by Lainey Reese
She’s taking two bites out of the Big Apple.
New York, Book 1
Riley Ramirez knew that moving to New York would change her life. She just didn’t expect it to start on her very first night in town. Her attraction to nightclub owner Kincade Marshall is instant, mind-blowing—and mutual. When she finds he is a Dom who requires her complete surrender, even when it comes to submitting to his best friend, Trevor Wellington, she finds herself willing and eager to embrace the sexual adventure.
From their earliest days, Cade and Trevor have shared everything, including women. Yet it only takes one night with Riley to know she is their forever lady. Convincing her that this is more than a temporary fling, though, will take every tool in their sensual arsenal.
As Cade and Trevor set their sights on Riley, however, they’re unaware—until it’s almost too late—that someone is targeting their fragile relationship. Someone who’s taking deadly aim at Riley. Suddenly their struggle to keep their forever woman is a fight to keep her alive…
Warning: This book contains m/f/m ménage, bdsm play, lots of steamy p.d.a, and a fine dining experience that will leave you salivating for more.
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This book is a work of fiction. The names, characters, places, and incidents are products of the writer’s imagination or have been used fictitiously and are not to be construed as real. Any resemblance to persons, living or dead, actual events, locale or organizations is entirely coincidental.
Samhain Publishing, Ltd.
577 Mulberry Street, Suite 1520
Macon GA 31201
A Table for Three
Copyright © 2010 by Lainey Reese
ISBN: 978-1-60504-987-8
Edited by Bethany Morgan
Cover by Amanda Kelsey
All Rights Are Reserved. No part of this book may be used or reproduced in any manner whatsoever without written permission, except in the case of brief quotations embodied in critical articles and reviews.
First Samhain Publishing, Ltd. electronic publication: April 2010
www.samhainpublishing.com
A Table for Three
Lainey Reese
Dedication
Mom,
When I was scared of what people would think if I wrote a steamy novel, you encouraged me. You urged me to write what was in my heart and let my imagination fly… When you read this, remember, you asked for it.
Chapter One
“Hey, where to, lady?” Riley looked into the rear view mirror, met the gaze of the cab driver and smiled with the enthusiasm of a kid at Disneyland.
“I don’t know,” she said. “This is my first night in New York City.”
“Okay then.” The cabbie smiled back. “Welcome to the best city in the world, little lady. What are ya needin’, huh? You want food? I can tell you where to get the best Italian this side of the Atlantic. What about sightseeing? You ain’t never seen nothin’ ’til you seen Times Square at night.”
“Oh wow,” Riley said, lightheaded with the possibilities. She thought the balding, unshaven man exactly fit her image of a New York cab driver. “Could you please take me to a night club? I’ve always wanted to go to one like I’ve seen in the movies. You know, one that you have to wait in line to get in, and it has movie stars and famous people mixed together with everyday people.”
Carl chuckled, “Listen, I know a good place, the best. But you gotta promise me that you won’t do nothin’ stupid if I take you there.” He pulled the cab into traffic as he spoke and flicked a stern look at her in the rear view mirror again. “It’s the hottest club in the whole city, packed with a lotta famous folks. But like I said, you gotta be careful. It’s got a kinda weird reputation, like it’s some kinda Studio 54 or somethin’ and that a buncha kinky shit goes on...oops” he stammered and flashed her a grimace. “I mean stuff, kinky stuff goes on. So you play it smart. You don’t leave with nobody. You don’t let no one but the waiter bring you a drink, and whatever you do, don’t drink anything that you’ve left at the table or somthin’ stupid like that. Got it?” He raised a bushy dark brow at Riley and waited for a reply.
“Got it.” She smiled at him and wondered where the silly rumors about cab drivers being rude came from if they were anything like this one. “I’ll be good.”
“No,” Carl interrupted, “forget good, you be smart. I ain’t kiddin’ ’bout this place. You want New York nightlife, this is it in spades. You gettin’ all the glitter you could want, but you gotta steer clear of the dark side of it, okay? No getting caught in dark corners or drinkin’ too much booze and gettin’ drunk. You find a table where you can just sit and watch, you don’t gotta mingle too much on your first night.” As he made his way through the maze of streets and the snarls of traffic, Riley gazed out her window in awe. “So how long you in town?”
“Oh I’m staying,” she replied. “My work transferred me here.”
“No kiddin’? Good for you. What kinda work you in?”
“I’m an operation’s manager for a bank.”
“Huh?”
Riley smiled at him in his rear view mirror, “It’s my job to make the schedules and do the audits and order supplies and stuff like that. I’ve always wanted to live in New York so when a position opened up here, I went for it.” Riley flung her arms wide and thought that the work and the wait had been worth it. “And here I am. It seems like a dream. I can hardly believe I’m here.”
“Well, good for you,” Carl said. “You gonna make it just fine here I can tell.” He smiled at her and pulled up in front of the club. “Now, remember what I said. Be smart.”
Kincade Marshall was going to kill his bouncer. As the owner of one of the hottest clubs in New York, he thought he could probably get away with it. His bouncer, Gary, was too soft on the women.
“What the hell are you doing?” Cade demanded, standing not two inches from Gary. He motioned to the other man on the door for the night. “Take over for a moment, Tom. Gary is going to take a quick break.” With a hand in the middle of Gary’s back, Cade led him into the crowded nightclub speaking directly into his ear as they went. “We’ve been over this. You know the profile we’re looking for. So I’ll ask you again. What the hell are you doing?”
Cade knew Gary understood, they’d been down this road before—the little brunette didn’t fit the bill.
“Cade, man, I know. I know, but she’s hot. Now, I know she looks kind of sweet, but, I’m keeping an eye on her, and I’ll make sure she doesn’t get into any trouble.”
Cade heard the hopeful note in Gary’s voice, “I was hoping that she’d hang around until my shift was over.”
“Look, this is an exclusive club where our patrons can come without the threat of exposure. The people here come with the knowledge that no matter what they do or who they do it with, it will never leak. There will never be a tell-all book, or an exclusive on Oprah, or a tabloid full of hidden snapshots. This club is under the radar, and the only people allowed in here are the ones whose lives depend on it staying that way.”
Cade’s face took on an expression that made Gary take an involuntary step back. “You had to work here two years before I let you work the door. Don’t make me regret that promotion.”
“Sorry, boss,” Gary said, giving up. “If you watch the door I’ll get her out.”
Cade just stared at him then leaned forward and looked directly into his friend’s eyes so as not to be mistaken. “This is the last time this happens.” Then he walked away.
Friends or not, the success of this club depended on a very f
ine balance, and one of the most important elements that made up that balance was who was allowed in. The woman in question wasn’t a publicity threat, instead her threat was of a much more serious kind. It was the threat of innocence.
She looked as fresh and clean and in danger as a fawn amidst a den of lions. In only one hour, she already had the pack circling her little table. There was a senator and his errand boy standing against the wall to the left planning their attack, while at the table on her right a very famous singer and her latest boy-toy were doing some plotting of their own.
Moreover, the little innocent had no idea that the more people she shyly refused to dance with only added to the danger she was in. By sitting there with her head bouncing back and forth like a bobble doll, she was just begging for someone to give her something to gawk at. She was sipping diet cola of all things—he’d found out from her server—and looking for the entire world as if she was having the time of her life stargazing. All the while, nets were closing in.
This club was strictly for people whose innocence was long gone. There would be no morning after regrets from the people here, Cade thought as he made his way toward her, they all had been there and done that and wouldn’t run to the police in the morning crying rape.
He could guarantee she had never had anything other than a straight fuck in her life. Missionary position. He’d bet every dollar he had that she didn’t even call it fucking. She probably only made love and then only after a long courtship. Cade had no idea how she’d found this club or what she’d thought she would find in it. Even if she were looking for a night on the wild side, she wouldn’t get it here. This club was for the already tarnished, not for those looking to start their tarnish.
She was sitting in one of the booths that had a privacy option to it, which if she were a regular here she would know meant she was open for a fuck right there at the table.
As he got closer, her face started to come into detail. She had big dark eyes that had an almond slant to them, and her high cheekbones made him think Native American or possibly French when he added in the lush shape of her lips. Lips that brought to mind actresses like Angelina Jolie and Julia Roberts. She had a ton of dark hair that curled around her shoulders and breasts. Nice breasts he thought, a quick glance told him they were natural.
The table hid the rest of her body, but he could tell it was curvy. She looked soft in her little red dress, not toned and wiry like so many of today’s women were, but more like a throwback to Hollywood’s bombshell days.
She didn’t notice him until he stood in front of her table. As soon as her eyes met his, a shot of pure lust went straight to his groin. She held her glass up to her mouth with delicate hands that had pink-tipped nails and her full red lips were wrapped around her straw. Surprise opened those lips in a small o, and he could see a glimpse of a shell pink tongue as she looked up at him. Despite his rules and misgivings, in that instant he knew she would be his.
And not just for the night.
Riley whipped her gaze back to her pop and took a sip, trying not to gawk. She wanted to fit in, not look like the out-of-towner she was. She’d actually felt his stare before she saw him. Slowly, like a scene out of a movie, she looked at the body of the man in front of her.
He was dressed in black and, from the way the shirt clung to his impressive chest and shoulders, it had to be silk. He had a strong neck, a nice jaw and then she noticed his mouth and almost didn’t want to look any further. She could definitely picture herself on the receiving end of those lips. She brought her gaze up to see a strong Roman nose saved from being perfect with a bump that let her know he’d broken it and wasn’t vain enough to have it fixed.
She met his eyes. It wasn’t just that they were blue. It was that they were electric. She didn’t think it was the lighting that made them glow—it had to be the intensity with which he stared. Everything in her just seemed to melt. Despite the cab driver’s warnings, she knew to the tips of her toes anything this man wanted she would do.
Anything.
Her nipples hardened. She actually felt her body clench and moisten, and he hadn’t done more than look at her. In an instant, her mood went from playful and adventurous to something she had never felt before but could only name as ravenous.
“I.D.,” he said and held out his hand to her.
She didn’t question who he was or why he wanted it. She grabbed her license out of her purse and handed it to him. She also didn’t stop to think why she would do what he asked. She just knew whatever he asked her for, she would do it.
Cade looked at her for several seconds after she handed him her I.D. before he could tear his gaze away. No wonder Gary had risked his job to let her in. He watched while her nipples puckered and pushed against the soft fabric of her dress and when she squirmed in her seat, he knew it was because she was getting wet.
Everything in him tightened as he recognized the signs she was as affected by him as he was by her, and it made him feel like an animal. He now understood why wolves marked their territory. The urge he felt to claim her was just as basic and fundamental. He tore his gaze down to the license in his hand and saw that her name was Riley Makenna Ramirez. She was twenty-three, five two and weighed one hundred and fifteen pounds. There was also an out-of-state address.
He looked up and quirked a brow at her. “Washington?”
“Oh, I, uh, just moved here,” Riley stammered. “I only got in today, but it’s real I swear. I have some other I.D. if you want to see it, a bank card and a credit card too, but those don’t have a picture.”
Cade would have smiled at her rambling if he wasn’t in such a state of arousal. He didn’t doubt it was a real license. He just wanted to make sure she wasn’t planning to catch a plane any time soon. Not that she’d make that plane, but it was a complication he wanted to prepare for.
He handed the card back to her. “No need.” He motioned to a server close by and when she hurried over he ordered two drinks. She was getting something a little stronger than diet cola whether she wanted it or not. “May I?” He took the chair next to her as he asked to make it clear her assent was assumed. A not so subtle way of establishing who was in control.
He was a self-aware man. He knew what he liked and how he liked it in every aspect of his life. He made no apologies about his lifestyle and didn’t understand or have patience with anyone who did. He was a dominant. He liked raw, earthy sex and he demanded absolute control of his women. He did not take a lover who wasn’t open to sharing. He and his best friend Trevor had shared every girlfriend they’d had since their freshman year of college. It wasn’t that they didn’t both enjoy one-on-one sex. They did. But lovers had to welcome them both.
He didn’t talk to her as they waited for the drinks. Another show of dominance. A simple test to see if she would follow his lead. He also made very little eye contact, but watched her out of the corner of his eye to see how she would handle being ignored. At first, she watched him with a bright smile showing straight white teeth and eager eyes. After a moment, her smile dimmed and she looked around to try to see what he was looking at.
Most women would start to fidget and try to break the ice, assuming that he wanted her to make the moves. The ones who paid attention and were on the right wavelength, those women would keep their eyes on him and wait for him to take the lead. Riley was on the right wavelength.
She wasn’t a practiced submissive because she didn’t lower her eyes and take a slave posture, but she did have a submissive streak in her because she was waiting for him. There was spirit in her wait. She had one corner of her mouth curved up in a smirk and a twinkle in her eye that dared him to talk first. She thought this was a game.
Her only mistake was she didn’t realize this was a game that was going to change her life forever.
The drinks came, and he sent the server away with a whispered message to tell his manager he was to be undisturbed for the remainder of the night. Then he took his magnetic key card out of his pocket a
nd swiped it thru the mechanism in the center of the table that activated the hollow Plexiglas privacy shield.
The table was under the second floor balcony, away from the dance area with a wall behind them. The shield came up from the floor in a semicircle sealing them against the wall. As soon as it reached the ceiling, the hollow glass filled with a smoky, swirling mist. It never completely filled. The smoke allowed shifting glimpses in as well as out. It was a favorite with the voyeurs as well as the exhibitionists.
Riley’s whispered, “Wow,” made him smile, and he shifted his gaze to her. She looked like she had just seen a magic trick, and her delight was unmistakable.
“Riley,” he said, “my name’s Cade. I don’t think you realize the type of club you’ve stumbled into. I’m going to make myself perfectly clear.” He never broke eye contact as he spoke, picked up her martini, and brought it to her lips to drink. She was staring at him with wide eyes. He had a hard time keeping the smile off his face when she wrinkled her nose at the first sniff of the drink he had ordered her. Her hands fluttered when she tried to take the drink form him and realized he intended to hold it for her while she sipped from his hand. This was supposed to be a serious moment, and she was making him smile.
“Tell me something. What do you hate most? Something so bad you can’t stand it.”
“Spinach,” Riley answered quickly. “What about you?” she asked.
“No. No questions now. Just listen.”
Spinach? Cade chuckled and shook his head. He had asked dozens of girls that question and heard everything from spiders and snakes to pap smears. This was the first time anyone had picked a food. Damn, it looked like he was going to be going without some of his favorite dishes for the foreseeable future. He liked spinach.
“Okay, spinach,” he continued. “That’s your word. That’s your safety net. From this moment forward, that word is your way out. If something hurts, if something is too much, if in any way this is more than you want or think you can handle, that one word is your way to stop everything. Think about that. Never use that word lightly. Never say it unless you want to walk away and never look back. No matter what is happening or what we’re doing that word is your assurance that you have the control.”