“A remodel. I want to turn the restaurant into a bar and grill.”
“It sounds great, but how will you get the funding? I’m not sure the bank will find that the restaurant is a sound investment.”
“We might not need a lot. I’ve got a little money saved back. Besides, with Vance and me doing the work and the five of us pooling our resources, I think it might be the best way to turn the diner around.”
“Our very own version of Applebees right here in Blackwater?”
“Something like that.” Sam reached out and cupped Julie’s chin, urging her to look at him. “How about we worry about the diner tomorrow?”
“Okay.” She crossed her legs and glanced over at the fire. “I love this time of year.”
Sam couldn’t pass up the chanced to learn a little more about her. “Is it the chillier weather or the holiday season you like?”
“Both.” She plucked at her sweatshirt and admitted, “I do get cold easily, but I love sitting by a warm fire. It reminds me of going to church camp when I was little.”
Sam imagined her as a young girl in pigtails and smiled. “I can see you roasting marshmallows and eating s’mores.”
She rubbed her belly. “Mm, there’s nothing better than s’mores.”
Sam tipped her chin up until he could see her eyes. “Nothing?” he murmured. “Not even gooey chocolate chip cookies with me?”
Julie clenched her eyes tight and let out a heavy breath. “I have a confession to make, Sam.”
“Yeah?”
She opened her eyes and said, “Uh, I’m nervous. It’s been a long time since I’ve been on a date, but you could probably tell that already.”
“It’s okay. No pressures or expectations tonight, Julie.” He leaned back into the swing and put his arm around her shoulders. “All you have to do is enjoy the night.”
She leaned her head on his shoulder and looked up at him. “Are you enjoying the evening?”
“I have a pretty woman snuggled up close under the stars. It doesn’t get much better in my book.”
“Maybe we should make a wish. You never know, it might come true.”
He smiled down at her. “I haven’t done that since I was a kid.”
Her eyes twinkled in the firelight as she whispered, “I will if you will.”
“Deal.”
“Close your eyes. It won’t work unless you close your eyes, Sam.”
Sam did as she asked. After he made his wish, he opened them again to see Julie watching him. “Did you make a wish?”
She nodded. “Did you?” she asked in a faraway voice.
“Hmm, yeah. We’ll just have to wait and see if it comes true or not, won’t we?” he said cryptically.
She offered him a sexy grin, one clearly designed to fell a lesser man. “I don’t suppose I can convince you to tell me what you wished for, huh?”
“Nice try, sweetheart.” Julie pouted, and Sam knew he was putty in her hands. God, she was captivating. Sam was desperate to lean down and kiss her. He wanted to undress her and touch every inch of her body with his lips and tongue. “You know that if I told you, then it wouldn’t come true anyway, remember?”
“Yes, I suppose you’re right. Will you let me know if you get your wish at least?”
“I will if you will,” he murmured.
Satisfied, Julie nodded. “Deal.”
Sam stroked the silky length of her dark brown hair. “We could shake on it,” he suggested.
Her eyes lit with mischief. “We could. Sounds a little boring, if you ask me.”
“Or…” He dipped his head and pressed his lips to her soft, warm mouth.
Julie sighed and wrapped her arms around his neck. She moved closer, as if she wanted to spend a good long time sampling him. Damn good plan, Sam thought. He nudged the seam of her lips with his tongue, and her lips parted beneath his. Tongues met in a wild mating dance. She tasted of sweet, warm chocolate, and Sam knew he could easily become a glutton.
He pulled back a few inches. “Earlier you said that I made you hot and bothered.”
“Blurted it out, you mean,” she grumbled as she turned away, presenting him with the perfect view of her neck. Sam kissed her there, just behind her ear. Julie shivered.
Sam’s voice dropped an octave as he admitted, “Either way, I’m glad you said it.”
“Yes, well, I think you’ve managed to turn the heat up a notch.” She cleared her throat. “In case you were curious or anything.”
“Still feels a little chilly to me,” he said as he coasted his lips over her earlobe and nibbled.
“W-we can’t have that,” she whispered, tilting her head to the side and giving him better access to her neck.
Sam caved in to temptation and licked the smooth line of her neck. He could feel the rapid rise and fall of her chest as she pressed her body closer to his. Sam’s cock pulsed with the need to be buried inside her soft pussy. Damn, he hadn’t even taken off Julie’s clothes and already he ached for release. Sam was desperate to tear off her sweats, to see the full curves she kept hidden, but he didn’t want to rush her. She’d admitted her inexperience earlier, and Sam knew it would be better if he took the time to coax Julie’s passion to the surface, not demand it.
“I’m out of my element here, Sam,” she softly confessed, confirming his conviction that he needed to take it slow.
Nervous tension creased her brow, but the fingers tugging at his hair spoke of how turned on she was. The very last thing he wanted was for Julie to be shy and reserved. He wanted her to let go of her shyness, to feel free to explore him a little, because he sure as shit planned to explore her.
Sam nudged her face toward his. “Sweetheart?”
“Hmm?” she asked as her pleasure-filled gaze snared his.
“Kiss me,” he urged.
“Good idea.” She leaned into him and barely touched her lips with his.
Unlike the mating of lips before, this kiss was light and fleeting but enough to have Sam’s blood pounding hot. He dipped his head and tasted the V-shaped bit of skin exposed at the front of the hoodie. He licked the warmth he discovered there, enjoying the beat of her pulse pounding out a staccato rhythm beneath his tongue.
Lifting a little, Sam asked, “More?”
He watched her swallow hard, and even that seemed sexy. “It’d be oh so wrong to stop now,” she said, her voice not quite as steady as before.
“Christ, you’re turning me on here.”
She mumbled something unintelligible, but it was her responsiveness that sent a wave of primitive satisfaction through him. He wanted to be the only man with the privilege to hear that particular husky tone of voice from Julie. He brushed his lips across her throat one more time before placing a hand on the back of the swing next to her, caging her in.
Sam ran a hand down her arm, then let his fingers drift over one cotton-covered breast. Through her bra and the thick material of the hoodie, he couldn’t tell if her nipples were hard little points or not, but if her breathing was any indication, she definitely liked his ministrations. As he cupped one full, round breast, shaping and kneading, he heard her beg his name. Sam stopped and looked her over. With her hair all around her shoulders, eyes half-closed with desire and her lips swollen from his kisses, she looked like an offering.
Sam reached down with one hand and cupped her pussy through the sweats. “You want to come, sweets?”
“So very badly.” She moaned. “I just might implode if I don’t.”
Sam tsked. “We certainly can’t have that.” He kissed her cheek and breathed in her delicate scent. Sam took her hand in his and pressed it against his cock. “Feel what you do to me, Julie,” he gently ordered.
Plaything
Natasha Moore
One taste of everything she ever wanted…how can she walk away?
Paolo’s Playhouse, Book 4
Julianne’s the epitome of a successful businesswoman. But where her boardroom reality is full of decisions, her bed
room fantasy is the exact opposite—allowing a lover who knows what he’s doing to strip her of the need to make any decisions at all.
When she reads an ad for Paolo’s Playhouse, her long-ignored need twists inside her, too sharp to ignore. Trembling, she picks up the phone, and Paolo’s charm, lyrical accent and empathy soothe her fear just enough to agree to be the Playhouse’s bondage toy. One look at Paolo the following night, and she wishes she’d struck a different bargain. To be his alone.
Paolo can’t take his eyes off the brave and beautiful woman with hair like the fire he sees in her soul. Her sexual need to be bound matches his own powerful need to be the one to bind her. Tonight and always.
Except Julianne agreed to only one perfect night. Now he must convince her it could be the first night of many for them—if only she will trust him.
Warning: Features a sexy Italian whose lyrical voice can charm or command, whose sensual hands can stroke or spank. Stop by the Playhouse and live out your fantasies!
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This book is a work of fiction. The names, characters, places, and incidents are products of the writer’s imagination or have been used fictitiously and are not to be construed as real. Any resemblance to persons, living or dead, actual events, locale or organizations is entirely coincidental.
Samhain Publishing, Ltd.
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Plaything
Copyright © 2012 by Natasha Moore
ISBN: 978-1-60928-691-0
Edited by Sue Ellen Gower
Cover by Scott Carpenter
All Rights Are Reserved. No part of this book may be used or reproduced in any manner whatsoever without written permission, except in the case of brief quotations embodied in critical articles and reviews.
First Samhain Publishing, Ltd. electronic publication: May 2012
www.samhainpublishing.com
Table of Contents
Dedication
Chapter One
Chapter Two
Chapter Three
About the Author
Look for these titles by Natasha Moore
Also Available from Samhain Publishing, Ltd.
Copyright Page
Plaything: Paolo's Playhouse, Book 4 Page 6