SPRING FLINGS ANTHOLOGY by
Emma Wildes, Kristina Diesen, Emma Sinclair, Jenna Howard, C’ann Inman, Anna J. Evans, Barbara Baldwin, Karen Mandeville, December Quinn, and Sherrill Quinn
WHISKEY CREEK PRESS www.whiskeycreekpress.com
Published by WHISKEY CREEK PRESS Whiskey Creek Press PO Box 51052 Casper, WY 82605-1052 www.whiskeycreekpress.com “The Wicked Wager” Copyright 2006 by Katherine Smith “Whatever It Takes” Copyright 2006 by Kristina Diesen “Ally’s Fling” Copyright 2006 by Emma Sinclair “Blossoming Spring” Copyright 2006 by Jenna Howard “Intervention” Copyright 2006 by C’ann Inman “Time Of The Season” Copyright 2006 by S.J. Inglesias “Madame Bianca’s Diary” Copyright 2006 by Barbara Baldwin “A Game We Play” Copyright 2006 by Karen Mandeville “The Changeling” Copyright 2006 by December Quinn “Chocolate-Covered Werewolves” Copyright 2006 by Sherrill Quinn Names, characters and incidents depicted in this book are products of the author’s imagination or are used fictitiously. Any resemblance to actual events, locales, organizations, or persons, living or dead, is entirely coincidental and beyond the intent of the author or the publisher. No part of this book may be reproduced or transmitted in any form or by any means, electronic or mechanical, including photocopying, recording, or by any information storage and retrieval system, without permission in writing from the publisher. ISBN 1-59374-528-1
Credits
Cover Artist: Jinger Heaston Editor: Chere Gruver Printed in the United States of America
Dedication To all the family members, editors, and friends who helped us realize our dreams.
Contents The Wicked Wager 1 Emma Wildes
Whatever It Takes 27 Kristina Diesen
Ally’s Fling
49
Emma Sinclair
Blossoming Spring 73 Jenna Howard
Intervention 99 C’ann Inman
Time Of The Season
119
Anna J. Evans
Madame Bianca’s Diary 141 Barbara Baldwin
A Game We Play 169 Karen Mandeville
The Changeling December Quinn
189
Chocolate-Covered Werewolves Sherrill Quinn
215
THE WICKED WAGER by
Emma Wildes
1
Spring Flings Anthology
She played a dangerous game, but it was the only solution to a highly volatile situation. Rachel Leeds handed over the voucher with what she hoped to be a credible smile. “Five thousand on Inferno.” The man, who resembled a greasy gypsy dressed in fine clothing, smiled thinly though his eyes widened a little at her recklessness. “Excellent bet, Madame. Though the odds are long. Perhaps you would care to venture another small gamble on a surer thing, such as Traitor’s Hope or Goliath—” “Just the one, thank you,” Rachel interrupted, not wanting to admit how hard her heart pounded. If she lost, all was doomed, but if she won…dear God, let Inferno do what his jockey swore he could. If nothing else, maybe she could sell him for a tidy sum if he made a good showing. Not enough, of course, to pay her dead husband’s creditors. For that, she needed the unpredictable black stallion to win and not only give her the sizable purse, but also vindicate her brazen wager. “Ah, Lady Leeds, it is not like you to attend a race meet, much less frequent the bookmakers.” That soft drawl made her stiffen, her chin lifting as she glanced up. Sure enough, she saw that looming over her with his usual stark masculine presence stood Lord Richard Peyton, the devastatingly handsome youngest son of the Duke of Lyston. “I beg your pardon?” she said icily. His smile was the infamous curve of his lips so many hapless ladies had found too alluring to resist. “I love it,” he said softly, 2
Spring Flings Anthology “when women beg. But you must tell me what you didn’t understand, Rachel.” Staring up at his tall form, unwillingly aware of his height and startling dark good looks at a time when she could afford no distractions, she said coolly, “If you are being deliberately suggestive, my Lord, you should save your suave charm for the eager young ladies who fawn around you night and day. As you may have noticed from our past acquaintance, I am neither young or…eager.” He laughed, a disconcerting sound of genuine mirth. “Twenty-three is aged? I must be a relic then at twenty-eight. And as for eager, I remember at least a little...eagerness.” People were all around them, the stands being packed full on such a beautiful spring day. The sun beating down on her parasol caused tendrils of curling hair to cling to her temples and she felt damp and disheveled. And, considering she had just wagered her future on the whims of one high-strung and unpredictable horse, she was not in the mood to banter with a man like Lord Richard. Heaven knew she had tried to discourage his pursuit, but that only seemed to add fuel to the fire. Hoping no one had heard his last very improper statement, she said flatly, “I cannot understand your determination, my Lord.” “Then perhaps you haven’t glanced in your looking glass lately, Madame.” His eyes were dark, like sultry midnight framed by unfairly long lashes, and his voice dropped a notch as he spoke. He seemed unaware of the crowd, or perhaps just didn’t care…his reputation as a rake of the first order indicated he didn’t worry about public opinion anyway. Tall, athletically built, and well-dressed, he stood blocking her way, people having to pass around them, several heads turning already as their intense conversation was noted by the aristocratic crowd. “The compliment is appreciated, if not subtle,” Rachel said dryly, the wager ticket clutched in her gloved hand like a loaded pistol, “but being pursued for the sake of my looks alone is not exactly flattering. I’d like to think there is a little more to me 3
Spring Flings Anthology than the color of my hair or how the features are arranged in my face.” “Don’t forget your absolutely splendid breasts, my dear. I haven’t.” “If you are at all a gentleman, you will keep your voice down.” Her voice shook slightly and heat shot into her cheeks. “Surely I am not the only one who recalls our little interlude in the garden?” One dark downy brow edged upward as he stared down at her, taller by at least a foot. His face was starkly modeled, his masculine beauty striking and undeniable. Dark glossy hair brushed his collar, his gaze uncomfortably direct. Moonlight, strong arms, his heated body over hers as he moved hard and hot between her legs…she remembered only too well. Rachel hissed in a low tone, “It was a mistake. Now, if you will excuse me, I want to watch the next race.” “Watch it with me in my private box and perhaps we can make the odds even more interesting.” He had audacity, she would give him that, but then again, when a man had a title, arresting good looks, and a vast fortune, not to mention an exalted family, he was probably born audacious. Rachel smiled thinly. “I already have a large sum on my late husband’s horse, and that is all I can afford. Besides, the odds are set by the bookmakers, my Lord, not you.” “Some odds are.” “Now you are being cryptic.” His perfect mouth quirked a little at the corner, the sunlight making his dark hair gleam blue-black. Smiling in lazy charm, he murmured, “A side bet is what I am suggesting, my lady. Something you can most certainly…afford, given the possibility you lose. My horse Goliath, by the way, is the clear favorite.” Lose? If it happened, her life would be over. “Inferno will win,” she declared firmly, her palms sweating beneath her fine kid gloves. “If you are so convinced, please allow me to escort you to my box. There we can get some refreshment and discuss our 4
Spring Flings Anthology little wager. I have champagne waiting, hoping you would join me.” Rachel stared, suspicious and unsettled, certain she distrusted this man implicitly. “Why would you think I would even be here? I have never come to the races before.” “Because,” Richard Peyton said smoothly, “you don’t have a choice but to be here and bet on your horse. It is exactly what I would do if I were in your untenable position.” **** Fine calculation was his forte and this particular afternoon, he was using it on a true wild gamble. Gesturing for the hovering servant to uncork the sparkling wine, Richard smiled. Across from him, her warm golden beauty glowing in the afternoon sunshine, Lady Rachel lifted a brow, trying to look cool despite voluminous skirts and the risk she had taken. She wore a soft rose gown, a compliment to her creamy, flawless skin, and the flush on her cheeks nearly matched the color of her dress. She was worried, he decided, as their glasses were filled. Yes, the lady in question looked decidedly flustered. Which was all to his advantage, he thought in satisfaction. “You haven’t inquired further as to our wager,” he said, picking up his glass, not bothering to hide his open appraisal. Rachel Leeds was a very beautiful woman, on that point most of fashionable London was agreed. He also privately knew she was passionate and highly sensual, both those traits hidden under her normally cool composure. That aside, she was reputedly almost a pauper, hovering on the brink of genteel poverty because of her husband’s reckless penchant for gambling and horses. One horse left, he thought as he admired the smooth, heavy fall of dark gold hair caught up in a demure coil at her nape. He was also very enamored by the straight, classic line of her nose, the heavily lashed beauty of her hazel eyes, her soft, sweetly formed mouth…and in particular, the voluptuous curves of her womanly body. 5
Spring Flings Anthology In short, he wanted her. Their one brief sexual encounter was only enough to stir his blood. He meant to have her time and again, until they were both sated and satisfied. She said in halting argument, “You invited me here, my Lord. I think by protocol alone, you are supposed to tell me about this ridiculous bet, not make me ask.” The horses were through parading, Richard noted, sipping his sparkling wine. The race would start soon. He said succinctly, “Ten thousand that my horse, Goliath, wins this race. You would be betting on Inferno coming in first.” Lady Rachel laughed outright, though her lovely eyes held no mirth. “If I sold everything I own, I could not come up with ten thousand.” “I am not interested in your money, my Lady, but your person. Let me finish, if you please. Ten thousand against a week of your company.” Richard added softly, “A week, the place of my choosing…and I make all the rules.” He could swear it was there, a brief flare in those goldgreen depths, a hidden excitement of temptation. But she said coldly, “You are shameless and possess the morals of an alley cat. I am not, my Lord, a whore.” His smile was wickedly straightforward and Richard lifted a brow very slowly. “I know you aren’t. If I thought you were, I’d simply offer you the money outright. However, this way, you have a fair chance of winning enough coin to ease your troubles.” The horses on the track were being led into their places, he could see the sleek dark coat of his huge black racer—a proven winner, and also, the gleaming bay running under the Leeds colors. It was a good horse, by all accounts, and had a new jockey with a reputation for taking home horses on long odds, so there was every chance he’d be sending a draft to the lady across from him first thing in the morning. Toying with the stem of his glass, he waited, seeing a myriad of emotions cross her lovely face, the last one being an almost defiant recklessness. 6
Spring Flings Anthology The very beautiful Lady Leeds lifted her glass in a mock toast and said with audible bitterness, “Very well, my Lord. You have a wager. Since I have risked everything else in my life, if I lose, my virtue might as well be forfeit, too.” In response, Richard elevated his glass and murmured, “I will drink to that.” The crack of the starting pistol actually made his stomach tighten, though as a seasoned gambler, he was well-used to the thrill of high risk. However, he knew as he watched the field begin in a bunch that quickly spread out, this time, he wanted to win…very badly. To his chagrin, Inferno almost immediately took the lead, and at the first curve, Goliath was a good four lengths behind him. Rachel looked delighted and almost poignantly hopeful, her attention intensely focused on the race, her wine glass clutched in her fingers. She was damned distracting, Richard thought, finding himself watching her and not the drama unfolding on the track. When he glanced back down, he saw that Goliath, who hated being behind any horse, closed the gap. And when the turn was made and the straightaway gained, the two horses thundered toward the finish line neck and neck. It was beyond a doubt, an exciting race. And when it was over, it was very hard to tell who had won. **** She had actually agonized over what to wear, Rachel thought in complete self-disgust, as if the randy Lord Richard would care about her apparel. As his strumpet for the week, he would surely have her out of her gown in minutes, so what would it matter if it was cherry tulle or lemon silk. Fate, she mused as the carriage turned off the road and rumbled up a long drive hedged by tall trees showing tiny unfurling leaves, was a whimsical thing. The odds of having the two horses finish so close that a definitive winner could not be declared were long, and the resulting chaos with bookmakers and stewards a mess…and in the end, when Lord Richard had 7
Spring Flings Anthology suggested they both pay their side of his outrageous wager, she couldn’t see how to refuse. She needed that ten thousand pounds desperately. So, for a week, she would be the plaything of one of England’s most celebrated rakes, a man whose name was whispered by society belles and serving wenches alike, who could supposedly seduce with a look and one of his infamous smiles… She should know. She had been one of his victims. Remembering that night last autumn made her squirm slightly on the seat, her breasts tightening against her will. The night had been cool and clear, but the ballroom hot, and after a dance she had even been reluctant to give him because her reputation was pristine, while his was quite the opposite…Lord Richard had persuaded her to walk in the garden. Before she knew it, they were kissing in the moonlight, his hands expertly exploring her body, arousing a level of wanton response she didn’t know she possessed. He had lowered her to the soft grass and lifted her skirts, and she had spread her legs willingly, she recalled with humiliated memory. And when he freed his impressive cock from his breeches and moved to enter her, she had been the one to moan with pleasure… It had been heaven, and she had experienced sexual climax for the first time in the arms of the infamous lord. More than once. “Damn him,” Rachel muttered. Her only excuse was that her husband had been dead then just a year and she was lonely— not that she actually missed Randolph and his inept fumbling in bed, so perhaps it was more accurate to say she had been led astray by her wayward body. The carriage rocked to a halt. When the door opened, Rachel saw the house was not a grand mansion, but instead a modest country manor, the grounds spreading out in the fine pale green of new life, smooth grass reviving after the cold winter snows, a sea of daffodils in the garden to her right. The 8
Spring Flings Anthology place was brick and square, covered charmingly with ivy, and the front door open to the fine day. “Here you are, my Lady.” Her driver, a small thick-set man with an impassive expression handed her out. “My instructions are to leave your bags here on the steps and be on my way.” Since Lord Richard had promised discretion, she was glad to see he adhered to his word. Nodding, she thanked the man and rather curiously climbed the front steps as the carriage rocked away. Inside, the foyer was plain but charming with a polished wooden floor and a vase of tulips on a marble-topped stand. Standing uncertainly, she inhaled the delicate scent of the blooms. “You’re here.” Just hearing his deep voice sent an unwanted tremor through her…and she had been trying so hard to not think about what lay ahead in the next seven days. Sex, her traitorous body reminded her. Licentious and unreserved sex in ways you haven’t imagined. His body using yours in any way he wishes… “Of course, my Lord,” she said coolly, turning and formally offering her hand. “I honor my debts.” He was dressed as a country gentleman, informally and plainly; no coat, white lawn shirt, dark breeches, and well-worn boots. His casual wardrobe somehow managed to unfairly emphasize his sensual good looks. No one, Rachel thought involuntarily as his mouth lingered over her fingers, should have such perfect bone structure, such height and muscled form, not to mention the smoldering power of his enticing smile… “I am like an adolescent,” he said, straightening and staring down at her. “So impatient for your arrival, I woke at dawn.” She’d been awake then too, though she wasn’t going to admit it. It wasn’t as if she welcomed this unreasonable longing for such a shallow man. Rachel tugged her hand free and tilted her chin upwards. “How enchantingly flattering. I assume you are about to show me to the bedroom. Don’t worry, my Lord, I am not expecting finesse.” 9
Spring Flings Anthology Other than a very slight tightening of his mouth, he didn’t act offended at her rudeness, elevating one ebony brow. “I was going to offer you a glass of cool wine in the garden since the day is so fair, but fine, my Lady, if you are that impatient, we can proceed at once.” Rachel gasped as he swept her up in her arms suddenly, wondering if she had made a tactical error in being so open in her resentment of the situation. He held her easily, as if she were a child and not a full-grown woman, and she had no choice but to loop her arm around his neck as he stalked down the hallway to a stairway that led upwards to a second floor. She stammered, “Please, I didn’t mean to be quite so—” “Bitchy?” he supplied ironically, giving her a glance from those beautiful dark eyes. “You are forgiven, my Lady. I understand your position very well. You don’t like the fact that despite your prim reservations about my moral fiber and character, you are attracted to me anyway. Well, you can console yourself with the knowledge that you aren’t my usual fare either. Never have I had to use coercion of any kind to get a woman into my bed.” “Don’t be so modest, my Lord,” Rachel countered tartly, a small thrill of treacherous anticipation curling in her stomach as he gained the upstairs hallway and shouldered his way through the first door on the left. He smelled tangy and masculine, like whiskey and bayberry, and under her fingers, his shoulders were hard and impressive. “Don’t be so damned enticing, Madame,” he said in curt answer, depositing her on a large, four-poster bed that dominated the room. Leaning over her, he smiled then, a slow, sensual curve of his mouth that made her heart instantly race. “Now then, shall we do it like the last time just to revive the memory of why we can’t quite forget each other? Let’s see, I believe I shoved up your gown like this,” his long-fingered hands moved to jerk her silken skirts up above her waist, despite her resistant clutch on the material, “and then you spread your legs in the most charming invitation. Remember, darling?” 10
Spring Flings Anthology As if the world shifted, her body seemed to take over her mind, a throbbing need settling between her thighs, dampening her cleft in a rush. Unmoving, Rachel stared up at the man looming over her and wanted to coolly dismiss his smug recollection of her enthusiastic capitulation that autumn evening. But when his fingers casually went to the fastenings of his breeches, she found she swallowed and watched him undo each one until the rampant length of his erection was in plain view, the sheer size of it an erotically exciting memory. He was magnificent, already swollen and aroused enough to take her. And she let her legs fall apart, opening for him in a graphic indication of what she wanted, her eyelids slowly drifting shut at the same time. “Ah…you do remember,” he murmured, his voice dropping a notch in timbre. His fingers grazed her open sex. “And the lady is wet already…let’s see what else I can do to refresh that particular recollection.” The mattress gave as he settled above her. “How about this?” The first nudge of the engorged tip of his cock at her vaginal entrance was like bliss and she stifled a telling moan, spreading herself even more open for his invasion. It was both heaven and hell to feel the penetration of his huge rigid shaft inside her, the slide inward hard and sure, impaling her fully as he pushed deep. Without thought, Rachel clutched his shoulders, holding herself still for the next forceful thrust, a whimper escaping as he withdrew. When he glided back in, she thought she would expire from the sheer joy of it. Sensation replaced everything—her knowledge of his wicked reputation for casual affairs, his less than subtle way of getting her into his bed, her own flagrant sexual hunger…all that mattered was that he moved in slick friction in and out of her and how good it felt to be so carnally possessed. Rachel moaned, not caring any longer he knew she liked it, arching her hips to take him as far as possible, needing every pulsing inch of him. Every movement was like paradise, her body growing tighter, more desperate, his breath coming hard in 11
Spring Flings Anthology her ear. The tremors of release came almost too quickly, her body climaxing in spasms around his urgent shaft, her cry filling the warm, airy room as she shuddered around him in complete joyous physical release. A low oath tore from his throat as Richard drove in and stiffened, his impetuous release matching her own, a hot flood suddenly erupting inside her. He held himself above her, their rumpled clothing in disarray, her tumbled skirts around her hips, until both their breathing slowed. Then, giving her one of his legendary smiles, Lord Richard remarked wickedly, his mouth brushing hers, “Oh yes, my Lady, that’s exactly how it was.” **** Afternoon sun slanted through the window, falling in blocks across the oriental rug. Her luscious bottom in the air, the nude woman beneath him gave a breathy sigh from her face-down position, the dark gold silk of her loose hair spilling across her naked back. Holding her hips in his hands for his urgent thrusts, Richard knew he was going to come any moment, with or without her orgasmic satisfaction, and that knowledge was tempered by an almost incredulous disbelief, for he usually had remarkable control. If this afternoon was any indication, he was going to fuck himself to death this week, he thought in a haze of pleasure as he sank deep again into Lady Rachel’s hot, pulsing cleft. No novice when it came to sex, he recognized the unique nature of his intense desire for her and meant to satisfy it, and this afternoon was certainly a good beginning. His testicles tightened in preparation for release, a groan locked in his throat. His rigid erection touched her womb, he was so far inside her, the passage around him tight and slick from their previous intercourse. On her elbows, her forehead pressed into a pillow, Rachel gasped at that deep penetration and with acute pleasure, he felt the clenching of her inner muscles as her climax began, a ripple of sensation that made him ejaculate in moments, the physical bliss causing him to tremble as he held 12
Spring Flings Anthology hard against her buttocks and poured scalding semen inside her vagina. When he was able to breathe again, he withdrew and fell next to her, one arm going across his forehead. “Perhaps we’ve set a sexual record of some kind, my Lady. I believe you arrived only four hours ago.” Sliding into a prone position on her stomach, Rachel’s eyes were half-closed, those hazel depths veiled by her long lashes. “You are most importunate, my Lord,” she murmured softly, her pale thighs visibly streaked with rivulets of his sexual discharge. “And you are so damned intoxicating, you make me that way,” he replied wryly, lifting a brow and skimming a finger along the curve of her bare shoulder, following the graceful curve of her spine, tracing the round perfection of her bottom to the crease between, then gently cupping one warm buttock. “Your body, Madame, is divinely female, so soft and beautiful. But then again, I knew it would be.” “Since you are undoubtedly an expert, I accept the compliment.” It was no secret she disliked his reputation, some of which, if he was honest, was well-earned, the rest of it, sheer exaggeration. He resisted the urge to wince at her acerbic tone, and neutrally he said, “Don’t believe everything you hear, Rachel.” Her gaze sharpened a fraction as she lay next to him, and she asked, “Are you trying to tell me there is more to you than this?” Lifting a hand, she reached over and touched the tip of his still half rigid penis with one finger, a light caress that made him sharply take in a breath. “I certainly hope so,” he said, his voice a trifle thick. “Every man has a cock.” “Though I suspect they can’t all use it so…effectively.” Stretching a little, Rachel actually smiled at him, all long lissome womanhood in the satiated afterglow of intercourse. Since she had brought up the subject, he asked tentatively, “Your husband…I knew him slightly. I’ve wondered—” 13
Spring Flings Anthology “He was a dolt and a drunkard.” The smile left her face as she interrupted curtly. “My father married me off to Randolph because he was friends with his father, my say in the matter negated by all parties involved. Rest assured, despite my financial woes, I am happy to be free and don’t intend to ever tie myself to another man.” “With your compelling beauty, you could find someone less venal and self-serving,” he commented quietly, still caressing her backside with gentle strokes. “Someone who will appreciate your innate sensuality, my Lady.” She shook her head, her heavy, honey-colored hair moving across her ivory shoulders. “No thank you. I pass on being subject again to male authority. My father and husband were more than enough. Besides,” she rolled a little so she faced him, her lush body superimposed on the sheets like some sort of pagan offering, “you have shown me that if I crave the earthier pleasures, I needn’t have a husband to get them.” Her breasts were still flushed from her recent orgasm, those swelling mounds full and high, tipped by delectable pink nipples. Richard found his gaze drawn there, a small laugh escaping. “Are you trying to tempt me again, Lady Leeds?” “Can I?” The question was delicate and teasing, her gaze openly suggestive. “It’s probably too soon even for someone as talented as you…but after all, my Lord, you forced me to be here so I should be entertained…” “Don’t worry, darling, if you are ready again, I can be flexible.” He leaned over and covered one erect nipple with his mouth, making her gasp. When her hands slid into his hair and she shifted to her back, Richard followed, still sucking her breast. Between her legs, she was creamy with sperm and her own sexual fluids and he had no problem inserting two fingers into that enticing soft warmth, hearing the way her breathing changed at once as he penetrated her female passage. The reluctant Lady Leeds, he decided as he began to stroke her to climax, rubbing the tiny swollen nub between her labia as 14
Spring Flings Anthology he gently suckled on one breast and then the other, was susceptible in one very primal way. She had a distinct weakness for hot, frequent sex. **** The weather had turned, blue-tinted spring skies giving way to a gentle soporific rain, streaking the window of the bedroom she shared with Richard. Fastening the last button on her gown, Rachel smoothed her skirts and glanced at the mirror to check her hair. Why she bothered to get dressed at all was a mystery, for there was little doubt that they would spend the afternoon the same way they had spent the last four—in bed, making love time and again… It was a little disturbing how easily he could arouse her body…but even more unsettling was that she’d had glimpses of another side of the man she thought of only as an infamous rakehell. He was more than just polite, he was actually considerate, and since the servants left each day right after luncheon, Rachel was a little astonished to realize he wasn’t adverse to setting the table for the causal dinner they usually enjoyed, or clearing the dishes afterwards, insisting on waiting on her since she was his guest. He had even wandered out onto the garden that morning, waking her with a bouquet of rainspotted pink tulips, his hair still damp, his kiss soft and romantic. There were other things too, he was intelligent and witty, remarkably unspoiled despite his fabulous looks and titled family, neither arrogant nor condescending at any time… It would not be wise, Rachel sharply reminded herself, to fall in love with Richard Peyton. She doubted fidelity was in his vocabulary and even if she loved the decadent expertise of his sexual prowess, the last thing she needed was a broken heart when she was trying so hard to wrest a life from the mess Randolph had left her. Going downstairs, she headed for the dining room, a little surprised to hear deep voices in conversation, not aware they were to have a visitor. When she entered the room, two 15
Spring Flings Anthology aristocratic gentlemen got courteously to their feet, their faces so alike, it gave her distinct pause. “Good afternoon,” she said, trying to cover her curiosity. “I think I am late. My apologies.” “Rachel, darling, please meet my oldest brother John, the Marquess of Landry. John, this is Lady Leeds.” There was little doubting the parentage of the two brothers, for both were tall and handsome in the same way, but John Peyton was obviously a good decade older, silver threads appearing at his temples. Bending over her hand in a courtly gesture, he murmured, “Pleased to meet you. So this is why my scapegrace brother wanted to borrow the house. I see now why he had such a desire for someplace private and quiet. You are very lovely.” Blushing slightly at the compliment and inference, Rachel asked, “This is your house?” “Yes, I bought it for my mother-in-law a few years ago since she wanted to be close to us and our estate is only a few miles from here.” Something flickered in his dark eyes, a visible trace of pain. He finished quietly, “When my wife died suddenly last year, her mother decided to move back to Lancashire.” “I’m very sorry, my Lord.” Rachel was sincere, his unguarded sorrowful expression moving her. “Thank you.” That certainly explained the conveniently empty manor and lack of staff. Rachel allowed Richard to seat her, seeing that as usual, they were having a full formal noon meal. Over the soup course, the two men discussed politics, disagreeing with affable enmity over Wellington’s progress on the Iberian Peninsula, the taxing system in place currently in England, and a variety of other subjects. As brothers, she saw as she tasted the shrimp bisque with appreciation, they were wide apart in age and disparate in personality, but nonetheless, seemed to be good friends. Between one of the courses, Richard got up to get another bottle of wine, and briefly left them alone. Almost immediately, 16
Spring Flings Anthology John Peyton leaned back in his chair and said quietly, “I didn’t really believe I would ever see it.” Her eyebrows lifting, Rachel asked cautiously, “See what?” “My brother in love.” The notion was so startling, that she stared, completely speechless for a moment, her glass suspended in her hand. “What do you mean?” “With you, my Lady.” Digesting that speculation, she laughed lightly. “You’re wrong, of course. What Richard values about me has nothing to do with love.” “Ah, a cynic. He told me you had an unfortunate first marriage. I’m sorry for that, you were cheated. My marriage was the joy of my life.” “Mine wasn’t,” Rachel said flatly. “And though Richard might be infatuated with me, it isn’t love.” The marquess looked at her with calm directness. “Are you so sure? Under that easy demeanor, he is a complicated man. For instance, did you realize he is one of the most astute businessmen in Europe? He handles my father’s considerable financial holdings, every penny, and has increased his fortune significantly. I also give him carte blanche with my own money, and believe me when I tell you he invests it with uncanny accuracy.” Not able to hide her surprise, Rachel frowned. John went on, “He has been obsessed with you ever since last fall, when apparently, something happened between the two of you. He has even discreetly appealed to several of your late husband’s creditors, gaining you more time to pay some of his monstrous debts.” It was true, some of them had been more generous than she expected, and the realization that Richard had gone to such trouble on her behalf touched her. She murmured, “I know he is not simply the handsome rogue he is reputed to be, but he has said nothing about love.” 17
Spring Flings Anthology Lord Landry looked at her with his dark grave eyes. “Perhaps he is afraid your feelings are not as engaged.” The notorious Richard Peyton in love? It was an absurd notion, Rachel thought as he came back into the room. But it was intriguing to imagine, just the same. **** He wasn’t at all sure if flowers and sunset garden walks and champagne in bed were the right way to win a woman’s heart…he was much more adept at pleasing their bodies. Richard watched as Rachel unwrapped the small box and took out the locket, an unfathomable expression on her face. Lifting the delicate chain in her fingers, she said softly, “It is lovely, Richard. Thank you.” “It was my mother’s,” he explained with feigned nonchalance. “I asked John today if he minded if I gave it to you, and he agreed it would be appropriate for someone so feminine and beautiful to have it.” “I’m touched.” Her voice sounded a little thick, her lovely long loose hair touched by the fire of the setting sun, the sky having cleared from the afternoon rain. The trees still dripped in serene rhythm, but the gazebo where they sat was dry inside. “Here.” Taking it from her, he put it around her neck and fastened the clasp, very lightly kissing her nape. “By the way, my brother was very taken with you, darling. I was glad to see he could hardly take his eyes off you.” “You were glad?” She looked a little startled as he released her silken hair and sat back. “He has virtually shut himself away since his wife’s death. I am certain he has not truly looked at a woman in all these months, much less touched one. Someone needs to shake him from his apathy and it was reassuring to see his appreciation of your beauty.” Not at all certain how she would take his suggestion, Richard said tentatively, “I cannot help but wonder if he had the opportunity to bed you, if he wouldn’t actually consider it.” 18
Spring Flings Anthology Rachel was simply too innocent to grasp his implied suggestion, though with her fiery sexual hunger, he was fairly convinced that having two lovers at once would excite her. She was so inherently sensual, and he had never bedded anyone like her, her gorgeous body responsive and easily aroused, and their lovemaking went on for hours at a time. Fingering the delicate gold heart that nestled in her delectable cleavage, Rachel said, “He is a very attractive man. I am sure he will have no trouble finding someone to ease his loneliness.” “The trouble is, he needs to be freed somehow from this spell of melancholy before he’ll even look. If I can somehow help him do that, I want to do so. We have all been worried about him. Do you think you would consider it?” She understood then, a look of shocked consternation coming over her fragile, pretty features. “You want me to sleep with your brother?” But as he hoped, there was also a quick flicker of excitement in the depths of her eyes and very quickly, she dropped her lashes a fraction. Persuasively, Richard said, “Sex is a wonderful, natural thing and it doesn’t have to be anything more than two people— or three, I suppose—giving pleasure. Believe me, it is not as unusual as you think for a woman to give herself to two men. For that matter, one man very often will service two women, all three of them in bed together.” Sitting very still, Rachel simply looked at him with wide eyes. “In your arms, any man would realize that life is very much worth living to the fullest,” Richard told her quietly, meaning it. **** She’d felt a little nervous all day, and as much as Rachel didn’t want to admit her wanton nature, anticipation was a good part of the butterfly sensation in her stomach. Instead of their usual prolonged session of lovemaking that afternoon, she and Richard had strolled through the grounds and they had just been 19
Spring Flings Anthology coming back to the house when John had ridden up. What Richard had said privately to his brother, she didn’t know, but the expression on both their faces when they emerged from the study had been enough to tell her that John had accepted the offer, and he had been the one to take her hand and lead her upstairs to the bedroom. They didn’t lose any time, Rachel thought when Richard kissed her as soon as they were inside the door, a lingering exploration of her mouth as she felt John unfasten her gown. It slid to the floor, a spike of excitement shooting through her body and centering between her legs when Richard released her lips and tugged at the ribbon of her chemise, pushing it off her shoulders. “Look at these,” he murmured, cupping her bare breasts in his hands and lifting them as if in some pagan offering, his thumbs rubbing her nipples, the supple flesh molded by his hands. “Have you ever seen such gorgeous tits?” “No,” John agreed, his mouth lightly grazing her bare shoulder, his fingers pulling the pins from her hair. “The lady,” he murmured against her skin, “is exquisite.” Feeling her heavy hair fall free down her bare back, nude except for her stockings and slippers, it felt very decadent to stand there with two fully-dressed men touching her. John’s hands clasped her hips, rubbing lightly as he continued to nuzzle her neck and Richard fondled her breasts. Richard murmured, his dark eyes heavy-lidded, “Since Rachel is being so generous with her luscious body, the first time should be hers alone. Here, darling,” he lifted her easily and took her to the bed. “I think you’ll enjoy this.” His grin was a little cheeky as he laid her down. “But then again, as much as you enjoying fucking, you’re going to like all of it.” He was right, she thought hazily moments later when John began to stroke her breasts at the same time Richard pulled her legs apart. His mouth settled on her sex, gently at first, his lips rubbing her labia with light, teasing pressure until his tongue parted the crease and licked the tender, sensitive tissue between. 20
Spring Flings Anthology Pleasure poured through her body, her throat arching back, her legs opening wider, begging for more. He ate softly, the small sounds of his carnal tasting barely audible because she moaned freely and wildly. It was heaven, especially when John began to suck one rigid nipple, his other hand kneading the opposite breast at the same time Richard teased the already swollen bud of her clitoris. She came hard and suddenly, her scream filling the room she climaxed so fiercely, and Richard kept her there with inexorable skill, sucking and licking until she went limp and gave a small sob. Only barely aware they both let her go, her body humming, Rachel lay replete, her legs still open, her cleft soaked with the fluids of her vivid release. John, she realized, had swiftly undressed and he moved over her, his shoulders heavier than his younger brother’s, his touch gentle as he lightly skimmed her cheek with long fingers and looked into her eyes. Settling between her legs, he said softly, “Richard is right, in addition to your exquisite beauty, you are a very sensual woman.” His smile was a little rueful. “I wasn’t even sure I would want to do this, but apparently, I do.” She could feel the very rigid press of his hard cock against her thigh. Putting her hands on his shoulders, Rachel whispered, “You loved her, but self-denial is not going to heal your loss. Sex is for our pleasure, my Lord. It seems to me you could use a little pleasure in your life.” His dark eyes reflected both amused gratitude and frank male appreciation. “I don’t know if I like being a charity case, but then again, I’m not likely to refuse the opportunity to make love to such a lovely woman.” He very lightly kissed her as he entered her, the gliding force of his erection a contrast to the tender caress of mouth on mouth, his inward push going deep and hard inside her burning passage. It was erotic somehow to know Richard was there watching them, and Rachel lifted her pelvis, taking John all the way to her womb, sliding her hands down his muscled back. He 21
Spring Flings Anthology began to move in a fast rhythm of withdraw and thrust, and she moved with him easily, any doubts about participating in this wickedly naughty tryst banished as her climax began to build. The marquess had an impressive size, she decided in the last delirious moment before her second orgasm burst, and when she tightened around him, he came with a low, hoarse groan, hard and furious inside her vaginal canal, flooding and filling her. When she opened her eyes and could breathe again, Rachel saw that Richard stood by the side of the bed, a slight smile on his face. “Now, that,” he drawled with a lift of one brow, “looked like fun. May I?” And while another man still rested inside her, she surely shouldn’t be so intrigued by the huge swollen length of his penis, the tip glistening with semen already. But she found that when John obligingly rolled away, she felt an intense arousal when Richard took his place, her arms going around him, her legs lifting to wrap around his waist as he began to penetrate. “How does this feel, my Lady?” he asked in teasing question, nibbling at her lower lip, “so soon after such a glorious peak of enjoyment.” “Wonderful,” she confessed, his enormous erection a revelation after having just had such an intense vaginal orgasm. “Oh God, Richard…please…” He obliged her by moving so deep she gasped and cried his name again, her body already so sensitized and aroused that almost immediately, she began that upward climb. When she climaxed in seconds, Richard chuckled in her ear, moving more slowly to let her recover. “I knew you’d like this, darling….and just think, it’s just the beginning.” Just the beginning, she registered as she drowned in ravishing pleasure in his arms…that sounded terribly, sinfully wonderful. **** They talked her into swimming in the pond when the moon was up and high, the cool spring air flowing over their heated nude bodies as they walked the short distance through the gardens. One on either side, both men held her hands, and Rachel found their open admiration of her body diminished the 22
Spring Flings Anthology sense of embarrassment she felt for walking outside stark naked…not that, she told herself wryly, a woman who had just freely shared her body with two lovers should feel it in the first place. The water was cold, but Richard tossed her in anyway, diving after her at once and lifting her in his arms, kissing her with open passion, laughing at her furious attempt to slap him. Splashing and playing, even the reserved Marquess of Landry laughed over his younger brother’s antics, and when they went back to the house, the night sky was like black velvet studded with tiny diamonds, the croak of the night insects filling the air. Taking soft cloths, they dried her together, rubbing her breasts, her thighs, gently toweling her long wet hair, as if she were a precious object. And when they finished, John laid her down on the bed and whispered, “One last time?” She couldn’t refuse, not when his expression, so poignantly vulnerable in the soft illumination coming in the window, told her he was thinking of another woman, the one so precious but lost to him. This time, he kissed her deeply, almost reverently, and when he moved between her legs, it was slowly, as if he savored each slick wet slide of his sex inside hers, not at all the heated need for release of their earlier intercourse. She climaxed twice before he finally spilled his seed, and afterwards, to her surprise, she saw that Richard had left them alone, their tangled bodies amid the sheets of the big bed, no witness but the big high moon outside. “Marry my brother,” John said, the suggestion so incongruous to their intimate embrace, that Rachel stifled a laugh. “What?” she asked incredulously. “Richard,” John kissed her nose and smiled, “loves you. This is not just a spring fling, he is head over heels, though he isn’t likely to admit it since you have told him you have no wish to marry again. I think you’ll have to be the one to ask.” “Richard just shared me without reservation.” She pointed out an undeniable truth since they were still in bed and she was 23
Spring Flings Anthology open-legged beneath him. “I don’t think that indicates deep affection.” “I do.” John very gently withdrew from her body, his halfrigid penis sliding from her still throbbing vagina. Propping himself on one elbow, he gazed at her and said matter-of-factly, “He is one of the most generous people I know. He thought you would like the adventure of two lovers and knew I had forced abstinence on myself like some sort of absurd penance, and so, in his typical way, he put aside jealousy and suggested this evening. Come now, Lady Leeds, I don’t think you can effectively deny your enjoyment. I know I can’t.” She certainly had liked it, and he was right, denial was futile. “He hasn’t said anything about love,” she countered, flushing a little. “He’s here in the country, though he is a busy man,” John said with unerring practicality. “Like I told you, he handles my father’s financial affairs, not to mention mine as well, both of which takes a great deal of attention to detail and canny calculation. Taking a full week of his time, bringing you here to court you, taking on some of the servant’s tasks for the sake of your privacy—” “He brought me here to fuck me,” Rachel broke in dryly, deliberately using the crude word. “And believe me, he has.” John laughed, lifting his brows. “Yes, I agree he likes to fuck you, if that is word you wish to use…and since I now know why, I can’t blame him…but it is more than that, which I think you realize. He has pursued you, which is unprecedented in his careless affairs with women. And why shouldn’t he fall for you? You are not just beautiful but also intelligent and generous. He even tried to help you out of your financial troubles and at the same time, salve your pride.” It wasn’t fair…because the last thing she wanted was to admit that she was drawn to a rakehell like Richard Peyton, but Rachel began to hope John was right. “Why did he leave us just now?” she asked, half-lowering her lashes. “Was it because he knew you were making love to your wife, not me?” 24
Spring Flings Anthology “Does that offend you?” John swallowed and glanced away, his dark eyes shadowed. “You remind me of her…I think that’s what gave him the idea in the first place. She was also highly sexual, and very, very beautiful. I miss her deeply, but…perhaps I should consider moving on and resuming my life. I feel like I have been in a limbo, wanting and regretting something I can no longer have. It’s foolish to think no one else could ever please me, both in and out of bed, and I thank you both for showing me that.” “You are a fine man,” Rachel said softly, “and I do not believe she would want you to pine away.” John looked back, his face grave. “So is my brother. Don’t assign him that fate either, my lady.” **** Richard walked to the window and stared outside, wondering how seven days could pass so quickly. The hired carriage had arrived a short while before and Rachel was upstairs, the housekeeper helping her pack. The cook, hired for the week, had prepared them one last meal, a cold buffet set up in the dining room. Not that he was likely to be able to eat. He was so damned nervous, it actually irritated him, but then again, it wasn’t every day he told a woman he loved her. It had to be done because he was sure as hell that once they were back in London, she would return to her efforts to build a quiet, respectable life and no respectable woman consorted with Lord Richard Peyton. Unless, of course, she was his wife. Even rakes gained credibility when they settled down and married. “I think I’m ready.” He turned, his hands still clasped behind his back, the sound of her soft, melodic voice making his chest tighten. Today, she wore pale blue, a compliment to her golden coloring, the traveling gown both modest and practical. But nothing, he noted with a connoisseur’s eye, could conceal the lush curves of her 25
Spring Flings Anthology spectacular body, and her loveliness as always, struck him powerfully. But that wasn’t even what had made him fall in love with her. True, she was matchless in bed, giving without hesitation, her enjoyment of the act of sex alone an aphrodisiac so unique, he had never experienced such turbulent orgasmic pleasure as when inside her. But it was more her spirit, both vulnerable and independent, her courage and lack of complaint over the unfortunate circumstances of her marriage, her dignity and intelligence and humor… Actually, he simply liked everything about the passionate Lady Leeds, he told himself wryly. Gesturing at the food set in dishes on the sideboard, he said in a stilted tone that reflected his inner turmoil, “Are you hungry? The journey isn’t short.” She shook her head. “I don’t think so. I’d best be on my way.” “I suppose so.” Richard swallowed, feeling awkward and uncertain, his palms actually damp. “I see you are wearing the locket.” Rachel reached up and touched the heart suspended from the delicate gold chain, a small smile on her soft mouth. “I will treasure it always and remember this week.” “My father gave it to my mother on the day he proposed marriage.” The room suddenly seemed very quiet after that stark statement. Rachel looked a little startled, her eyes widening. Then her gaze flickered and she murmured, “Perhaps you should keep it, my Lord. After all, some day you will marry and your wife should have it.” “I do hope to marry…quite soon, in fact.” Richard could not smile with his usual nonchalance, but instead, only managed a sort of wavering curve of his lips. “Actually, I could use some advice on that subject. How does a jaded libertine of the first order, a man with a reputation for seduction and casual affairs, convince a woman he loves her enough that she will be the 26
Spring Flings Anthology center of his life until the day he dies? That he will honor and cherish her, not just with his body, but his heart? That he wants to watch her grow heavy with his child and sleep beside her each night?” Rachel’s hand, still clutching the locket, began to tremble. He saw that betraying waver with a glimmer of hope. Hoarsely, he continued, “Of course, she would have understandable doubts, especially if she had been married before to someone who was a grave disappointment. However, it seems to me she would be able to sense his sincerity and the true depth of his emotion when she saw that his hands were shaking every bit as much as hers.” Very slowly, Richard unclasped his laced fingers from behind his back and extended one arm. His hand quivered like a storm-tossed branch and he stared at the woman standing so still and silent across the room without guarding his expression. “Any words of wisdom, my beautiful Rachel?” Their gazes locked, hers so vividly blurred by tears that they glistened. She said tremulously, “I suppose I would advise, my Lord, that you take her in your arms and kiss her in that special way only you can. Perhaps it might even be prudent, just to convince her of your earnestness, to carry her upstairs and make love to her as a pledge of your honorable intentions.” Richard found his heart pounded as he crossed the room in long strides and swept Rachel into his arms. In her ear, he whispered, “Do you honestly think that will work?” She kissed him then, murmuring against his mouth, “I would wager my future on it, my Lord.”
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Spring Flings Anthology
WHATEVER IT TAKES by
Kristina Diesen
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Spring Flings Anthology
Lexi yanked another piece of paper off her small, helpless desk calendar and crumpled it into a ball. April twelfth. Time was running out and for the first time, Alexis allowed herself to think she might not be able to succeed. There was only one week left until the Spring Fling and she was still short a few good men. Every year, the community held an annual Spring Fling, not only to celebrate the leaving of winter, but also to raise money and awareness for childhood diabetes. Alexis was so moved by the community’s support of a disease that she had dealt with since childhood, that she sponsored an annual date auction at her bar to coincide with the festivities. She donated one hundred percent of the proceeds to the American Diabetes Association. And these were some pretty good proceeds. This was Temptations third year of hosting the event. They rotated each year between who was auctioned off, the men or the women. She was proud of her idea, even prouder that it succeeded with flying colors. This year though, there was a glitch. They were short available men, and she was having the damnedest time trying to convince some sure-fire money makers to play along. Lexi stood and stretched her aching legs. Her shift had just started and since she really didn’t want to start it, or her weekend, on a bad note, Lexi left the office with the almost full list of participants and red-circled desk calendar to step behind the mahogany bar. Some interaction with customers was just what she needed. Lexi’s boots thudded across the hardwood floor as she mentally 29
Spring Flings Anthology inventoried the booze supply, stopping just once to replace an almost empty bottle of Jim Beam. She was more at home, completely in her element here behind her bar, than she was in the house she had owned for at least twice as long. How amazingly pathetic was that? For five thirty on a Friday, her regulars were surprisingly absent. A shame too, since just glancing at the eye candy her bar and grill attracted usually put her in a much happier mood. Which was equally as pathetic if anybody asked. Ogling the customers? Certainly her sex life might have been diminished— okay, eliminated—since the expansion project, but that was long over and she still hadn’t cracked her dry spell. Exactly why she was looking forward to this year’s auction. Girl, you need to get back up on that horse and have one hell of a good ride. “Damn, I need some help.” “Sorry, honey, but you can’t afford me and I don’t do pro bono.” Alexis twirled on her boot heel to find one of her reg’s— conveniently, one hot blonde-haired, blue-eyed, class A specimen of man, thank you—plopping his hard ass down on the usual barstool. A smile unwillingly formed on Lexi’s lips. “Jack.” Reaching down into the cooler, Lexi grabbed a cold one and dug the bottle opener out of her back pocket. Without even thinking, she flicked open the top, slid the beer onto the bar, flung the cap into the garbage and pocketed the church key. “Alexis, you know just what a man needs every time.” Too bad she hadn’t heard that one outside of the bar in a long time. Silently cursing Jack for reminding her that the best shot she had for getting any physical satisfaction tonight was her vibrator back at home, she began scrubbing the bar with her towel. “You’re gonna rub the finish right off your new bar if you keep that up. Wanna talk about it?” 30
Spring Flings Anthology Lexi threw the rag back into the sanitizer and straightened to cross her arms. Usually, her excess height worked to her advantage. Of course, when her target was surprisingly taller than her, it didn’t always work. “Wanna pay for that beer instead?” The only part of her body to move was her eyes as they followed Jack’s fluid movement when he reached for his wallet. She didn’t even need to close her eyes to remember vividly how very male those broad shoulders looked when unrestricted by the crisp dress shirt they were covered in now. Jack’s chest was about as hard as the wood floor she stood on and his arms… Jack threw a couple bucks in between them. His arms? Holy shit, she needed to get laid. Drooling over a man’s arms? In her defense, Lexi would let him wrap those around her any day. Just show her where to sign up. Grabbing the cash, she deposited it, thinking her evening would now consist of a hot shower and alone time all because the man in the suit—who incidentally, had a wicked volleyball serve, hence the strong arms—was making her body tight just thinking about him naked. If she didn’t stop that train of though immediately, she might actually run the risk of embarrassing herself. Thin bra, even thinner tank, and very perky nipples—umm, no thanks. “Explain to me again, Jack, why you won’t be a good sport and sign yourself up to be auctioned off?” Lexi smiled and crossed her arms lest her physical dilemma peek through. After all, Jack could be classified as one of the hottest singles in town. Who wouldn’t pay money to take that home? “I’d rather flirt with the sexy bartenders.” Oh, as if her nipples needed any more reason to strain themselves.
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Spring Flings Anthology Of course, for all Lexi knew of Jack, he could be referring to her male help. Maybe that’s why he wouldn’t be auctioned off to a bunch of sex-starved women. “You get to do that every day of the week, Jack. Do you not realize how much you’d be helping kids with diabetes by participating?” She and Jack usually never saw eye to eye on things, but Alexis had never thought he was this conservative. The fact he was such a stick in the mud about having a little fun only reinforced her opinion that he was her complete opposite and so not worth her time—no matter how achingly handsome he was. “I already agreed to donate whatever amount the highest bidder buys as a gift for not participating. Why is this such a big deal, Alexis?” She knew she should just cut her losses and move on. “You know very well it’s a big deal because of how much I was affected by this disease.” Outside of their obvious attitude differences, Alexis admired Jack. He was just as confident and competitive as she was, for one. Then there was the fact he was agreeing to donate a huge sum of money to support this cause. And he was a stock broker. Anybody who sat in an office all day managing other people’s money and still looked as outrageously sexy as he did in surf shorts had to be good. She’d blow her money at the auction on him out of pure curiosity on whether he’d take her to bed on the first date. Despite his good humor, she wouldn’t bet on it. The man spent most of his time in an office; he probably only saw a bedroom from the back of his eyelids. “Alright, I’ll agree to your auction on one condition.” Shocked, she figured this ought to be good. He’d probably ask for a month’s worth of free beer. “Name it.” “Two dates with you.” Lexi almost choked on the air she was breathing while her body tightened in anticipation. Mr. All-Business wanted to take out little Miss Fun-and-Games? 32
Spring Flings Anthology “Why two?” Jack smiled, that mind-numbing, devilishly slow smile which only revealed teeth that Lexi could think of a million uses for outside of their current activity. Had she completely underestimated him? “Just in case we don’t make it to the bedroom on date number one,” he paused to take a swig from his beer bottle. “That’s why.” Alexis fought the urge to pinch herself. Here Jack was all but blatantly stating there would be sex involved if she said yes and she was still just considering it? Hello? The man was offering her something ten times better than her current plans for the weekend, not to mention, she could use a little fling of her own. Two dates to crack her dry spell and get this good boy out of her system. Not too shabby of a proposition. Even better that it had landed in her lap. “I’m disappointed, Alexis. For as gung-ho as you are about this fundraiser, this should be a no-brainer.” Something about the way he casually propped his elbows on the bar made Lexi’s knees weak. The golden boy was tempting, no matter how wrong for her he was. “Okay, I’ll bite. But I have a condition of my own.” “I always pictured you as a biter.” Lexi ignored his smart-ass remark. “I get to pick the first date.” She could see the question in his eyes. Good. Alexis had no intention of letting Jack get comfortable around her. The more she kept him on his toes, the more he’d realize there was strictly a two date maximum. After all, she’d do whatever it takes for a good cause. And that included getting a little personal satisfaction if she must. “Anything you want.” Jack pulled out a pen and scribbled on one of the cocktail napkins. “Here’s my number. I wouldn’t wait too long. The auction’s only a week away.” 33
Spring Flings Anthology Lexi pocketed the number and smiled as Jack drained the last of his beer and prepared to go. Oh, she had no intention of waiting long at all. With any luck, they wouldn’t need two dates because she fully intended to start it right where she wanted to be the most on date one—in bed. **** The soft thud pulled Jack out of his unconscious state. Glancing briefly at the clock, two in the morning, he figured Sadie, his Siamese cat, was wandering the bedroom floor. Just before sleep pulled him back under though, he felt something move and purr beside him, definitely too big to be his five pound cat. Jack knew exactly who it was from the distinctive smoky smell and was about to pull Alexis into him, right where he wanted her—against his chest—when she sensuously began running her fingernails down the length of his abs. The riveting sensation pushed sleep further from his grasp and replaced it with nothing short of a throbbing erection. Well, if that’s how she wanted to play… “Were the nine hours since you last saw me so tortuous that you had to rush straight over here, sweetheart?” Her fingers stopped and he could see from the moonlight shining on her face that she disapproved of the affectionate name. She’d have to learn to get used to it. One year was long enough for him to wait to have a chance with Lexi. She might have been able to stiff arm him so far, believing that their differences were too much to really give them a shot, but no longer. Evidently, no one ever told her opposites attract. “You told me not to wait too long, Jack. I just wanted to make sure you were still interested.” Interested, definitely. Satisfied? Hopefully, very soon. Jack reached for Alexis, surprised that his fingers found nothing but buttery smooth skin. Her boldness had always intrigued him. More blood rushed south, his body aching for complete contact. 34
Spring Flings Anthology “Nothing could possibly change my mind, Lexi. Not even a middle of the night booty call.” This time, she actually laughed at him. Jack was smart enough to know what she was doing. Alexis was trying to prove that the fact they were opposites was the perfect reason a relationship between them would never work. She didn’t want to believe that since he worked days, she nights, and he wore suits and she didn’t, that it could possibly last longer than a couple of good sizzlers between the sheets. Too bad he didn’t care what time of night she wanted him, just so as long as she didn’t stop. Jack’s body, one he had surprisingly little control over at the moment, began showing Alexis the consequences for her hasty arrival in his bed. Throwing back the covers so he had an unobstructed view of her slender, curvy figure in the moonlight, his need was awakened even more. Softly, he placed a kiss as light as a feather on her firm abdomen. There was still time to prove Alexis wrong, to make her see just how many holes her opposite’s mentality held—on date number two. Not tonight. Not here in his bed with the electrical current flowing between them strong enough to power his townhouse for a week. No, tonight, he thought as he nibbled and slid his mouth up her quivering body, tonight was all about pleasing the senses and proving his point on a much more basic level. In his business, he trusted his instincts almost as much as fact, and right now, they all pointed in one direction. Toward her. It had to be the cool air, Alexis thought as her nipples strained themselves further into beady little points, and not the heat from his lips as they neared her breasts. She couldn’t speak, could barely breathe from the tiny bit of physical contact. This wasn’t part of the game plan. She knew it. He knew it. Only he was doing one hell of a job convincing her body she didn’t want to be anywhere but underneath his delectable 35
Spring Flings Anthology mouth. Alexis had snuck into his house tonight ready to take home satisfaction and prove her point when he was too tired to see her. It would have helped if she could have been further off the mark. Here he was, gloriously naked, holding her body hostage under his sensuous tongue, making her feel very alive and incredibly wet with anticipation. Alexis could no more ignore the desire that raked through her right now than she could the response his actions demanded. Lexi ran her fingers up the length of his muscled back, stopping once she reached his neck to run her fingers through that thick, soft hair. Jack’s body made her feel as if her skin were on fire. Impatiently, she pushed his chin up. “Something the matter, my dear?” Masking the annoyance she felt at hearing such loving terms for something that wasn’t love at all, she focused on the growing ache instead. “I need you here.” She touched her fingers to her own lips, surprised at how sensitized they were already. She saw Jack’s smile reflected in the moonlight on his face. “Patience is a virtue, Lexi.” Instead of listening to her plea, Jack ruthlessly drew a taut nipple into his mouth, rolling it between his teeth before swirling the aching tip with his tongue. Alexis couldn’t prevent the moan that echoed from deep inside. She should have known he wouldn’t play by the rules. But that knowledge didn’t prevent her body from tingling, her clit from throbbing or her pulse from hammering through her chest. Alexis was defenseless against his attack as each minute he strummed his fingers down her body, kissed her skin with his lips, heightened her arousal. “I don’t need patience in my line of work, Jack. Nor do I want it now.” Refusing to wait another minute to have his lips on hers, she pushed herself down the bed, forcing him eye level with her. Lexi could see the hunger in his eyes, knew that it mirrored her own. She had every intention of getting this carnal need out of 36
Spring Flings Anthology her system tonight and with any luck, wouldn’t need to bother with date number two. After all, she wasn’t looking for attachments. “That’s a pity, because I was only getting warmed up.” And Jack meant it. Lexi was a strong, competitive woman and she knew what she wanted. Only Jack was driven to make sure she knew exactly what he wanted to give her. It wasn’t just tonight. It wasn’t just sex. He had every intention of making sure Alexis left here tomorrow morning with her body exhausted and her mind full of reasons why this would work. In total contradiction to his rapid pulse, he slowly brought his lips down on hers. Alexis was hasty, greedily pulling him in but he forced himself to remain touching her lips gently at a turtle’s pace. Jack knew she wanted it quick because she didn’t want to think about the ramifications, nor did she want to realize she had gotten the differences between the two of them all wrong. He had ways of torturing this truth out of her. Sliding his tongue inside her mouth, he pressed Lexi’s head back into the pillow to control the pace. She tasted sweet and hot. Moving to her side, Jack let his hands glide effortlessly down her soft skin, pausing only a moment to separate her legs before pushing his fingers deep inside her. Alexis gasped into his mouth and he smiled as her body tightened around his fingers. Slowly, he drove two fingers in and out, putting pressure on her with the palm of his hand. Lexi’s focus waned on his mouth and he moved his lips lower to taste her breasts. The dual sensation caused Alexis to arch her back as Jack’s name tore from her throat. He pressed harder now, faster and was relentless as he pushed her aching, needy body closer to the edge. This wasn’t right, or fair. She hadn’t even touched him yet; she refused to go this way first. Nothing short of him inside her was acceptable now. But she couldn’t think, just feel as he sinfully slid his tongue down her stomach. Alexis wanted his mouth up here, not down 37
Spring Flings Anthology there. She wanted his cock inside her, not his fingers. Yet she pushed herself into his hand as Jack rhythmically drove her closer to insanity. When he softly blew on her cunt, causing her to tighten around him, Lexi didn’t think she could hold off the inevitable much longer. “Lexi?” She tried focusing more on his voice and less on the pressure building inside her with each twist of his fingers. Moonlight caught the blonde in his hair and as he spoke, she felt Jack’s breath hot on her skin. “There’s something you must know.” Here? Now? His fingers didn’t stop and fire spread from Lexi’s thighs as Jack kissed the sensitive skin so close to where she really wanted him. Her body was so tense, it ached. She wanted release; Alexis wanted Jack’s mouth on her, licking her straight to heaven and beyond. “Whatever it is…” Words left her, as did her breath, as he slid his tongue deliberately around her opening. “I swear it’s alright, Jack.” Softly, he blew out a breath where his tongue had just been. Hungry and needy, she whimpered. “I’m so happy to hear that, Alexis.” His whisper was almost drowned out by the pounding of her heart, the throbbing of her sex. “Which means you have no problem understanding that you agreed to two dates and just because you started this in the bedroom, doesn’t mean it will end here.” There was no time to object, or to process his motives because his tongue slid into her. His fingers remained unyielding, his mouth now sucking her, driving her body to a whole new level. Alexis writhed against his mouth and he pushed her back with his free hand before bringing it up to caress her nipple, rolling it between his thumb and index finger. The mind-blowing sensation from the pressure of his hands on her, inside her, and the heat of his mouth making love to her, 38
Spring Flings Anthology pushed her none too quickly over the edge. The orgasm shook her body to the core, and she shuddered with the intensity of it. Jack kissed her legs, touched his lips to her stomach before casually pressing them to her lips. Her scent still lingered on him and for some reason, it was incredibly intoxicating, arousing even. Without a word, Jack rose from the bed and she felt suddenly alone—vulnerable. Her body was exhausted in every sense of the word. The hour of the morning started to sink in. She felt drowsiness pull at her eyelids. Would he let her sleep here, next to him, like they were more than lovers? Lexi shook her head at the unwelcome thought. She didn’t want or need that and certainly had no time for it. Alexis knew she had best rise and get her clothes. She had failed miserably in her quest to prove herself right tonight. And now she had date two to worry about. Suddenly, and without warning, Jack’s firm hands were pulling her up away from her restful place on his bed. Groggy from lack of sleep and an excess of pleasure, Lexi grew confused. Was he kicking her out? Her feet hit a cold tile floor. Then the light flicked on and she flinched. The bathroom? Jack turned on the shower faucet, instantly causing steam to erupt. “You smell like a bar,” he said as if it wasn’t obvious she owned one. Jack pulled her along with him as he stepped into the hot spray of water, encasing her in his strong arms and them in steam. “I want you clean, so in the morning, you’ll have only my scent on you.” Mmm, she liked the sound of territorial Jack. Jack pushed her back against the tile wall, crushing his mouth against hers. The water, the lights, the pressure of his erection against her stomach all contributed to stirring that need again. 39
Spring Flings Anthology Had she pinned him all wrong? Despite his conservative exterior, his unwillingness to live dangerously, was Jack really someone who related to her on a much more basic level? Fervently, Jack pressed kisses across her angular jaw line, down the taut nerves of her neck to find what he was desperately looking for. Hoisting her up into his arms, her back still pressed against the tile, he reached his destination. The flesh around her nipples was tender as he licked away the water drops that had fallen there. His body craved to find release, to push inside her and make Alexis scream out his name again. He hadn’t expected his need for her to hit him so hard, or so deep inside. But it had and somehow, Jack figured he should have expected that natural reaction. Alexis was exactly what he wanted in a woman. Wrapping Lexi’s legs around his waist, he pushed inside her, unable to hold the inevitable off any longer. She was hot, tight and everything Jack needed. He watched her head roll back onto the tile, her breathing matching his own erratic breaths. Alexis was slick on the outside and tantalizingly moist on the inside. Jack thrust deeper, faster inside her, pinning her against the wall and him. “Alexis, look at me.” Her eyes fluttered open, their brown hue rich with heat. She braced herself, digging her fingernails into his chest. “Keep your eyes open. I want to see them as you orgasm for me.” She couldn’t concentrate. Not with his firm, powerful strokes inside her and the heat rising all around them. Jack’s comment made her feel like his personal little temptation, aware that she was driving him closer to completion as well. The steady stream of the shower was achingly sensitive on her skin. It seemed everything was heightening her senses, pushing them toward overload. Lexi’s head fell forward and she let out a soft moan. “Look at me, Alexis.” 40
Spring Flings Anthology It was a strong command and she obeyed. His blue eyes sparked with desire as his gaze was riveted to her face. For a reason she couldn’t explain, she found the eye contact exceptionally erotic. Suddenly, he drove deeper, harder inside her than she thought was possible. Her body grew tight around him, a new heat rising from her center and searing the rest of her body. Alexis concentrated on his ravenous eyes locked onto hers as she let that first moan of ecstasy escape her. He thrust into her one last time and held her as the tidal wave rolled over her. And she knew, deep inside her, that something was terribly wrong. Alexis could no longer hide behind her beliefs that he was not her type. No longer chastise him for being such a conservative. No longer tell herself that a fling would get him out of her system. The tables had been turned and Alexis was determined to stay on top of this little game. **** Alexis gave her desk calendar one last look before lowering her head into her hands in frustration. April eighteenth. Somehow, amid all the personal distractions her mind and body were at war with each other about, she had managed to secure just what she needed for the date auction tomorrow. Only, for some reason, she felt no excitement over the activities. Alexis simply seemed to be going through the motions these last few days. She was confused, no, make that scared, about what her night with Jack meant. How had she overlooked that wild side of him for an entire year? She enjoyed the camaraderie Jack provided on a regular basis at her bar. He had a sharp sense of humor, understood what fueled her to succeed in her business and her sport— volleyball—and always tipped excellently. Never in her wildest dreams had she thought that beneath the suit was someone much more her style. If Lexi thought Friday night was long, the next five were exceedingly drawn out. Her body craved that rough touch, her 41
Spring Flings Anthology mouth watered for another taste of those delicious lips. And her dreams? They were riddled with glimpses of that passion in his eyes, that heat between them which only left her waking in a tangle of sheets and frustrated. Lexi hadn’t seen Jack since she snuck away Saturday morning while he was out for a jog. Regardless, she felt as if she were constantly anticipating his arrival, his demanding tone when he stated it was time for their second date. Still, he hadn’t shown up yet. His absence had been felt at the bar. Other patrons missed him—she missed him. That realization was a hard one to swallow. Standing up, Alexis combed her fingers through her hair. Time to cruise the bar, make sure everyone is happy. Stepping out of her gloomy office, she headed straight toward the booze line. As if on autopilot, she called out friendly hellos to a few of the regulars. Lexi checked to make sure the ice bins were stocked, that all twelve microbrews they boasted were in ample supply in the cooler and the liquor bottles were in good shape. Satisfied when she reached the end of the bar, she looked up and her heart stopped. Strolling in, his suit jacket thrown casually over his shoulder, for the first time in five agonizing days was Jack. His stare met Lexi’s and held her in a trance. There was no mistaking their blue-hued meaning. He came here to talk and he was confident he’d get his way. Surprised by her anxious stomach, Alexis turned and listened as her own boots thudded briskly across the bar floor to her office and oddly enough—safety. Only seconds later, Jack pushed through her last barrier and closed himself in the now tiny space with her. The only sound was the click of the lock as he made her situation all the more evident. Alexis tried taking a calming, deep breath but they were so close, her nostrils filled with his woodsy scent. She stepped back, hit the desk. Jack’s thousand watt smile glowed devilishly at her. 42
Spring Flings Anthology Slowly, he lowered the mini-blind on the office door. The only thing left that would ensure them total and complete privacy. Her fingers trembled and she silently cursed herself. What was the matter with her? Jack was just another man. She talked with men everyday in her profession, flirted with them even. Alexis was a grown woman with a few notches on her belt. There should be no reason why butterflies appeared and her knees grew weak at the sight of him. Her pep talk failed. Lexi gripped the desktop for support. “What are you doing, Jack?” He tossed his jacket on the chair and glided toward her. “Since you’re obviously not interested in small talk, I’ll be perfectly frank. I’m here to give you what we both want.” Jack let the words hang in the air between them before he suddenly closed the rest of the distance between them. There were a thousand reasons why she should move, stay out of his reach and turn him away, only none remained in her mind long enough to act upon. The heat from his fingers seared her bare arms and still she stayed. The weight of his body leaned into hers and she still didn’t move. Finally, something snapped. “Stop, Jack, this is foolish. I think you’ll be relieved to find out your services aren’t required for the auction anymore.” Jack had the audacity to laugh at her. The rich timbre of his voice was startling. The fire in his eyes as he weaved his fingers down her back only intensified the moment. “Since I wasn’t planning on being available for the auction, I can’t say I’m disappointed.” “You weren’t?” Lexi was confused; angered that he was possibly playing a game. “What about your promise?” Jack stepped away from her and raked his fingers frustratingly through that thick blonde hair. Without even thinking, her eyes were drawn to the movement the muscles made against the fabric of his shirt. The familiar ache returned. 43
Spring Flings Anthology “Forgive me if I thought maybe you’d be too jealous to let some other woman take me home for a little romp tomorrow.” Would she have been? Alexis tried hard not to picture the scene as it would have unfolded. She felt a stab of something inside, a sensation she refused to admit to this man now. Her competitive nature clawed at the idea of being threatened by another woman. “That’s absurd, Jack.” Even as the words spilled out of her mouth, Lexi knew she lied. She was seeing Jack in a new light, one much more pleasurable now. Alexis wanted more of what happened between them last Friday, only the reality of it scared her. “Why, Alexis? Why is the idea of us so outrageous to you?” Us? Had he honestly been hoping his little plan would show her they belonged together? There was no way. There was nothing for them to build a relationship on. There was sex, plain and simple. Even if Jack had proved to her that he was adventurous in the bedroom, it didn’t mean they enjoyed the same things outside of it. “We have nothing in common. We’re complete opposites.” Jack returned to her side, this time, pressing into her and causing her weight to be supported by the desk behind her. Suddenly, it became very hot in the small room. Her gaze was locked on his as his fingertip caressed down the side of her jaw line, stroking her throat and causing a reaction only he was capable of from her. “You only think we are.” Why was he being so persistent? Why did he demand this from her? And why did she find it impossible to concentrate with his body rubbing against hers, his hands caressing her bare skin? “I…” Jack held a lone finger up against her mouth to quiet her. Before she could say another word, and the heat of his fingertip on her hungry lips could subside, his mouth claimed hers. It was unexpected and much appreciated all at the same 44
Spring Flings Anthology time. Alexis lost her balance, completely falling back onto her desk. Jack’s arms held her close to him, his head bent, never breaking the contact. Jack teased her with his tongue, awakening her senses, demanding more from her. She pushed back, struggling to breathe as he sucked on her bottom lip before letting nothing but the cool air of the office touch her skin. Alexis opened her eyes to Jack’s devouring stare. His eyes were hungry, his voice rough. “When I did that, Lexi, did we not feel a common desire? Did we not share something with each other?” She didn’t have time for this. Didn’t have time to be engaging in any form of commitment that would chew up time that her work otherwise demanded of her. A relationship was out of the question. “Jack, I can’t.” Her body ached as he pushed himself away from her. The thin fabric of her tank did nothing to stop her straining nipples from poking through. “Give me one good reason, Alexis, and it better not involve being complete opposites.” Trying to forget the intimacy, she moved away from her desk and walked around behind it to put some distance between them. So much for a simple fling. Evidently, it seemed Jack still liked to play by the rules most of the time. “I don’t have the time.” She didn’t like the way Jack smiled. Or the way his eyes gleamed with mischief. Why couldn’t this guy just stop surprising her? “No time? You had plenty of time last Friday. You’re taking time to talk to me right now.” Jack maneuvered around Lexi’s desk and the closer he got toward holding her again, the more excited her body grew. Her mind told her to move, her body demanded she stay put. “In fact, I think no one would notice if you stayed in here for at least thirty minutes.” 45
Spring Flings Anthology The sexual connotation in his voice, in addition to the fire building in his eyes, made it impossible to remember they were just discussing not being together. Jack sank himself into Lexi’s swiveling chair and reached for her hands. Any last bit of resistance left her as an intense desire to find some serious satisfaction overcame her. Alexis straddled his lap. She was greeted by his erection pressing between her legs. Just thinking about how wickedly exciting sex in this chair would be was enough to make her wet. But in case that wasn’t enough, Jack’s teeth nibbling a nipple through her tank pushed her clear over the edge. Lexi arched her body into him, craving more of that pleasure, seeking total relief. She was not disappointed either as Jack massaged his hands down over her back, sliding his fingers beneath her thin shirt and pushing it up—hard. The fresh air on her hot skin felt invigorating. So did his lips as they placed hard kisses across her chest, up her neck and shoulders to finally angle his mouth over hers. Leaning into his kiss, Lexi rocked the rest of her body backwards, sliding slowly over the length of his erection. Jack’s moan echoed in her mouth. Suddenly, she couldn’t wait. She needed Jack and now. “Stand up.” She was surprised with how demanding her tone was, but he obeyed. Without missing a beat, she pressed his back into the wall and made quick work of his dress shirt buttons, placing a wet kiss on his flesh after she opened each one. Evidently sensing her impatience, he had undone his slacks and the result was a stunningly naked Jack for her body to rub all over. “Going commando today?” Once again, she couldn’t hide her surprise at how outside the box he was. Jack sank back into the chair but held her in front of him, searing the skin just above her waist with his tongue as he undid her jeans. 46
Spring Flings Anthology “I enjoy the freedom.” Alexis smiled as he paused, pushing the tight fabric over her hips to reveal nothing but smooth skin and a shaved pussy. “I see you do as well.” She was about to comment, but his lips were on her skin again, moving tantalizingly close to her swollen sex. Lexi bucked toward his mouth when he reached his destination, first sucking on her lips, then probing deeper with his tongue. Her knees grew weak and she wanted to sink down onto his cock and take him deep inside her. She placed her hands on his shoulders for support, sinking her nails into his skin from the sensations racing through her body. “Jack.” It was all she could utter as he brought her close to ecstasy, reaching up to cup her breast with his hand, pulling her nipple further into a beady, aching point. Then all of a sudden, he stopped. Her body about collapsed. All she needed was to lower her body on top of his and ride him hard and fast. Alexis wanted him, needed him, immediately. In the silence, she could hear his ragged breathing. Expecting him to claim her any minute, she waited. “Tell me what you want, Alexis.” Hello? She was naked, practically straddling him and moaning his name. Could what she want be any more obvious? “You, Jack. I want you.” Lexi lowered herself over him, but he stopped her cold just as the tip of his shaft tickled her opening. The result was a mindblowing, pin-prickling sensation spreading throughout her entire body. “Tell me you want more than just sex.” What she wanted was to feel his hard length inside her, driving her to completion. “Jack, I don’t think…” Startlingly, Jack lowered her down the length of his cock, filling her completely. Then just as quick, he pulled her back up, and teased her entrance with his tip. The feeling drove her mad. 47
Spring Flings Anthology “You shouldn’t have to think, Alexis. Can’t you feel how right this is?” He thrust inside her again, holding her there, before hastily pulling her body away from what she so desperately desired. Lexi whimpered. Her body ached for release and her mind finally caved. “I can’t take much more, Jack. Please.” He thrust inside her, holding her tight against him as his mouth suckled one of her breasts. The feeling of him inside her with his mouth on her was pure torture, pure bliss. Lexi wanted to move, to bring herself to release if need be but his hands were firm against her. “Are you feeling it yet?” Oh, she was definitely feeling it. She wanted to tell him it might be possible, that there could be a future with them, but was pissed about being backed into a corner with a confession. His cock throbbed inside her, reminding Alexis that she only need tell him a simple sentence to receive some exquisite pleasure. The more she tried to move, tried to temporarily ease the pressure escalating inside her, the more Jack held her firmly against him. With each interaction she had with Jack recently, he had proven her stereotype of him wrong. She was beginning to believe that it was possible for her to be entirely off regarding him. But could she handle a relationship? Did she even want one? Jack slowly started a rhythm between them. Her heart started racing, her climax climbing yet again. Please don’t let him stop this time. His movements were agonizingly slow; he was still waiting. “Talk to me, Lexi.” Couldn’t they just let their bodies do the talking? “I want more, Jack.” The words came tumbling out of her mouth but strangely, she didn’t regret them. She shut her eyes, waiting for the panic to set in. 48
Spring Flings Anthology Nothing. “Say it again.” This time, Alexis opened her eyes and peered directly into the ocean blue depths of Jack’s. She knew this man. Lexi talked with him everyday, played co-ed volleyball with him, and shared beers with him. They might have jobs on the opposite ends of the spectrum but that only gave them each more character. There was nothing to be scared of. No darkness waiting to descend on her. It might not work, but hey, she couldn’t deny him forever. Certainly not with negotiation tactics like this. “I want to be with you, Jack, in and out of bed.” A smile broke across the hard lines of Jack’s face, right before he brought that sensuous mouth crashing into hers. The confession momentarily forgotten, Jack finally let Lexi begin moving over him. Lexi gripped the back of the chair hard as she slid up and down his length, rocking herself back so the tip of his penis rubbed just the right spot. His hands slid down her bare back, squeezing her ass, while his tongue captured hers and catapulted her senses to overload. She felt herself clench around his erection. With each thrust inside her, she felt her aching body that much closer to heaven. Jack nipped at her ear, moaning her name over and over again as ripple after body-shaking ripple began trembling through her. Falling forward to rest upon Jack’s rock-hard chest, Alexis smiled, thinking she got her way after all. Glimpsing the desk calendar behind her, she congratulated herself for getting all the men she needed for the date auction to be a success and the man she wanted for everything else. If this was the type of stress relief he had in mind after a hard day’s work, she’d welcome it any day of the week. There wasn’t a doubt in her mind he’d do whatever it takes.
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Spring Flings Anthology
ALLY’S FLING by
Emma Sinclair
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Spring Flings Anthology
Spring was in the air. Ally looked out her office window. Her office was housed in one of the older buildings on campus and the small courtyard her window peered into was filled with flowers. Birds fluttered through in pairs, singing their happy love songs. A pair of squirrels frolicked happily in one of the trees. Hell, when she’d left her apartment this morning, two little bunnies were going at it in her front yard. It was as if nature were taunting her. Even the bunnies and squirrels were having sex, but Ally wasn’t. And she hadn’t in longer than she wanted to admit. She checked the clock. One thirty. With a little bit of luck, her lackluster sexual experience would begin to change in one hour. One more class to teach, then she was off to celebrate her first spring break ever. While she was actually in school, she was always too busy studying to participate in anything as banal as spring break. But now, now that her tenure was just about assured, she was going to see what all the fuss was about. She picked up her notebook and jogged down the stairs to her lecture room. One hour until she’d be on her way to the beach, the salty air on her skin, the fruity umbrella drinks, and with a little luck, a sexy man (or two) to fulfill her most wild fantasies. **** Five hours later, Ally was utterly and horribly lost. She figured all she had to do was get in her car and aim east. Since 51
Spring Flings Anthology she was starting in Virginia, it should’ve been pretty straightforward. But God only knew where she was now. “You’re an educated woman, Ally.” Of course, she was an educated woman who was talking to herself. “You’ve got a Ph.D., for God’s sake. You shouldn’t have this much trouble finding a small hotel.” Yeah, she shouldn’t. But the fact was, she was lost. Then suddenly, like a beacon rising up out of the cold, dark ocean, lights appeared in the distance. A greasy diner had never looked so good. She parked in the lot and rushed inside. She’d finally realized how much water she’d been drinking during her drive. Though she intended to rush directly to the bathroom, instead, she ran into the back of something very hard and very tall. And very good smelling. “Whoa. You okay there?” His hands came out to steady her. They were warm on the shoulders that her tank top left bare. When she looked up into his eyes, she could barely speak. “Uh, fine.” His eyes were the brightest blue she’d ever seen. They were lidded by thick black lashes that would be the envy of many a drag queen. His dark brown hair was a little too long and brushed the collar of his shirt. “Are you sure?” No wonder he didn’t look convinced that she was fine. She was staring like an idiot. Pull yourself together, girl! “Yeah. I’m fine.” “Okay. Well, good,” he said. “Sir, we’ve got a table ready for you.” The waitress snapped her gum while she spoke. Ally wondered how she was able to manage that. The sexy man turned back to her and asked, “Would you like to sit with me?” 52
Spring Flings Anthology It was on the tip of her tongue to say no, for no other reason than habit, but he sweetened the deal. “I hate to eat alone.” “Okay, well, okay.” “Great.” The smile he gifted her with was breathtaking. Whoa baby! And she thought his eyes were intense. She could feel a tingle deep between her legs and her nipples jutted to attention. Putting his hand on her back, causing nerve endings to tingle throughout her body, he walked her to the table the waitress had indicated. Before she could sit down though, she excused herself and dashed to the bathroom. After making use of the facilities, she caught a glimpse of herself in the mirror. She looked like a woman who’d spent a frazzled few hours in her car completely lost. Her ponytail, which had started at the top of her head, now hung limply, holding only half of her hair. The miniscule amount of makeup she’d put on this morning had disintegrated hours ago and was now replaced with shine. She’d spilled diet soda on her white tank top. And now she was expected to go sit and eat dinner with the most intensely erotic man she’d ever seen in her life. Damn, what did she do to deserve this? She had to get her hormones under control. Willing herself to tamper down her sex drive as well as she could, which was proving to be exceedingly hard considering she’d been tampering it down for weeks in anticipation of this week, she left the bathroom. As she neared the table, she could feel the testosterone radiating from him. Even with her pep talk, she felt tingles skitter up and down her spine, and her nipples tightening again. She crossed her arms, trying to hide her state and slid into the booth across from him. “Are you cold?” Okay, so she wasn’t really hiding anything. Actually, she was probably only enhancing her situation. 53
Spring Flings Anthology “No thanks. I’m fine.” Actually, wasn’t it really hot in here? “I’m Josh by the way.” He stuck his hand out across the table for her to shake. She was afraid to touch it. If he was affecting her this much already, how would his touch feel? And once she touched his hand, would she be able to deal with him not touching her anywhere else? She had no doubts that his hands would feel amazing caressing her naked back, up her sides, around to her front to caress her… “Are you sure you’re all right?” Good Lord, she was turning into a sex maniac. “I’m fine. I’m Ally.” She finally grasped his hand. The sizzle that shot up her arm wasn’t unexpected, but at the same time, it still surprised her. In that instant, Ally knew without a doubt, that this was the man she wanted to have her spring fling with. Now all she had to do was figure out a way to let him in on her plan. “So, are you from around here?” Josh asked. “No. I’m here on spring break actually.” She could tell the instant he realized she may not be legal. Not wanting to jeopardize a chance at a between-the-sheets romp with him, she rushed to reassure him. “I’m a professor.” He obviously let out the breath he’d been holding. Did that mean he was thinking the same thing she was? “You had me concerned there for a second. But what are you doing here? Ocean Springs isn’t really a spring break party town.” She was a responsible professor. She wasn’t about to head off to Daytona for her first spring break experience. She needed to do some research first and the sleepy town of Ocean Springs seemed like the perfect place. 54
Spring Flings Anthology But she wasn’t about to tell Josh that. “A friend of mine told me about a nice hotel in the area.” Before he could respond, another gum snapping waitress appeared to take their order. She ordered a turkey sandwich, though she wasn’t sure she’d be able to eat it. She found her appetite for food waning, but the one she had for Josh increased steadily. Josh ordered something called the colossal burger. While Josh was ordering, Ally made up her mind once and for all. This was the man she wanted to have sex with this week. There was no doubt he was sexy as sin and he lived in a small town on the outer banks of North Carolina. She didn’t have to worry about anything getting back to her superiors, or her students. “So, you’re not married, are you?” He only looked surprised for a moment before he held up his left hand. He was ringless. “Nope. No wife, no girlfriend,” he said, answering her next question. “I’m completely single.” “Why?” The question popped out before she could censor herself. “Why what?” There was no backing out of this one now. “Why are you single? I mean have you looked in the mirror lately? I’m sure you have no trouble whatsoever attracting women. You’re not gay, are you?” Not that him being gay would be a deal breaker for her this week. Another tingle skittered up her spine. And to make him even sexier, he blushed. “I assure you, I’m not gay. I like women. I like women a lot.” As he spoke, he proved to her just how much he liked women with a look that scorched her from the top of her head down to the tips of her toes, and some more choice places in between. Before either of them could speak again, the waitress returned with their food. They ate in silence for a few minutes 55
Spring Flings Anthology until Abby was able to work up the courage to do something she most definitely never thought she’d be doing. She slipped off her shoe, luckily it was a slip-on, and extended her foot until she touched his leg. He choked on his bite. “Sorry,” she muttered, quickly pulling her foot back to her side of the table. She was a failure at seduction. “That’s okay,” he said. “You just startled me.” And then he startled her right back. She felt his leg slide right next to hers. While he wasn’t rubbing his foot up and down her leg, it was most definitely an invitation. Spurred on now that she knew he was somewhat interested, she once again extended her leg. He was wearing a thin pair of chinos, and she could feel the warmth of his leg through the material. She felt muscles all the way up to his thighs. Then she started cursing herself for not having longer legs. She’d gone as far as she could go. “Problem?” She hadn’t noticed that he’d stopped eating. He simply sat with his arms on the table staring at her, a twinkle in his eye and a smile on his face. And then, he did something completely unexpected. He shifted in his chair so that his cock pressed against Ally’s foot. It was hard and big. “Can I get you two anything else today?” Both Ally and Josh jumped like two school kids doing something elicit in the back seat of a car. He straightened, taking away the new toy her foot had found while she pulled her leg back to her side so quickly, the table shook. Hmmm, maybe they could go do something in the back seat of a car? “No, I think we’re fine. Just the check please.” Judging from the look on the waitress’ face, they most definitely weren’t fooling anybody. But luckily, she hurried away and was back with their check in only a few moments. 56
Spring Flings Anthology “Have a good night, y’all.” Her wink said a thousand words. They spent another few moments arguing over who was going to pay for their meal, then were quickly standing outside. Waiting. Really, Ally didn’t know what she was waiting for, but she desperately hoped that something would happen. “So,” she said. “What now?” Wasn’t that the million dollar question? “Well, do you have to check into your hotel? Could I interest you in a late night walk on the beach?” Part of her urged her to go check into a hotel, but that was the no-fun part. The part she’d spent the better part of her life listening to. “That sounds like fun.” She had enough street smarts to insist on taking separate cars. Being directionally challenged like she was, Josh offered to lead so she could follow. Much to her surprise, he led her to the hotel, then parked in a small lot next to the main building. “I hope this is okay?” He got out of his car and swaggered over to Ally’s door, opening it for her and then holding it as she got out. “This is fine.” “Shall we then?” He was asking much more than if she wanted to take a walk on the beach. “Absolutely.” She reached in and grabbed her purse, she’d stored a box of condoms there before she left home, and a blanket from the back seat. “Let’s go.” They walked for a while, neither one of them attempting conversation. Frankly, Ally was too nervous to speak. She was afraid that anything she tried to say would come out as nothing more than a squeak. “Are you all right?” 57
Spring Flings Anthology He grabbed her hand, it felt so small in his. “Fine,” she lied. “If you don’t want to, you know, take a walk,” they were well aware they were going to do much more, and it would probably be in a horizontal position, “you can go check into your hotel. Maybe we could meet up for lunch tomorrow or something.” That was sweet of him. Trying to make this into something more than one night on the beach. “No. I think it’s a really nice night for a walk.” And to her surprise, it was. They walked a long ways down the beach. They talked. About books and movies and music, but nothing remotely personal. When they reached a completely secluded stretch of sand, Josh suggested sitting down for a while. “It’s a beautiful night, isn’t it?” she asked. “Breathtaking.” The moon was full, shining down on the inky black water in a striped pattern, causing it to twinkle like millions of tiny diamonds floating on the ocean. Ally was surprised though when she looked over at Josh. He wasn’t looking at the water at all. He was staring at her across the blanket. Her throat was suddenly tight and moisture flooded her panties. Suddenly, she wanted Josh like she’d never desired anything before in her life. They met in the middle of the blanket, their mouths fusing together. He was warm and tasted male. Like the burger he’d eaten just an hour ago and a spicy taste that she assumed was naturally Josh. She easily allowed his tongue access to her mouth. It swept inside and she felt it all the way to her toes. She had no idea how long they devoured one another, but eventually, Josh pulled back slightly. “You taste so good.” 58
Spring Flings Anthology He looked surprised by the kiss they’d shared. Ally had no idea how she looked, but she knew she desperately wanted another one of those kisses. “More.” Josh laughed, but granted her request. Sliding closer to her on the blanket, Josh’s arms came around her, holding her tight, as he once again crushed his mouth to hers. Like she’d thought back at the diner, his hands did feel absolutely amazing on her skin. He slid his hands up and down her back with the relaxed tempo of his tongue plunging in and out of her mouth. It felt amazingly wonderful. It was only a matter of time before his hands stopped roaming over her tank top and began to work their way under it. His thick fingers brushed over the exposed skin between her shirt and pants. She shivered. But Josh held her tight. His hands finally slid up under her tank top. He was so big that just one of his palms practically covered her entire back. She wanted to touch Josh’s bare skin. He was wearing a blue, button-down shirt. Bringing her hands to the top button, she began to work them loose. She could feel his skin against her knuckles as she continued through the slight dusting of hair on his chest, but she wouldn’t allow herself to investigate further. Not until she’d rid him of the garment completely. Reaching the last button, she pulled the tails out of his pants and slid the shirt down his shoulders. Only then did she pull back to look at him. He was beautiful. Even after the long winter, his skin was naturally tanned. His physique was long and lean, like a swimmer or long distance runner. He wasn’t overly muscled, but there was very little fat on him. She could sit there looking at him forever. But at the same time, she wanted to do much more. She couldn’t though, when Josh leaned forward and lowered her to the blanket, perching on top of her. It was his turn to explore. 59
Spring Flings Anthology He pushed her tank top up over her breasts. His sharp intake of breath clued her in that he liked what he saw. She was suddenly very glad she’d put on a pretty lace bra that morning. She was sure he’d like the matching thong panties, too. “You’re so beautiful.” He made her feel like she was. “Thank you,” she said shyly. Josh’s hand slid around her body to the back clasp of her bra. He unhooked it with deft hands. Tingles followed the brush of his hands as he pulled the bra off. Then she lay before him, naked from the waist up. “Josh,” she said, shivering. “Are you cold?” He lowered himself to her so they were skin to skin. “A little.” But mostly, she was burning up on the inside and wanted more. More of Josh. “I’ll keep you warm. I promise.” She had no doubts whatsoever that he’d keep his promise. With his arms still wrapped around her, he flipped them over so she lay on top of him. At the same time, he moved her up so he could suckle her breasts. She balanced herself over him as he moved from one breast to the other, swirling his tongue around her nipples, biting lightly. “Feels so good.” She couldn’t even get a complete sentence out. “Taste good,” he muttered back around her breasts. She shivered again, though this time, she knew it had absolutely nothing to do with being cold. Josh’s hands slid down her body to cup her ass though her pants. She pressed back against his hold. At the same time, pressing her pussy into his thick cock. “I want you,” she muttered. “I want you, too,” Josh replied.
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Spring Flings Anthology Apparently, that had been what he was waiting for because he flipped her over again so he was once again on top. He sat up and very quickly pulled her pants down her legs. “These are hot.” He fingered the sides of her purple lace panties. “Thanks.” She was at the point where she’d offer to wear them every day for the rest of her life if she could continue to feel like this. Then Josh’s fingers moved lower, to tease the elastic of her panties between her legs. “Oh, God.” When his fingers slipped under her panties and touched her pussy ever so gently, she thought she might burst. His touch was so soft, so tentative. But she wanted it much harder. Oblivious to the wanton picture she made, she arched up against Josh’s fingers. “You’re so wet.” “Yes.” “You don’t want anymore foreplay, do you? You just want me to plunge my cock into your dripping wet pussy, don’t you?” He continued to tease her. His fingers slid though her moisture, up one side of her labia and down the other. “Yes.” “I’ll give you your release, but first, I’m going to have some fun.” As soon as he finished speaking, he jammed two of his thick fingers up into her pussy. At the same time, he crushed his mouth to hers once again. It was a good thing he did, because if he hadn’t, she would have cried out. Loudly. His fingers continued to thrust into her while his thumb played with her clit. It was such a foreign sensation to her. The only person who had ever had their hands down there before was her. And Josh’s thick, calloused fingers were a long way from her tiny, well-manicured ones. And she had to admit, she much preferred what Josh was doing to her than what she usually did to herself. 61
Spring Flings Anthology “More.” Who was this wanton woman who had taken over her body? Because the Ally she’d been all her life certainly wouldn’t be laying on the beach in the middle of nowhere with some stranger’s fingers buried in her cunt. The Ally she knew never would have used the word cunt. Completely unaware of her internal struggle, Josh continued to pound away with his fingers, drilling them in and out of her. She felt as if she were on fire. She was vaguely aware of the ocean and of the faraway sounds of cars on the highway, but none of that mattered to her at the moment. The only thing Ally was focused on at that exact second was her impending climax. And it grew closer and closer with every breath she took. When Josh bent his head and once again began sucking at her nipples, she came. And she came hard. Josh moved his mouth from her breasts, which felt oh-sogood, to her mouth. Otherwise, she had no doubt they were in danger of being heard. “Do you have any idea how hard you squeezed my fingers? For a second there, I was afraid you were going to break them.” Josh seemed quite pleased with himself as he leaned over her. Ally generally didn’t like cocky men but she couldn’t seem to work up any disdain for him after he had just given her the most amazing orgasm of her life. All she could manage was a giggle. “You all right? Coming back down to earth?” “Something like that.” And as she did, she remembered she was on a secluded beach with a man she didn’t know. Apparently, it showed. “No. You can’t start freaking out on me now. If you’re thinking that much, than I obviously didn’t do a good job.” His finger slid down her body, aiming for that spot between her legs again, but she quickly clamped her legs shut. “If you do any better, I think you might kill me.” 62
Spring Flings Anthology He laughed, and much to her surprise, he pulled her toward him, flipped her over and pulled her close, spoon fashion. While she thought they might rest, or talk, or something, Josh’s hands explored her body. He started with her neck, touching it, rubbing his fingers over the pulse at the base of her throat. A quick thought flashed through her mind at how quickly he’d be able to squeeze and kill her. Really, she didn’t know this man. “Relax. You’re tensing up again.” She forced herself to comply. Not because she was afraid of him in any way, but because she didn’t want him to stop what he was doing. His hand continued down, fondling each of her breasts before sliding down her stomach. He twirled his fingers in the thatch of dewy curls before moving his hand around to cup her ass. Then he did something surprising. He moved his hand up to her mouth, one finger extended and commanded her to, “Suck.” She did. She sucked eagerly, suddenly finding herself wishing it were his cock. She’d never done that before, but she was suddenly burdened with an unflinching desire to do it to Josh. She whimpered when Josh removed his finger. She was completely shocked by what he did with it next. He returned his hand to her ass, squeezing and kneading, but the finger she’d just been sucking on, snuck between her cheeks to rim the tight hole of her anus. She tried to jump away from his grasp, from that finger that was making her feel things she shouldn’t, but he held her tight. “What…” “Shhh,” he insisted. “I’m assuming you’ve never done this before.” His finger continued to go around and around in a circle, moving closer to the center, to its final destination. “I…I’ve never done any of the things I’ve done with you tonight.” 63
Spring Flings Anthology His finger stilled, but only for a moment. “You’re not a virgin.” There was no doubt in his voice. “No. But I’ve…well, that is…no man’s ever touched me there before.” “You mean here.” To make his point, he pressed his finger harder against her ass. Shocked, she found herself pushing back. It wasn’t an all together unpleasant feeling. “There. Or where you touched me before. Where you put your fingers before.” “Your pussy.” She could feel the blush starting in her cheeks and working its way outward. “Yeah.” “So the men you’ve known just stuck their cocks in you and that’s it?” She hadn’t realized she’d been missing so much. She nodded. “Well, I guess I’m going to have to change that, aren’t I?” Once again, he managed to move her before she even knew what was happening. This time, she was laying spread-eagle in the middle of the blanket with Josh perched between her legs. “Oh my.” Josh just laughed at her. She was about to join him, though she had no idea why, when he stuck out his tongue to flick at her clit. She shrieked instead. He laughed some more. With his head buried between her legs, the vibrations nearly sent her into the stratosphere. And as he continued to lick her, to once again build her up to another incredible climax, she couldn’t help wondering why no one had ever done this to her before.
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Spring Flings Anthology As he continued to lick and suckle, that one thick finger once again returned to the tight fissure of her ass. He probed with more force this time. And at the exact second his finger pierced the tight hole, another wave crashed over her and she came again. “Oh my god, oh my god…” She continued to repeat the mantra over and over. She felt Josh move and soon, he was laying half beside her, half over her. “Think you might have been missing something now?” “I think so, but…” “But what?” “Well, do you think you could put your cock inside me now? You know, just to make sure I know exactly what I’ve been missing all these years.” Then the warmest sound she’d ever heard flowed over her. It was the sound of Josh’s laugh. “Honey, I’d like nothing more, but you’ve got sand in places it shouldn’t be and I think it’s time to go in and clean up a little bit.” Now that he mentioned it, she was feeling a little bit uncomfortable. But she didn’t want to go inside. Josh couldn’t come inside with her. She was a single woman checking into a single hotel room. She didn’t want to look like some floozy, even if she had come to the beach this week to have sex. “I’m staying at the hotel, too, so we can just claim to have met outside if that makes you feel better.” “Can you really read my mind?” He shrugged as he stood up. “You have pretty expressive eyes, darlin’.” Then what he said pierced her lust-fogged brain. “You’re staying at the hotel?” He paused in the act of putting his shirt back on. “Yeah, why?” “You mean…you mean, you’re not a local?” 65
Spring Flings Anthology “No. Is there something wrong with that?” He put his hands on his hips and stared her down. “Well, uh, I don’t…” Was there something wrong with that? She’d just automatically assumed that her spring break fling would be with a local. “Where are you from?” Apparently, that was the worst possible question she could have asked because Josh was obviously furious. “You have no idea who I am, do you?” “What?” Sure, he was Josh, the guy who was supposed to be a local she was going to have a fling with. “Put your clothes on, Ally.” She blindly obeyed him. She had no idea what had happened, but it most definitely wasn’t good. “What—” “We’re going back to the hotel. You’re going to your room and I’ll go to mine.” “You can…” “I’m not going to leave you alone out here, now hurry up and get dressed.” “Fine!” she yelled, angry because she had no idea what was going on and at the smooth control in Josh’s voice. “But quit finishing my sentences for me!” Once she had her clothes back on—she realized Josh was right, she did have sand where it shouldn’t be—they walked down the beach in silence. Josh walked just slow enough for Ally to be able to keep up, though she knew he wanted to be moving much faster. And even though he was obviously furious with her, Josh was kind enough to walk her back to her car and carry her bags into the small hotel. “Are you going to be all right from here?” “Fine,” she snapped.
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Spring Flings Anthology He dropped her bags and strolled down the long hallway. Cursing herself for watching him, she went over to the woman standing behind the check-in desk. She couldn’t have been more than eighteen. “What’d you do?” “Excuse me?” “He looks mad, what’d you do?” It was on the tip of her tongue to tell the girl it was none of her business. But instead, she told the truth. “I have no idea.” “Well,” she said. “If I were you, I’d try to figure it out. I wouldn’t want someone who looks that good to be mad at me for long.” “Yeah, thanks. I’m Allison Powell. I have a reservation.” “Sure. I’ve got your key right here.” A few minutes later, Ally was strolling into her room. Walking down the hall, she couldn’t help but wonder which room Josh was in. “Forget about it, Ally. You’ve had your fun and now it’s over.” Ally hopped into the shower washing sand out of those unmentionable places and put on her pjs, another white tank top and a pair of green men’s flannel pajama pants. She’d just settled down in bed with a book when there was a knock at her door. Josh? She walked to the door and peered out. There was no one in the hallway. Was it somebody else’s door? No, another knock sounded loudly, right beside her. Someone was knocking on her connecting door. There wasn’t a peephole there. As she stood there debating with herself as to whether or not she should open it, there was another knock. “Come on, Ally, I know you’re in there.” “Josh?” “Open the door. Please?” 67
Spring Flings Anthology Stifling the urge to run into the bathroom and check her appearance, she unlocked and opened the door. Her knees almost buckled when she saw him. He lounged in the doorway, one arm braced above his head as he leaned against the doorjamb. He was shirtless and much to her chagrin, they were wearing the same pajama pants. “Nice pants.” If she thought he was sexy before, he was absolutely breathtaking when he smiled. How had she missed those dimples? “Thanks.” “I have some chocolate. Would you like some?” He held out a bag of M&M’s™ to her. It looked like a bag he might’ve just bought from a vending machine. “Thanks. Do you want to come in?” She stepped back and let him inside her room. She’d only been there for less than an hour, so luckily she hadn’t yet had time to make a huge mess. He strolled over and sat on the edge of her bed. Wasn’t that where she’d desperately wanted him a little while ago? “What did you mean before about me not knowing who you are?” He actually blushed. “I…well…do you like your M&M’s™?” She still hadn’t opened the package. But if that was the only way he was going to answer her question…she ripped open the package and downed a couple of the chocolates. “Yes,” she said. “They’re very good. Now tell me why I should know who you are.” “Ally…” “Quit stalling, Josh. How do you know me?” She didn’t expect him to answer. He remained on her bed playing with his own bag of candy. “I work in your building.” “What?” 68
Spring Flings Anthology She was so shocked, she dropped her bag of candy. The tiny chocolates scattered across the floor. “I said…” “I heard you the first time,” she snapped. “Are you some kind of stalker?” “No,” he rushed to answer. “Well, I mean, maybe. But not the bad kind.” “There’s a not bad kind of stalker?” “I’m not really a stalker. I just…” Josh rose from the bed and began pacing her hotel room. He ran his hands through his hair, obviously frustrated. A part of her warned her that she should back away, he could be unstable, but the rest of her moved closer to him. Fool that she was, she wanted to comfort him. “It’s just that every time I see you at school, you look so sad, but still, I was drawn to you. Crazy as it sounds, I’ve been trying to work up the nerve to ask you out. Then, when I ran into you earlier at the diner you smiled and all I wanted to do was make you smile even more.” “I’m sorry. What…what is it you do again?” “I work in the bio-engineering lab.” “Oh.” She knew it well. She passed it every day on the way to her own office. But she rarely paid it any attention. She was usually too busy thinking of her own problems. And Josh was what she was missing every day? “I’m sorry,” he said. “I’ll get out of your hair.” “No, wait. Did you really just want to make me smile?” He shrugged his shoulders and sent her a sheepish smile. “Yeah. Kinda lame, huh?” No. It wasn’t lame, it was the sweetest thing she’d ever heard in her whole life. Not knowing what to say, she did the only thing she could think of and launched herself into his arms. He stumbled and fell back on the bed. 69
Spring Flings Anthology She kissed him with everything she had in her. She kissed his eyes and his cheeks and his nose and lips and everything in between. But soon, she realized he was laughing at her. “Relax, Ally.” “No,” she said, barely pausing in her kisses. In fact, she moved down his body, kissing his neck, shoulders and down his stomach. “I don’t want to relax. I want you to make love to me.” “Uh, okay.” She would have laughed if she weren’t so darn horny. Within minutes, they were both once again gloriously naked. Josh was on top of her, poised to enter her. “Ally, darlin’, please tell me you have a condom.” His breathing was heavy as if it took all of his might to remain where he was. She shimmied out from underneath him, sure to maximize contact the whole time, and grabbed her purse. She didn’t care what she spilled, she just desperately needed those condoms. “Got one.” “Oh, thank God.” Josh tried to take the rubber from her hands, but she held tight. “I want to do it.” He smiled and leaned backward, giving her an impressive view of his massive erection. She stroked him up and down until a tiny drop of pre-cum glistened on the tip. She rubbed it around the head, and was just about to bend down and take him in her mouth, when he stopped her. “As amazing as I think you’re going to be at that, if you do it now, I’m afraid we’re going to be done for the night.” She couldn’t deny her disappointment, but at the same time, feminine power coursed through her. Instead, she situated the condom at the head of his penis and slid the rubber down ever so slightly. She made sure to squeeze as hard as she dared. “You’re a bit of a tease, aren’t you?” Josh asked when once again, he was perched atop her. 70
Spring Flings Anthology She didn’t speak. She couldn’t, because at the same time, he slid deep inside her. “Oh. Oh. Wow.” “I’ll take that as a compliment.” “Definitely.” And when he started to move, she struggled to not explode immediately. “You’re so tight,” he muttered under his breath. “I knew it would be this good with you.” She clenched her innermost muscles, making each of them feel even more amazing. “This is better than I ever imagined.” As he continued to thrust, Josh touched her everywhere. Her face, her breasts, down her stomach, until his hand reached the place where they were joined. “What are you doing?” He thumbed her clit as he pounded even harder into her. “I want you to come for me, Ally.” “No…I mean yes. I want it to be at the same time.” She struggled to move away from his stroking fingers, but that only managed to impale him even deeper inside her. The wave of her orgasm was once again crashing over her and she was powerless to stop it. “I want to watch you come for me this first time.” This first time? Was he insinuating there were going to be more times? Suddenly, she found herself desperately hoping there would be. Then she couldn’t think at all. “Yesssss. Josh, oh, Josh.” As soon as she gasped his name, he followed her into oblivion, collapsing on top of her. “Am I hurting you?” he asked a few minutes later. “A bit, but I can’t really bring myself to care.” He chuckled a little bit, but did roll off her. He got up and disappeared into the bathroom. Ally instantly felt the loss. 71
Spring Flings Anthology She rolled over and pulled the covers up over herself. She was a fool to think that her spring fling was going to be anything more than that. “Hey, what’s wrong?” She was surprised when Josh lay back down on the bed beside her. She was even more shocked when he reached up and wiped a tear from her cheek. “You’re not going back to your room?” Anger didn’t suit him. “You think I just came in here to fuck you and that’s it? Didn’t you hear what I said before?” She flinched at his harsh tone. But then he gentled, pushing her hair back away from her face and wiping away the falling tears. “I want to get to know you, Ally.” “You mean this week?” Why couldn’t she believe that he really did have some kind of interest in her? “No, Ally. I mean when we get back home, too. You’re a scientist, so I know you don’t believe in fate, but I think that’s what it was when you ran into me in the diner. Literally.” She laughed. It was a watery laugh. Was he really offering her the chance for her spring fling to turn into something real? Something lasting? She’d be a fool not to jump at that opportunity. So she did. For the second time that night, she launched herself into Josh’s arms. “But that doesn’t mean we can’t still have a fling this week, right?” The tension in the room dissipated as soon as Josh’s arms wrapped around her. She felt so warm and safe and…loved? “Honey, we can fling as much as you want.” And he proved to her they could.
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Spring Flings Anthology
BLOSSOMING SPRING by
Jenna Howard
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Spring Flings Anthology
Why was she so nervous? Spring stared blankly at the magazine before her. The minute she had gotten off the plane, she’d driven her rental through Victoria to this building beside the harbor. She was early. And very nervous. So fucking nervous, she was about to jump out of her skin. A lot was riding on this meeting. Nearly a million dollars. Her family was depending on her to secure this loan from Dale Andrews. Just thinking his name made her feel nauseous and nervous. And a little horny, she sighed and admitted it to herself. Her exhusband’s best friend. Her friend at one time before everything had gone down the crapper. She had met Dale and Clint “the asshole” MacConnell in university. She’d been drunk on the freedom of finally being away from Henderson, Alberta. Victoria was her paradise. In the end, it had become her hell. “Miss Drummond, Mr. Andrews will see you now.” The receptionist’s mouth pinched at her name. The name Spring Drummond was toxic in the financial world. Never mind that she’d been innocent of embezzlement. The charges and suspicion still clung to her like cat piss four years later. Clint had massacred her. He ruined her career and her life and she’d returned home to Henderson, while he had scurried off with her secretary and two point three million dollars of other people’s money. Her friendship with Dale hadn’t survived her marriage either. 74
Spring Flings Anthology Now here she was. About to beg him for money. Her mom had told her she was looking in the wrong places, asking the wrong people. Who the hell was going to give her money? She couldn’t even get a job as a cashier. This was her last chance. Dale was her last hope. God, she didn’t want to be here. She pressed a hand against her stomach when the woman knocked on a door. The faint welcome made her skin grow clammy. “Just a reminder, Mr. Andrews, you have a meeting with Mr. Parrish at three thirty.” It was three fifteen now. “Thanks, Judy.” Two words and her belly cramped up. The secretary turned, brushed passed her and stalked away. She looked at the man sitting behind the shiny, black lacquered desk that was the size of her double bed. Dale Andrews. Financial genius. Money wizard. Sexy man. He stared at her, twirling a pen through his fingers. Pale green eyes studied her while she watched the silver pen flash. “Hello, Spring.” Her womb contracted. She fought the urge to bolt. This was a mistake. A huge mistake. What the hell was she doing here? She’d nearly destroyed him. What was going to happen if he agreed to help her? The whispers would start again, rumors based on truth and lies would start to buzz through the financial world. She opened her mouth to return the greeting. “I’m sorry.” She spun around and walked out of his office. He caught her before she had taken five steps. She stared at the hand curled around her bicep. She could feel his heat soaking through the blouse she had borrowed from her oldest sister, Winter. She remembered the last time he had touched her. A sensual shiver rippled through her. “This isn’t how you start a sales pitch, Spring.” He knew why she was here. “What sales pitch?” 75
Spring Flings Anthology “Well, you haven’t looked me up because you missed me.” He leaned against her back. “Did you?” The question was whispered against her ear and a surge of longing swept through her. Five years ago, she started to make a lot of mistakes. Her main mistake being marrying Clint. No, that was number two. Number one had been trusting him. That trust had a destroyed her a year later. She had nearly taken Dale down with her. She thought of her mother and sisters. They expected her to come home with money to finance the rebirth of Seasonal Changes, her grandparents’ defunct restaurant. Their dreams rested on the one person they shouldn’t rely on. Her. “Are you going to run from me again, Spring?” Yes. She exhaled slowly, then shook her head. He navigated her back to his office and she sat in the chair across from his desk. He leaned on the desk’s edge, arms folded over his chest. She made herself meet his eyes. “You know why I’m here.” “You need money. How much?” He never had been one to dance around the issue. She opened up Winter’s old briefcase and pulled out the paperwork she had spent hours preparing. “We anticipate about a million dollars. There’s equipment to buy, renovations to be made, permits to be bought.” He took the pages and set them on the desk without looking at them. Her nerves buzzed alive. “That’s a lot of money for a restaurant.” That’s because it’s a pit now. Once, the building had shone with life. Her father had come along, ruined the restaurant, then sold everything not nailed down, up to and including the dark rust carpet. “There are a lot of repairs that need to be done. I figure loan payments can be made at—” “Okay.” “Monthly installments. Interested included. Pardon me.” She blinked, his response finally sinking into her brain. “What?” “Okay. I have a few conditions.” “Of course.” Maybe he wanted more interest than everyone else. Kind of a safety net. That would make money tight. Maybe 76
Spring Flings Anthology she could take the contractor down on the estimate. That would help. Maybe raise menu prices a smidge. “I don’t want anyone to know I’m doing this.” Well, she couldn’t fault him on that. To link his name with hers would bring him a lot of grief. Again. “Of course not.” “I want monthly reports.” Well...duh. “Absolutely.” “I want you for one weekend.” She blinked and met his gaze. The words refused to settle in her brain. “Pardon me. What?” He moved then. Leaning forward, he gripped the chair’s arms, pinning her. “I want my weekend, Spring.” Her breath whooshed out of her. Memories pulsed in her blood. One weekend, Spring. Give me one weekend. And she had agreed, then reneged after the best sex of her life. She’d run and run fast. “Do you remember, Spring?” His pale eyes seemed to glow. “Do you remember how it felt to have me deep inside you?” She nodded slowly, unable to break eye contact with him. “Do you remember the touches?” His hand lifted and he drew a line down her neck. “The laughter? Do you remember how good it was?” She swallowed. Wet her lips. “Yes,” she answered softly. “Then why the fuck did you run?” His hand cupped her chin and he lowered his head. His lips slid over hers. The sensation brought everything to the surface. Oh yes, she remembered how it felt to have him deep inside her, his touch. And it had been good. So very good—so very right. His lips nudged hers apart and she prepared herself for the first touch of his tongue. She grabbed the lapels of his suit jacket when teeth scraped against the softness inside her lip before his tongue thrust in, conquering her. He caressed down her neck, covering her breast. Her nipple beaded instantly, remembering his touch. In one night, he had reprogrammed her to respond to him. She leaned back in the chair, their tongues meeting in a sensual duel. His legs nudged 77
Spring Flings Anthology between hers, spreading them apart so she wished they were both naked. A soft sound escaped when he gently squeezed her breast. The knock on the door barely registered. Dale lifted his head, his thumb brushing over her nipple until an answering throb resounded in her pussy. “Say yes, Spring.” Yes, yes, yes. Her gaze slid away from his and she looked around the office. Everything screamed money. He came from money, a lot of it, but he was also brilliant with numbers. She had nearly ruined this for him. What if word got out that she was back? Spring touched his cheek and noticed her fingers were shaking. “I can’t,” she whispered. “Your three thirty is here.” “God damn it, Spring.” She ducked under his arm, grabbed the briefcase and hurried for the exit. His hand flattened on the door before she could open it. “You need the money, Spring.” “Yes.” What was the point of lying? It was the truth. She needed the money. But he had all this now. He could afford to loan her a million dollars. Now. What about tomorrow? Next week? When word spread that he was doing business with her, he’d be ruined. “Let me go, Dale.” “Why? Tell me that much.” “You’re you and I’m me. That says everything.” He growled behind her, then turned her around. Talking to the door was easier. Judy knocked again. “Just a minute.” He bit the words out while he glared at her. “It’s one weekend, Spring. My weekend. I want it. Loan or not.” His mouth covered hers in an angry kiss. She tried not to respond. She succeeded. For all of two seconds. This was Dale. His tongue thrust against hers and a current of heat flashed from her lips to her pussy. His hands slid over her breast and gripped her hips. He pulled her lower body forward so she could feel the firmness of his cock. Her hips shifted against him. She ached. The bottom of the blouse bunched above her waist and she felt the button of her pants open. Another insistent knock on 78
Spring Flings Anthology the door interrupted them. His thumb caressed her navel while he glared at the door. His eyes, flashing with arousal and anger, met hers. “Deny it all you want, Spring. You want that weekend, too. Loan or not.” His hips thrust forward and she moaned at the feel. Deny? What was she denying? Yes, she wanted that lost weekend. But... “Give me one weekend. Seventy-two fucking hours.” She wondered if that was a curse or a promise. Both. “That’s all I want.” He ground his erection against her and she rocked with the motion. “Give it to me, Spring. Let’s burn,” he whispered against her ear, “like we did before. Let me come in you again.” She shuddered and nearly came at the words. “Dale.” “Say yes, damn it.” She licked her lips while her body screamed yes. “No.” His hand fell from the door and his head fell forward. “Good-bye, Dale.” She eased the door open and looked at the glaring secretary before she escaped. She fought not to run down the hall and out of the building. She forced herself to walk, her fingers clutching and opening against the front of her blouse. She had said no. There was no money. There would be no restaurant. But Dale would be safe. She nodded and stepped into the elevator. A man eyed her like he recognized her. He probably did. Scandal gave people long memories and it had only been four years ago when Spring Drummond MacConnell had been arrested for embezzling over two million dollars. She still remembered the feel of cuffs on her wrists, wondering if the black ink would ever wash out of the grooves of her fingers. She remembered the grueling trial. She remembered the flack Dale had received for supporting her. The rumors spread that he had aided her. They had been labeled lovers, thieves. One night had almost cost him everything: his career, his family...his wife. Fuck. She was a virus. No. A disease. No. She swallowed and stared at the numbers. She was a cancer. 79
Spring Flings Anthology And here she was, about to disappoint her family again. She was a terrible, terrible person. The doors slid open and she walked out. Why the hell did Dale want her so much when she was this much of a disaster? **** There were good days, then were the ones that belonged in the shitter. Today was a shitter day. He had gambled and lost. Again. He picked up the glass of scotch, turned it a quarter of an inch, then set it down again. He still tasted Spring. As if he could ever forget her. The first time she had smiled at him, he had wanted her. The timing had been shit. He’d been dating Lana Walsh. The relationship ended, but by that time, Spring had fallen into Clint’s web of treachery. That hadn’t stopped him from wanting her. He used his friendship with Clint to be near her. Then the bastard went and married her. He got piss-tanked drunk. He picked up the glass, rotated it a quarter inch back, then sipped the scotch. He’d woken up in Lana’s bed the morning after the wedding. A few months later, he married her. Huge mistake. Never, he learned, marry one woman when you’re in love with another, then call that woman’s name out during honeymoon sex. Bravo, Dale, bravo. Then came the night he had drunk a little bit too much. Yep. Always blame alcohol when he cornered his buddy’s wife in the pantry and tried to swallow her face. The phone on the railing of his deck rang and he stared at it. He had decided to try kissing her sober. He smiled at the memory. Two days later, he had shown up on her front steps during a spring storm. Clint had been...wherever. Probably screwing Alison, Spring’s secretary. Covered in rain, he had leaned in and kissed Spring. Unleashing every ounce of god damn desire in him. His body hardened at the memory of her returning the kiss. The phone didn’t stop ringing. He grabbed it and sank back in his chair. “What?” “I assume she’s not there?” 80
Spring Flings Anthology “Fuck off. I’m brooding.” He hung up on Zach MacConnell’s laugh. The phone rang immediately. “What?” He sighed and wished the older man would let him get drunk. “Sorry.” Dale nodded. “Fuck.” “Drummonds,” Zach sighed. “Nothing but god damn trouble for a man.” Nodding again, Dale turned the glass. Zach also had issues with a Drummond. Dale didn’t even pretend to understand what was up between Zach and Autumn. He had enough trouble trying to figure out Spring. Autumn was Zach’s problem. “Tell me about it.” “What are you going to do?” He was going to do what he always did when he couldn’t have Spring. “I’m getting drunk.” He hung up and stared out at the vast expanse of the Pacific before him. He had paid a fortune for this house just for the view. He loved the water. He had grown up here and had never considered living anywhere else. He was adrift now. His moorings gone. He had gambled and lost. Once again, Spring had slipped between his fingers like water. “Story of my bloody life.” He saluted the ocean, then tossed the scotch back like it was water. He reached for the bottle beside his chair and poured himself another drink. **** Her skin prickled and Spring kicked the heavy blanket away. I want my weekend. The sentence taunted her. Haunted her. The man haunted her. Do you remember? Yes. Yes, she did. Her nipples tingled and tightened. She remembered everything. The cool, wet sensation of his mouth on hers from that stunning kiss she hadn’t expected. His kiss before that had been arousing, but sober? Unbelievable. Each thrust of his tongue had been one of promise. One weekend, Spring. Give me one weekend. 81
Spring Flings Anthology And she had said yes. Yes to cheating on her husband. Yes to him cheating on his wife. She had said yes. Neither of you are married now, are you? She growled at the voice in her head. She flipped over and punched her pillow in a feeble attempt to get comfortable. That was beside the point. She still had the potential to ruin his life. She remembered the kiss in his office. Moaning, she buried her face in the pillow. No one kissed her like he did; as if she was the sun he hadn’t seen in decades. And it felt good to be kissed like that again. The last man she had slept with had been...Dale. What does that tell you? Sighing, she sat up and shifted the pillow onto her lap. Had it really been Dale? The way her nipples throbbed and her pussy grew moist, she had to say yes. Sex with Clint had pretty much vanished at that point. Married one year and no sex. Idiot. He had been too busy screwing Spring over to spend any time actually having sex with her. “And let’s not forget Alison.” She hoped he got some venereal disease in whatever tropical locale he was in. Or something poisonous bit him. That’s no excuse for what she did with Dale. She rested her chin on the edge of the pillow. She hadn’t known Clint was planning on destroying her. No, it all came down to hormones and Dale did all sorts of crazy things to hers. She’d agreed to that weekend because she had been curious. And aroused. That kiss. Remembering made her cheeks burn and her clit throb in anticipation. It had been, hands down, the best kiss of her life. And the sex. She groaned and shivered. Once you go, Dale, all men pale. That had been the saying in school. She had laughed...then. Hello, Spring? Four years. Clearing her throat, she stared at the phone. You’re not married now. Clutching the pillow to her chest, she retrieved her purse. Was she seriously considering this? She pulled out the business card she had plucked from the holder when she had arrived for 82
Spring Flings Anthology her meeting. She stared at the cell number. Why was she even thinking of this? Because she wanted her weekend, too. Swearing, she dragged the phone off the desk and dialed. If she hesitated, she’d probably change her mind. The phone rang and moaning, she buried her face in the pillow. “Do you have any god damn idea what god damn time it is?” The voice was low and scratchy. She peeked at the clock. Three in the morning. Had she called Dale? It didn’t sound like him. Her finger hovered over the disconnect button. “I take it that’s a yes, Spring?” Her jaw dropped. What? How? “I’d come get you,” a wet sound came over the phone, “but I’m drinking. Since you’re going to sit there and breathe, get a pen.” She opened the drawer on the desk and pulled out the small pad of paper with the hotel logo on it, then grabbed a pen. She wrote down the directions he gave her. “I’m on the deck, so come around to the back. Oh, and, Spring? All you need is a toothbrush. See ya soon.” He hung up. She blinked and lowered the phone. Her entire body was vibrating. Her fingers were shaking with nerves, excitement and anticipation. Her nipples were never going to flatten and she didn’t even want to think about what her pussy was doing. “I guess I’m checking out.” **** Spring walked around the corner of the house and saw his multilevel deck disappearing down into the darkness. She climbed up the five steps and saw Dale. He sat on a patio chair, bare feet resting on the deck railing. A nearly empty bottle rested on the deck. His head turned and she felt trapped. There was no turning back. He held a hand out and she approached him cautiously. His fingers caught hers and he pulled her around. Her choice was to either straddle his legs, or fall. She straddled the lean thighs and his hands on her hips lowered her down. 83
Spring Flings Anthology Leaning back against his chest, she stared off at the ocean inky from the night. Hands stroked her thighs and when he sighed, she smelled scotch. “Drunk?” “Yep.” The last time she had seen him drunk, he had kissed the bejesus out of her in the pantry. Some men sang when they were drunk and others were abusive. Some became melancholy and others were sloppy funny. Dale was none of those things. He became sexy. Really sexy, something she had learned years ago. It was like some wall crumbled inside him. Deep beneath the polish was a rogue. “Unzip your jacket, sugar.” Sugar? She had never heard that word from him in the nine years she knew him. His fingers stroked toward her sex, then back to her knees. Up and down. She opened her jacket and she shivered when a breeze came off the ocean. “Relax.” One hand lifted and moved like an orchestra conductor. “Listen to the water. You know what it’s sayin’?” “What?” “Geeet naaaaaked with Daaaaale.” She snorted and slapped the hand making loopy swirls. “You’re such an ass.” His hips flexed up, lifting her up. She felt the press of his erection. “Nope.” His hand returned to caressing her leg. “Knew it was you when the phone rang.” “Yeah? How?” “Got hard.” She looked over her shoulder at him. His lashes were lowered, the pale green of his irises barely visible. “You have caller ID.” “Then I got hard. I figured it wasn’t the concierge calling. Stop talking. You’re not listening to the water, sugar, because you’re still dressed.” His hands had lulled her into some kind of trance because suddenly, he was tugging her fly down. “Let’s get naked, Spring, and fuck ’til we die.” His hand caressed the skin of her belly. “I don’t take advantage of drunks.” 84
Spring Flings Anthology “Do,” he responded while he traced the elastic of her panties. “Have your wicked way with me, Spring, before you change your mind again.” Tempting. Very tempting. She glanced at the nearly empty bottle. She wanted him sober. She wanted him to remember in the morning. “Fuck, you already have.” He went to push her off his lap and she braced her feet on the wooden planks of his deck. “I haven’t.” She turned so she could see his face. “Dale, I haven’t.” His eyes were narrowed, not believing her. “I just...” Sighing, she caressed his cheek. “I want you to remember and you won’t. Will you?” “Pro’bly not. Damn it, woman. Fine.” He lifted her up and propelled himself out of the chair. “Tomorrow though, we’re going to fuck until we can’t walk. Deal?” Duh. “Deal.” He grabbed the bottle, the remaining liquid splashing against the glass. He nudged her to the door and she pulled the screen open, then followed Dale inside. He set the bottle down on an antique desk and headed through his home. Spacious. He grabbed the back of his shirt and dragged it over his head. Um, hm. The tee was dropped on the floor and she was given a great view of his back. He was lean with corded muscles shifting. She watched his shorts hit the floor. “Oh man,” she breathed out, oogling Dale Andrews’ naked ass. It was worth a look. Chiseled asses were a thing to behold. Smooth skin, shades lighter than his back, hugged that tush like nobody’s business. Muscles flexed and she wanted to grip the concave sides. “Bathroom.” He pointed at a door. She couldn’t tell which one. He raked his hand along the back of his head and she drooled at the play of muscles twitching and pulling from the move. “Bedroom. Bed.” Why, yes. Yes it was. The king bed was huge. Made for rolling around on. Her skin tingled and her palms grew damp. He flung himself down on the bed, bless his considerate heart, and lay on his back, one arm flung over his eyes. 85
Spring Flings Anthology Dale Andrews naked was worth looking at for a long, long time. He had the whipcord lean body of a swimmer. She wanted to straddle him and spend a few weeks exploring all those tanned muscles. And she had called everything to a halt? Stupid girl. “You want something to sleep in? Second drawer.” He lifted his arm, peering at her. “Or you can get naked now. Save time in the morning.” Chuckling, she grabbed the bottom of her shirt and lifted it so the hem was below her breasts. Dale rose up on his elbows to watch the show. One hand let go and half the shirt slid down. “Oops. Oh shoot,” she said when the other side slithered down. She kicked off one sandal, then the other before curling her toes into the thick navy carpet. Watching Dale’s face, she pushed her jeans slowly down. She kicked them toward his dresser. His gaze slid up her bare legs and a warm feeling followed in the wake. She tried not to focus on his cock that was swelling, bending upwards. Hello, Spring, you slammed on the brakes. Deal with the consequences. She hooked one finger in the jersey fabric of her shirt and swung her arm across her body while she slid the garment up, inch by slow inch. Dale’s eyes narrowed. He stared at the pink striped cotton bikini panties she wore. Nothing sexy, but the way he looked, she feared the fabric was going to burst into flames. Her nipples tingled as she teased him. His breathing grew a little ragged when her matching bra was flashed. It wasn’t even pretty stuff. Lingerie had always seemed like a waste of money to her, especially since she didn’t have credit cards spewing out of her wallet. Now she wished she had the sexy stuff. She pushed the shirt over her head and flung it at him. It landed on his stomach and he shifted his weight so he could lift the top to sniff the fabric. Sexy. Grr. He tossed her shirt to the floor and looked at her. She let him look. “I forgot how fucking sexy you are, Spring.” “Yes, I’m sporting the finest cotton out there.” She traced the dark pink elastic that clung to her breasts. 86
Spring Flings Anthology “It’s not what you wear, sugar, but how you wear it.” His gaze tracked her finger, now hooked over the plastic clasp between her breasts. “And you wear it.” She squeezed the edges and looked at him. He seemed to be holding his breath as she flicked the tabs apart. A shudder moved down his lean body. “Wait.” He grabbed the other pillow and set it behind him. “Can’t feel my arms. Don’t want to faint.” “You’re such an ass.” She shook her head. He leaned back and ran his hand down his chest toward his groin. Her sex clenched in response and a wave of moisture soaked her panties. He wouldn’t. Long, elegant fingers wrapped around his cock and he stroked in one, slow motion. In one heartbeat, he turned the tables. Sober? Why did she need him sober? “Continue.” She flipped her middle finger at him because his attitude deserved it. He smirked, his hand sliding down to his balls, then up again. Down and up. Her pussy squeezed with the slow rhythm. Bastard. “Oh, you don’t need me to finish?” “Finish.” She forced herself to look away from his hand. His other arm bent behind his head and he looked like a model. A naughty one at that. She eased one cup away from her breast and caressed the swollen flesh. She ached. Damn it, why couldn’t he have been sober? Do you need him sober? Seems happy to see ya to me, Spring. Maybe she didn’t need him sober, but she didn’t want him wasted. She teased one nipple, then bared the other breast to him. Caressing her shoulders with her arms crossed over her breasts, she pushed the straps down. When she straightened her arms, the bra fell to the floor. She braced one knee on the foot of the bed, unable to look away from the rich green of his eyes. He had the most beautiful eyes. The color of uncut jade that glowed. Uncaring about her early declaration of wanting him sober, she crawled along the bed, between his legs. He never broke eye contact as she came 87
Spring Flings Anthology closer and closer to her destination. Spring lowered her gaze and watched him trace the thick vein from the base to tip. Pre-cum wept from the tip. “Take off your panties, Spring.” She swallowed. Rising up on her knees, she pushed her underwear down. Sober, Spring. He didn’t look that drunk now. Could an impromptu striptease sober a guy up? One never knew with Dale. She pushed the panties down to her knees, then sank onto her bottom. Her legs swung up and her feet hovered over his chest. Dale sat up and eased them down over her feet. He seemed to move like a cat between her legs. “No regrets,” he said, bracing his hands by her head. “No regrets,” she promised and hoped she didn’t lie. “Dale, the money isn’t a part of this, okay? There’s no deal, no loan.” He grinned. “No money. No running? I want to wake up with you, Spring. If you run,” his eyes flashed, “I will chase you this time. Do I have to sober up?” She shook her head and he smiled. A slow, curling of his lips and his lashes lowered. “I want to take my time with you.” He sank down, his weight making her gasp. The head of his penis pressed against her pussy. “Next time.” He thrust into her. Spring cried out, the fullness stretching her. He eased back, then plunged deep inside her again. It wasn’t gentle. It wasn’t romantic. It was greedy. It was rough. It was like before. She had forgotten things never went according to plan with Dale. She saw his battle to regain control of his body while he stroked hard and deep. “Don’t,” she whispered, meeting the driving plunges. “Don’t hold back, Dale.” There was something erotic in knowing she shattered his control. At his cabin, the seduction had started at the restaurant on Galiano Island, one of the larger of the Gulf Islands. That plan had fallen apart the minute they had kissed. Clothes had vanished 88
Spring Flings Anthology and he had taken her against the wall with the door still open the minute he had unlocked the door. “You sure?” She nodded. She wrapped her legs around his hips, lifting her own off the bed. She was prepared this time. For the intensity, for the heat that burned so hot, her skin nearly melted. Before, she hadn’t expected the ignition or the hunger. His hips lowered and he took her at her word. “Oh God,” she moaned. She met each hard drive into her body. Maybe she wasn’t as prepared as she had thought. “Four years,” he growled at her, rolling his hips forward. “Four years, Spring.” She nodded, her body undulating against his. “Dale.” Then she lost the ability to speak. She could only feel. Feel the smooth skin of his hips against hers. Feel the flex and pull of his ass as he thrust; the hard slide of his cock inside her. Feel her heart exploding in her body; and the sense of belonging that had been missing for four years. He lowered his head, kissing her while he pumped. She gripped his delicious back, caressing down to his butt. There was no rhythm now, only fire. “Spring.” He growled her name, a savage sound she had never heard from him before. Even then. He shifted, driving fast into her. His head fell back and she watched his shoulders tighten. Her own orgasm built in her womb, growing, expanding until it threatened to burn her apart. She cried his name. Maybe. She wasn’t entirely sure since she lost all her senses, even touch. She bowed into his hard body and shattered. “Yes,” he hissed above her and plunged one final time inside her. “Spring.” She heard her name from a distance and she felt him empty into her. She thought her ears popped but she wasn’t positive. “Spring.” He gasped and lowered himself down so she could feel his heart thundering against hers. “Don’t leave,” he whispered, capturing her mouth in a searing kiss. “Don’t.” **** 89
Spring Flings Anthology A ringing phone woke her up. She stared at the man asleep beside her. His sensual mouth with that full, lickable lower lip was parted. His hair stood up like a mad scientist’s and she smiled. Tracing his ear, she rose up to study his back. In university, he had been on a few water sports teams. Swimming and rowing. His true love was racing in the yacht club regattas. The man had salt water running through his body. Maybe it was because he had grown up along the coast while she was a prairie girl. Watching him sail was something to behold, for on a boat, he was poetry and grace. She wondered if he still sailed, still raced. She kissed his shoulder because it was there. Her teeth nipped the rock-hard muscle. He slept on, passed out no doubt, so she let herself explore what she never did before. He smelled of the ocean. Salt and a freshness that technology could never capture. Her lips and tongue followed one broad shoulder until she felt a strain in her back from the position. She shifted, straddling his sexy, naked ass, and suddenly, she had his entire back to explore. All that golden skin. She kissed her way down his spine to his ribs. She traced the low valleys between each muscle group with her fingers, learning the body of the man. There was a fine scar on his shoulder, a pale line with small round marks. Surgical marks from when he had torn his rotator cuff in their first year of university, not that he had let that hinder him. God forbid surgery keep him off the water. She kissed the now silver skin and saw he had turned his head, peering at her through narrow slits. She captured his mouth and he flipped over. She explored his mouth like she had his back. She learned his flavor and the softness of his lips. She was about to sink on to him when there was the telltale sound of a door banging shut. “Hello? Honey?” His eyes went wide. He cleared his throat. “Yeah, Mom.” Spring didn’t know whether to be horrified or amused. This was new. There were also his clothes marking the trail down the hall to his bedroom. 90
Spring Flings Anthology “I, um, think I’ll wait for you outside.” She obviously found one article of clothing where he had removed it. “Okay. Yeah.” He dragged his hands down his face. “Okay. My mom is here.” “I know. Are we done?” He snorted and pushed her off of him. “Do you have sex with your parents waiting for you on the porch?” She shook her head and rolled onto her back. “I don’t have any clothes, Dale. You told me only my toothbrush,” she lied. The panic in his eyes was worth it. “Idiot. My suitcase is in the car. Go get it.” “Me? Why?” She waved a hand down her naked body. His gaze slid down and he shook his head in the affirmative. “Right. Okay.” He climbed off the bed and rummaged through his drawers until he was dressed in khaki shorts and a grey shirt with U of Vic in faded letters. He paused and looked at her on his bed. “Right. Parents.” He pointed a finger at her. “Don’t move.” She watched him hurry out, then return with his shorts from last night. He tossed them over her jeans, then left again. He returned a second time with his loosely folded shirt. “Where are your keys?” She shrugged. “Wherever my purse is.” He stood in the doorway, staring at her. He growled and dove onto the bed, knocking her down. The kiss was hungry and quick. “Okay. Parents. Right.” He rose up on his hands and knees. “Damn. All naked and shit. Damn it.” He rolled away, hit the floor and walked out again. Spring took a quick shower since meeting his parents with sticky thighs wasn’t how she wanted to start the day. She walked out, wearing his robe and found her suitcase on the bed. A pair of shorts she had packed on impulse, plus a long-sleeved shirt rested on top. It had been a long time since anyone had dressed her. Chuckling, she rummaged for underwear, dressed, then 91
Spring Flings Anthology brushed her hair and teeth. There was no more procrastinating. Time to meet the parents. God. She felt woozy. She had nearly destroyed his life four years ago. Parents remembered stuff like that. Fighting her nerves, she walked into the kitchen and saw Dale leaning against the railing of his deck. A man with grey hair sat in the same chair Dale had been in last night while a woman occupied another. What did she say? Hi, Mrs. Andrews, I had sex with your son last night. Duh. The woman already knew that. The trail of clothes had to be a dead give away. Dale looked up from talking to his parents and she was ready to hightail it back to the bedroom. There was safety there. “Spring, come on. Gotta hit the water before it’s too late.” Pardon me? What? Water? His mother looked over her shoulder. Trapped. Feeling like a teenager caught necking in a parked car, she walked outside. “Spring, my mom, Angie Andrews. Mom, this is Spring Drummond.” Spring gave a sick smile and shook the woman’s hand. “Hi.” She wanted to apologize. Sorry, I screwed your son’s brains out last night. “This is Kevin Andrews. Dad, Spring.” His father stood up and turned. “You were married to that asshole, MacConnell.” Her stomach churned. “Yeah.” “Little fucker. Nice to meet you.” He gave her hand a brisk shake. “Okay. Let’s sail.” Sail? She got the sinking feeling he didn’t mean shopping. “Sail?” Dale grinned and kissed her in front of his parents. “Sail. You’ll need your sneakers.” “Sail? Like on a boat?” He turned her around and marched her inside. “Relax. You’ll love it.” Oh good, because throwing up in the ocean in front of strangers always made her feel warm inside. 92
Spring Flings Anthology **** “Did you know what Clint was up to?” At the unexpected question, Dale went still, focusing on the fire instead of Spring. His parents had gone up to the house an hour ago, pleading exhaustion. For the first time since their aborted weekend four years ago, they’d be staying at his cabin, which was a small cottage at the corner of his parents’ property that had once belonged to his grandmother. It was his getaway, his retreat when he didn’t want to be around people. Spring shifted beneath him, rolling onto her back so she could see his face. How should he answer? Any answer was a trap. If he said yes, he was a bastard. If he said no, he was a liar. He sat up, so he was no longer making a bridge over her and stared deep into the flames rise out of the firepit. “Dale?” “I suspected,” he said, hedging the truth. He looked at her and knew it wouldn’t take her long to see through his smoke screen. Spring was no dummy, despite her taste in husbands. “And me?” Fuck. He wobbled his hand side to side in a so-so manner. She sucked in her breath and he wished this conversation wasn’t happening. Another weekend with Spring in the shitter. Damn it. A log popped and rolled away from the others. Sparks flew up into the night, vanishing like magic. He didn’t want to think about anything or anyone disappearing that quickly. He couldn’t even say she was trapped on the island since the ferry arrived all the time, bringing over tourists and the permanent residents who lived here. In hours, she could be gone. Damn it. “You thought I could do that?” Her voice was soft but he heard every word clearly over the snap and crackle of burning wood. “Steal from people? Lie?” Dale rubbed a hand over his chest. He tried to quickly gather his thoughts. One break. That’s all he wanted. One break with her. Not going to happen. He must be a real son of a bitch, because the odds of him keeping Spring decreased all the time. “At the beginning, yeah.” She shifted, sitting up and he flicked a 93
Spring Flings Anthology glance at her. “Your fingerprints were everywhere, Spring. If the victims weren’t your clients, you had helped him in some way.” Clint had done a brilliant job of setting her up. And Dale, sucker that he was, had fallen for it. Not for long, just enough to have the investigation swing her way, effectively screwing her over. “But you said you believed I hadn’t done anything wrong. Was that a lie?” He looked away from the fire. “No.” “A way to get me to confess? Was that why we came here?” “No,” he sighed and wanted to touch her. He didn’t have the right anymore. He had fucked up that chance. “No,” he repeated in a firmer voice. “I didn’t suspect Clint though.” And he hated that Clint had duped him. His so-called friend had fucked them all over. By the time the truth had come out, Spring’s reputation had been shredded and she had been arrested. He still felt sick when he remembered that time. The helplessness he had felt with her behind bars. “Bringing you here had nothing to do with any of that, Spring.” “No? Are you sure? Maybe the partners suggested you seduce me.” Dale grunted. “Yeah, they usually asked one married employee to seduce another behind her husband’s back, especially one suspected of embezzlement.” He stared at her until she shifted uncomfortably. “Why’d you leave PI?” He pursed his lips and studied her face. He had missed looking at her. The darker eyebrows above deep brown eyes, the tiny collection of freckles over her nose, the shape of her mouth when she smiled. “You weren’t there.” He stared at the fire when she sucked in her breath. “Hell, Spring, why would I want to work for Pacific Investments?” And there it was. All his cards were on the table now. “Pardon me,” she said in a low voice. “What?” Dale exhaled loudly and made himself look at her. Was the stunned look on her face good, or bad? She moved, straddling his 94
Spring Flings Anthology lap and blocking the fire from his view. That left him with only her to look at. “Damn it, Spring, I’m in love with you. Okay?” “Well, that was romantic.” Was it cool to strangle a woman seconds after baring your heart? “Subtlety doesn’t work on you.” Which was why he had done everything in his power to get her into his office. He was a bad man, he thought, gazing into her eyes. “I have a confession.” Her eyebrow slid up. She leaned against his bent legs. He inhaled deeply, puffing out his cheeks while he thought of what to say. “You winding up in my office wasn’t quite an accident. I may have nudged a few doors shut when you went looking for investors.” “How many doors?” He cleared his throat, playing with the ends of her hair. “More than a little, less than all.” “You set me up?” He nodded and searched her gaze. “Yeah, I did. But...but it was for a good cause.” “Sex is a good cause?” He smelled a trap. “Sex is a great cause,” he admitted. Her lips twitched at his answer. “But...but—” She made a circle with her hand. “But,” she urged him to continue. “Don’t stop now, Andrews, this is getting interesting.” Strangling was too good for her. “You left me no options, Spring. I was tired of waiting for you.” “Tired. Of waiting.” She leaned forward, resting her elbows on her knees. “Andrews, Andrews, Andrews.” Her head shook slowly from side to side. “You’re supposed to say I’m worth waiting for, not that I’m a pain in the ass. Try again.” “Okay, this conversation is going nowhere. Would you have come here on your own for no reason?” She chewed on her lower lip. “Yes?” She didn’t sound too sure. “Drummond, Drummond, Drummond. You’re supposed to say: Yes, Dale. I had a bag packed and ready.” “Wise ass. Why’d you wait so long, Dale?” 95
Spring Flings Anthology “Honey, you were the one who ran away. You had to come back.” He caressed her back. “So, I blackmailed you. What’s a little blackmail? The means justify the end.” “And the end is what?” “You saying you love me. Worship me. Think I’m a god.” He kissed her as he tumbled her beneath him. “Worship you? A god?” She caressed his cheeks. “Let’s not get ahead of ourselves. Now,” she clasped her hands behind his neck, “since that loan has nothing to do with our weekend, how do I get my money?” “Well, what do you say we get naked and talk terms?” “What kind of terms?” He kissed her slowly, enjoying the her flavor of and the scent of smoke that clung to her. “Say it, Spring.” She searched his eyes and smiled slowly. “I still want my weekend, Dale. People will talk. It will all start over again.” “Any weekend, every weekend. Screw everyone else, Spring. This is our time. Everything else before doesn’t count. Just say it, damn it.” She tugged him down, her mouth driving him crazy. “I love you, too. Happy?” He grinned. “Ecstatic. Now, let’s get naked.” “Here?” He nodded. “My cabin could be jinxed. Let’s avoid it until the weekend is over.” **** Spring hunched forward and dialed a number she still wasn’t used to calling. “Yeah,” a voice said into the phone, sleep thickened the natural gravel tones. “Is Winter there?” “Yeah. Babe, Spring,” Lucas Durst said. “Spring? What’s wrong?” The very sound of her sister’s voice made her smile. Winter was the kind who wouldn’t berate a call this late in the day, even if it wasn’t a vital emergency. “Nothing.” It was three in the morning in Henderson and she felt guilty about calling so late but she had been busy. “We 96
Spring Flings Anthology have the money.” Dale opened one eye and reached up to caress her cheek. “And, um, don’t pick me up at the airport tomorrow.” “Why?” She blushed. How did she answer that? “Why?” Her voice squeaked as she struggled to find the right answer. Dale took the phone from her. “She’s my sex slave.” He hung up on her sister and made a circle with his fingers. “Four years, Spring. You made me wait four years. On your back.” She sighed and flopped onto her back. “Well, if I must.” She laughed when he covered her, sliding into her. “You must. Say it again, Spring.” She met the slow glide of his body. “I love you. I worship you. You’re a god.” His smile was wicked. “I knew you’d come around.” **** She had made a lot of mistakes in her life, Summer thought as she rolled a pebble in her palm. Some fixable. Some…not. This, oh God, this was the biggest, most painful mistake an idiot like her could make. Crouching down, she smoothed her hand over the gravestone. “I’m sorry,” she whispered. “You deserved better than me. You really did.” She set the baby pink rose on the headstone and stood up. He stood beside his motorcycle. Bad to the bone, sexy as sin. Her mouth parted at seeing him. She had learned to avoid him, pretend she didn’t see him walk into the garage across the street from the restaurant, pretend it didn’t hurt deep down in secret places. She had loved him. Wildly. Madly. Recklessly. Only they hadn’t paid the price for their stupidity. “Su—” She shook her head and backed away from him. Run! She always listened to her instincts. She spun and fled the past. The pain. Herself.
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Spring Flings Anthology
INTERVENTION by
C’ann Inman
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“You’re fired.” The softly spoken words brought Robyn’s head up from where she was bent over her desk filling in details on a book cover. Robyn raised her head so swiftly, she knocked her black reading glasses off. “What?” she sputtered. “You heard me.” Maddy Wright grinned down at her best employee and tossed her blonde hair over her shoulder. “You,” she pointed at Robyn with crimson nails, “are fired.” Robyn’s light blue eyes narrowed at Maddy’s tone. She knew when something was about to happen. Her friend and boss looked like she was well and truly pleased with herself. This didn’t bode well for her at all. “Oh really?” Robyn sat back in her chair and drummed her fingers across her small oak desk. “Yes.” Maddy tilted her head to the side and looked down at Robyn. “But I do have another option.” Of course she did. Robyn waited a full ten seconds before responding. “And what would that be, Maddy?” “A vacation.” “No,” Robyn said shortly. She put her reading glasses back on and bent over her desk once more. “The next time they tell you to experiment on a co-worker with all that executive bullshit, pick someone else. I have a deadline here.” She picked up her pencil and began sketching again. Maddy reached down and stilled Robyn’s hand with her own. “No bullshit, Robyn. Just an option.” 99
Spring Flings Anthology Robyn sighed and looked up at Maddy. “I don’t need a damn vacation. This is ridiculous.” She took her glasses off again and pinched the bridge of her nose. “You would actually fire me?” “In a heartbeat.” “Why?” “You’re a workaholic, Robyn. And I don’t think it’s healthy. You have no downtime whatsoever. You’re in here all hours of the night. You never stop. You’re obsessed with your job. You need a fucking break. Take one.” “Or lose my job.” “Yes.” Maddy looked sympathetically at Robyn. “I know you’re pissed right now. But I honestly think this will do you a world of good.” “Right,” Robyn bit out. “Thank you, Dr. Phil.” She shoved her hair back in the loose bun she had at the nape of her neck. “How long?” “Two weeks. Away from here. Away from any work. Time for yourself.” “I’ve met me. We’re all fine here. I think this is complete and utter bullshit.” Robyn sighed once again and looked at her desk. “Starting when?” “Effective immediately. A car will be here to pick you up in half an hour. Be ready to go.” “I have my own car.” Robyn became uneasy. “Why do I need yours?” Maddy’s blue eyes drilled into hers. “My driver will take you up to my house on the lake. You will spend two weeks there. He will return at the end of those two weeks and take you back to your apartment.” Robyn opened her mouth, but Maddy held up her hand. “We’re about the same size. You’re welcome to any and everything in the house. The keys to my car are hung up by the front door. Help yourself. But I swear to God, if I find out that you’re working up there, and I’ll know, I’ll tie your ass in a knot myself. Do I make myself clear?” 100
Spring Flings Anthology “Crystal,” Robyn bit out. She was so furious, she didn’t trust herself to speak. “Hell, Robyn,” Maddy’s tone softened, “most people would love this opportunity. I’m forcing you to take a damn vacation.” “I’ll be ready in half an hour,” Robyn’s tone was curt as she met Maddy’s gaze. “And I’m not most people.” **** Robyn shoved a couple of her pencils into her purse and scowled. Screw this. Not drawing was the same as not breathing. She would damn well do what she pleased while she was sequestered. She should have known to temper herself so Maddy would think she was taking downtime. Bosses were odd creatures. If she didn’t work enough; she got her ass chewed. She worked too much, she was told to take a vacation. Twenty minutes later, Maddy walked over to Robyn’s desk and smiled. “My driver is here. Take it easy, okay?” “Sure.” Robyn stood up and slung her tan purse over her shoulder. She looked longingly at her desk one last time. Maddy stepped forward and hugged her. “Have fun,” she whispered in Robyn’s ear. When she stepped back, she looked at the calendar. “No sooner than two weeks from today, woman. I mean it.” Robyn nodded briskly and took the elevator down to the first floor, where Maddy’s driver was waiting. She was tucked into the back and whisked away before she could completely wrap her mind around the fact she was being forced to take a vacation. The familiar panic welled up inside her, but she forced it down with effort. She could draw as soon as she got there. It would be all right. “How long until we arrive?” The driver looked in the mirror and smiled. “Two hours, Miss Masters. If you need anything, I’ll be more than happy to pull over.” Robyn forced a smile onto her lips. “I’m fine.” She pulled an old receipt out of her purse and flattened it on her lap. Placing 101
Spring Flings Anthology her purse in front of it, she pulled one of her pencils out. And she drew. **** Robyn felt the car stop but paid no attention to it. A couple more strokes, and she was done. The driver came around to her door and opened it. She hurriedly shoved the paper into her purse and smiled. He helped her out and escorted her to the front door of the house. The house was aesthetically beautiful. It was a two-story white colonial with a stone walkway that spiraled from the circular drive up to the front door. Tall columns rose in the air and supported two wraparound porches containing sporty, outdoor furniture. On both sides of the house, there were hedges, giving it an air of privacy, along with trees, which not only towered over the place providing shade but also went all the way to the road. A white metal staircase wound from the first floor on the left side to the second story. To Robyn, it looked like purgatory. “I hope you’ll enjoy your stay, Miss Masters.” The driver handed her the house keys and waited at her elbow until she fitted the key into the lock and opened the large, wooden door with the aged brass doorknob. Even the knocker was hard to miss. A large lion snarled at eye level with a brass ring placed in his mouth. The driver tipped his hat and hurried back down the stone pathway and to the car. Two minutes later, Robyn could no longer see him. She shut the door slowly behind her and stood in the foyer. Maddy had wonderful taste. The foyer opened into a large living room with vaulted ceilings and track lights. A large crystal chandelier hung from the ceiling. A massive fireplace stood against the back wall with marble inlay and an immense oak mantel above it. A large sofa and loveseat matched the inlay pattern throughout the living room. A wooden staircase to her left led up to the second floor and a loft. The kitchen was to her 102
Spring Flings Anthology right. All the shiny appliances mocked her. When was the last time I cooked? Robyn shook the feeling off and walked straight to the back screen door. A vast green lawn looked back at her. More lawn furniture was placed strategically around the back. Perfection. Then why do I feel as if I’m in a cage? Robyn kicked her shoes off and walked up the wooden stairs. A large bedroom in light greens and whites welcomed her. The bed was enormous. Didn’t Maddy do anything by half? Robyn snorted at the very idea. In the last two years, Robyn learned the answer well. Laying her purse down, Robyn sat beside it on the bed and put her head in her hands. She fought so hard for so long to not be alone with her thoughts, that she had to take a deep breath to calm herself. Maybe she was a workaholic. Maybe she was avoiding the real world. What was wrong with that? Robyn glanced around the room and looked at the pictures on Maddy’s walls. They were everywhere. Maddy sailing. Maddy laughing. Maddy with her arm around this man or that. When was the last time I’ve been happy? Who was she kidding? She was happy every time she picked up her pencils to draw. It was therapy. And if she could make a living off of it, so much the better. Robyn stripped down to her skin and padded back down to the kitchen. She would at least be comfortable while she was here. A bite to eat, then she would find some paper and draw. Rummaging through the refrigerator, she was cursing under her breath. No junk food. Hell. She forgot Maddy was a health food nut. Robyn wrinkled her nose and shoved sprouts out of the way. She stood up and looked up at the cabinets. There had to be something edible in there. Robyn turned to her right and started there. She was cursing so loudly and slamming cabinet doors that she didn’t hear the back screen door open. “It’s a bitch when you can’t find what you want.” 103
Spring Flings Anthology Robyn turned around quickly and snatched a knife out of the wooden block holding it. A tall, muscular man with sandy hair and cut-off denim shorts stood before her. His blue eyes watched her closely. Why in the hell didn’t Maddy tell her she didn’t lock her screen doors? “Get the hell out of this house, or I’ll kill you.” The man held up his hands and smiled. “Sorry to interrupt. And who might you be?” His eyes wandered down her body slowly, and Robyn bit back her temper. She needed to keep control of the situation. “Who I am doesn’t matter. This isn’t your house. Leave now.” He shrugged. “Can’t. Maddy would kick my ass.” “Maddy?” Robyn lowered the knife a couple inches. “You know Maddy?” “Yes.” His smile broadened. “The Maddy who owns this house. Blonde. Bitchy. Health nut. My neighbor for the past five years. That Maddy.” “Shit,” Robyn muttered and lowered the knife. She snatched two kitchen towels off the front of the stove and held them up to cover herself. “And what’s your name?” “Brad Stricklin.” He brought his hands down and leaned on the island between them. “And I would guess you’ve just discovered that Maddy doesn’t keep anything remotely resembling food in this house.” Robyn rolled her eyes. “Don’t be charming. This day has sucked, and I haven’t had anything decent to eat in eight hours.” Brad’s lips twitched. “Where is she anyway?” “I suppose she’s at work ruling other people’s lives.” His eyes probed hers. “Why are you here?” “Forced vacation.” She paused to adjust her kitchen towels. “Look. We’ve established I’m supposed to be here. I’m going to put some clothes on. And then you can explain to me what you’re doing here.” Robyn brushed past him and sprinted up the loft stairs. Her heart was beating frantically in her chest. The 104
Spring Flings Anthology close encounter kicked her adrenaline into high. Her cheeks were flushed, and her heart raced. Robyn hurriedly pulled open drawers and tried to find something suitable to wear. Of course, anything at all would be an improvement. She finally decided on a black sundress with tiny magnolias all over it. She pulled her hair back up into a loose bun. Underwear proved interesting. Maddy apparently preferred thongs. Robyn bit her lip and swore. She was going to kill her. Honestly. She slid the underwear on and tried her best not to embarrass herself by pulling that lovely piece of fabric out of her ass. Robyn hurried down the stairs to find Brad comfortably situated on the loveseat. He was thumbing through a magazine and humming under his breath. He looked up and stood as soon as he heard her. She tried to smile. “Now. Explain why you’re here.” “I check on the house.” “That’s it?” Robyn asked. She had been caught in her birthday suit because he was a good neighbor? “Sure.” He shrugged. “Maddy is hardly ever here. I drop by and check on the place. I thought I heard something. So I decided to come over and investigate. I didn’t realize I would find a beautiful woman who had been exiled.” “You have no idea,” Robyn muttered. Brad studied her with interest. “Is the thought of a vacation so bad?” Robyn blew out a breath and smiled. “I like work.” He took the statement without another word and changed the subject. “Want to have dinner with me?” She bit her lip. Her embarrassment warred with her hunger. She didn’t want to run to the store and cook. And the thought of eating anything in the cabinet or refrigerator was making her slightly ill. “What are you cooking?” “Steaks on the grill. A potato or two. A salad. Beer.” 105
Spring Flings Anthology Robyn’s stomach rumbled in response. She smiled and held out her hand. “Robyn Masters. A pleasure. When are we eating?” Brad stood up and laughed. “Soon. Come over, and I promise to feed you.” He held out his hand, and she took it. For the first time in a very long time, she wasn’t thinking of her pencils and paper. **** Brad led her through his back screen door and pointed to the refrigerator. “Help yourself. I’m going to take a quick shower, then I’ll start on dinner.” Robyn watched him run up the stairs to his loft and grinned. Apparently, the two houses were twins. She recognized everything in it. Walking over to the refrigerator, she crossed her fingers and opened it. It was well stocked. And—thank God!—there was a strawberry pie sitting on the middle shelf. It hadn’t even been cut yet. Robyn contemplated leaving it alone for all of two seconds. Then she took it out and cut herself a slice. She topped it with whipped cream, took a bite, and moaned. When she opened her eyes, Brad was watching her with a smile. “Want me to leave you two alone?” “Shut up.” Robyn took another bite. She licked her lips and noticed that Brad’s eyes followed her tongue. “Thought you were taking a shower.” “Hmm?” “A shower.” “Right.” He grinned again and walked over to where she stood. His body brushed up against hers as he bent to open the refrigerator. “Needed a beer.” He tipped it toward her and walked off. Robyn’s nipples peaked against the front of her sundress, and she told herself to breathe. Three hours ago, she had been sitting safely at her desk, working. Now she was in a man’s house, who just a few minutes ago, was privy to the sight of her naked body. And she didn’t care. Because he was cooking. This 106
Spring Flings Anthology was twisted on so many levels. Robyn propped her back against the cabinet and thought about Brad Stricklin. Attractive, humorous, and useful. Everything that was nice to look at, but she didn’t want to deal with on a day-to-day basis. She could do without the complications. Why didn’t Maddy mention that she had an attractive man living right next door? So many bones to pick later. Robyn took another bite of the pie and tried not to think of her body’s response to a man she didn’t even know. It really wasn’t much of a surprise. She let her drawing consume her. Relationships and personal time fell to the wayside. If she had a bad day, she drew. If she was bored, she drew. If she was breathing, she drew. Robyn finished her piece of pie and felt her fingers begin to twitch. She scanned the kitchen for paper and a writing utensil. Thankfully, Brad had a magnetic list on his refrigerator door. She sighed in bliss as her hand closed around the pen. Her fingers flew across the paper, and she lost all track of time. A loud noise startled her, and Robyn looked up. Brad stood there with a phonebook laid on the island in front of him. His grin stretched from ear to ear. “Earth to Robyn. I called your name four times. Then I had to smack this sucker down.” She grinned sheepishly. “I was otherwise engaged.” She started to tuck the paper into her hand when Brad came around and opened it gently. He flattened the piece of paper out and studied it. It was a sketch of him leaning on the island at Maddy’s house. Robyn waited silently for five minutes and then snatched it from his hand. “A doodle.” Brad’s eyes met hers. “Bullshit. You’re an artist.” “I draw.” “That’s what you do for Maddy?” “Yes.” Brad tilted his head. “Your occupation is your identity. Rather hard, isn’t it?” She studied him in silence. “And,” he 107
Spring Flings Anthology continued, “others don’t understand, do they? You’re eccentric. Antisocial. Am I right?” “Maybe,” she conceded. “Come here.” He held out his hand, and she laid hers in it. His tightened around hers as he led her back upstairs to his bedroom. When they reached the top, he let go and walked over to a shelf by the window. There were four rows of books on it. “These,” Brad pointed, “are mine.” He pulled one out and handed it to her. Robyn studied it and opened the cover. It was a murder mystery by B. R. Stricklin. The back cover depicted a serene scene of green lawn and blue lake. She held it up and looked down and out his back screen doors. It matched exactly. “You’re prolific.” Brad shrugged. “Two or three a year for several years.” “We’re quite a pair, aren’t we?” Robyn sat on the edge of his bed, still holding the book. “Yes.” He plucked the book from her hand and pulled her gently up next to him. Robyn held her breath as he looked deep into her eyes and lowered his mouth to hers. The first touch was electric. Just a slight brushing of lips. She sighed and then moaned as Brad deepened the kiss and pulled her closer. His arms came around her as his mouth covered hers. He plucked the pins from her hair and shuddered as the locks cascaded over his arm. “God, you’re beautiful.” Robyn put her finger over his lips and then replaced it with her mouth again. Her body ached for Brad to touch it. How long have I needed this? Months? Years? All thoughts fled as Brad hooked his fingers through the straps of the dress and let it fall to the floor. He filled his hands with her full breasts, and Robyn threw her head back. Brad kissed his way down her throat and closed his mouth around her hardened nipple. He licked and sucked on one, then the other. Robyn threaded her fingers through his sandy hair and arched her body into his. 108
Spring Flings Anthology His hands traced across her curves and clutched onto her hips. He brought her flush up against his body again and rotated himself against her. His hard cock strained at his shorts. Robyn reached down and held him in her hand, relishing the feel of the hard length. She positioned his cock against her throbbing clit and rubbed herself back and forth against him. Brad stepped back and took his shorts off. Robyn licked her lips as his hard cock sprang to attention. He turned around and sat on the edge of the bed, then brought Robyn around to sit across his lap. He didn’t wait to bring her breasts up to his mouth again and lavish attention on them. Brad’s hands clutched her hips, and he worked himself against her wet pussy. Robyn moaned as the tension built inside her body. She knew she didn’t have long before she came. The stimulation of Brad’s cock against her clit and his mouth on her nipples was about to send her over the edge. She stood up, and Brad leaned forward. He ran his tongue from her inner thigh to the edge of her panties between her legs. Then he parted her legs and lifted the fabric away from her wetness. Brad ran his tongue from the bottom of her pussy to the top and then over her swollen clit. He continued to tease and suck on it while Robyn writhed in pleasure. His hands clutched her ass as he fucked her mercilessly with his mouth. Robyn gasped as her body tightened, and she came with a shuddering moan. Her body spasmed over and over again. Brad reached up and pulled her panties off. Robyn pushed him back on the bed and put her legs on both sides of his body. He reached back in the nightstand and pulled a plastic wrapper from the drawer. Robyn grinned as she opened it and slid it over his length. She looked him in the eye as she guided his hard cock into her hot pussy. He groaned and clutched at her hips as she rocked back and forth on him. “God, you feel good.” Brad’s voice was husky as he pressed Robyn’s bare body to his. 109
Spring Flings Anthology She nipped at his neck and whispered seductively in his ear, “I want to fuck you.” “Please,” he murmured. “Is that what you want?” “Yes.” “Say it,” she demanded. Brad thrust into her body with a groan. “I want you to fuck me.” Robyn ran her tongue over her lips and smiled. She pushed him onto his back and laid her hands across his chest. Her ebony locks fell across her face and tickled his chest. Brad wound his fingers through them and pulled Robyn’s face down to his. “Be gentle,” he pleaded. Her blue eyes met his, and she grinned. “Not a chance.” Robyn sat upright and began rocking back and forth. She grabbed Brad’s hands and made sure his grip was tight on her hips. She licked her fingers on her right hand and brought them up to her right breast. She tweaked her nipple and then moved to the other one. Brad watched her fascinated as she brought her breasts into her hands and cradled them. He started to move his hands to touch her, when she smacked them down. “You put your hands where I want them. I’ve got this.” Brad’s eyes darkened as he watched her pull at her nipples and moan deep in her throat. Robyn looked down at him and smiled. She moved her left hand down between her legs and stroked herself. Brad’s eyes followed her every move. She began to move faster and faster against his body. Her moans became louder as she rode his cock back and forth. “Yes,” she growled. “Make me come.” Brad jerked her hips back and forth as he rammed into her over and over again. Robyn’s hand danced over her clit, and she knew she was close again. Robyn’s name was on Brad’s lips as he came. She shuddered with release seconds later. Robyn moved over to the side, leaving her left leg over Brad’s body. His right arm came up and held her ankle. 110
Spring Flings Anthology “Hell,” he rasped. “Um,” Robyn looked over at him. “You are still cooking, right?” “Oh sure,” he snorted. “When the feeling comes back to my legs.” “’Kay.” Brad looked over at Robyn and laughed. “Thank God for strawberry pie.” Robyn winked at him and smiled a slow smile. “No doubt.” **** Fifteen minutes later, Brad rolled off the bed and pulled on a pair of loose-fitting blue cotton pants. He ran his fingers through his hair and gazed down at the woman in his bed. She was resting with her eyes closed. He knew for a fact she was still awake. “Going to come help me cook?” Robyn cocked one eye open and grinned. “Nope. I need a shower. Is there something I can put on?” “Why?” “Why a shower? Or why clothes?” “Clothes.” She stood up quickly and stretched. Brad’s eyes went directly to her breasts as the nipples peaked in the cool air. Robyn’s lips twitched. “That would be why.” “Huh?” His eyes never left her nipples. Robyn laughed and snapped her fingers in front of his face. “It’s distracting. I’ll take a quick shower, and then I’ll do what I can to help. But I’m warning you, I have no domestic skills.” “I don’t mind.” She smiled once more and turned to walk into the bathroom. Robyn shut the door behind her and blew out a long, steadying breath. Her body was still humming pleasantly, and she couldn’t believe what had just transpired. She mindlessly started the shower and stepped underneath it. None of this bore examining too closely. Hell, I’m on vacation, right? 111
Spring Flings Anthology Scenes of what happened flipped through her mind, and Robyn was smiling as she hopped out of the shower and wrapped a towel around herself. She walked into the bedroom and looked around uncertainly. Her clothes were still on the floor, and she scooped them up and put them by the top of the stairs. When she turned around, she noticed a large green T-shirt draped over the pillow by the headboard. Robyn slid it over her body and grinned as it fell to her knees. She twisted her wet hair up again with her pins and started downstairs. The aroma of the grilling meat made her mouth water. Robyn peeked out the screen door and watched as Brad poked the foiled potatoes and marinated the two big steaks on his grill. She slid the door open and stepped out. The sun was setting, and she took in the sight with a sigh. She needed to draw. The feeling was immediate and overwhelming. Robyn turned on her heel and walked back inside to the kitchen. There, on the island, was a sketchpad and two charcoal pencils. She couldn’t help the grin that sprang to her lips. Sexy as hell and considerate. Oh shit, she was in big trouble. Telling herself not to read too much into it, she snatched the supplies off the island and took them back outside. Settling herself at the white, wrought iron table, Robyn opened the pad and began drawing. Brad looked at her once and then went back to his grilling. **** Ten minutes later, Brad tapped his grilling fork on the grill a couple times, and Robyn looked up. “Ready to eat?” “Yep.” She tucked her notepad on the table to her left and stood. “I’m sorry. I told you I was useless in the culinary department.” “Go snag the salad I made. Then we’re even.” Robyn looked at the steaks and potatoes. She shook her head, laughing, and walked back into the house. She brought the salad out, and they sat down. “Can I see?” Brad motioned toward the sketchpad. 112
Spring Flings Anthology “Sure.” Robyn peeled the cover back and showed him the drawing of the sun setting on the water. Brad studied the picture and stroked it with his finger. “You’re wasting your time at Maddy’s. You could easily have your own art show.” She shrugged and opened her potato. “I like what I do.” “You’re consumed with what you do. You need a studio. An easel.” He leaned forward and brushed his lips across her knuckles. Robyn shot him a look. “If you think you’re going to finance me for goods purchased, you can kiss my ass.” Brad sat back and began cutting his steak. “Wouldn’t think of it.” “Good.” She placed a bite of the steak in her mouth and shut her eyes in pure pleasure. “What is it about a man and a grill?” Robyn peeked one eye open and saw Brad watching her intently. “What?” “I like watching you.” “Did Maddy tell you that I was going to be here?” The thought had been bothering her since their sex session. “Nope.” He took a drink of beer and set the bottle down. “If she had, I wouldn’t have set foot on the property.” The thought pleased her immensely. They ate their dinner and talked about their professions. Robyn found herself laughing at several anecdotes from Brad’s career. He told them with witty precision and humor. When they finished eating their dinner, Robyn pushed her plate away and sighed. “I really need to go.” “Without dessert?” Brad’s voice was disbelieving. She tilted her head to the side. “What do you have to offer?” Brad’s eyes darkened, and he grinned. “How about some strawberry pie with a little whipped cream?” “By all means.” He stood suddenly and cleared the table. A minute later, he was back with the pie and the whipped cream. He had placed a large, blue towel over his arm. Brad motioned to the lawn. 113
Spring Flings Anthology “Are you up for a picnic on the grass?” Robyn stood and followed him out. The almost full moon shone down on the lawn with an ivory light. Brad lay the towel down and motioned for her to sit. Robyn sank gracefully down and tucked her legs to the side. Brad joined her and lay on his side. He hadn’t brought any utensils out. He dipped his finger into the pie and removed a strawberry. Robyn watched as he brought it to her lips. The coolness of the berry tingled against them. When she opened her mouth to eat it, he shook his head. Her tongue came out to lick the strawberry from bottom to top. Brad swirled the berry around her lips and let the juice fall. He leaned forward to lick every place he’d seen it trickle. Robyn’s breath quickened as he leaned forward and tugged at the end of her shirt. She leaned forward to help him remove it. Brad pulled it over her head and threw it to the side. He pulled the pins out of her long, black hair next and let it cascade down her back. “Lay down.” His command brought goose bumps to her skin. She obediently lay down next to him. Brad took another strawberry and trailed it from Robyn’s lower lip to her left breast. He squeezed the berry and lapped at her hardened nipple while the juice flowed over her. She reached up to clutch at the back of his head and arched into his mouth. All sensation was centered where Brad’s mouth was. She could feel herself grow wetter by the second. He raised his head and brought another strawberry over. Her other breast was treated to the same careful attention. When both nipples were hardened and aching, Brad stood and pulled off his cotton pants. He took a plastic wrapper, opened it up, and rolled the condom over his hard length. Then he lay back down close to Robyn. The next strawberry traced a path from her neck to her belly button. Brad flicked his tongue against her sensitive skin, and Robyn moaned with the sensation. “Do you like that?” 114
Spring Flings Anthology “Yes,” she gasped. “Are you wet?” Brad’s fingers trailed lower over her stomach and closer to her pussy. Robyn’s eyes met his. “Yes. I want you. Now.” “Good.” He dipped into the whipped cream and placed it on her breasts. Then he leaned over her and pressed his hard cock close to her as he sucked and licked it off her. His tongue flicked over the sensitive nubs, and Robyn’s breath grew ragged. She tried to open her legs to feel his hard cock against her aching pussy, but he moved to the side and wouldn’t let her. Brad moved from her breasts and down her body. He spread her legs farther apart and flicked his tongue against her throbbing clit. Robyn moaned and bucked her hips against his mouth. She pulled at his hair while his tongue worked against her. He moved back and smiled down at her. “You taste sweet, Robyn.” Brad licked his lips, and Robyn moved to attack him when he gently pushed her back down. “But I have something else in mind.” His hand moved back into the pie, and he brought three strawberries out and a handful of whipped cream. “This is the dessert I want.” Brad leaned lower and pushed her knees up. He spread her legs further and touched the cool berries to her hot pussy. “Oh,” she moaned and tried to thrust up against his hand. “Please.” “Yes. Please,” he rasped. He pushed the three berries up against her and spread the whipped cream down her pussy lips. Robyn watched as he lowered his head and nuzzled his mouth against her. He ate the strawberries and buried his face between her legs. She shuddered in ecstasy, as his mouth didn’t leave an inch untouched. “Brad.” She writhed underneath him and bucked uncontrollably. His tongue found her clit once again, and Robyn cried out as she came over and over again. 115
Spring Flings Anthology “That’s how I want you.” Brad’s body moved over hers, and he thrust his hard cock into her so fast, her breath caught in her throat. “So hot and sweet,” he murmured. “Your body is slick and wanting.” He leaned over further and let his body rub against hers. “Tell me,” he whispered in her ear. “Tell me.” His hands clenched her ass tightly. Robyn raked her nails across his bare back. “Please.” She arched up against him again, wrapping her legs around his waist. “Say my name. Tell me what you want.” He began to thrust into her harder and faster. Brad leaned down, took her mouth with his and swallowed the moan in her throat. Robyn clutched at his back as he rocked faster and faster against her. “Brad. Please. Fuck me.” Her breath caught on the last word. The next minute, she lost control of everything. “Oh,” she breathed softly. Her eyes widened as she came, and she slammed her hips against him over and over again. Brad moved into her one last time, and his whole body shook as he came. He collapsed on top of Robyn, still breathing heavily. “Sorry,” he wheezed. Robyn chuckled as her arms wound tightly around him again. “Don’t apologize.” She looked up at the moon and grinned. It soon turned into a chuckle. And then full-blown laughter. Brad groaned and rolled over. “Care to share?” She propped herself up on her elbow and ran her hand down his side. “Sometimes, just sometimes,” her grin widened, “it’s not all about the drawing.” **** Robyn blew back into the office exactly two weeks to the day after she left. She immediately walked into Maddy’s office and shut the door soundly behind her. Maddy looked up from her computer and grinned. “Well?” she asked. Robyn opened her portfolio and covered the top of Maddy’s desk with pictures. 116
Spring Flings Anthology Maddy’s mouth dropped open, and then she looked up at Robyn with a scowl. “What in the blazing hell did you do? Work the entire time? Dammit, Robyn!” “Look at them.” Maddy snatched up the closest one to her and studied it. Her pissed-off look faded into surprise. “Is this Brad?” “Yes.” Her boss shuffled more papers, and a grin spread slowly across her face. She paused and studied Robyn. “Did you enjoy your vacation?” Maddy’s blue eyes twinkled. “Immensely.” It was hard to miss the satisfaction in the word. “Good.” Maddy swept the papers up and handed them back to Robyn. “Get back to work.”
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TIME OF THE SEASON by
Anna J. Evans
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“We have to go down to the basement,” Body said for at least the tenth time, making Megan wonder if she should just ignore him, or let loose the scream of frustration that had been building for hours. “My dad would have called if the tornado were close. Could you just go steal some aspirin from aisle twelve and relax?” Megan asked, sarcasm dripping from every word. They had both grown up in the middle of Tornado Alley, Arkansas; you would think he’d be a little more laid-back about the whole thing by now. Springtime was tornado time, that didn’t mean a person had to run for cover at the first gust of wind. “Megan—” “I know, aspirin was moved to aisle ten, I got the memo,” she said, laughing and rolling her eyes. She loved Body like a brother, but it was bad enough that she was twenty-six and still working at Foodworld, her father’s grocery store, three days a week to pay for graduate school. It only enhanced her torture to spend those afternoons and evenings with Body, the assistant manager and her kid brother’s best friend. He was three years younger than her, for god’s sake. No one who she had once seen in his X-Men underoos should get to boss her around. “I told you half an hour ago that the phones were down,” Body said, remaining unmoved by her sarcasm, as usual. Sometimes, she couldn’t tell if he really didn’t get her, or if he knew it drove her crazy when he just stood there staring. She’d bet the latter. Kid brother types always knew how to drive a person crazy, it was what they lived for. 119
Spring Flings Anthology “So? I’m sure we’re fine, it’s still halfway sunny outside and it’s almost seven,” Megan said. There was no way she was going down to the basement to hide out with Body when she got off work in half an hour. She’d take a twister any day over hearing about his plans for Foodworld, or how happy he was to be studying quantum physics or whatever the hell genius math thing he was wrapped up in at the moment. The fact Body was only a year behind her in his master’s studies, despite being three years younger, also crawled up her ass like an unruly thong. He made her feel like the consummate loser and she didn’t need any help in that department. Her genius brother did a good job of that all on his own, Mr. “Twenty-three and already made his first million” Entrepreneur. “We haven’t had a customer in over an hour because the storm—” “What storm? They haven’t even mentioned it on the radio,” Megan snapped as he leaned over the scanner at her register, surprisingly, seeming to tower over her. When had Body topped six feet? And when had those shoulders gotten quite so broad? “If you’d listen to anything but the damned FM pop station—” “Ooo, Body cussed at work, things must be bad,” Megan teased, actually starting to get a little nervous, not by the alleged twister, but by the real anger in Body’s dark brown eyes. Body never got angry, especially with her. He treated her like an older sister, bratty, but always respectful. “Megan, I’m asking you one last time to come down to the basement,” he said, reaching out and turning off the light at her station, bringing his face mere inches from hers, close enough to smell the soap on his skin and the freshly shampooed black hair he always kept back in a neat ponytail. Megan suddenly thought to wonder what that hair would look like loose, what it would feel like to run her fingers through the thick, shiny mane that fell to the middle of his back. 120
Spring Flings Anthology “And then what, Body?” she asked, shaking her head to scare away any more stupid thoughts. What was wrong with her? The boredom must have finally snapped something vital to reasonable thought. “Then I’m going to make you come down to the basement,” he said, voice low and soft and his face still only inches away from her own. “My dad would have your ass,” she whispered, surprised that she sounded a little breathy and her heart was racing. Body didn’t elicit these kinds of responses from her; this new aggressive side of him must have thrown her libido for a loop. Or maybe there was a twister on the way. Animals acted crazy right before a big storm; maybe the phenomenon included the human animal as well. “Your dad would have my ass if I didn’t keep you safe and that’s exactly what I intend to do,” Body said as he leapt over the scanner dividing them with an easy grace and was suddenly much too close for comfort in her tiny check-out area. “Body!” she screeched as he grabbed her arm and inserted his broad shoulder into her waist, hoisting her into a fireman’s carry that gave her an up-close and personal view of his strangely attractive butt through his faded jeans. “We’re going, Megan, you might as well get used to it,” he said as he started walking swiftly across the store, headed toward the doors that led to the stockroom and the entrance to the basement. “Put me down and I’ll walk to the fucking basement, you jerk,” Megan said, the blood rushing to her head both from her awkward position and her strange reaction to Body. She did not find her little brother’s friends sexy or interesting in any way. It was gross and creepy and weird and borderline incestuous. Not to mention weird. Had she already mentioned weird? She couldn’t remember. “I’ll put you down when we get there,” he said. “Body—” 121
Spring Flings Anthology “Come on, Megan, you can’t say you’re not enjoying this, just a little,” he said, a smile in his voice as he slapped her ass with his free hand. Megan’s jaw dropped and her eyes opened even wider. Body had just slapped her ass and even more unbelievably, she wanted him to slap it a whole lot more. Her pussy was suddenly damp and starting to throb and she fought the urge to reach down and dig her fingers into the plump flesh of his tightly rounded ass, now only a few delicious inches from her face. The shock of that knowledge was enough to keep Megan’s mouth tightly closed and her hands to herself as they descended into the dark. **** “Well, you’ve made things pretty cozy down here,” she said, crossing her arms and plopping down into one of the old wing chairs he’d moved to the center of the room when he’d first realized they were going to have to seek refuge from the storm. If he was finally going to have the chance to spend the night with Megan doing something other than work, he didn’t want to let it go to waste. He wanted her to be comfortable, maybe enough to lie down on the pallet he’d spread out near the two chairs and let him get as close to her as humanly possible. Body had been sure the storm was a sign that he should finally make his move. He knew Megan had never thought of him as a man, let alone one with boyfriend potential, but he was tired of letting things stay the way they’d always been. He wasn’t eight years old and she wasn’t the untouchable ‘junior high big sister.’ It was time to see if she might want to be more than coworkers, or at least give him the chance to be a person and not just her little brother Kyle’s best friend. From the sour look on her face at the moment, however, his chances weren’t looking good. She still looked beautiful, her shoulder-length pale blonde hair falling in soft waves and her dark blue eyes and full lips turning what should have been a sweet and innocent face into one that was shockingly sensual. 122
Spring Flings Anthology But she hadn’t said a word about the smack on her ass, which could make him think only two things. One: she hadn’t liked it at all and was scared of him. Two: she’d liked it a little too much and was feeling weird about it. He really, really hoped it was the second option. “I figured your ass was too precious to sit on the concrete floor,” he said, shrugging out of his regulation red vest and starting to unbutton the green dress shirt underneath, discreetly following the way her eyes watched the movements of his hands with something very close to female curiosity. “What are you doing?” she asked, her voice getting that slightly breathy edge to it that made his cock spring to attention inside his jeans. “I’m getting comfortable,” he said, throwing both vest and shirt to the floor and stretching out on the pallet he’d made earlier in nothing but his jeans and his white t-shirt. “We are not sleeping here,” she said, her eyes glued to his as he undid the tie that held back his hair and ran his fingers through the long black strands. Long hair had always been a cultural thing in his family, a way to remember his mother’s Native American heritage. He’d never realized how sexy girls found long hair until college when he’d finally had his growth spurt and made up for a lot of lost time. “You don’t have to sleep, but I plan on it. The storm won’t be through until three in the morning,” he said, settling back on the pallet with his hands behind his unbound hair, pleased as hell to see the beginnings of a flush traveling across Megan’s cheeks. “I’ll wait until you fall asleep and then I’ll leave,” she said, standing up and starting to pace around the room as she tugged off her apron and threw it to the floor. “Do you want me to tie you up to make sure you stay put?” he asked, trying to sound as casual and confident as possible, as if the idea of tying Megan up didn’t simultaneously turn him on and scare him to death. She’d kill him as soon as they left the basement, or have her brother or father do it. That is, unless she 123
Spring Flings Anthology liked the idea, just a little. After her silence on the whole asssmacking issue, he wasn’t quite sure which. “Why, do you want to tie me up?” she asked, eyes darkening slightly as she flashed him an unreadable look over her shoulder. “I’d like to do whatever you want me to do,” he said, sitting up, not sure if he was going to have to give chase in the next few seconds. Wherever this discussion went, he still couldn’t let her leave. The danger from the approaching tornado was real, whether she believed him or not. “What the hell is going on, Body?” she asked, stopping to turn and stare at him, hands on her slim hips. God, how he wanted to get his hands on those hips, to feel them lifting into his cock as he plunged inside her again and again, as he finally felt what it would be like to make love to the woman he’d been totally gone on since the tender age of twelve. “We’re waiting out the storm,” he said, keeping his face unreadable. “No, I mean…everything else,” she said, looking flustered and her blush growing deeper. He was about to suggest if she were hot, she could take off her light yellow sweater and let him see the white camisole underneath, when she buried her face in her hands and sat down in the middle of the concrete floor. “Megan, are you okay?” he asked, jumping to his feet and going to kneel next to her. He’d anticipated several different reactions to his behavior, but never her crumpling to the ground in tears. Megan was as tough and sassy as they came, but it seemed she was scared of him and at the moment, he hated himself. “Megan?” he repeated, reaching out a gentle hand and rubbing it up and down her back, letting her know with his touch that he didn’t mean to hurt her, that he’d never try to force her to do anything she didn’t want to do. “Shit, Body, why did you have to touch me?” she asked, raising a completely tearless face to his and gripping his t-shirt with her fists. 124
Spring Flings Anthology He had about two seconds to realize it was lust, not terror, that he read on her face before her lips were meeting his. **** For a split second, Megan wasn’t sure if Body was going to kiss her back, but then those surprisingly strong arms were around her waist, his hands gripping fistfuls of her ass as his tongue parted her teeth and swept through her mouth with a skill and hunger that floored her. She heard herself moan low in her throat and felt the answering vibration of his laughter before the hands on her ass were suddenly lifting her into the air. “What’s wrong?” she asked as he hitched her around his waist and she had no choice but to link her ankles behind him and get up-close and personal with the solid length of his cock, straining to get free of his thin jeans. “Oh. Hi.” “I made a pallet for a reason. I didn’t want us to end up on the concrete,” he said as he carried her back to the center of the room and knelt with her still locked around his waist. “Wow, Body, I mean—” she began, but was cut off as he laid her down on the blankets and positioned himself above her. And then his full lips were on hers and he was sucking at her bottom lip as all that unbelievably soft, ebony hair spilled around them, blocking out the basement and the single bare light bulb hanging from the ceiling in the corner of the room, surrounding her in the intoxicating scent of manly shampoo and a spicy musk that was pure Body. Megan closed her eyes and moaned softly again as his teeth bit down on the fullness of her lip and his hips pressed down between her parted legs. She could feel his heat through her khaki pants, and her body answered it, her pussy starting to ache as she squirmed beneath him. “I want to see more of you,” Body breathed, pulling away from her and stripping off his t-shirt in one smooth motion before his hands came to the buttons of her sweater. She was staring open-mouthed at the sculpted muscles of his chest and the light brown perfection of his nearly hairless skin as reality suddenly came crashing in around her. 125
Spring Flings Anthology “What the hell are we doing? Stop that,” she said, swatting at his incredibly nimble fingers, which had already opened most of the buttons on her sweater. “I don’t want to stop,” he said, lowering his mouth to her chest and gently kissing the tops of her breasts above her camisole. “You’re so beautiful.” Megan’s eyes closed for a second and her nipples drew tight with an answering tug of tightness low in her belly, but she forced herself to remember who owned those lips and whose hand was even now gently tugging at the button on her pants. “Body. Shit. Stop it. Shit,” she stammered, pushing at his shoulders and scuttling backwards in a very ungraceful and unsexy manner. Not that she cared if Body thought she was graceful or sexy, right? “Megan. Relax. Come back. Relax,” he mocked with a sexy smile that spread wide across his face and emphasized his high cheekbones. Body was practically male model material, a damned warrior god escaped from some Dances With Wolves wet dream and she’d never noticed. Had her head been up her ass for her entire life, or just the past few years? “Please don’t make fun of me, this is too weird. You’re my brother’s friend and—” “My name is Bodaway Carlisle, I’m twenty-three years old, have been helping support myself, my mother, and my little brother for seven years and will get my Master’s in Mathematical Engineering in a year and a half. I think I’ve become man enough to be something other than your little brother’s best friend,” he said, looking a little angry as he sat back on his knees, his abdominal muscles tightening as if he’d swallowed something nasty. “Don’t get mad at me,” she whispered, feeling strangely upset. Why did she care if Body was angry? He got pissy with her on a regular basis and she rarely gave it a second thought, but then she’d never wanted him to throw her down, rip off her clothes, and show her if that cock was nearly as big as it felt 126
Spring Flings Anthology pressed against her through his jeans. She’d never wanted him to kiss her again with those unbelievably soft lips and tell her he thought she was beautiful. No one thought she was beautiful; she was white as a ghost with eyes that were way too big for her face and hair that was even paler than her skin. She was attractive, pretty at best, but never beautiful. But by the way he was looking at her now, his eyes dark with a very grownup hunger, she could tell he meant it. Body thought she was beautiful, she was sexy, wanted to show her that he was ready to be more to her than Kyle’s best friend. But was she ready? Even if she could get past the idea of robbing the cradle, what would her brother say? He’d never think his ditzy sister, the girl barely managing to get her Masters in Elementary Education, was good enough for his brilliant, gorgeous, sweet, hard-working friend. Hell, she was inclined to agree with him. On the other hand, maybe all Body was after was an easy lay, a way to fulfill those ‘I screwed my friend’s big sister’ fantasies all adolescent boys tended to have. They did tend to have those, right? Shit if she knew, she’d never been a boy, but she thought Kyle had talked about one of his friend’s older sisters, twins if she remembered correctly. Her brother was a sicko, but that didn’t mean he would forgive Body for ‘whamming, bamming, and thank you ma’amming’ his sister. This entire encounter had trouble written all over it, any way she looked at it. Still, she was torn and not even up to wondering where she wanted this to go. But she definitely wanted it to go somewhere. Megan sighed raggedly as she realized she was now a confirmed dirty old woman. “I’m not mad,” Body said with a smile, reaching out to take her hands and pulling her back toward him, “I’m frustrated.” “Yeah, I’m feeling kind of…frustrated myself. And confused,” Megan said, her breath coming faster as he finished undoing the buttons on her sweater and tugged the thin yellow material off her shoulders. 127
Spring Flings Anthology “Let me take care of the frustrated part and maybe,” he said, fingers sliding underneath the thin strap of her camisole, “when I’m done,” strap now sliding down her shoulder, “you won’t feel so confused.” “Oh,” she gasped as he finished baring her breast and his thumb brushed over her already hardened nipple and the aching between her legs grew painful for a moment, her clit starting to throb with a need she hadn’t even known she was capable of. “Okay?” he whispered as his head descended to her breast and he gently drew her nipple into his mouth, sweeping his rough tongue against her tender flesh. “Okay,” she gasped, closing her eyes as she buried her hands in the softness of his hair, more than willing to put all logical thought on hold as long as he kept doing exactly what he was doing. **** Body didn’t know how much longer he could hold out and they hadn’t even taken all their clothes off yet. He’d had his share of lovers, had thought he was prepared to give Megan the kind of pleasure she’d never had before, but he’d underestimated how beautiful she would be, how her breasts would perfectly fill his hands, how her pale pink nipples would tighten and grow rosy under his tongue. And he’d never dreamed that she’d keep making those unbelievably sexy noises, those needy sounds that let him know how much she wanted and ached for him to make love to her. “Body, please,” she breathed as he gently pushed her breasts closer together and let his tongue play across one to the other. “Oh, please.” “Please?” he asked as he lifted his mouth to hers, surprised when she wrapped her arms around his neck and pulled him down to her with enough force to bruise his lips. Her tongue swirled through his mouth, hungry and demanding, and he returned her kiss with as much need, hearing a strange growling sound come from his own throat when she raked her fingernails down his back and broke the skin. 128
Spring Flings Anthology “Did I hurt you?” she asked, in between kissing and nibbling at his lips as if she couldn’t force herself to stop. “No,” he said, pulling back and opening her pants, unable to tell her how much he’d enjoyed the feel of her marking him without losing all control. If he even thought about it again, he’d be ripping off the pale pink panties he was now revealing and fucking her with his jeans down around his knees. “Are you okay?” she asked, making a startled sound as he threw away her pants and ripped her underwear down her legs in one hurried motion. “I’m fine. I just…” he said, struggling to tear his eyes away from the blonde nest of curls he’d just uncovered. “I just want you so much.” “I want you, too. Please, Body, I want to feel you inside me,” she said, her legs parting slightly as she said the words. One glimpse of those swollen pink folds, slick with her need, was all he could take. “I wanted to wait, to take longer,” he mumbled as he grabbed a condom from the back pocket of his jeans and then disposed of both them and his boxers in record time. “I don’t want to wait. God, I don’t want to wait,” she said breathlessly as she watched him roll the condom onto his cock, her tongue darting out to run along her kiss-swollen lips, the hunger in her eyes more than he could ever have hoped for. “God, I love you, Megan,” he breathed, then pressed a kiss to her lips even as he positioned the head of his cock at her entry and slowly pressed into the depths of the sweetest pussy he’d ever known. **** Megan felt herself tense for a moment when she realized just what he’d said, but then that unbelievably long, thick cock was filling her, spearing through her aching, slick heat until he reached the end of her channel and he held himself still. She felt her body adjusting to his width, her pussy start to pulse around him as their tongues swept gently against each other and then he was moving. 129
Spring Flings Anthology “Body,” she gasped against his lips as he rode her, his entire body rippling as he eased himself in and out, his chest brushing against her nipples, his stomach contracting before he plunged to fill her and then a tightening of his ass as he pushed a little deeper and the base of his cock teased the throbbing nub of her clit. Again and again, he plunged deeply inside her, then withdrew, building her need until she was bucking beneath him. But still he set the pace, braced with his forearms on either side of her face, his muscles tight with the force of his control. The tension within her body continued to grow, her legs shaking as she crossed her ankles behind his waist and urged him deeper, harder, faster, anything to take her over the edge. To finally allow her body to clench down around him, to come as he lost control, fucking her with all the violent need she felt simmering below the surface. “Fuck me harder, I won’t break,” she gasped, her voice shaking as she dug her nails into his ass and tried to push him deeper inside her. “I know you won’t break,” he said through a clenched jaw, “but I had this fantasy about our first time. I wanted to drive you crazy—” “I’m crazy, I promise I am,” she begged, crying out as he slammed his cock into her hard and fast just once and then resumed the slow, maddening pace. “And when you’re really crazy, begging me to make you come—” “Please, please make me come, Body, please.” “Then you ride me,” he said, making her gasp as he plunged inside her and gripped her hips, flipping her over into the dominant position with a speed that almost made her dizzy. “Ride me, Megan,” he said, lifting his hips until she felt his cock threaten to puncture something deep inside her. “Show me how you like it.” It was an offer no girl could refuse, especially one halfcrazed with desire. Megan braced her hands in the center of that strong chest and lifted her hips, slamming down onto his length 130
Spring Flings Anthology again and again. She could feel her breasts bouncing up and down, knew her face was filled with nothing but raw need, but still she didn’t care. It was just Body who moaned beneath her like she was the best fuck in the universe; whose cock seemed to get even harder and longer as she shifted forward and teased him with the taste of her nipples; who thought she was beautiful; who had fantasies about her; who loved her. “Kiss me,” Megan gasped, leaning over him, feeling his fingers dig into her hips as their tongues met. She allowed him to guide her down into even more intimate contact with his body until her breasts were sliding against his chest and her clit grinding into him as he filled her again and again. Finally, the pressure inside her was just too much. She screamed into his mouth as she came, unable to control herself, the pleasure more than anything she could have imagined. She’d had boyfriends, lovers, wasn’t afraid to pleasure herself if there was no one else around to get the job done, but never in her seven years of sexual experience had anyone made her come this hard. Her pussy was gripping his cock like it would never let him go, her nipples raw with sensation, every nerve ending in her body screaming that this was the man she’d been waiting for; the one who would know what to do with all that need she’d kept bottled up inside her since she was old enough to know what that aching between her legs meant. “Oh god, Megan, I can feel you coming,” he breathed into her hair as she collapsed on top of him, the waves of pleasure more than she could stand and still keep up anything resembling rhythm. “I’ve never. Never…” she panted, not knowing how to finish what she’d started to say, but aware she wanted to hug him, hold him, keep him buried deep inside her forever. “Never what, baby?” he asked, smoothing her hair back and cupping her face in a gesture that, surprisingly, felt as intimate as anything else they’d done so far. “Come like that. It was…amazing,” Megan said, for want of a better word. She knew she was blushing as she closed her eyes, 131
Spring Flings Anthology but she hoped he wouldn’t make fun of her. Surely he would realize she was sincere. Even a woman who was supposed to be older and wiser might still have a few things to learn. “I haven’t come yet, but even if we’d stopped after you kissed me, this would still have been the most amazing night of my sexual life,” Body said, softly kissing her closed eyelids. “Not of your whole life?” Megan teased, opening her eyes and feeling her heart catch as she looked down at him. He was so beautiful and he really did love her, it was so clear, only a fool could have missed it. She was a fool. It shouldn’t come as a total surprise, Kyle and at least two of her teachers told her that on a daily basis. “I think we’re coming close, especially if you’ll turn around,” he said, then kissed her with that unbelievably erotic sweep of his tongue as his hips lifted to remind her that he was still hard. “Turn around?” Megan asked, wondering if she was about to get tutored in the art of lovemaking by a guy three years her junior, one she had seen in his underoos, no less. She didn’t know if she would ever live down the shame. “I want you on top of me, but facing the other direction. It should feel good for you and I’m dying to watch,” he said, his hands moving to pluck at her nipples and making her gasp at the sharp sensation that shot through the sensitized flesh. “You want to watch what?” she asked, starting to understand as she rose up and slowly allowed his erection to slide from her dripping channel and reversed the direction of her straddle. “I want to see your ass move while you fuck me,” he said. “Baby.” Megan moaned as he guided her down on him again and his cock moved inside her in an entirely different way. “Lean forward and put your hands on the floor,” Body said as his hands clenched into the fullness of her hips. She felt her body start to tighten with anticipation yet again. Megan did as he asked, bracing her hands on the floor between his knees and lifting her hips, pulling away until only 132
Spring Flings Anthology the thick head of his cock remained inside her. Then she slowly lowered her hips, taking in every inch of him, gasping slightly as he brushed against that spot deep inside her, that sensitive piece of flesh she hadn’t even believed was really there. “Oh.” She moaned as he hit the same spot again on the way out of her body, flinching slightly, though far from in pain. “Is this where it is?” he asked, pushing her hips down a bit until he hit the spot again. “Yes, yes,” she said, starting to moan in earnest as he held her still and started to roll his hips. With his cock hitting that “sweet” spot over and over, Megan became afraid of how her body would react to the extreme pleasure building inside her. “Body, I can’t—” “Yes you can, I want to feel you come on me again,” he said, fingers tightening on her hips and thrusting even more swiftly inside her. “No, I—” Megan started to say, but then she was coming again, screaming into the quiet of the basement as a rush of wetness flowed between her legs. The sensation might have embarrassed her if Body wasn’t screaming right along with her. He roared her name as she came, gripping her hips and pounding his cock inside her until she finally felt him tense beneath her, his body lifting her into the air before he allowed them both to fall back to earth. His cock throbbed and pulsed inside her, echoing the clenching of her own body. For a second, Megan had the strange thought that she wished they hadn’t used a condom so she could feel his cum mixing with hers and flowing down her thighs. “Turn around,” Body said, his voice hoarse. “You’re always so bossy,” Megan teased as she gently raised from his softening cock and turned around, collapsing onto his chest. She smiled and snuggled closer as he flipped the edge of the quilt beneath them over their bodies, then wrapped his arms around her. “I like being bossed around, too, if the woman knows what she’s doing,” he said. 133
Spring Flings Anthology “I know what I’m doing. The next time, you’re getting handcuffed to my bed and I’m going to see how much of you I can take in my mouth. Then we’ll see who knows how to beg,” Megan said with a smile before she gently bit his nipple. It was entirely too tempting, lying there so close to her cheek. “I wanted to talk to you about the next time.” Body sighed in a way that did all of his talking for him. Megan wasn’t a fool and this wasn’t her first one-night stand, unfortunately. She knew how to get them both out of this with a minimum of fuss. Too bad the thought of never having the man beneath her again almost broke her heart. How could she never again know what it felt like to kiss him, hold him inside her, cuddle into his arms and feel so incredibly safe? “Listen, I like sex, it’s no big deal,” Megan said, forcing herself to stay limp and relaxed against him. If she tensed up or pulled away, he’d know she was lying, and just how deeply she wanted to find out what it would have been like to be with him again, maybe forever. “It’s no big deal?” Body asked, sounding unsure. So he wanted her to go that extra mile to make sure he had a nice, guilt-free fuck. Fine, she could give him exactly what he wanted. “I mean I’m not looking for a boyfriend or anything. You don’t have to worry. And I’m on the pill, just in case,” Megan said, shrugging against him and ignoring the tightness in her throat. She closed her eyes and willed herself not to think. She didn’t want to think about what she was letting slip through her fingers, or how much she wanted his hormone-induced professions of love to be real. She was shocked to realize a part of her had always wanted this. Every time she and Body had teased each other, there had been this strange longing mixed in with their taunts and jabs. Megan knew now that all those days they’d worked together, played ultimate Frisbee in the backyard with their mutual friends, watched TV in the clubhouse her brother had turned into his own bachelor pad at the tender age of sixteen, they had been building the kind of relationship that would last a lifetime. 134
Spring Flings Anthology But, idiot that she was, she’d never wanted to admit she wanted it to be that relationship—the one where they went to sleep in the same bed, woke up together in the morning, and both understood that the person occupying the opposite pillow knew them inside out and loved them anyway. She’d never appreciated how much it meant to her that Body was one of the few people who never talked down to her, or made her feel like a space cadet. And she’d never admitted how much pride she took in being able to make him laugh. Most of the time, he was a serious guy, something he had been forced into when his dad had died when he was only fifteen. But Megan could always get Body to smile. She could always find a way to make him just a little more carefree, even if it was only for a few minutes. And now that was all over, ruined by a one-night stand. She ached with the knowledge, wishing she had realized the truth sooner, when there still might have been a chance for them to date, to explore their possibilities outside of one truly mindblowing coupling. Because no matter how wonderful it had been, Megan knew it wouldn’t be enough. She’d never get her fill of him, even if she had more than one night. “I’m not worried. Or at least I wasn’t a few minutes ago,” Body said, pulling away from her and raising up on his side. “Megan, I love you, but if you don’t feel the same way, I can handle it. I’m a big boy, no matter what you think.” “You love me?” Megan asked, her mouth dropping open and fighting the insane urge to cry with relief. “I’ve said it at least three times, I didn’t realize you were hard of hearing,” Body teased, his words sure but the fear in his eyes telling her how much he needed her to put his heart at ease. “Shut up, jerk. I love you, too,” Megan said, smiling as she pulled him down for another mind-blowing kiss, unable to believe that this beautiful, sweet man with his whisper soft hair and incredibly kind heart—and indescribably talented cock— was hers for the taking. She didn’t know what she’d done to deserve him, but she was determined to make him the happiest man in Tornado Alley, no matter what anyone else said about it. 135
Spring Flings Anthology “Oh god, you have to stop.” Body laughed against her lips, pulling her hand away from where she’d begun to fondle his balls, enjoying their fullness inside his slowly tightening sac. “I don’t want to stop. You said we would be here until three in the morning,” Megan said with a naughty smile as she started to kiss her way down his body, stopping when her face was a breath away from his swelling cock. “But I don’t have any more condoms. I figured even bringing one was overly optimistic,” he said, groaning as the tip of her tongue brushed ever so lightly up the length of his now fully erect shaft. “There are other ways to enjoy ourselves,” she said, moving her tongue to the head of his cock. His breath came faster as his hands threaded through her hair and a single droplet of salty wetness appeared for her to lap away. He tasted of both her body and his and the combination was incredibly erotic, making her eager to take him in her mouth, to give him pleasure, to feel him lose control as she worked him with her tongue and lips and hands. “As incredible as that feels,” Body said, breath ragged, “I don’t think I’ll be able to control myself. I want to be inside you too much, to feel you come while I—” “Okay, okay.” Megan laughed, her pussy already starting to throb. “Let’s make a run upstairs.” “I’ll make a run upstairs,” Body said, springing to his feet and throwing on his jeans without bothering with his boxer briefs, “you stay here. I don’t want you getting blown away.” “And I don’t want to you getting blown away either, unless I’m right there with you,” Megan said, pulling on her sweater and khakis and taking his hand. “You want to get married?” Body asked suddenly, a ‘dare you’ smile on his face. “You’re nuts.” Megan laughed as he pulled her into his arms and started kissing her while they ambled toward the stairs.
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Spring Flings Anthology “You know you want to,” he teased. Already having unbuttoned the top of her sweater, one hand slid in to cup her breast in his warm hand. “Stop that,” she moaned, “or we’re never going to make it up the stairs.” “Making it up the stairs suddenly seems very overrated,” Body whispered against her neck as his thumb brushed lightly back and forth across her tightened nipple, making her breath come faster and her body press even closer to his. She was about to agree with him and insist that her birth control pills would do the job when suddenly, a shaft of light appeared at the top of the stairs, followed by a decidedly affronted male voice. “I’m going to throw up,” Kyle said, truly sounding seconds away from losing his lunch. “Shit. Kyle. Shit,” Megan half laughed and half gasped as she and Body leapt apart and she clutched the top of her sweater closed. “No. Shit. Megan. Shit. And shit. Body. Shit,” Kyle mocked, though beneath his teasing, there was a hard, dangerous note in his voice she’d never heard before. “What the hell are you doing with my sister?” “Kyle, this isn’t what it looks like,” Body said, coming to stand in front of her, as if to protect her from her own brother. Dangerous tone or not, she would never be scared of Kyle and besides, it seemed it was Body who needed the protecting. Kyle looked as if he were seconds away from glaring a hole in his best friend’s bare chest. “It looks like you’ve been screwing around with my sister, asshole,” Kyle said, coming down the stairs. “Kyle—” “Megan’s not some piece of ass,” Kyle continued, “and you fucked up thinking I would let you fuck with a member of my family and get away with it.” “Kyle—” 137
Spring Flings Anthology “Get away from Megan. I don’t want her to get splattered with blood when I bust your face,” Kyle said, pushing up the sleeves of his blue sweater and stopping only a foot away. Considering the top of his blonde head only reached Body’s shoulder, the threat would have been laughable if he hadn’t looked angry enough to more than compensate for his smaller stature. “Shut up, Kyle!” Megan finally yelled as she stepped in front of Body. “Megan, get out of the way. I’m going to take care of this asshole.” “You’re being the asshole. First of all, I can fuck whoever I want—” “Megan you’re really going to make me sick,” Kyle said, looking slightly panicked. Geez. Her brother had been trying to womanize since he was old enough to hold a spoon, what was his problem? “Okay, fine, I can ‘have relations’ with whoever I want, especially the guy I’m probably going to marry,” Megan said, feeling a rush of euphoria sweep through her as she spoke the words. They were going to do it; they were really going to do it. “Probably?” Body asked from behind her. “Do you have a ring on you?” Megan asked with a smile over her shoulder. “I have these fantasies about the ring, bended knee, all that shit.” “Right.” He smiled back. “I’ll be sure to ask you again as soon as I can manage all the fantasy shit properly.” “You two have got to be kidding,” Kyle said, looking pale now that his anger had left him. “I love her, man. I’ve loved her for a long time,” Body said. “And I love him back,” Megan said, wrapping her arms around Body’s waist, smiling as his arm settled around her shoulders and he pulled her closer. “Weird,” Kyle said, his brow still slightly furrowed, as if he expected them to confess that they were joking so his life could go back to blessed normalcy. 138
Spring Flings Anthology “Worse things have happened, Kyle, get over it. Now turn around, I’m going to get dressed,” Megan said with a laugh. “Yeah, you should. Dad will be here any second. He’s next door making sure there was no one still at the sub shop, but he said he’d be over in a few and he really will kill you, Body. It smells…like you know what down here,” Kyle said, turning slightly green again. “What happened to the sub shop?” Megan asked as she scrambled into her clothes, laughing as she watched Body dressing in record time as well. Kyle, they could talk down, her dad with his Irish temper, might be another story. It would be best if they were already upstairs to meet him when he arrived. “The twister took out half the block. Dad and I were scared to death. We came over as soon as we heard the storm was over,” Kyle said. “You’re kidding,” Megan gasped, “is the store okay?” “A couple of the front windows are broken and your car has mysteriously disappeared, but other than that, we were very lucky. You’re both safe, Mom called from the real estate office and she’s fine, and the house wasn’t touched.” “I’m just glad everyone’s alive,” Megan said, her car not anywhere near the top of her priority list at the moment. “Are my mom and brother okay?” Body asked, his body tensing. “This is the only place in town that was hit. The radio said it touched down again near the college and took out the Super Pet Depot, but so far, there are no human casualties and no damage on the south side of town,” Kyle said, “but we can go drive by your house once Dad gets here, if you want.” “I’d appreciate that,” Body said, taking Megan’s hand as they walked up the stairs. “Well, you know, anything for the new brother-in-law,” Kyle said, trying for a light tone and almost succeeding. Body and Megan exchanged an ‘it’s a start’ look and kept holding hands as they walked through the store and out in the now balmy spring evening, grateful in a strange way for 139
Spring Flings Anthology springtime and twisters and nice dark basements where two people could hide from a storm and find the love that had been waiting for its time of the season.
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Spring Flings Anthology
MADAME BIANCA’S DIARY by
Barbara Baldwin
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Peter sighed in resignation as he left the air-conditioned car and sucked in a breath of hot, humid air. Spring in New Orleans held no relation to the light, cool mornings of New York City, he thought as he rolled back the cuffs of his white dress shirt. He reached up to loosen his tie and stopped. He may be rumpled, sweaty and tired from the flight down here, but he refused to meet anyone in this God-forsaken swamp looking like a local. After all, he was president of the family business and had an image to uphold. As soon as he finished with this distasteful business, he would return to New York and resume his well-planned life. The unpleasant business he referred to stood before him in all its rundown, once majestic glory. The house on Belvedere Road, overgrown with weeds and with porch steps that sloped dangerously, had belonged to his great-aunt Bianca, and for some mysterious reason, she had left it to him when she died. Until the lawyer’s letter, he hadn’t even known he had a great-aunt Bianca. His parents never spoke of her. After he learned of the inheritance, he had questioned his mother, who had promptly given a delicate shiver and reached for her smelling salts. So he had asked his father, who was the only nephew to Bianca on his mother’s side. Peter Alfred Myerson, III had immediately reached for the scotch. “Do not ever speak that woman’s name in this house again,” his father had admonished as sternly as if Peter were still ten years old. 142
Spring Flings Anthology “Well, that may be difficult considering she bequeathed me her house.” His father’s eyes had widened. “She’s dead?” “Apparently so,” Peter had replied. “Thank God!” His father had downed the scotch and poured another. So now, a week later, Peter still had no idea exactly why this woman had left him a house on the outskirts of New Orleans, or why his parents refused to speak of her. In the end, it really didn’t matter, because he intended to sell the place as soon as possible. He heard noise coming from inside and assumed the contractor was here. James Melbourne, the lawyer, had told him that Bianca had hired someone to fix up the place before she died. Apparently, even her death hadn’t stopped the man from completing what he had been paid to do. From the looks of the mansion, at least the old lady had money. Perhaps he should keep the place as an investment. He reached out and turned the doorknob, which promptly fell out of the door and onto his Gucci loafer. He shook his head. Fix and sell, he told himself, because there was no way he would ever come back to this mosquito-infested place again. He followed the sound to the back of the house, giving a cursory glance to the drop cloths, paint cans and tools that were scattered about in various rooms. He couldn’t help but admire the workmanship in the massive dining room, which looked to be finished. Carved molding circled the ceiling, flocked wallpaper and wainscoting covered the walls, and the hardwood floor shone with a new coat of lacquer. Not his decorating choice, he thought, preferring the glass and chrome décor of his high-rise condo, but it seemed to fit the atmosphere of the old house. “Hello,” he called as he stepped into the next room. A buzzing saw drowned out his voice and the man kneeling on the floor by a cupboard didn’t turn around. 143
Spring Flings Anthology “Hello!” he shouted, then reached out and tapped the man on the shoulder. An electric saw came whirling around at the level of his knees, and he jumped back just in time to keep from being sawed in half. “Christ almighty, Mister! What do you think you’re doing sneaking up on a body like that?” Peter was more shocked at the sight now standing before him than he had been at the thought of losing a leg to the saw. Only as tall as his shoulder, the freckle-faced curiosity wore a ball cap over short, reddish hair. As his heart began to calm down, she turned to put the saw on the floor. Skimpy jean shorts gave him a peek at ass cheeks before his gaze slid down gloriously long, lightly freckled legs to a pair of work boots. Forget his heart; his cock instantly came to life. He frowned, trying to categorize his reaction to this...tomboy. When she straightened and glared at him, hands on hips, his heart didn’t slow at all, but in fact, sped up dramatically. She wore a white sleeveless shirt stretched tight over breasts that jutted out high and firm. He cleared his throat. “You’re a...woman.” Her brows lifted. “And that bothers you, how?” Her voice was deep and sultry, reminding him of exactly where he was. “Well, no, the fact you’re a woman doesn’t. But you should be in a kitchen somewhere, not wielding a saw.” She glanced around. “I am in a kitchen, but you won’t find me cooking you a damned meal. What century are you from, anyway?” “I am from New York,” he replied in his best Wall Street voice. “Well, that explains it,” she snorted. She picked up a rag and wiped down her arms and then her chest. Peter followed her movements, his hands itching, wanting to take the cloth and dip it between her breasts, wiping the perspiration from her cleft. Her skin glistened and as he sucked in a breath, her musky, womanly scent filled his head and went straight to his crotch. 144
Spring Flings Anthology **** CJ scowled as the man continued to stare at her. The minute he said he was from New York, she knew he had to be Bianca’s nephew, but she asked anyway. “Who are you?” “Peter A. Myerson, the Fourth.” He straightened. “The fourth,” she repeated. “The fourth what?” “It means…never mind. I’d like to speak to the contractor.” CJ narrowed her eyes. So this was Bianca’s great-nephew; the one whose life Bianca had followed in the news and Fortune 500 magazines. The one she spoke of, but had never seen. He stood a good head taller than her own five foot six, and he looked like something from the cover of GQ. His black hair was short and spiked in the latest fashion and his blue eyes—well, she had never seen eyes that could undress her with a look. Even in a wrinkled shirt and looking like he was going to have heatstroke, he gave off an energy that set CJ on edge. There was just one problem. His attitude sucked. The imp in her decided to have a little fun. “The contractor,” she imitated his northern twang, “is busy. Come back another time.” **** That night, CJ still hadn’t reconciled the man she had met with her friend’s glowing description. Oh, they looked the same—tall, suave and handsome as sin—but this man was cool, distant and totally in control. The way Bianca had spoken of him, CJ had expected him to be…well, something entirely different. Yet the aura surrounding him had been charged with energy. She didn’t usually let herself relax enough to become aware of auras because she hated her ability to read people. Her adopted grandma, Zara, a cohort of Bianca’s, had often told her she had a gift if she would only develop it. Gram had been a voodoo queen, and though she loved the woman who had raised her, CJ had spent her life trying to move beyond that. CJ sat on the window ledge in her apartment, letting the breeze cool her as she listened to the faint strains of music from 145
Spring Flings Anthology the jazz club down the street. She had been born, raised and schooled in Louisiana and had no desire to be anywhere else. Even when she had done her graduate work in historic preservation, she had concentrated on the mansions of New Orleans and Natchez. Now, she closed her eyes and imagined New York City with its skyscrapers and neon lights, and Peter Myerson, the fourth. Her eyes popped open. “Where did that come from?” she spoke out loud, although no one was there to hear. With a sigh, she rose and closed the window, then crawled into bed. She had to admit she was lonely, but up until today, it had been for her friend, Bianca. She had always been around to listen to CJ’s plans and offer advice. It wasn’t until she met Peter A. Myerson, IV that she felt the awakening of some primal urge she had either not had before, or had ignored in her quest to become a recognized authority in architectural circles. She didn’t think Mr. Myerson was here to satisfy her sexual urges. She was afraid she knew exactly what he wanted. Having never shown up on the steps of Belvedere Place before, CJ imagined he had only come to sell the property and collect his inheritance. Before she died, Bianca had told CJ she could move in with her. Now it was too late, and she didn’t have enough ready capital to purchase the house. As she drifted off to sleep, lazy blue eyes and a wicked smile floated across her consciousness, and she wondered if there was something else she could use to bargain with. **** CJ was just closing a paint can when she heard footsteps coming through the dining room. She didn’t have to look up to know it was the only person who would come visiting this part of the bayou. “I stopped by the office to speak with the contractor. I was told she was working out at Belvedere Place.” CJ cringed at the sardonic tone of voice, but straightened her shoulders and turned around to face him. Today he had 146
Spring Flings Anthology forgone the tie, but his pants had a sharp crease and his flawless blue oxford shirt made his eyes appear even bluer. He stood with his hands on his hips frowning at her, and CJ had to wonder if he ever smiled. He did in your dreams, her very feminine alter ego reminded her. Having been brought up to be honest, she knew she had to apologize for yesterday’s mischief. “Sorry. I couldn’t resist after your crack about where I belong.” She shrugged, then added, “Besides, I am busy.” Did she detect a smile? Well, at least he didn’t look quite so stern. “So you’re CJ Fortier, preservation contractor?” At her nod, he continued, “I apologize for my remark. I am quite aware that women today hold professional positions in all manner of business. It’s just that,” he paused. CJ could feel her gaze narrow. “I think you’d better quit before I have to toss you to the gators.” She watched his eyes widen as he took a step back. She wished he would step back all the way to New York City, but being practical, she decided she might as well face the problem head on. “Look, I really do have a lot of work to do here, so tell me what you want, then I can get on with it.” “I want to sell this property.” CJ’s heart stopped. Even though she had thought he would, she’d held out a single hope it wouldn’t happen. “Why?” The word squeaked out. She could feel tears threaten and turned to the side, mad that this stranger could inflict such instant pain. A hand touched her bare shoulder and squeezed gently. It was warm and smooth and CJ’s body betrayed her, heating in all the wrong places. She sensed there was more to this man than it appeared, and she damned the special gift that made her aware of it. She wanted to hate him for threatening to take away a place she loved. 147
Spring Flings Anthology When she looked up, something flickered in his gaze and he frowned. CJ knew exactly why he was confused. His body was reacting to hers, and the energy she could sense flowing between them was just the beginning of something huge. She sucked in a breath, for a moment foolishly wondering if Zara and Bianca had somehow orchestrated this meeting. She stepped away from him, breaking the contact. Leaning against the counter, she crossed her arms over her chest, even though she knew it would not stop what was destined. A voodoo curse might, but not simple body language. “Why do you want to sell Belvedere Place?” He tucked his hands in his pockets and shrugged. “I didn’t even know my great-aunt. My parents refuse to speak her name, and yet she left me this place. I live and work in New York and this,” he gestured widely, “is not exactly my style.” “I suppose you have a chrome and leather high-rise with floor to ceiling windows?” His brows lifted in surprise. “As a matter of fact, I do. Regardless, my business is international and I don’t have time to oversee an investment.” “Well, you could have called first. Bianca wanted the remodeling done and I didn’t get finished before she…died,” CJ stated flatly, hoping to dissuade him. “It could be sold as is,” he replied. “I was paid up front,” she protested, “for the entire job.” He glanced around. “Well, how much is there to do? Surely, it won’t take long.” Regardless of the chemistry CJ felt in his presence, she hated his big city attitude of hurry, hurry, hurry. “Some things can’t be rushed. If you’re in such an all-fired hurry, you can just help.” She turned to leave the room. “Fine. What can I do?” The offer surprised her because she didn’t see him as a fix-it type man at all. “The first thing you should do is get some work 148
Spring Flings Anthology clothes so your fine city duds don’t get mussed.” She didn’t wait to see his reaction, but flew up the stairs. **** Peter stared after the fleeing redhead. She wore shorts and a tank top again today and her calf muscles bunched as she took the stairs two at a time. It wasn’t until she was out of sight that he felt his body relax. When he had entered the house, the sight of her bent over that paint can, her breasts practically tumbling out of her top, had set his blood pounding. And where he wasn’t normally quite so brusque, he had found his control slipping, which had caused him to snap at her. It was either that or take her in his arms and kiss her, which was totally out of the question. He couldn’t ever remember being wound so tight around a woman. And a redhead with freckles, no less. He shook his head, digging out his car keys for the trip back to town. All he had wanted to do was sell the house and get back to the city and here he was, offering to help. He thought about New Orleans and the voodoo magic said to hang like a dark cloak over the people of the region. He shook his head. It had to be the heat and humidity. He was far too practical and had too much control to ever succumb to anything so capricious. **** CJ was tearing out a section of decayed wall in the upstairs bedroom when she heard the pounding. Since she worked alone, she peeked out the window to see what was going on. Her heart leaped to her throat at the sight of Peter by the front steps. Clad only in a pair of cargo shorts and work boots, he had one foot on the porch step as he bent over, pounding with a hammer. She had pegged him for a pansy, indoor type with pasty white skin but he was just the opposite. His back muscles gleamed in the sunlight, his skin brown and taut across his shoulders. Even his legs were brown and sculpted with muscle. 149
Spring Flings Anthology Just watching him, CJ ached in places she had no business aching. He was here to sell the place she loved, she reminded herself, but her body was wondering what it would feel like being held by those arms; being crushed against that chest, being… “Hey!” she shouted out the window. Peter looked up in midswing and the next thing CJ heard was a string of curses. “Ouch.” She winced as she watched Peter shake his left hand. Hurrying down the stairs, she reached the door just as he swung it wide. “Fuck, that hurts!” He was still cursing as he stuck his thumb in his mouth. “That won’t help.” CJ grabbed his arm, leading him to the kitchen. “You need ice.” She snagged some ice cubes from the freezer and wrapped them in a dishtowel. She turned to find him leaning against the counter, looking hurt and huge and handsome as the devil. The aura surrounding him was pinkish-red and radiating passion. Without even trying, CJ felt the pull of energy from him. She could see it in his eyes, a hot, melting gaze that drew her. She tried to resist, the cold from the ice giving her a miniscule anchor against a maelstrom of sizzling emotions. “Ice…for your thumb,” she stammered, holding out the towel. In slow motion, he pulled his thumb from his mouth and CJ’s gaze fixed on his parted lips. They were full and tilted ever so slightly, as though he thought to smile but then his look turned serious. “How about if you kiss it and make it better?” The question came out of nowhere. CJ’s gaze flew to his and what she saw made her hot all over. He wanted her. The need, the pull of something only magic could define, vibrated in the air between them. And against all better judgment, she wanted him, too. 150
Spring Flings Anthology She was standing close enough, all he had to do was reach out and she was in his arms. His thumb was forgotten as his lips claimed hers. She wrapped her arms around his neck, feeling the heat of his skin. Of its own volition, one leg wrapped around his thigh, bringing her hips forward to where she felt every hard, long inch of him from knee to chest. She sensed his frantic need as his hands slid up the inside of her shirt to cup her breasts. She groaned into his mouth, the sound swallowed by his own. His thumbs played across her nipples causing them to ache. His mouth continued to ravage hers, his tongue creating tingles of delight as she fought him for control of the kiss. Wanting to feel more of him, she slid her hands across his chest, pausing momentarily at his nipples, feeling them pebble beneath her touch. “Yes,” he whispered urgently as her hands went to his shorts, her fingers fumbling with the button. He nipped her neck and she thought her legs would go out from under her. When she couldn’t undo his shorts as fast as she wanted, she bypassed the waistband and went right for the prize. As she rubbed her palm down his front, she could feel him swell beneath her touch. He jerked against her, releasing her breasts to work the fastener himself. But when he leaned back, CJ heard the muffled sound of the cell phone in her pocket, which had been squashed against his body. “Damn,” she breathed. “Don’t answer it,” he commanded, but it was too late. “Hello.” CJ tried for a semblance of normal in her voice. “CJ,” the caller said and she recognized James Melbourne, Bianca’s lawyer. “I’m trying to reach Peter Myerson. Has he shown up there yet?” Oh, yeah, CJ thought, glancing at his bare chest, which was still heaving from their exertions, then letting her gaze drift downward. He’s showing plenty and is certainly up. She handed the phone to Peter, who frowned as he reluctantly took it. 151
Spring Flings Anthology She didn’t wait to hear the conversation. Hurrying back upstairs, she blew out a breath. Melbourne’s call reminded her that regardless of what had just transpired between her and Peter, he was a businessman and would sell just as soon as her work was done. Most of the upstairs rooms needed only to have the wallpaper stripped and replaced, then the hardwood floors given a good cleaning. The furniture, though old, was still in excellent condition and her assistant, Pam, was already ordering curtains and throw rugs. It should only take a week; two max, to get everything finished. “Where’d you go?” His voice echoed down the hall from where she worked. She tried to ignore him, cutting vigorously at a section of sheetrock. She pocketed the cutter and jerked at the loosened piece, falling backward against a hard chest. Strong arms immediately tightened, pinning her to him. “We’re not done.” The husky whisper close to her ear reverberated down her spine. “You’re right, so why don’t you get back outside and finish what you were doing, if your poor thumb is better.” She didn’t intend to be a smart ass, but he had thrown her off balance and she knew if she looked at him, she would certainly pick up where they had left off. She felt more than heard his sigh. “Only if you’ll have dinner with me tonight,” he said as he released her. She shouldn’t. Kissing him had been trouble. Saying yes to dinner spelled danger big time. She needed to keep her distance; keep their relationship purely business. “Okay,” she said. “See if you can find Antoine’s by eight.” **** Peter had doubts that CJ would actually show up at the restaurant tonight. That’s why he had taken a little insurance, he thought as he toweled himself dry and began to dress. He glanced over at the dresser where he had put her cell phone. 152
Spring Flings Anthology It was pink with white daisies on the cover. Apparently, the hard-nosed contractor had a feminine side. He chuckled. Oh, yeah, she was definitely a feminine delight. Although he had mentally cursed the lawyer for interrupting what he was positive could have been some pretty explosive sex, he had to admit it was probably for the best. He didn’t know why CJ captivated him, but he did not like the fact she made him lose control. He liked order, precision, calm. Yet from the first time he saw her, chaos reigned in his body and brain. And while it wasn’t exactly unpleasant, it was totally unfamiliar and therefore, threw him out of his comfort zone. As he closed the hotel door behind him and walked toward the French Quarter, he tried to analyze their kiss. It was probably just a reaction to smashing his thumb. It wouldn’t happen again. He had a life waiting for him back in New York. The moment he walked into Antoine’s and saw her sitting at the bar, the lecture he had given himself flew right out the window. She wore a sleeveless shift that only came to midthigh. As he walked toward her, she crossed one leg over the other, causing the skirt to hike further up her thigh. At that moment, Peter knew damn well he wanted more than just a kiss from the vivacious redhead. “You kept my cell phone,” she greeted him with the accusation. He slid onto the stool beside her. “It got you here, didn’t it?” She blushed and he knew he had been right in thinking she wouldn’t have come otherwise. He signaled the bartender, ordering a drink. When he raised a brow, she nodded. “And another for the lady,” he said. She already had one in front of her, and he definitely didn’t want her drunk. If—correction—when he took her to bed, he wanted her to be totally aware of him. “Look. You’re only here because Bianca left you the house. There’s no sense muddying the waters with—” 153
Spring Flings Anthology “How about if we don’t talk business tonight,” he interrupted, but unanswered questions had roused his curiosity from the beginning. “Tell me about my great-aunt.” **** CJ spent the time while they were eating dinner talking about Bianca, giving Peter as much information as she knew, which wasn’t as much as she thought, given she had known Bianca for all of her twenty-eight years. She also plied him with drink, hoping to get him drunk enough that he couldn’t make advances, because if he did, she wasn’t sure she could resist him. “So why wouldn’t my parents acknowledge her?” he mused. “It sounds like she was just a little old lady leading a quiet life.” He squinted at her over his glass and CJ noticed his eyes weren’t quite focusing. Throughout their meal, she had watched him gradually relax, and that side of him was more devastating than ever. His laughter at her stories had gone straight to her heart and she wondered why he didn’t laugh more often. From what he had told her about his life, it was all work and no play. “How old did you say she was?” His question brought her out of her reverie. “No one knows for sure, but she had to be close to one hundred. Grandma Zara was ninety-nine when she died, and they were great friends.” “Zara. That’s a strange name.” CJ smiled. “It means light. She was a voodoo queen.” She leaned closer. “I could put a hex on you.” He gave her a drunken, lopsided smile. “I think you already have.” **** The next morning, CJ reached into the hole she had made in the bedroom wall and jerked on a piece of material sticking out. When it wouldn’t come loose, she cut out more sheetrock and discovered a cloth-wrapped package. No wonder the wall was soft here. Someone had cut out a piece and then tried to patch it. She carefully unwound the cloth and discovered a book. 154
Spring Flings Anthology When she started to open it, she heard footsteps on the stairs. She knew it had to be Peter. Her stomach started churning, not sure how he would behave after last night. She had poured him into a taxi, resisting his assurances that he wasn’t too drunk to give her a really good time. Even without her ability to read people, she knew something was happening between them. She just wasn’t sure with the issue of Belvedere Place that it was a good idea to act on that attraction. “You deliberately got me drunk.” He threw down the gauntlet the minute he crossed the threshold. She noticed he wore dark sunglasses and seemed to be walking very carefully. “I didn’t force you to drink.” “You had just as many as I did. Why didn’t you pass out?” She wasn’t about to tell him that every time he had looked the other way, she had dumped her drink into his. There were some lessons a gal needed that a guy had no business knowing. He sauntered across the room, peering down at her. “You didn’t give me the evil eye, did you?” He sounded as though he were only half joking. She tsked. “Believe me, if I put a curse on you, you’d know it.” Actually, she didn’t even know any curses. “What’s that?” He nodded to the book she had clutched to her chest. She shrugged, opening the cover. “I just found it wrapped up inside the wall.” She gasped. “The name inside says Bianca Lillian Collier.” “Give it here.” He made a grab at it. “Wait.” She swiveled out of the way. “The house is mine, so that book is too. Give.” He snapped his fingers. “Oh, don’t get your boxers in a bunch,” she said. “I never…” he started, then stopped. “Yeah, I bet you never do.” She referred to him never losing control, although last night, he had come pretty darn close.
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Spring Flings Anthology He leaned back against the wall, crossed his arms over his chest and flashed her a grin. It was such a rare and beautiful sight, that her heart tripped. “Actually, I was going to say I never wear boxers.” He paused and she held her breath in anticipation. “If you hadn’t deserted me last night, you would have found out. I wear briefs,” another deliberate pause, “usually bikini briefs.” Oh dear saints. She had an instant vision of him with nothing more than a scrap of material covering his…she groaned. Before she could shake that image, he had reached out and snagged the book. “Hmm. It’s dated June 1920.” His head moved slightly as he read silently. “Read out loud, for cripe’s sake.” And so he began. “Whatever shall I do now that my beloved Edgar is gone? Shot by a government man, damn their black hearts, and with him only trying to make a living. I thank my lucky stars he paid cash money for our home when we married, but I haven’t a feather of an idea as to how I am to support myself.” He looked up, shaking his head. “1920? Prohibition? So, her husband was a bootlegger. That still doesn’t explain—” “Keep reading,” CJ interrupted, fascinated by this glimpse of a woman she had only thought she’d known. “The next entry is September of that year.” “I have found others in similar circumstances as myself and we have banded together. Although selling liquor is against the law, Belvedere Place sits on the outskirts of town and we have decided there is much to be said for being somewhat isolated. Even the highest official will pay good money for what I offer, knowing they can drink in secrecy. “Still, it is not enough to pay the bills, and so some of the ladies have decided to add to our repertoire. I shall be faithful to my Edgar even in death, but I don’t deny that what Louisa, Bella and Maria offer to the men is certainly one way of keeping the roof over our heads.”
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Spring Flings Anthology “Christ, she was a prostitute! No wonder my parents never spoke of her.” Peter slammed the book shut and tossed it on the bed. He paced around the room, righteously indignant. CJ retrieved the diary, caressing the soft velvet cover. “I don’t think she was, Peter. And you can’t criticize what you don’t understand.” “Are you condoning what she did?” “I’m saying you don’t know all the reasons behind it. Besides, she only speaks of the other women, not herself.” She opened the book and continued reading. “My family has disowned me. My only sister, Nora, claims I am breaking the law by offering illegal whiskey. Heaven only knows what she would think if she knew the ladies were entertaining men in their rooms, but the bills must be paid. The roof has sprung leaks, and with hurricane season upon us, every available bucket is scattered around the floor. In fact, I have offered a free drink to any man willing to donate a splash pot to the cause.” “Well,” CJ said, “she had a sense of humor.” Peter snorted, but he did wave a hand, indicating she should keep reading. “Tonight was certainly boisterous as everyone wanted in out of the downpour. Mayor Blaine was here as usual, and he and Louisa made such a racket upstairs, that I had to turn the volume up on the phonograph. My, some nights I envy her as the Mayor is quite vigorous in how he takes his pleasure with her.” CJ’s stomach did a flip-flop. She looked up to find Peter right in front of her, his eyes alight with passion. He was breathing fast, and when he opened his mouth to speak, all she could think of was how those lips had felt on hers when he kissed her. “Is there more?” His voice was deep and velvet smooth, the sound vibrating across the short distance and sending a shiver down her spine. She had to drag her gaze away from his. “I must say I was curious enough that I asked Louisa how they managed to keep from breaking the bed. Her answer—‘Why, most nights he takes me up against the wall and we never make it to the bed until the 157
Spring Flings Anthology second or third time. There is just something about the red color of those walls that makes him crazy with lust.’” “Which is the red room?” Peter choked out, his eyes glancing wildly around. “I stripped the paper to the original,” she whispered, her throat tight. Heat spread through her breasts and between her thighs at the look he gave her. “This is the red room.” She hadn’t finished the sentence before Peter reached for her. Frantically, he peeled off her shirt and buried his face in the cleft of her breasts. She dug her nails into his back as he kissed across the swell of her skin, then latched onto one nipple the instant he had her bra unhooked. She tasted so sweet and was so soft. Peter could blame it on his aunt’s diary, but in reality, he had wanted CJ from the beginning. He moved to her mouth, his tongue dueling with hers as he backed her against the wall. The kiss was hot and consuming, breaking down his defenses and letting all his cravings loose. Her hands moved to his pants, jerking at the button and zipper. Reluctantly, he released her mouth to help. “Get those pants off,” he commanded as he toed off his boots and shimmied out of his clothes. When he turned back, he stopped and stared. “You are so beautiful,” he whispered. Indeed, her skin glowed golden in the early morning light. She had freckles all over to go with her dark red hair, and all he could think about was kissing every one of them. He knelt before her, sliding his hands from her slim waist down over the flair of her hips. He kissed her navel, tonguing the indentation before moving on, wanting to savor the sight and sweet smell of her. “Oh, oh!” she cried out, pounding the wall behind her with her fists as he took his first taste of her. “Open for me.” It was a plea, not a command. He was desperate to feel her heat. If Peter hadn’t been holding her up, CJ knew she would have been a puddle on the floor. As she spread her legs and his 158
Spring Flings Anthology tongue delved deeper, she felt the first clutch of her muscles as she was swept toward orgasm. And when he put his finger into her, she knew she couldn’t hold out. “No-o-o,” she moaned, going over the edge as shock waves radiated outward from her center and raced to the very tips of her fingers. She didn’t want it to end so quickly. Slowly, Peter withdrew, but planted hot kisses across her hips and up her stomach as he rose. “Don’t worry, sweetheart, we’re not done,” he said as he tongued one breast, then the other, all the while relishing the taste of her on his lips. Then she touched him. Almost tentative at first, her palm slid across the head of his shaft before she circled him and squeezed. “Oh, yeah.” He sucked her nipple into his mouth, nipping just enough to make her groan. She reciprocated by capturing his balls with her other hand. “Enough.” He lifted her hips and she guided him to her. He groaned as he entered her. She was hot and wet but so tight, he had to exert what little control he had left not to ram into her. She locked her legs around his waist. His hands clutched her ass, afraid to move. “This isn’t going to work,” she whimpered. He kissed the corner of her mouth. “Sh, relax.” She tilted her head back against the wall. “Easy for you to say,” she quipped but in that instant as she squabbled with him, she did relax and he buried himself deep within her. Never had anything felt so close to heaven. Her muscles squeezed around him as he began to move, slowly at first, but then faster until he was pumping into her without restraint. She clutched his head and sought his mouth, fucking him with her tongue in rhythm to the stroke of his cock. Peter forgot all about wanting to come down here and sell the property. His entire focus was on her soft breasts pressing into his chest, her hot ass cradled in his hands and the sweet clutch of muscles that told him CJ was coming again. He 159
Spring Flings Anthology rammed into her harder, her slick passage now taking him easily, hungrily. The picture on the wall next to them bounced and tilted sideways but he didn’t stop. He couldn’t stop. With a shout, he climaxed, hot and pulsing, spiraling out of control. CJ came at the same time, her muscles milking him dry. His chest heaved, his arms shook. He dropped his forehead against her shoulder, shuddering. CJ slowly came back to earth, her orgasm so strong, she wondered if she would ever be the same. She kept her eyes closed as she caressed Peter’s bare back, not wanting this moment to end and reality to intrude. When she felt him begin to straighten, she blinked up at him. Another smile, this one so sweet and adoring, CJ actually blushed. She unlocked her legs and he lifted her away from him, slowly letting her slide down his length. She guessed she should say something, but her mind drew a blank. What was there to say after phenomenal sex like they had just had? Peter tilted her chin up and kissed her lightly. “Do you suppose there are any more good parts in that diary?” he asked. He was letting her know he wanted her again, she thought. That certainly beat thank you very much. **** CJ claimed a business meeting in town and Peter let her go. He had things to think about and certainly didn’t do much thinking when she was around. He wandered through the mansion, trying to visualize it as it would have been in the 1920’s. His great-aunt would have only been in her twenties, a widow, and living in a time when there weren’t many good jobs for women. Could he blame her for opening her home to other women? Even for using it as a Speakeasy? He stood at the doorway of the red room and stared at the diary that lay forgotten on the bed. No, not forgotten, because neither he nor CJ would forget what they had read and how it had turned them on. It beckoned him. He took a step forward and stopped. Did he really want to know? Could he dispassionately sell the property if he found out more about his 160
Spring Flings Anthology aunt and what she had written about the other women? Would he and CJ be drawn into their erotic fantasies as easily as they had been today? The thought made him hard. He spun on his heel and walked out, determined to forget the magic that flowed through the house like illegal whiskey once had. On the trip back to town, he had to remind himself that he didn’t believe in magic. Yet he couldn’t erase the image of CJ, naked and sweating as he took her in the heat of passion, and how she had made him feel. Whether he believed or not, there was definitely something mysterious about how the house affected him. When he got back to the hotel, the light on his laptop was blinking. A cursory glance through his messages reminded him he had already stayed in New Orleans longer than planned, but there was nothing he couldn’t handle via the internet. He forwarded some figures to his assistant and snapped the cover closed. He stared across the room in the dark, trying to analyze why he was reacting to CJ the way he was, and how he could reconcile that with the way he had been living for the past thirty years. When he thought about his life, it suddenly seemed stolid and lifeless compared to the way CJ made him feel. He came to a sudden conclusion, and within minutes, was checked out of the hotel and driving back through the dark, foggy night. He dropped his bag on the floor of the red room and snatched up the diary, dropping down on the bed as he began to read. When he closed it halfway through, he was a little disappointed that it wasn’t as erotic as he had somehow hoped; yet through its pages, he had a better understanding of who his aunt had been. Most of the pages were filled with everyday reminisces, though not all, he thought, anticipating CJ’s return in the morning so he could tell her about the green room. His great-aunt had talked about life and loneliness and how she found joy in people. He had to admire her entrepreneurship, for she had made quite a life for herself. 161
Spring Flings Anthology To each her own, she had written on the last page he read. If it makes you happy, then how can anyone say it is wrong? **** CJ squawked as she came around the corner in the morning to find Peter walking out of the bathroom. She knew he was there—his car was parked outside. What had her flustered was the fact he was naked, or nearly so. The towel he had wrapped around his waist didn’t hide very much of him at all. “I decided to stay here last night,” he said by way of greeting. “Why not? It’s your house.” He tilted his head slightly, looking at her from under the towel he was using to dry his hair. “I get the feeling you have some ownership here, too.” All she could do was shrug. Yeah, she did feel she had rights to this house, but at the moment, she was more interested in the flat brown nipples on his chest, and the towel, which was beginning to move outward. “I read more of the diary.” Her gaze jerked up. “That’s not fair.” He grinned at her. “I’ve ascertained that the blue room was Maria’s. Are you up for some S&M or bondage?” CJ made a face. “I don’t think that’s really me.” Even as she said it, her body betrayed her, a warm blush heating her cheeks and traveling downward. Could Peter give up that kind of control? Could she? She wasn’t to find out as Peter caught her attention. “Would you rather hear about Bella and the green room?” She frowned. “There isn’t a green room.” He nodded, taking her hand and leading her down the hall. “Usually, when people repaint or remodel, they don’t bother doing the closets because they don’t show.” “I do,” she argued, although when he opened the door, the closet was definitely green. “Yes, but I’m finding you’re an exception to every rule I have.” Reaching behind him to the nightstand, he held the book 162
Spring Flings Anthology up between them. “Would you like to read for me today, Ms. Fortier?” CJ’s hand shook as she took the book. He was smiling more and CJ liked it, especially because it started the heat inside her, and like a flash fire, it spread rapidly. She had dreamed about him last night—one long, erotic orgasm of a dream. If they kept this up, she would never finish the remodeling. Of course, she didn’t want to finish if it meant Peter would sell. “April, 1921. “It seems word has spread, for our home is always full to overflowing with good friends. Why, just last week a truck full of energetic young gentlemen came and spent the day repairing the roof, the porch railing and the outbuildings. The ladies and I cooked them a huge meal, then they stayed for an evening of dancing and...other entertainment. (It seems that while I know what goes on upstairs, I find myself unable to write the words to explain the particulars.)” CJ paused. “She does seem to allude to sex without ever really saying the word, doesn’t she?” She looked to where Peter stood, his shoulder against the closet doorjamb. She wished he would put some clothes on, for the towel still protruded and his bare chest and muscular arms were giving her hot flashes. She mentally slapped herself. What was she thinking? Take off the towel! She cleared her throat, looking down at the diary. “Not all of our visitors are young, of course, although most seem quite young at heart. Why, Mayor Blaine has to be in his fifties, but it is Mr. Sylvester Townsend who amazes us the most. He comes out infrequently, always to see Bella, and last weekend, told us it was his eightieth birthday! Merciful heavens, to have his spirit and stamina at that age!” “Well, what does he do?” CJ asked. Her body was achy and she wanted Peter to make love to her again, but he seemed intent on her reading the danged diary. “Keep reading,” Peter said. “You’re almost there.” “Syl always requests a cordial when he visits, and though I give him the same bootleg whiskey as always, he never complains. After his restorative, as he refers to it, he tucks Bella’s hand into the crook of his 163
Spring Flings Anthology arm and escorts her up the stairs like a regal lady. Unlike Louisa, we hear nothing from the green room for hours on end. “It was with such a heartfelt sigh that Bella came to breakfast the next day, we felt compelled to ask her how the evening with Syl had gone. ‘Just fine,’ she said. ‘He certainly likes his loving, but he’s not as strong as he used to be. So I usually lie him down on the bed, undress him and myself, and do all the work. It is sometimes quite amazing how…spiritual it can be, being on top.’” CJ slammed the book shut. “So that’s why you wanted me to read about the green room.” She tried to sound outraged, but the idea turned her on. “Well, it sounds like my idea of a good time.” Peter had straightened away from the wall and walked toward her. She pushed him and he fell on the bed. The towel flipped open and he lay before her in all his naked glory. “You’d have to give up control.” She was stripping her shorts and shirt off as she spoke. “No.” He watched her with lazy lidded interest and CJ stilled. “Suppose,” she drawled, skimming her hands across her stomach to her back to unhook her bra. She held it in front of her. “Suppose I could make you lose control.” He slowly shook his head; his smile wicked, his penis standing at attention before her. She let the bra drop, stepping forward to straddle his legs. She cupped her breasts, lifting them, pushing them together, and lightly pinching her nipples with her thumb and forefinger. And she watched him watching her. What she saw turned her on. There was challenge in his stare; defiance in the slight tilt of his lips. She slid one hand down to cup herself and watched his nostrils flare. Oh yeah, she could do this. “Tell you what. I’ll bet you a dinner at Arnaud’s that I can make you lose it, but you have to play like Mr. Townsend and just lay there.” There was no doubt that CJ touching herself was turning him on, but Peter knew he could maintain control, especially if 164
Spring Flings Anthology he couldn’t touch her. So he spread his arms wide and gave himself up to her machinations. “My body is yours.” He grinned. “Be gentle.” CJ met his smile with one of her own. “Close your eyes,” she commanded in a deep, sultry voice and Peter complied. His cock jerked when she ran a finger up the underside and a slight tremor raced through his body. He could do this, he told himself, but the instant CJ put her mouth on him, he was gone. That night, after dinner and drinks at Arnaud’s, Peter wore a big smile as he gave the waiter his credit card. **** CJ had to go to Natchez to bid a job and although she had invited him, Peter had declined to tag along. She had curled around him like a blanket before she left, giving him a kiss that had his insides smoking and his hands clutching at her to keep her from going. She had promised to return by late tomorrow and had elicited his promise that he wouldn’t read any more of the diary until she returned. He never made promises. He laughed as he yanked another weed from the flowerbed. He looked around at the emerging caladiums and impatiens, thriving now that he had gotten rid of the choking weeds. Hell, he never worked outdoors, and he seldom relaxed or laughed. Yet for the past several days, he had done plenty of both and he credited it not to any mystical aura surrounding New Orleans, but rather to CJ. She was teaching him how to live and appreciate life. Like a ton of bricks landing on his head, he suddenly realized that in the hot, sultry Louisiana Bayou, he had found what was missing from his life in the form of a fiery redhead with a siren’s heart. By midnight the next night, Peter had gone from thinking of CJ as the spirited woman he wanted to possess to the stubborn contractor who failed to keep her promises. It was selfish, he admitted, to want her in his bed instead of somewhere in Natchez, but there it was. Now that he had discovered he loved her, he wanted her with him all the time. 165
Spring Flings Anthology Well, if she could break her promises, so could he. Regardless of his initial reluctance, he found himself drawn into his great-aunt’s life, and since CJ wasn’t here, he’d just get a little ahead on his reading. He took the stairs two at a time, grabbing some clean clothes from his bag and heading for the shower. Blindly reaching for a towel as he turned off the spray, his hand encountered a warm, soft breast instead. He shoved back the shower curtain to find CJ standing next to the tub, a very wet handprint now darkening her shirt. “Nice of you to show up.” “It was business, Peter. I got delayed and I don’t have your cell number.” “Am I just business?” Christ, he sounded just like the kind of whiny female he couldn’t stand. CJ slowly smiled, stepping right into the tub with him and sliding both hands up his chest. Against his will, his cock came to life. She licked the drops of water off his chin, then kissed the corner of his mouth before sliding her tongue along the seam of his lips. With a groan, he surrendered and the kiss became a flash fire, igniting nerves everywhere they touched. He missed me. He was upset my work kept me away for so long. And he looked so damn cute when he pouted. These thoughts swirled in CJ’s head as she gave herself over to his hot kisses. Without breaking contact, Peter lifted her and carried her to the last bedroom down the hall. She knew it was Bianca’s room, and wondered if Peter had read more of the diary. It didn’t matter. Nothing mattered except the feel of his naked body next to hers. The instant he set her down, she ripped off her clothes, anxious for him to make love to her. She couldn’t get enough of him. “Don’t you want to know if there’s more in the diary?” She looked up. Peter stood before her gloriously naked and with a hard-on of magnificent proportions and he wanted to read? She reached out and circled him, sliding her hand down his 166
Spring Flings Anthology length to the base, then ever so slowly skimming her fingers back to the tip. “Hmm, that’s a tough choice. You, or a book.” “Minx.” He swatted her butt. “Get into bed.” He lay down beside her, book in hand. He flipped through several pages from where they had last marked, a frown on his face. “There’s no entries after 1921. Oh, wait, here’s some more writing.” His frown deepened. “That’s odd. This was written only last year.” CJ curled closer to his side, loving the feel of naked skin caressing hers. “Dear Children,” Peter began. “If you’ve gotten this far in my diary, hopefully, Peter is still at Belvedere Place. I hope you will forgive me for playing matchmaker, but I just knew if I could get Peter to come to New Orleans and meet CJ, he would have a chance at a happy life. She is such a sensual, giving woman, and she needs someone besides Zara and me in her life. “I have followed Peter’s career from the beginning, but knowing my sister, I felt I could never have the benefit of knowing him in person. There is so much more to life than work, Peter, and I believe CJ can help you find what you are looking for. The only way I could think to make that happen was to leave Peter this house. “Always remember that love can be expressed in many ways, not all of which are condoned by the society in which we live. Regardless, the love you find with each other is the greatest treasure life has to offer. The expression of that love—whether vigorous or sublime—will keep you warm and happy. “CJ, I love you like my own. Petey, be happy.” It was signed Bianca Lillian Collier. “Petey?” CJ giggled. “Charlene Jasmine?” he retaliated. She narrowed her eyes. “Who told you that?” He tugged her on top of him. “Does it matter? It will show up on the marriage license if you ever get around to asking me.” 167
Spring Flings Anthology She kissed the corner of his mouth. “Do you really think two such disparate people can be happy in a former Madame’s house?” He rolled her over and with one stroke, settled deep within her warmth. “Just watch.”
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A GAME WE PLAY by
Karen Mandeville
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Akasha twisted a lock of her long dark hair through her fingers as she looked around the room. She and Hellion had eaten their meals in here for as long as she could remember. The room was nothing more than a large cell. When the dinner guests arrived, the servants removed the large table that stood in the middle of it and the vampires herded their kill in the corner. The walls had been painted with blood over the years. Tonight, the walls were lit by candles and hung with fine art. Akasha reached for her crystal glass and took a long sip. The red fluid started congealing on her top lip before she ran her tongue out to lap it up. “Darling, I’m bored.” Akasha pouted. She set the glass down heavily on the table before leaning back in her chair. Her breasts balanced precariously inside her black velvet corset. She folded her long white legs over the table’s edge as she looked across to her lover, her master and her teacher. The long satin skirt touched the ground as she raised her legs. “As am I, my love,” Hellion said as he tossed his silver fork onto his plate. “This existence is just so stifling. There is no fun anymore.” He pushed the plate away in disinterest and waved his hand for the table to be cleared. Five small men in dark suits shuffled over and bowed as they gathered the plates. “Leave the glasses.” Akasha gazed up to the chandelier. “Do you remember what it was like to see fear in people’s eyes when they realized what was coming? Oh, those were the days.” “Yes, the whole thrill of the chase.” His eyes brightened for a mere moment at the memory. “People nowadays are so unfit, 170
Spring Flings Anthology we could give them a full twenty second start and we’d still find them in the blink of an eye.” “I know and their blood is just so...I don’t know the word...saturated. I feel like I’m eating a bucket of fried chicken when I’m drinking from them,” she said, poking her tongue out in an unflattering way. “Those were the days when the blood was fresh and the meat was new, right, my love?” “Certainly was.” She sighed and flicked her hair free from her fingers. “What can we do to make this an exciting night? All we do is haunt these walls. There’s no heart pumping moments anymore.” Akasha lowered her legs off the table and got to her feet. “Darling, we don’t have hearts, remember? We’re vampires. We live with our heads and the need to feed,” he said with a snicker as she walked towards him. Her fingers gently touched the tablecloth as she moved. She let her hips swing as she stared at him. He was transfixed by the sight of her. “You still can’t feed from the front. You have to stand behind your victim because you need to forget they’re human.” “Reminds me too much of the terror,” she said quietly. “Besides, I like to think I still have a heart. There’s something about the thought of taking someone’s life when they don’t want to be one of us, but it’s the way of the world, flourish or flounder. I know in my heart that I want to survive.” She winked as she gave him a smirk. “My heart is filled with love for you and for what I’ve become. We just have to keep it exciting. Like anything, we must keep things interesting.” She looked at the food-laden table. “All this food and I’m still hungry. I’m always hungry. What can we do? I want some excitement in my life. We have to think of something to do. Are you in the mood for some fun, my love?” “Always,” Hellion replied, tilting his head. His pale skin was a stark contrast to his dark eyes and hair. He’d seen many lifetimes come and go. “What’s going through your mind? Normally I can read you but I can only sense something devious.” 171
Spring Flings Anthology Akasha’s smirk had turned into a smile and her fangs flashed. “I’ve been thinking of something very, very delectable. Something sure to get your pulse racing.” They both laughed at her
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Spring Flings Anthology comments. “Something that will jolt your memory. Do you remember the first time we met? Do you remember the tension we felt in those days? Think back.” Akasha had first met Hellion as a fellow student in her drama class at the university. He was dark and brooding. He was everything needed to play a dark character. She watched him, mesmerized behind the stage, as he delivered his monologue. The more she stared at him, the more her suspicions were confirmed. He was a biter. A vampire. She could just tell. All the women in the group loved watching him, even some of the men but she never thought he’d pay her any attention until he offered to give her a lift home one night. It was the third time he gave her a ride back to her apartment when Hellion revealed his interest in her. He smiled at her, she knew she was blushing as she invited him up. What didn’t make sense to her was when he said no. “But you just said…” Akasha started. “I know, but I don’t think it would be wise if I were to be locked in the same room with you for any amount of time,” he said, turning to look to the road. He didn’t flinch as her fingers ran through his hair. “You don’t have to be worried about what you might do to me,” she said quietly. “I know your secret.” She pulled her hand away and smiled at him with her fangs bared. “I’m surprised you haven’t said something about me, or didn’t you know? Don’t tell me you didn’t know?” Hellion turned slowly to face her. He couldn’t help but stare at her fangs. “I was walking home one night and I was set upon. The man bit me. It was self-defense when I bit him back. Little did I know, that the small amount of his blood made it into mine and I became…me.” “But you don’t have any of the normal characteristics, your skin is only slightly pale,” Hellion said, giving her another onceover. “I know. I have to avoid the sun, and the other usual things, but I am a vampire, whether I like it or not. I wasn’t bitten by someone who wanted me to join their lifestyle. It was forced 173
Spring Flings Anthology upon me and it’s not as if I could pop down to my local Vampire’s Anonymous meeting. If you change your mind, you know where I live and you’re more than welcome to come and hang out anytime you like.” Akasha got out of the car and shut the door behind her. She didn’t know if she had made a huge mistake in revealing her identity. Her honesty proved to be the best thing she had done in her both her lives. The pair became inseparable. Hellion kept to his limits of never entering Akasha’s apartment until one night, when they’d both walked home and smelt the fresh blood of a young man walking past them. “Do you have the cravings?” she asked. “All the time,” Hellion said, looking forward. “Why don’t you feast?” “I’m abstaining. I want to taste the blood of the one I love first. My parents, they own the big house on the hill up there.” Akasha looked to where he was pointing and nodded. “They round people up and then they feast on them. It’s like a sport for them. They try to keep it interesting. For me, I like to go in after the killing has been done and then feast. It doesn’t seem quite as bad then.” “That’s unusual for a vampire, but we each have our reasons. Like you, I hate looking at someone’s face. I did it only once and it traumatized me. One of the joys of volunteering for the blood drive collection, I don’t have to worry about getting my hands dirty.” She laughed before stopping as Hellion took a step closer to her. She looked at him in the light from the moon. He was looking very sexy. “What’s wrong?” “Nothing,” he said before he placed his hands on her waist and took another step toward her. His hands snaked around to the small of her back and pulled her body close to his. “You look so beautiful tonight. The most beautiful woman I have ever known.” She smiled as his mouth inched toward hers. It seemed as if he were moving in slow motion. His lips felt sublime next to hers. Akasha’s hands moved to cup his face as his mouth opened and his tongue slipped into hers. A soft growling noise 174
Spring Flings Anthology escaped Hellion’s throat as his kiss became harder and more demanding. It felt like the world was slipping away from them. A hooligan calling from his car was the only reason they separated. “You are so beautiful,” Hellion whispered again, his fangs bared. “I want you.” “I want you, too,” Akasha said. “But I can’t.” “Why not?” “I just can’t,” he said, releasing his hold on her body. “It would be wrong of me to take advantage of the situation.” Akasha took a step forward and reached for the back of his head. She snaked her other arm around his waist and pulled him in tight to kiss him hard on the lips again. At first, he tried to pull away, but she persisted. She held onto him tightly so he couldn’t move. She hoped he wouldn’t want to move. Her body was pressed hard against his. Hellion’s hands moved around to her buttocks and pulled her hips towards his. “Akasha, stop, please. It’s not as simple as this. Things in my family are complicated. I need to explain my situation to you.” He pulled away and wiped the edge of his mouth with his thumb. “I would like you to meet my parents,” Hellion blurted out. “I would like for you to meet them very much, will you come?” Akasha straightened her dress subtly and replied, “I would like that very much.” She wanted to know Hellion’s secrets now, but knew she would have to wait. **** The following weekend, Akasha dressed in a long red dress that hugged and flowed over her curves. She applied a thick shade of dark lipstick, and was brushing her long hair when there was a knock at her door. “Coming,” she called as she slipped into her shoes. She smiled at the handsome man before her. It was then that it dawned on her. She was in love with Hellion. They’d become such good companions, that he made it into her heart without her noticing. “Wow, look at you. I won’t be a moment, come in.” 175
Spring Flings Anthology “It’s okay, I’ll wait for you here,” he said, stepping back from the doorway. Akasha turned to face him as she collected her bag. She gazed at him intently and wondered why he wouldn’t enter. “Okay, I’m ready,” she said, pulling the door shut behind her. Then Hellion reached for her hand. **** Hellion’s mother was just as excited to meet Akasha as she was to meet them. “Your house is amazing,” she gushed. “Come, dear, come and sit next to me,” his mother said. Hellion grabbed two glasses from the servants and followed Akasha. “Now, tell me what you think you’re doing with my son.” “Mother!” Hellion spat. “Oh come now, I want to know all about the woman who has stolen my only son’s heart,” she gushed. Hellion turned away when Akasha looked at him. “Mother, please, just enjoy your drink and I’ll go and find Dad.” He gave Akasha an awkward smile before setting off. “I must say, I can see why you’ve captured his heart.” His mother smiled. “You are very beautiful and have several qualities that attract people. I mean, I only just met you and already, I want to spend time with you. Hellion has told us of how you became…well…like us. You don’t have to worry, we understand and you are always welcome in our home.” Akasha didn’t know what to say, but she uttered “Thank you,” as Hellion returned with his father in tow. “And this is my father,” Hellion said, glaring at his mother as they stood. “Hello, dear, I was just checking on dinner. We are being civilized tonight, hope you brought your appetite. Gosh, she is pretty, isn’t she, Hellion?” It was Akasha’s turn to blush as Hellion took her by the hand and led her to the dining room. “I’m sorry if they’re making you feel uncomfortable. They don’t care if they make me feel anxious.” 176
Spring Flings Anthology Akasha laughed. “No, not at all. I think they’re both lovely.” **** Following dinner, Hellion invited Akasha to take a walk on the property. “Oh, it’s such a beautiful night and we haven’t gone for a night walk in so long,” Hellion’s mother said before receiving a deathly glare from Hellion. “But I think I’d rather go to bed. Come on, dear.” “Your parents are amazing,” Akasha said as she linked her arm through Hellion’s and stepped on the grass at the rear of the house. “I had no idea about your heritage. Your family spans too many years for me to even think about. What they must have seen and experienced.” “You could have that, too,” Hellion said in a low tone. “If you wanted it, that is.” “What do you mean?” “I mean, I could give you this life. I know you’re a vampire, but you aren’t what we consider a true vampire. True vampires want to commit themselves totally to the lifestyle. You came into this existence by default. I would like to offer you the chance to become part of our universe but I would have to bite and drink from you, just as you must from me.” They didn’t stop walking as they continued to talk. “But if you don’t want what I’m offering, it’s alright. I understand.” Akasha unlinked her arm and took him by the hand. “No, I appreciate your offer. I have a question for you though.” “Sure.” “Why is it that every time I ask you into my apartment, you say no? I mean you look interested but then you don’t come in,” she said. “That night when we kissed? I wanted to take you then and there, but I held back to make sure that my love for you is pure. Some vampires can just have all the sex they want, but not me. I want to be with someone who will love me as much as I do them forever.” 177
Spring Flings Anthology “Are you saying that you wouldn’t have sex with me because you don’t love me?” she asked quietly. “No, I do love you. I love you very much. It’s just…” “What?” she said, moving closer to him. “It’s just that I’m a true vampire and you were an innocent party turned into a soulless being by default,” Hellion said, turning towards her. “I care very much for you and I would like you to be part of my life, but that entails a whole set of problems, or opportunities—depends on how you look at it.” “I want you to be part of my life, too, I feel we have a connection,” she said. “Are you aware of the consequences that come with being a true vampire?” “I’m already part of the way there, Hellion. I need your help to finish the transformation. Will you help me?” “Will you love me forever?” “I will,” she said, leaning in to kiss him. He kissed her tenderly and held her body close. He loved the way she smelt. He liked how her body melded into his when she was close. Sweeping his hand under her hair, he revealed her neck. “Do it. I want you to do it.” She held onto him tighter as she felt his breath on her neck. Shivers ran down her spine when he opened his mouth. “Remember this moment, for your life is about to change again,” he said before pressing his fangs into her veins. The last thing she remembered was crying out. **** “Are you thinking hard, my love? I want you to think about the first time you wanted me to become just like you. Think about how you planned to make me your partner in the afterlife.” Akasha slid her hand over his shoulder before snapping her fingers. One of the small men carrying a silver tray moved towards her. She carefully picked up the silk blindfold and held it in her hands for Hellion to see. “Now, what I’m going to do is put this blindfold on you. Make things a bit more interesting. Think of that, love, then come and find me. I want you to only 178
Spring Flings Anthology use your vampire instincts. I want you to sense the desire I have to be with you. I’ll be waiting, but you have to find me and believe me, lover, I will not make it easy.” She stopped next to him, and pressed her breasts into his arm as she reached her arms around his head. Hellion’s hand moved under her skirt and gently caressed her long legs. “You’re making my skin tingle. There’ll be more to come if you can find me, since you won’t be chasing any of those pathetic humans. I can run faster than you can. Are you remembering how we first made love? The chase?” Akasha didn’t move away from him. She leant forward and pulled his head toward her chest and stroked his hair gently to encourage him to remember. To bring back his vampire instinct. “The moment I met you, I was mesmerized by you. You made me so strong,” she said with a smile. “You made me a creature of the night. One who can live forever. One who will love you forever.” Akasha leant forward and pressed her lips to Hellion’s forehead. He laughed as he pressed his head forward and brought his hands to rest on her waist. Akasha lifted her head to look down at her lover. His smile caused her to respond in kind. She let her head drop back as his hands climbed slowly under her arms and around to her breasts. He could feel her nipples straining against the material. They both knew they could have each other in that instant. “So what do I have to do? And I remember allowing you to think you could outrun me.” His hands gently caressed the sides of her bodice. Then one hand snaked between her breasts up to her neck. With his fingers splayed, he fondled it. Akasha let her head drop back again to fully expose her neck as his fingers caressed it. She let out a gentle moan as he tightened his grip slightly to feel for her vein. She forced herself back into setting the scene for him. “Even to the last second, you were still unsure about the life I could offer you.” Akasha stepped back to force him to let go of her neck. “But what a life you have given me. I have everything I could ever 179
Spring Flings Anthology desire. I have my lover by my side, a fabulous house to live in and the world to feed upon. What more could a girl want?” “Besides excitement?” She could feel his fingers moving over her nipples again. She had to fight temptation to go for his neck and have him now. She desperately wanted to kiss him, to taste, savor and love him. She took another step and stopped with one leg between his. “Well, I’m about to give you excitement, you just have to find me with the blindfold on. That’s all the challenge is,” she said, stepping back and letting his hand go as she covered his eyes with the blindfold. The ties hung long down his back. She continued to speak with her arms resting on his shoulders. “Now there will be no cheating. You will only cheat yourself out of a great adventure if you do. The blindfold stays on untill you find me. Now, stay here and count to one hundred. Once you reach that number, come and find me. I’ll be somewhere on the grounds. I promise that I won’t leave the boundaries of the property. Good luck, my love.” She stared at his mouth as she spoke. She loved the way his lips looked. They were dark, full and juicy. Akasha shivered at the thought of her favorite part of his body roaming freely over hers. As she licked her lips, she could still taste blood before she pressed her mouth to his. Akasha instinctively opened her mouth to give him full access. She started to smile at the thought of how turned on they had become from her humble idea. A simple game of Catch and Kiss had turned into a remake of their history. Her tongue invaded his mouth as he responded. His hands moved over her buttocks and he pulled her body close. “Stop, we’re ruining everything. I want you right now, but I desire you even more when you’re hunting me.” “You taste so good and feel so beautiful. I love this idea but I have one question.” His hands continually moved over her silk skirt. “What’s that, my love?” “I have to chase you down. Then what?” he asked. “What’s my reward when I find you?” 180
Spring Flings Anthology “Me.” She could feel the blood pumping through her veins. “Are you ready? Are you sure about the rules? It won’t be any fun if you cheat. Then you get to fuck me where you find me.” “Oh no, I’m ready,” he said. Akasha looked at his trousers. That familiar bulge had appeared. She leaned forward, again placing her hand directly on his hardening penis and kissed his lips. “Be careful.” Hellion laughed. “Don’t want it ruined just yet.” “You’ll be fine, come and find me, lover,” she said as she stepped back and pulled her hand away from his cock. “Are you ready?” She didn’t wait for a reply as she turned and ran along the long, cool corridor. Akasha knew she’d have to outsmart him if she was going to bring her plan to fruition. She smiled when she heard him counting aloud. “Hey, you have to count slowly,” she called back to him. “And you are not to take off the blindfold, you don’t need any more advantages.” “Fine. One…two…three,” he started again as she set off running across the cool stone floor toward the back of the house. Her skirt caught in her legs as she ran. She listened to his counting as she gently pulled the chain and unlocked the door. She removed her knickers and hung them over the doorknob, then she pushed the door open wide. She hadn’t been chased for at least three decades. Not how she used to be anyway. She hoped her plan would pay off for them both. She could tell that Hellion was excited about the prospect. He hadn’t been challenged in many, many decades. As the door swung open, the cool air caught her breath, exposing her fangs even more. Her pale skin shone in the dark night. She hiked up her skirt to free her legs as she ran to the east wing of the house. Akasha crept along the wall and hid between the trees and waited for her beloved to draw near. She let her head drop back and ran her tongue over her fangs. She was desperate to taste Hellion’s blood. Rubbing her arms to generate a small amount of 181
Spring Flings Anthology heat, she knew that Hellion would be sniffing the air for her scent. As part of her plan, she’d roamed the gardens that day and made sure she’d left false clues for him to track. She held her breath when she saw his shadow in the doorway. Her whole body tingled with anticipation. She smiled as Hellion set off in the direction of where she’d left several drops of her blood on the roses near the western wing. Akasha watched him fly to the second story and linger on the rooftop. She froze on the spot. She pulled at the leaves to cover her bare arms while she continued to breathe in shallow gasps. He would be listening for any sound she made, and any strong scent of her closeness. The sound of his footsteps moving quickly over the roof tiles warned her to run toward the front door. She ran softly over the ground to ensure she made as little noise as possible. She didn’t know if it was fear, or exhilaration that kept her moving. A flaw Akasha was able to use to her advantage was the fact that Hellion hardly ever retraced his steps, but she knew he would soon smell her fresh trail. Anything was possible now that he was blindfolded. Akasha’s prediction of him staying around the front of the house came true as she listened for the soft thud of his landing on the ground as she flew up. She held her arms out wide and crossed the roof. She knew exactly where she wanted to lead him. Her plan was to lure him to the small moon garden where he first made love to her, true vampire to true vampire. He’d planted flowers that flourished in the glow of the moon’s light. Since it was the only time they were allowed to roam freely, he’d made that garden for them to enjoy. The grounds were scattered with lovely gardens but they were never able to enjoy them during the harsh light of day. “I’m getting closer to you,” he called as she unclipped her corset. Her nipples hardened more as she slipped out of it. “I can sense you.” The excitement of the hunt sent her blood racing. Her skin prickled and tingled with excitement. She slipped her 182
Spring Flings Anthology skirt over her hips and threw it over a bush before hiding near the fence. All she could hear was the humming of mosquitoes over her own harsh breathing. She liked the annoying insects, they were of the same nature as her. They needed blood to survive and she never deprived them of her plentiful source. But tonight, she was going to be greedy, she wanted to give herself wholly to him like she did centuries ago. Akasha peered through the bushes and saw a dark figure standing next to her corset. Shivers ran up her spine and made the small hairs on the back of her neck stand up on end. She crouched, hugging her knees to her chest and held her breath. She instinctively folded her arms and reached for her pussy. She could quite easily have walked into his path and let him ravage her ready body. The only thing that stopped her was the thought of his raw energy and passion she’d hoped for when he found her. She couldn’t wait to give as good as she got. Akasha danced her fingers over her pussy lips and was surprised at how wet she was already. The anticipation really turned her on. She watched him lift her knickers off the doorknob and hold them in his hands. Surprised he didn’t find them first, she was prepared for surprises. “Come out and play,” Hellion called while he took off his shirt. “I’m coming to get you.” She watched him take two steps toward the bush which had caught her skirt. He stopped when he felt his arm brush against the softness of the silk. He smiled at the thought of her running around naked in their garden. “Playing this way, are we?” Hellion didn’t hesitate in removing his pants. Akasha let out a low sigh and relished the fact he wore nothing under his pants. When he turned sideways, she caught a perfect outline of his proud cock. It stood pointing toward the moonlight with its pale skin, but every inch looked delicious. She smiled as he reached for it and gave it a healthy stroke, then he tugged gently on his balls. She heard him sigh. She had to force herself to quietly wait instead of going to him and taking him in her mouth. The thought of him catching her drove her wild. 183
Spring Flings Anthology Akasha sat frozen against the oak tree and peered through the bushes. With each footstep, he drew closer to her hideout. She stared at his neck when he lifted his head to sniff the air. “I’m getting closer,” he said quietly. “I can smell you, both your scent and your juices.” She watched him move behind the trees and over to the hammock sniffing the air for her to no avail. She stifled her snickers as he continued to taunt and call her knowing full well she was watching his every move. He was doing very well for being blindfolded. She licked her lips as he stalked closer to her hideout. Small twigs and leaves crunched under his bare feet as he inched toward her. She held her breath as he spun and faced her straight on. Does he sense me? If he thinks I’m here, why isn’t he catching me? She was frozen as she stared at the sight of his perfect cock. While her mind raced and her skin tingled with a mixture of nerves and excitement, he stood there giving her a perfect view of his long cock. Hellion’s head snapped to the side. Her legs cramped, but that didn’t stop her as she pushed her fingers past the outer lips of her pussy and swirled them in her juices. Her nipples ached to be touched, fondled and sucked. The hairs on the back of her neck stood up at the thought of his hands on her body. He turned slowly to get a better sense of the grounds that were keeping her so well concealed. Had she not used the blindfold, the game would have been over in an instant. Hellion’s reputation for his night vision was legend. She had to fight the urge to reach out and grab at his ass but the buzzing of the mosquitoes had driven her to distraction. She didn’t realize she’d made a fatal mistake when she slapped her arm to kill one until it was too late. Hearing the clap, he jumped around and found his reward. “Ah ha! Found you. You are mine!” Driven by surprise and desire, she let out a high-pitched squeal as she jumped to her feet and set off across the garden. As she ran, Hellion pulled off the blindfold and began chasing her. Fuelled by fear and uncertainty, Akasha powered her arms and kept her focus on the area ahead of her. “No you don’t! I want my prize. I found you!” Hellion laughed as 184
Spring Flings Anthology he grabbed her around the waist and pulled her into himself. Her body felt electric as he rubbed against her. His arms wrapped around her waist and her legs kicked out in front of her. Her breasts jiggled as she struggled against him. Akasha continued to squeal as he lifted her off the ground and rubbed his cock over her ass cheeks before setting her down. “Ooh, I love it when you struggle. It turns me on so much. You drive me wild.” He was easily able to hold her. Her hands moved over the top of his and she struggled to free herself. Akasha was driving herself wild. The chase had brought back so many memories, she almost felt human again. She stared back at the house. He kissed her soft flesh, then she felt his mouth open. She fought against him and cried out when his fangs sank deep into her neck. The feeling of her skin being pierced and the flow of blood calmed her. Akasha grabbed his cock and balls while he loosened his grip to take a breast in each hand and gently massage them. He sucked her neck deep and long as Hellion continued to savor her sweet taste. She rocked gently in his arms as he continued to feed from her. Her hand moved up to run her fingers through his hair as she dropped her head to the side and bared her fangs. She’d craved his touch all night. She ran her pre-cum covered hand to her breast and pinched the nipple gently. A small trickle of her blood dribbled down her neck, which he caught with his finger. Hellion offered it to her. “Taste yourself, my love.” Her eyes stared blankly before her. Her veins throbbed when he started feeding again. As her blood drained out of her, she could feel her power and energy surging. She grabbed his finger and pushed it between her lips. As she sucked on it, Hellion moved. She pulled her head back and turned his wrist to face her mouth. Fangs bared, she gently pressed her mouth against his vein. She wanted the sensation of her fangs piercing his flesh to last. She could feel the blood pulsing against her lips. The first fang to perforate made Hellion pull back, but only for a moment. The second forced him to lift his head completely.
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Spring Flings Anthology “Anyone would think that you were the one to convert me,” he said, as blood trickled down both sides of his mouth. “So when does the fuck part take place?” She didn’t protest when his hands slid to her waist and turned her around to face him. With half-opened eyes, she licked her lips before kissing him. Their fangs clanged together gently before she pulled back to lick the blood off his arm. “Can’t let any go to waste now,” Akasha said with a bloodied grin. She slipped her finger inside her mouth and sucked on it, teasing him. He smiled as he pulled her hand away and replaced her finger with his tongue. His hand caressed her cheek and moved to the nape of her neck, tilting her face up to his as she returned his hungry kisses. He slid his hands down her back and grabbed her buttocks. Hellion’s fingers followed the line of her cheeks down to her opening. He moaned when his fingers slipped through the wetness and deep inside her. “Someone likes the idea of this game, eh?” She nodded and moaned before she kissed his neck and let her hands search for his cock again. “Methinks someone else does too! Mind if I got on my knees for a bit? Your cock looks divine in the moonlight.” “I think I deserve it. I’m the winner so far,” he said, then laughed. “Do you now? We shall see who the winner is. Remember, it’s important for us to get to the finish line together.” She smiled as she dropped to her knees and took his glory in her mouth. She joined in his moans when she took the first suck. His cock bounced over her tongue as she sucked it down her throat. Sucking hard, she turned her head to the underside and made her way along the thick vein to his balls. She was able to get his cock to slide between her fangs as she drew back. Akasha nuzzled her face between his cock and balls to make him moan even more. Only moments before, he’d brought the fingers in her pussy to his lips and took a taste. 186
Spring Flings Anthology “I have to have you,” he shuddered. “How bad do you want me?” “Real bad. I have to be inside you. You’re ready as you’ll ever be. I want your juice on my cock. I wanna fuck you up against the fountain. Lucky it’s not freezing out or it would be a no-go.” He laughed, helping her to her feet. “Fuck me now,” she begged, pulling his hand to her pussy again. He wrapped his arm around her waist and without removing his fingers, lifted her, taking her over to the fountain. She kissed him hard as he set her down gently. She stepped back and pressed her back against the concrete bowl and statue. She couldn’t help shuddering from its cool touch. “Cold?” She nodded. “Best get you warmed up then,” he said, moving forward and pressing against her. He ran his hand along her thigh and pulled her leg up at the knee encouraging her to wrap it around his body. He fingered her pussy as he brought his cock to the first set of lips. She held onto his shoulders for balance and stared into his eyes as he pushed inside her. Her mouth dropped open from the delightful sensation of his first thrust. Her pussy wall tingled with the force of his cock as it slid all the way in. Digging her nails into his flesh, she savored the experience. Her pussy accommodated his large cock with ease as it closed around him. He pulled out and repositioned himself to gain entry again. He slipped in with ease and after several thrusts, pussy juice covered his balls. Hellion tightened his grip as he thrust into her harder, making her pant loudly. She kissed his neck as he brought her leg higher and pressed it against her chest, opening her even wider. He pushed into her with long, hard strokes until his balls rested against her lips before he pulled out again and repeated the lovely process. Akasha was pinned between him and the fountain, but she had no desire to go anywhere. She looked deep into his eyes and smiled as she tried to keep her breathing in a smooth rhythm when he pushed himself into her. 187
Spring Flings Anthology “I wanna suck your fingers. Get some of my juice on them and let me lick it off,” she begged. Without hesitating, he moved his hand to her opening and caught his cock when he pulled out of her, then slid in two fingers. She squirmed against his invasive touch wanting him to push further. “Give them to me!” He replaced his fingers with his cock and found his motion again, making her pant. She was desperate to taste herself on his fingers. He rubbed his fingers over her nipple before feeding them to her. Hellion loved the feeling of her warm mouth trapping and sucking his fingers while he worked his cock into her pussy. It was the same feeling and one he loved. He held her in place as he leant forward and clamped his mouth over her pussy juice covered nipple. Akasha pushed against him and held his head in place when he rolled his tongue over and over her nipple. Tingles ran up and down her spine and her pussy started to pulse. He let go of her breast and grabbed the fountain as he pushed into her harder and longer. His balls slapped against her butt cheeks as she cried out for him to fuck her harder. Holding tight to his hips, she clamped her pussy muscles around his cock while her head knocked gently against the fountain. She could feel the head of his cock pushing against the opening of her cervix. “I love it when you fuck me hard like this,” she hissed, digging her nails into his buttocks. Her pussy relaxed and clenched around his cock making it tighter for each thrust. “Your juice is all over my balls.” He panted as he continued thrusting into her. Her body started to shake. The small warm feeling that had started at the base of her spine had spread through every nerve in her body. She had to have him inside her. They panted together as she begged him to keep his cock inside her while waves engulfed her pussy. “Stay inside me!” she screamed as she brought her leg around his hip to hold him there. Her pussy pulsed around his cock as he pushed it all the way in. He could feel her lips eating at his balls as his own warm juice started to flow. 188
Spring Flings Anthology He called out her name as waves of his cum shot through his cock and into her. He sighed as he slipped in and out in the mixture of their juices. His hips slowed as the last of his cum dribbled out. He held her trembling body close to his and leaned in to kiss her neck before searching for her lips. “That was a great game to play.” He sighed, rocking against her. She lowered her leg enjoying the last of the sensations, then she stood before him. “Well it’s your turn to hide now,” she said with a smile and closed her eyes. “One…two…three…”
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THE CHANGELING by
December Quinn
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It was funny how snow had a particular scent all its own. It hung in the air, cold and fresh, ever so slightly bitter in the back of Lena’s throat. Like biting a nickel. She kept walking, pushing herself. She’d been planning this trip for weeks, ever since the dreams became more intense. The snow should have been melted by now, but she was tired of delaying. Tired of not knowing. Tired of feeling foolish. It was time to end this and prove that nothing waited for her here. He held a pale hand out to her, his skin almost translucent in the moonlight. “Come, Lleandda,” he said. His voice caressed her skin, surrounding her body with silk. “Come to me.” She stepped closer to him and gasped. He was shirtless, his body so perfect and white, it seemed to glow. Her gaze drifted down, from the platinum hair that flowed over his shoulders, to the broad, hairless expanse of his muscular chest. Still lower, across his flat stomach. The trousers he wore clung lovingly to the hard ridge of his cock. She knew how much he wanted her, needed her. She was in front of him without knowing how she got there, only inches from the elegant hand that still reached for her. “Lleandda,” he said. The joy in his eyes was so pure, she wanted to cry. “I missed you. I knew you would hear me.” “Of course I heard you,” she whispered, taking his hand in hers. A jolt of power, so intense it made her gasp, passed between them. “I will always hear you.” 191
Spring Flings Anthology He noticed it too, and smiled as he took her in his arms. “Together, we can rule this place,” he whispered, his lips only inches from hers. His eyes were the clearest blue, so light they didn’t look real. “With you at my side, we can do anything.” “Iago,” she said, her eyes stinging with tears. “Iago.” His lips met hers. She stumbled over a rock and fell flat on her ass with her arms flailing, feeling like an idiot. Served her right for getting so lost in memories of a dream that she wasn’t paying attention to where she was going. “Not smart, Lena,” she muttered, standing up again. The palms of her hands stung, and she wiped them on her jeans, brushing off the crystals of ice and warming them again. “Not smart, and not safe.” Lena had lived at the foot of Trwch Mynydd all her life. As a child, she’d played on it, creating new worlds from her imagination and peopling them with characters who loved her. As a teenager, she’d escaped here, hiding from the inexplicable coldness of her family and the cruelty of her peers. Now, as an adult, she hiked it, cared for it, escaped here when her life got too confusing. It was almost as familiar to her as her own home, but far more dangerous. Even experienced hikers can get hurt. They called it a mountain, but it wasn’t, not really. Just an enormous hill, rocky and covered in sparse grass and scrub pine. Still, it was the closest thing to a mountain they had in the area, and she had always been proud of it, full of pride at knowing its secrets. Now she was letting herself become distracted by a sexy dream lover and forgetting those secrets. What was she doing here anyway? She sank back down, crouching in the snow, her thighs still aching from the exercise. She was here because of the dreams; because for some insane reason, she’d become certain over the last few months that she really would meet him here; the bone-white sylph of her dreams. The man who’d been her secret confidant for years. Iago. 192
Spring Flings Anthology She whispered his name out loud, as she’d done many times before, letting it roll off her tongue, tasting the syllables on her lips. “Iago.” Nothing happened. There was no voice answering, “Lleandda.” No handsome face with pale eyes peeking out from behind a bush. Hell, did she really expect there to be? She sighed and stood up. Time to go home. The next time she was tempted to go on such a fool’s errand, she would remember this. **** Iago’s arms were around her, strong and sure. His skin looked like marble, but there was nothing cold about his flesh or the way he held her. His eyes burned into her, making her face even hotter than it was already. She could feel every inch of his body against hers. The smooth skin of his chest lightly crushing her own bare breasts. The sensation was unbelievable. The energy she’d felt course through them before was stronger now. She would have been afraid if not for Iago’s eyes, so loving, reassuring her. His hand slid down her bare back to her ass, cupping her, squeezing her closer to him, letting her fall backwards until she rested on her back on the warm, soft earth. He nibbled down the side of her throat, across her chest, finding her aching nipples and pulling them into his mouth. She gasped and arched her back, urging him to suck harder, to let his teeth scrape gently over the pebbled flesh. Still further down he went, nipping at the thin skin over her ribs, the softness of her belly. His tongue found her bellybutton and delved inside, making her jump and let out a breath that was half gasp, half giggle. Her pussy burned for him, her clit so sensitive and exposed, she could swear she felt his aura touch it. She cried out as he gently sucked it, flicking the tip of his tongue over it. She came almost instantly, making sounds she had never heard herself make before, the high-pitched cries of a woman whose entire world has become pure sensation. 193
Spring Flings Anthology Lena leapt from her bed like it was on fire. Her chest heaved as she stared at it, her face still flushed from the intensity of her orgasm. Her pussy still throbbed. Her panties were soaking. It was the middle of the night. The clock by her bedside said one thirty. She’d gone to bed earlier than she normally did, but not early enough to be awake at this hour. Good thing it was a weekend. Or bad thing, depending on how she looked at it. A normal woman might not have been home on a Saturday night to go to bed at nine o’clock. At least, not alone. Lena gave the bed one last, disgusted look and headed for the bathroom. The bright overhead light helped bring her back to her senses, but not much. What was wrong with her? A quick glance in the mirror showed that she looked fine—or at least, no different than normal. Her black hair was a mess, the thick curls tangled and damp from her sweat. Her pale skin was flushed, her dark eyes so magnified by the shadows underneath them, that they seemed to take up half of her face. She could almost hear her mother’s voice in her head. That damn girl looks like a doll. Like one of those creepy dolls that follows a person with their eyes. Her mother hadn’t known she could hear everything she said. But then, she probably wouldn’t have cared. She said enough to Lena’s face to make it clear Lena wasn’t wanted. Lena sighed. After waking up in a mixture of orgasmic ecstasy and panicky fear, the last thing she wanted to think about was her mother. “I’m going insane,” she said aloud. Everyone always said she was weird. Apparently, they were right. She couldn’t meet and fall in love with a normal man, no. She had to create one in her head. She turned the faucet on cold and splashed her face. The water shocked her, woke her up more fully, and the rough texture of the towel as she dried off finished the job. 194
Spring Flings Anthology It was a quarter to two. She was wide awake. She padded softly down the hallway to the living room, shivering in the darkness. Why was it still so cold? It was the middle of April, for Pete’s sake. The weather should have broken weeks ago. The snow should have melted. Funny, now that she was thinking about it. It really should have. Usually by now, the trees were starting to turn green again, and the first buds had started to poke through the soil in her garden. How had she lost track of time like this, and not even noticed? Vaguely, she remembered thinking about this on the mountain before she fell. She hadn’t picked up the threads of that thought, or went on to consider what it might mean that spring was not yet here. It felt wrong. Something felt wrong, and it was more than the crazy dreams. Even thinking about how winter hadn’t left yet felt wrong, like she was doing something forbidden. Like she wasn’t supposed to notice it. Well, she was noticing it now. Outside her living room window, the snow lay thick and white, untouched. It had snowed more since she went to bed. Snow in April? Somehow, she wasn’t tired anymore. She was scared. Terrified to her bones, too frightened to even think about why a late snow was bothering her so much. It had certainly happened before. The spring she was seven, when she’d had pneumonia, had been like this. She remembered lying in the narrow bed in her childhood bedroom, looking out the window in a feverish daze, watching the snow cover the new flowers in the flowerbed. She’d almost died that year, come to think of it. Just like the year she turned sixteen and was in a car accident. The roads were wet and slick with rain which turned into freezing rain that turned to snow.
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Spring Flings Anthology She shook her head, trying to slow the rapid beating of her heart. She was scaring herself unnecessarily. What did she think, that somehow a snowy spring meant her life was in danger? Get over yourself, Lena. I’m sure there were other spring snows, too. You just don’t remember them because you weren’t paying attention. But somehow, she doubted it. “Lleandda.” Lena was too panicked already. She screamed, a frantic yelp, and dove behind the couch. Someone was in the room. **** She could sense them, feel their presence. It wasn’t scary, exactly, although just the idea of someone in her home was frightening. But something about it was familiar. Like she’d walked into her house and found her mother there. Maybe that wasn’t right. Her mother would never come here, and Lena certainly never felt comfortable when the woman was around. Now isn’t the time to start the self-pity party because nobody has ever felt safe to you, she told herself. Now is the time to figure out how you’re going to get out of here before it’s— Too late. A face appeared over the back of the couch, showing itself inch by inch. She gasped. He was awfully handsome for a burglar. “Take whatever you want,” she said, squeezing her eyes shut tight. She could still see him, though, in her mind. His hair was dark, framing a face so delicately boned, he could easily be called beautiful. There was nothing feminine about him, not that she could see, but the word was the only one that seemed to fit. “Lleandda,” he said. “Come out of there.” Suddenly, she wasn’t frightened anymore. She was still asleep, that was it. Iago always called her Lleandda. The fact this was definitely not Iago was unimportant. She was dreaming. End of story. 196
Spring Flings Anthology “My name isn’t Lleandda,” she said carefully. Even in a dream, it paid to be cautious. He might have an angelic face, but he also had wide shoulders that promised an equally broad body as well. And she was hiding behind a couch. Not really an attack position. “What is it, then?” “Le—” She stopped. “I’m not going to tell you my name.” “That’s smart of you,” he said. “But I do know it already. So why don’t you get out from behind there so we can talk, because we really don’t have time for this.” “I have all the time in the world,” she said. “I’m asleep.” “No you’re not,” he said. “I’m sorry we’ve had to do it this way. It wasn’t our wish. But we’ve no choice now, and you need to come with me.” Lena considered it. “No.” “How about this? If you’re asleep, it does you no harm to come with me, does it?” “I’m still not coming. You’re a stranger.” There was a pause. She could almost hear the intruder thinking, considering something. Finally, he spoke. “I’m not, actually. I’m not a stranger. I’m your brother, Lleandda, your brother Cynwrig, and if you don’t come with me now, Iago could die. We all could die.” Iago. She could taste his name on her lips, smell him in the air. When his name was mentioned, his image came back to her, just as he appeared in her dreams, pale and perfect, proudly bare in the woods. His eyes so pale, she could almost see through them to his soul. The soul that belonged to her. She stood up so fast, she banged her head on the frame of the couch. “Iago?” Amazing, what a relief it was to say his name out loud to another person. 197
Spring Flings Anthology Cynwrig nodded. “You must come, now.” He lowered his voice to a fearful whisper. “Before she knows I’m here. We have to go before she sees us.” Lena looked at him, hard. He said he was her brother. He certainly looked like he could be. Dark as she was, his eyes were mirrors of her own. She’d never met anyone who looked like her. Certainly, she resembled nobody in her family. She nodded. “I don’t know if I believe you, and I have no idea what I’m doing. But I’ll come with you.” He was visibly relieved. “Good.” “I’ll get dressed.” She turned away to walk back into her bedroom, but his voice stopped her. “Never mind, I’ll take care of that.” He waved his hand in her direction. She looked down. Her clothes were gone. Instead, she wore a pair of leggings, softer than leather but thicker too, and a square-necked tunic that hung to midthigh. Calf-high boots completed the outfit. She was toasty warm. “How did you do that?” “Would you stop asking questions?” He stepped towards her impatiently and took her arm. “We need to go.” “Fine, but I just wanted to—” Cynwrig wasn’t listening. He yanked open her front door and practically pushed her out into the snow. The cold air on her face took her breath away, but he was right. Her exposed skin felt the chill, but the rest of her body was warm. He dragged her around to the back of her house and into the trees at the base of Trwch Mynydd. It felt like flying, they moved so quickly, slipping between the heavy snow-covered branches without even touching them. “This isn’t right,” Lena said. “These trees don’t go back this far. There certainly isn’t a forest here.” “You’re a real pain in the ass, you know that?” he snapped, still moving. “They do, and there is, and we’re almost there. So just shut up before she hears us.” 198
Spring Flings Anthology “Almost where?” she started to ask, but her voice was sucked from her throat as the world spun around her, faster and faster, until all she could do was close her eyes and give herself up to the spinning. **** “My child.” The voice had that same indefinable sense of the familiar she’d felt when she met Cynwrig. Like she’d heard it before, and if she could just remember where, she would know something important. She opened her eyes. It was her father. She knew that, beyond a shadow of a doubt, even though he did not look like the man she’d grown up with. He didn’t look like anyone she’d ever seen. His slight build was just starting to run to the heaviness of middle age, but the sense of power that radiated from him was ageless, as were the dark eyes that regarded her calmly from below sharp black eyebrows. He stood in front of her in a cavernous room decorated in gold and green. She tried to sit up, but he held his hand out to her. “Don’t move just yet, Lleandda. You have had a long and trying journey, and there is much farther yet to go. Do not tire yourself.” “I don’t understand,” she said, and was ashamed to feel tears in her eyes and running down her cheeks. “I don’t understand any of this.” He shook his head, face downcast. “I know, and I am sorry. We did not want to do this, any of it, to you.” “Bring me here?” He looked at her then, and she saw unshed tears glistening in his eyes, too. “No, my dear. We did not want to send you away from here.” There was movement in the corner of the room. Cynwrig was there, his arms folded. Lena prepared herself for another 199
Spring Flings Anthology snide comment from him, but there was none. His sadness floated through the room to her like a soft breeze. “Father…” The older man—her father?—nodded, never taking his eyes from her face. “I know, Cyn.” He sighed heavily and took her hand. The warmth that flowed from him and into her body was wonderful. “I’m sorry, my dear. But your brother is right. There is no time for discussion. She has Iago, and you must save him.” “But I don’t know how,” she said. Somewhere deep inside her mind, she was crying, panicking, wondering when she would wake up. But outwardly, she was calm. “I don’t even know him.” “You do,” said her father. “You know Iago as well as you do yourself.” Iago’s lips, curving into a smile as he bent to kiss her. Softly at first, then deeper, as he moved his body closer to hers, pulling her more tightly to him. She could feel his hardness, pressing insistently against the wet cleft between her legs. Her clothes were gone. She didn’t know how or where, but she didn’t care either. All that mattered was the feel of him, his skin against hers. “My love,” he whispered, taking her mouth with his again and again, kissing her until she was dizzy and desperate. Her hands slid down his chest, across the hard planes of muscle, down into the soft hair that surrounded his cock. She stroked it and felt it jump in her hand. “Lleandda,” he murmured. “I cannot wait any more. You must come to me.” “I will,” she said. “I am coming.” His fingers slipped down between her legs, delving into her pussy. First one finger slid inside her, then another. She writhed against his hand, urging him deeper as his thumb stroked her clit in a light, steady rhythm. Her hand worked faster on his cock, pumping up and down. She tried to slide it into her, to fill herself with his body, but he pulled away. 200
Spring Flings Anthology “Not yet,” he said. His eyes were so large in his face, she couldn’t see anything else. “Not until we are truly together.” Now she had both hands on him, one on his shaft, the other caressing his balls. She gave them a gentle tug and was rewarded by his gasp of pleasure. Another finger joined the first two in her cunt, stretching her walls. She was drowning in pleasure, in her desire for him. She felt the pressure building in her pelvis, felt him stiffen and swell in her hand. They came together, their hands sticky with each others’ juices, their mouths joined together in a searing kiss that lasted forever. She gasped, suddenly aware that the men had left the room while she dozed, that she was once again alone in a bed while her body shook with pleasure. Lena stood up and straightened her tunic. It was time to get some answers. She could feel her sense of what was real and what wasn’t starting to slip away, like a half-remembered dream. Only one thing seemed certain now. Iago was real, and he was out there somewhere. She was going to find him. **** “You’re a changeling.” Lena just stared at him. The man who called himself her father smiled back. She blinked. “What?” “A changeling. You’re an elf.” “I am not an elf. Elves aren’t real. I’m a person. A human.” He sighed. “No, you’re not. You’re an elf, and you’re my daughter. Your name is Lleandda Leafrunner. You were left with your human family as an elfling. We didn’t want to do it, but we had to. She knew about you, you see.” “No.” Lena wasn’t sure if she wanted to burst out laughing, or start screaming. “Who is ‘she’?” Her father cleared his throat. “We do not say her name.” “Okay. So let me get this straight.” Lena stood up and started pacing, the way she always did when she was angry. “I’m 201
Spring Flings Anthology an elf. I’m your daughter. You abandoned me at birth and left me with a family who hated me and treated me like shit all my life, while you guys sat here in your little house or burrow or whatever the hell this place is and went about your merry business. Now all of the sudden, I’m supposed to just accept all of this and be happy, embrace you, and go save the life of some guy I’ve never met?” “I understand your anger.” “No, you do not. You do not understand me, or the first thing about me. You don’t even fucking know me!” She was yelling now, horrified by the tears that ran down her cheeks. “This is a lie. I know you’re lying. Whatever stupid game this is that you’re playing, I want you to stop it, because it isn’t fun. It isn’t fun, and it isn’t nice.” “It’s not a game, Lleandda.” “That’s not my name! My name is Lena, Lena Rogan, and this is bullshit!” Her father stood up to walk towards her, and Lena held out her own hand to stop him. A gesture she’d used before, but this time, something happened. A line of bright blue fire shot out of the palm of her hand. Her father caught it, somehow managing to swallow it into himself. He didn’t look scared or even surprised. “What was that?” “Your power,” he said. “One of them, anyway.” “One of them?” He nodded. “Haven’t you ever noticed your powers before, even weakened as they were by your world? The ability to make things move? The power to create that which you desire? A connection with something bigger than yourself?” She was three, playing with her dolls, making them dance. Her mother came in and screamed. There were no more dolls after that day. She was eight, and the girls at school were picking on her. They stopped as a large black bird began swooping over their heads, diving at them, attacking them. 202
Spring Flings Anthology She was fifteen at a school dance, standing by herself. Linda Reynolds was there, dancing with Bobby Green, the boy Lena had a crush on. Suddenly, Linda tripped and fell, breaking her leg. She took care of the mountain, and it took care of her. She sat back down. “I cannot deal with this right now.” He reached for her hand again, and she let him. Watching fire shoot out of her body had terrified her too much to react to anything else. “Lleandda,” he said. “Believe me when I say that if there was any other way to do this, we would do it. If we had had any other choice but to let that human family raise you, we would have taken it. But we didn’t. And there is no way out of this now. Iago waits for you. We all do. Without you, we are lost.” “What are you talking about? You keep saying that but you won’t tell me what you mean.” “Have you not noticed that winter is still here?” That got her attention. “Yes.” “Have you not wondered why?” “I figured it was global warming.” He frowned. “Do not be flippant. It is nothing to do with your environment. It is her. She has Iago. She harms him. Until you heal him and set him free, he cannot bring life to the earth.” “Are you saying that if I don’t help Iago, there’s no spring…ever?” He nodded. “This is insane.” “No. This is your destiny. You are Iago’s mate, his enaidcha. You are the only one who can free him and bring spring back to the world. That is why you were hidden. She knew about you and him. She would have killed you if we had not sent you away.” Iago’s face was contorted with pain. He reached out for her, calling her name. She drew back in terror. He was stretched out, chained to a stone altar. Blood ran down his body. She couldn’t see the cuts the whip had made, but she knew where they were. She could feel them as if they were on her own body. 203
Spring Flings Anthology The vision was so intense, she felt dizzy. Her father was watching her. “I know you see him, my dear. I know you can find him.” She nodded, still not sure this was all real, but willing to believe the evidence. “We’re not done talking here.” “I know.” “But I guess there are more important tasks at hand now.” “Yes.” “So how do I find him?” He smiled. “He is your mate. You can always find him.” She made a face at him. “Cut the mystical shit, okay? Maybe elves grow up learning all about this. I didn’t. I grew up with a family who treated me like Cinderella. So tell me how to find him.” His hand on hers was warm. “You have a connection with him. A mental and physical bond. You’ve had it since birth. Open yourself to it. You’ve done it before, or you wouldn’t even know the name Iago Springbringer.” “Why me, anyway? Aren’t there other girls who could do this? What’s so great about me?” He hesitated, and she folded her arms across her chest and watched him steadily. Finally, he shrugged. “We all knew when Iago was born that he was special. Even among our people, he was special. His powers were so strong.” His eyes glazed a little, remembering. “It was foretold he would be born, and that he would be the one who could finally defeat her. But only with his enaidcha, his soul-mate. Without her, and the combination of her powers and his once their bodies and souls were one, he was vulnerable.” He looked at her again, his face affectionate. “It did not take long for us to realize that was you.” “How?” He smiled. “I’ll go into more detail later. Suffice it to say, that it was obvious. Your mother and I were—” “My…my mother?” 204
Spring Flings Anthology He nodded. “She is away, unfortunately, so you will have to wait to meet her. We only just realized what was happening, you see…we have all been befuddled lately.” Lena felt the tears fill her eyes again. She had a mother. A real mother. One who might even love her. “We did not want to give you up, Lleandda. We spent weeks trying to think of something else, until it became apparent she was aware of you. She knew who and where you were, and after she tried to steal you from us…we knew we had no choice. If we wanted you alive at all, we had to let you go.” His eyes were filled with tears now, too. Slowly, he reached a hand out to her, touching her face, running the tips of his fingers lightly over her skin. “My beautiful girl,” he whispered. “I prayed this day would come.” Suddenly, she was in his arms, being held more tightly than she had ever been before, so tight that it was hard to breathe. She didn’t care. Even if this was a lie and these people were crazy actors hired by a lunatic who liked mind games. It didn’t matter, because a man who said he was her father had called her “beautiful” and held her close while she cried. **** She was alone on the bed, trying desperately to think of a way to find Iago. Now the idea that she was an elf seemed less like an exciting discovery and more like a joke. Even the memory of the blue fire leaving her hand was not a comfort. She couldn’t do this. She didn’t know how. “Iago.” She waited, hoping that perhaps just saying his name would call him to her. There was nothing. “Iago.” She tried again, louder this time. Still nothing. She couldn’t fall sleep; she was too keyed up. She couldn’t concentrate because the room was too different from anything she’d ever seen, and part of her wanted to forget Iago and explore. And then spring would never come, she reminded herself. Over my head, or back on earth, or wherever, it’s still winter. It’s winter in April. And it shouldn’t be, and only I can make it right. 205
Spring Flings Anthology And that thought was enough to steel her resolve. She closed her eyes and concentrated. She’d done this before. She’d seen him, been with him, spoken to him. It may have been in her dreams, but they came from the mind, and if she could find that part of it that knew Iago and had touched him, she could get to him. It felt strange to be thinking like this, but exciting. She knew this was right. Somehow, she just knew. Iago. Something glimmered behind her eyelids, a flash of pale skin and hair. “Iago?” She thought she’d spoken aloud, but she hadn’t. She was there now, with him, in the forest. He was naked. Still as a statue, he stood in the clearing. The moonlight shone on him, defining every muscle in shadow and white light. He glowed with an unearthly brightness as she watched him, unable to even breathe. Even her dreams before this had not been so realistic. She could feel the breeze play over her face, could see the ends of his hair blowing around him. The woods still smelled of frost and dry leaves, and she knew that was because he was bound somewhere. “Iago?” He smiled at her, and it caught her heart. He was at least thirty feet away from her, but she could hear him as clearly as if he was right next to her. “Lleandda. You did come.” She took a step towards him, and he stepped closer to her, a slow, steady dance across the forest floor. “Why are we here? I thought you were a prisoner.” He smiled again, sadness touching his face. “I am. But this is my kingdom—our kingdom. It is the only place safe enough for us to meet until we are joined.” “How? How do we join?” He was next to her now. She closed her eyes involuntarily. Just the feel of his warmth next to her was intoxicating. “You know how, Lleandda,” he said. His hand found hers, held it in a grip strong and sure. He raised their hands together 206
Spring Flings Anthology and placed them over his heart, against the bare skin of his chest. “Just touch me, and you’ll know.” “I’ll try.” Her voice sounded strange to her ears, muted against the beating of her heart in time with his. She ran her palm slowly across the hard planes of his chest, feeling his skin break out in fine goosebumps beneath hers. He was warm to the touch, and she could feel his muscles tense beneath the surface. His breath escaped him in a long, shuddering gasp. “I’ve touched you before,” she whispered, not taking her eyes from his. “Not like this,” he said. “Not in this realm. We’re closer to each other here. I feel you more clearly.” She nodded and kept moving her hand, up over his collarbone and shoulder to caress his neck and the breadth of his back. His eyes closed and he nuzzled her wrist like a cat, his lips hot on the thin flesh of her wrist. The heat ran through her entire body and she gasped, but did not remove her hand. She felt energized somehow, like a current ran from his lips through her body, and back into him. They were a circuit striving to be complete. She stepped closer to him, melting into him, every bit of her body pressed against every inch of his. His cock burned into her hip, his thighs warmed her own. She felt her pussy opening, swelling, felt the trickle of moisture. He inhaled sharply, almost tasting the scent of her arousal. The idea didn’t bother her the way she had once thought it would. Watching the desire in his eyes fueled her own, made her unashamed, and when she reached down and grasped the base of his cock in her hand, she saw that he was also unashamed. “Lleandda,” he said again. They stood together in the clearing, naked, the moonlight decorating their bodies with silver as she moved her hand slowly up the length of him and back down. He swelled in her palm and leaned further into her, bracing himself on her body. His hands found her hips and squeezed as their lips touched again. 207
Spring Flings Anthology This was more than it had been. The energy that circled between them grew, not a trickle anymore but a rush, and their mouths fused together like they were trying to suck each others’ souls from their bodies. Her heart was racing, her legs trembling as she struggled to stay upright. “There is no need,” Iago murmured. His hands urged her down to the earth, following her, and they sank to the ground, still kissing, their tongues dancing together. Lena had never felt anything like this before—never felt such intimacy and pleasure. Now his fingers found her again, just as they had in her dreams, but hotter, more intense. The ghostly traces he left on her skin were more solid, more real. He found the hard little mound of her clit and stroked it; she cried out. Heat burned through her body and pooled in her pelvis. Her hand worked faster on his cock, almost feverishly, as her hips pumped forward restlessly, begging him to slide his fingers into her waiting cunt. With a groan, he obliged, slamming into her with an intensity she’d not expected, making her scream his name. He pumped them in and out of her, stretching her walls with his fingertips. She bucked her pelvis into the air, straining to pull him still deeper. She wanted him inside her, all of him, his fingers and his cock and his soul. She wanted him to be part of her, to be her. Now she understood why people called their lovers their ‘other half.’ Iago was hers, he was the other half of her spirit, the part of her that walked around outside her body. She cried his name again, tears coming to her eyes as she came in a shuddering explosion, and his cries mingled with hers as his seed spurted over her hand, hot and thick. She started to relax, to let go of him, but his hands gripped her shoulders. “Lleandda, don’t let go,” he said urgently. “If you let go, you lose me.” “I don’t understand,” she started to say, but the words died in her throat as the forest melted away and she found herself in a cavernous room with a dead body chained to a table. 208
Spring Flings Anthology **** “Iago?” She kept her voice low, barely whispering. Something about the room made her afraid. It was too big, too dark. It just felt wrong, the same way winter in April did. She leaned closer in to the body—Iago’s body—still and seemingly lifeless on the slab. His chest didn’t rise or fall with breath. His body was entirely still. Then she touched him, and his eyes flew open. “Lleandda,” he said, the word barely audible. He sounded like he hadn’t spoken in a long time. The melodious voice she remembered from her dreams was gone, replaced by a dry croak. “Iago.” She was crying again at the ruin of the strong, sexy body she remembered. Crying at the ruin that was her love, her soul-mate. She knew it now. She knew that her whole life had been spent waiting for this man, this moment when she would finally see him in person. She felt the power building in her body and knew the truth. She was not human. She was elf. She was a changeling. “How do I help you?” His withered arm reached up. She could see the tension in his face from the effort it took just to move. “The same way you found me,” he said. “It is time for us to become one. You are my enaidcha. Share your power with me.” She could barely see him through the tears. His chest was torn, covered with dried blood where he’d been cut. “She tortured you,” she said. He nodded, his pale eyes meeting hers, pleading with her not to hold back, or wait any longer. Just as it had in the dream, her hand traveled across his chest. She concentrated on the feel of it as it had been, trying not to feel the ridges made in his flesh. Trying to feel only her beautiful Iago. There was something building in her mind, an alien kind of pressure. It felt like an earthquake was about to take place in her 209
Spring Flings Anthology head. She shut her eyes, trying to force it back, but she couldn’t. Then she heard his voice, echoing through her. Feel me. See me as I truly am. “I don’t know how!” But she did. She stared at him, concentrating on not seeing the ruin that was his body, but instead her ghostly pale prince of the forest. She kept touching him. Her hands glowed blue-white. She could feel the heat radiating from them. Iago could feel it, too. His breathing began to change, from a ragged gasps to slow, deep breaths. She realized that the heat from her hands was healing him, helping him. As she watched and touched him, his wounds closed. They disappeared like chalk marks being erased. It was both the eeriest and most beautiful thing she’d ever seen. She moved her hands lower, across the torn skin of his hips, down his tortured thighs. His cock jumped under her hand, just as it had in the dream, and without thinking, she leaned down and took it in her mouth. She heard his sharp hiss of air. “Yes, Llleandda.” The blue glow spread from her hands throughout his body and back into hers as she held him between her lips. She had never done this before, and the feel of him was both exotic and familiar, strange and incredibly erotic. Her own body reacted to this as it had before. Her nipples grew almost painfully erect, pressing against her tunic. Her pussy cried out for attention. She ignored it and her own needs by focusing on the silken skin that covered Iago’s cock, the hard muscle beneath it. She played with it, sucking it lightly, swirling her tongue around the head. His soft sounds of pleasure were music to her ears. She pulled her head away, then plunged back down, taking as much of him as she could into the warm, wet cavern of her mouth. He jerked beneath her, pushing his hips upwards, urging her to go faster, harder. 210
Spring Flings Anthology She reached down and grabbed the sac beneath the base of his cock, tugging gently as she had in the dream that she now understood was not a dream at all, but a way for Iago to stay alive while he was being tortured. He’d reached out to her, and she had answered. Her fingernails scratched the line of skin behind his balls, and his back arched from the slab. It’s time, Lleandda. It’s time. She lifted her head and saw him again, his body whole and unhurt. It was the most beautiful thing she’d ever seen. Slowly, not taking his eyes from hers, he pulled at the chains that bound him. They did not move. Our power can break them. She yanked the tunic off over her head and hurried to remove her pants. She wore no bra underneath, no panties. Excitement leapt through her entire body at the realization that she was finally going to make love to Iago for real. Carefully, she climbed on top of him. The hard cement hurt her knees, but she hardly noticed, so focused was she on Iago naked beneath her. Carefully, she rubbed her pussy along the length of his cock, shuddering at the delicious friction as he became slick with her moisture. Again he pushed his hips upward, probing at her entrance, the tip of his cock sliding against her clit. She raised her hips, hanging in the air for a moment before lowering herself down over him, driving his cock into her, so hard and fast his back arched. Oh, God, Lleandda, this is better than I imagined, than I ever dreamed… His voice in her head reminded her to keep silent as she began riding him, slowly at first, then with more intensity as the pressure built in her own body, filling her with heat. She could feel the heat in the room, and knew that somehow, the warmth they were creating was not just between them. It radiated from Iago, through her, and back to him, then out again somewhere else. 211
Spring Flings Anthology The snow was melting, water dripping from the tree branches, flowing from lawns into gutters and back down to the sea… Her hands slid up his stomach, across his chest. She was both surprised and not when the fire came again from her fingertips, surging outward to cover his upper body. It was met by another fire, green, flowing from Iago’s hands to her. The chains that bound him loosened, finally releasing him as those flames covered them completely. Her hips kept pumping, a steady rhythm, feeling Iago slide in and out of her body as their flames grew and melded, becoming one, a color neither blue nor green, but one that was Lleandda and Iago together. Their souls, their flames, swirled around them, a growing haze of aquamarine and teal, filling the room. Iago’s hand caressed her breasts, rolling her nipples between his fingers. As she sighed and let her head fall back even further, she braced herself on his thighs while she kept moving, stroking him with her body, tensing the muscles in her cunt to grip him more firmly. The first green buds began to poke through the thawed ground… She felt it happening and knew that spring was coming, that she and Iago had been making love for days of earth time, for weeks, a month of bonding. A lifetime. She could barely see him now, so thick was the aura they made together as their energy blended and became one. She was energy and so was he, and together, the power they created made her dizzy, drunk with pleasure. He was in her body and soul, his spirit entering her, filling her up as his cock filled her pussy. His hands slid down her belly, his thumb toying with her clit, wet with the moisture of her sex. She felt him grow, pulsing inside her, as her own climax built in her pelvis. He moved again, his fingertips digging into the soft flesh of her hips. He slammed her down again, hard, grinding her hips over his as he came. His cock jerked and throbbed inside her, triggering a reply from the deepest part of her body and soul. 212
Spring Flings Anthology She came, forgetting silence, forgetting everything but Iago’s name as she cried it out over and over again. The buds opened, flowers bursting into riotous color. Spring was here. She lay there, spent, for a long moment. Just feeling the heat of his body beneath hers and hearing his heart beating was blissful. She knew he felt the same. His hands caressed her back, tracing ever-growing circles across her smooth skin. All too soon, he spoke. “We need to leave,” he said. “She’ll know what happened by now. She’ll be coming for us.” Lena jerked upright, suddenly terrified. “Can she get us? I mean, can we get away?” He nodded. “If we hurry.” She dressed as quickly as possible, stealing glances at the perfection of Iago’s nude body. He had no clothing, so Lena offered to let him try on her pants as a joke. To her surprise, they fit him perfectly. He smiled and took her hand. “Elf-made,” he said. “One size fits all.” She started to reply, but before she could, the air was filled with a scream so ear-shattering, that Lena screamed herself and started to fall, cowering, to the stone floor. Iago grabbed her arm and yanked her upright. “She’s coming,” he said. “Hurry, we have to go.” He started running, still holding her arm, tugging her along with him. For the second time that night, Lena found herself dragged at an incredible speed through a maze, although instead of trees this time, it was stone corridors. Faster and faster they ran, their surroundings a blur, until Lena’s chest felt ready to explode. She tried to call out to him but couldn’t spare the breath. And then it changed. Something in her body seemed to click, and she could breathe again. She was still running, just as fast as Iago, but her agonized panting turned into laughing as the stone corridors gave way to green grass and trees, and Lena saw that she was in the dream-place. Iago’s kingdom. 213
Spring Flings Anthology He slowed down and stopped. Looking around him, he said, “We’ve only lost her. She cannot enter this place when we are here together. But she will always search for us.” “Then we’ll never leave this place.” “Lleandda…” He took her hand. Just the touch of his skin made her break out in goosebumps. “You know if you stay with me, you can never go back. This is your world, but it isn’t where you grew up. You have to make a choice.” He looked very serious. “She will come back. This isn’t over. It is for the moment, but we will have to fight her at some point. Next time, we won’t be able to just run away.” Lena thought about it. She thought about the mother who always hated her and the father who was indifferent. She thought about her boring job where nobody talked to her and the lonely little house where she spent every night. She thought about the father she’d just met, who called her beautiful and cried when he’d touched her face. The brother who acted like he’d known her all her life. She thought about the mother she was going to meet. And Iago. She thought about this all for about a millisecond, then smiled and kissed Iago on the lips, a deep, soft kiss, one full of promise and the love that she now knew had lain between them since birth. He smiled, his face breathtaking in the soft, warm spring air. “I think I’ll stay,” she said.
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CHOCOLATE-COVERED WEREWOLVES by
Sherrill Quinn
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“Hello.” Sydney Langdon held the telephone receiver to her ear and tried to inject a smile into her voice. “Winter, spring, summer or fall, all you have to do is call Friends.” It was hard, sounding like she cared, because she really didn’t want to be inside today. Spring was in full bloom and she wanted to get out and breathe in the cool air, smell the flowers, feel the late morning sun warming her face… She had a serious case of cabin fever. “Sydney. Thank God. I don’t know what to do.” Ramy Roberts’ voice raised a full octave. “My neighbor is a vampire!” Syd sighed. Again with the vampires. Although she couldn’t complain about it too much. The last time Ramy thought a vampire had moved next door, Killian Murphy had literally slammed into her life. In the form of his truck backing into her car. And, of course, Killian had turned out not to be a vampire. She’d expected nothing else, because everyone knew vampires didn’t exist. But she’d learned that werewolves did. My, Grandma, what big teeth you have… She grinned, remembering the first time she’d used that line on Killian. He looked so sexy when he had on just his blue jeans. The top button unbuttoned, showing more of that tantalizing trail of dark hair that led from his navel, tempting her with what lay further down. Killian, with stormy gray eyes that turned tawny when his wolf was aroused. Killian, with his long, lean body, broad, skilled hands and wicked, wicked mouth… 216
Spring Flings Anthology “Sydney! Are you listening to me?” Ramy’s voice was shrill, bordering on hysterical. Syd rubbed her forehead. Oy. What she wouldn’t give for a toffee nut latte right now. “Ramy…” “Don’t you use that tone with me, young lady. I am not crazy.” “I didn’t say you were, ma’am.” Syd stifled her next sigh and curled the phone cord around her index finger. Why her? Why now? She’d planned on taking the afternoon off and surprising Killian with a picnic lunch. Complete with dessert. She just hadn’t figured out yet if she wanted him covered in chocolate or honey. Mmm. Big, hard male smothered in rich, creamy chocolate syrup. Her body moistened and loosened at the thought of licking the sticky substance off his muscular frame. Sucking it off his thick, stiff cock. Instead of chocolate bunnies in her Easter basket, she’d get a life-size chocolate werewolf. Cream slid from her core to coat her pussy. God, she had to get out of here and to Killian before she combusted. “Sydney!” With a start, Syd brought herself back to the conversation with her mother’s best friend. “Look, Ramy, like I told you before, vampires aren’t really my specialty. I find lost people, not—” “But you came out before.” The older woman’s tone notched down a chord and turned wheedling. “Can’t you just come and talk to her? Then tell me what you think. Please.” Syd gave up. If she didn’t humor Ramy and go talk to the new neighbor, she’d never hear the end of it from her mother. With her sister Addie on her honeymoon and her cousin Brandt off on assignment, that left Brandt’s twin, Turner, to run the office. They’d be lucky if the place didn’t burn down. Turner wasn’t exactly known for his attention to detail. He was a 217
Spring Flings Anthology brilliant investigator, but a bit absentminded at times. When he was on a case, everything else faded. “All right, Ramy. I’ll be right there.” After letting Turner know she was leaving, Syd got in her car and drove down Brandywine Avenue, as always, filled with a sense of home whenever she looked around her hometown. Brook’s Place was a small, unincorporated village midway between Cleveland and Toledo, Ohio. Population: two thousand and twenty-six. And where her twin hated small town life and was happy to be moving to Toledo with her new husband, Syd loved living in Brook’s Place. It was a close-knit community where everyone knew everyone else’s business and watched out for each other. She wouldn’t trade it for anything. Ten minutes later, Syd pulled up in front of Ramy’s house. The older woman stood on her front porch, pointing to the house on the south side of her property. Syd waved at her and got out of the car. She walked down the sidewalk and paused in front of the fenced-in yard. Glancing at Killian’s house, to the right of this one, she was disappointed but not surprised to see his pickup wasn’t in the driveway. She wouldn’t have expected him to be home in the middle of the afternoon, but one could always hope. Syd looked back at the, to all appearances normal, beige house in front of her. What if the new neighbor really was a vampire? It was possible, she supposed. After all, her lover was a werewolf. It wasn’t that much more of a stretch to believe in vampires. Of course, she knew absolutely nothing about vampires. Other than that they had very sharp teeth. Using the fence for cover, she withdrew her small pistol from her purse and tucked it in the waistband of her jeans, then buttoned her jacket to conceal the weapon. She drew in a deep breath and pushed open the gate. She strode briskly up the sidewalk and rapped on the front door. After a minute or so, she knocked again. When there was no answer, she went to the large picture window and peered 218
Spring Flings Anthology inside. She couldn’t see much through the sheers, but there didn’t seem to be any movement inside. Turning, she walked down the pathway and over to Ramy. “There’s no one home.” “I’m sure she’s there,” Ramy said. She held her hands so tightly gripped, her knuckles were white against the redness of her fingers. She leaned forward slightly. “She never leaves during the day.” “Are you sure?” When she realized she was whispering in the same low voice as Ramy, Syd grimaced. In a normal voice, she asked, “Just what makes you think she’s a vampire?” “She never leaves during the day,” Ramy repeated. She sidled closer. “And she’s very pale, even for a blonde. Deathly pale, if you know what I mean.” “Well, it could be that she works nights, Ramy. Or has sensitivity to the sun. There could be any number of logical explanations.” Syd patted Ramy’s clenched hands. “How ’bout I talk to Killian? Maybe he’s met her.” Ramy sniffed. “I know he’s met her,” she said in a voice dripping with disdain. “He’s over there often enough. And very late at night.” She delivered that snippet of news with a little gleam of spite in her eyes. Syd raised her eyebrows, doing her best to ignore the thinly veiled malice. Even though Ramy was her mother’s friend, there were times when even her mother couldn’t stand the woman. Syd certainly understood why. But Ramy had raised an interesting subject. Guess before wolf-boy got doused with chocolate, he had some explaining to do. “Yes, well, I’m sure he has his reasons.” She started to say more, but was interrupted by a battered pickup with the faded words Murphy Construction on the side pulling into Killian’s driveway. She turned and started down the stairs. “Ramy, I’ll get back to you on this, okay?” Without waiting for a response from her mother’s friend, she jogged over to greet Killian as he climbed out of the cab of his truck. He bent over, rummaging in the bed of the pickup. Her eyes lingered on his big, tall body. His jeans 219
Spring Flings Anthology molded his tight ass, making her mouth water. When he turned toward her, his face lit up. The t-shirt he wore was very white against his dark golden skin. It hugged his hard pectorals and abdomen. A lock of dark hair fell over his forehead, shadowing his gray eyes. He had a day-old beard, which told her he hadn’t bothered to shave this morning. It made him look wild and dangerous. She was so thankful that this incredibly virile, intelligent man wanted her. She must have done something right, earned the favor of the Fates maybe, to win this wonderful man. “Hey, hon.” A smile widened his made-for-sex mouth and he wrapped an arm around her waist, pulling her in for a kiss. His tongue slipped between her open lips and surged against hers. She leaned into him, her heart tripping over itself as her body reacted the way it always did to his nearness. She was hot, wet. Ready. “Mmm.” He pulled back and tucked her under his shoulder. “What do you say we take this inside?” Syd took a deep breath, drawing his woodsy scent deep into her lungs. She loved the way he smelled. Clean, crisp, a hint of cloves and cinnamon. “Okay,” she murmured and walked with him to the house. “What are you doing home?” “I called the office and Turn said you’d come over to talk to Ramy.” He waved at the older lady, who still stood on her porch. She turned away and stomped through her front door. “What’s her problem?” “Oh, nothing much.” She waited for him to open the front door, then added with an arch look, “But I would like to hear all about your new neighbor. Ramy thinks she’s a vampire.” **** Killian pursed his lips and tried to think of a response that wouldn’t get him in trouble. He recognized the look on Sydney’s face and it didn’t bode well for him. It amazed him she was so fearless. She knew him for what he was, yet didn’t hesitate to stand up and give him what for. 220
Spring Flings Anthology He decided to tell her the truth. “Valida is an old friend of mine. And Ramy’s right.” He paused, bracing himself for Sydney’s reaction. “She’s a vampire.” His sassy lady didn’t disappoint. “And you were going to share this bit of information with me…when?” He closed and locked the door behind them. Dropping his keys on the small table in the foyer, he motioned her into the living room. “You want something to drink?” When she looked at him with her eyes narrowed at his evasion, he grinned and winked. “Iced tea it is.” Walking through to the kitchen, he grabbed glasses and the pitcher of tea. He filled the glasses with ice from the automatic dispenser in the freezer door and poured the cold tea nearly to the brim. He would tell Sydney what he could, which wouldn’t be much. He and Valida had a history, which often happened when unmated werewolves and vampires of the opposite sex got together. Hopefully, Sydney loved him enough to stay out of it if he asked her to. Rejoining her, he handed her a glass and sat down on the dark brown leather sofa. She was just a touch away. She’d gotten comfortable. Her denim jacket was lying on one of the oversized recliners, a gun resting on top of it. He raised his eyebrows, which she ignored. “About the vampire?” She took a long drink of iced tea. Setting the glass on a coaster on the distressed pine chest that served as a coffee table, she leaned against the couch and spread her arms along the top of the cushioned back. The action thrust out her breasts. Killian could see that, as usual, she was braless. Her nipples pressed against the red knit of her t-shirt. His cock stirred. Carefully, he set his glass on the chest. Shifting on the sofa, he faced her and reached out to touch her face. Her reaction to his touch was as it always was: immediate and sensual. Her eyes darkened and partially closed, her skin 221
Spring Flings Anthology warmed, her nipples tightened to diamond-hard points. He could smell her arousal and it was heady. Hot, wet and tangy. He could hardly wait to taste her. Leaning forward, he captured her lips with his. Her mouth opened under his and he slipped his tongue into the hot depths. She tasted rich, like the finest chocolate. She tasted familiar, like part of his own soul. He pulled slightly away, watching when her tongue darted out to lick her lower lip. She always did that, too. As if she wanted to savor the flavor of his kiss. “The vampire?” she asked, her lids sweeping up to reveal slate-blue eyes languorous with sensuality. He cupped her breasts in his hands and rubbed his thumbs over her hard nipples. Her breath sucked in and she leaned into his hands. God, her responsiveness continued to amaze him. He’d never had a woman who came to him so openly, so trustingly. It was astonishing. Humbling. “You sure you want to talk now, sweetheart?” He slid his hands under her shirt, drawing it up and over her head. Her dark brown hair settled around her bare shoulders. Leaning forward, he placed his hands around her and bore her down onto the couch. She pulled one leg up and rested it against the back of the sofa. He moved over her, resting his groin against the V of her splayed legs. The heat from her pussy, even through layers of clothing, permeated his cock. It lengthened and hardened. For him, with her, it usually didn’t take much. But put him in contact with her lower body and it was a natural—and immediate—reaction. When he reached for her breasts, she covered them with her palms. “Answer the question, Wolfie.” He heaved a sigh. “You’re one tough customer, baby.” He met her smirk with a grin of his own. “I can’t tell you a lot, Sydney.” He cupped her chin with his hand, putting his thumb over her lips when she started to speak. “It’s for Valida’s safety. 222
Spring Flings Anthology The fewer people who know about her and her situation, the safer she’ll be.” Sydney pulled his hand away. “Safe from whom?” He took advantage of her bared breast and dove for her pert nipple. It wasn’t that he didn’t want to answer her question. He did. She was just too damned distracting. When he slurped her nipple between his lips, her groan of arousal rumbled against his skin even as strong, slender hands latched into his hair and yanked. “Killian!” “Ow.” He pulled back and rubbed his scalp. “Damn, Sydney.” “Answer the question before you drive me out of my mind.” Her eyes sparkled with love and lust, mingled with a healthy dose of irritation. It was a heady combination. “You’re beautiful when you’re angry.” He pitched his voice low, knowing it rasped across her ears and heightened her arousal. It was one of the gifts of the wolf, to be able to pleasure his mate on such a primal level. “Answer. The. Question.” He gave up. He knew Sydney wouldn’t let things of a sexual nature progress any further until her curiosity was satisfied. “I swear to God, Syd. There must be terrier in your bloodline.” “You’re the only one around here with canine DNA, WolfMan. Spill.” He sat up, stretching his arms along the back of the sofa. Syd sat up as well, bracing herself with one hand on the cushions. “They call themselves Carnifex. The Executioners.” Killian rubbed between his eyes. “Their society started out as a means of eradicating Venator Nox Noctis—Night Hunters. Vampires,” he added in response to her questioning look. “You said they started out…what are they now?” She was sharp, his Sydney. “They kill anything that’s Other.” “Other?” 223
Spring Flings Anthology He stared at the peaches and cream skin of her breasts. Unable to resist, he reached across with his right hand and cupped the sweet weight of one in his palm. He started to lean forward, only to be stopped by her palms against his chest. “God, you are so beautiful. It almost hurts my eyes to look at you.” “Kill-i-an.” “Other, as in vampire, shapeshifter, the fey.” He gazed deeply into her eyes, feeling as if he could drown in their bluegray depths. “Right now, they’re after Valida. She gave them the slip in Memphis. They won’t look for her here.” “Are you sure?” “Mmm. She’ll only be here a few weeks, honey. Then she’ll join her sire in Los Angeles.” He cocked an eyebrow. “Okay? Are we done? Can we move on to other, more interesting things now?” She grinned and got up slowly. “How ’bout I reward you? For being such a good boy.” She toed off her sandals and shimmied out of her denims, leaving her clad in only a very brief pair of purple panties. Kneeling in front of his feet, she untied his heavy work boots and pulled first one and then the other off his feet. Then she rolled both socks off as well. Putting her hands on his knees, she pushed his legs apart and moved between them. She slid her palms up his thighs, making the muscles bunch and spasm. “Does little Willie want to come out and play?” “Willie? You’re calling my cock Willie?” He thought he might laugh if he only had the breath with which to do it. But with her hands so close to his most prized possession, he had precious little oxygen in his lungs. If she’d only move her hands a little higher… She gave a husky laugh. Bypassing his sex, she unbuckled his belt and pulled down the zipper tab on his dusty jeans. “Lift your hips.” Her voice was pure sex, skidding along his nerve endings and firing his libido. 224
Spring Flings Anthology Blood surged into his cock. He followed her instruction, letting her draw both his jeans and boxer briefs down and off his legs. She tossed his clothes on top of his shoes and slowly ran her palms up the length of his thighs again, heading toward treasured territory. He twitched with the need to grab her, take her. Clenching his fists at his sides, he forced himself to remain still. If she wanted to reward him, who was he to deny her? Syd watched Killian’s cock thicken the closer she got to it. With an imp of pure sexual mischief guiding her, she once again passed by his erection and slid her hands under his t-shirt. She nuzzled his sac with her nose while she lightly raked her nails over his hard abdomen. When she gave a quick lick to his salty flesh, he grunted and surged against her. “This is a reward? Feels more like torture to me.” His voice came out harshly, as harsh as his breathing. She drew one of his balls into her mouth. “Hmm,” she responded, knowing the vibration would drive him wild. He groaned and bucked. “Sydney. God, honey, you’re killin’ me here.” Switching to his other testicle, she laved it with her tongue while she rolled his nipples between her fingers and thumbs. “I’ve only just started, sweetheart.” “Just remember: Payback’s a real bitch.” He growled low in his throat, then jerked his t-shirt over his head. She looked up at him through her lashes, exulted at seeing his handsome face tight with need. His eyes were golden and glowing. Running her fingers lightly through the trail of dark hair that swirled down his abdomen, she didn’t stop until she reached the thicket that surrounded his cock. She took his shaft in a firm grip and closed her lips over the plum-shaped head of his cock. His low groan encouraged her to flick her tongue around and over, tasting his salty essence as a drop of fluid seeped from the tip.
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Spring Flings Anthology His big hands came up from his sides to grasp her head. Long fingers threaded through her hair. “Yesss. Christ, Sydney. Suck me.” Gripping his erection in one hand, she palmed his testicles, rolling them in her fingers. She stroked his cock as she took as much of him as she could into her mouth. “Take it, honey.” He pushed her hair out of her face. She looked at him, seeing his eyes gold with lust, his jaw rigid. Then his head fell onto the back of the couch, giving her a perfect view of the strong column of his neck. God, this was one beautiful man. And he was hers. She flushed with heated arousal, her pussy swelling and pulsing with need. His gasping groans notched her desire higher. She loved the feel of him, so hard, so thick. Life pulsing under her tongue. Moving her mouth, she licked her way around the head to the sensitive underside. She nibbled gently along the heavy shaft until she reached the base, where she promptly drew one of his tight balls once again into the warmth of her mouth. He shouted and arched against her. Swirling her tongue around the hair-roughened skin, she gently suckled him. She lightly squeezed his shaft with one hand. The other rested against one of his heavy thighs. She could feel his muscles trembling and it was an incredible rush that she could bring this strong man to the brink of sexual insanity. It made her so hot, she was ready to come just from touching him. She moved to the other testicle and gave it the same tender treatment, moaning around him as his hips pumped against her mouth. He tasted of salt and vinegar and she whimpered with her own need. Suddenly, two hundred and twenty pounds of aroused werewolf swept her onto the sofa. Purple panties went flying and his dark head pressed between her thighs. She felt his hot breath first, then his tongue flicked against her clit. The stubble on his cheeks and chin rubbed against her, stinging, adding to her 226
Spring Flings Anthology building arousal. He lightly tongued his way through her folds, rimming her opening. His mouth moved back to her clit. Drawing it between his lips, he suckled, lightly at first, then with growing strength. Syd gasped and arched against his mouth. His tongue moved in long, firm strokes against her clit, making it pulse and swell. Two thick fingers slipped inside her, testing and stretching her sensitive channel. With a moan, she clamped down around him. She needed a deeper connection. She needed to be filled. “You’re so goddamned tight. So hot and wet.” He thrust his fingers in and out in a slow, steady rhythm. “I don’t think I can wait much longer.” “Don’t wait,” she moaned. Her hips pumped against his hand. “Love me, Killian.” “I do, Sydney. Christ, I love you so much.” Killian pulled her up to straddle his thighs. “Ride me,” he demanded, his voice a deep, dark growl. Eyes narrow with lust, face tight with need, he easily lifted her and fit her over his erection. With his big hands at her hips, he pulled her steadily down while he thrust up until he was buried to the hilt. Syd’s breath hitched in her throat. She felt stretched to her limits. His cock reached deep inside her, deeper than she’d felt him before. One of his hands supported her back, the other moved to cup a full breast, kneading it, driving her crazy with lust. Syd moaned and bowed her back, thrusting her breast firmly into his hand. Strong fingers moved to pluck her nipple, pinching, pulling. The tugging motion shot straight to her pussy and she keened, a helpless sound of mind-numbing need. Sliding his hand to her other breast, he plucked the nipple and started to move within her. Slowly at first, then with increasing speed. His hips pistoned against her, his cock thrusting into her with jarring force. Syd grabbed his shoulders and held on, knowing it was going to be a wild ride. She loved the power of his thrusts, the barely contained violence behind them. His passion for her made him rough, though she knew he’d never hurt her. He’d cut off 227
Spring Flings Anthology his own arm before he’d allow anyone to harm her. Including himself. Their bodies made wet, slapping noises, which drove her crazy. Her body tightened, the spiral of her orgasm winding higher and higher. She leaned down and took his mouth with hers, grinding her lips against his the same way she ground her pussy against his groin. Killian growled low in his throat, feeling his climax roiling from his balls. Both hands grasped her hips, slamming her down onto his hard cock again and again. She was silken fire in his arms. His body pummeled hers and, with a roar, he spurted his cum into her. Within seconds, she screamed and came. Her head went back, her nails dug into his shoulders. He groaned at the exquisite feel of the small pain she inflicted, of her honeyed walls gripping his cock. He thrust again, then once more. Where her body rested against him, he could feel the wet heat of her passion. Her sheath still pulsed, gripping the thick flesh of his shaft, fitting around him like a custom-made glove. Made only for him. Her head fell against his shoulder, her sweet breasts pressed into his chest. Rubbing his hands up and down her back, he asked, “You okay, sweetheart?” She nuzzled his throat, placing a kiss at the dip between his collarbones. “I’m great. Wonderful. Stupendous.” He chuckled. “Watch it, baby. You’ll make my head swell.” When her channel squeezed around him, his breath caught. “Promise?” she purred and licked her way down to one of his nipples. He felt the heat of her tongue all the way to his cock, making it throb to thick, hard life once more. He palmed her buttocks and lifted her and, just as he was about to bring her back down onto his shaft, she laid her hands on his shoulders and said, “Damn it. I forgot the chocolate.” Holding her suspended, his eyebrows raised, he muttered, “Say what?” 228
Spring Flings Anthology “Dessert. For me.” Her eyes darkened and she ran her hands down his arms until they covered his hands on her ass. “You, covered in chocolate syrup.” He opened his mouth to respond, but was forestalled by a frantic knocking at the front door. Sydney gasped, “Oh, my God. It’s Ramy,” and jumped off his lap. His cock waved in the air as if seeking her warmth. With a curse, he got off the sofa. Grabbing his jeans, he yanked them on, carefully tucking his erect shaft in before pulling up the zipper. Sydney pulled her shirt on and held her denims in her hand. “Where’re my panties?” “Just put your jeans on, sweetheart. Nobody will know.” “I’ll know,” she muttered. “I’ve already got your cum dripping down my leg.” She thrust one leg into her jeans, then, hopping on one foot, got the other leg in and shimmied into her pants. The thought of her so full of his cum that it slid down her slender legs had him almost cross-eyed with lust. Just as he reached for her, the knocking sounded again. “Yeah, yeah. I’m coming.” Killian stomped to the door, holding onto his temper. If Ramy thought she could just come over and interrupt his time with Sydney, she had another think coming. Nosy old biddy. “Killian!” The feminine voice with a crisp, British tone added, “Open the bloody door before I burst into flames.” It was Valida. He threw open the door and yanked her inside. Even though she wore a long coat and wide, floppy hat, her pale skin was already beginning to break out into little blisters. “Christ, Valida. Are you crazy?” He slammed the door and relocked it. Turning, he gave her the once-over, assuring himself she was relatively unhurt. “I had no choice, Killian. The Carnifex…” she trailed off and stared into the living room. 229
Spring Flings Anthology “Ah.” Killian held out his hand and Sydney walked forward and grasped it tightly. “Sydney, this is Valida Northrup. Valida.” He brought Sydney’s hand to his mouth and placed a kiss on the inside of her wrist. Her pulse thumped against his lips and he closed his eyes, dragging her scent deeply into his lungs. “This is my Vita, Sydney.” Valida took off her hat and offered her hand to Sydney. The two women shook hands and Valida said, “It’s very nice to meet Killian’s life-mate at last. He has told me much about you.” She turned back to Killian. “I don’t mean to be rude, but two Executioners have found me. I am no longer safe here.” Syd looked from her lover to his friend, then back to Killian. So much information had been shared in just a few sentences, she wasn’t sure where to focus. Life-mate? She was Killian’s life-mate? And what did Valida mean, the Executioners had found her? “Excuse me?” Killian and Valida looked at her with similar questioning expressions on their faces. “What exactly do you mean, the Executioners have found you?” “I awoke from my slumber to hear two men walking about above me.” She glanced at Syd. “I sleep in the basement. Less light down there.” Syd nodded, even though a sense of surrealism surrounded her like so much cotton-wool. “Of course. Makes perfect sense.” “Did they see you leave?” Killian asked, his deep voice taut. “No. I came out through the root cellar doors and slid through the hedges.” She pointed to a scratch on her cheek. “Luckily for us, they’re human and can’t sniff out blood. Otherwise, the sodding buggers would know which direction I went.” “All right. Then we’ve got some time to make plans.” He motioned down the hallway. “You look tired, Val. I’ve got a sofa in the basement; why don’t you go down and get some sleep? I’ll take a walk outside and see if those damned hunters are still around.” 230
Spring Flings Anthology Valida leaned in and kissed his cheek. Her eyes slid to Syd, who was surprised to see a sheen of tears in the vampire’s eyes. “Thank you for sharing your man’s strength and courage with me, Sydney. It is an honor to know you.” “Do I need to get you anything for those blisters?” Killian asked. “No, thanks, luv. My body will regenerate itself while I sleep.” She turned and walked down the hallway, opening a door on the right just before she reached the kitchen. With a small wave, she started down the stairs, pulling the door closed behind her. Any minute now, Syd figured Rod Serling would come out and say something like, ‘Picture this: a couple in love. One is homo sapien, the other is something more than human. Together they make their journey into the Twilight Zone.’ “Um, Sydney, honey. You okay?” Killian squeezed her hand. She jerked her eyes to his face, saw the look of concern in his gaze. “I’m fine. This is all just…” Giving a vague wave with her free hand, she finished, “It’s all a bit surreal. I mean, five months ago, I didn’t think werewolves existed. Now I know they do, and now…vampires, too. What’s next? Frankenstein’s monster? Zombies? Mummies?” He pulled her into his arms and hugged her tightly. He was warm and hard around her, wrapping her in his strength. She felt the point of his chin against the top of her head. “I’m so sorry, baby. I know it’s a lot to take in, but—” “I’m not complaining, not really.” She drew away far enough to look into his eyes. “But be prepared to cut me some slack while I wrap my brain around this, okay?” “You’ve got a deal.” He kissed her, moving his lips gently over hers. Just when the kiss started to get interesting, he pulled away. “I need to go check out Valida’s place.” Walking back into the living room, he grabbed his socks and shoes and sat on the sofa to put them on. 231
Spring Flings Anthology “Wait.” Syd ran back into the living room and snatched up her gun and jacket. “I’m coming with you.” She sat next to him and slipped on her sandals. Her fingers trembled slightly. With excitement, she assured herself. The beginnings of an adrenaline rush a new case always gave her. It wasn’t fear. Right. She was possibly going to be facing down vampire hunters and trying to convince herself she wasn’t afraid. Idiot. “No, you’re not.” Killian stood and stared down at her. He shrugged into his shirt and buttoned it, then with his feet braced apart and arms crossed, he scowled. “Yes, I am.” She tucked her gun into her waistband and shrugged on her jean jacket. “If they see two people walking down the sidewalk, arm in arm, stopping now and again to kiss, they’ll just think we’re two lovers out for an afternoon stroll.” She gave him the once-over, starting at his big feet and working her way up until she met his eyes. “They see you, they’ll know something’s up.” Pushing her fear aside, she sidled around him and twisted the lock. Opening the door, she smiled and said, “Besides, I have a gun. I know how to use it. I’ll be fine.” “Famous last words,” he muttered, but snatched up his keys and followed her out of the house. He grabbed her arm and stopped her. “Wait.” She watched him lock the doorknob and pull the door shut. “So, are there?” She stared across the lawn at Valida’s house. She couldn’t see anything out of the ordinary, but that could just mean they were still inside. “Are there what?” He took her hand and paused at the edge of the porch, scanning the area with eyes sparking with gold. “Zombies. Mummies. Frankenstein’s monster. Other…Others.” “Not that I know of.” His gaze trained on her, then slid away. He looked guilty, so she probed, “And those you do know of?” His jaw tightened briefly, then he said, “Just other shifters.” 232
Spring Flings Anthology “Other. Shifters.” She pursed her lips while she turned that over in her mind. “You mean…” “Werecats. Of all shapes and sizes. Werebears. Werebirds. Weredolphins.” He drew her arm through his and they walked down the steps and out the cobbled walkway. “Practically any higher-level functioning animal has a were counterpart.” “Wow.” She was flabbergasted. She’d no idea the world of the Others was so ethnically diverse. “I don’t know what else to say. Just, wow.” “Yes, well, it’s not like we advertise.” He stopped in front of Valida’s and turned Syd into his arms. He positioned them so he could unobtrusively look at the house and surrounding yard. She looped her arms around his neck. “Do you see anything?” she whispered. “No. Wait.” His eyes narrowed, the yellow flecks spreading until his eyes were molten gold. “They’re coming around the corner of the house, from the backyard.” He watched a moment or two longer, then said, “Here they come.” “It’s okay,” Syd murmured, sliding her hands to his head and drawing his face closer to hers. “We’re just a couple of lovers out for a stroll, remember?” “They’d better believe that’s all we are, Sydney. If they think otherwise, all the Others in Brook’s Place are in extreme danger.” As soon as the words left his mouth, Killian wished he could recall them. Sydney’s face went pale, her eyes darkening with worry. For him. He still couldn’t get used to it. Having someone in his life to worry about him. For him to worry about. “Show time.” He pulled back from her. Making sure he’d pushed back any evidence of the wolf, he pasted an embarrassed look on his face. With a decided twang to his voice, he said, “Hi, fellas. You lookin’ for Valida?” The taller of the two stared at him, while the shorter man replied, “Yeah. Have you seen her?” Killian shrugged. “Saw her leave a few nights ago. She had a couple of suitcases and an overnight bag.” 233
Spring Flings Anthology “You know where was she going?” This from the tall man, who was still an inch or two shorter than his own six foot four. The man held his hand behind his back. No doubt, hiding a gun. Killian tried to hold himself loosely, ready to attack if necessary. His stubborn Vita had her hand under her jacket, wrapped around her pistol. That didn’t help him stay loose. His neck was so tight, he thought his head might pop off. “No idea. Didn’t get to talk to her.” He hooked his thumbs through the belt loops of his jeans. The two Executioners looked at each other. Killian waited a heartbeat, then added, “I did notice she’d stopped her mail. Got a feelin’ she won’t be comin’ back.” The men looked at Sydney and Killian held his breath. This was the tricky part. If they smelled like they were going to get it on with his life-mate, there’d be a hell-raising ruckus soon. His beautiful lover shrugged her shoulders and lied through her teeth. “I ain’t never met her. I don’t even think Willie here knows her that well, do you, Will?” She looked at him with the most innocent expression on her face he’d ever seen on anyone. Except for the slight twinkle in her eyes, which had him biting the inside of his cheek to keep from grinning at her. The little witch. Her sense of humor would get him in trouble one of these days. But not today. “Nope. Knew her enough to say ‘hi’ now and again. That’s it. Though…” he strung it out, scratching his chin, waiting for both men’s eyes to begin to smolder with impatience. “She told me right off she planned to move to L.A. Maybe that’s where she went.” The men looked at each other. “Well, thanks,” the shorter man said, anger flickering in his gaze. Killian watched while they headed toward their car. Once inside, they held a conversation that, with his enhanced senses, he could plainly hear. To cover the fact he was listening in, he turned Sydney into his arms and whispered, “Just stand here for a minute. Give me a kiss.” Quietly, she did as he asked. Her body was warm and pliant against his harder frame. His cock stirred. When she placed a 234
Spring Flings Anthology light kiss at the base of his throat, his shaft lengthened along his thigh. Christ. She turned him on without even trying. Tall man: “Damn it to hell. We were too late.” Short man: “Looks that way, don’t it?” “What do you mean, Grady?” Grady pulled a cigarette from a pack on the dash, lit it and slowly inhaled. When he responded, smoke streamed from his mouth and nose. “How in the hell would she know we were coming?” “Jesus, Joseph and Mary. She’s a fucking vampire.” The tall man slammed his fist against the steering wheel. “They always seem to know when we’re coming.” Grady took another drag on the cigarette. “Then we’re doing something wrong.” He looked out of the car window, and Killian could see the man’s eyes narrow on him and Sydney. “Start the car,” he said. “That blue-collar fucker there is right. She’s gone. Let’s move on to our next target.” Only after the car had gone around the corner and he could no longer hear any of the Executioners’ conversation did Killian relax. “Let’s get back inside.” Grabbing her hand, he dragged Sydney behind him as he ran up the cobbled walkway to his house. “Where’s the fire?” she panted from behind him. He swept her into his arms and leapt onto the porch. “I want to get off the street in case they come back. I don’t want them to see which house we go into.” Once the door was locked behind them, he stood to the side and watched out the window at the top of the door. He held himself tautly, the adrenaline still flowing, the wolf ready to come out at any moment. After several minutes, Sydney asked him in a soft voice, “See anything?” “No.” He turned and pulled her into his arms, kissing her with a lingering caress of lips and tongues. God, she tasted so damned good. He wanted to drink of her until he was full. “I 235
Spring Flings Anthology need to make some calls, put out a warning to the surrounding areas. Lucky for us, these guys are new to their trade.” “How do you know?” She snuggled against him, her arms wrapped around his waist, her breasts pressed against his chest. “If they were pros, Valida would be dead.” He gently set her away from him, but kept his hands on her slender shoulders. “She’s going to need a place to stay until it’s safe to move her. Are you okay with it if she stays here for a while?” Sydney frowned at him. What did he think she was, some kind of jealous harpy? She’d seen the way Killian looked at the vampire. He had the same look in his eyes when he looked at Syd’s twin, Addie. As females who were closer than friends, and meant to be cherished, protected. Not boffed. “Of course she has to stay with you,” she said, hearing the exasperation that colored her tone. “She’s your friend. I’d offer to let her stay with me, but she’d be safer here.” He yanked her into his arms and ground his lips down on hers, a hard kiss of friendship that quickly turned to something deeper, hotter. His breathing harsh, he said, “God. Let me go make those calls. Then you and me, we’ve got unfinished business.” He gave her another kiss. “Just don’t call me or my cock Willie again. Okay?” She laughed and agreed. Pressing her mouth against his lean cheek, she whispered, “Hurry with your calls, sweetheart. I’ll get the chocolate syrup.” Killian backed away from her, his eyes full of the golden promise of love. As he walked into the living room and picked up the phone, she headed toward the kitchen. When he got off the phone, he’d find her naked and waiting in bed. It was time for dessert. Chocolate werewolves in the springtime. It didn’t get any better than this.
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ABOUT THE AUTHORS Emma Wildes is the author of fourteen novels and numerous short stories. Reading has always been her passion and she finds that vibrant characters with strong personalities have a tendency to draw her straight into the story. She lives in rural Indiana and is working on her next romance. Please stop by and visit at www.emmawildes.com. Recently married, Kristina Diesen and her forester husband live in Northern Michigan with neither pets nor children, yet. Due to the endless support of her husband, she enjoys spending her days at home writing whatever comes to mind with the occasional break for cooking up something yummy. While Emma Sinclair would like to confess to settling before her computer to write everyday in her silk and lace while half-naked boy-toys bring her champagne and truffles, the truth is she writes in her jammies and has to get her own Diet Coke. Emma lives in Maryland with her physicist husband, though they haven't managed to work the travel bugs out of their systems yet. You can visit her at: http://www.emmasinclair.com.
The voices in her head compel Jenna Howard to do twisted things like write. That's probably the best alternative because the voices could be telling her to clean her condo. Due to an allergy of cleaning, Jenna can most often be found sitting at her computer where she's supposed to be writing but usually...isn’t. Living in the wilds of Calgary, Alberta, she's not quite as lucky as her heroines, having no hunky guy to call her own, but, considering the avalanche of books in her bedroom and the layer of dust coating everything but her iBook, that's probably a good thing. You can visit Jenna at her website www.jennahoward.com or her blog http://jennahoward.blogspot.com. C'ann Inman is an Oklahoma author who loves to spin wild and wicked stories for her readers. She realizes that romance can be found in many places and many ways. Her stories celebrate the sensuality of relationships. C’ann has a couple of short stories available, and her first full novel, What He Wants, will be released in June 2006 from Torrid. C'ann loves to hear from readers. Please visit her website at http://chryswriter.tripod.com/cann_inman Anna J. Evans enjoys writing romances that celebrate sensuality and characters who aren’t afraid to laugh at themselves. Thanks for reading. You can contact Anna via her website at http://laughoutloudsexy.com.
Barbara Baldwin loves to travel and explore new places so each of her stories is usually set in a different locale. She has an MA in Communication and has been published in poetry, short stories, essays, magazine articles, teacher resource materials, and full-length fiction. She loves writing super sexy stories and has received 5 hearts and 5 Angels plus a Recommended Read on some of her upcoming releases from Whiskey Creek. Barb can be reached at
[email protected] or check out her website at www.authorsden.com/barbarajbaldwin. Australian author Karen Mandeville writes a variety of genres including erotica, dark fantasy and paranormal romance. Five of her twenty-eight years was spent as a journalist and she has eight contracts signed for releases in 2006. She made her debut with the release of her erotic short story in the Winter Wishes Anthology through Whiskey Creek Press Torrid. If you would like to know more about Karen, then head over to http://www.karenmandeville.com, where you can see when her next chat is, learn more about her writing and read interviews about her upcoming releases. She also has a newsletter to keep everyone updated, all you have to do is head over to http://groups.yahoo.com/group/karenmandeville and join up to receive your free copy of BeDevilled.
December Quinn lives in England with her husband and two little girls. When she’s not writing, she’s probably trying to sleep. Visit her website at www.decemberquinn.com. After spending twenty years building a career in Human Resources, Sherrill realized it wasn’t what she wanted to be when she grew up. She began her second career as a writer in February 2005 by taking a ‘How to write EroRom’ class. From September 2005 to January 2006, she signed seven contracts—five with Whiskey Creek Press Torrid. She currently resides in Southern Arizona. You can visit Sherrill at her website at www.sherrillquinn.com.
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