“Things I did before I met him. Back then I wanted him to understand that I was not innocent, not by a long shot.”
“You did the right thing. Honestly like that is good.”
“But what if he’s thinking about all that stuff I told him and its giving him ideas about me, about us. What if this is actually pushing him away?”
“It’s not.”
Two simple words she desperately wanted to be true. Even though Dan was so certain, she couldn’t let the worry go. “Did you talk to him at work?”
“Not about this. Not about you.”
Tara sighed. Them not talking about “it” actually didn’t surprise her. No doubt they had some exciting conversations about major accounts and new key programs.
“Turns out that Olivia’s promotion of Josh might not get approved.”
“Oh?” She’d been so far into her own feelings, it took her a few seconds to remember the promotion Matthew had been expecting.
“Matthew didn’t mention anything about that guy Josh?”
“Nope,” she replied, thinking of all the quiet, lonely evenings she’d spent on the couch. “He hasn’t said much at all this week.”
Dan broke into her troubled thoughts. “I bet he’s home right now holding his phone, waiting for what we’re about to give him.”
Action. Truly, her only option.
Tara shook off the doubts and told herself to keep trying with Matthew. Make something happen. Anything at all would be better than the nothing they had now. “You have an idea about what we’re going to give him?”
“Oh yeah.” He grabbed the hem of his polo shirt and peeled it off. The lean muscles of his arms and shoulders rippled as he bent down to smooth his shirt across a wide sandy patch. Next, he unzipped his jeans, shoved them off, then threw them near the shirt.
“You next,” he said, standing in his tight, black briefs with the evening sun shining across his hard, lean chest.
When she didn’t peel off her shirt right away, he came to her and grabbed its hem. “You’re wearing a bra. Right?”
She winked to cover the nerves starting to skitter up her spine. She trusted him and had decided to go all in with his plan. “Take it off and find out,” she replied.
He lifted the shirt as far as he could but her arms got in the way. Laughing, she twisted to help him get it off. Then he grabbed the waistband of her shorts and tugged. “Can you do these on your own? Or do you want help with them too?”
His playful attitude helped ease her nerves. “Thanks for the offer but I think I can get it.” Tara unzipped her cutoffs and let them drop at her feet. The seductive breeze curling around her reminded her how exposed she was and she wrapped her arms around herself.
Dan lightly touched her elbows. “Think about Matthew. Imagine it was him here instead of me. Close your eyes.”
Tara did as he said, using the brief darkness to get her focus back. Then her lids flittered open. “Matthew would never do this, be almost naked like this, out in the open.”
Dan had been watching her while her eyes were closed and he didn’t try to hide it when she caught him. “Would you want him to?”
She sighed. “Yeah. I would.”
“Follow my directions and that’s going to change.”
She wiggled her toes in the sand and watched Dan look her over. It was satisfying to have him stare, his appreciation for her obvious in the growing bulge in his briefs.
He motioned to his shirt. “Sit and spread your legs.”
While Tara lowered herself to the center of Dan’s shirt, he bent down to get his cell phone from his jeans pocket. He knelt in the sand and took the first picture.
“Was that of my crotch?”
“We’re just getting started.” He stood back up. “Know what? I could use something to drink. Want something?”
“Water would be great.”
“It’s your turn to think up what we send him this time. You’ve got until I get back.” Tara watched his powerful-looking ass until he disappeared down the hill then she stretched out on his shirt and stared up at the cloudless, indigo sky. Dan’s scent surrounded her and she didn’t stop herself from turning her head and taking in a long, deep breath of his musky scent. Even though Dan and Matthew had become close, there was a lot Tara didn’t know about Dan. Beneath his restrained exterior was a simmering intensity Tara sensed he kept under tight control.
But she’d seen that wildness in his eyes, watched it come out when he hit the bag. That untamable emotion was akin to rage but not quite the same. If it had a name, Tara didn’t know it. Her man was steady. It wasn’t that Matthew wasn’t intense, he was. But his emotions and actions always had an end in sight. Dan’s didn’t seem to. Even though he’d accepted the entry-level job Matthew set up for him, Dan didn’t appear to have an immediate focus or goal—professionally or personally. Maybe that was why the wild force inside him churned and spun. He was seeking his place in the world.
The realization came suddenly—he reminded Tara of herself.
Did Matthew see that restlessness in both of them?
If so, what would such a controlled man think of that kind of undisciplined approach? Could he understand it? Probably not. But appreciate it? Yes, he could do that. No doubt, Dan’s wild side was the force that kept them both alive in Afghanistan. Did Tara’s wild side keep Matthew alive as well? Maybe. That was a possibility she’d never even considered.
Tara stretched out in the sand, easing into the warm breeze that spun across her skin. The sun caressed her everywhere, over her arms, her breasts and between her thighs. She pulled in another breath and felt some of the tension that had been clinging to her soften. She ran her hands across her stomach and then slipped her fingers under her bra cup to stroke the soft sides of her breasts. It had been too long since she’d felt the delicate, slow stroke of skin on skin. Her mind drifted back to the early days with Matthew. She closed her eyes and tried to pinch her nipples. The band of her bra was too tight so she unhooked it and slipped it off. The electricity under her skin skittered when she cupped her breasts and squeezed the tender flesh.
Her nipples tightened and she encouraged the response by pinching them with her fingertips. A strike of electricity raced down her spine and she clenched her thighs but the pressure only made her ache for more. She dropped her thighs apart and slid her hand into her panties. Her clit was stiff between her slick folds and so sensitive that it only took the lightest touch to bring on the first curls of intense pleasure.
She continued rubbing herself, easing into a sensual rhythm as she arched her back and lifted her hips off Dan’s shirt. Just as she was nearing orgasm, she heard the soft press of footsteps. It was Dan, standing at the top of the path between tuffs of tall sea grass. He was holding up his phone, a question in his gaze.
She glanced at the phone then dropped her head back. “Yes.”
He came closer, moved his phone into position, and started snapping the image of her lying across his shirt and pants, stroking herself. She wanted to relax again but Dan cast such a heavy shadow that not even the tender touch of her practiced fingers could soften the edge of self-consciousness. She stilled as she tipped her head toward him and looked into his eyes.
“Don’t stop.” His voice was husky and raw.
“You already have a couple. Send him those.”
“Keep going.” Dan sat down but kept the phone angled in her direction. “It’s perfect. You’re perfect.”
Gradually, she turned her head toward the clear, cloudless sky and began stroking herself again. The heat returned but she was still very aware of Dan, taking pictures to send Matthew. In the edges of her mind, she thought about her husband. She tried to think about their relationship but questions about where this all was taking them wouldn’t leave her alone. And so she thought about their physical relationship as it once was and those edges softened and vanished as the hot swirls of her release started to drift through her.
As she thought about t
hose early days, her body responded. Her breath came in quick, light pants as her pussy tightened briefly and pleasure whipped through her. But the orgasm was too short and too soft. It barely touched the surface of her tension and actually managed to leave her even less satisfied. Her hand fell aside and she rolled onto her stomach, stretching across Dan’s clothing. Tara rested her head on her hands and let her gaze roam across the tops of the olive trees and tuffs of sea grass.
She’d been with a lot of men before committing to Matthew, but as a single woman in LA, why not? It was fun. But her desire to try a different man every weekend ended when she fell in love. He’d been the first man she’d been with who understood her and accepted her, and all her flaws, the way she was. Still, she had learned something during her rowdy years as a single woman—if you want something, you go after it.
She angled her head to lock gazes with Dan and held out her hand. “Give me your phone.”
He came over and put it in her palm.
She looked him over, her gaze lingering on the baggy athletic shorts he must have put on when he went down for the water. “Take off the shorts.”
The bend of a smile curled his lips as he shoved his shorts down, taking his snug, black briefs at the same time. Grinning, he stood before her, stroking his partially stiff cock. Tara took the first picture.
“Are these for Matthew too?” Dan asked, squeezing his fingers around his hardening shaft.
She didn’t answer.
But already lost in his need, he wasn’t really listening either.
As Tara took the shots, she got the idea that he’d been thinking about jacking off the whole time he’d been taking the pictures for Matthew.
Chapter Four
From his place on the couch, Matthew stared at his phone as it vibrated again on the dining room table.
Would it be more this time? How much more?
His mind was already flooded with vivid possibilities. Dan pinning Tara to a barn wall with her legs wrapped tightly around his back, her breasts bouncing each time he thrust into her. Tara on Dan’s lap, pumping herself up and down, taking his friend’s dick deep inside her as she dropped her head back and moaned. Dan, screwing his wife from behind, shoving his cock so deep inside that Tara was begging for release.
Eventually Matthew would weaken and go pick up the device, he knew that already. Was Dan toying with him, sending him some kind of message? If so, what? Had Tara asked Dan to send the texts? Was he a fool for putting the two of them together in the first place?
Matthew had avoided touching his hard cock for the past hour but his resolve was fading. It was inevitable, him looking at the texts and getting turned-on, but that didn’t mean he had to accept it easily. The ache in his groin was more than physical. It was a reminder of what he was missing. A reminder of how he’d let his wife down. And of how badly he missed Tara.
Ready to give in, he got up and went to the table and scooped up his phone. The first picture was his wife, spread across Dan’s clothes. Her head thrown back, her legs spread apart, and her hand cupping her bare mound. The next few pictures were also of Tara stroking herself, giving herself the pleasure that he should be giving her. Soon, he told himself. Soon he would be able to take care of her physical needs.
He tapped again, hoping for another picture of his wife but came to Dan instead. His friend was out in the open, silhouetted by the rugged mountains that had created him, stroking his own big cock, the muscles in his forearms as tight as his look of concentration.
Matthew threw down the phone, got to his feet and stared pacing. Yes, he could jack off, but the desire to do it again and again wasn’t going to take the need away. If anything, it would make him want more of what he seemed unable to take. And the thought of spending yet another night torturing himself with what-ifs was unbearable. He got to his feet and headed to the other end of the house.
The predictability and steadiness of work had always been his standby, his way of keeping control of his emotions and plans. That night, he hoped—but doubted—would be like all the others in that respect.
* * * * *
The next week, Tara drove herself to Dan’s. She’d spent most of the drive up the canyon on the phone, chatting with Alexa, her best friend. The lie, that everything was great between Matthew and her, felt raw coming from her throat but she’d had no choice. A short explanation about what was actually going on with them was out of the question. That conversation would have to wait until she and Alexa were face-to-face. And hopefully, by the time they had the chance to get together, the whole thing would be in the past and the lie would be truth again—that everything was fine. Better than fine.
Tara parked under the oak, got out, left her bag on the seat beside her and headed to the barn. When she reached the edge of the driveway, she spotted Dan, stretched across a lounge chair, his face missing the hint of a smile she’d come to expect when their gazes met. In one long, continuous motion, he spun to his side, rolled to his feet and headed her way.
“Change in plans.” He gave her a quick kiss on the cheek as he took her arm. The pressure from his light grip made her heart stall. “Come inside instead.”
Her pulse skittered as she hurried to keep up with him as she nearly jogged up the walk and porch steps. Once inside the house, he tugged her away from the door then reached across her. The door slammed shut with a thud that made the house shake.
Half-formed words rumbled up her throat but she swallowed them back. It was too late for questions. With Matthew maintaining his silent staring, she’d already decided to continue what she and Dan had started. But what was it going to take to snap Matthew out of his brooding?
Pictures of Dan and her fucking?
Dan led her past the cozy front room where they’d watched movies after sending Matthew the video and pictures, then down the hall to the kitchen. He let go of her arm and headed to one of the cabinets, opened it, took out a mostly full bottle of Johnnie Walker then crossed to a different cabinet.
He took out two tumblers, set them on the counter, then went to the refrigerator for ice. He glanced at her a couple times while he prepared the drinks. When he held one out for her, his gaze was unwavering.
Not him too. Tara couldn’t take two men scrutinizing her every move.
Nerves got the better of her and, unable to take his close examination, she peered into her glass after taking a small sip. Long seconds passed as they drank. The rush of their breathing and faint clink of the ice the only sounds. Tara leaned against the counter, her gaze moving between the golden liquid in the glass and the sparse decorations of the kitchen, until Dan lifted his arm to swallow the last few drops. Then her eyes were drawn to the lean muscles of his forearms and subtle power of his fingers. The low hum of expectation that had started on her drive from the city turned into an electric skitter, snapping across her skin.
Dan set his glass in the sink and touched Tara’s neck. His fingertips, slightly damp from condensation, made her shiver. Or maybe that was anticipation making her skin ignite with electricity.
He watched her response then dropped his hand. “I have something different planned for tonight.”
“Different? What are we going to do, some knitting or plant seeds?”
He didn’t laugh and to be honest her joke didn’t feel funny. She’d just said something to fill the silence.
A drop of ice water ran down her neck but she felt the chilling touch of it trail down between her breasts and then lower in her hips. A dangerous air curled around Dan. It wasn’t frightening. It was compelling. Strong. And even without knowing exactly what it was, she wanted more of its icy heat.
“There’s some stuff about me, about who I used to be, that I don’t talk about.” He dropped his hand and moved away, picked up the whisky bottle and poured more into his tumbler. He took a sip. “I want to share it with you.”
Keeping her eyes on Dan, she drank a long swallow. She didn’t have to ask, she knew it was about sex. “I was pretty wild b
efore I married Matthew. I have some surprises in my past.”
Dan grinned, that trace of apprehension she’d only just realized had been there evaporated. But that dark swirl of tension, it remained. He downed the rest of the whisky. “It isn’t you, Tara, I’m trying to push over the edge.”
Matthew’s face flashed through her mind. “Point made.”
“Matthew and I talked about a lot of things, but not our sex lives. So I’m only guessing that he’s never had any,” Dan’s gaze skittered around the room as he shifted his feet before his finally came back to look into Tara’s eyes, “experiences.”
Tara didn’t need an explanation. “No, not like that.”
“It won’t take much more from us, then, to show him what he needs to see.” Dan held out his arm.
She nodded, wondering how far was too far. It was a dangerous game they were playing, toying with Matthew’s emotions. What choice did she have, though? After all, he’d put this in motion. She swallowed the last of her drink, set the glass on the counter next to his and took his hand. He led her to the basement door then down plank steps that creaked and moaned under their weight. The air was a sweet combination of earthiness and fresh flowers.
They paused at the bottom of the stairs and Dan flicked on a light. The area was split into two sides. The original section had a low ceiling and fieldstone walls. The other side was modern with much newer construction. It was that section he turned into.
Tara had been expecting a dungeon, with the usual wall restraints and ceiling chains. And maybe a cage. But the room he’d brought her to was well-decorated, with beautiful, ornate rugs, accent lamps, gold, velvet chairs, a matching ottoman and a solid, wood-frame bed. Three bouquets of fresh-cut flowers cast a gentle scent into the room, softening the intensely male atmosphere. She pulled in a deep breath and it came out in a sigh.
“Not what you were expecting from a guy who spends most of his nights beating up a defenseless bag?”
“Sorry.” Despite the tension building deep in her body, she managed to offer him a smile. “Was I that obvious?”
Wicked Pink Page 4