Substitute Seduction (Sweet Tea And Scandal Book 1)

by Cat Schield

  She stalked toward him and grabbed a handful of his boxers, tugging the cotton material over his jutting erection and down his thighs. He hissed as the cool air caressed his heated flesh, but the chill was short-lived as her fingers closed around him. The tight grip and firm stroke that followed felt out-of-this-world fantastic.

  “On the bed, so I can get these the rest of the way off you.”

  “Yes, ma’am.”

  He did as she asked, admiring the way her breasts swayed as she stripped him bare. Like some sort of wild thing, she peered at him from between the glossy strands of hair that hung across her face as she tossed his briefs aside. Straightening, she put her hands on her hips, surveying him with a wicked half smile.

  “Ready?” she asked, not waiting for his nod before bending over the bed.

  “Drive me crazy with your delightful tongue,” he growled, his voice a guttural rasp.

  One corner of her lips kicked up in a smirk. She scraped her fingernails up his thighs and his mouth went dry. She obviously wanted to steer the ship and he was dying to see what happened next. Fortunately, he didn’t have long to wait.

  Lust blasted through him as her lips dropped toward the head of his erection, but instead of taking him into her mouth, she hovered millimeters above. The anticipation was almost too painful and it struck home that she intended to take her time with him.

  A low curse passed his lips as she flicked her tongue out and swirled it over him. Harrison’s hips came off the mattress as she followed that with a long stroke down his shaft and then back up. Placing her hands on his knees, she pushed them wider before crawling forward to set up between his thighs.

  For a second his breath lodged in his throat as she gently cupped his balls and then her mouth swooped down again, sucking him into a hot, wet tunnel that made him groan and shudder. She swirled her tongue around his erection and pleasure detonated through him.

  Speaking...was impossible.

  Thinking... Incoherent chants filled his mind.

  He was tumbling, falling into an upside-down world where his desire and pleasure were less important than the sheer bliss of catching her gaze and realizing she was enjoying watching his reaction.

  Although he longed to close his eyes so he could better focus on the sensations pounding through him, the picture of her hair splayed over his stomach and thighs, her lips locked around him, was a sight to behold.

  Her blue eyes sparkled as she glanced up at him. She was filled with naughty surprises. Tremors rolled through his body as he realized she was enjoying this as much as he was. He curved his fingers around her head as his stomach muscles tightened. Skin on fire, he fought to hold on, to make the moment last. But the flames licked him, spreading through his veins, consuming him. Her tongue swirled around his erection and the first shock wave washed over him. Then another. Her mouth felt so damned good.

  “Coming.” A curse ripped through his mind. “Coming hard.”

  And then a climax barreled through his body, crashing wildly into bone and muscle and nerves. The unleashed power of it obliterated words and stopped his heart. For several seconds he rocketed through supercharged joy while aftershocks jolted him.

  He wasn’t even aware that she’d released him until her lips trailed over his chest and slid into the hollow of his throat where his pulse slammed against his skin.

  “Amazing.” His voice cracked on the one word.

  Enough strength had returned to his muscles to allow him to gather her naked body against his. He drifted kisses along her hairline as he slowly recovered.

  “Damn, woman,” he murmured, cupping her cheek in his palm and bringing their lips together. He kept the kiss light and romantic, showing his appreciation. “You’re good as your word. I think I blacked out for a second.”

  “You’re easy,” she told him. “You seem to enjoy everything.”

  He lifted his head off the pillow and regarded her in bemusement. “If by ‘everything’ you mean your gorgeous mouth on me, then you have that right. You make me come like I never have before,” he told her, echoing her earlier promise. “It’s different with you.”

  She looked shell-shocked, and even as he watched, she began withdrawing behind her emotional walls. “You don’t need to say that...”

  “Do I strike you as someone who says things he doesn’t mean?”

  “No.”

  “Then believe me when I tell you I’m in over my head here. I don’t know what you do to me, but I like it.”

  “You do things to me, too,” she replied, her long lashes concealing her eyes. “And I like it.”

  As she spoke, she stretched her lean body, making him keenly aware of her silky skin, renewing his desire. Harrison rolled her beneath him and tangled their legs, his lips finding that spot on her neck that made her shiver.

  “Good to hear,” he murmured, “because I’m going to spend the rest of the night doing all sorts of things to you. And I think we’ll both like that.”

  * * *

  It was nearly two in the morning and Everly sat in her car outside a twenty-four-hour drugstore, tearing apart the packaging to get to the prepaid cell phone she’d just purchased. It was important that the call she was about to make couldn’t be tracked back to her.

  She’d been thinking about this step for two days, weighing the options and debating if such a radical move would be beneficial to their plans. In the end, she’d decided that London needed to be punished. Her failure to use the flash drive to pull the information off Tristan’s computer proved that not only her priorities had shifted but also her loyalty.

  How was Zoe supposed to get her revenge if London didn’t do her part? More important, what was the motivation for Zoe to take down Ryan if nothing bad happened to Tristan? And Everly really needed Zoe to enact some truly devastating vengeance on Ryan for what he’d done to Kelly.

  Everly had kept to her part of the bargain. Satisfaction lay curled like a sleeping house cat in her chest. She was nearly purring with pleasure at the damage she’d caused.

  In the midst of the charity polo event, she’d ruined Linc Thurston’s life by showing him the truth about his housekeeper, ending their ridiculous romance.

  No doubt by now, with Claire’s past catching up to her in a big way, exposing all her lies and deceptions, Linc was feeling devastated and more than a little stupid that he’d been taken in so easily by an obvious opportunist.

  In some way, Everly had actually done him a favor. Not that he’d thank her if he knew she’d been the one who’d contacted Claire’s family and let them know where she was.

  The look on Linc’s face when he’d realized that Claire had lied to him about everything had given Everly such a thrill. She’d planned and executed a flawless plan and the results had been better than she could have imagined.

  But not everyone had the strength of will to follow through. That had become crystal clear with the way London had chosen her romance with Harrison over loyalty to the plan. And now she would pay.

  Everly keyed the play button on her phone and London’s voice rang out with clear conviction.

  I’ve used Harrison to get to Tristan. He means nothing to me except as a means to an end.

  Everly dialed a number on the burner phone and waited for the call to roll to voice mail. She’d chosen the late hour, knowing Harrison would be occupied with London. The two of them had been spending all their time together, and after watching them at the polo event, it was pretty clear Harrison was falling for the event planner. And she for him.

  Well, falling in love hadn’t been part of the plan. London should’ve kept her clothes on and her focus on what they were trying to achieve.

  “You’ve reached Harrison. I’m not available right now, but leave me your name and a brief message and I’ll get back to you.”

  Smiling, Everly hit Play.

 
Ten

  London woke to a soft morning light stealing past the gauzy curtains of her bedroom. She loved that her windows faced east. Waking up to the sunrise always boosted her optimism. The soothing palette of peach, pink, lavender and soft gold offered a tranquil beginning to her day. She often took a cup of coffee onto her broad terrace and sucked in a heady lungful of river breezes.

  Stretching out her hand to the far side of the bed, she found the space empty and the sheets cool. Sighing, she pushed to a sitting position and ran her fingers through her tangled hair. Usually she braided it at night, but Harrison said he loved the spill of her satiny locks over his skin and she adored the way he tunneled his fingers through it.

  She slipped from bed and donned a silky robe before following her nose to the kitchen, where the smell of coffee promised a large mug of dark roast. But as she neared the kitchen, the sound of her own voice reached her ears.

  I’ve used Harrison to get to Tristan. He means nothing to me except as a means to an end.

  She stopped dead, a malignant lump of dread forming in her chest as she remembered when she’d made that declaration. What did Everly think she was doing?

  In her kitchen, Harrison stood at the island, one hand braced on the marble countertop while he stared at the phone. He looked like he’d been told he could never race again.

  It was the same devastated look Linc had worn at the polo event during the brutal incident with Claire.

  A rushing noise filled her ears as the edges of her vision grew fuzzy. She must’ve made a sound because his gaze whipped in her direction.

  “What is this about?” he demanded, holding up his phone. “Why did you say those things?”

  Even if she could speak, she had no words to explain.

  “Damn it, London.” His voice broke on her name. “I thought we had something.”

  She had to reply. He deserved an explanation. But would he listen? London doubted she’d be open to it if their situation were reversed.

  “It isn’t like it sounds—”

  “Don’t lie to me. I want to know what’s really going on.”

  Gathering a huge breath, she stepped up to the kitchen island and set her hands on it, leaning forward. “I’m trying to find out if your brother is hiding money.”

  “Why?”

  She bit her lip. They’d promised not to tell anyone about what they were doing. Yet hadn’t Everly broken their pact when she’d sent that audio clip to Harrison? What more could the woman do? Taint London’s reputation? Bad-mouth ExcelEvent?

  In the end, cowardice ruled. “I’m not at liberty to tell you.”

  For long, agonizing seconds he stared at her in silence, confusion and annoyance chasing across his features. “Why?”

  “Because it’s not my story to tell.”

  “So, us...?” The unformed question drained all animation from his eyes. “Was I a means to an end?”

  She could try lying to him, but he knew her well enough by now to see right through it. “At first.”

  He took the hit without reacting. “I suppose you want me to believe that things changed.”

  “They did. I would never have...” She hesitated, unsure what came next. Thanks to the revenge bargain she’d become unrecognizable to herself.

  “Never would have...?” He prompted. “Slept with me? Led me to believe your feelings for me were real?” Although his tone remained neutral, the tension around his eyes and the muscle jumping in his jaw displayed what was really going on inside him.

  “I do have feelings for you.”

  But even as the claim left her lips, London saw it was too little and too late. Harrison’s eyes hardened to flint, and her heart stopped.

  “You don’t understand,” she protested.

  He appeared impervious to her desperate plea. “Then tell me what’s going on.”

  “I can’t.” Trapped between her mistakes and her longing to come clean, London closed her eyes and wished herself back in time to that fateful women’s empowerment function. How had she believed that doing something wrong would make anything better?

  “You mean you won’t,” Harrison countered.

  “It’s complicated.”

  The lame excuse bought her no sympathy. Harrison crossed his arms over his chest and regarded her in disgust.

  “Can you at least explain to me why you’re doing this?”

  Maybe it would help if she did. She couldn’t tell him everything, but she could say enough that maybe he’d understand.

  “I’m helping a friend. Your brother hurt her and I’m trying to...” This is where her story got murky. London no longer believed that what she, Zoe and Everly were doing would make any of them any better off.

  “Hurt him back?” Harrison guessed.

  London found it hard to meet his gaze. “That’s the way it started.”

  “And things are different now?”

  “Yes and no. There’s no question that Tristan is a bad guy who did bad things. I’m just not sure doing bad things to a bad guy is the answer. How is it helping anyone to get back at him?”

  “I’ll be the first one to admit that my brother has not always been a decent individual and I turned a blind eye to a lot of his behavior.”

  For a second London thought that maybe Harrison understood and could forgive her, but there was no sympathy in his eyes. Only regret.

  “Your comments about his spending habits at the polo match got me thinking. I’m not sure if he’s been engaged in questionable activities, and I sure as hell hope it has nothing to do with Crosby Automotive, but he’s spending above and beyond his income.” Harrison rubbed his hand over his eyes. “And I know he treated Zoe badly. She didn’t deserve his abuse while they were married or to be discarded the way she was.”

  “She didn’t have an affair. It was something Tristan trumped up to get out of paying her a fair settlement.”

  “I never believed she did and I should’ve spoken up on her behalf. She deserved better than she got.”

  London remained quiet as Harrison’s eyes narrowed. His statements struck close to the heart of her motivation.

  “Was Zoe the one you were helping?” Harrison asked after a long span of silence.

  Her instincts urged her to trust him even as she doubted her purpose in doing so. Did she hope he’d forgive her if he knew what they’d been up to? And how would he feel about what Everly had done to Linc on London’s behalf? And what if Everly got wind of the fact that she’d confided in Harrison? What insane stunt would she pull then?

  “Talk to me,” he said, softening his tone. “What the hell is going on?”

  London chewed on her lip, fear of the consequences paralyzing her. At long last she sighed.

  “All I can say is that I was trying to find out the truth about your brother’s financial situation. It seems likely that he’s hiding money because it’s pretty common knowledge that Zoe didn’t get anywhere near the settlement she should have.”

  “And how did you think you could do that?” Harrison asked.

  “He has to keep track of things somehow. I thought by gaining access to his computer I could find everything I needed.”

  Harrison frowned. “That’s absurd. Didn’t you realize he’d have his computer and his files password protected?”

  “I have something that’s supposed to get past that.”

  “What?”

  She went to her purse, pulled out the USB drive and held it up. “This. It’s some kind of special program that was supposed to get me past his security.”

  Harrison came toward her, gaze fixed on the drive. “Where did you get it?”

  With her eyes begging him to understand, London shook her head.

  A muscle jumped in Harrison’s jaw. “How does it work?”

  She explained the process and he held out hi
s hand.

  “Give me the drive.”

  Meek as a lamb, London handed it over. “I’m sorry,” she whispered. “Please don’t tell Tristan. If he finds out, he’ll make things worse for Zoe.”

  If her plea had any effect on him, nothing showed in his expression. He remained furious, but London hoped a shred of affection for her had survived and he wouldn’t do anything to cause her harm.

  Harrison turned the flash drive over and over in his hand, contemplating it. “My brother doesn’t need to know about this. But I’m keeping this and you will stay away from him.”

  Relief flooded her. Nothing suited London more than backing away from the whole situation. Then she remembered that her problems weren’t limited to Tristan. Everly had sent Harrison the snippet of their conversation as a warning shot. London still had to contend with her.

  “What are you going to do with the drive?” she asked.

  “I don’t know.” He dropped it into his pocket. “The only thing I’m sure of at the moment is that you and I are done.”

  * * *

  Harrison drove the familiar roads to Crosby Motorsports, seeking comfort in what he knew and loved. Cars and racing had always been his go-to when things got hard. He’d lost track of how many hours he’d spent as a kid with a wrench in his hand, learning how to tear apart something and then putting it back together. There was security in the logic of how the pieces fit together, each with a particular purpose. As he’d reached an age when he spent more time behind the wheel than under the hood, his appreciation had grown for a perfectly functioning car.

  Unfortunately, in the racing world, as much as they strove to have everything work smoothly, that rarely happened. Bolts loosened. Suspensions failed. Brakes gave out. Drivers trained for when things went wrong, when systems failed or other drivers made mistakes. Situations didn’t always have to spin out of control.

  The other side of the coin from preparation was luck. Harrison considered himself fortunate that during his career while he’d been involved in several wrecks, he’d walked away from all but one of them. Yet despite the danger inherent in his sport, he never questioned getting behind the wheel of number twenty-five.