“So you thought it would be amusing to put one over on me, use me for some kinky sex, then cut me loose and never fill me in that it was you.” She’d never seen him look more disgusted, and behind that, in his eyes, just plain sad. She didn’t know what to say, how she could possibly salvage this. The worst had happened—everything good they’d ever shared was ruined now.
Which made her realize she had nothing to lose. So she told him the unthinkable truth. “Ty, I’ve had a huge crush on you since I was thirteen years old. All these years, I’ve wanted you. But I knew you only saw me as a friend, or as Tim’s little sister. I knew nothing would ever happen between us if I didn’t make it happen. I’m thirty-one years old. I wanted to have wild, crazy sex with you. Just once. Just to get it out of my system.”
“We fucked twice,” he snapped, lips set in a grim, straight line.
“You wanted to see me again. You wouldn’t let it go.” Her voice quivered now that she’d told him the whole embarrassing truth. “So I…couldn’t resist doing it again.” 90
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When still nothing changed in his enraged eyes, she babbled on further. “I never meant any harm. I just wanted to have a good time, without any repercussions. I wanted to give you a good time, too. That’s all.”
“That’s all, huh?” he repeated, sounding cynical. Then he dropped the masks back to the dresser. “I’ll leave these for the next time you want to make some unsuspecting guy feel like a fool. I’m outta here.”
With that, he stormed from the room, out of the apartment, slamming the door behind him before she could even catch her breath.
She plopped down on the bed, burying her head in her hands. How the hell had this happened? And just when she’d been ready to put it behind her and move on.
Well, she amended, not move on. Now that she knew she was in love with Ty, moving on sounded next to impossible—but she’d been ready to try resuming their old relationship, ready to attempt surviving the brutal emotion of love and maybe someday get past it. Now, everything was a colossal mess. And she couldn’t imagine any possible way to fix it.
* * * * *
Ty stalked away from her building, heading for Bourbon Street, his entire body tense. She’d used him. Lied to him and used him.
Tied him up, for God’s sake. Made him lick her goddamn shoe! Fucked him with a riding crop!
He shook his head in disbelief. It had been crazy enough back when he’d thought they were two strangers. But to find out his masked seductress was someone he knew, someone he knew very well, and that she was lying to him and using him because she wanted to experiment with some kinky sex was…mortifying. To think of how he’d pined over her. Tried to track her down. Longed to take that mask off and see her face.
Well, at least now he knew why she’d been so damned adamant about leaving the mask on.
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Then new thoughts hit him. He’d seen, felt, tasted Mia’s breasts now. Mia’s! He’d seen, felt, tasted— deeply—her pussy. She shaved it. Never in a million years would he have imagined Mia was a sensual, sexual enough creature to do that. Or to own that kind of lingerie. To want that sort of wild, hedonistic sex.
He shook his head, extremely confused and sorry to acknowledge that his cock was getting stiff with the memories, with the realization that his wild, riotous sex partner was sweet Mia, who he’d thought didn’t have a kinky, dirty bone in her body.
Turning a corner onto Bourbon was literally walking into an enormous, wild party.
Everywhere he looked, people were drinking, laughing, making out. A jazz band played in the street. People in costumes—wizards, tigers, court jesters—passed by. Girls were lifting their shirts and collecting mountains of beads to weigh down their necks.
Strippers stood in doorways, scantily clad, beckoning men inside.
Yet the only thing that really grabbed Ty’s attention was one of the French Quarter’s many sex shops—lit up and wide open for business.
He wandered inside, drawn instantly—for the first time ever—to the bondage section.
Anger at Mia still burned inside him—it hadn’t even begun to slack off. But his cock burned, too, in a different way. Hungrily. Urgently.
Maybe, he thought as he picked up a package of leather ties, he should teach Mistress Mia a little lesson. Maybe he’d show her exactly how it felt to be used for kinky sex. Maybe Fat Tuesday would turn out to be a wild night yet—when he introduced little miss Mia to real dominance.
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Chapter Seven
Mia flinched when someone pounded on the door. Who on earth…?
Yet, as she ran to answer it, she knew who she’d find on the other side.
What she didn’t expect was to find Ty standing there wearing a simple but sexy little black mask. Despite herself, her pussy went wet. “Ty…” she said uncertainly.
He barreled in without being invited and shut the door, turning the lock behind him. He still wore the same grim expression as before, but his eyes looked different now—they looked furious and…intensely passionate.
She noticed the shopping bag he carried only when he set it down with a thump.
Impatiently, he reached for the hem of her shirt. “Take this off,” he demanded.
“What?” Had she heard him correctly?
“Lift your arms up over your head, damn it,” he bit off, and she did as he said. He stripped off her top in less than two seconds, tossing it across the room. Next, he reached for the button on her shorts, briskly lowering the zipper
