West Richland Tavern.

[merryohmd]

Rex said thanks to DJ's back as he walked away. He had noticed the DJ had struck the cue ball off center when he addressed it. Rex had always just hit the cue ball dead center. He thought he understood what DJ meant and instead of rack up the balls he placed several around the table and then attempted to strike the cue ball in various spots based on where he thought the ball would move after he hit the target ball. Most of his attempts failed but a few did move off in the direction he wanted after the cue ball hit the target ball. This was obviously more complicated than he thought it would be and take a lot of practice.

 

[collegecok1987]

Tess hands traveled down his arms and found the waistband of his pants, she untucked his cotton undershirt and put her delicate hands on his warm skin. She tilted her head back to let him have access to her neck, his kisses were soft but insistent. She wondered how long he would be able to hold out like this since she knew she was driving him crazy. He playfully nipped his earlobe and she started to feel the rumble in his chest as it was pressed against her. her breasts were rising and falling as her breathing became more shallow and rapid. Her body was responding to his touches and she found it easy to relax with him.

Daniel's lips were on fire and he was doing his best to quench them on Tess' neck as his teeth grazed against her smooth skin. His hands slid behind her back where his fingers dexterously unravelled her corset, he smiled with satisfaction as he felt her "armour" relax as he slid the last of the ribbon from its place. His lips had trailed down her elegant neck, across her collar bone, feeling her pulse quicken and her breath catch. She was arching her neck now, exposing more of her self as Daniel's mouth made first contact with the creamy white skin of her left breast...

 

[1millionsecrets]

Hannah had moved through the now settled tavern. The voice left were of its employees and a few select people left, and allowed to stay. A gentle yawn touched her full lips and her emerald green eyes closed. In her mind thoughts of a happy rejoicing caused chills the race through her.
She ventured to the kitchen where she grabbed a broom. In her soft hands she grasped it and to the gentle music she began to dance. Her hips turned slowly in a beautiful way. After a moment she unzipped her waist skirt and stripped down into her lace shorts, fishnets, corsetand boots.
Her body twirled and ground sweetly, freely now

 

[celestialdragon]

Alexa was waiting on a table when she saw Hannah dance. Smiling, she swayed back to the bar in time to the music.

 

[raiguy]

DJ moved away from the tables, wondering if Rex would ever be able to pick up what he had said. He shrugged, moving to his music station, before looking around the bar. He could see Hannah dancing, before looking at Alexa. He smiled when he saw her dancing as well, before changing the playlist to have more slow music to allow both of them to enjoy dancing that much more. He stepped back, before leaning against the wall and rolling his shoulders, relieving the tension that had built up.

 

[celestialdragon]

Alexa heard the music change and she changed with it as she brought beers back to her table. She smiled at DJ.

 

[raiguy]

DJ smiled at Alexa, before sliding down the wall to rest behind the sound podium. It hadn't necessarily been a long night for him, but he was definitely feeling getting back into training after having not done it for some time.

 

[olympiagold001]

.....

 

[feistyphoenix]

Daniel's lips were on fire and he was doing his best to quench them on Tess' neck as his teeth grazed against her smooth skin. His hands slid behind her back where his fingers dexterously unravelled her corset, he smiled with satisfaction as he felt her "armour" relax as he slid the last of the ribbon from its place. His lips had trailed down her elegant neck, across her collar bone, feeling her pulse quicken and her breath catch. She was arching her neck now, exposing more of her self as Daniel's mouth made first contact with the creamy white skin of her left breast...

She inhaled raggedly as he slid the garment off her torso and it fell to the floor with a soft plunk. She stroked her hands down the sides of his neck and tugged playfully at his cotton t shirt before sliding her hands underneath it and over his muscular back.

Tess whimpered as his mouth connected with her skin, the suction he was creating was perfectly stimulating her body. She was panting now, closing her eyes as she let him work her body up to the point of no return.

She disconnected her mind and absently wondered why a man like this would ever need the services of someone like her. Surely there were women lined up around the block for him. The accent alone would make most women weak in the knees.

 

[feistyphoenix]

Three months later...

Tess surveyed the Tavern before finishing wiping down the bar. They'd be opening the doors in an hour and she still needed to change out of her jeans and t shirt. The last three months had taken a toll, she looked tired. No one would tell her, except maybe Eric. But she hadn't seen very much of him lately, and not for lack of trying. After Wolf ran off with what's her face, Eric had taken over the shop. And now Tess was running the Tavern by herself, they barely had time for themselves let alone each other. She felt like they'd never get back to normal. What was normal anyway, everything got paused and they'd never really moved forward to begin with. Tess shook her head and her thoughts moved on to something else. She missed him.

She was also angry. Angry at Hannah for deserting her just when they'd started to become close again, just when they'd started to feel like a family again. Hannah was gone, nowhere to be found. Her room was cleaned out, she'd left in the middle of the night. Tess was devastated. At first she was patient, she'd been the one who had done the leaving when they were young and understood how painful it was for Hannah to make a decision like that, but as the days and weeks went by her understanding hardened into anger.

Vince threatened Tess a couple of times, tried to collect money from her. Tess was family and that gave her just enough leverage to hold her ground against him and refuse. He hadn't been back lately but it was only a matter of time before he started relentlessly pursuing it again. A few of his lower level guys came by for drinks a couple of times a week, but they didn't bother her or the girls so she didn't pay them any mind. They just wanted to have a good time, she doubted they were smart enough to give Vince any good information other than business is going well.

Poor Troy was heartbroken but he seemed to be getting over it okay. He still watched out for Tess, and she watched out for him as best she could, most of the time she felt like she couldn't do anything right. Except hire a full time chef, that was maybe the best decision she'd made through this whole ordeal. He'd even taught Rex to be more useful and understood the need to keep him busy and out of Tess' way. Thank god, she probably would have fired Rex by now. He was probably just happy he got to wear real clothes now.

Things had been so busy and crazy the drama between she, Alexa, and DJ was long forgotten. DJ was barely around, but he'd set up the equipment to autoplay, and shuffled between several play lists while in the meantime pulling a few songs at random from the Billboard top 100 so nothing got too stale.

Alexa was Tess' right hand girl these days. She took care of the twins, who mostly just did their own thing but they did it well so Tess rarely ever needed to correct them. She'd made a few changes to the business model but nothing major. The most surprising thing to her was how the money just kept rolling in, she actually had money in her bank account now, it was strange in a very good way. She took everyone out to dinner bi-weekly, they had definitely become like a second family to her.

Tess finished her cleaning quickly, said a quick hello to the chef while he wrote the specials up on the board for the night, and ran upstairs to change.

She decided on a dark green corset, the familiar too-short black skirt with a slit in the side almost up to her hip, fishnets and tall boots. She put on her makeup and then sat down the arm chair in the corner. She hadn't been able to bring herself to move into Hannah's old room. Maybe if they got more girls she would free up the space upstairs but for now she'd stay where she was. As long as the room was empty, there was a chance Hannah would come back and fill it...

 

[celestialdragon]

Alexa was also exhausted. She had been helping (as much as she could) run the Tavern with Tessa, the drama between the two of them and DJ long forgotten. She mainly took care of the twins, and the waitressing. Being the only waitress besides Tess, who had a hundred other things to do, was taking a toll on her. Jack took pity every so often, he was a repeat customer of hers.

She donned a midnight blue corset, a black skirt that was just on this side of modest, and black boots. She did her make up quickly and made her way over to Tess's room, smiling softly.

"When was the last time you ate, hon?" she asked softly, leaning against the door frame. "I'll have someone run out and order something, if you like."

Even though Tess was older than her, Alexa took care of everyone like this, with a little coddling and always the inquiry about food and sleep. Her past days as a whore for her mom taught her she can't do much good unless she got a full night's rest and something in her belly 3 times a day. And Alexa was trying her damn hardest to do that for everyone. "Either that, or I can cook something for you. Something light, like the chicken salad?"

 

[feistyphoenix]

"I had a yogurt with my coffee this morning," she answered as she realized it was fast approaching 4pm when they opened for dinner. That cup of coffee was several hours behind her.Truth be told she didn't have the desire to eat, the stress kept her awake at night and she was losing weight again.

"I'll get something in a little while, after the kitchen gets going," she promised.

It occurred to her that it was Thursday night, and it was usually very busy. The probability that she would take the time to sit down and eat was very slim. Eric occasionally stopped by and made her sit down and eat with him for 30 minutes. He hadnt stayed the night in weeks, Tess was starting to wonder if she should just write the whole thing off. She sighed and got up.

"Let's do this," she linked her arm through Alexa's and they went downstairs together.

 

[merryohmd]

Rex popped through the door and into the tavern. He enjoyed his new job with the chef but wasn't sure if anyone was around right now.

"Hello, anyone here"

He thought he heard light footstep on the stairs.

 

[celestialdragon]

Alexa smiled encouragingly at Tess. "I'll make sure you get some time to sit down and eat," she promised as they made their way down the stairs.

 

[Wolfias]

Eric growled slamming the office phone into it's cradle. ''Shit!...Miguel you fucked up the damned parts order AGAIN!'' Shaking his head he storms into the shop grabbing Miguel by the collar. ''Pack your tools and get the hell out YOU'RE FIRED!'' Miguel jerks free of Eric's grip only to take a swing at his former boss. Ducking the wild punch easily he countered with a right hook, it connects with Miguel's jaw dropping him.

Wincing from the solid punch received from Eric, Miguel swore in spanish. Staggering back to his feet to rip his work shirt off. ''This jobs sucks anyway asshole!'' Rubbing his jaw shot a nasty look at Eric, he takes his tools to leave. Eric walks along behind him to make sure he doesn't try anything stupid. He opens the door to let his former employee out. ''Don't expect a paycheck and don't come here again.''

Eric slams the shop door angrily, reaching up to place his hand against the wall. Cursing himself within for losing his temper, he looks across the street in frustration. Since Wolf left with a woman he'd never met, Eric was stuck with running the business on his own. He was burnt out, basically zero time with Tess, he missed her so much it hurt. She wasn't doing well either, having the Tavern dumped in her lap. If only the ones they'd counted on were here, Eric and Tess would have moved in together by now.

With a deep sigh he whispers softly to himself. ''I miss you baby...so much.'' Reaching into his pocket to retrieve the Shop key to lock up. Locking the front door Eric arms the alarm system, with one last look over at the Tavern he walks upstairs. Reaching the top of the stairs entering the apartment, he picks up around the place finding Tess' Tshirt. Smiling he lifts it to breath in her scent, a memory of her quickly stripping it off. The passionate love they made, it looked like a disaster area of the entire apartment.

Putting her shirt into the hamper with an assortment of their clothing. Removing his work shirt, it would go in the work uniform basket. Unbuckling his belt, unbuttoning and unzipping, sits down in a bedside chair removing his boots and socks. Standing to drop his pants and boxers, walks naked to the shower tossing boxers and socks into the hamper. Turning into the bathroom to adjust the water, stepping into the shower the hot water soothes his muscles. Lathers up with a relaxing sigh wishing Tess was here.

Eric did what any red blooded male would do, images of Tess flooded his mind. Growing hard begins stroking his shaft, she often did this for him when they showered. After fifteen minutes release came with a deep groan of ''Tess!'' His breathing and heart rate slowing to normal, Eric rinsed the lather off his body. Turning off the shower he steps out, grabs a towel drying his arms, legs, body, back and hair.

Quickly brushing his teeth and flossing, taking a brush runs it through his now short hair. Walking out of the bathroom to the closest, pulling on black boxers and jeans quickly. Selects a deep green dress shirt pulling it on, buttoning it up Eric thought of Tess once fussing with his tie. A matching belt was next as he slips it through the belt loops. Stepping into his black Italian shoes, tucking his wallet into his back pocket. ''Baby, here I come.'' Walking to the apartment door unarmed the alarm system, stepping out the timer reactivate the system. Trotting down the steps he crossed the street to enter the Tavern.

 

[feistyphoenix]

Tess bid Rex a hello and went about her business. She balanced the register and patrons started filling up tables. Kari and Dee Dee moved around the room taking drink and dinner orders. The smell wafting from the kitchen was heavenly. Seafood Alfredo and good old fashioned fried chicken were on the specials board, Tess stomach rumbled.

She had just finished putting an order in at the kitchen when she spotted Eric walking through the door. A wide smile slowly spread itself across her pretty face, she darted behind the bar and lengthened her stride to get closer to him. She hadn't gotten used to his shorter haircut yet but he looked so damn handsome with it styled that way.

She wrapped her hand around his wrist and motioned to the stock room behind the bar. She needed to be close to him, right now.

 

[celestialdragon]

Alexa saw Eric, then saw Tess going towards him, and she smiled. Good, she thought. She's going to get a break today. She better eat.

She continued going about, getting drink orders, dancing along to the music that was playing, her smile wide. Her legs ached, her back ached, and she really wanted a smoke, but she knew that she would have to wait for all of the things she wanted until Tess was done.

Smiling at DJ, she made her way over to the bar and gave her orders to the kitchen.

 

[merryohmd]

"Alexa, how are you today, sorry I screwed up yesterday, have you seen Tess so I can apologize?

 

[celestialdragon]

Alexa smiled. "She's busy right now, but when she's available, I'll let you know," she promised, smiling at the chef.

 

[merryohmd]

Alexa sighed. "Hannah took off about three months ago, Rex. Tess has been running the place. I ain't gonna bother her now, but you'll need to talk to her," she explained softly, smiling gratefully at the chef. "Just hang around, and I'll let you know when you can speak to her."

OK, I'll just be in the kitchen when she is around."

*heads into kitchen(*

 

[celestialdragon]

At that moment, her orders arrived. "I'll let you know when you can see Tess," Alexa promised him again, going off to serve her customers.

 

[merryohmd]

Thanks Alexa

*continues to kitchen*

 

[Wolfias]

Catching sight of Tess dressed in her sexy blue outfit, she still could take his breath away. Eric grins broadly seeing his girl smiling prettily at him as soon as he walked in the door. Striding directly to her Eric ran his hand through his hair, when close she takes him by the wrist. He chuckles when she motioned to the stock room behind the bar and lead him there.

This should be just the thing Eric and Tess needed for their relationship right now. He could barely wait to have her sexy body wrapped up tightly in his arms. It had definitely been far to long since they'd spent some alone time together.

 

[feistyphoenix]

Tess closed the door behind him once they were hidden from view, there wasn't very much space back here but she didn't care and doubted he would either.

"Eric," she turned and pressed her body against his tall frame," I missed you."

He was the escape she needed. She looked up at him and pulled his face to hers to kiss him. It felt like it had been forever since she'd touched him, she hated the distance that had grown between them.

 

[Wolfias]

Eric wrapped his arms snugly around Tess petite body as she pressed herself into him, and before he could speak she took the words right out of his mouth. His eyes met hers as she took his to kiss his lips. The time apart seeming to vanish in instant at that exact moment, the distance that had grown through no fault of their own.

Mouthing her warm sweet lips as if it were the first day they went out together. The tight quarters of the stock room didn't allow for much movement, but it certainly didn't keep Eric from picking Tess up as they kissed.