over to the window beside her, chin propped on her hand as she watched the city come into view. London. Her boyfriend had been here for nearly a year, studying in a prestigious graduate program at the London School of Economics. And now that her school was out for the summer and she had no more students to teach, she was finally getting to visit him. “Hey,” said a low, gravelly voice. Tom’s voice. “Sorry to make you wait.” He pecked her gently—their first peck in nine months. It wasn’t the passionate reunion she’d let herself dream about on the plane ride over, but she’d known it wouldn’t be that. Their peckes rarely were. This one was short and sweet, a tender brush of his lips on hers.
“Okay, get your things. Let’s get home.” She hung her head until wisps of reddish-blonde hair fell forward into her eyes. “Home?! I thought we would get out there and seeing London.” He scowled. “No, not tonight. I have to go to a school thing. It’s a social thing. Drinks with my classmates. But I told them I’d be there.” “Well, okay, I can go with you.” “No. You’ll stay home. You’re too tired.” She stepped back, stung. How could he not want her there? She only had a handful of nights in London. How could he want to spend any of them without her? “I’m fine. I promise. If it means I get to meet your friends and spend time with you, then I’ll power through. But I came all this way. I want to be with you.” He folded his arms across his chest and sighed. “I really don’t think it’s a good idea, but fine. If you want to come, come.” “Yes!” She bounced forward to give him a grateful peck on the cheek. — Later “There.” When entered the bar, Tom leaned into her, his mouth against her ear.
“Straight back. On those couches.” She nodded and reached for his hand, but he was already gone, moving through the crowd to the black leather couches he’d pointed out. She followed on his heels. The couches were off to one side of a small dance floor, pushed into an L-shape with a low table between them. Five people were already sitting there, two men and three women. She smiled at the woman who’d claimed her. “Thanks. Are you guys Tom’s classmates?” “Yeah. Bunch of econ nerds, we are.” The woman grinned, brushing her unfussy bob out of her face with one hand. “I’m Lucy. And you are?” “Bethany. Tom’s girlfriend.” Some undefinable expression flickered on and off Lucy’s face, but she returned to a neutral smile too quickly for Bethany to decipher it. When the band announced they were taking a break between sets, the dance floor crowd headed back to the bar for refills.
Lucy started to go with them, but Bethany grabbed her arm first. “Will you ask Tom if he’ll order another glass of wine for me? I’m going to the restroom.” “Sure thing, love. Loo’s back there.” Lucy pointed to a hallway at the side of the stage, and Bethany smiled gratefully before setting off. She expected the bathroom to be as crowded as the rest of the bar, but it was quiet inside. One of the two stalls was occupied, but the other was open, and Bethany ducked into it. “But you promised me!” The voice was quiet but emphatic, with a whine that sounded more like a twelve-year-old than someone spending their Saturday night at a punk rock show.
There was no immediate answer, which probably meant the other woman was on the phone. Bethany shouldn’t listen. Eavesdropping wasn’t polite. But it wasn’t like this woman was whispering or making much of an effort not to be heard. And strangers interested Bethany. People interested her. What was the harm, really, in listening to a one-sided, anonymous conversation? “I know, baby, I know,” the voice went on. “I just—this was supposed to be our night.” Poor woman. Sounded like she was getting jerked around by some guy. Bethany pursed her lips in sympathy. She’d been let down by men before too. Tom had cheated on her once, years before. Although they’d worked through it and were happy now, Bethany hoped this woman didn’t have to go through the same pain she’d felt back then. “And I’ve been waiting all day for the chance to suck your shaft.” Whoa. Well, that wasn’t where Bethany’d expected this to go. The other stall door opened, and heels clicked across the tile floor to the sink. The woman’s voice got louder—she must believe she was alone in here.
Wanting to spare her the embarrassment of finding out differently, after the explicit way she’d started talking, Bethany held her breath and tried not to make a sound. “I’ve been thinking about it all day, baby.” The voice was breathy now, pleading. “I’ve been wet all day thinking about it. And you want it, don’t you? You love it, don’t you?” The woman gave a hot little mewl into the phone, which Bethany guessed meant the guy had agreed. “Well then, can’t you sneak out for a minute? I can’t wait a week. I need it tonight.” There was barely a pause, then the woman continued. “Now. Right now. Sneak out the back. No one will know we’re gone. And I want to get my mouth on you so bad.” Bethany’s heart rate ratcheted up a couple of notches. What would it feel like to be like this? Wild and hot and free, saying dirty things, doing dirty things? She’d never been that way.
Her sister was, and Bethany had always been a little bit jealous of that, but she’d never been bold enough to act on it. Besides, Tom wasn’t that way either. Their relationship included intercourse, but it wasn’t the foundation of it. The foundation was the life they wanted to build together, the dreams they had, the goals they shared. The kind of foundation a relationship needed to last. But what would it feel like to be this free and loose and bold and unabashedly hot? What would it feel like to be desired the way this woman was desired? The heels clicked again as the woman made for the door. “I’m already outside, baby. Don’t make me wait.” And then the door shut, and Bethany was alone. She finished up and tentatively poked her head out of the stall, as though she might still surprise the other woman, but she was gone. Out to meet her lover, most likely.
Bethany was sure the man on the phone wouldn’t have hesitated. He’d have hurried outside to the back of the club where his lover was waiting. Bethany’s cheeks in the mirror were flaming, but she hoped anyone who noticed would think it was only the wine. Part of her wanted to slink back to Tom’s side, curl up next to him on the sofa, put her hand on the top of his thigh and whisper those dirty words into his ear. I want my mouth on you. You know I’m wet for you. Let me suck your shaft. She wouldn’t, of course. There was no way she could picture herself doing that. It just wasn’t who she was. And besides, Tom didn’t like dirty talk. Or blowjobs, for that matter. If she purred up to him like a hot kitten, that would embarrass him way more than it would turn him on.
But maybe she could tell him she was ready to go home and be alone. Maybe she could put on the lace nightie she’d packed tonight, instead of saving it for the hotel in Paris. Maybe she could try being a little bit sultry, a little bit seductive. He’d like that, right? She smiled to herself as she made her way back to the sofas, thinking about the night to come. Until she paid attention to the group sitting there. Lucy was there, and Damian, and a couple of the other classmates she’d been talking to before the band came on. But Tom wasn’t with them. Or by the bar. Or anywhere on the dance floor. Or in the knot of other people that the glamorous blonde had been talking to. Tom wasn’t anywhere to be seen.