Sugar and Sin Bundle

by Stacey Joy Netzel

  “I—” Her breath hitched.

  He ground his teeth together. The tingle in his spine had turned into fire. He couldn’t hold back. “Jaya.”

  Her body trembled in his arms and he felt the quiver of her slick flesh against his cock. “Oh. Fuck. Me.”

  As she came, her body flooded his and clamped tight around him, unwilling to let him go. The last thought he had before his body jerked in heated relief was home.

  ***

  Darkness. That’s all Jaya’s brain registered. She blinked her eyes. Nope, still darkness. She rolled over under the duvet to try and get a glimpse at her bedside clock. Instead, an arm flung around her waist, bringing her up against a wall of muscle and…erm, yeah, that was definitely someone’s penis. Someone’s hard, thick penis pressing against her hip.

  Shit. Her brain began a frantic scramble for purchase. She dragged in a breath, smelled spices and mint, and smiled. Alec. The muscles of her lower belly contracted and the tingles in her belly made her bite her lip. She could feel her body soften for him. Achy inner thighs fell apart in anticipation. Put that all together and what do you have—Get the hell out of Dodge time.

  Peeling the heavy arm off her waist, she tried to orient herself. Maybe this was all a dream. Maybe if she pinched herself, she’d wake up in her own bed. Except her brain flooded with memories of her fingers laced in dark curly hair as he licked her to a toe-curling orgasm. More images of her straddling and riding strong hips as his electric blue eyes worshiped her body. The final image of her with hands braced against the French doors of the balcony while he took her from behind. Alec + Alec + Alec equaled So. Totally. Screwed.

  Jaya slapped her hands over her flushed face. What the hell had she been thinking, sleeping with Elevator Guy? She’d bought in to Micha’s whole moxy pep talk. Stupid, stupid, stupid. More stupid if she just lay here, waiting for Mr. I’m a Sex God to wake up. Awkward post coital—make that multiple coitals morning-after seshes—were so not her thing.

  Launching herself up, she darted a glance at Alec. Talk about excellent bed partner. He certainly knew what he was doing. That’s probably because he’s slept with every woman from here to Sweden, honey. Don’t go thinking it’s something it’s not. While she talked her body out of believing all the things Alec had told her last night, she tried to stretch as achy muscles protested in a honey-you-used-muscles-you-had-no-business using way.

  Lifting the sheet covering her to the neck, she peeked down. Yeppers, definitely naked. Not at all a dream. As the events of the previous night started to unpeel themselves like an onion, she flushed again. She'd slept with him. More than that, she'd seduced him. And somewhere in the foggy sex haze, she’d asked him to be her date.

  Jaya blushed when that memory flooded her brain. Her, kneeling in front of a spectacular erection, refusing to let him come until he promised to do her a huge favor by being her date. The way he coiled his hand in her hair and called her a tease, all the while making his own counter-bargain about seeing her in this position again.

  “Oh, God.” She cringed when the whisper filled the silence. What had gotten into her last night? She'd barely had anything to drink, so it hadn’t been the alcohol clouding her brain. It had been her stupid plans. They'd gotten her jazzed. She’d listened to her friends. Worse, she’d wanted to believe she could be someone different. Once she figured out how to get her life back, her brain had started to think she was invincible—like she could make anything happen. And she had. She peeked under the sheet one more time and still, she wasn’t wearing any clothes. Three, no make that four times—with a total stranger. Well at least he hadn’t killed her and chopped her up into the freezer. Thank Buddha for little favors.

  Okay, must escape before the awkward, gosh-I've-seen-you-naked-now-we-must-make-small-talk conversation. If she could slip out without waking him, she'd never have to see him again. Never mind the fact that she'd asked him to be her date for the wedding. Damn, she'd practically offered to pay him—with her body. She covered her eyes. Moron didn't even begin to cover it.

  Okay, girly, find your big-girl panties and bounce. Erm, make that thong. Standing up, she swept from side to side, looking for her dress. Nowhere in the bedroom. A stirring in the bed had her freezing like a cockroach in the daylight. When Alec settled himself back to sleep, she let out a long breath. Right. Dress came off in the living room. She padded out to the main room. Success.

  While shoving her arms into the slinky red number, she allowed herself a little pat on the back. Yeah it was a stupid stunt, but God knew she needed it. That was the first time she'd had sex in nine very long months. Since Derrick, actually. She'd gone for it—all out. No holds barred. Problem was, now that she’d had sex-so-good-you-wanna-slap-your-ex, she remembered how much she liked sex—craved it. Even worse, she really liked sex with Alec.

  Her body melted into readiness at the mere thought of his sure touch. Too bad you won’t be doing that shit again. Grab your panties and wallet and go. Except, she still couldn’t find her damn panties. They'd been on the table when Alec had taken them off, but she had no idea where they were now. Whatever. She could buy another pair. She grabbed her clutch and made a beeline for the door. Glancing down at her bare feet, she frowned. Oh, right. Shoes. She’d kicked them off somewhere around here.

  Finding the stupidly expensive shoes under one of the foyer chairs, she slipped them on. Immediately losing her footing, she dropped her purse. Shit, shit, shit. Gathering the wayward items, she checked around to see if she could see the panties but couldn't. Get gone, love. No more one night stands for you. Most important, no more Alec Danthers. Reckless didn’t even begin to cover her behavior. There were reasons for rules. And she was a rule follower to the letter.

  Chapter Six

  Alec woke to the scent of roses and a stiff body. He sucked in a deep breath and groaned as his body stirred. Jaya. He couldn’t help the smile spreading across his face, unable to remember the last time he had sex that actually touched him. That’s because it’s been a while, buddy. Usually, after he met a woman, he forgot her name in minutes, but Jaya’s name wasn’t one he’d ever forget.

  As soon as possible, they needed to do that again. Even while his brain registered the need, his body responded with a surge of lust rushing through his veins, accompanied by the vivid imagery of the previous night. He licked his lips and could still taste her on them—her sweet juices as he circled his tongue around her clit. The way her hands stroked though his hair, then clenched while her body shook in orgasm. The way she’d responded to him, like his every action turned her on, like she’d been made especially for him.

  Usually, he couldn’t wait to get a woman out of his bed and sight after they had sex. But she wasn’t just any woman. And he knew that before he slept with her. A brief flush of regret washed over him when he remembered how hard they’d gone. Once he had a taste of her, there wasn’t any going back. What they’d done together would shake him for longer than he cared to think about. Each time he reached for her, she’d been more than willing. She hadn’t wanted gentle. The mere thought of her curved form braced against the glass while he smoothed his hands over her ass and up her back as he slid inside her, stroking her g-spot, was enough to bring him to the explosion point. Damn it.

  The blood pumping through his lap woke the-not-quite-sleeping soldier. Taking his cock in his hand, he meant to just shift him out of the way so he wouldn’t wake Jaya, but the moment he touched himself, the urge to stroke was too strong. Wrapping his fingers around the base, he gave a slow, gentle glide down. Then a firmer grip flowing up over the head. Just the way he liked it. “Ahhh.” He expelled a long slow breath. Except it wasn’t as satisfying as he hoped. He needed more. He needed her.

  A good guy would have let Jaya sleep and headed to the bathroom for a nice, icy shower or at least tried for an easy empty release. But that wasn’t him. He was a Westhorpe, after all. Men in his family were renowned for their low impulse control. He wanted her. Needed to fee
l her slick heat around him. Condoms were an unbreakable rule, but Jaya made him wish they didn’t need formality. Just the mere thought of her hot heat molding around him as she panted his name made his cock pulse.

  Unable to control himself any longer, he reached for her. His arms only pulled in bedding. The sheets on her side of the bed were still warm. Cracking an eyelid open, he was surprised to find that it was already morning, with bright sunlight filtering through the drapery, bathing the suite in gold.

  “Jaya? Are you still here?”

  No one answered. There was no sound of the shower, no blow dryer, no running water. Just silence.

  What the hell? She'd fucked him and then left? Sitting up, he couldn't believe what had happened. Sure, he had more than one one-night stand in his life. Hell, he’d had more than one in the last month. Then why did he feel empty? Throwing back the covers, he did a more thorough scan of the suite. She was definitely gone. Damn.

  He hadn’t even gotten her number. Her real number. Not the bullshit one she gave him on her business card. Right. Because that's what you did with a one-night stand. Called them later. Dumbass. He knew better.

  He told himself all kinds of lies to make himself feel better. Like if she wanted to use him and bounce, then good for him. The last thing he needed was any kind of entanglement. As soon as he brought back his prodigal brother, he was out of here. Back to Durban. On to the next adventure. Or maybe he needed to put that expedition together to finally make it from the tip of South Africa to the top of Tunisia. That was his ultimate goal.

  Maybe it was time to speed up his plans and do something he wanted. With this quick errand for Adele, he didn't need to work for the next year if he didn't want to. That’s where his focus should be. Not on some woman he’d seen twice and used up his stash of condoms with. Letting her get under his skin was a mistake. She’d done them both a huge favor by ducking out.

  Naked, he strolled into the kitchen following the smell of the delicious nutmeg coffee. He liked chick coffee, so sue him. Before he could pour the life-giving nectar down his gullet, he slid on something. Frowning, he stared at the two rectangles of plastic at his feet. Bending down to scoop them up, he grinned. She’d left her license and credit card. Gotcha.

  Maybe it was a little premature to call it game over with Jaya Trudeaux. He tapped the cards against his palm while he waited for his coffee. After all, they owed it to themselves to see if last night was some kind of aberration.

  And unlike most women he slept with who left behind souvenirs, he doubted she'd done it on purpose. Given her evasion technique with the business card and that he woke to an empty bed, she was one lady who didn't want to be found.

  Well that was just too bad. It was his civic duty to get her belongings back to her. What was a guy to do? Besides, it didn’t sit well with him to be left behind. He was the one usually sneaking out of women’s apartments in the middle of the night. True, he also never brought anyone back to his place. It was too easy for someone to see part of him he wasn't willing to share.

  He completely ignored the burn in his chest every time he thought her name. He wasn’t going to look for her because she’d gotten under his skin. Things like that didn’t happen to him. She was just a woman. The one woman he’d ever gone after. But it didn’t mean anything.

  With a renewed zest for the day, he hurried to shower and throw on some clothes. He had a breakfast date to make.

  ***

  If there was a contest for most stupid moments, Jaya counted herself a front runner. She had humiliated herself enough for one seventy-two hour period. Letting herself into her condo, the first thing she did was slip off her stilettos. So much for lucky charms. They were supposed to make her feel sexy and confident. To be fair, they’d done their job, but talk about overconfident. A brief flash of her wearing nothing but the heels as Alec kissed his way up her body warmed her from the inside.

  Damn, she really had to get a control on her hormones. Hot sex? Yes. Great sex? Absolutely. Stupid sex? For sure. What the hell had she been thinking, sleeping with the bartender? So cliché. Her skin still tingled as she remembered the way his lips slid over hers and his tongue probed hers in question and response to hers. The way his hands had yanked her against his hard frame. She’d felt every inch of hard muscle and tasted—

  As soon as she remembered the scotch she licked off his body, she felt damp moisture between her thighs—again. Had it been that long since she’d had sex? Yes. She hadn’t even had a rebound since Mr. I’m-an-asshole-who’s-going-to-sleep-with-your-sister. She hadn’t even been in the mood for any hanky-panky. The next thing she knew, she was doing the sexy bartender like she’d been trained at the Bunny Ranch in Nevada. Talk about breaking the seal.

  Scooping up the gold sparkling shoes, she padded into her bedroom for a shower and change of wardrobe. “Deep breath, Jai. One teeny tiny derailment. You can still get back on course.” All she needed to do was find a viable date and come up with a game plan of getting to the client. Brett James mentioned he’d be on vacation for a couple of weeks after they made their decision. So all she needed to do was check to see if Trudeaux got the account. Then Operation Flay-Derrick-I’m-an-asshole-who-slept-with-your-sister was a go. Easy Peasy. Eyes on the prize.

  Except as date prospects went, she came up snake eyes. She had no boyfriend, secret or otherwise, no date to the wedding, and no plan yet of what she would say to Brett James if she managed to get him alone. She slid a glance to the clock as she unzipped the Jersey dress. Six-thirty am. Damn, that meant only an hour of sleep before she needed to be up trolling through her contacts. She’d done a lot of favors in her life. Someone could return one. All she needed was someone bright enough to impress her father and drop dead hunky enough to make Tamara salivate. How hard could that be?

  A knock at the door had her cursing. Damn Marco. She’d made friends with him in the hopes he’d provide extra security to her first floor condo, but instead, he used their friendship as a reason to stop by at all kinds of crazy hours for chats. Normally she didn’t mind as he was hot and Brazilian. But now, she was exhausted. She threw on her favorite pair of UCSD shorts and grabbed the nearest tank top she could find. Screw a bra. She was too tired to deal.

  Swinging open the door, she said “Marco, as much as I’d love to chat, I—” Her throat went as dry as the Sahara when instead of Marco, Alec leaned against the doorjamb.

  The smile across his lips managed to be sexy and sardonic all at once. “Do you always open the door like that? I could have been an axe murderer or something.”

  For several moments, Jaya couldn’t find her voice. Leave it to her to find the one night stand with some serious detective chops. As far as she was concerned, the possibility of him being an axe murderer wasn’t out of the question. At the very least a stalker. When she found her voice, it squeaked. “Did you follow me here? How did you get into the building?” What was the bloody point of paying so much for a doorman building?

  He put both hands up. “Relax. I come in peace. Reaching into the inner pocket of his leather jacket he pulled out two small plastic cards. “You left your license and credit card.” Tilting his head towards the front door he added, “And, as for Marco, well, turns out he’s a sucker for love.”

  She rolled her eyes, pouring all her acting chops into annoyed nonchalance. Her body, though, traitor that it was, tightened in all sorts of delicious places at the sound of his voice.

  “Perfect.” Feeling exposed in her tank top and shorts, Jaya wished she’d had the wherewithal to put on something a little less…see-through. But she resisted crossing her arms. If he was offended by her tits, tough. He was in her condo. “Um, thanks for saving me the hassle of chasing them down.”

  “Alec. You can use my name. Not like you haven’t used it before.” That annoyingly sexy smile remained. As if he knew just how freaked she was by her behavior last night and wanted to rub it in.

  “Thank you, Alec.” She cursed the breathy quality of he
r voice. “But you didn’t have to come all the way over here.”

  His gaze dipped to her chest. “What? You didn’t think you could get away with screwing and running, did you? If you hadn’t left these behind, I would have asked one of your friends for your number. I’ve been told I’m charmingly persistent.”

  Jaya couldn’t hear for the blood rushing in her ears. “I—Um.” A slow blush crept up her chest to the column of her throat and eventually settled in her cheeks and ears. “Look. I figured I’d save us some awkward small talk and I have a lot of work to do so...” She prayed he’d take the cold-shouldered hint and leave.

  So much for prayer.

  “How about I take you out for breakfast? I was very disappointed you left without saying goodbye. I mean, no flowers, no jotted-down phone number…you’d think I was a leper.”

  As he handed over her license, their fingertips brushed. Jaya felt a spark of electricity. Every nerve ending in her body stood at attention, begging, screaming to be touched, fondled, and caressed.

  She snatched her hand back.

  “We both know you’re no leper,” she mumbled, even though her brain admonished her mouth for taking the initiative. Shut up. Shut up. She really had to stop talking so much. She cleared her throat. What does someone say to a sex-god standing in her doorway? “Right. Anyway. Thank you for the offer of breakfast, but I don’t think so. I want to try and get some more sleep and get some work done. I’ll let you go enjoy the rest of your night, erm day.”

  His brow furrowed as he stood erect, shoving his hands in his pockets. “Did I say something wrong?”

  “No. I—” She took a breath. “I don’t do one-night stands. I’m not that girl. I’ve never fallen into bed with a perfect stranger. I’m not up on the etiquette, but I’m pretty sure awkward morning-after conversation isn’t something the guys look forward to in the a.m., so I blazed. I thought I was doing you a favor.”