He was using her, and she was using him, and she didn’t care. She moved into the center of the dressing room and drew off her fragile nylon panties. He gazed at her with such intensity her skin prickled. He’d been with women far more beautiful, but she experienced none of the grinding insecurity she’d suffered with Lance. This was Bram. She didn’t care about his opinion. She only cared about his body. She tilted her head. “Stand back so I can look at you again.”
But his patience had ended. “The game’s over. We’re getting out of here. Now.”
She didn’t want to leave. She wanted to stay in this sensual fantasy world forever. She pulled the ice-blue petal bra from its hook. “I wonder how this will look.”
“You’re putting clothes
“I need to check the fit.” She turned her naked bottom to him and donned the bra. Each cup was made up of three silky petals. She faced him again and, without a word, unfastened each petal, the sides first, and then the center. Taking forever.
His eyes glittered through the grille. “You’re killing me.”
“I know.” She snagged the matching panties from their hook and stood back so he could watch her slip them on. They were open at the crotch. “These fit well, don’t you think?”
“I can’t think. Come here.”
She took her time approaching the peephole. When she got there, he whispered, “Closer.”
They pressed their faces to the grille, and their mouths met through the whirls of black metal. Only their mouths.
And then the earth moved.
Really moved.
Or at least the wall. Her eyes flew open. She gave a startled gasp as the last obstruction between them swung inward. She should have known a shop as inventive as Provocative wouldn’t overlook something like this. Her feeling of safety dissolved.
Bram ducked and came through. “Not everyone gets told about the door.”
She’d never had sex without love, and Bram offered only dirty thrills. She knew exactly how duplicitous he was, how undependable. She had no illusions. Her eyes were wide open. Exactly the way she wanted it. “This is only our first date.”
“One hell of a date.”
He secured the door behind him and looked down at her naked breasts, showcased by the open-cup bra. “Lady, I do love your underwear.” The back of his knuckles brushed her nipple. He took one of the gauzy petals, drew it up, and fastened it. Then he suckled her through the frail barrier.
Her legs grew weak. He pulled her down on the big tufted ottoman so that she straddled his thighs. They kissed. He suckled. She sank her fingers into his hair and bit her lips to keep from crying out. His thighs had pushed her own far apart. She still wore the panties that had no crotch. He separated the nylon fabric, reached into her silk, and played until she was trembling with desire.
When she couldn’t tolerate it any longer, she braced her knees on the ottoman, lifted herself upon him, and slowly took him into her body.
His breath came in ragged gasps, but he didn’t try to push himself into her. Instead, he gave her all the time she needed to accept him. And she took advantage. Wicked advantage. As soon as she gained a hard-earned inch, she gave it up and started all over again. His shoulders grew slick with sweat. She didn’t care about his need-about whether she was pleasing him. She didn’t care about his feelings, his fantasies, his ego. All she cared about was what he could do for her. And if he didn’t satisfy her-if, at the end, he turned out to be a dud-she wouldn’t make up excuses for him as she had with Lance. Instead, she’d complain loud and long until he got it right. Although it didn’t seem as though that would be necessary.
“You’re going to pay for this,” he said through gritted teeth. But still he let her do as she wanted until she became so mindless that she had to give up the game. Only then did he dig his fingers into her bottom and pull her down hard upon him.
They couldn’t make any noise. Only a thin wall shielded them from exposure. He buried his face in her breasts and rubbed her where their bodies joined. She arched against his hand, threw back her head, clutched his shoulders, and joined him on a wild, silent ride.
Not loving him. Only using him.
He shuddered. She flung back her head.
Release…
The practicalities didn’t hit her until afterward. The mess. The used lingerie they hadn’t paid for. The inconvenient husband. As they disengaged, her sanity returned. She had to make sure he understood this hadn’t changed anything. “Well done, Skipper.” She stretched out the kinks in her legs. “You’re no George Clooney, but you definitely show promise.”
He moved toward the hidden door, then surveyed her body, as if he were marking his territory. “At least this answers one question.”
“What’s that?”
He gave her a lazy smile. “I finally remember what happened that night in Vegas.”
Chapter 14
Through the window Chaz saw Aaron’s dark blue Honda pull to a stop in the motor court. A few minutes later, the front door opened. He was such a mess. She stomped out into the hallway to meet him, but he carried only his nerdy black bag instead of the sack of doughnuts she’d expected. He didn’t look happy to see her, and he tried to get past her with only a nod, but she blocked the bottom of the stairs. “What did you have for breakfast?”
“Leave me alone, Chaz. You’re not my mother.”
She braced one arm on the wall and the other on the handrail. He’d already started to sweat, and it wasn’t even hot out. “I’ll bet she used to fix her little boy eggs and sausage every morning with a big side of pancakes.”
“I had a bowl of cereal, okay.”
“I told you I’d make you breakfast.”
“I’m not falling for that again. Last time I got two scrambled egg whites.”
“And toast and an orange. Stop being such a baby. You need to face your problems instead of trying to eat them away.”
“So now you’re a shrink.” He pulled her arm from the wall and wedged past her. “You’re only twenty years old. What the hell do you know about anything?”
He never cussed, and she liked that she’d gotten under his skin enough to make him do it. She followed him upstairs. “So did you see Becky this weekend?”
He was out of breath by the time they reached the top. “I never should have told you about her.”
Becky lived in the apartment next to his. Aaron had a crush on her, but Becky barely knew he existed, like that was some big surprise. Apparently Becky was a brain like Aaron, and she was okay-looking, but not beautiful, which meant Aaron might stand a chance with her if he lost some weight, got a good haircut, bought some decent clothes, and stopped acting like such a geek. “Did you try to talk to her like I said?”
“I have work to do.”
“Did you?” She’d told him to be friendly, but not too friendly, which meant he shouldn’t do that stupid pig snort laugh. And he couldn’t talk about video games. Ever.
“I didn’t see her, okay?”
“Yes, you did.” She followed him into Georgie’s office. “You saw her, but you didn’t have the balls to talk to her. How hard is it to say hi and ask her how things are going?”
“I think I could be a little more original than that.”
“When you try to be original, you only sound weird. Be cool for once. Just ‘Hi’ and ‘How’s it going?’ Did you bring your swim trunks like I told you?”
