Something Wicked This Way Comes, Volume 2

by Black, Jaid

  Now she needed an outfit that sent an entirely different message.

  As she browsed the racks, though, she vacillated on exactly what that message should be. This blouse screamed “slut” but that blouse blushed “virgin”. Wasn’t there anything in the middle? And the skirts were no better. Lately she’d taken to wearing peasant-type skirts, long and full and graceful. But those said “earth mother”—and no one wanted to fuck an earth mother.

  The thought stopped her in the process of rifling through another rack.

  That was the question, right there. Did she want him to take her to bed tonight?

  Hell yes. Her fictional heroes satisfied her in lots of ways. They said all the right things at just the right times. They read her mind and told her what she wanted them to tell her.

  Not like Dr. Anderson. A smile played on her lips as she remembered the feel of his chest under her hands. They might’ve gotten off on a bad foot, but she was intrigued enough to go to dinner with him just to get that damn report.

  She turned to another rack. Despite Angie’s assumptions, Carla had dated several men over the past few years. For a variety of reasons, however, nothing had ever clicked. Her brand of sex just wasn’t very common. What would make her think Angie’s archeologist would be interested in sex with a BDSM flavor?

  Dr. Josef Anderson would be on a flight back to Egypt within a day, two at most. She’d liked the feel of his hand on her back, the way he’d held her tightly to him when she’d fallen. He wasn’t looking for a long-term relationship. That was okay, neither was she.

  Did he expect to get lucky tonight?

  She eyed the low-cut blouse in her hand. Kinky sex or not, she certainly hoped so.

  * * * * *

  Josef dropped his purchases on the king-sized bed that took up most of the small hotel room. All he wanted was cheap and clean, and Annalie had found him both. The lone receptionist downstairs had been very helpful in finding a hardware store not too far away and he’d spent the afternoon mooning over the chains and locks he would love to employ to hold a woman captive.

  Someday. Someday when he stopped wandering the globe in search of ancient artifacts and new discoveries. Someday when he bought himself a cabin in the mountains and could fill it with all sorts of nefarious workings. Someday, when he found a woman worth building it for.

  He grinned as he hefted a hank of white cotton rope. It could be used in so many ways. The image of Carla squirming on the bed’s white sheets, her body neatly spread for his inspection, lingered in his imagination. Would she go for it? Was she the adventurous type? Knowing his archeological partner, any friend of Angie’s had to be willing to take a few risks. And, judging from Carla’s wit and blushes when he’d touched her this morning, Josef thought he just might get his wish.

  Holding that positive thought, he ventured to a fetish store and picked up a set of leather cuffs that would give him options—should Carla be amenable. While the thought of hogtying her made his cock stir, that might prove to be too extreme for a first date. Such an activity would need to wait for at least date three.

  He chuckled as he made his way back to the hotel. Best not to count your submissives before they’re trained, he mused. And you’re on your way back to Egypt tomorrow in any case.

  Back in his room, he took his time setting the scene, fully intending to get her up here tonight and knowing just the ploy that would work.

  She wanted that report? She’d have to come and get it.

  Burying the packet deep in his leather bag, he headed into the shower.

  * * * * *

  Carla checked her watch. Perfect. Right on time for dinner with a man who looked like a Viking god and had the temperament to boot. She grinned as she stepped off the subway. Why hadn’t his parents just named him Thor and been done with it?

  She saw him before he saw her. Not surprising, as he stood a head taller than most. He was still a half-block away, coming toward the restaurant from the opposite direction. Heads turned as he passed, not all of them women’s. Carla hid her smile. Perfection was perfection, and it gave her a little thrill that both genders appreciated his incredible physique.

  But then the crowd parted and she got a full look at what had turned those heads. He’d changed out of the rumpled gray suit that had given him a faint air of universities and museums, and into a simple pair of tan pants and an open-front, crisp white shirt. In the warm summer air, he’d turned the sleeves back, giving a glimpse of the strong muscles she’d felt this morning.

  The brown belt he wore encircled a narrow waist, and the tailored pants with the sharp creases and cuffed hems harkened back to a time when men were men. Judging from all the fluttering eyelashes, several women would gladly forsake women’s lib for one night with such a man.

  Carla’s steps slowed as she took in that gorgeous sight—and its implications. She’d come into the city that morning more as a favor for a friend, her attention still involved in the stories that were ever-present in her mind. But as she watched Josef approach, her imaginary heroes bowed and left, understanding that this flesh-and-blood hero would make mincemeat of them.

  He saw her and smiled and Carla’s heart leapt into her throat. How had she not noticed his dimples this morning? Her mind really must not have been in attendance. They crinkled his cheeks into ripples of merriment and she smiled in response.

  “Ms. Braun, I see you are punctual.” His voice, smooth and rich, held just a note of scholarly approval.

  “I’m anxious to get my hands on…your report, Dr. Anderson.”

  He laughed and Carla liked the sound. A baritone, she noted. A full, rich baritone laugh that turned her coy smile into a real one.

  “Angie would be very disappointed if we didn’t at least reach the stage where we stopped being so formal. Will you call me Josef?”

  “You’re right.” She held out her hand. “Nice to meet you, Josef. I’m Carla.”

  He took her hand and turned it palm up. For a moment she thought he might kiss it, but instead he ran a finger over her palm. “You have a strong lifeline and a penchant for adventure.”

  She chuckled. “I’m not so sure about that. I like my adventure where I control the outcome—in my head.”

  He cocked an eyebrow at her. “And never in real life?”

  Carla’s breath fluttered. “Only when I know I’ll be safe. Or in safe hands.”

  Josef still held her hand, his eyes suddenly serious. “I would never hurt you, Carla.”

  She looked at him, surprised, and he smoothly backtracked. “Angie would never forgive me.”

  Carla tried to conceal her disappointment. “No,” she agreed. “Angie’s my best friend, despite the physical distance.”

  Josef’s eyes narrowed. He hadn’t intended to get so serious there and had covered up his statement with a flippant remark. But her mask had dropped and he’d seen the vulnerability she had so successfully hidden that morning. Cursing himself that he hadn’t stopped in a bookstore to buy one of her novels, he gestured to the restaurant’s door.

  “Are you hungry?”

  The smile she gave him seemed perfunctory and he realized she wore her emotions on her face. What she felt, she expressed. The woman had no hidden agendas, no games that she played.

  He’d also noted her knee-length full skirt—topped by a blouse with a neckline that plunged most enticingly. The short, capped sleeves showed off slender arms that were uniformly white, compared to the deep tan of his own. In his mind, he’d already thought about how to undress her. Did she wear panties? Should he bind her first and then remove the skirt?

  “Josef?”

  He came back to the present quickly. “I’m sorry. You were saying?”

  She looked up at him through thick lashes, the coy smile back. “You looked like a wolf ready to devour me.”

  He laughed as a cover to his true intent. “All in good time, little Red. I need to eat your grandmother first.” Josef took her elbow and started to turn her toward the
door, but her next words stopped him.

  “I’d rather you ate me and not my grandmother.”

  Did she mean what he thought she meant? Judging by the way her cheeks had turned bright pink, he thought she did.

  “Carla…” He studied her face, which she had turned to him in challenge, despite her blushing cheeks. “We didn’t get off to a very good start this morning. I was cranky after a long plane ride and giving a presentation I didn’t want to give. This dinner was to be my way of making it up to you.”

  “Not as a means to get me into bed?”

  Was that hurt in her eyes? “Well…” he hedged.

  “Josef, we’re two adults with a mutual friend who thinks she knows better than everyone else. Yes, we did get off to a bad start this morning. My head was still filled with all my current works in progress and the thought of starting another, especially one with—you have to admit—an overdone plot by romance book standards, just put me in a bad mood.”

  He started to reply and stopped when she held up her hand.

  “This is probably going to feed into your ego, but I find you a very attractive man, Dr. Josef Anderson. I’m generally not this forward, but you’re leaving for your dig in the Sahara shortly and I’ll spend the rest of my days kicking myself for not taking advantage of this moment if I don’t…” She trailed off as if trying to find her courage.

  “Don’t what?” He wanted a particular conclusion, but it had to come from her. There could be no coercion if this was to be safe—for both of them.

  She rolled her eyes and bounced on the balls of her sandal-clad feet. The heels made her a little taller but she still barely came to his chin. He took that petite chin in his fingers and turned her face toward his.

  “Don’t what?” he asked softly.

  She blushed furiously now. Taking a deep breath, her words came out in a rush. “If I don’t go to bed with you.”

  “I’d love to see you tied to my hotel bed, ready and—”

  “I knew it! I just knew you had to be!”

  She laughed, and Josef, though enjoying the pure delight in the sound, also felt very confused. He was confessing his rather kinky sexual preferences and she seemed…elated?

  “You knew what, Carla?”

  “Okay, so I didn’t know, I hoped. Josef,” she tossed her head to indicate the door, “let’s bag this and walk for a bit, shall we?”

  Josef shrugged, totally lost. “Sure, why not?”

  “Which way is your hotel?”

  He pointed and she turned. “Let’s talk and we can walk in that direction.”

  * * * * *

  The streets teemed with people enjoying a beautiful, sunny evening in New York, but for the two of them the streets might as well have been empty. They talked, and Carla confessed her own sexual preferences as they went along.

  “So you’re telling me you’re a submissive, and Angie knows it.” The careful, scholarly side of Josef wanted to be sure he had all the facts straight before he took her up to the room he’d already prepared.

  “Exactly. The two of us don’t tell each other everything, but we’re friends. And, of course, she’s read my books.”

  Again Josef gave himself a mental kick in the shins for not including a bookstore in his afternoon of shopping. “I’m almost afraid to ask, but what, again, do you write?”

  “Erotic romance with a BDSM twist.”

  Josef felt as if he’d been hit with a sledgehammer. “Why, that little minx…”

  Carla gave him a look of confusion. “Excuse me?”

  “Angie. Dr. DiPaolo. I should wring her pretty little neck.” He looked at Carla. “She set us up.”

  Carla’s laugh rang true. “You’re just figuring that out?”

  “She knows a bit about my sexual predilections, and she made up this whole cock-and-bull story of you needing to write the princess’s tale just to get the two of us together.”

  Carla considered his conclusion. “She might actually want me to write the story. She’s a sucker for historical romance. But she also knows it’s not my forte, so you may be right.”

  Josef stopped and indicated a small door squeezed in between a pizza parlor and an electronics store. “My hotel.”

  “And I suppose the report is upstairs in your room?”

  There was no mistaking the twinkle in her eye. Josef nodded and she grinned.

  But he needed to be sure. He pulled her into his arms right in the middle of the busy sidewalk. “If I take you up and ask for your total obedience, you’ll give it to me? A stranger?”

  “Angie talks about you all the time and she vouches for you. I trust her opinion.”

  “Angie talks about me?” He frowned. “What does she say?”

  “She’s been angling to get the two of us together for a while, always telling me how perfect you are for me.” Carla shrugged. “After tonight, I’ll know if she’s right or not.”

  “I want you to have a safeword.”

  “I want me to have a safeword. Will the traffic lights do? It’s pretty standard, I know, but…”

  “It’ll do. Green if everything’s okay, yellow if you need a break. Red only if you want the date to stop immediately. Limits?”

  Carla didn’t hesitate. “No kids, no animals, no human waste products, no blood.”

  He chuckled. “I’m on board with all of that.”

  Carla took a deep breath, calming the sudden butterflies in her stomach. Giving him a long look, she took the plunge. “Perfect. I’m ready when you are.”

  He tilted her head up, his fingers strong on her chin. “We’ve never even kissed, Ms. Braun.”

  Her breath caught as his lips touched hers. A gentle kiss that deepened as his arms tightened around her waist to pull her closer. She raised her hands, sliding them along the crispness of his shirt, feeling the strength of the muscles underneath. Around them, horns honked, engines roared and people crowded. Carla felt nothing but his incredible presence encircling her, overwhelming her, protecting her.

  And when his tongue pressed against her lips, demanding entrance, she opened for him, letting him possess her mouth, enjoying the incredible confidence and domination of his will. His arms tightened further and she eagerly returned his kiss, letting him know she wanted this.

  “Get a room!”

  They parted, Carla blushing furiously, Josef only grinning. The speaker was already gone but the sentiment hung between them.

  Josef took her hand and bent to whisper in her ear.

  “Come, little one.”

  The words sent a shiver down her spine.

  Putting her hand in his, Carla followed him into the building.

  Chapter Three

  Josef paused just outside the door to his room. He still held Carla’s hand and now he pulled her palm to his lips. Such delicate fingers she had. Long and slender, like his own, except she wore her calluses in different places. He rubbed his thumb over the permanent ridge at the top of her middle finger.

  “You still write longhand?”

  She nodded, her voice quiet. “When I get stuck. Getting away from the computer seems to access a different part of my brain. I think differently with a pencil in my hand than I do in front of a computer screen.”

  He kissed the callus and drew her close. The spicy scent of her perfume filled his senses and he inhaled deeply. “If I do this right, tonight you won’t be thinking at all.”

  “If you do this right, I won’t want to think.”

  “No topping from the bottom,” he warned. He had experience with women who acted one way on this side of the bedroom door—and completely differently on the other. He tipped Carla’s face up to his, searching her eyes for any sign of a Domme.

  She shook her head, her gaze steady. “Once inside, I’m yours.”

  A slow smile of satisfaction spread over his face. Hoping this woman who stuck to her guns when she felt she was right could also set aside her independence when it came to sex, he turned to slide the card into the loc
k. A thought occurred to him and he hesitated.

  “I believe in honesty between a Dom and a sub,” he told her. “Trust builds on honesty and we need trust in order to continue.”

  Carla looked puzzled. “Is there something you forgot to tell me? Like you have a wife or something?”

  Josef smiled. “Not quite so drastic. It’s just that, well, I’d rather hoped you and I might spend the evening together, so I…” He glanced at the still-closed door.

  “You prepared the room.”

  He shrugged, feeling a little sheepish. “I did.”

  She reached up and bussed him full on the lips. “I was rather hoping you might have,” she confessed.

  “You’re not angry?”

  “I probably should be, that you thought me so easy a pushover, but in truth, I’d rather think that you liked me enough to want to spend time with me.” Her voice dropped to a low murmur. “Time spent in there.” With a nod of her head, she indicated the room beyond the closed door.

  “Then wait here.”

  Carla nodded and stepped back as he slid his keycard into the lock. Briefly she had a very dirty thought about that action, but he slipped inside the room and shut the door behind him before she could give it voice. Which was probably a good thing. Her sense of humor had gotten her into trouble with Doms in the past. Sometimes it was hard to remain submissive when an opportunity arose for a particularly good zinger. And she was a sucker for a good punch line.

  The hallway remained empty, for which she was grateful. She needed this. She wasn’t into one-night stands, and it had been a while since she’d last played. Then she chuckled to herself. What was this, if not a one-night layover? He’d be on a plane for Egypt in the morning and back to his sandy princess.

  And herself? She’d be back at her computer, rejuvenated and ready to write some very sexy stories, if all went well. Tonight was a win-win if Dr. Josef Anderson could perform as well as she thought he could.