by Lee, Marilyn
“If I know you, you’re not going to hop into bed with him the first night. So you’ll need more than one night.”
“Will you give it a rest?” I snapped.
“Excuse me for breathing,” she said.
I rolled my eyes. “One day or six, I can pay for my own meals.”
“Are you sure? You’re only going as a favor to me.”
“I know that but I can pay for my own meals.”
“Okay. Well…do me proud and let him down gently. Then fuck me right out of his mind during the week.”
Wouldn’t I love to do just that? I outlined my top lip with my tongue. “I have no interest in staying more than one night.”
“Use the time to sightsee. The Liberty Bell and the Constitution Center are within walking distance of your hotel. The Reading Terminal Market has to be seen to be believed. It’s historic and filled with all kinds of restaurants. Taylor and I enjoyed going on horse-driven carriage rides too. We visited the Betty Rose and the Poe House. There’s a lot of history you’ll enjoy exploring with or without.”
“With or without what?”
“Taylor. He’s a bit of a workaholic but with the right incentive, maybe you can convince him to take some time off.”
“Did you?”
“No,” she admitted. “All our sightseeing took place after work or on the weekends.”
“I doubt he’ll want to spend any quality time with me after I’ve delivered the bad news.”
“Maybe not but if he wants to bed you, go for it. Just do me a favor and make sure you don’t fall for him.”
“Why not?”
“Because I might decide I want him back and I don’t want any problems between us if that happens. Fuck him but do not fall for him because I might want him back.”
I frowned. Sometimes Jasmin had a habit of treating her lovers like possessions rather than equal partners. “There’s not much chance of that happening,” I assured her. “Anyway, have a great shoot and a wonderful time, Jas.”
“You too, Shana. I’ll see you when I return.”
“I’ll be here, girl,” I said and hung up.
I went home to have dinner, pack, and call my son and daughter to tell them I’d be heading out of town for a while. My twenty-year-old twins, Jassy and Jimmy, would start their senior year of college in the fall.
Jassy urged me to have a wild time. “Let your hair down, Mom and live a little.”
I knew what she meant by live a little. Like Jasmin, she thought I was taking too long to get over Tremain. “We’ll see,” I said. “I’ll call you when I get back. Now I need to call your brother. Love you.”
“I love you too, Mom,” she said.
Smiling, I dialed her brother’s number.
Jimmy listened in silence before he spoke. “Despite the advice I know Jassy gave you, please be careful, Mom. There’s no rush to start a new relationship. You can take your time and get it right.”
Oh but I was more than ready to take another lover. “Don’t worry about me, sweetie.”
“I do worry,” he said. “It’s part of my job.”
Since my divorce, ten years earlier, despite my assurances, Jimmy had felt he had to look after me. “Don’t worry,” I said again.
“Promise me you’ll call me if you need anything.”
Hell would freeze over before I burdened either of my kids with my problems. “Of course, sweetie. I’ll see you soon.”
“Call or text me to let me know you arrived safely.”
“I will. Love you, sweetie.”
“Love you, Mom.”
Later that night I fell asleep and had a series of erotic dreams where a faceless man with a big shaft cocked me all night long until I nearly screamed the place down. My heart thumped and my panties were wet when I woke because I knew the faceless man of my dreams had been Taylor Raymond.
Get a grip, girl. You cannot start thinking with your pussy.
Groaning with frustration, I rolled onto my stomach and drifted to sleep again—and dreamed of Taylor Raymond again.
A day later, I arrived in Philadelphia after a six-hour flight from San Francisco. At the last moment, I’d decided to take Jasmin’s advice and packed enough clothes for a week’s vacation. After I saw Taylor Raymond in the morning, I’d get down to some serious sightseeing. And just maybe I might even let my hair down enough to get my freak on in a one-night stand. Or two. Hell, maybe three. But not with Taylor Raymond, girl. Not with him. That would create too many problems.
Hoping I’d wrestled my emotions and fantasies under sufficient control that Taylor Raymond would not know I’d been spending far too much time daydreaming about him; I collected my bags and boarded the airport shuttle to my Center City hotel.
I was pleasantly surprised to find that Jas had booked me a small suite. Placing my bags near the closet, I sat down to send a quick email to Jimmy and Jassy to let them know I’d arrived safely and would see them in a week.
Then I went down to the hotel restaurant. While having a salad and a beer, I noticed a lone handsome man with dark skin and eyes seated at a table facing mine giving me a fair amount of attention.
Lonely and ready for a little male companionship, I would have been receptive if he approached me. He didn’t but I left the restaurant confident that there was always tomorrow. Hopefully, his stay would extend long enough for us to meet before I went home. And maybe the next time we met, I’d make a move if he didn’t.
Back in my suite, I undressed and took a long soak. Lying in the warm, soothing water, I closed my eyes and imagined myself wrapped in the arms of Mr. Dark, handsome and sexy. I allowed my imagination to weave a super sensual dream around the man from the restaurant before the cooling water spurred me to get out of the bath and go to bed.
Relaxed by the soak, I fell asleep almost immediately but woke in the middle of the night longing to feel a big, hard body pressed against mine. Despite my efforts to corral my thoughts, I couldn’t stop thinking about Taylor Raymond. His was the body I wanted to feel crushing mine to the bed. I wanted to explore the mystique of the Native American lover with him.
If you’re going to develop a thing for a Native male, it can’t be Jasmin’s. Despite her encouraging me to sleep with him, neither of us had ever crossed that line. We were too damned close to risk our relationship over a man. I sighed and rolled onto my side and tried to clear my thoughts of hot sex with Taylor Raymond until I finally fell asleep again.
Shana Mine is available from Marilyn Lee Unleashed
Marilyn’s booklist:
Marilyn Lee Unleashed
Women of Substance: Just One Look
Shana Mine
Dream Lover
A Cheating Situation
Any Time Any Place
Beauty Is Alisha Hoover?
Blue Desert Heat 1
Blue Desert Heat 2
Blue Desert Tales: Courtesan Seduction
Daughters of Takira: One Night In Vegas
Daughters of Takira 2: Kyla's Awakening
Daughters of Takira 3: Revelations
Falling Hard
Fantasy Knights
Fantasy Knights 2: Endless Love
In Blood 2-Lost Without
Large, Shy & Beautiful
Loving Large—Yours, Only And Always
Loving Large 2—Yours, Now And Forever
Marilyn Lee Omnibus I
Marilyn Lee Sampler
Marilyn Lee Sampler 2
My Mother's Man
No Commitment Required: Naughty Girls
Primal Lusts
Secondhand Lover
Secret Lover
Some Like It Male
Soul Mates
Taking Chances: Falling For Sharde
Taking Chances 2: Nice Girls Do
The Dare
The Quest 1: Hunter's Passion
Torn By Love
Where You Find It
Yesterday's Secret Sins
Red Rose Publishing
Sweet Surrender
Sister’s Keeper
Finding Love Again
Betrayed By Love
Song of Desire
It Had To Be You
One Sweet Night
Tempting Neal
In Blood And Worth Loving
Eye of the Beholder
Night Heat
A Thing Called Love
Summer Storm
Skin Deep
Ellora's Cave
Night of Sin
Bloodlust series:
Conquering Mikhel Dumont
The Talisman
The Taming Serge Dumont
Forbidden Desires
Nocturnal Heat
Midnight Shadows
All In The Family
Moonlight series:
Moonlight Desire
Moonlight Whispers
Long Line of Love series:
Night of Desires
Love Out Loud
Only One Love
Teacher's Pet
Trina's Afternoon Delight
Branded
Road To Rapture
The Fall of Troy
Full Bodied Charmer
Breathless In Black
Playing With Fire
White Christmas
Quest II—Divided Loyalties
Quest III—Return to Volter
Changeling Press
Moonlight Madness
Bloodlust—Nighttime Magic
Marilyn’s homepage: http://www.marilynlee.org
Email: [email protected]
Marilyn’s Bio:
Marilyn Lee lives, works, and writes on the East Coast. In addition to thoroughly enjoying writing erotic romances, she enjoys roller-skating, spending time with her large, extended family, and rooting for all her hometown sports teams. Her other interests include collecting Doc Savage pulp novels from the thirties and forties and collecting Marvel comics from the seventies and eighties (particularly Thor and The Avengers). Her favorite TV shows are forensic shows, westerns (Gunsmoke and Have Gun, Will Travel are particular favorites), mysteries (loves the old Charlie Chan mysteries. Her all time favorite mystery movie is probably Dead, Again), and nearly every vampire movie or television show ever made (Forever Knight and Count Yorga, Vampire are favorites).
Marilyn has won numerous writing accolades, including a CAPA award for Bloodlust: Conquering Mikhel Dumont and the following Lub-Dubs Awards for 2009: Lifetime Achievement Award, In Blood And Worth Loving (Best erotic novel and best sci-fi/fantasy/paranormal Award.
She loves to hear from readers who can email her at [email protected] or who can visit her website, http://www.marilynlee.org. She has a Yahoo! Group called Love Bytes that readers can join by sending an email to: [email protected]
Table of Contents
Chapter One
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