UNDERTAKER

by Nicole James

“Are you Allison Carter?” the girl asked her.

  She frowned. “Yes. Why?”

  “These are on the house, ladies. I’ve been informed your tab for the rest of the night is comp-ed.”

  “Wait…” AJ put a hand on her arm. “Why?”

  “Compliments of one of the owners.”

  AJ’s big eyes met her girlfriends’ stares. They frowned at her.

  “Do you know one of the owners?” Amy asked.

  AJ bit her lip and nodded. “The guy I was telling you about.”

  Bella leaned closer, and her mouth dropped open. “The one you’re dating?”

  “We’re not dating, exactly.”

  Kelsey’s brows rose. “Well you’re something. You said he had some of his friends help out with your charity, and then they escorted that girl to court Monday morning.”

  “And I thought you said he made you dinner the other night?” Bella added.

  “I didn’t say he made me dinner.”

  “To-MAY-to, to-MAH-to.” Amy leaned closer. “Do you like this guy or not?”

  AJ took another sip of her drink. “Yes, I like him. I like him a lot. More than I thought I would.”

  “And that’s bad why exactly?”

  Her fingers ran up and down the stem of her glass. “It’s just, well, he’s not the kind of guy I thought I’d ever date. And I’m not even sure I’m ready to date again.”

  Bella put a hand on AJ’s arm. “Allison, how long has it been?”

  AJ hesitated, finally admitting, “Four years.”

  “Allie, honey, that’s long enough, that’s too long. It’s time to get on with your life.”

  “So, what’s this new guy look like?” Kelsey asked.

  AJ bit her lip, wondering how in the world she could ever describe a man like Derek, but then she decided it would be easier to show them the selfie she’d taken of the two of them. She took her cell phone out and pulled up the photo, turning the screen to face them.

  “Oh. My. God.”

  “He’s gorgeous.”

  “I love a man with a beard. He looks so badass.”

  “Guys like him, they don’t do commitment,” she said, trying to downplay it. “This is just fun. I’m going in with my eyes wide open.”

  “Fun is good,” Bella agreed. “Especially when it looks like that.”

  “Let’s not talk about me anymore,” AJ insisted. “We’re here to celebrate Amy’s birthday!” She raised her glass in toast.

  Amy downed her drink and then yelled above the next song that came on, “That’s right! Rob’s home with the baby, and I get a rare night out with the girls. And I want to dance! Let’s go, ladies.”

  She led them all, dancing out onto the strobe-lit floor.

  AJ decided to let go and have a good time, knowing nights like this with her girlfriends were few and far between, especially since most of them were already married and starting families.

  It was four or five songs later before a sweaty AJ finally made her way back to their table. She took a big sip of a fresh drink and sat on her stool, her feet aching in the strappy high-heeled Valentino’s she wore.

  Her friends were still out on the dance floor having a glorious time.

  A good-looking guy came over to the table and asked if she’d care to dance, but she turned him down. When he walked away, her eyes strayed to the smoked window above the club, the one that Derek had pointed out to her as the owner’s office. She caught the flare of a lighter as a cigarette was lit. It briefly illuminated just the dark shadowed outline of a man. The lighter went out, and the tip of the cigarette glowed bright as he took a deep drag from it, one hand in his pocket.

  AJ knew immediately it was him. He was standing up there watching them, watching her. He’d come because she was here. She smiled a secret smile.

  She lifted her glass to the window in a tiny salute, then took her cell phone out of her bag and checked it, but there were no missed texts. She set the phone on the table face up so she’d see it illuminate. She was sure if that was Derek up there in that office he’d text her.

  A moment later, the screen lit up. She picked it up and read the incoming text.

  I like the dress.

  She smiled and glanced up at the window but could barely make out a shadow. The screen on her phone lit up again.

  How much longer before I get to take it off you?

  She texted a reply, a happy smile on her face.

  How about now?

  His response was instantaneous.

  Say goodnight to your friends and meet me in the back hall.

  She smiled and did as she was told, finding Bella on the dance floor and informing her she was going home with her new guy.

  Bella hugged her, telling her she was happy for her.

  AJ made her way down the back hall and found Derek leaning against the wall, waiting for her. He whistled low and long, and she couldn’t help but smile. He made a circular motion with his finger, indicating for her to twirl around. She did so, laughing and stumbling slightly.

  He tugged her up against him and kissed her deeply. “You have a good time?” he asked.

  She nodded. “Yes. Were you watching?”

  “For a little bit. Got here not too long ago. You drive?”

  She shook her head.

  “You ready to get outta here?”

  “Yes,” she replied breathlessly.

  “Can you ride in that dress?”

  She shrugged. “I don’t know, can I?”

  He chuckled. “We’re gonna find out.” Then he took her hand and pulled her behind him out the door. “Come on, sexy lady.”

  CHAPTER SIXTEEN

  AJ wasn’t surprised when Derek took her to his clubhouse and up the stairs. The long hall was dimly lit and quiet for a change. Did he have something to do with that? Had he told everyone to disappear, or was it normally this quiet on a Thursday night?

  At the end of the hall, he turned left, pulling her along. He stopped at a door and fumbled with a key, unlocking it. Then he drew her inside. Her hand still in his, he bent and turned on a small lamp.

  She wasn’t sure what she had expected, but not this. The room was gorgeous in a very masculine way—a king sized platform bed in clean modern lines, a flat screen and two low-slung modern chairs in a grouping on the far side of the room, and an expensive coffee maker on a wet-bar across the room. Everything was done up in shades of gray and black.

  He slipped his cut off and hung it on the back of a chair then tugged her to him until she stumbled against him, her breasts pressed to his chest.

  She let out a soft expulsion of breath. “Oh.”

  He grinned.

  “You haven’t learned any manners in the last fifteen years, have you?” she asked.

  He walked her backward against the wall, and he stood in front of her, blocking her from moving. He was so close, almost touching, leaving just that scant couple of inches between them and that space was electrified with their attraction. She tilted her head up to him, and he gave her an answer.

  “You don’t want manners. Not now. Not here. Not with me. Not after I watched your hips sway as you sashayed up the stairs on those heels.”

  Her pupils grew large, and her eyes were wide as she gazed up at him, her lips parting as she inhaled sharply.

  His eyes dropped to her mouth and darkening with desire. “I like that sound.”

  “What sound?”

  “That breathy little gasp you just made. Got my dick rock hard.”

  “The way you talk…”

  “You’re cheeks are flushing a pretty little pink, baby doll. Is it because you’re embarrassed or turned on?”

  “Maybe a little of both.”

  He studied her. “Or maybe you’re a little scared. You don’t need to be, babe.”

  She stared at him with wide eyes that communicated just how dangerous this all was to her.

  He cocked a brow as if he’d read her mind, as if to say, Dangerous? You want to see dangero
us?

  He moved toward the door and locked it. Then he pushed her back against it. Everything about his body language said he was in control.

  “The fiery green of your eyes and the tremble of your lower lip are damned enticing. They’re fillin’ my head with thoughts of stripping you down and taking you in every way a man could take a woman. I think you’d enjoy it every bit as much as I would. But I don’t want you afraid, ready to bolt. I don’t want you to run.”

  “I can’t just close my eyes and jump. That’s not me. But I won’t run. That’s not me, either.”

  “Gotta pick one or the other.” He dipped his head, his mouth taking hers in a kiss that was long and slow and deep. Then his lips moved to her ear, his voice deep and husky. “Close your eyes and jump, Allie.”

  She gazed up at him, and then found her palms gliding up his chest, sliding around his neck, and drawing his head down for more.

  He rested his hands on the door, almost as if he had to restrain himself, to hold himself back from getting too aggressive, from moving too fast. And she wondered briefly if his sexual interests ran to the rough side. She couldn’t stop her mouth from breaking the kiss to ask. “Derek?”

  “Yeah, babe?”

  “Are you… that is to say… Will you try to manhandle me or control me in bed?

  “You might like it, if you give it a try.” His blue eyes danced wickedly.

  “I…”

  “You can take the lead if you want, Allie.”

  “No, I like what you’ve been doing so far.”

  He slid one palm from the door and wrapped his hand around the back of her neck. Tingles danced along her skin, and her heartbeat kicked up a gear. Everything about him was so blatantly sexual, every touch, every glance, every move he made. He was good at this game, and he knew it. She loved that about him; perhaps because it was a game she hadn’t played in a long time.

  He leaned forward until his lips brushed her ear. “Lesson one. Givin’ you fair warning… You play with fire, you might get burned, but you already lit the match.”

  “Do you want to talk or—”

  His hand cupped her cheek. “Relax, baby.”

  “I-it’s not easy. I don’t like to be out of control.”

  “Then we’re gonna have a problem, cause we can’t both be in control.”

  He smiled, and she gave it back. “I’ll try to relax.”

  “I feel like something important is happening here, something real.”

  “I thought…I thought this was just fun. I thought a man like you didn’t do commitment or anything serious. Relationship-wise, I mean. I thought you’d have a line of women with just the snap of your fingers.” She made the motion.

  He grinned at her nervousness.

  It wasn’t like her, she knew, and supposed he found it funny or maybe just cute. “You find me funny?”

  “I find you adorable.” His expression grew serious as his gaze scanned her face. “And beautiful. And sexy as hell. But let me clue you in on something—something maybe I shouldn’t say, but here it is. Yeah, there are women, who yes, if I snapped my fingers would come runnin’. But they don’t interest me. The woman standing in front of me interests me, and she does it in a way that she’s the first woman in a long time whose ever made me consider anything more, and that makes her one of the most important people in my world right now. That answer your question?”

  “Yes.”

  “Got anymore before we get to the good stuff?”

  “You don’t see me as an odd fit for your world?”

  “I don’t see you that way. Not even a little,” he said, brushing his knuckles down her cheek. “So fucking soft.”

  She smiled at how easily he got off topic, but couldn’t help tilting into his hand and licking her lips.

  His eyes dropped to her mouth and the easy humor slid from his face as his eyes darkened with desire, and his thumb brushed over her full bottom lip. “Now you got me thinkin’ about all the places I want that mouth.”

  She picked up on the shift in his mood; her lips parted, and her skin flushed. The air suddenly crackled with heat and tension and promise.

  He stared at her like a starving man at a feast. “I want to taste you, claim you, devour you, every damn inch. I want to break down every barrier you keep up between us. ”

  His fingers slid into the silk of her hair, and she tilted her head back to receive him. His mouth came down on hers, his tongue sweeping inside to dance with hers.

  The first delicious taste of him and she moaned, thinking of the long night ahead. This time they had all night. This time there would be no interruptions. This time they could savor and enjoy every second.

  The man knew what he was doing. He knew how to kiss, how to steal the breath from her, how to make her surrender everything until there wasn’t a thought left in her head except for him and his mouth. He crowded her until she melted back against the door, and she thought she’d slide right down the wood, becoming nothing but a puddle at his feet. But he was there to catch her, wrapping his arm around her waist, he supported her as he continued his heated kisses.

  He pulled back from the kiss, and she whimpered, trying to arch up to bring his mouth back to hers. He slid his hand in her hair, gripping a fistful. Then he walked her to the dresser and turned her to the mirror.

  She saw their reflection—her with her sparkly dress, porcelain skin, and mass of tousled curls, and him, tall and muscular and tanned, standing behind her.

  “Relax, let me do what I want,” he growled low in her ear. It had the desired effect, stopping her instantly. Her legs clenched so strongly, a moan tore from her open and panting lips. She submitted and forced herself to relax in his arms.

  “Good girl,” he growled, his hands sliding up the outsides of her legs and gripping the waistband of her panties. “Good fucking girl.” When he started to drag them down over her hips, she thought she just might die on the spot. He wasn’t kissing her neck; he was watching them in the mirror as he slowly stripped her.

  His eyes watched with laser focus as he drew the panties down her legs, slow and deliberate.

  “God, baby girl,” he said as he grasped the hem of her dress, pulling up to reveal her trembling belly. His hand moved back down, and his fingers brushed lightly over her mound, not touching where she was already wet and aching for him, but coming so close it brought another whimper from between her lips. Then his touch retreated to pull the dress up and over her head.

  With a snap of his fingers at the hook closure at her back, her bra dropped to the floor, and her breasts were exposed. He groaned at the sight, and her dusky nipples hardened.

  “You are fucking beautiful.” His hand sank into her curls, gathering a fistful at the back of her head, holding her in place. “Look at how beautiful you are, baby. Look.”

  She did. She saw her naked body, pale skin with nothing but her curls to hide her.

  “Your hair’s like dark fire.”

  She saw the contrast of her pale skin and his much darker forearm as it locked around her waist, pressing her buttocks against him. She could feel how hard he was, how ready, and it had a moan trembling from her throat.

  She met his eyes in the mirror. Lust looked good on him; it hardened his features and made his eyes glow with desire.

  He released his grip on her hair and gathered her breasts in his large palms, causing her to gasp as he squeezed and kneaded and played, his thumbs brushing over her nipples again and again until she was writhing in his arms.

  One of her hands stole up to grasp the back of his neck, guiding his mouth down to hers, while the other reached back, clutching at his ass as she rubbed her body against his like a cat.

  It had the desired effect. He spun her, dipped and caught her around the thighs, hoisting her up into his arms. Then he walked her to the bed, taking her to her back. He moved his body to the side, so his eyes could run down her body, his hand smoothing over her skin. “Perfection.”

  He lifted her a
rms above her head, pushing her wrists to the mattress, ordering, “Keep them there while I play with you, understand?”

  Looking into his heated, magnetic gaze, she could only nod, giving him what he wanted. And at that moment he could have asked for anything.

  He moved her legs, spreading them apart and giving him room to touch if he wanted. It was a strange feeling—being completely vulnerable and open to him.

  His hand slid up the inside of her thigh so slowly it was like he was trying to prolong the moment before his fingers finally reached their goal. It drew the nerve endings along her skin taut with sensitivity, and when those fingers actually did reach their destination she couldn’t be sure whose moan was louder—his or hers.

  He toyed at his leisure, swirling in long slow swipes top to bottom and her body began to tremble with the anticipation of every return trip those talented fingers made. When she finally relaxed into the rhythm, he changed it up, moving in gentle circles until he found the pressure and speed that had her hips lifting off the bed and her breath coming in soft panting gasps.

  “Oh, God.”

  “You like that, baby?”

  “Yes.”

  “Good. I could do this all night—just lay here and watch your body react to every touch.”

  “Please.” She wasn’t even sure what she was asking for. More of the same, more of his touch, more of him…

  “Close your eyes.” His voice was deep and gravelly and let her know he was as aroused as she was. She did as he commanded, and it added a whole other dimension. She could do nothing now but focus on the sensations, blocking everything else out.

  His body pressed against her side, and she felt his hair and beard brush the skin of her chest a split second before his mouth latched onto her nipple. It caused her back to arch off the bed. He drew deeply, and the feeling shot through her, all the way to her clit, sending a zing of pleasure that had her lifting and grinding against his hand.

  He kept at her, sucking and laving and toying with her, switching from one breast to the other until she didn’t think she could take another moment.