Lucy Read online

  Lucy

  An Open-Door Policy

  Anna Ambrose

  Copyright © 2018 by Anna Ambrose

  All rights reserved. No part of this book may be reproduced, transmitted, downloaded, distributed, stored in or introduced into any information storage and retrieval system, in any form or by any means, whether electronic or mechanical, without express permission of the author, except by a reviewer who may quote brief passages for review purposes.

  This book is a work of fiction and any resemblance to any person, living or dead, or any events or occurrences, is purely coincidental. The characters and story lines are created from the author’s imagination or are used fictitiously.

  Contents

  Synopsis

  Chapter 1

  Chapter 2

  Chapter 3

  Chapter 4

  Chapter 5

  Chapter 6

  Chapter 7

  Chapter 8

  Chapter 9

  Thanks for Reading

  Sneak Peek: Xander

  Synopsis

  Born into a strictly religious family, nineteen-year-old Lucy Whitman likes to think she’s gotten past her stifling upbringing. After all, she’s not a virgin. But when her best guy friend of ten years admits he’s part of a community with an “open-door policy” on sex, Lucy is intrigued. She’s always wanted Rylan with a fierceness bordering on obsession, but he has never treated her as anything other than a sister.

  Getting him to agree to take her may be her only shot at having him in her bed, but Rylan’s reluctant agreement comes with three stipulations.

  One: she can’t tell anyone.

  Two: she’ll have to be okay with him being her main partner, even if it’s completely weird for them both.

  Three: she has to do anything he tells her to—no questions asked.

  Lucy knows promising to obey is her best chance to venture outside the box. Now if she can only find the courage to let go of her inhibitions, she’ll have the perfect opportunity to discover her true self while going after exactly what she wants—Ry.

  To the best friends a girl could have...

  Chapter 1

  Chin stubbornly jutted forward, Lucy Whitman stood on the quad between classes and glared at her best friend. “We talked about this. You already agreed. In fact, you promised.” She blew her too-long copper bangs out of her eyes on her frustrated exhale, hand on her slender hip.

  Rylan O’Neal only looked uneasy, which wasn’t a normal emotion for him. With his casually tousled black hair, green eyes, full lips, and muscular body, he was gorgeous. What he wasn’t was indecisive or unsure of himself. Ever.

  “Lucy, just because your boyfriend cheated on you doesn’t mean you have anything to prove to anybody. I wasn’t ever planning to tell you about what I do on the weekends, but when I saw Simon there…” He winced, shoulders drooping. “Well, I couldn’t tell you what I saw without explaining how I saw it.”

  Lucy rolled her eyes, not wanting to rehash this. “You saw him. He cheated on me. I broke up with him. You promised to take me to your… your…” She stuttered, not sure how to put it. Cheeks heating, she tried again. “Your… um… place.”

  Ry looked pained again, taking a step back. He seemed like he wanted to be anywhere but there. “It’s a sex house, Luce. If you can’t even say it, why do you want to go?”

  “Fine. You promised to take me to your sex house, so I can see people have sex and watch others who are watching people have sex, so I can see what kind of sex he was having with other people. Sex. Sex. Sex. Happy now?” She tried to say it without whispering, but it came out as a shaky hiss.

  She ignored her twisting stomach, trying to stop fidgeting. The idea that Rylan had sex with women while people watched made her a little sick. What all did he do there? Would he do things with people while she was there? Could she watch that? Could she watch anybody do that stuff? Why did she feel like she had to go? It wasn’t like Rylan was going to sleep with her, no matter how much she desperately wanted him to.

  Admittedly, she thought by going she could get him to have sex with her while there, but he didn’t even want her to go, so it was just a pipe dream. Even if he did take her, he wouldn’t touch her. She knew that.

  Rylan sighed, running a frustrated hand through his hair. He took an aggravated step back to lean against the brick wall of the courtyard, surveying their surroundings. She imagined he was making sure he wasn’t overheard. It wasn’t exactly a conversation to have in public.

  “Look, I talked to the others. You can’t go unless you participate. Only members can come in. Yes, it’s an “Open-Door Policy” house, but that only relates to the rules that no doors can be shut, and any member can watch anyone in any room. Of course, nobody can join in without permission from everyone involved, but to even get in the door, you have to be willing to have sex with at least a two-person group while being watched. Otherwise, everyone will get nervous and think you are a narc. Once people prove they are down, they can choose to do whatever the fuck they want. Hell, they could choose to only masturbate and never have sex with anyone in there again, but first, they’d have to be initiated. Period.”

  Again with that terrified slosh in her stomach. Have sex with two people while being stared at? She couldn’t do this. She was a good girl. Had only had missionary sex a few times with one guy—who had been her boyfriend for nine months—and she hadn’t even liked his fumbling hands or the feeling of him on or in her. He hadn’t tried to make it good for her, just groped her for a minute before shoving himself in and hurriedly finishing.

  At least, she didn’t think he’d tried to make it good. She scrunched her nose, thinking. Was it like that for everyone? Maybe there was just something wrong with her, and she would never like sex. But going had nothing to do with her sorry ex-boyfriend, though that he went to a place like that when sex with her had only taken him three minutes from start to end confused her. Apparently, she hadn’t been enough for him. He’d had to go get off with multiple others, and she’d bet he gave them a whole hell of lot longer than he’d given her. Her inexperience and shyness had probably been a turn-off.

  But screw him. She hadn’t loved him. Never loved anyone her whole life except for Rylan… who only treated her as a sister and best friend. Rylan, who, from the time she was nine, had been her protector, her friend, the one person who understood how stifled she was in her house with her strict parents and their holier-than-thou religious hypocrisy they shoved down her throat. Who understood that under her meekness and shyness she was a person who just wanted to be free to live her own life. Even now, away from her parents, working her way through college on her own because they’d refused to help since she wouldn’t go where they wanted or study what they demanded, she was still too close to that same sheltered, scared girl who had left a year ago.

  Regardless of the fact she’d actually dared to leave, dared to follow Ry to college, dared to have sex outside of marriage with a guy she’d only started dating at first to make him jealous, she still let her upbringing color her every word and action. Still went to confession every time she did something her parents wouldn’t approve of.

  She’d never understand why Rylan was even friends with her in the first place, because he was so different from her, but he had always been there for her. Even as kids, he’d been wild, doing what he wanted with practically no parental supervision. When they were teenagers, he’d started drinking, having sex, and going to crazy parties, though he’d made sure to spend time with her. All they’d really done, though, was hang out in his old treehouse and listen to music. Talk. Sit together at lunch during school.

  Now, at twenty, with his bad-boy ways, women, and apparently group sex, he was getting farther away from her. It didn’t matter that she’d been
in love with him for years. She’d bet her life he wasn’t even attracted to her. He’d never looked at her with that kind of interest. Even the women she’d seen him with were a far cry from her stick-straight copper hair, mud-brown eyes, small breasts, and slight build. He seemed to like them curvy, blonde, buxom, and carefree.

  On that note, she straightened her shoulders, trying to seem more confident than she felt. She didn’t know why she had to prove herself this way, but she did. He was still staring at her with disapproval, arms crossed, but she didn’t let that dissuade her. “Fine. I’ll have… um… sex there. How does it work with single people? Will I just be paired off with… Ry, what’s wrong?”

  As she’d talked, his face had turned dark, mouth tight, fists clenching at his sides. His head was shaking in tight, angry jerks. “Oh, hell no, you won’t. I forbid it.”

  Taken aback, she scoffed, feeling irritated now. “Forbid it? Rylan, you aren’t my boyfriend or my father. You can’t forbid me from doing anything. And if you won’t take me, I’ll just ask Simon’s friend, who I imagine knows all about what his best friend was doing and where while he dated me. I’ll even go as far as to bet he’s been there before, too, and would be more than happy to take me along and ah… introduce me to the lifestyle.”

  If possible, his black expression went even darker. He stalked toward her. “For fuck’s sake, Luce, I am your friend. Your best friend. I am trying to look out for you. You are not the type of girl who goes to those places. You can’t even imagine the stuff that goes on there, much less participate in it.”

  Angry now, she threw up a hand. “Oh, but it’s okay for you? Sheltered little Lucy has to be protected by big bad Rylan, who gets to do whatever the h-hell he wants?”

  He half laughed, but he didn’t sound amused. “You can’t even spit out the word hell when you are mad. How are you even going to watch people fuck, much less join in? This isn’t a house full of girls laying on their backs, closing their eyes, and praying to Jesus for the guy on them to hurry up and finish. This is groups of people getting down and dirty, sucking and fucking, getting kinky with toys and whips, men fucking men and girls fucking girls and everything in between.”

  Tears pricking her eyes now, she focused on the hurtful words, not the picture he painted. Oh, God, the picture he painted… was that really what went on? Never mind, what he’d said before that.

  “I see, Ry.” Her voice broke, even though she tried not to let it. Staring up at him, she shook her head, disappointment at how he thought of her making her stomach hurt. But there was fury there, too, and her words came out in a rush. “I see what you think of me. Just the poor little church girl who isn’t interesting enough to participate in anything outside the box. Who will only ever have sucky missionary sex with her eyes closed. Forget the box and everything you assume is inside it. I’m out to make my own box, my own boundaries, and I’d hoped my best friend would be there for me. I know you don’t think I’m sexy, don’t think I’m a sexual person, don’t think I could be good at anything to do with sex, but I’m not a saint. Don’t want to always be a good girl. I know the things people can do. It doesn’t matter if I haven’t done them or even seen them, I could at least try them. If I didn’t like it, I would never have to do it again. The sex I did have sucked, Ry. I want to know how it can be, find out if it feels good. Just because you aren’t attracted to me doesn’t mean other people won’t be.”

  He put both hands on his head, incredulity covering his face. “Not attracted… Lucy, if you only… Fuck it.” He dragged a hand over his eyes, seeming exasperated.

  “If I only what, Ry?” Confused now, she stared blankly at him.

  “Nothing. Fuck it, Luce, if you are determined to go, I’ll take you. You have to agree on my conditions, though.”

  She ought to feel victorious, but she just felt empty. His words were so contractual, so clinical, and it made her stomach drop even further than before. “What conditions?”

  His smile was tight, cold, and angry. Resigned. He stepped closer, body almost touching hers. She shrank back, because it wasn’t in a good way. He radiated tension, and he towered over her almost menacingly, standing head and shoulders above her five-foot-two height. But he just came closer still, leaning down, green eyes flat. She could feel his breath on her face, and she shuddered as he spit the words out.

  “One, you can’t tell anyone. Ever. Two, you’ll have to be okay with me being your main fuck partner, even if it’s completely weird for both of us. Three, you have to do anything I tell you to—at any time, with anyone, in any way, in any place—no questions asked. Before you answer, I want you to know I won’t baby you. I won’t treat you with kid gloves. You want to be treated like the women there, then that’s how I’ll treat you.”

  He crowded her even more, actually pressing his body into her now. Putting his mouth right by her ear, he harshly uttered, “The girls there—they like to be fucked in every imaginable way. They like it rough, dirty, sweaty, kinky, and sometimes even painful. And make no mistake, Lucy, if you insist I take you, I will fuck you. I will fuck you while people watch. I will let other people put their grubby fucking paws all over your perfect, untouched body, while I watch and fuck other people.”

  She gulped, head spinning, overwhelmed by the feel of him, but he wasn’t finished. He put a heavy hand on her chin, lifting it so he could see her eyes before he continued in a silky, heartless murmur. “And then, Luce, after I bust my nut in someone else, I will put you on your knees and make you suck the taste of her pussy off my cock until I’m hard enough to fuck you again. Is that what you want? Because that’s what I do to women in there. You still sure you wanna be a big girl, Lucy Lou?”

  His expression was satisfied, probably at what he saw on hers. The blood had drained from her face. It felt cold, numb. Her eyes were wide as saucers. But even though her feelings were hurt at his deliberately callous words, her stomach was full of a warm heat that had pooled between her legs. Surprisingly, the more he’d talked, the more she imagined herself on her knees before him. Her inner muscles clenched, and she tried to hide the reaction.

  She knew he thought he’d scared her off, that he thought him saying he would fuck her would make her run in the opposite direction, but it actually made it easier for her to think about going. Maybe she wouldn’t get him the way she wanted—him wanting her and her alone, not just to babysit her, but because he loved her—but she was still getting him… and that was all that mattered. She had to have him at least once, even if she wouldn’t have him to herself.

  Steeling her spine and trying to seem unaffected by his words, she met his tight smile with one of her own. “I accept your conditions. I promise to obey your every command on the first night I go, from the time we walk through the door until the time we leave.”

  Shock flared in his eyes, along with something else. Something hot and raw that shot straight through her, before he quickly blanked his expression. Had that been lust? She had to have imagined it. He didn’t want her. Not really.

  “The first night, Lucy? The only night,” he rasped.

  Chin again tilted, she said, “The first night, Rylan. If I like it, I reserve the right to go back, and I do not want to have to obey you or be your pity lay every time.”

  Mirthlessly, he chuckled, shifting back. “Pity lay? You really have no idea, do you? No fucking clue. Okay, fine. Whatever. But the first night, you are mine. You will obey me, or you will leave.”

  “What don’t I know? Why do you keep saying stuff like that?” She wanted to stamp her foot. Frustrated was an understatement. She couldn’t get a read on him.

  “Nothing, Lucy. It doesn’t matter. Just be ready tonight at eight. I’ll pick you up at your dorm. If we are going to do this, might as well not put it off. See you then.”

  Without another word or even a backward glance, he strode off, his body tense. Lucy stared after him. She had gotten her way, so why didn’t she feel happier about it?

  Chapter 2


  Lucy heard the front door open, and she tensed in apprehension. She and Ry had been the only ones here for a few minutes. It had been tense, weird, even uncomfortable. Rylan had been stonily silent and closed off ever since he’d picked her up earlier, barely even glancing at the outfit she’d spent painstaking hours putting together. After changing a million times, she’d ended up in flats, a blue jean mini skirt, and a crop top with a hip-length jacket open over it in deference to the cool spring night, desperately hoping it was okay.

  When they’d pulled down a long dirt driveway and he’d realized they were the first to arrive, the house dark, he’d banged a fist against the steering wheel and muttered, “Fuck!” between clenched teeth.

  When she’d asked what was wrong, he’d only told her to get out, then stalked up the drive and unlocked the front door. She’d followed him in nervously, curiously taking in the surprisingly cozy interior. In what would usually be the living room, there were two full-sized beds, a couch, a huge TV, and a stereo system.

  He’d walked throughout the house, flipping on lights in each of the other rooms, and she’d quickly noticed the only one that had a door was the bathroom. The rest had been taken down entirely, just bare frames on even the closets. There was a couch in the kitchen, too, only a humming fridge a nod to the actual use of the room.

  It was an airy, spacious place. Two huge bedrooms with walk-in closets, a living room, what would have been a dining room, a kitchen, and a large bathroom with a garden tub. The dining room didn’t have couches or beds, only what looked like a tilt table with Velcro on either side at the top and bottom, a few weird foam wedges that looked like they belonged in a physical therapy office, a tall cabinet with a closed door, and blankets everywhere.