Piper shrugged cheerfully.
“You expect me to believe that these sorts of things do not happen to you all the time?”
“No, they do not. My real life is exceptionally dull.”
Red pressed closer, though that exponentially ratcheted up the danger of him tackling her. “Poor little dove. And so, you channel your hopes and dreams into your dirty stories, is that it?” Shockingly, he’d managed to keep a straight face for that last salvo, but only just.
Piper’s answering grin brought out her dimples, even cuter in good lighting than they’d been in all the dim locations he’d admired them in before.
“It’s a tragedy of Havisham proportions,” she told him.
Her cheekiness faded when Red pinned her against the wall with his body. She wrapped her arms around his waist and stole a look down the hall, presumably to make sure they were still alone. He dipped his head and kissed her cheek, ever so gently.
“Wanna come in?” she asked breathlessly.
Yes. Red kissed her again, long and lingeringly. “Thank you for asking, but I don’t dare. If I go into that room with you, I won’t be leaving again until tomorrow.”
“That doesn’t sound so bad.”
“Agreed. But I need to drop by the station first thing tomorrow, and I should make sure Terry and the other guys are all squared away tonight.”
“It’s hard out there for the mighty, isn’t it?” Piper asked, stroking his back through his shirt.
Red fought back against the memory of her doing that when he’d been buried deep inside her. “You have no idea,” he groaned.
THIRTEEN
PIPER SPENT FRIDAY morning back at Trident, then lingered over a long and friendly lunch with two of the new PKM designers assigned to her series. By early afternoon, she returned to her hotel, overfed and cheerful, to write for a few hours before meeting Red.
He’d asked her to join him at his loft for dinner, so they could enjoy a quiet night together after the fiasco at his club. Piper wasn’t looking forward to an extended exposure to his home’s horrible décor, but it would be nice to relax with the lion in his den.
Red had been so easygoing and charming when he’d visited her in Maryland. She hoped he’d be the same tonight—it was a lot less intimidating than the Most Eligible Bachelor routine he worked here.
Still, his dashing way with a three-piece suit was in the front of her mind as Piper worked. And Red’s excellent out-of-suit skill set kept her plenty focused as she got ready that evening.
At six on the nose, she stepped from her cab and found Red waiting for her—tie loosened and takeout bag in hand—on the sidewalk in front of his building.
“I do love a punctual woman,” he grinned, shaking his head.
“I would have been early,” she told him, “But there was an accident on 7th Avenue. We had to go around.”
Red led her through the lobby and into a waiting elevator. “Hungry?”
It really was unfair the way his eyes crinkled at the corners, and the way his sexy mouth twitched up just a little at the sides. It made everything he said sound like a dirty little tease.
Piper plastered on her best happy face. “You know it,” she said.
She reminded herself that she was a grown woman and she could hold a normal conversation without obsessing over whether they’d end up in bed again. Either they would, or they wouldn’t. Red might have invited her over for that express purpose, or he might simply want to talk. She could function though. She could.
Piper couldn’t. She absolutely could not concentrate on eating, talking, or pretending like her brain was not racing headlong down one filthy straightaway, all at the same time. It was too much to ask.
She needed a distraction. So, after fumbling her way through dinner, Piper looked around Red’s living area a little desperately. When she spotted a backgammon board displayed on one of his bookshelves, she breathed a sigh of relief and carried it over to the couch.
“Do you play?” he asked her.
“Sure. My dad taught me when I was little.”
Red smiled. “I played with my grandfather, mostly. But I should warn you—I never lose.”
“Funny,” Piper drawled. “Neither do I.”
He was competitive, she’d give him that, but Piper still beat him three times in a row. His glower was a sight to behold. Red clearly didn’t like to lose, but who did?
“Maybe we ought to switch to cards,” he groused. “Or Scrabble. Surely I have a different board game in this place somewhere.”
“Bring it on, sore loser,” Piper taunted. “I could go like this all night long,”
Red gave up his sulk and laughed at her bravado, then leaned forward to kiss her soundly. When he pulled back, he nudged their wine glasses a few more inches away.
“Maybe I need to cut you off. You get ballsy when you drink.”
“Ha, ha,” Piper sneered. “I am stone cold sober, and you know it. Cast aspersions all you like, but it won’t change how many times I just won.” She stood and grabbed the nearly-empty bottle and their glasses, then strutted toward Red’s kitchen to leave them by the sink.
He chuckled louder, watching her go.
Piper looked at him over her shoulder. “What now?”
“That ass of yours ought to come with a warning label, sweetheart. Especially in those jeans.”
His laser-like focus made her a bit self-conscious. Piper frowned down at herself. “Is that a good thing or a bad thing?”
“Good. Definitely good. You should wear those jeans every day for the rest of your life. True, you’ll probably have to beat dudes off with a stick, but it seems like a small price to pay.”
“Oh, come on.” She set the bottle and glasses on his counter and turned back.
Red said, “Honestly, I’m not sure whether I want to spank it, kiss it, or take a bite out of it.”
Piper stopped, eyeing him curiously. “I’m sorry. Did you say ‘spank’?”
“God, yes,” he breathed in reverence. He twirled his finger so she’d turn for him, and his eyes studied her backside appreciatively once more.
When he met her stare again, her expression must have communicated her surprise pretty effectively. Red smiled a little sheepishly and shrugged, a faint pink tinging his cheekbones.
“Is that, uh, something you do a lot? Something you like, I mean?” Piper had written spanking scenes before, of course. Her readers loved that kind of play. But—as with so much in her books—she’d always had to make things up as she went along. Now, though…
Red pushed to his feet and walked slowly over. He brushed Piper’s hair behind her shoulders with very gentle hands, like he was afraid of spooking her.
“Not all the time,” he said softly. “But sometimes, with the right person, yeah—it can be a turn-on.”
“Oh.” Her voice was barely audible in the large wide-open space. “Am I the right kind of person?”
“Piper, you are as right as right can be.” Red cupped her head and brushed his lips softly against hers. “Have you ever—?”
He trailed off when she shook her head quickly.
His hands glided lightly down her arms, and then Red laced his fingers through hers. “Do you think you might want to try?”
Something tight and scared inside Piper unraveled all at once at his tone. She hoped her inexperience wouldn’t ruin everything between them, but she really couldn’t let a chance like this pass her by.
“Yeah, I think I do,” Piper said.
Red studied her face, then gathered her close and held her for a long moment, stroking her hair. Piper laid her cheek against his chest and tried to gather her wits.
She needed to brace herself for however this might unfold. It might be interesting, and it might be fun, but it might not be, too. Piper had learned to prepare for the way that reality often turned out far differently than she ever imagined it would.
Red pulled back to look into her eyes. “Listen. I won’t hurt you. I swear.
I won’t lose control, and I won’t let it get out of hand. Okay?”
“Okay.” He certainly seemed to know what to say. Piper wondered how often, exactly, he’d had this conversation.
“If you want me to stop, tell me right away. If you don’t like it, I don’t want you to suffer through, in some misguided attempt to please me. That’s not what I want,” he insisted. Red studied her face. “Promise me.”
“I promise.” Piper swallowed, unnerved by how serious he’d gotten. What exactly was she getting herself into?
“Then, come here.” Red made a sexy, animal sound deep in his throat and kissed her hard.
He lifted Piper into his arms like she didn’t weigh a thing and carried her up the twisting iron staircase. In his bedroom, he kicked aside a pair of running shoes on the floor and set Piper on her feet.
“Last chance,” he murmured.
“I’m in,” Piper told him.
Red grinned, then went for the button of her jeans. Biting his lip, he slid down the zipper, pushed the snug denim over her hips, and dragged it down her legs. Piper shimmied the rest of the way out of it, and he led her toward the bed.
He sat on the side of the mattress. Pulling Piper between his knees, Red ran his large hands over her hips, whistling at her lacy black panties. He touched the tiny satin bows at the sides with tentative fingertips, then concentrating on easing them off her.
Piper shivered. She rested her hands on his shoulders and waited awkwardly, thrown off by the sensation of standing there in her bra and sweater, totally exposed from the waist down.
She had no idea what she was supposed to do next. Kneel? Beg?
She searched Red’s face, and the answering heat she saw there was enough to combust every bone in her body. He’d said it was a turn-on, but Piper suspected that was a weak description of what this really was for him. When he leaned forward to press a lingering kiss on the tender skin below her navel, her knees nearly buckled.
Red guided her to stand beside him and instructed, “Lay across my lap.”
She tried to do as he asked but had to let him readjust her position into something more comfortable. Well—as comfortable as it could be, under the circumstances.
“Like this?” she wondered. The air was cool against her skin. She gripped the duvet, every nerve-ending alert and wary.
“Oh, Piper. Just like that. You have no idea how beautiful you look right now.”
One large hand settled on the small of her back, a steadying warmth, firm and heavy.
Red stroked her over and over with his other palm—across her butt, down her thighs, and back again. She’d had no idea the skin there would be so sensitive, but his touch felt incredible, and the thrill of being so exposed was driving her crazy with longing.
His fingers hesitated, then dipped between her legs, trailing casually through her folds. Piper jerked, startled by the contact. She was wet for him, and Red hadn’t even begun. Maybe she should be embarrassed by that, but it was hard to think when anticipation was frying every one of her brain cells.
The stroking hand left her, and Piper heard Red’s short intake of breath.
“Five, I think. To start.”
Before she could say a word, his palm landed on her rear end with a loud, decisive smack. She gasped, shocked.
Red paused. Her breathing seemed too loud. Her heartbeat was deafening. When she didn’t protest, though, he spanked her again. Then again.
That hand on her back held her firmly in place. He smoothed his other lightly across her ass, caressing her blazing skin. Piper flinched when his fingers sought out her cleft again, not expecting him to spread around the slickness he found there, or for him to enter her with one long finger.
Her body contracted around him instantly. Red murmured something unintelligible, but his approval was clear. He withdrew, then pushed two fingers inside her again, pressing deep. Piper pushed back against his hand, desperate for the release she felt building—but Red pulled his hand quickly away and spanked her again. Once. Twice.
And then, exactly like he’d said he would, he stopped. Red held still, one hand on her back, the other cupping her butt possessively. His palms were warm, but not as hot as her flaming skin.
Piper whimpered and shifted, needing more.
“That’s it,” he breathed, but still he didn’t move. His erection was an insistent, rigid bar against her side. She leaned into it, wanting him to feel as agitated as she did.
Red was waiting, she supposed, for some comment from her. When she finally spoke, Piper surprised them both.
“More,” she said. Then, louder, “Please, just a little more.”
The wait for him to respond was interminable.
Finally, he asked, “Are you sure?”
“Very sure.” And, shockingly, she was.
Red spanked her five more times. After that, he was done waiting. He shoved his pants down only far enough to free himself and roll on a condom, and then Red was pulling Piper astride him and sinking into her heat with a loud, unholy groan.
She didn’t think about the whats or the whys of what they’d done. She just rode him for all she was worth, until they came together in the kind of heady, shuddering release that defied all her previous experiences.
The real ones, at least. Piper was so ensconced in the moment, it didn’t even occur to her to catalog sensations. If she ever decided to use this experience in a book someday, she’d have to think up the descriptions later.
Red held her cradled against his chest while their breathing slowly returned to normal. Piper snuggled her cheek against his neck, soaking up his warmth. He trailed light fingers up and down the column of her spine.
“Doing okay?” Red whispered eventually.
“Mmmm.”
“You’re magnificent, you know.”
“If you say so.”
“Piper.” He lifted her head so he could see her face. “I loved that. With you.”
“Me, too,” she admitted, probably unnecessarily. “More than I expected.”
“Thank you for trusting me.”
And she did, Piper realized. Also, more than she’d expected.
PIPER BLINKED AWAKE the next morning, disoriented and trying to place where she was. She stared at the wall in front of her. Wallpaper, its seams nearly imperceptible, its calm taupe design mimicking the look of ancient European stone. Travertine perhaps, or limestone. Something a handsome, burly gladiator might make his servant girl kneel on while she serviced him.
Piper swallowed. Wait. This was Red’s room.
Even though she almost always awoke with new scenes in her head, she couldn’t afford to play one out now. For one thing, she wasn’t at home and therefore didn’t have a notebook and pen within easy reach to jot the ideas down before she lost them.
For another, following the images to their natural conclusion would inevitably lead to her getting a little bit hot-and-bothered, and Piper had seen last night how that turned out. Acting like one of her characters required more bravery than she was currently in possession of.
Behind her, Red shifted, yawning and stretching his large, long body. Piper had a sudden, unwelcome flash of those infrequent mornings at Kyle’s house. She steeled herself for what would happen next—the distance Red would inevitably want to put between them once he woke up.
Maybe he’d lock himself in the bathroom to scrub off any lingering vestiges of their night together, while Piper got dressed and slipped out. Or perhaps Red would lever himself off the wide mattress and head downstairs, to brew the coffee that would signal to her, loud and clear, that the party was over, and it was time for her to leave.
Last night had been amazing, though. Piper had taken a chance and let Red teach her something she’d always wondered about, and for once in her life, it had been everything she’d hoped for. She could barely believe it. He was incredible.
And he clearly knew his way around a spanking. Practice made perfect, she supposed.
Red MacLellan
was absolutely nothing like Piper had expected him to be, and she…she liked him. More than she ought to—this wasn’t one of her books, after all. This was real life, and in real life, even fantasy nights came to an end.
There was a sudden jolt behind her, then some rustling of the sheets as Red remembered her presence and acclimated to it. And then, inexplicably, his size and heat were invading the air along her spine, and molding to her body like they were made to fit together.
Red folded his heavy, muscled arm around Piper’s chest, tucking her close against him. His long, strong leg nudged between hers, his ankle wedging between her feet and finding purchase. Piper felt Red’s face nuzzling the top of her head, a gruff, satisfied sound rumbled in his throat—and then Red’s limbs were relaxing again, falling back into sleep tangled with hers.
Piper held her breath in shock. Red was hard against her back, his hot breath stirring the fine hairs on her head, his thigh between hers making her all kinds of horny.
She’d been so sure she was about to be sent on her way, but once again Red had proved her wrong. This was no morning-after dismissal—this was intimate and unwavering want. And Piper was shaken by the power of it.
Want came with expectations, with costs, and she had no idea if she could fulfill them.
In moments Red jerked awake again, but not by anything she’d done, this time. His cell phone had started chiming from the nightstand on the other side of the bed, and he rolled away to answer it with a resigned groan.
It seemed to be someone from PKM, asking Red to come into the office for an emergency meeting. Well, there it was, Piper thought. He’d known he didn’t need to kick her out himself. Red had planned ahead and employed the ever-popular phone-a-friend strategy. Hell, he’d probably had his exit planned before she’d ever crossed his threshold last night.
The Titan Was Tall (Triple Threat Book 1) Page 15