Maggie's Desire

by Heidi Lynn Anderson

  Something told him she wanted more, much more.

  Julie yawned. "Well, on that note. I need my beauty rest."

  Brian checked his watch and cringed. "You're gorgeous." He kissed her cheek and stood. "I'll let myself out."

  "Go back to Maggie's tonight," she said

  He had to smile at the take no bullshit tone in her voice. "Sweet dreams, Mistress Julie."

  * * * *

  Maggie switched off the TV. She wiped her eyes and told herself the tears dripping down her cheeks were from the Deadliest Catch she'd been watching—not due to the fact that Brian left her feeling cold.

  Seeing Captain Phil's struggles and death had to be why her chest ached, and the back of her eyelids felt like sandpaper. She gathered the box full of discarded tissues and made her way to the trashcan. "Can I get you something to drink?" she asked Nick.

  Nick stretched on the floor and frowned up at her. "Maggie, I'm sorry."

  She stopped short. Guilt washed over her. Nick had been so great and she'd spent hours crying. He deserved better from her. "No, I'm sorry," she said. "It's not you. I don't regret anything we did."

  A sad smile crossed his face. "I'm glad you feel that way. I want to help you and I don't know how."

  Maggie grinned for the first time in hours. "I wish I could feel for you what I feel for Brian. You are every woman's dream man."

  He blew out an exasperated sigh. "Always a bridesmaid, never a bride."

  Her stomach flipped. "I'm sorry. I'm stupid."

  Nick stood in one fluid motion. "You're not stupid." His hand came up to brush her face. "You're one of the bravest people I know."

  She rolled her eyes. "Yeah, right. I'm so brave."

  He gripped her chin. "You took what you wanted, and I, for one, am glad I was a part of it."

  She stepped out of his arms. "What's wrong with me? How did I go from being a victim of attempted rape to having a threesome?"

  Nick stepped into her and gripped her shoulders. "It's the club's fault."

  The chuckle rumbling in her chest hurt. "That must be it."

  A shadow crossed his face.

  "What?" she asked.

  "Nothing. It's none of my business."

  She slapped his arm. "Oh, come on. You're all tied up in my business. Now spill."

  "Okay, are you sure Brian and the lifestyle he leads is what you want?"

  She sagged under his hand. "Nick, I experience the lifestyle on a daily basis and know what it entails."

  "So, are you telling me you like the whips and chains shit?"

  She grinned at his perplexed expression. "Yeah, I think I might be a switch."

  "A switch? What the fuck is a switch?"

  She slapped her hand to her forehead. "I forget you're into kink, but not up on the lifestyle terminology." She took in a deep breath. "A switch is someone that can be the Dominant and submissive. They are just as comfortable being tied-up and flogged as doing the tying and flogging.

  "I don't know whether to be turned on or run screaming."

  She grinned, relief filling her. "You need to move down here and hang at the club more."

  He shoved his hands in his pockets. "Yeah, I know. Ava's tells me the same thing all the time." He walked to the kitchen, opened the fridge, and grabbed two bottles of water. "The apartment across the hall is vacant and Miami-Dade Fire Department just posted that they need EMT paramedic fire fighters." Nick strolled back to Maggie and handed her a water.

  She kissed his cheek. "What are you waiting for? It sounds like it's meant to be."

  Chapter Eight

  Anxiety clawed at Brian's chest. He raised his hand to knock on Maggie's door and wavered. What Julie said to him still swirled around in his mind. It killed him to admit he used the club and his work to bury his head in the sand. It was time he dealt with the past.

  He shrugged his shoulders to relieve the pent up stress weighing him down and knocked. Brain heard Nick tell Maggie he'd get it. The knot in his stomach tightened. "Asshole," he said swallowing back the acid in his throat.

  Watching Nick make love to Maggie was the hardest thing he'd ever had to see. Never again would he give away what was his. Seeing and hearing Maggie call someone else's name still stabbed at his heart. It used to turn him on to hear a woman cry out another man's name. It didn't matter what name she called, just as long as she was enjoying herself.

  He'd never wanted to change places with a man until he saw Maggie lick Nick's cock for the first time. The combination of wanting to kill—and be—Nick had an odd mix of lust and resentment swirling red-hot in his veins.

  The security chain jangled and thudded against the door and it opened. Nick grinned at Brian.

  "Come back for more of a show?" he asked.

  Brian shoved his hands in his pockets. "Cocksucker."

  Nick, the asshole, chuckled. "I can honestly say I've never done that."

  "Nick, who is it?"

  Brian watched as Maggie came into view and his heart all but stopped. The tiny pink tank top and black running shorts hugged every sexy inch on her small, curvy body.

  Nick glared at him. "It's Brian. Do you want me to get rid of him?"

  She stumbled to a stop and folded her arms protectively across her chest. "No, let him in."

  Brian wanted to go to her and take the look of insecurity off her beautiful face. He hated he caused the confident woman to doubt herself.

  Nick stepped aside and motioned him in. "Maggie," he said, still staring daggers at Brian, "I have to run to Ava and Logan's. Are you going to be okay here?"

  She stepped to Nick and her sweet hand brushed his arm. "I'll be fine." Maggie tipped up on her tiptoes and pressed a delicate kiss on his cheek. "Thanks for everything."

  Brian's heart flipped in his chest. No one ever touched him so sweetly as Maggie did Nick. Is that what I gave up by letting Nick have her?"

  Nick pushed past him. "You fuck with her and I'll beat your ass into the ground," he whispered so only Brian could hear him.

  Brian knew the feeling. He nodded, stepped in, and closed the door.

  Maggie's eyes filled with hurt. "Come in." She moved to the living room and motioned for him to have a seat. "Say what you need to say so we can get on with our lives."

  He'd fucked this up bad. Brian sat on the sofa. "Come sit."

  * * * *

  His sad expression had Maggie wanting to wrap herself around him. She plopped down on the very edge of the couch farthest way from Brian and steeled herself for his assault. The last thing she needed was to have him disapprove of what she'd done, especially since she'd done it in part for him. "Are you here for your shirt?"

  His eyes flashed with an emotion she couldn't read. "No, I'm here to tell you I'm sorry."

  Maggie held herself perfectly still and let his words soak in. Out of all the years she'd known Brian, he'd never apologized for anything. He was going to tell her he couldn't be with her. Maggie just knew it. She could feel it deep in her bones.

  A hole the size of the Grand Canyon opened in her stomach and swallowed up her soul. "There's nothing to be sorry for. You watched me fuck Nick and didn't like what you saw."

  He rose, his cheeks flushing bright red. "You're right."

  Brian might as well have punched her in the gut. She slumped back and fell into the couch. Tears filled her eyes. "Well, you didn't seem to mind when you were coming all over your hand," Maggie spat.

  Brian stood and started to pace. "I know and I'm sorry about that. Watching you with Nick did things to me that have never happened before. I've never been so turned on and wanted to kill another man at the same time in my life."

  His words snaked their way into her heart. Does that mean he wants me? She needed to put some emotional distance between them before she started to draw hearts and flowers in her mind. "I don't need all the bells and whistles and fancy sentiment when it comes to sex," she said defiantly.

  A dark smile crossed his face. "But I guess I do."

&nbs
p; Maggie swallowed. God, he was going to kill her. "Why?"

  He sat next to her and brushed her cheek with his soft hands. "I need to tell you some things."

  Please don't. I don't want to fall for you any more. Her heart couldn't take it. She scoffed instead and said, "You don't have to."

  "I think I do."

  "Oh, just spill it, would you," she said, defeated.

  Anger and hurt glinted in his eyes. "I was married."

  Holy fucking shit. Brian married? Is he still married? She scurried away from his heat and stood. "What? Where is she? Does she know what you do at the club?"

  "She's dead."

  The cold words took a moment to penetrate her shock. "Dead?"

  "Yes, dead."

  She stood and started to pace. Cold emotions swamped her. "What the hell happened?"

  "She drove her car into a canal."

  Maggie stopped and turned to face him. The distant look on his face had her biting back the harsh words wanting to spill from her mouth. "I think you need to start at the beginning."

  Brian sighed. "Amy and I met in high school. We fell in love. The stupid kind of love that only teenagers have."

  Maggie's knees weakened and she stumbled to the chair across from the couch. Her heart broke again at the emotionless way he told the story like she asked him to give her a report. She needed more from him.

  Maggie wanted to know Brian wasn't this cold inside. How could he love someone enough to marry them and talk about their death as if it was no big deal. "What happened?" She forced the question past her lips.

  "We got married fresh out of high school. Amy got a job as a bartender. I started college then law school."

  Maggie watched his face. What she thought earlier was coldness was actually red-hot anger. She melted and willed away the need to hold him.

  He raked his shaking hands through his hair. "We were happy for a while—or at least I thought we were."

  Brian took a deep, ragged breath. "Apparently Amy worked at a bar that was the kind where the staff drank with the patrons. By the time I figured it out, Amy had a problem."

  The turbulence swimming in his blue eyes had tears burning her throat.

  "It was too late. She drove her car into a canal after work one night," he said.

  Maggie's tethered heart shattered. "Oh my." She moved to him, not able to stop herself. Before she could think better of it, her arms were around him and her lips were roaming over his face, trying to kiss away the pain. "I'm sorry."

  He leaned back and gazed into her eyes. "I think I was the way I was with you all these years because you made me feel and I didn't want to feel anything."

  She swallowed back the raw emotions swimming around her heart. "What changed?"

  His eyes shimmered. "I don't know. All I know is I want to see where we go from here."

  A sob escaped from her chest. "I don't want promises of everlasting love. I just want to see where this is going too." Maggie hiccupped and folded her arms over her belly. "I'm done living on the sidelines."

  The corners of his mouth twitched up. "I would like that, but under one condition."

  Her stomach flipped-flopped. If he asked her to fuck another man in front of him, she'd puke right here on his expensive shirt. "What?"

  "I will not share you again."

  White-hot relief poured over her. "And I will not share you. If at any time one of us isn't happy, we'll tell the other person and back off."

  Maggie settled on his lap and wrapped her short legs around his waist. A tremor raced up her spine as Brian's slacks-clad dick hardened and settled against her sex. She gripped his shoulders and bit back a moan.

  He groaned. "Fuck. You're on fire."

  She wiggled her hips. "If you pull down your pants and put on a condom, I'll show you how hot I am."

  "Shit, are you sure you know what you are getting into?" he grunted.

  His words washed over her like hot bath water washing away any anxiety left behind. "Well, when you live thirty years and work in a sex club, it's hard not to come out without some knowledge of how things work."

  Brian nipped at her neck. "Is that so?"

  Little pulses of desire raced over her skin. She moaned. "Yes, it is."

  His tongue danced behind her ear, sending her hormones into overdrive. "Then why don't I take you to the club?"

  She froze, ice crystals forming in her veins. "I don't want to have public sex."

  Brian sucked erotically on her earlobe, melting some of her fears. "Okay, what about the back rooms? Or better yet, let's be the first to try out the new waterfall room."

  She sighed and her blood heated again. Maggie tilted her head so he could move his delectable mouth down her neck. "I've wanted to try out the new water tables."

  Brian sunk his teeth into the tender flesh behind her ear. "What about the chambers?"

  She shuttered. "Any time you want to get your BDSM kick. Let me know. I just have one request."

  He slid his tongue behind her ear and nipped. "What?"

  She bit back a sigh. "What's good for the goose is good for the gander."

  Brian stilled, leaned back, and stared, his eyes bright with what Maggie hoped was lust. "When you want to put your dominatrix suit on, you let me know."

  Flames licked up her body. "I will."

  He smiled, but it didn't quite reach his eyes.

  Fresh anxiety swirled inside her. "What?"

  "I would like to bring you into your bedroom and show you how a real man makes love to a woman."

  She did the best to hold back a smile. "I'm calling bullshit on that. You want to prove to yourself and me you are better than Nick."

  "Watching you with Nick and hearing you call out his name when I made you come all but killed me."

  Guilt hit her hard and fast. Heat filled her face. "I'm sorry. I did what I did with Nick because it felt right. I thought it was what you wanted."

  "It was what I thought I wanted."

  Pain for what she had to say to him threatened to overwhelm her. She pushed out a breath and hoped he would understand. "I don't regret being with Nick. I am sorry for that, but I would give myself to Nick again in the same situation. He was everything you want your first time to be."

  He cringed. "I know. I could see that. He had more self-control than I would have had. He must really care for you."

  Relief poured into her. Maggie ran her fingers over Brian's five o'clock shadow. "He's a good man and he deserves someone who wants only him. Unfortunately, I want you."

  "You won't fuck him again?"

  "No."

  Brian grinned. "Does he know that?"

  She smiled at his uncertainty and nestled her core hard against him. "Yes."

  He stood, lifting Maggie, and headed toward her bedroom. "Good."

  Maggie's body ached with need, and her heart welled with tenderness. "Brian?"

  He kicked her bedroom door open and sat her on the bed. "Umm."

  "I need to feel you, only you."

  He grinned down at her, his beautiful blue eyes sparking. He tugged her shirt up over her head, tossing it on the floor. "I want to fulfill all your desires."

  She chuckled and kissed him hard on the mouth.

  Brian ran his hands over her shoulders and pushed her back on the bed. "I want to run my mouth over every inch of you and find all your secret spots that make you call out my name."

  Heat rushed to the surface of her skin. "I would like to see you try," she said weakly.

  He lifted her legs, tugged down her shorts, and dropped them next to her shirt. "You're not wearing any underwear."

  Cool air brushed her exposed flesh, sending shivers up her spine. "No," she said, shimmying up the bed.

  Brian sat and lifted her right foot. He pressed a delicate kiss on each of her toes. Tiny beats of pleasure danced up her leg, settling in her pussy.

  Licking over her arch and around her ankle, Brian made his way to the back of her knee. His tongue laved over a sensitive
spot, making her sigh and giggle.

  "That's it, baby."

  He nibbled up her inner thigh and stopped just before her center. She whimpered and arched into him. Brian's devilish tongue caressed the area where her labia met her inner thigh.

  Maggie bucked. Her eyes fluttered shut and she let the erotic sensations wash over her. Every hormone she had danced to the strokes of his mouth.

  She was so close. All she needed was just a little more pressure. Maggie pushed her pelvis down onto his mouth. "More."

  Brian backed away, leaving her on the edge. "Just wait."

  When Brian finished his erotic torture, he moved to her arms. Her body felt tight, itchy, and it was burning up.

  She cried out again when he sucked at the sensitive skin on the inside of her elbow.

  Maggie squirmed to relive the sensation. "Brian, please."

  "Oh, baby, I've just gotten started tasting you. You're so sweet I could do this for days."

  Oh, shit, I hope not. She might die from the overload of sensations raining down on her.

  Brian pressed wet, open-mouthed kisses up the remainder of her arm and over her collarbone. His tongue dipped into the divot in her neck. Maggie's nipples tightened even harder into rock-hard pebbles. Her breath came out in tiny pants now.

  She needed to relieve the pressure building in her center. Maggie moved her hand to her pussy and cupped herself.

  Brian's firm hand gripped hers. "No."

  The harsh tone of his denial burned white-hot in her pussy. "Please, Brian. You're killing me."

  His teeth grazed her nipple. "I want to make you come."

  She moaned and pushed her breast into his mouth. "I need more."

  He took her nipple between his teeth and bit down.

  She ached and clawed at the bed. "Oh, Brian, yes."

  He did it again.

  "Fuck yeah. More," she pleaded.

  Her hand, still cupping her pussy, moved rhythmically.

  Brian tugged it away. "Do I need to tie your hands?"

  Maggie's eyes flew open and gazed into his handsome face. "No, I'll be good."

  "Grip the spindles on the headboard."

  She did and wiggled so her breast jiggled enticingly in his face.

  He smiled and continued to torture her other breast. His tongue laved and suckled until she was a whimpering mess. He moved to her belly button and feasted.