Effie NYE

Kagura mountain lodge was huge and offered many dark corners and empty hallways, especially on the upper floor. John had endured the party for as long as he could stand, watching Effie as she made her rounds through the crowd. She was so beautiful and the way she interacted with people was so effortless. John was truly jealous of her in that way.

But then the clock struck twelve and she was at his side, kissing him into the new year. Blood pounded in his ears and his groin and before John knew what he was doing he'd taken hold of her wrist and was dragging her off. Away from the crowd. Down a hallway, kissing her and touching her. Shoving her against the wall to ruck up her skirt and feel the bare flesh of her thigh above her stockings on the landing of the stairs leading downward.

"Effie," he gasped into her mouth. The single soft word echoed in the empty stairwell.