I got up from my desk and walked toward the door. My heart raced ahead like it always did when I heard her voice. Raini and I had been seeing each other more and more, and things seemed to be gliding into what could only be called a steady relationship. I wasn't used to having someone who was constantly on my mind, but it was nice. I decided I could get used to the idea of having a significant other.
Raini walked in wearing shorts and a zipped up sweatshirt. She held up two grease stained paper bags. "Tacos and chips."
"That works." I shut the door and clicked the lock.
Raini dropped the food on the desk and headed over to my mini refrigerator for some cold drinks. She leaned down into it and knowing full well that I was watching her, she added in an ass wiggle before emerging with two sodas.
I rested against the front edge of my desk. She walked over and stopped in front of me. She pressed against me as she placed the sodas on the desk. I looped my arms around her back.
"What's with the sweatshirt?" I asked. "Last time I stepped out on the sidewalk it was hot enough to melt the soles of my shoes.”
"You're right. It is hot." She bit her lip and peered innocently up at me as she lowered the zipper. She parted the panels of the sweatshirt to reveal a lacy black bra where the cups stopped below the nipples. "But then I wasn't sure if I should walk down the sidewalk without it."
"Fucking hell." I pushed the sweatshirt off her shoulders and lowered my mouth to taste her nipples. They tightened as she arched her breasts harder against my mouth. She quickly unbuttoned my fly. She jammed her hand beneath my briefs and took hold of my cock. We'd taken blood tests to clear the need for condoms, and I was loving the fact that there was no more barrier between us.
She dropped down to her knees in front of me. I tangled my fingers in her hair as she pushed my pants down to my thighs. She cupped my balls in one hand while she held my shaft with the other. Her blue eyes peered up at me as her lips wrapped around my cock.
"Baby, your mouth feels so good on me." I closed my eyes and felt the heat of her lips and hand on me, bringing me closer and closer to coming. "Enough," I groaned. "I need you right now."
She took her time drawing her mouth away from my erection. Then she pushed to her feet. Her nipples were erotically framed by the seductive bra. I reached forward and gave each one a teasing pinch.
Raini pushed her shorts off and stepped out of them. I was beyond ready. I spun her around with her back toward the desk. I shoved back the lunch and the paperwork and wrapped my hands around her waist to hoist her up to sit on the desk.
She wrapped her arms and legs around me. "I'm a koala and you're my eucalyptus tree," she said with a laugh.
"Oh? Can a eucalyptus tree do this?" I jammed my cock into her, and her laugh morphed into a long, appreciative moan. I kissed her and pounded into her.
"That's it," she whispered, "hard and fast."
I wrapped my arms around her tighter. "I love you, Raini." The words came out without me thinking. Raini's body stiffened some in my arms but then we both fell over the peak and came together, erasing the moment. It had been blurted in the heat of passion, but I had meant it. I was crazy about Raini. But what I wasn't crazy about was her reaction. It seemed, that at least for now, this was a lopsided relationship.
We got dressed and ate lunch, talking about silly things. The topic of my love declaration never came up. I was both relieved and if I really thought about it, more than a little heartbroken.
Chapter Twenty-Three
Raini
The intercom buzzed, and I hurried out of the bedroom to answer it. "Hello."
"Hey, Raini, I got off work early and thought we could take a drive to the beach."
My chest felt heavy at the sound of his voice. I hadn't expected him.
"Come on up, Zane."
I pressed my arms against my stomach and paced the room, waiting for him to get up to my apartment. "Coward, coward, coward," I repeated to myself. His knock startled me out of my self-scolding session.
I walked to the door and opened it. Why did he always have to look so damn amazing?
He came right in. "I got done early and thought it'd be nice to drive down to the—" He stopped when he saw the suitcases. I tried to gather my courage before he turned around to face me, but I couldn't muster any. My throat ached as his gaze came around to my face.
"You're leaving?"
"Just to Paris to study with some other artists," I said it airily, as if it was no big deal and as if I wasn't the world's biggest coward. The instant hurt in his expression made tears burn the back of my eyes.
"And when were you going to fucking tell me? When you were walking through the Paris airport?"
"I had meant to tell you but this all came up so suddenly."
"So you really are a chicken. Just like you said. Things got a little too much for you so off you fly to France."
"It's a great opportunity," my voice was shaky, and I had to work hard to keep it together.
"Sounds like it." He headed for the door.
"I'll call and write whenever I get a chance."
He stopped at the door and looked back at me. "Don't bother."
He walked out, and I sat down in the middle of the floor and sobbed.
Chapter Twenty-Four
Zane
The week had dragged on impossibly long. I successfully managed to avoid any conversation about Raini. I'd mentioned to Trey that it was over, and he must have told Aidan and Chase because they never brought her up. I was determined to keep every relationship from this point on completely casual. I didn't need this kind of aggravation. It only got in the way of living.
I walked into the elevator holding the bottle of whiskey in a brown paper bag like any respectable drunk. The whiskey was going to be my date for the night. I told myself I could wallow through the weekend and then that was it. I was going to wash her from my mind and heart for good. At least that was the plan.
I slid the card into the door and walked inside. I headed to the kitchen for a glass and caught something out of the side of my eye. I looked into the living room. A pastel green sundress was hanging over the back of a chair. I followed the trail of clothes. A bra was hanging on the corner of a painting frame in the hallway and a pair of panties hung on the doorknob to my bedroom.
I pushed open the door. Raini was sitting stark naked in the center of my bed with one of my neckties wound around her two wrists. She lifted her hands. "I seem to be in a bind here." She climbed off the bed and walked over to me. "You haven't said anything yet. That's either bad or good."
"What happened to Paris?"
"Well, I got to the airport and I was sitting in one of those black leather chairs in the terminal and I thought what the hell am I doing? I've always told myself I'm a chicken when it comes to relationships but that was only because I hadn't ever met anyone I wanted to stay with. I hadn't ever fallen in love. Then one day, I walked into my dad's sitting room and this ridiculously handsome, extremely smart man with dark red hair and a dry sense of humor was standing there just waiting to be the man who would steal my heart."
I grabbed the loose end of the tie and yanked it. She fell against me and I wrapped my arms around her.
"And did I mention along with the other list of attributes that he happens to be the best damn lover on the planet?"
"You didn't mention that, but I think it still works as an afterthought." I smoothed my hands over her back and pressed my mouth over hers.
COMING SOON
More from Tess Oliver
Loved In a Bind? Ready for more? Aidan’s story is up next in Role Play!
In the meantime, keep reading for a sneak peek at the first three chapters of Tess’s other super sexy novella, Hot Buttered Rum. Hot Buttered Rum is part of the Silk Stocking Inn series in which each book can be read as a standalone.
Hot Buttered Rum
Copyright© 2016 by Tess Oliver & Anna Hart
Cover photo by: Sara Eirew Photgraph
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Cover model: Nick Bennett
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.
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.
Chapter One
I should have felt terror and disgust as his dark eyes surveyed me from head to toe, lingering overlong on the swell of my breasts. That’s what a decent woman would have been feeling.
The deck of the ship rose and fell violently as the rest of the pirates boarded, each one more menacing than the last and still my body did not shudder with fear. In fact the opposite. My body shook as a thrill pulsed through me.
The captain and his crew watched helplessly as the galleon was plundered and stripped of its cargo. Not one sailor had the courage to draw his sword or pistol against the cold-hearted thieves who had swarmed the deck.
I lifted my chin and took a deep breath for courage as I stared back at the rogue. Thick black hair waved in the breeze, much like the black jolly roger flying high above the mast of his vessel. Beneath the shade of his hat, the pirate captain’s smile flashed pearl white in stark contrast to his sun darkened skin. I could almost have imagined a thin dagger clenched between his teeth.
He knew. He knew I wasn’t repelled. I should have looked away or screamed or thrown myself into the waves. He stuck out his hand and again raked his dark, lascivious gaze over my body. “Come on now, wench, take my hand. You’ll be my greatest treasure this round.”
“What will you do with me?” I asked weakly.
“I will keep you captive in my quarters so that I may have the pleasure of your silken skin and warm, tight pussy any hour I choose.”
Rory knocked on the office door, erasing the next sentence from my head. No doubt it was going to be another golden nugget of literary wisdom but it was gone. I minimized the document. Romance writing was my guilty pleasure, my chili cheese fries for lunch, a diversion from the logical and precise world of automotive engineering where I spent most of my day.
“Come in, Rory,” I called.
My assistant’s slim, well-manicured hand curled around the edge of the door, giving me a good long look at the massive diamond engagement ring on her finger. Not only had she managed to land a rich guy, but Edward was charming and likable to boot. I had to work hard at hiding my envy. I didn’t even need the rich part. I was doing fine on my own. I just wanted to find that person who was the perfect mix of lover and friend and soul mate. Like every character I created in my stories, but preferably not fictional.
Rory flounced into the office. She was the only person I knew who could flounce on four inch heels, and she did it with all the grace of a ballerina. She stopped at my desk and put her hands on her hips as she stared down at my half eaten sandwich. “Did the deli mess up and put mustard on it?”
“Huh? Oh no, the sandwich was fine.” I folded it up in its wrapper and walked over to the mini fridge in my office. It had taken me five years, three promotions and four awards for automotive design to land the corner office with the view and wet bar, but I’d discovered, once they’d hauled my grandfather’s antique desk, a family heirloom, although one that was truly only valuable to me, up to the top floor that the corner office just wasn’t that exciting.
“Ahh,” Rory said with a confident nod, “you’ve been spending your lunchtime with one of your many book heroes, haven’t you? I swear, Ginger, you need to publish those stories.”
“I would if I ever actually finished one. Happily ever after endings are kind of unchartered territory for me. I’ve only had relationships that either went badly south or just faded away. I don’t know how to end my romances because I don’t know what it’s like to end up deliriously happy and wrapped in the hero’s arms. Like you, my friend.” I sighed. “You are so lucky.”
Rory stared down at the gleaming stone on her finger. “Trust me, I wake up every morning wondering if it’s all real. Well, anyhow, I came in to let you know that the meeting has been moved an hour later to three o’clock. The boy’s club,” she said with an eye roll, “is still out at lunch. How come you didn’t join your team today? They went to that posh seafood restaurant that just opened on the wharf.”
“Because, and to use your words and your special pronunciation, the boy’s club has been on my nerves lately.” I was part of a five member design team for the luxury sedan division, and I was the only woman. It had taken me a good long year and an impressive show of designs to earn my team’s respect, but when I’d also earned the respect and high praise from the president of the company, I’d lost some of the good will it had taken me so long to earn. Occasionally, they banded together, like a pack of wolves, to give me a hard time. Lately, they’d all found reasons to nitpick at my designs. I’d happily turned down their lunch invite. “I’m glad the meeting has been postponed. I’ve still got so much work to do.”
“Well, I’ll let you get to it then. And, Ginger, I think your happy ending is just around the corner. I can feel it,” she said as she walked out of the office.
I moved the mouse and clicked on my latest project. For a brief, unexplained second, the air around my desk smelled like a fresh ocean breeze, as if I’d somehow been transported onto the deck of a ship in the middle of the sea. I took a strong second whiff, but the scent vanished. I swiveled around in my chair to see if Rory had stuck an air freshener into the plug. The outlet was empty. Obviously, my head was still in my pirate story.
As I turned back toward my computer an odd website popped up with a banner that read, “I hear you are looking for a happily ever after.”
I blinked at the words and wondered if I was actually seeing them. “What are the odds of that?” I muttered to myself and clicked the X. The banner rolled away, but a new one replaced it. It was an advertisement for a place called the Silk Stocking Inn. An early century house draped with rose vines and dotted with leaded glass appeared below the banner. It was as if the advertisement had just appeared out of thin air. “Someone has a great marketing team. And a clairvoyant one too,” I thought wryly.
I clicked my mouse feverishly moving it all around the screen trying to get rid of the website, but the gifted marketers were apparently even more genius with programming. The stately old inn, with its shawl of pink roses, stuck like glue to my monitor.
“Now that I’ve got your attention,” a text box appeared. “In one sentence, tell me what you want from a man so you can catch that elusive happy ending.”
I stared at the monitor. The glare from the afternoon sun shining in through the big window cast my own wobbly reflection in the glass. I had no idea who was on the other side asking me questions, but then they had no idea who I was either. And the question had gotten me thinking.
My fingers hovered over the keyboard a moment. My pirate story was still fresh in my mind, and I decided to have some fun with it. “I want a man who makes me his captive and at the same time treats me like his greatest treasure. And, if he’s wearing silver hoops in his ears and says things like ‘aar’ and ‘shiver me timbers’ all the better.”
“That’s two sentences. You don’t seem to be taking this too seriously. But that will change.”
It seemed I’d just been scolded by a spam marketer. The cryptic last sentence made me do a double take.
“O.K., fun is officially over.” My fingers hit the keys harder than necessary.
“No, it’s just begun. Even though you broke the one sentence rule, you took the time to answer the question, so congratulations! You have won a free weekend at the Silk Stocking Inn where every heart’s desire is filled . . . and then some.”
“No thanks.”
“Did I mention every heart??
?s desire?”
“You did.”
“In that case, did I mention a cozy room, deep soaking tub and an ocean view?”
“Now they’ve been mentioned, but it’s still a no. I have plans this weekend.” Of course helping my aunt pick out a new refrigerator could hardly be classified as plans, but knowing my Aunt Frida, it could take all weekend. I smiled thinking how ridiculous it was having a conversation with a complete stranger, yet I continued typing. Something about the whole exchange intrigued me. It might just have been the impossibly tenacious website that I couldn’t seem to make vanish. Or it might have been that it was a fun diversion from my usual work day.
“Then I suppose the lobster pot pies and hot buttered rum cupcakes will have to go to another guest then.”
My mouth watered just reading the words. “You should have started with lobster and cupcakes.” I sat back and stared at the screen. This was crazy. Why was I even considering this? It was obviously just a marketing ploy.
A short laugh shot from my mouth as I metaphorically patted myself on the back for not falling for it. “I’d love to keep chatting with you, but I’m a busy woman. So I’m signing off now.” Then it occurred to me I’d never actually signed on, and I had no real idea how to sign off. I reached for the power button, the last resort button as I liked to call it.
One more message flashed on the screen. “Oh come on, Ginger. Take a little risk. Your aunt’s refrigerator can wait. See you soon.”
I stared at the screen and went through a flurry of emotions, ranging from shock to terror to complete disbelief. Before I could catch my breath or figure out what the hell was going on the website disappeared.
I needed to stop spending my lunchtime writing fiction. My imagination seemed to be working overtime.