by Crespo, Nina
“That would be the organizers of the party.”
She arched a brow. “And you are?”
Hard as wood. Envious of the drop of cream on her lower lip. When she licked the drop away, he barely suppressed a groan. “Rome.”
“Nice to meet you, Rome. I’m Natalie. Will you be around for seconds?”
The outline of her beaded nipples pressing from underneath her shirt kicked his heartrate up a notch. “Or thirds.”
“Promise?”
“Absolutely. In my world, a beautiful woman like you always comes first.”
“Ladies,” the DJ called out over the microphone, “it’s almost time. Are you ready for the Hot Body Hunks?”
Shouts erupted in the room, and Natalie looked over her shoulder.
In an instant, their connection was broken, stolen from him by the guys about to come onstage. Disappointment mixed with irritation pinged in Rome’s gut. Yeah, she’d matched him line for line, but she was there for the fantasy of the Hunks, not him. Like he’d told himself the entire night, steering clear of the women attending the Breakup Bash was the smart thing for him to do.
Just as he went to clear away the shooter glass, she turned back around and smiled. “Your world sounds interesting.”
Something that went beyond sexy drink innuendos shone in her eyes, but how far was she willing to go with him? How far was he willing to go with her? “I get off work in about fifteen minutes. We can talk about it.”
“We could.” Self-assured sassiness tinged her voice as she opened her purse. “But fifteen minutes is such a long time from now.” As she pulled cash from her clutch, small red packages flew from inside of it and into the air.
Chapter Four
Mortification kept Natalie’s gaze on the string of four condom packages lying on the counter between her and Rome. The printed words “Do Me” glittered and flashed on them like neon signs, mocking her clumsiness.
Heat flamed in her cheeks. “Oops. That was an accident.” She’d just meant to take out cash to pay for her drink.
But the amusement in Rome’s golden-brown eyes expressed exactly what he thought. Yeah, right, the condoms just magically flew out of your purse.
More heat surged into Natalie’s face. But they really had. Determined to salvage some of her pride in failing the flirting game, she made a grab for the condoms, but he did, too. As he slid them from the counter, his fingers brushed hers. A rush like the kind that came from heady, high-proof alcohol almost threw her off-balance.
“Uh-uh.” He grinned, and a slight dimple sunk in below a semi-circle shaped scar on his right cheek. “I’m not giving these up. They’re the best tip I’ve gotten all night.”
“They’re not your tip.”
“Could have fooled me.” He stuffed them into the front pocket of his jeans.
Her gaze riveted on the slight bulge to the left of his zipper. “They’re my property.”
“Looks like they’re mine now.”
Mine. His husky possessive tone conjured up images of him pinning her up against the wall as he made good use of one of the “Do Me” condoms, doing her.
“Excuse me,” a woman farther down called out. “Can we get some service? The show’s about to start.”
Rome’s attention remained on Natalie. “Hold on. I’ll be back.”
She held out the money. “But I need to pay.”
“You will.” Rome’s mouth lifted with a faint lopsided smile before he turned away.
His self-assuredness made Natalie’s heart flutter. She was all into compensating for whatever transgressions he accused her of. Was it wrong for her to strip off her clothes, lay on the bar, and give herself to him as payment? Yeah, it was definitely inappropriate, no matter how much the thought of doing it turned her on.
The woman Rome served at the bar smiled coyly up at him and brushed her fingers over his forearm.
As his deep chuckle floated over the woman’s laughter, Natalie suppressed an eye roll. And a tinge of envy. Obviously, she wasn’t the only one willing to be his sexual sacrifice. So what? Like she cared if some bottle-blonde flirted with him. Technically, she’d caught his attention first. Yes, things had gotten a little messy in the process, but she’d still landed him. Experiment over. Time to go. Cori and Alexa were probably wondering where she’d run off to.
As she went to put her money down and leave, Rome opened a mini fridge and grabbed a bottle of champagne. He stripped off the foil covering, deftly loosened the wire cage, then draped a towel over the bottle. As he pointed it away from the crowd, he twisted the bottom of it, and a muffled pop reverberated. Rome glanced over at her and winked.
Seriously. Did he think opening that bottle would impress her? But as much as she tried, she couldn’t stop a laugh or tear her gaze away from him as he served champagne to customers at the bar.
Natalie put her purse on the counter. Staying until he came back to her was purely about principle. No way in hell was she leaving her party favors behind so he could use them on some other woman later on. He had her “Do Me” condoms, and she wanted them back.
Minutes later, Rome returned to her with a cocktail glass filled with ice, amber liquid, and topped with a maraschino cherry. He set it in front of her.
“Sorry. I’m all out of condoms to pay for my drinks.”
He nudged the glass closer. “This one’s on the house. Try it. I think you’ll like it.”
She would, huh? No one read her that easily, but he had made the effort. Natalie took a drink, and the bite of alcohol mingled nicely with a hint of sweet. “Not bad. What’s it called?”
“A Do Me Slowly.”
The low tone of his voice made her tingle. “If this is some kind of ploy to change my mind about getting my condoms back, it won’t work. I have plans for using them.”
Lust sparked in Rome’s eyes, mesmerizing her to the point where she failed to realize his mouth was suddenly just inches away.
“So, you still think they’re yours?” As he leaned in farther, his hair-roughened cheek brushed hers, and her knees grew weak. “That’s definitely something we need to talk about.”
…
Natalie grasped the front of Rome’s shirt as he backed her from the hallway into a lighted equipment storeroom just outside of Escapade West. Talk. She’d actually meant that when she’d agreed to wait for him until he’d finished his shift.
She’d imagined more harmless verbal give and take and possibly one kiss. Not him walking out the door of the party room, spotting her down the hallway, and striding toward her to immediately take possession of her mouth…well, almost immediately. He’d held her by the waist, giving her time as he backed her up against the wall. Brief seconds where his mouth had hovered over hers, along with pure desire, had driven away her reasoning.
As soon as he’d kissed her, things had quickly gotten out of control. She’d practically had her legs wrapped around his waist, desperate to feel his hard length grinding between her thighs. They’d had no choice but to move somewhere out of sight to finish what they couldn’t stop.
The storeroom door clicked shut behind them, and he brought Natalie flush against him. As he captured her mouth, he glided his hands from her hips to cup her ass. The bold sweeps of his tongue over hers brought a low, needy moan out of her. He felt and tasted like forbidden lust, and she wanted more.
Her burgundy stiletto heels clicked while his black-booted feet thunked on the floor in a clumsy, passionate, urgent dance to move farther back into the storeroom. She stumbled, and Rome grasped her hips, holding her against him as he kissed her hard and deep. It was like negotiating a minefield, but at least they weren’t in a tiny, public bathroom stall.
In need of air, she partially took her lips from his. “How private is this place?”
“No one comes in here,” he murmured against her mouth. “At least not during business hours.” Rome lifted her up and sat her on a table against the wall.
Any other questions or concerns she h
ad fell away, lost in the intensity of a kiss that sent shock waves rippling through her. Natalie let her clutch fall from her fingers in favor of grabbing Rome’s biceps and holding on.
He slipped his hand under her shirt, skimmed up the curve of her waist, and cupped her breast. As his thumb brushed over the lace-covered, hardening peak, tingles and heat radiated through her and she released a gasp. He pulled the hem farther up, and she lifted her arms over her head as he took off her shirt and dropped it on the table.
His eyes darkened as he pushed up her bandeau bra, exposing her breasts. Rome dipped his head to suck her nipples, and more shock waves of pleasure hit, turning her breathing into uneven pants. She leaned her hands back on the table and arched up for more of his heated mouth. Desire came over her in a rush. It hummed through her, along with the muffled thump of a bass guitar riff vibrating through the storage room walls.
Rome alternating between her breasts, sucking and lapping at her nipples, along with the slightly rough texture of his fingers massaging her breast, consumed her in delicious sensations that held her thoughts on one thing—him. She tugged frantically at his shirt, intent on gliding her hands over the hard, cut muscles the fabric covering his torso had teasingly hinted at behind the bar.
But Rome was on his own mission.
He made short work of the button and zipper of her jeans. Open-mouthed kisses down her throat, along with his hand sliding into her blue satin bikinis, short-circuited her thoughts. Her sex pulsed eagerly, and her heart accelerated, eagerly waiting for more of his touch.
Rome glided his finger into her sex, and her cry of relief joined his deep groan.
“Fuck.” Rome pulled his finger out and slid two back in. “You’re so damn wet. Just touching you makes my dick hard.”
He rolled his thumb over her clit, and needy mewls became her only response. Her breasts felt deliciously heavy and full as they grazed over the front of his shirt with the canting of her hips.
He swept kisses over her jawline. “Feel good?”
“Yes. Don’t…stop…don’t.” As she threw her head back, Rome sucked her nipple in his mouth, and she fell into a pool of decadence.
Return the favor…unfasten his jeans…take off his shirt and get her fill of exploring him. Those were all the things she meant to do, wanted to do, but his fingers rubbing over her clit and plunging deeper ignited her core. Pleasure unfurled like slow-curling smoke, and she grasped his shoulders, chasing the need to come.
He increased the pressure on her clit, and wicked, erotic sensations stole her breath, all of her reason, and sanity. Natalie claimed her orgasm as cheers erupted for the Hot Body Hunks on the other side of the wall. Her hips involuntarily moved with the rhythm of her inner muscles clutching around his fingers. Soon her hard pants turned into more cries of ecstasy with her prolonged climax.
Just as she started to sink back into the warmth of surreal afterglow, Rome slid his hand from her and unfastened his jeans. His hard shaft pushing against his black underwear roused her attention.
Mine. She cupped him, thinking of what he’d told her earlier at the bar about the condoms. Remembering the tone of possession that had taken over his voice sparked renewed lust. As she massaged his thick fabric-covered shaft, he pressed his hips forward. Hardness and heat filled her palm. He held her by the nape and devoured her mouth in a deep kiss. The thrusts and sweeps of his tongue conveyed his own restless need. Suddenly he broke away and moved back as he tugged down her jeans.
Natalie lifted her hips, freeing their path down her legs, along with her bikinis, and kicked off her burgundy stiletto sandals.
In a series of quick movements, he took a “Do Me” condom from his front pocket and shoved his jeans and underwear partway down his thighs.
A web of scars spread down his right hip, but his thick erection high on his abdomen and the drop of pre-cum beading on the tip held her attention.
After quickly sheathing himself in the condom, Rome wedged his hips between her thighs. He ran his hard length along the seam of her sex. Each brush near her clit awakened nerve endings. His cock sinking slowly inside of her made Natalie clutch his biceps. As she braced for speed, the slow, grinding thrusts of his hips made her moan.
So good. Natalie pulled her bottom lip between her lips to stop it from trembling. Rome was more than enough as he filled her completely, and when he pulled out, it was too long of a wait before he glided back in. She leaned back, wrapped her legs around his waist, and gripped the edge of the table, barely hanging on as she hovered just over the precipice of an orgasm. As she canted her hips, Natalie dug her heels into his ass and squeezed her inner muscles, trying to make him speed up.
Rome grunted as he clutched her thighs, keeping up the slow, torturous pace.
An orgasm built inside of her, expanding until it consumed her with sensation. A keening cry tore from her lips as she climaxed.
The muted shouts of the audience on the other side of the wall seemingly cheered her on as ecstasy rushed over her again and again.
The table rocked as his thrusts sped up. Hard, deep, precise, he hit places inside of her that made her quiver and moan.
Don’t stop. Don’t stop. Don’t. Ever. Stop.
His grip tightened, and his fingers bit into her thighs almost to the point of pain. His big body tensed and shook as he found his release. He fell forward, and Natalie held on to him as she lay back on the table. Rome buried his face in the side of her neck, his harsh breaths heating her skin as his heart pounded against her.
It felt like her own heart was close to beating out of her chest. With each quick inhale, she drank in his cologne. His scent was clean, spicy, appealingly masculine, and reminded her of what she craved the most…freedom from her past.
Rome lifted partially away from Natalie, giving her room to breathe, but she didn’t want him to move.
That was amazing. She hadn’t had sex that good since… She couldn’t even remember. Surrendering to the demand of her trembling legs, she unwrapped them from around his waist.
He moved back, leaving her suddenly empty but exhilarated. After dragging his jeans higher, Rome took bar napkins from his back pocket. He handed her a couple and used the rest to take care of his full condom and clean himself up.
Undeniable attraction hovered in the room. They both dressed slowly, as if reluctant to see the moment end. Natalie held on to his arm as she slipped on her sandals. When she finished, he brought her close and kissed her.
Each slow drift of his tongue had Natalie lifting higher on her toes and molding herself to him. She wrapped her arms around his neck, prolonging the moment, sacrificing the need to breathe.
Mechanical dog barks broke through the sexual fog.
It took several seconds for her to register the sound came from her purse.
Rome chuckled as he picked it up from the floor. “That’s a hell of a ringtone.”
She released a breathy laugh as she accepted her clutch from him. “Actually, it’s an app that monitors my dog at home. An alert goes off if it picks up continuous whines and barks from her.” She quickly dug out her phone and pulled up the app.
The camera image showed a ground-level view of the floor instead of the room.
That’s strange. Natalie turned up the sound. Betsy barked somewhere in the background, but she couldn’t see her.
Rome glanced at her phone. “Everything okay?”
Suddenly the image went dark.
“No…don’t do this.” Betsy had sounded frantic. Was she hurt? Natalie closed and restarted the app. Her heartbeats filled the long seconds ticking by as it reopened…but the camera remained off-line.
Concern filled Natalie. “I have to go.”
Chapter Five
A short time later, she sat in the passenger seat of Rome’s dark blue Tahoe, still trying to reboot the pet cam from her phone. He’d offered her a ride, and she’d accepted, wanting to get to Betsy as soon as possible. Before she’d left, she’d fired off a quick text t
o Cori with Rome’s name and license plate number, letting her know he was driving her home.
She’d also sent a “check-in” text to Alexa. Apparently, Cori had been right about the guy who’d danced onstage for Alexa at the club six months ago being there. According to Alexa’s answer, she’d hooked up with him. She hadn’t told Cori or Alexa about Betsy. When Alexa had offered to leave with her, she’d urged her to stay and have fun.
Rome glanced over at her. “What about the dog sitter you mentioned that lived nearby? Still no luck reaching her?”
“No. I left a message on her voicemail and sent her a text, but it’s almost eleven. She usually goes to bed early and puts her phone on night mode.”
Rome maneuvered into the traffic-filled lane that led to the interstate. “Is there a friend or a neighbor you can reach out to?”
“I just moved in last month. Between my busy work schedule and unpacking, I haven’t gotten a chance to meet anyone or even make spare keys for my friends.”
Truthfully, other than polite waves, she’d avoided meeting her neighbors. Introductions could lead to questions about her personal life, and she didn’t have the politically correct version of her divorce story yet. Telling strangers “My ass of a husband fucked me over” somehow didn’t seem appropriate.
She was probably worried over nothing. Maybe the bracket holding the camera had broken, and that was why it fell? The reason could be as simple as that.
Still, Natalie tried to access the pet cam again. Nothing. As much as she wanted to remain calm, a seed of panic started to sprout.
As if sensing a change in her, Rome reached over and squeezed her hand. “Once we get out of this traffic, we’ll be there in no time.”
Minutes later, as they cleared downtown D.C., heading for Virginia, Rome pressed down on the accelerator, and the SUV picked up speed.
When they reached the quiet, lamplit streets in her modern subdivision, she told him where to go.
A few turns in, she pointed midway down the block. “It’s the beige one-story up ahead.”
