So much for a distraction. “No, that was me. Paul was a dear friend of mine.”
Ricky’s expression turned consoling. “I’m sorry for your loss.”
“Thank you.” Megan reached for a roll of quarters, smacked it smartly on the edge of the bar to break the seal, and fed several into the machine.
“Paul used to come in here now and then. He usually had another gentleman with him. I don’t remember the other guy’s name, but he was in here that night.”
Megan glanced up from the hand of cards the machine had dealt her on the screen. “Friday night?”
Ricky nodded. “That’s the night the attack happened, right? Yeah, it was the same night. I remember thinking about that when I saw it on the news the next morning.”
“What did the other guy look like?”
“Country dude, cowboy hat and all. Tall, dark hair, spoke with a heavy southern drawl.”
“Walter Samuels.” She said the name more to herself than Ricky, her mind reeling. Cusack had been the one to question Walter, to check out his alibi for the night of Paul’s murder. Megan hadn’t asked for the specific details. She only knew Cusack said Walter’s alibi was airtight.
Ricky pursed his lips thoughtfully. “Sounds right. Paul introduced him to me before.”
Her game of video poker forgotten, Megan studied Ricky. “How long was Walter here?”
The bartender shrugged. “Several hours, I guess. He didn’t stay here at the bar. He bounced around, playing this machine and that. Picked himself up a cute little blonde, too. At least, it looked like he picked her up. Hell, she could’ve been with him the whole time, for all I know. Couples tend to go their own ways when they walk into this place. If you ask me, she was too young for him.” He shrugged again. “To each his own, I suppose.”
“Yeah, I suppose,” Megan said absently. Ricky moved to another customer across the circular bar and her gaze fell to the machine. She selected two cards to keep and pushed the button to exchange the others, but her mind wasn’t focused on the game.
Is Walter Samuels married? She could’ve sworn he was, though her memory wasn’t clear. She thought of the handful of times she had seen the man at the aquarium, of the Christmas party she had attended there last year.
Yes, he is married. She remembered him being at that party with a petite redhead, not a blond. Could Ricky’s memory be that far off on the woman’s hair color? Megan remembered Walter’s wife had been younger than Walter, though not my much. A few years at most. Then again, Ricky’s idea of a too wide age gap between a man and a woman could be different from hers.
She shrugged it off, picked up her drink for a sip, and fed more quarters into the machine. She had come here for a distraction, not to think about Paul’s murder, and, damn it, that was exactly what she was going to get for her twenty bucks.
* * * *
Drake watched the sun set over the beach as he drove down the Biloxi strip, hating the way the elaborate buildings and flashing neon signs obstructed the view. A few years ago, he could cruise down the strip and look at nothing but sand and saltwater for as far as his eyes could see. Biloxi had been beautiful then with its historic homes and year-round summertime feel. The casinos had taken it all away, replacing nearly every inch of the strip with massive structures, showy lights, and money-hungry people.
But they won’t take the aquarium’s end of the beach.
He had spent hours with Marie in Paul’s office, talking out ideas, going over costs, predicting the return his investment would yield for all the parties involved. Marie had agreed to more than he had hoped for, finding loopholes in the financial records that would put the facility on better financial ground even if one of her partners decided to pull out once she informed them of her decision to hold onto the place after all.
The woman was a wiz with money, smarter with the business angle than he had given her credit for. By the time they had decided to call it a day, she had been happy, excited, and ready to bring the partners in on their new plans.
Drake slowed for a traffic light, quickly judged the distance as too close to stop, and punched the gas pedal, glancing in his rearview mirror for any cops that might be behind him. The thought of a cop naturally sent his mind straight to thinking about Megan. She had been gone by the time he and Marie wrapped up their business for the day. Not that he had expected her to wait for him. She had her own things to do, her own life to live. He fully intended for that life to include him again, at least for the rest of the night.
He lifted his hips off the seat as he drove, dug his cell phone from his pocket, and called Megan. She answered on the third ring.
“Are you busy?” he asked by way of a greeting. Sounds of bells ringing and arcade style music filled the line before her sultry voice answered.
“I’m about to push my last four quarters into this video poker machine. What about you?”
“Driving home.”
“What happened with Marie?”
“Let’s just say she overturned her decision. I’ll fill you in on the deets later.”
“Really? That’s incredible.”
Drake grinned as he turned off the strip onto the road that would lead him to his house. “Yeah, it is. Are you drunk?”
She made a raspberry sound that made him chuckle. “Not even close. I’ve been here for, hmm, about four hours and have only had two sex on the beaches. Why?”
“According to my calculations, you’ve only had one sex on the beach, but we’ll change that some other time.”
Her giggle flowed through the line, caressed his system, and stroked his already stiffening cock. “Will we, now?”
“Not tonight. I have something else in mind. Meet me at my place.”
“Why your place? Mine is closer.”
“Ah, but mine is more fun.”
Silence filled the line for a heartbeat, sexual tension suddenly palpable in the cellular waves. “Something tells me I’m about to find trouble.”
“You’ll enjoy it. I’ll make sure of it.” A whip of anticipatory heat slashed at his balls, sending stings of torture through his shaft. “Do you need directions?”
She hesitated, and, when she spoke again, her tone sounded guarded, slightly unsure. “You aren’t going to let me say no, are you?”
“You can say no.” Drake pulled into his driveway, shut off the engine, but didn’t get out of his truck. “As a matter of fact, before you say yes, you need to know that once you step through the door of my house, you belong to me.”
She already belongs to you.
He wasn’t so sure about that, but he had given up on trying to figure things out, on attempting to silence the voice telling him this thing between them had already turned into far more than a fling. He had expected her to want more, but damn if she hadn’t turned the tables on him. He was falling for her, head over tennis shoes, and fuck if he could stop it.
“Do I get a safe word?” Her voice wobbled a bit, from excitement or trepidation he wasn’t quite sure. He could work with either one.
“You won’t need one.” He had a feeling she wouldn’t want one. A few hours of having her body at his disposal and that inner demon she kept so carefully in check would be screaming for more.
“Give me directions.”
* * * *
Megan didn’t know what she would be stepping into once she entered Drake’s house, but the erotic possibilities compelled her to knock. He opened the door wearing a pair of shorts that rode low on his narrow hips, a devious smile, and nothing else. She realized this was the first time she had seen him shirtless in full light. Her attention fell on corrugated abs and a chest so hard she had tough time tearing her eyes away.
She swallowed hard. “Hi.”
His grin stretched, his eyes instantly heating to boiling. “Hi.” He reached for her hand, pulled her inside, and didn’t let her go. He kicked the front door closed as he yanked her against him, capturing her mouth in a punishing kiss that sent her mind straight to e
cstasy island.
Jesus, the man could kiss. He didn’t waste any time. He drove his tongue into her mouth and consumed her with a steamy passion that had fiery embers of carnal lust and stimulation raining through her system to lick at her rapidly swelling nipples, to caress her slickening pussy. He delved a hand in the back of her hair, fisted the strands, and held her head in place as he fucked her mouth, assuming control of her very breath.
You gave him that control the moment you stepped inside.
He had warned her she would, that she would belong to him if she came here. What he didn’t realize was that she already belonged to him. She couldn’t keep her distance from this, knew she wouldn’t be able to walk away from him without being fully destroyed. Somehow, she had unknowingly given him command of more than her body, but it was too late to fix that now. She could only glue the pieces back together when the end finally came.
“Are you hungry?” he asked huskily, pulling her head back just enough that his breath fanned her lips, heating the moisture that dampened them from his kiss.
“Not for food.” What she craved was another of those mind-altering kisses, to be skin to skin with him, to feel his hands roam her body, to be possessed by him.
He released his hold on her hair and put a fraction of distance between them. “Good. Strip for me.”
Megan glanced around, getting her first quick look at his house. They stood in a small entryway with an open view of the living room, of the parted curtains on the windows and the neighbor’s uncovered window. She had noticed the houses in his neighborhood were built close together. So close she figured she could reach an arm out that living room window and almost shake hands with his neighbor.
A sinister spark sizzled through her veins. “Here? Aren’t you afraid your neighbors might see?”
He lifted a brow, his expression starkly sexual and full of wicked promise. “My neighbor is a single woman not much older than we are. At this moment, she is probably sitting on her sofa facing that window watching every move we make. Let’s give her something to think about later. Strip for me,” he ordered again. His tone was harder this time, more demanding and left her no room for argument.
Megan took a deep breath that shuddered when she exhaled. She locked her gaze with his, crossed her forearms as she reached for the hem of her T-shirt, and pulled it up and over her head. She licked her lips nervously as his gaze dropped from hers to her breasts. She reached behind her back with one hand, unfastened the clasp of her bra, then ran her fingers under the shoulder straps, slowly guiding it down her arms to fall to the floor.
“Damn, that’s beautiful.” He touched her, the lightest caress of his fingertip to her flesh, tracing the outline of her hardened left nipple until it screamed to be fondled, sucked, and pinched.
The sensation traveled from her breast on a direct line to her pussy, and her pussy lips contracted, longing for an echoing touch.
“Your nipples are hard.” He flicked his thumb over the swollen bud, and a moan bubbled in her throat. “Continue,” he said, his tone so hot and rough it abraded her flesh. “Are you wet for me, too?”
Megan didn’t answer as she unfastened the button on her shorts, the sound of the zipper reverberating through the sexually charged atmosphere as she lowered it. She hooked her fingers around the waistband of her shorts, catching the thin strip of her lace panties on her hips, and pushed both to her ankles. She toed off her tennis shoes, kicked her shorts and panties aside, then met his gaze once more, her flesh heating as his attention moved over every inch of her now-naked body.
“You are.” He took a deep breath. “I can smell you, the sweet, warm scent of your juices. Answer me, Megan. I want to hear you say it. Tell me you’re creaming for me.”
“I am.” She bit her bottom lip, trying to tamp down the flush of embarrassment the admission caused her. “I’m wet for you.”
He dragged his gaze up to meet hers. “What did you think about on your drive over here?”
“You. This.” What you planned to do to me. How far I would let you go.
She didn’t voice those answers. She already knew whatever he had planned, she would let him do it. She would let him go as far as he wanted and then some because she wanted it, wanted him with every naughty, soul-consuming part of her being.
“This is only the beginning.”
Her heart skipped a beat at the dark promise in his statement and the steady heat in his gaze.
“Turn around and face the window.”
Megan turned slowly, her attention falling on that window, her eyes narrowing as she attempted to peer through it. She didn’t see anyone there. She highly doubted the woman he told her about was really watching. The idea of being watched, however, added another level of eroticism to the act.
He closed the distance between them, pressing his back to hers as his arms came around her. She melted into the solid wall of his chest, absorbing the heat from his body into her already-flaming flesh. He covered her left breast with one hand as he skimmed the palm of his other hand down her front to dip between her legs.
“Have I told you how much this really turns me on?” he asked against the side of her neck.
For a moment, she wasn’t sure what he was talking about. Then his fingers glided over her smooth pussy lips. He caught one side between his thumb and forefinger, rolling the slickened flesh between his fingertips, applying just enough pressure to have her writhing in his embrace.
“I love a bare pussy, smooth, wet lips. Mmm.” She felt the sound reverberate through his chest against her back. “I want to see them swollen. I want to see them pouting for my cock.”
He slipped a finger between her folds, raked the tip of his thumbnail over her clit, and her hips bucked reflexively, urgently seeking more. He turned her, his hand on her breast moving to the back of her shoulder. He glided that hand down her spine.
“Put your hands on the door.”
She did as he told her, her body trembling with need and anticipation as the heat in her pussy grew claws.
He used the hand on her pussy to pull her lower body toward him, pushing her upper body forward with the hand on her back. That hand moved lower, his palm caressing her ass. One finger slipped between her ass cheeks, the tip grazing over her anus and her muscles flexed, her breath catching in her throat.
“I told you I would be the one to put the toy in here.” His finger circled the forbidden opening in slow but pressured turns that made her close her eyes and struggle to keep breathing.
Oh, God. She knew what he meant, what he intended to do. Tracks of fear blazed from her ass to her pussy, slamming with desire and heightening her senses. She wanted this. It terrified her, but she wanted it.
“Drake.” His name left her lips on a plea or question. She couldn’t be sure and couldn’t find the sanity to care. Her body trembled with a reckless desire only he could satisfy.
The hand left her ass, and she felt him lean over, heard him fumble with something on the small table next to the front door.
“This might be a little cold at first.” His hand returned to her ass, the side of it skimming over her butt cheeks. He pulled his other hand from her pussy and used his fingers to spread her cheeks wide.
Megan gulped, searing heat and dark anticipation capturing her mind until she could only focus on his hands, on what he was about to do. He had obviously planned this, staged the scene by making sure he had the items he needed close at hand.
“I’m going to lube your tight little ass, Megan.” His actions mirrored his words as he squeezed the cold gel onto her heated flesh and began to slowly massage it in. His finger eased in her anus and her fingers dug into the unyielding door. Her hips jerked back involuntarily, the movement drawing his finger deeper inside her ass. “Does that feel good, sweetheart?”
“Yes!” The word left her on a strangled cry. The insurmountable pleasure dulled the sharp pain in a mix of mind-numbing bliss. She started to relax even as he fingered her deeper, withdre
w and added a second finger to the party. Her muscles gave only a little, leaving a trace of stinging discomfort as he worked his fingers inside as deep as he could reach.
“Ah, Christ, that’s amazing. If you think this feels good, wait until I fuck you here.” He spread more lube on her rear, worked it into her anus, and backed both fingers out again.
“Please, no.” Her pussy flamed, the orgasm holding steady and firm just beyond release to keep her mindless and wanting. “Don’t stop.”
Drake chuckled softly, and she felt him bend over her to brush a kiss to the back of her shoulder. “Believe me, I don’t want to stop, but you aren’t ready for me to fuck that tight ass just yet. Now, take a deep breath. This might sting just a little.”
She took a deep breath, knowing what was coming next. The stinging pain he warned her about had the breath pushing out of her lungs on a loud groan. It hurt, but the pain quickly dissolved into unspeakable pleasure.
“Damn, that’s beautiful, almost as pretty as it will be to see my cock there instead of the plug. That’s what I just put inside you, a butt plug. It will help to stretch your muscles and prepare you to take my cock inside you when it’s time. I’ll remove it in a few hours, but right now it will serve to give you a taste of double penetration.”
A few hours? Double penetration? The questions stopped circling in her mind when his hands slid up her body, guiding her to straighten in front of him. He nipped her shoulder and licked his way up the side of her neck.
“Are you ready for more?”
Chapter Seven
Yes. If more meant he planned to come inside her, to fuck her until they both woke all his neighbors with the screams of their releases, she was beyond ready for it. The plug in her anus shifted slightly as she turned to face him. His hand glided over her ass, a finger pressing at the end of the plug, and her eyes fluttered closed on another wash of the pleasure-pain her body was already starting to accept with ease, even longing to feel it again when the sensations subsided.
Dangerous Kisses (Siren Publishing Classic) Page 11