by Jana Mercy
“Mmmm,” she whimpered with pleasure when he nuzzled behind her ear. Their bodies still moved against each other in a timeless rhythm but Sophia only vaguely recognized that she moved. All her attention zeroed in on Gray and his mouth feasting on her flesh.
That is, until his hands snaked under her blouse and eased the polyester blend over her head in slow, torturous motion. Once freed from her body, he dropped the pale pink material to the stage floor. Gazing at her bra-covered breasts, he growled a guttural sound from deep within, once again making her think of a predatory cat about to pounce on its susceptible prey. Her.
Sophia shivered in anticipation of being devoured.
“I can’t believe how hard I am for you.”
“Show me,” she urged, wrapping her arms around his neck.
He kissed her. Thoroughly. Breath-robbingly.
“Or how patient I’ve been in taking what I want,” he breathed against her lips. “You.”
Silky locks of midnight hair tempted her fingertips and she gave in, twisting the dark strands. Liquid heat pooled between her legs, dampening her panties. How was it possible to feel so hot and wet? She might scream if he didn’t touch her there soon.
Just like that, his hand slid beneath the waistband of her dress slacks and panties, tugged the material down to give him free access and skimmed his finger over her clit. Memories of the magic he wrought on that first night flooded her.
“Gray,” she mumbled, wondering how, when her legs had turned to Jell-O with his first touch, she’d continue to stand if he increased his pressure, the friction.
“Spread your legs,” he ordered.
She attempted but the confines of her clothes bunched around her thighs prevented her from making much progress.
“Take them off.”
Sophia wiggled free of her pants and granny panties, left her heeled pumps on and couldn’t quite believe she stood on a stripper’s stage with only her bra and high heels.
It was too much. The bra needed to go.
“Release your breasts.”
Had he read her mind? Eyes locked with Gray’s hungry gaze, Sophia reached around, unclasped her bra and let the white material fall to the stage.
“Damn.” He stepped back and admired her naked body. That could only be admiration reflected on his face. Admiration and awe.
His obvious pleasure in her body prevented her from embarrassment or attempting to cover her nudity. Instead she wanted to turn Gray on to the point he couldn’t keep his hands off her, couldn’t not be inside her, couldn’t not pump his body into hers.
“Like what you see?” Satisfaction pursed her mouth.
“Hell yeah.” His gaze ate her up.
With velvet hands, he pushed against her chest, above her straining breasts. She took a step back. Another. Until one of the stripper-poles that ran from stage to ceiling pressed against her behind. Ice-cold metal dug into her back and fiery heat burned her front from Gray.
Her eyes widened when he placed her hands above her head on the stripper-pole. She clasped her hands around the smooth metal, her body stretched, her breasts thrust forward.
Gray’s gaze engulfed her with a long, greedy caress. “Don’t let go.”
“Why?”
“You’ll see.” He dipped his head and licked the tip of her nipple, flicking his tongue in a teasing motion over the achy nub. Her hands loosened to push Gray’s head more fully to her breast but he chided, “Uh-uh-uh. Back up there, or I’ll tie your wrists to the post.”
Hot lava erupted within her core at his husky threat. Not that she felt threatened. How could she when every touch, every look bordered upon worship?
He grinned when she re-clasped the stripper’s pole. “Hold on tight.”
“Yes.”
His mouth returned to her breasts, laving and sucking each swollen peak until she squirmed.
“Please,” she begged, tossing her head back and forth while his mouth worked its way lower, down her quivering belly, lower.
He paused, lips level with her pubis, to glance up. Pure bedevilment shone in his gaze. “Please what? Tell me and it’s yours.”
“Touch me.” Heart beating in tune with the music, she thrust her hips forward.
“Where?” he teased. “Here?” He bent to kiss the blonde curls at her thighs.
“Yes.” Apparently she knew no shame.
“How about here?” He pushed her legs apart and pressed a kiss to her most sensitive spot.
Bolts of lightning streaked through her body, branding her insides with his erotic kiss. “Gray.”
“Was that a yes or no? I couldn’t tell.” His mouth hovered millimeters from where she wanted him.
“Yes.” Her hands fell from the pole to guide him.
He shook his head, wagged his finger at her. “Uh-uh.”
Grabbing hold of the post, she closed her eyes and almost screamed her pleasure when Gray pressed his mouth to where she ached. He kissed her as no man had ever kissed her. Teasing, sucking, tasting, giving pleasure and taking pleasure all with the flick of his brilliant tongue.
“You like that, don’t you?” He didn’t wait for an answer, just dived back in, driving her beyond any place she’d been, beyond anything she’d imagined.
She’d swear her body melted to a gooey puddle when Gray’s finger slipped inside. He thrust in and out in cadence with the movements of his tongue over her sensitized nub.
Multicolored lights danced around them adding to Sophia’s surreal sensations. Music played but for the life of her she couldn’t identify the tune over the roar of her pulse. Over the pleasure ripping through her.
“Gray,” she cried. Waves of spasms hit. Every muscle in her body contracted, relaxed, turned to mush. Her knees buckled and if not for her grip on the pole and Gray’s support, she would have collapsed to the floor.
A smug look on his face and his hands never completely leaving her body, Gray stood and flipped her around. His engorged penis pressed against the crease where her buttocks met.
He bent, inhaled near her nape, whispered in her ear what he planned to do to her body.
“Yes.” His raw words excited her even more. No man had ever talked dirty to her but darn if she didn’t like it. A lot. And as ridiculous as it was since she’d orgasmed seconds before, she hungered for the feel of Gray stretching her body.
She wanted to know what it felt like to have him inside her, loving her, pumping her full and doing all the things he just whispered he longed to do.
“But I’m not going to.” His words dropped like a bucket of cold water doused over her head.
“Why not?” Her outburst surprised her but felt amazingly liberating. Especially considering she was a naked, high-heeled woman on stage gripping a stripper-pole while the sexiest man alive held her close.
“I don’t have a condom.”
Condom? She blinked, searching her sex-starved mind for the word. Condom. Yeah, they needed one of those.
The sigh brushing against her nape was filled with a mixture of frustration and desire so viable it wrapped around her heart. “As much as I ache to take you,” he said, “and despite the fact I’ve never had unprotected sex, I won’t risk pregnancy or your health.”
He was going to deny himself the gratification he just provided her? Her heart swelled with emotions she buried almost as quickly as they blossomed. Acknowledging the delicate thread binding them could only lead to heartache.
“It’s okay.” She wanted to turn, to see his face, to stroke away the anguished expression she imagined he wore. But she kept her hands above her head, afraid to turn, lest looking into his handsome face, his silver eyes, she lost her mind and begged him to take her anyway.
“The hell you say. It’s not okay.” His pelvis prodded against her bottom, physically reminding her how un-okay it was. His hands slid around to palm her breasts. He blew hot breath against her ear. “From now on, a condom goes everywhere we do.”
“Gray?” They moved against each
other, grinding in a seductive motion.
“Uhm?”
“I bought a box of condoms this morning after I visited Aunt Genevieve.” She’d felt silly, schoolgirlish when she’d made the purchase but bought the box nonetheless. “They’re upstairs.”
An excited shudder trembled down his body, sucking her further under his spell.
“Then why are we still down here?”
Chapter Seven
By the time they haphazardly dressed and got to the apartment door, Sophia knew now wasn’t the right time. A quick glance at her watch told her that in less than thirty minutes they were both due downstairs. Despite how much she wanted Gray, her loyalty to her aunt came first. Either Gray arrived at the same conclusion or read her thoughts, because he lost the urgency that had them bounding up the stairs.
Sophia leaned back against the apartment door and stared into his eyes.
“Don’t say it,” he whispered, squeezing her hand.
“Okay, I won’t.”
“Tonight,” he promised. “After the club closes, you’re mine.”
A shiver shimmied up her spine. “Yes.”
Only, later that night, three of the club’s employees, not strippers thank God, called in sick and Sophia worked the entrance to cover for their absence, carding the audience to make sure they were of legal age and collecting the admittance fee. Gray worked with only one quick break and by the time the last patron left all she wanted to do was collapse into bed. For sleep.
* * * * *
The following afternoon, Sophia rubbed her temple while she pored over Heavenly Hunks’ books, searching for answers.
Aunt Genevieve was in trouble. Big trouble. At the minimum she’d be arrested on charges of tax evasion, tax fraud, money laundering, although for what Sophia hadn’t found a single clue and Lord only knew how many more illegal activities she’d uncovered in the account ledgers.
Ring. Ring. Ring. The shrill chirp of her cell phone snagged Sophia’s attention. With dread she dug the silver flip-phone from the bottom of her purse. Her cell phone ringing couldn’t be a good thing.
She’d told her mother not to call unless it was an emergency. Eliza had already experienced more than a dozen emergencies. Surely, yet another crisis hadn’t occurred.
She glanced at the number and cringed. Her boss. Under the circumstances that might be worse than her mother. “Hello, Jeremy.”
“Hey, how’s it going?”
Oh, great. I’m just working at a strip club that probably has more incidences of tax fraud than my last two jobs put together.
“Staying busy,” she answered out loud.
“How’s your aunt?”
From the looks of things, she’s on the verge of spending a lot of time behind bars.
“Slowly recovering.” Sophia closed the ledger, as if having the evidence out in the open would somehow allow Jeremy to magically see it over the phone line. The entries in that book could only lead to trouble. No doubt about it.
“Glad to hear that. I’m hoping you’ll be able to return to work next week.”
Next week?
“Uhm, I’m not sure how much longer Aunt Genevieve will need me. The doctors haven’t mentioned letting her go home from the hospital yet and I’m sure she’s going to need rehab. It may be a couple of weeks before I’ll be back. I can get her doctor to fill out FMLA forms if needed.”
She’d suggested it to begin with but he’d told her not to worry about it until they saw how long she’d be away.
“Well, if that’s how it has to be. I’ll send someone else on the team I’m putting together for next week. Big job in Dayton I thought you might like to participate in.”
“I’m sorry, Jeremy.” Even more sorry that she wasn’t going to tell him about her suspicions, not until she knew for sure what Aunt Genevieve’s involvement was.
“My wife and I went through this with her mother not long ago. Family comes first. I understand. It can’t be helped. You probably should go ahead and get those forms signed, though, for your employee file. Just because I know and understand doesn’t mean your next boss will.”
“Will do and will have them faxed to you within twenty-four hours.” Thank God Jeremy understood. Now, would he understand her next question? “If I decided I wanted to work outside the Atlanta area, how difficult would that be to arrange?”
“You’re wanting a transfer? To Nashville?” He didn’t sound too understanding.
“No, not Nashville. I was thinking more along the lines of New York, Boston, Chicago. Somewhere north and very urban.”
“Atlanta too small for you?”
“No but I’m ready for a change of scenery.”
“Does this have to do with your breakup with that high-falootin’ fiancé?”
“Not directly but the same issues that caused me to break things off with Nate are pushing me to stretch my wings.”
Static, as if he rearranged the phone, rumbled over the line.
“If you’re serious, I’m sure any team in America would love to pick you up.” He sighed. “You’re a natural at number-crunching and I’ve never seen anyone break computer codes the way you do.”
She had a knack for decoding encryptions. She liked solving puzzles, following up on loose threads. How pathetic. It wasn’t like that ability was going to help her save Aunt Genevieve. Quite possibly the opposite since she’d been the one to uncover the mess.
Aunt Genevieve. A rush of heat flushed her body and she tapped the closed ledger.
Maybe she should just tell Jeremy about her suspicions, let him launch an official investigation and then the matter would be out of her hands. She’d have done the professional and ethical thing to do.
And Aunt Genevieve would go straight from the hospital to prison. It might kill her.
No, she couldn’t do it.
“Does that work for you?”
She blinked. What had he said? Dear Lord, she’d fazed out of their conversation. Just what every boss liked in an employee. “Uhm, sure. Thanks for calling and I’ll let you know something just as soon as I know when I’ll be back.”
“Take care.”
Sophia flipped the phone closed and dropped her forehead to the desk. What had she just done?
As if she didn’t know. From this point on she was possibly aiding and abetting a criminal.
Dear Lord, please let Aunt Genevieve somehow be innocent. Despite all the evidence pointing otherwise.
* * * * *
Gray slowly ground his hips under Sophia’s watchful gaze.
“No, you’re missing the rhythm. Again.” Her expression pinched when she popped up from Madame G’s candy apple red vinyl sofa for the twentieth time. She placed her hands on his hips and guided them back and forth in a sensual measure. “Like this.”
Just like that. He hid his grin and pressed forward until his body made contact with hers. She’d been distracted when he first arrived at Madame G’s apartment but he was determined to lighten her mood. Hell, he was surprised his own mood topped the charts. Then again, he and Sophia had all afternoon together. And a condom. Finally.
“Like that?”
Good thing her gaze never left his midsection. ’Cause he had no doubt it would only take one look for her to figure out he intentionally strayed from her precise guidance. Just to watch her breasts jiggle when she jumped from the sofa. Just to feel her hands on his body while she repositioned whatever offending body part he’d failed to execute in a seductive way. Damn, messing up was fun with Sophia as his instructor.
She nodded. “You’re obviously a quick study.”
“Obviously.” He didn’t miss her amused sarcasm. Did she know that from the moment he walked into the apartment all he’d thought about was peeling off her clothes and licking her from head to toe?
She looked up, her gaze narrowing. “Gray?”
“Uhm?” he said, the model of innocence and glad to see the usual sparkle in her eyes.
“You’re not taking advan
tage of me, are you?”
Busted. “No ma’am. Not me.”
“Good thing. I’d hate to have to punish you if you were being a bad boy.” Her lips twitched.
“Punish me? Tell me more.” He thrust his hips forward to remind her there wasn’t anything boyish about his body. He was all man and ready to prove it. Like he’d been wanting to prove for what seemed like eons. Although in reality only a couple of days had passed since he first kissed her.
Then again, his body probably didn’t understand why he’d deviated from his normal pattern, especially since he was so damn sexually frustrated. Generally, when he kissed a woman, he bedded her soon thereafter. It’s just how things were with him. Kisses led to one-night stands where the woman involved knew not to expect anything beyond the moment. Sophia wasn’t a one-night stand or a real relationship. Plain and simple, he wooed her for a case. That was it.
That and the fact she set his body on fire with lust.
The color of her eyes deepened, reminding him once again of a velvety violet blossom.
“Have you been a bad boy?” She licked her lips, anticipation evident in the way her tongue’s pink tip moistened her plump lips.
Gray grinned, loving how she looked so cool, so sophisticated, yet underneath the classy exterior she hid behind, she was one hot chick.
“Bad? Definitely. But I take offense at the boy.” Obviously she hadn’t taken the meaning of his hip thrust. He pressed against her, loving how her breath caught when his hard cock dug into her belly. “Does this feel boyish to you?”
“I can’t say it feels girlish.”
He snorted. “I’m trying to impress you with my manliness. Leave it to you to knock me to my knees.”
“Your knees?” Invitation challenged passionately in her gaze, impossible to resist. “Now there’s a way to impress me.”
He threw his head back with laughter and continued their playful banter. “Do we have time?” he teased. “I’m working tonight, you know.”
She glanced at her watch and sighed. “I suppose you should practice more.”
“Getting on my knees? I’d swear I got an A on that lesson yesterday afternoon,” he reminded her, knowing they wouldn’t be going into the club anytime soon by the way Sophia’s gaze gobbled him up. Good, they’d waited long enough. Too long.