She stepped back. “What’s next?”
“Get the straitjacket and help me put it on,” he said.
She took the jacket, and, as she lifted it, the scent of her grandfather’s cologne wafted out to her. It was faint, but she could smell it. Startled, she dropped the straitjacket but bent to pick it up. This was harder than she thought it would be.
“Do you want to skip the escape trick?” he asked.
She shook her head. She wanted to see him do it. She needed to have a new memory of someone performing this trick who wasn’t related to her. And besides, she was having fun teasing Nicholas. Though the balance of sexual fun and painful past was a delicate one, she wasn’t ready to give in and admit it was too much for her.
…
He was on the edge of just carrying her to the corner of the room, using the wall for support, and taking her as hard and fast as he could. But he’d brought her out tonight for more than sex. Of course, that undercurrent wasn’t something that either of them could ignore. He knew he’d been risking his self-control when he’d asked her to undress him. But he’d wanted to see if she still wanted him.
He’d definitely missed her touch. He could have called her and asked her out any time since the night he’d spent at her place, but he’d been playing games with himself. Telling himself that if he just focused on the show and not Zelda, he’d forget her.
As if she was ever going to fade from memory the way all the other women between her and Jade had. She was important. He could feel it, and not just in the pulse beating in his dick. He wanted her for more than sex. And somehow, it felt tied to magic. She put the straitjacket on him, fumbling with the fastenings.
He stood there until she had them all. “It’s more spectacular when I’m suspended from my feet, but I don’t dare try that with just you and me here. Leo is usually the one who does that part. And then I’m winched up over the stage.”
“I think I saw you do this in that show I watched earlier,” she said, her skin still flushed with arousal, her lips slightly swollen from his kiss. Perhaps he’d been too rough with her.
“Did I hurt you when I kissed you?” he asked.
“What? No. Is that part of your show?”
“No, of course not,” he said. “Now you walk around me and count slowly to five.”
He was already working to get out of the straitjacket, and by the time she’d walked around him, he was free. He shook his arms, and the jacket came off of his body. He held it out just as she finished saying five.
He caught her to him with his arm around her waist. “Impressed?”
“Yes. I’ve never seen it done so quickly.”
“Have you seen it before?” he asked, lifting one eyebrow.
“On your special. I watched it on YouTube, and they had other attempts. I liked yours the best,” she admitted.
“There is a guy who likes to break down tricks on there. He does all of mine, and I’m not sure if it’s deliberate or not, but he usually leaves out one or two steps.”
“I didn’t see that,” she said. She knew how much magicians hated it when someone revealed their secrets. All of their tricks were learned from a mentor or kept within a magical family. It was meant to preserve the mysticism but also to keep the performers safe. Years of practice went into every one of those illusions so that when one was finally performed for an audience, no one was injured.
She felt the water closing over her and shook her head. She remembered what Trixie had said about him not hitting all the rehearsals. “Are you putting in enough time on your new illusion?”
“Yes,” he said. “Why?”
“The rumor, remember? I just know that tricks can be dangerous if they aren’t well-rehearsed,” she said. “Or at least that’s what I read.”
“Concerned about me?” he asked.
She knew he was teasing her, but she put her hand on the side of his face and felt the stubble under her palm as their eyes met. “Yes. I don’t want anything to happen to you, Nicholas.”
He leaned down, their foreheads touching, and his lips brushed over hers in a kiss that was soft and gentle, yet still as potent as the hard kiss he’d given her earlier. “I don’t, either. I don’t take chances like that. I think the team is worried I’m off my game because my Houdini water chest is missing. But I think I’ve found a new talisman.”
She stepped back. She wasn’t sure what he was going to say next, but she knew he couldn’t be referring to her. She was bad luck when it came to magic. She’d used every bit of luck she had to save her sister, and she didn’t want to have to worry like that for Nicholas.
“The straitjacket?” she quipped in a gruff voice. Her throat was dry and felt like it was closing up as she talked.
“Only if you come up onstage and help me out,” he said.
“Uh, no. You have Keely or Trixie for that. I’m definitely not performance material,” she said. There was no way she’d get back onstage. Ever.
“I don’t know about that,” he said.
She turned away, moving deeper into the room. He had some really old props as well as some newer ones. She lifted a pair of manacles and held them up. They weren’t dissimilar to the ones she’d taught Stetson to use in her shop.
“Want to try to get out of these?” she asked.
“I would love to see you try to get out of them,” he said.
“I’m not the master of illusion,” she said.
“Then why do I have the feeling that you are?” he asked. “But I’m done with tricks for tonight.” He pulled her into his arms once more. “What about you?”
She looked up into those electric blue eyes and felt a tingle go through her. She put her hand in the middle of his chest and spread her fingers wide. She wanted him, and it was easier to go to bed with him than to spend any more time in this room of magic.
“Yes. I’m done with tricks.”
Chapter Ten
He hadn’t intended to seduce her in his vault; he couldn’t seem to help himself. There wasn’t anything he wanted more than this woman. He’d tried to pretend that one night had been enough, but this date had simply confirmed what he already knew—there was something magical about Zelda.
She drew him in, the same way watching an illusion did. He wanted to unravel her, figure her out, and then put her back together again. Would he move on after he’d done that? He had no idea. His life had been on this path for so long, he couldn’t imagine doing something else long-term. But when he was with her, there were moments when he found himself thinking that he wanted to share forever with her.
“Why do you always get me out of my shirt?” he asked.
“Uh, this time you said it was necessary for your trick,” she said, arching both eyebrows and smiling at him. “I was simply the assistant.”
“You were the best I’ve ever had,” he said.
“Ever?”
“Yeah. I mean, you weren’t the most professional, but…”
“What? I was very professional. I hardly caressed your back or chest the way I wanted to.”
“But you did reach your hand deep into my pocket and touch my cock.”
“It was sort of reaching out for me,” she said. “So not my fault.”
“It is definitely your fault. I never get turned on taking off my shirt.”
“Just with me?” she asked, coming closer and stepping out of her shoes.
“Definitely just with you,” he said. Given that he and Jade had been lovers as well as coworkers, he thought it odd that she’d never affected him the way Zelda did.
“You’re the only one who makes me want to do things like that,” she admitted.
She came closer to him, putting her hand in the center of his chest and spreading her fingers wide as she slowly caressed him. He worked out for his act. He wasn’t vain, and the show required hi
m to appear to be hiding nothing. But he had to admit, he would work out just to see the desire in Zelda’s eyes. She was concentrating on his torso as she ran her hand slowly up and down it.
“This is what I wanted to do.”
“Then we wouldn’t have gotten to the straitjacket,” he admitted.
“Why? Does it make you want to do something?” she teased.
“It does,” he said, finding the zipper on the side of her dress and slowly pulling it down. The fabric gaped away from her body, and he pushed his hand inside, feeling her bare skin. Putting his hand in the middle of her back, he drew her toward him and lowered his head to kiss her.
There was something about kissing Zelda that always made him want more. One kiss wasn’t enough. She tasted better than anyone else he’d kissed before, and the way she melted against him whenever they embraced just fed the fire deep inside of him. He didn’t want to stop and realized that he wouldn’t. Not until they were both satisfied.
His vault had a large leather couch in the corner, and he led her over to it. She followed him, and when he got to the couch, he stopped and turned. Sinking down, he spread his arms wide along the back of the cool leather.
“Now it’s your turn to perform for me.”
“That wasn’t in our bargain. I’m not the showman you are,” she said. Then she tipped her head to the side as if considering. “What did you have in mind?”
“Maybe a little striptease,” he said.
She studied him for a long moment, her gaze moving hotly over his body until he felt his erection growing and had to stretch his legs to make room for it.
“If I do this, then you will owe me one,” she said.
“Fair enough,” he said. “You can cash in whenever you want.”
“Whenever?” she asked.
He nodded.
“Very well. Wait here.”
She turned and walked back to the foyer. A moment later, she was back with her smartphone in her hand, running her finger over the screen. Then she looked over at him. “Ready?”
He wasn’t sure what she had in store, but he was game for anything she did. Now he was wondering why he’d teased her about stripping for him. But he liked her and liked being with her. More importantly, he was looking for some way to keep himself from driving into her and being done with the act in thirty seconds. He wanted this night to last a while.
And teasing was one way to do it.
“I am.”
She hit a button on the phone, and the heavy beat of “Get Low” from Dillon Francis and DJ Snake started to play. He couldn’t help smiling as she started singing along at the beginning of the song and doing some moves that he’d never seen in a strip club before. When the slightly Arabic music came on, she did some belly-dance shimmies and turned around in a circle in front of him. As she spun in a tight circle, she started moving faster, her arms moving in sensual movements around her body, and her dress fell down as she shimmied. When it was at her feet, she stepped out of it and turned her back to him, slowly dropping low and undulating her body to the music until she stood back up and shook her head, her hair hanging down her back. When she turned again, facing him, he realized that she was wearing some kind of stick-on bra.
She peeled it off and cupped her breasts as she leaned toward him. He started to move, but she shook her head and wagged her finger at him. “No touching. That’s the first rule of stripping.”
He sank back against the couch as the song continued and she shimmied out of her thong panties. She continued to dance and spin around, and when the music stopped, she stood there in front of him, absolutely bare. Her nipples were hard points, her chest rose and fell with her breaths, and she had her legs spread apart.
“Did you like it?”
…
“Like it? Woman, I loved it,” he said, bending his arm and crooking his finger at her. But she shook her head and stayed where she was.
“What?”
“I need to see,” she said. “Show me how much you liked it.”
Again, she surprised him, but he knew that was because he kept anticipating she’d react like every other woman he’d known. Instead, she stood there, holding her own breasts, her finger swirling over her nipples as she waited for him.
He reached down and undid his belt, drawing it from the loops and then setting it on the couch next to him. Then he undid the fastening that held his pants closed and slowly lowered his zipper. He reached down and stroked his cock through his boxer briefs before shifting his hips and pushing them down until his cock jutted out of his pants.
“Very nice,” she said. “Too bad I’m a stripper and you can’t touch me.”
“Oh, but I’m willing to do whatever I need to in order to get you to change your mind,” he said, playing along with her.
“Good, I’m glad to hear that,” she said. “Because I was hoping to see a little tush tonight.”
He stood up and, moving away from the couch, toed his shoes off and then pushed his pants and briefs down his legs until he stood in front of her, totally naked. “Zelda, I’m yours. Tell me what you want me to do.”
When he said her name, she dropped her hands and threw herself at him, her arms open. He caught her with an arm around her waist.
“Make love to me.” She put her hands on his face, the way she had the last time she’d kissed him, and her lips brushed against his. He parted his lips, and he felt the brush of her tongue over his, and the taste of her filled him. He stumbled backward to the couch and sat down with her on his lap. She straddled him, and he ran his hands up and down her back, cupping her butt and drawing her forward until he felt the tip of his cock at the entrance of her body. But he knew it was too soon.
He wanted her hot and begging for him. He wanted this to last, and yet here he was, as if it was his first time, eager to just take her.
He rolled her beneath him until she was lying stretched out on the cushions of the couch, and then he came over her. He knelt between her thighs and realized that her freckles were all over her body. Last time he’d barely paid attention to that detail, but this time he caressed them, taking his time to race over the ones that dotted her knees and then spread up her thighs. She moved her legs restlessly against him, and he felt her smooth inner thighs rubbing against his hips as he ran his fingers up to the apex of her thighs, brushing his finger over the secrets hidden there before he slid his hand back down her other leg to her knee.
He shifted farther back and let his touch drift down to her ankles and then over the arch of her foot, which made her giggle and wiggle her toes. Then he skimmed his fingers back, avoiding her pussy for now, since that was what he wanted to touch most of all. He ran his finger along the bottom of her belly and then up and around her belly button. Then he leaned forward, making sure to rub his shoulder over her mound as he licked her belly button and then suckled at her skin there. He shifted his body, bracing himself with a hand on the couch next to her hips, and then, with his other hand, traced a pattern up her ribs and over each one of them, then up higher to circle her breasts.
She arched her back, pushing them up toward him, her nipples tightening even more as he brushed his fingers up the column of her neck. He stroked the pulse beating so quickly at the spot where her shoulder and neck met and then he lowered his head over her breast and suckled at her nipple. She moved her hands, grabbing at the back of his head and scoring his shoulders with her fingernails before he took her hands from his body. He twined their fingers together and lifted his head to bring her hand to his mouth and kiss her palm before he placed her hand in the center of his chest and let go of it.
He turned his attention to her other nipple, suckling deeply while stroking the side of her body. She was small but curvy, and he loved each inch of her freckled body. She was so soft under his fingertips that he couldn’t help caressing her again and again. Finally, he moved his
hand back over her stomach and traced the hair that covered her mound.
He ran his finger lightly over the folds that protected her clit and tapped it gently before parting her and hearing the moan that she made as her legs moved restlessly against him.
He touched her sensitive flesh with his fingertip, rubbing it gently before moving lower to push it up into her body. She arched against him, taking him deeper inside of her, and he knew he wanted more. He was kidding himself if he thought tonight was going to be enough for him.
…
Desperately, she reached between his legs and took his cock, stroking it. With Nicholas, she felt comfortable in her own skin—something she hadn’t felt in a long time. She’d thought it was the tequila lowering her guard the last time they’d hooked up, but she was going to have to admit, at least to herself, that it was him. Nicholas brought out something in her that no one else ever had. With him, she was enough. Her past didn’t matter. She was content to live just for the present.
She loved the way he touched her, too. She had freckles, which had never bothered her because they were a part of her. Her mom had had them as well, and she was the most beautiful woman that Zelda had ever seen. But Zelda had been with men who didn’t like them. But there was no thought of that now. No room for anything but Nicholas as he pushed his finger deeper inside of her, making her forget about everything but the pleasure he was bringing her.
She pulled his head from her breast and brought her mouth to his. He kissed her long and deep until she couldn’t think of anything but having his body inside hers. She reached for a condom she’d left on a nearby table, sheathed him, then tugged his hand away from her pussy and reached for his cock, guiding him to her. He shifted his hips back and entered her with one long plunge, taking her completely.
For a moment, she felt like they were so deeply connected that she’d never be alone again. But this was sex. Just sex, she reminded herself as he continued to thrust in and out of her. He reached beneath her and lifted her more fully to him, his hand cupping her butt as he pounded into her.
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