Allure (Forbidden #1)

by Michelle Betham

  She’s my living, breathing fantasy.

  My obsession.

  My whole fucking world just found a new axis.

  Twenty-Seven

  Kira

  I look around at the group of girls sitting here with me in the city centre restaurant. Clever, smart, beautiful girls. And although all of them are excited for me, and the new life I’m about to embark on, I don’t want them to think this is the norm. What happened to me, that was some kind of unexpected fate. I don’t want any of them to think that living this life is, one day, going to bring them their own Prince Charming. But, at the same time, I also want them to know that, sometimes, life throws you a curve ball you might actually want to catch. I want them to take chances and live life, not hide away behind some false façade for years, like I did. But most of all, I don’t want them to be scared, of anything.

  ‘OK, OK, come on girls!’ Ruby raises her voice just slightly above the chatter and laughter, gently tapping a spoon against the side of her champagne flute. ‘It’s time to give Kira her going-away present.’

  I sit back in my chair and smile. It’s been a wonderful afternoon. Lunch was fantastic, and now we’re just kicking back with more bottles of champagne and a selection of desserts we’re all sharing. I feel a touch light-headed, but that’s good. I like the feeling. And I intend to play on it when I get back home. To Neal. Just thinking about him makes my stomach dip and I can’t keep the smile off my face.

  ‘Show us his picture again, Kira.’

  Sindy’s voice pulls me out of my daydream and I reach into my bag to retrieve the photograph of Neal I carry around with me constantly now. And he’s smiling, in the photograph, because I love his smile. His smile makes me forget there was ever anything bad in my life. And his eyes are so blue it’s hard to believe they’re real, but they are. And he’s looking all super-sexy in a white shirt and jeans with his hair just a little out-of-place, but in a way that makes him look so hot.

  I hand the photograph to Sindy and she gasps as she looks at it again, slamming her hand against her chest as she falls back in her chair. ‘Oh, Jesus, Kira, he’s a dream!’

  Yeah. He’s that alright.

  I smile again, although, I’m not sure if I’ve ever stopped smiling today, to be honest.

  ‘And he was a client?’

  I nod, watching as they all huddle around the photograph, even though they only saw it a little while ago. ‘Yeah. He booked me.’

  Ruby looks at me. ‘There’s a lot more to it than that, though, isn’t there?’ Her question is only to me. No one else is listening, they’re all too busy fawning over Neal’s photo.

  ‘Yes. There is.’

  She takes my hand and squeezes it tight. ‘We’re going to miss you, Kira.’

  ‘And I’m going to miss all of you, like you wouldn’t believe. But I think it’s time I moved on now, I really do. I can’t do this forever.’

  She looks down for a second, and starts fiddling with her bracelet. ‘If my parents knew what I was doing…’

  ‘There’s nothing to be ashamed of here, Ruby.’

  ‘No, I know. I know that, but…’ She raises her gaze to meet mine. ‘Sometimes it just feels like…’ She shrugs, and looks away again.

  ‘If you don’t want to do it anymore, you walk away, sweetheart. You hear me?’

  ‘I’ve already made enough money to be able to see myself through university, and pay off all my debts. I mean, can you believe that?’

  ‘Then you don’t need to do it, do you?’

  She looks at me again, and I can see it in her eyes – the same look I carried with me for so long when I first started out as an escort. ‘Is it wrong to like what I do?’

  I shake my head and take her hand and I make her look at me; right into my eyes. ‘No, darling, it isn’t. Nothing we do is wrong, do you hear me?’

  ‘Sometimes I feel guilty…’

  ‘No. No, don’t you ever feel guilty, don’t you ever do that. What these men do, they choose to do it. It’s their decision. You see a wedding ring, you ignore it, it’s not your problem. If we weren’t here they’d find it some place else, Ruby, because those men that come to us, they’re looking and they want it, from someone, anyone other than their wives or girlfriends. All we do is give them what they want, and send them on their way happy. You don’t think about anything else, OK?’

  ‘What was Neal looking for, Kira?’

  I smile and reach out to gently tuck her hair behind her ear. ‘You don’t need to know that, sweetheart. Just know that he found something he hadn’t bargained for.’

  She laughs quietly and leans over to give me a hug. ‘I wish you weren’t going.’

  ‘Hey, come on. Come on. You’re all going to be fine. You’re all strong women; you all know what you’re doing. And you all look after each other, OK?’

  She smiles too, and nods. ‘It’s like I’m saying goodbye to my mum.’

  I can’t help laughing at that. I’m only thirty-six, and not quite old enough to have given birth to any of them, but I know what she means. I’ve been their constant shoulder to lean on; their confidante, their friend for as long as they’ve been doing this. ‘Steady on, Ruby.’

  She bites down on her lip and widens her eyes, which makes me laugh again. ‘You know what I mean, though. Right?’

  ‘I know what you mean. Look, I’m only going to New York…’

  ‘Only going to New York, she says.’ Lily smiles at me as she hands me back the photo of Neal and I steal a quick glance at it before sliding it back into my bag. ‘Only going to New York. With the most incredible looking man I have ever seen. Why don’t I get anyone who looks like that?’

  ‘I thought you said you had someone who looked like Brad Pitt the other afternoon?’ Ruby says, shovelling a spoonful of chocolate cake into her mouth.

  ‘I said, if it was dark. And you squinted.’

  Ruby laughs, and we exchange a quick but meaningful look. She knows I’ll still be there for her. For all of them. Nothing’s really going to change that.

  ‘Do you think you’ll ever come back?’ Ruby asks me, and I know that question has two meanings. And so does she.

  ‘I don’t know.’ Because I don’t. How can I possibly know what’s going to happen once I’m with Neal, in a strange country, living the kind of life I haven’t even dreamed of. I can’t know how that’s going to pan out. Not yet. ‘But I will be back for visits, OK? And I want to see all of you when I do come back, you hear? Whether you’re still selling your gorgeous selves for money or not.’ I say that with a smile and my tongue firmly in my cheek, and they know that.

  ‘Present time!’ Sindy shouts above the laughter that’s getting louder now. ‘Lily, you got the box?’

  I look over at Lily, a stunning, raven-haired half-Japanese girl who’s studying medicine and chose this line of work to help fund the years of training she still has ahead of her. She hands me a beautifully-wrapped white and pink box and hugs me tight. I kiss her quickly, whisper thank you in her ear and she sits back down, watching as I open it. Inside is the most gorgeous selection of lingerie ranging from pure white to a more racy black and red – bras, knickers, short negligees, it’s all there.

  ‘Thought we’d give you something to wear for a man who ain’t paying for it no more,’ Sindy winks, and I can’t help laughing. Somehow I think, to some extent, we’re all going to be stuck in this world we’ve exposed ourselves to. But in the long run it’s how we use our experience that matters. And I know how I’m using mine.

  ‘Thank you.’ My voice is barely a whisper, because it all seems so real now.

  Tomorrow I leave this city. I leave this country.

  Tomorrow my new life begins.

  And I really don’t think I’m scared anymore.

  Neal

  I’ve just opened a bottle of wine when I hear her come in. It’s late, but I knew she was spending a bit more time with the girls than she’d originally intended. She’d called me a little earlier, t
old me they wanted her to stay out for dinner, and then they were going on to Bam-Bams for a couple of hours. And, yeah, I didn’t want her to go. I wanted her to come home, to me. But I understand she has a lot to say goodbye to. I’m going to have her all to myself once we get back to New York, so I can’t be selfish while we’re still here, in her city.

  She walks into the kitchen and places a large pink and white box on the counter. I glance over at it, then back at her. She looks a little tired, and I’m guessing she’s had a bit to drink, and all I want to do is bend her over that countertop and fuck her from behind.

  ‘What’s that?’

  ‘That is my going away present from the girls.’ She lifts the lid and holds up the tiniest pair of white panties, and that’s all it takes to stir my frustrated cock. ‘Lots and lots of lingerie…’ She walks over to me, smiling that smile that can make me come without her even touching me. ‘And all of it is for your eyes only, Mr Cannon.’

  I grab her waist and yank her towards me, kissing her like I haven’t seen her in days. I’ve been waiting for her to come home so I can do just this, kiss her and hold her and know that, tomorrow, we’ll be heading home. ‘They’re very thoughtful, those escort girls.’ I grin, and she returns it, laughing that low, husky laugh of hers and my cock can’t help but react.

  ‘And I brought us something else.’

  I raise an eyebrow as she disentangles herself from my arms and goes over to her purse, pulling out a plastic food container.

  ‘I brought us dessert.’

  She opens the container and comes back over to me.

  ‘The restaurant we went to for dinner was kind enough to let me have some take-out, seeing as the Maitre d’ is an old friend of mine.’

  ‘Friend?’ I raise that eyebrow again and she smiles and kisses me slowly.

  ‘I brought us raspberry mousse.’

  And I know exactly what we’re gonna do with it. Yeah… I’m not sure how much longer my cock can hold out now. ‘You want some bowls for that?’

  She laughs again, because we both know where that mousse is going.

  ‘Upstairs, beautiful. Now.’

  She turns and runs out of the kitchen, and I chase her, her shrieks and screams turning me on even more as we race to the bedroom, tearing our clothes off as we go. And, as usual, because she knows I fucking love it, she keeps her killer heels on, and this time, as if she wasn’t freaking hot enough as it is, those heels are just-over-the-knee-high leather boots and just looking at her, naked, bar for those boots – man, it’s more than I can take.

  I catch her waist and pull her against me, pushing her head back and kissing the base of her throat as she moans long and low – I can feel the sound vibrating in there as I rest my mouth against it. ‘You been drinking, darlin’?’

  ‘Far too much,’ she moans, her fingers winding in my hair as I dip my head to her tits, sucking on her hard nipples.

  I laugh, and let my hands drop down to her ass, cupping it as I raise my head and kiss her mouth. ‘Good. That means you’ll be even dirtier than I want you to be.’

  ‘You think me being just a tiny bit drunk means you can take advantage, huh?’

  ‘I’ll take any advantage I can, baby.’

  She smiles a slow smile and pulls away from me, dragging me back towards the bed. ‘I’m not that drunk, Mr Cannon.’

  ‘Well, that’s a shame, Ms Blu. Because I was kinda hoping you were gonna get all nasty tonight.’

  She sits down on the edge of the bed and opens her legs wide, and once more my cock screams for relief. And it doesn’t get any easier when she reaches for the mousse, scrapes some out with her fingers and spreads it slowly over her pussy.

  ‘Jesus fucking Christ…’

  I crouch down, put my hands on her knees and push her legs even further apart as I bury my head between her beautiful thighs, feeding off her moans as I lick the mousse from her clit, circling it lightly with my tongue. And if she wants to play, I’m more than up for it, although, I’m guessing these sheets are gonna be trash in a little while.

  I stop licking and watch as she lies back on the bed, and I join her, grabbing a handful of mousse as I go, gently spreading it over her heaving tits.

  ‘You still hungry, huh?’ She smiles, and I give her my best grin back.

  ‘Like you wouldn’t believe.’

  Leaning over, I start licking the mousse from her tits, taking my time, and I know it’s ramping up her frustration levels, but she should try having my cock. It’s screaming even louder now, desperate for me to just ram it into her, and I will. In a little while. But I’m not done yet.

  Reaching down I let my fingers sink into her pussy, and she’s soaking wet and it’s mixing with the mousse and it’s turning me on so bad I don’t think I can hold out any longer. But she’s playing hard, and she won’t let me in there yet. So I keep going with the licking and the spreading as I cover more of her beautiful body in the dark-red dessert, sucking it off her naked skin as she moans and stretches out beneath me.

  But then she changes the game, pushes me gently away and shifts position. I kneel up in front of her, and she takes my cock in her hand and covers it with mousse, and I swear, I could die right now and never be happier because I know what’s gonna happen next. She leans forward and takes my cock in her mouth, just the tip at first, but that’s enough to set my skin on freaking fire. So when she takes me in fully, and I feel my cock almost touch the back of her throat I’m this close to passing out, it feels so fucking good! And she knows, she can tell I’m about to come because she pulls away and pushes me over onto my back, straddling me, riding me cowgirl – one of my favourite positions, because I get to see so much of what’s going on. I get to see my cock disappear inside her. I get to see her pussy in all it’s glory, wet and wide open right there in front of me; I get to see her play with herself as she helps bring herself off. Man, I am in fucking heaven here!

  And when the climax hits, it hits head-on, both of us crying out at the same time as she continues to grind down onto me, causing me to shoot faster and harder as I come in quick, full-on waves that are fucking exhausting. But, Jesus, I still can’t believe what’s happening to me; how crazy this woman makes me feel. She makes me want to do things I’d never dreamt of doing before, because I didn’t know I could. But I can, and, man, I am gonna do them all. Every single, sordid one of them.

  I sit up and kiss her, both of us sticky and still covered in the mousse, and it makes us laugh, and that makes me love her even more. I haven’t laughed like this, not really, not in a long, long time.

  ‘I think we need a shower, Mr Cannon.’

  ‘And a change of sheets.’

  She smiles, and slides a hand around the back of my neck, pulling me down for another kiss. ‘We leave tomorrow. We just bin these ones and sleep in the spare room tonight.’

  ‘Sounds like a plan.’

  She throws me another smile and climbs off me, and I watch her red-hot body, still naked and covered in mousse, as she walks across the room, those boots stirring my tired cock from its all-too-brief respite.

  Then she stops and turns around. ‘Want to share my shower?’

  She needs to ask? And she laughs again as I practically jump off the bed and lunge at her, making her shriek out loud as I pick her up, and her legs wrap around me as I carry her into the bathroom.

  We’re gonna get cleaned up, then we’re gonna sleep, and tomorrow she’s coming home, with me.

  Tomorrow my fantasy becomes my reality.

  Tomorrow my life begins all over again.

  Kira

  ‘Can’t sleep, huh?’ Neal whispers into my hair as I lie awake, my head on his chest, his arm keeping me close to him.

  I shake my head, my hand lightly stroking his stomach. His skin’s warm beneath my fingers and I don’t want to move from here until I have to. This is where I’m happy, when there’s just the two of us and nothing else to get in the way.

  ‘What are you going to tell pe
ople, Neal?’

  He kisses the top of my head and gently squeezes my waist. ‘What d’you mean, what am I gonna tell people?’

  ‘They’ll want to know who I am. Where I came from. What I do; how we met.’

  ‘None of it is really anyone else’s business, though, is it?’

  I move my head so I can look at him. I want to look at him. I need to. ‘Maybe not. But don’t be naive, Neal. People will still want to know, especially if I’m going to be working with you. Unless you plan on keeping me your dark and dirty secret.’ I smile, and he returns it.

  ‘Oh, we’re gonna have dark and dirty secrets, Kira, believe me. But I’m not keeping you a secret.’

  ‘But you’re not going to tell anyone I used to be an escort, either. You’re not going to tell anyone that we met because you booked me for a night of meaningless sex.’

  ‘I’m not ashamed of the way we met, Kira.’

  ‘Neither am I. But people will judge, Neal. They’ll judge you, and they’ll definitely judge me.’

  ‘It’s not gonna be a problem, baby, OK? Because nothing matters now except me and you.’

  ‘Is it really gonna be that easy?’

  ‘Are you having second thoughts about this, Kira?’

  ‘No. Baby, no. I’m just… people are going to ask questions. So, what do we tell them?’

  His face breaks into a smirk, and it’s so fucking sexy. How does he do that?

  ‘We play a game, OK? We create the Kira everyone else sees – the beautiful English woman I met at a gallery in Newcastle. The woman who taught me love at first sight really does exist.’

  The way he says the name of my home city still gives me butterflies. I could listen to him talk all day, especially when he ramps up the accent. That does it for me, and he knows it.

  ‘Kira Hardy by day, that’s who you’ll be. And at night, Kira Blu will come out to play – the wild and crazy woman with the killer body and a way of making her man’s cock hard just by looking at him. No one else needs to know about her. Besides, I kinda want her all to myself now.’