Chapter 2: Tequila & Temptation
They were standing at a high table on the street outside one of the marina front bars in Ibiza town. Rory in a black shirt and thin white linen trousers, Sarah dressed to impress in a short yellow dress with red cherries in thin loose and very thin material, plunging at both the front deep between her breasts to wellbelow her belly button and at the back to just flash the matching theng and red heeled sandals.
Sarah was pressed against his side, her back to his chest. Her earlier ferocity in the villa had melted into a different, more social and flirtatious energy. She was smiling, sipping a vodka limon, her eyes tracking the flow of revellers on the street. But her hips moved in a slow, deliberate grind against his thigh, a private reminder beneath the public chaos.
Mari-Liis was handing them their VIP passes for Pacha later that evening. Nearby a young couple were laughing, the girl very pretty in a satin dress and gold heels, the boy constantly looking across at the two hot older women. Sarah in her provocative dress and mari-Liis in hot pants and singlet ready to do door duty at Pacha.
Sarah's attention drifted over Rory’s shoulder. “She's cute, over there behind you,” she murmured, her breath hot against his ear.
Rory glanced back. The girl was young, early twenties, with dark, glossy hair cut just above her shoulders and a nervous energy she tried to hide behind a smile. Her dress was cheap silver satin, but it clung to a great figure. Her pinky purple eyeshadow and nose piercing gave her a playful aura. The boy with her was all loose limbs and earnest, drunken gestures, his eyes constantly darting to Sarah and Mari-Liis.
“She’s gorgeous,” Sarah whispered, her scarlet nails tracing his abdomen through his shirt. “Looks like a little rabbit, all wide-eyed. You should say hello.”
The suggestion seemed like a challenge, a continuation of the dirty talk from the villa bed. Rory met her eyes and the flicker of curiosity behind the tease. He turned, drink in hand, and took two steps toward their table.
“Evening,” he said, his voice cutting through the bass from the bar. “You two look like you’re having fun .”
The girl looked up, startled. A blush crept up her neck, highlighted by the silver dress. “Oh! Hi. We’re, um, we’re just…” Her voice trailed off, soft and English.
“We’re fucking loving it!” the boy, Robbie, shouted, slinging an arm around Chloe. He puffed his chest out. “First time here. I’m Robbie. This is Chloe. We’re from Leeds.”
“Rory,” he said, extending a hand to Chloe first. Her grip was tentative, her skin cool. “And my wife, Sarah.”
Sarah glided over, a vision in yellow. “And our friend Mari-Liis.” Mari-Liis offered a cool, assessing nod, her eyes roaming over Robbie with detached amusement.
“Wow, you guys look… proper Ibiza,” Robbie said, his gaze locked on Sarah’s plunging neckline. “Been here loads, I bet. Know all the spots.”
“A few,” Sarah said, smiling. She leaned slightly against Rory’s arm. “Mari-Liis runs the door at Pacha, you should be nice to her!”
Robbie’s eyes lit up. “Serious? That’s fucking mega!” He fumbled for his wallet. “Let me get you a drink! What are you having? Shots! We’re having shots!”
As Robbie headed off to the bar inside, Rory let his gaze settle on Chloe. She was watching Sarah with a mixture of awe and something else, curiosity. When she caught him looking, she blushed again but didn’t look away.
“So, Chloe,” Rory said, his tone intimate beneath the noise. “First time here??”
She nodded, tucking a strand of hair behind her ear. “Yeah. Saved up forever. It’s… a lot.”
“It can be,” he agreed. “It's great fun - Ibiza anything can happen” He let the phrase hang. Sarah was now laughing at something Mari-Liis was saying and Ruari casually put his hand on Chloe side at bum level.
She jumped slightly, but she didn’t move away.
Robbie returned triumphant with a tray of tequila shots, sloshing liquid onto the sticky wood. “Right then! Proper party now!” He handed one to Sarah, then to Mari-Liis. “For the most stunning women here.”
"Apart from Chloe, obviously" Rory reminded him with ammusement.
"Oh... Yeah... Yeah of course, here you go babe."
Rory looked at Chloe with a conspiratorial smile. "Thank you." She said quietly. Then back at Sarah with a triumphant grin.
She raised her eye brows and turning to Mari-Liis, "You remember Captain charming with the ladies, thinks he's David Niven."
Mari-Liis laughed, and Robbie said, "Who's David Niven?"
Mari-Liis shook her head, still smiling, and raised her shot glass. “Old movie star. Never mind. To new friends, yeah?”
“New friends,” Sarah echoed, her eyes finding Rory’s over the rim of her glass with an i know what you're thinking look. The salt and lime were forgotten. They all tipped the tequila back in unison. The liquid was a sharp, clean fire that burned away the last veneer of polite conversation.
Rory’s eyes watered slightly as he slammed his glass down. The burn in his throat was instantly matched by a new heat in his groin. Under the table, his hand, which had been resting on Chloe’s lower back, slid down. His fingers brushed the sequined fabric over the curve of her arse, then dipped lower, finding the bare skin of her upper thigh.
Chloe froze, her own glass hitting the table with a clatter. Her breath caught. She stared straight ahead, her body rigid with a shock that wasn’t entirely unpleasant.
Sarah saw it all—the girl’s arrested motion, the dilation of her pupils. She leaned into Rory’s other side, her lips at his ear. “Making friends, darling?” she whispered, her tone playful and dark.
Robbie, oblivious, was beaming. “Another round! My treat again!”
“I have to get going to the club,” Mari-Liis announced, checking a slim, buzzing phone. Her voice cut through the moment. “It’s a zoo already.” She gave Sarah a meaningful look. “You have the passes. Don’t be too late.”
She kissed Sarah turned to Rory and whispered his ear, "You can bring your pretty friend if you want," then after a brief pause, "even if she brings her silly boyfriend." she kissed him and offered a casual wave to the younger couple before disappearing into the crowd, her tall figure weaving through the bodies with practised ease.
Her departure left a sudden, charged silence at their small table. The noise of the bar seemed to swell around them, a pounding wave. Robbie looked deflated, his shot-glass momentum broken. Chloe finally shifted, but only enough to cause Rory’s hand to move briefly to cup her arse then move away
“So,” Sarah said, her voice bright and deliberate, breaking the spell. “Pacha, then? Mari-Liis will let us skip the queue. You two should come with us.” She directed this at Robbie, but her gaze was on Chloe’s flushed face. “Unless you have other plans?”
“No plans!” Robbie blurted, his enthusiasm reignited. “That’d be fucking amazing! Right, Chlo?”
Chloe’s eyes darted from Sarah’s smiling face to Rory’s calm, assessing gaze. Her throat worked, a tiny movement. “Yeah,” she finally breathed out, the word almost lost in the thumping bass from the open bar door. “Yeah, that sounds incredible.”
“Sorted!” Robbie crowed, slapping the table. He flagged down a passing waiter, ordering another round of shots with a sloppy flourish. “Gotta fuel up for the mission!”
Rory watched Chloe’s fingers tremble as she reached for her fresh glass. His own pulse was a steady, heavy drumbeat in his ears, syncing with the music. Sarah’s hand slipped into his, her nails pressing crescent moons into his palm.
The taxi ride to Pacha was a blur. Chloe sat stiffly beside Robbie, who kept up a running commentary on the sights. Rory on the other side so his thigh pressed against Chloe’s for the entire journey.
He could feel the heat of her skin through the sequined dress. Every bump in the road jostled them together. She didn’t pull away. She stared straight ahead, her profile illuminated by passing streetlights, her lips slightly parted.
Sarah in the front turned and with her cherry-red lips asked Chloe. “Looking forward to it?” she asked, her voice a low purr that Robbie, engrossed in pointing out a massive club entrance, couldn’t hear.
Chloe shook her head quickly, a denial that wasn’t convincing. “Just excited.”
“Good,” Sarah said, her hand resting high on Rory’s thigh, her fingers stroking inward. “You should be.”
The line outside Pacha was a seething organism, hundreds of bodies pressed against velvet ropes under the iconic cherry logo. The bass from inside was a physical vibration in the pavement. Mari-Liis saw them from the door, a goddess in a white vest and headset. A flick of her head and a kiss and they were in.
"My fiends you know are in the VIP room looking over the dance floor, these bracelets will get you in....."