“Hey, is that Rock?” Nick asked, and Annie glanced in the direction he indicated to catch her cat skulking in the shadows.
“That’s the boy.”
“He’s put on some weight.”
“He likes to eat.”
Annie went after the cat and picked him up so she could show him off. But when she rejoined the others, Rock stiffened and began growling.
“Nice looking cat,” Riley said, “but not too friendly, is he?”
“I don’t know what’s wrong with him lately.” Annie tried holding him closer to calm him. “Rock, baby, it’s okay. No one here is going to hurt you.”
But the cat twisted in her hands while continuing to growl. Annie did the only thing she could under the circumstances—she set him down. He immediately sprinted for the safe area under her bed.
“I guess he didn’t like the company,” Helen stated.
Frowning, Annie said, “I guess not.”
The cat’s reaction put a pall on the birthday jokes, so Annie figured it was time for the cake. Going to fetch it, she lit the candles in the kitchen area, then set the chocolate butter cream confection directly in front of Helen. Everyone gathered round to sing an off-key rendition of “Happy Birthday.”
“You actually put twenty-eight candles on it!” Helen complained as she stared down at the conflagration.
“The last time I checked, that’s how old you were supposed to be today.”
“But if I don’t blow them all out, I won’t get my wish.”
“Which is?” Nick asked.
“Like I would tell you.”
In the end, Helen did blow out all her candles, and ate the first piece with a satisfied grin. After that, Annie lined up the presents, which Helen wasted no time in opening. Several CDs meant to be played in the café. Computer games. And there were items more personal. A leopard-print nightgown from Annie. A video Nick had edited from footage he’d shot at the grand opening of Helen’s Cybercafé. A set of coffee mugs with an unusual design from Nate—really thoughtful, Annie decided. And a small piece of unframed artwork from Gallery R.
“The frames,” Annie said to Riley. “Is that why you asked about them?”
“Exactly,” the gallery owner admitted. “I couldn’t find anything I liked to go with this.”
“Then maybe I should go look for them,” she offered. “I think I remember where I saw the box last.”
Annie rose, and Helen asked, “You’re going to do it now?”
“It’ll only take a few minutes. Have another piece of cake.” Chocolate cake with chocolate butter cream frosting was Helen’s weakness. Noting that one couple was moving to the music once more, Annie looked from Helen to Riley and said, “Or you could always dance.”
Annie started off, Nate right behind her.
“I’ll go with you,” he whispered in her ear, and Annie didn’t argue.
The thought of a few minutes alone with him made her pulse race. They’d have time for a stolen kiss or two…or maybe more…
She led the way toward the front door and then up the wooden staircase to the landing, which had a door at each end. Certain she knew where she’d last seen the box, she headed for the door to the right, the room that adjoined the living area atrium.
No sooner had she opened the door and turned on the overhead light—a single dim bulb barely better than a nightlight—than Nate pushed her inside, twirled her around and closed the door.
“What are you doing?” Her question was punctuated by a breathless giggle.
“Helping you.”
He was behind her, his arm wrapped around her body, his hard pelvis pressed against her soft behind.
Hard…the way he’d seemed to be since he’d arrived, at least whenever she’d glanced his way. She wondered if anyone else had noticed.
“Um, the boxes are behind us,” she said. “So…if you can back off…”
“Uh-uh. I like where I am right now.”
Though she liked it, too, Annie thought of her guests. “Later,” she whispered.
“Now,” he countered.
Her heart beat against her ribs. His hands slipping under her vest seemed to be trying to feel its increased beat. No, they were actually lifting her breasts from beneath. He cupped the soft flesh, flicked their tips through the silk with his thumbs.
Though heat coursed through her in waves, she said, “Nate, stop.” She couldn’t do this with her friends just below.
“You don’t like it?”
“Of course I like it.”
“Good.”
He moved even closer, so that she could feel his whole body against hers. She twisted around, but merely managed to bring them both off balance. Nate gave her a tug and they fell together on a pile of material overflowing the packing boxes. Even so there was an explosion of sound that was sure to be noted by those below, even though the music was loud enough to make the floor vibrate.
Annie’s laugh grew tense. “Help me up.”
“I’ll help you,” he promised, smothering any protest with a kiss.
Annie wanted to protest—well, part of her did—but she wanted other things more.
Like his fingers pulling at her nipples through the thin bra. And his rigid erection pressed into the V at her thighs, which she helplessly spread for him. Seared by the sensations that shot up her spine, she arched against him and moaned into his mouth.
He was already lifting her skirts, his clever hands mesmerizing her into submission, when he murmured against her mouth, “What would make you really, really hot, Annie? Ready to explode?”
Clearly seeing Helen’s disapproving expression in her mind’s eye, Annie tried to find a way out of this. But then his fingers slid up her thighs and met the edge of her panties. She’d worn a thong for easier access, and now she was getting full benefit of her choice.
“That!” she gasped out, even as she thought she might be a lunatic.
Her friends were below, undoubtedly wondering about that noise. And Nate and she were lying together on broken boxes…not that she was uncomfortable in the conventional sense, since they were swathed by yards of fabric.
Nate caught her full attention by smoothing a fingertip along her cleft, but it was through the material. “This?” he whispered.
“Underneath,” she heard herself say, her mind hazing over as if she’d been drugged.
“Take them off.”
Alarmed by a noise from below, Annie froze. If they didn’t get back downstairs in a timely fashion, everyone would know what she and Nate had been doing up here.
“Now,” he urged her. “If you want me to turn you inside out, take them off.”
“What if someone ventures up here to see what’s taking us so long?”
“What if they do? C’mon, Annie, learn to live dangerously. You might like it.”
His words gave her a start, but did nothing to stop the rush she felt.
She gazed at him through slitted eyes. “How dangerous are you, Nate?”
She was primed, ready. Wanting what she’d been fantasizing about for what seemed like eons.
“How dangerous do you want me to be?”
He clutched her wrists and pulled them over her head, effectively pinning her to the old draperies.
Feeling faint with desire, she asked, “Is this a game to you?”
“I know lots of games. So play with me.”
Dangerous games, she thought. A man who was comfortable with a mobster certainly knew how to play them. And she seemed to be a willing participant.
“Take off your panties,” he urged again, releasing her wrists so she could do so.
If she gave in, what was the worst that could happen?
“Now, Annie!”
Unable to fight any longer the need coursing through her, Annie lifted her hips and tugged at the material until it tore.
“Oh, no.”
“Oh, yes,” he murmured, his tone satisfied, his hands now busily releasing her breasts from the bra withou
t taking off the undergarment. “Undo me.”
He lifted himself slightly, but didn’t stop the assault on the tender flesh of her breasts now spilling from the constricting material. Annie couldn’t think clearly.
Dangerous…. Was he really? Was this an innocent game or was there more?
Even as she heard muffled laughter from downstairs, he tweaked a nipple harder and she forced her hands between them. The moment she undid the zipper—no underwear, again—he sprang free of the soft jeans. His turn to moan.
But he removed a hand from her breast long enough to reach into a pocket and place a condom in her hand. “Put it on me,” he urged, shoving his jeans down his hips without changing position.
“Here? Now?”
“What do you think?”
She didn’t know what she had been thinking. Maybe that they would play around a little, have a few stolen thrills. A little harmless danger where no one got hurt. But this? Doing it with people below, who were by now discussing what was going on up here? That hadn’t occurred to her.
Annie now thought she must be crazy—wild and crazy—because she ripped open the package and, with hands that trembled slightly, rolled the condom down his length.
Exploring fingers opened her, coaxed the moistness over her inner flesh. Finally, finally, his tip probed her wetness.
Then Nate was in her. At last. He was filling her, stroking her, loving her…
And Annie was lost.
Her awareness of the people below faded away on the other side of passion. All she knew was Nate. And this. Rising tension that bowed her whole body, inside out. The promise of pleasure long denied and soon to be met. With a man who meant more to her than the satisfaction she knew he would give.
Nate rolled over the piled draperies, taking her with him so that she landed on top, in a tangle of their own clothing, half on, half off.
“Ride me, Annie!” he murmured into her ear. “Think of the wind at your back and ride me hard.”
They were on the Harley and she was in front of him…facing him…teasing his head with her heat…
They sped out of the park and onto the streets and people turned and pointed.
She didn’t care.
She slid down his length, then back up so that just the tip of him remained inside her. And then she did it again. And again. Faster. Harder.
She opened her eyes and met his gaze. He played her breasts so that she cried out in readiness.
One of his hands dipped down into the V between them. “Now,” he urged, stroking her. “Now!”
Then she did cry out as she came and came and came, the sensation never seeming to end, not until she felt the pressure inside her lessen, so that she knew he’d taken the leap right beside her.
10
“WOW!” ANNIE MURMURED, collapsing on Nate. Every nerve throughout her body was alive and singing.
“You ain’t seen nothing yet,” he promised.
Fearing that he might try to keep that promise now, she scrambled back and only then took stock of her own disheveled state. She pulled her bra back over her breasts, saying, “I think we’d better get downstairs.”
“If you insist.”
Seemingly casual about it, he tugged up his jeans while rising. Caught by the beauty of his masculinity, she went all tight inside again, even as he zipped himself away from sight.
Then he swooped down and, when he straightened, held a bit of nothing in his hand. “I think you might want to do something with these.”
Heat seared her neck as she stared at what was left of her panties. Grabbing them, she stuffed them in a pocket and patted it down so there was no telltale bulge.
He was grinning at her.
“What?”
“You’re beautiful when you’re embarrassed.”
“I’m not.”
“Not beautiful or not embarrassed?”
“You pick,” she said, grinning back.
No one had actually called her beautiful before. Well, no one but her parents. Annie was inordinately pleased by a compliment that shouldn’t have meant so much to her, not when she valued what was inside people more than what was on the outside. But Nate thought she was beautiful….
She let him take the lead down the stairs. Helen was sitting alone on the couch at the moment, her gaze perhaps a little too neutral, a little too studied, as she watched them descend. But Annie could feel disapproval coming at her in waves.
Nick was in the kitchen area, his back turned, talking intently to two other guests—it seemed that a few people had already left—but Helen was definitely watching the stairs for them.
“I thought you went up there to find some frames.”
Oh, boy. “I thought I knew where the frames were, but they eluded us.” Rather her memory had eluded her, once presented with an irresistible distraction.
“For a very long time,” Nick said, turning toward them, for once not sounding amused. “We were about to send out a search party.”
What was wrong with him? she wondered. He’d been all for her getting closer to Nate. Had the fact that she’d asked him to check Nate out changed his attitude to the other man?
The door behind Annie opened as she turned to her friend, not wanting her to be angry. “Sorry, Helen. I’ll look for those frames tomorrow.”
Riley moved past Annie to sit on the couch next to a yawning Helen.
“Sure. Whatever,” Helen said. “But I’m afraid I’m going to have to break up the birthday-fest and get some sleep.”
“So soon?”
“Uh, you were up there longer than you think.”
Annie felt her cheeks flush again. Thankfully, Nate had moved away from her so she could at least breathe properly.
Helen started to gather her presents, and Riley lent a hand.
“I think we’d better all call it a night,” Nick said, his expression odd.
The few other guests agreed, said their good-nights and left.
When Helen picked up her new video, Nick said to Annie, “By the way, I finished that dance video for Club Undercover over on Milwaukee. Let me know if you want to catch it some night this week.”
“Definitely,” Annie said.
Arms full of presents, Riley said, “Great get-together, Annie. Thanks for thinking of me.”
“I’m glad you could make it.”
Helen hugged her. “Thanks, Annie.” She glanced over at Nate, who hung back from the group. “Take care of yourself, okay?”
Nick bent close and kissed Annie on the cheek. “And I want to talk to you tomorrow,” he said for her ears only. “Alone.”
That sounded ominous. Trying to hide her worry, she glanced from him to Nate, who was trying to get a look under her bed, where Rock still hid.
Worrying about the cat—he’d been acting so strangely lately—she showed her friends to the door. And by the time they were outside, Nate had caught up to her.
Her pulse ticked in a rapid beat. But if Annie had hopes of a repeat performance of what had gone on upstairs, she was doomed to disappointment.
“I need to get going as well,” Nate told her.
Because they had no potential audience? No element of danger to spice up the moment? she wondered as he pressed a soft, quick kiss to her lips.
“I’ll call you,” he promised.
Words that every woman dreaded. Would he really call her now that he’d gotten what he wanted from her?
But this was Nate, she reminded herself, not Alan Cooper. Still, she fought the sick feeling that shot through her.
“I look forward to it,” she responded.
Like a lovesick teenager, she watched him get on his Harley and ride off into the night.
Lovesick? Could Nick be right?
Not wanting to analyze too deeply, she tried to enjoy the now. A few minutes later, soaping herself in the shower, touching the places tender from their exciting lovemaking, she couldn’t help but relive the stolen moments with Nate.
Would there be m
ore of them?
Though she tried to wash away the taste of fear, it lingered in her mouth. But this fear was different. It couldn’t be assuaged by a locked door or the presence of other people.
This wasn’t fear for her physical safety, but for her heart.
EARLY THE NEXT MORNING, the other kind of fear welled up in her all over again.
Fear and anger.
Having decided that she had too many things to do at the shop to stay home and relax—as if she ever did—she’d set out for Annie’s Attic, though this was the one day a week it was closed to business. As she approached the six corners, she’d noticed a couple of people with flyers in hand, but it wasn’t until she got closer to her shop that she realized the sidewalk was littered with them.
She bent to pick one up….
“You’re sure you didn’t see anyone handing these out?” she now asked Helen’s employees, who were working hard to keep up with the busy early morning traffic at the café. She’d been so upset upon reading the damned thing that she’d headed right over there to show her friend.
“Nope, sorry,” one of them said as he filled a customer’s order.
“Who has time to pay attention to anything but work?” asked the other.
Hands trembling, Annie read the flyer again.
Annie’s Attic
For Expensive Trash
Annie Wilder,
Proprietress and Slut
“Sit,” Helen said. “I’ll get you some herbal tea to calm you down.”
“I don’t need tea!” Annie argued as she sat. “I need a damn name!”
“Try Alderman Zavadinski.”
Annie looked up to see John Riley, steaming commuter mug in hand, standing nearby.
“You saw him handing these out?”
“No, but he drove by a little while ago—very slowly and with his window rolled down. He looked like he was enjoying himself.”
“Bastard!” Annie cried. “He really is trying to drive me out of business.”
“This will backfire on him, just like the last time,” Helen predicted.
Not that it would make Annie feel any better. “I don’t understand. I’m just trying to run an honest business. What does Zavadinski think he can get out of it?” She was getting hysterical. “Does he really think he can beef up his political career on my hide? Maybe eventually run for mayor on an antitrash, antislut campaign, citing driving me out of business as his big accomplishment during his term as alderman?”
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