by Anne Rainey
She sighed at the realization that she didn’t know a single thing about relationships—except pain and lots of it. “I’m in uncharted water here.”
“All we want is time to get to know you. We’ll let fate handle the rest, okay?”
“Yes, okay.” How could she refuse? Two amazing men wanted to spend time with her. It was unconventional, but if she’d learned anything by being married to a tyrant, it was that sometimes going the conventional route wasn’t all it was cracked up to be. Might as well try playing outside the sandbox for a change.
4
Later that evening, Crystal arrived early for their dinner date and took advantage of the time to stare at Trent as he made his way around the main room of Kinks. It’d only been a few hours and she was already anxious to see the man. When a customer stepped in front of Trent, vying for his attention, Crystal’s line of sight was slightly hindered.
She’d driven past the club several times trying to kill time. She hadn’t wanted to arrive too early and appear desperate. As the quick-as-lightning bartender slammed a club soda down in front of her then proceeded to rattle off a price, Crystal was abruptly brought out of her drooling stupor. She grabbed some dollar bills from inside the dark confines of her messy purse and went back to her staring. Only now, Trent had moved a few steps closer to her, and he was staring at her. A slow, sexy smile curved his lips and Crystal knew she’d been made.
God, it should be a sin to have a body as masculine and perfect as Trent’s. A deep longing rose from the pit of her stomach. She wanted him. Now. Here. It shocked her that she was responding to him in such an eager way. Then again, any sane woman would want a man like him. He was too gorgeous not to notice.
His black jeans molded to his muscular legs and lean hips as if custom-made. His ass was so solid a girl could bounce a quarter off of it. His simple white T-shirt wasn’t anything special, but on him, it looked better than Armani. His wide, solid chest made Crystal want to reach out and touch. With the easy move of his hips and the naughty look in his eyes, Crystal couldn’t stop her heart from pounding out of control.
His slate-blue gaze held Crystal captive. An involuntary tremor ran the length of her spine. She realized that he’d probably known all along that she’d been watching him.
Crystal brought the drink to her lips, saluting him, then tipped the contents down her throat. She looked back up and saw Trent’s expression turn from teasing to hungry as he skimmed his gaze over her exposed throat. Her body tightened. Seemed all he had to do was look at her and she was ready and aching. She’d never had such a volatile reaction to a man before. She’d also never come across a man so powerful and intoxicating, either.
With no warning, a woman tromped up to Trent and fairly hung on to his shoulder. What the hell? The little tramp plastered her breasts against him in blatant invitation. He turned his head and spoke to her, and Crystal came to her senses. A man like him wouldn’t really be interested in a woman like Crystal. He was all about excitement and risks. She was all about work. She was a huge disappointment—hadn’t Richard told her that?
For fear of embarrassing them both, Crystal suddenly made the decision to leave. She rose off the hard, cold bar stool and yanked at the hem of her black skirt, wishing for the umpteenth time she hadn’t bothered trying to look her best for Trent and his family. Her red, off-the-shoulder blouse, black skirt, and heels made her feel stupid now.
She’d never been one to go to bars and nightclubs. She only came tonight because Trent had asked her to dinner. She should have done something with Mollie instead. Crystal grabbed her purse. Time to go. It was the only safe and smart thing to do. Unfortunately, that meant leaving Trent behind. A knot formed in her throat at the thought of never seeing him or Mac again.
As she passed the section of the bar where Trent was sitting, his hand snaked out and grabbed on to her arm. Crystal was brought up short. At first, she felt a rush of irritation at his audacity. Not two seconds ago, another woman had been flirting with him. She yanked away from his grasp as a nasty touch of envy crept into her consciousness. After all, the other woman had been daring enough to approach him, while she was all but running out the door.
Crystal jerked her head around to give him a good what-for, but she was left speechless by his narrow-eyed gaze. He had the look of a lion who’d just caught dinner. Do I want to be dinner? Do I dare give in to him? If her mind had an answer, it wasn’t giving it up. Her body, on the other hand, was screaming at her to surrender.
He bent his head down and she could feel his hot breath against her ear as she inhaled his clean male scent. “Where are you going?” he asked. He got off his own stool and stood in front of her. He was so close she could practically feel the intense sexual heat coming off him. His body was so wide, so muscular, and so very intimidating.” I thought we had a dinner date.”
“You seem otherwise occupied,” she gritted out as she looked at the woman who still stood way too close to Trent.
“Come on,” he said, as he took hold of her hand and tugged her along behind him. He was chocolate to Crystal. She wanted him, even though she knew it was wrong. The small hint of amusement in his deep, gravely tone nearly had her purring.
Crystal narrowed her eyes. “Don’t you have customers to get back to?”
He turned his head and his eyes darkened. “No. But before you say anything else, I think it’d be best if we continued this discussion in private.”
Still, she hesitated. Trent didn’t give her a chance to protest. “You haven’t taken your pretty eyes off me since you got here.”
Crystal caved. Fine, so she was weak. Trent seemed to recognize the instant she succumbed. No more words were uttered from either of them. He simply led her away, twisting his way through the sea of bumping and grinding bodies. People appeared to step aside for him. She was suitably impressed. He took her to the upstairs apartment, and Crystal’s thoughts were obliterated as she watched him walk. He was so sexy. So much fluid grace. And he had the most edible ass she’d ever seen. A man’s well-muscled tush did it for her every time. Crystal felt the apex of her thighs dampen with arousal.
When he closed the door to the apartment behind him, Crystal started right in. “Why did you bring me here?” she bit out, as anger started to rise.
Trent stepped forward then, taking her head in his large, skillful hands, and gritted out, “I brought you here to tell you that I was turning that woman down. Not taking her number.”
Crystal was afraid to believe him. She’d believed Richard’s lies in the beginning, hadn’t she? “It seemed to me she was getting pretty cozy with you.”
“I do own a nightclub,” he murmured. “One that caters to people interested in bondage and submission. That brings on a certain amount of flirtatious behavior. Still, since meeting you I’m not interested in other women. Only you, Crystal.”
And why did that send her heart fluttering? “You’re interested in me?”
“Yes, and I’ve been dying to do this . . .” Then his mouth was suddenly crushed against hers, forcing her lips apart, not bothering to wait for her to open them in her own time. He took possession of the soft interior in a way that had her shaking body swaying forward against his rock-hard length, and her arms coming up to wrap around his neck.
Crystal sank against the kiss, giving in to the sweet demands her feminine core was suddenly making on her. Dear Lord, she didn’t want to think about her next move. She wanted Trent to take the choice from her altogether. And he seemed all too happy to do so.
He sucked at her lower lip and probed her mouth with his insistent tongue. Apparently not content to leave it there, he deftly bent low and flung her high into his arms, carrying her over to the bed as if she were nothing more than a child. He laid her down on top of the soft, downy blankets with such gentle care that Crystal felt herself melting inside. That such a big man could be so tender was a major oh my in her book. He lay down next to her and propped his head up on his elbow, staring down a
t her with such reverence it shook her.
“Why are you looking at me that way?”
“How am I looking at you?”
She locked eyes with him, her jaw firming as she tried to put into words the way his eyes seemed to see right into her soul. “You stare at me and it’s as if you can see my every thought. It’s disconcerting.”
“I can’t help but admire a beautiful creature when I see one.”
She squirmed, turning even redder. “See, there you go again, making me all nervous and jittery.”
He frowned down at her, as if truly bewildered by her words and actions. “Why don’t you know your own worth? From the moment I saw you, I knew I’d not be able to deny my desire for you. You sat at the bar, so alluring and kissable, and my body spun out of control. When your sexy eyes landed on me, it was all I could do to bide my time until I could be alone with you.”
All at once, he was there again, taking his lips on a sensual journey over her own. Her cheeks were teased and tantalized by his clever mouth. He caressed his way down her neck, wringing a groan from her. Crystal happily surrendered.
5
Trent had had his fair share of women. Exotic beauties who’d left him gasping and willing to please and be pleased. But there was something about the little brunette; she had tugged at some unfamiliar part of him that he could not quite identify.
She had a vulnerability that called to the masculine predator in him, as if taunting him to swoop down and snatch her up.
The instant she had walked into his nightclub, he had been taken with her. Her shiny brown hair drew his fingers to touch it, and her body had been like a breath of fresh air. All smooth curves, she was built for a man to caress and play with.
Trent had never been drawn to women who were pencil-thin. He liked something to unveil. Something to make his time worthwhile. And Crystal was surely worthwhile. Her body practically screamed at him. She was hungry, and he had scented her arousal as easily as if she had uncorked a bottle. She seemed to only have eyes for him and Trent felt unaccountably pleased.
Now he had her, and he was loath to let her go anytime soon. He knew that she’d wanted a single night with him and Mac. No strings and no recriminations. He’d seen her willful thoughts in the expressive features of her beautiful face. Asking her to accompany him to dinner with his family had given him a chance to see her again. The fact that she’d arrived early pleased the hell out of him.
Using one hand, Trent began unbuttoning the front of her blouse. He looked into her anxious eyes and said, “You look amazing tonight, but I’m impatient to see your sweet body.” He lowered his face to within a breath of her lips. “Completely nude, Crystal,” he explained. He’d gotten a secret thrill that she cared enough about him to want him all for herself, but he needed to show her that he had eyes only for her. Other women paled in comparison. Trent let his tongue sweep across Crystal’s soft ruby lips. She parted them on a sigh, and he knew it was an invitation to taste her deeper.
He slipped his tongue inside, but it wasn’t the part of her body he wanted against his mouth. He wanted her nipples, her clit. He ached to taste and tease all of her soft, secret spots and watch her fly over the edge for him. He was hungry for her sweet climax. He wanted her so crazy that she would beg him to take her.
Trent had her blouse half-open, and he could now see that her bra was the same deep shade of red beneath. He dipped his head and licked a fiery path down the valley between her tits. Trent knew a sense of pride when her body arched upward for him. She was so beautiful. So eager. Her hands came up and clutched at his hair, pulling almost painfully, bringing his lips more fully against her flesh in the process. Her skin was as soft as silk and Trent drank her in, swallowing her essence. Soon, her shirt was completely undone, and with a mere flick of his fingers, her bra snapped open, causing her breasts to spill free. He felt as if he’d been given the greatest of gifts when he saw her upper body in the soft light.
“Jesus, you’re sexy,” Trent gritted out as his eager cock responded to the sight of her. He lowered his head and sucked one perfectly erect nipple into his mouth with ravenous haste.
“Oh,” Crystal murmured huskily. The sound sent fire licking through his veins.
Trent nibbled at her precious swell, his need for her uncontrollable. He moved over her, crushing her to the mattress beneath, and used his knee to spread her legs. He pushed his aching erection against her soft little mound, letting her feel what she did to him, then using both his hands, he cuddled and shaped her perfect tits, squeezing one while tasting the other. Crystal writhed shamelessly beneath him. He groaned his approval and released her nipple, leaving a gentle kiss behind. Skating down her body, using his tongue to feel his way, Trent pushed the front of her blouse apart so he could see the softness of her belly. His tongue dipped into the sweet indentation of her belly button, flicking playfully.
“Oh Trent, that feels so good.” Her voice quivered. “I need you. So badly.”
Trent raised his head at her pleading. “We want this to last, don’t we?”
She groaned as if in frustration. “But what about dinner with your parents?”
He chuckled. “We’ll be fashionably late,” he replied before slipping his hand down her body, committing her curves to memory. When he reached the warm skin of her thigh, it was his turn to groan. He skimmed beneath her skirt and felt his way over a pair of satin panties. She was already so hot and wet, but it wasn’t enough. He wanted to feel her with nothing in his way. He wanted her soaked and eager to take his cock.
Trent lifted up so he was kneeling between her widespread thighs, and took no time in getting rid of her clothes. He stared down at the perfection of her luscious, nude body. “I feel like it’s Christmas and I’ve just unwrapped a really great present.”
The neatly trimmed tuft of brown curls covering her hidden treasures was the sweetest sight indeed. He wanted to kiss her there, right where he knew she needed his touch most. At once, Trent left the bed, his body going hot with intense arousal when she whimpered unhappily. He was tempted to lie back down between her long, lean legs and sip her honeyed heat, but Trent had a way of doing things, and he would not be denied.
“Stand up for me, baby.”
She hesitated for the briefest of seconds, before she rose from the bed, her body as fluid and graceful as a dancer’s.
Trent stepped forward, so he was within touching distance, and then murmured, “I want you to undress me.”
Crystal’s expressive whiskey-colored eyes stared up at him, almost adoringly. She had the look of a shy kitten. The fingers of her right hand reached out and stroked slowly over his chest, back and forth. His muscles jumped beneath his white T-shirt. “A little faster, baby. I’m dying here.”
He wanted her.
Yesterday.
Crystal appeared to have no intention of moving more quickly, though. Instead, she seemed intent on massaging his chest and shoulders. Finally, her fingers moved south over his abdomen. Trent threw his head back on a groan. Desire and pain mingled and pushed him precariously close to the edge of control. He was strung as tight as a damn bow.
“Mm, you have the body of a god, Trent.”
Trent snorted. “Great, but maybe you’d like my body better buck-naked.”
“Yeah, I think I would,” Crystal murmured as she licked her lips and drove him that much higher.
Crystal tugged at his T-shirt until she was pulling it free of the waistband of his jeans. She bunched it up as high as she could reach, then Trent took over, all but ripping it over his head and throwing it across the room.
“You really are beautiful, Trent. I thought it the first time we met.”
He needed to correct her on the not-so-manly compliment, but when her fingers finally encountered his skin, Trent lost his voice. Her touch scorched him. He forced himself to remain still, to not fling her to the floor and shove his heavy dick inside her waiting pussy. She leaned forward and placed a small kiss to his left nip
ple, then nipped it with her teeth. To hell with it. A dark haze came over him.
Trent stepped away from her and swiftly stripped out of his clothes. “You need to learn to move faster,” he explained as she frowned at him.
“I was enjoying myself.” Her eyes traveled his entire length, then stopped on his swollen erection.
“Yeah?” He watched in predatory delight as her eyes went round and her tempting mouth formed a perfect O. Like any hot-blooded male, Trent imagined his heavy cock sliding between those succulent lips. He wanted to watch her lick and suck, then swallow his hot come. He wanted her a million different ways. It was insane, but he had never felt so out of control for a woman before, not even in his youth. She had put some sort of spell on him, and he was helpless to keep his libido from slamming into overdrive. He bent and kissed her, licking her flesh. He was starved for the unique taste of her. When he lifted his head and noticed Crystal’s entire face had gone warm and drowsy with want, he knew he could easily become addicted to seeing such a lovely sight.
She swiped a hand over her lips and seemed to struggle for words when she whispered, “Trent . . .”
The sound of his name on her lips had him swelling with pride. Crystal was so open she wore her feelings for all to see. When her eyes drifted downward once again, her cheeks went rosy.
Trent took no time in lifting her and placing her on the bed. Her cry of surprise had his dick swelling another inch. “Jesus, you try my patience.”
Crystal rose to a sitting position and smiled at him temptingly. “Do you know what a turn-on it is when you get so excited? It’s very sexy, Trent.”
Her hands went to the smooth expanse of her belly. She massaged her own skin and Trent was mesmerized. Slowly she moved upward, sliding over her breasts, kneading and plumping them, and then her head fell back as she pinched the raspberry tips. “This little show you’re putting on is like baiting a tiger.”