I lunged for the towel rope in sheer, gut-wrenching panic. I twisted it around my wrist, knotting it tight in a desperate tangle, just as momentum slammed into the brick wall on the rebound. The impact exploded the breath from my lungs, blood flecking the brick.
I dangled there, body scraped raw against the wall, swaying with every frantic kick for purchase.
I was still on Floor 6, but below the shattered window.
Brick dust coated my tongue. The gearheads and biker gangs below looked eerie in their unnatural stillness, but the trash fires disturbed me more. Flames were not supposed to stand still. At least from this angle I had a front-row seat to several of the women's assets, all packed into short shorts or leather straps. If I was going to die, it might as well be with a view.
Matterhorn's massive frame loomed over the window.
"You're a slippery little fucker," he rumbled.
"I'm—" I coughed, red flecking the wall. "—scrappy."
He laughed. "I think I've made myself clear," he said. "Drop the Sugar Patriarch pipe dream. Hell, quit the Daddy game entirely. Big cock and fat reserves mean jack if you can't wield 'em right."
"I'm just trying to fix... my mistake," I gasped. My arms were burning from the strain.
"You'd shatter more shit first."
"We weren't going to let him do anything stupid, you meathead prick!" Bridgid yelled.
Good. She was alive.
"A lot of good you did the first time!" Matterhorn shot back.
He shook his head. A little too strongly, because the sunglasses slipped off his face.
For the first time, I saw his eyes. They were scared.
"No!" he shouted.
I caught them.
"Hey, give me those!"
I sighed. Technically, I was exactly where I wanted to be. I needed to get down to Floor 2. Princess was still available. The towel rope was long enough. I didn't owe this guy a damn thing after the beating he'd given me.
But I was already tied up, and when I checked to see if I could loosen it, I couldn't get any give out of it at all. If I had Gelato, I could cut myself free. As it was, he could pull me up any time he wanted. It would only be a matter of time before he realized.
"Listen," Matterhorn said, his voice tight. "I don't think you understand how important those are to me."
That did it. Did he expect me to care about how important his precious little sunglasses were to him? The sheer audacity almost made me throw them into the open air on reflex. But I didn't. I had to bite my tongue, adding more blood into the mix.
He vanished inside. Another yell from Bridgid, and then her wild red braid whipped into view above, followed by her shoulders, hourglass waist, and ass. Matterhorn dangled her by one wrist over the sill, her petite body kicking futilely.
"Get me the fuck inside, asshole!"
"Once my shades are back."
"Baby, what are you doing!" Torque yelled. "This is too far!"
"Just keeping going!" Bridgid yelled down at me. "He's not going to drop me."
From my vantage point, I couldn't avoid looking up beneath Bridgid's skirt. Her round, firm ass wore a black lingerie bottom that matched the black bra that was still on the floor in the hotel room. Some of her tattoos looked like they were panicking as they moved erratically across her lower limbs.
"Oh yeah?" Matterhorn growled. "And who says I won't?"
"I do, damn it!" This time it was Lockjaw. She struck his shoulder, but he barely moved. "This is not who you are!"
Ironbound wheeled up near her fellow Sugar Babies. "Matterhorn," she said weakly. "If you don't bring that poor girl back inside, I'll never again do that thing you like."
Matterhorn flushed red.
"Don't you understand!?" He yelled. "Damn, it feels like I'm the only one who's getting anything at all today! Unless I have those, you're at risk! And I won't have that!"
Without his sunglasses, I could see him more clearly than before. He sounded angry, but he couldn't hide the fear in his eyes. These were the actions of a desperate man. Of a man who, like me, I guess, had a lot of power, but still struggled with fear. Not just now, but as a way of life.
"Just keep going, Teddy!" It was futile, but she didn't stop her attempt to free herself from Matterhorn's grip. "He's bluffing! He won't drop me! He's—he's some kind of... an absolute piece of—"
"He's honorable," I interrupted.
"WHAT!?" she screamed.
"What?" Matterhorn asked.
"You're angry," I said calmly. "And those sunglasses matter to you. A lot. You pride yourself on protecting your Sugar Babies. I heard them vouch for you just now."
And had they not vouched for him, I might not have risked this. But I needed to take the opportunity to do more than comply. I needed to establish trust. I wouldn't survive long if I made enemies of everyone who tried to throw me out of a window.
"This," I continued, "is not the behavior of a man who'd hurt an innocent woman."
Bridgid gawked like I'd grown a second dick.
Matterhorn stayed silent for a while, and then gently pulled Bridgid back inside.
"Thank you, Matterhorn," I said loudly. "Now, please pull me up. I'm kind of tangled."
Matterhorn wordlessly complied.
The moment his sunglasses were back in his hand, I crossed the room to Bridgid. She had dropped onto the floor like her bones had decided they were done for the day. She was still topless, her tattoos moving sluggishly now, like they were tired, too.
I sat beside her. She leaned into me, resting her head against my chest. Strands of red hair had slipped free from her braid. My hands roamed instinctively over her body, her breasts, her belly and thighs. With a thumb I circled her nipple, pinching it until it pebbled harder. She guided my hand to places she wanted. She may not be my Sugar Baby, but if it was anything like this, it would be paradise on Earth.
It was a time for calming down. For relaxation. For breathing again. Moments like this had a way of loosening thoughts, of letting clarity slip through the cracks.
I looked down at her, eyes closed, trusting, hip pressed against mine, and let myself stay there a few seconds longer before I said anything.
I hadn't had a bad run. Not many people got this far. I hadn't become the Sugar Patriarch. I hadn't even managed one true Sugar Baby relationship. But I'd gotten this, and that was more than I ever should've expected.
"I hope you don't think this means I've dropped my goal," Matterhorn said, "of making sure you never become the Sugar Patriarch."
"I wouldn't dream of it."
"I expect you'll want my help getting down to the second floor, then?"
I grinned while Bridgid's hand snuck up to my own waist and began stroking my bulge through the silk. "I might have a different idea."
His jaw tightened. "Your ideas suck."
"Oh," I said, "I think you'll like this one."
I sat up, trying to move Bridgid as little as possible. I looked at Matterhorn's Sugar Babies—Torque, Lockjaw, and Ironbound. Before I thought they looked at me with a kind of pity. Now they looked at me with a mix of emotions that maybe included pity but also included respect. And, at least with Ironbound, amusement.
I looked down at where Matterhorn had hit me before. My skin still looked stretched and pulled, and I was significantly bruised and outright bleeding some parts around the edges where I started to tear.
It had knocked me out of the Sugar Rush state. At least, it had knocked part of me out. I wonder what would happen if it knocked the whole of me out of it?
"Matterhorn," I said, "I want you to hit me as hard as you possibly can."