Sexcapades

by Christine d'Abo

  Darcy was about to fire back another retort when someone cleared their throat. Petra’s eyes widened as she realized what they’d been doing. Shit, he’d only intended to do a little quiet teasing, hoping to fire her up enough to get her through the short public speaking bit. Instead, he turned to see that every gaze in the room was fixed on them.

  Malcolm Robins’s face had turned an interesting shade of red. His mouth was a tight line, and Darcy could only imagine what the MC was holding back. Several reporters were openly gawking at them, while other attendees were smirking and quietly chuckling.

  “Oh,” Petra said softly. “I’m sorry.”

  Darcy managed to hide a cringe, but it didn’t make him feel any better. “That was rude of us.”

  “No fucking kidding.” Evan stood staring, hands on his hips. “You two can’t let anyone get one up on you.”

  “What?” Petra took a step back, her face growing pale. “We didn’t mean—”

  “This was my fault. She was nervous about speaking, and I started teasing her to help—”

  Petra turned around and punched him in the shoulder. “I wasn’t nervous!”

  “Dammit, Pet. You looked like you were about to run out of the room screaming when you realized your turn was coming up.” Rubbing the sore spot where her fist had connected, he tried to ignore the throbbing and do his best to turn the situation around. “I was only trying to help.”

  “Excuse me, Mr. Williams.” One of the reporters from the Toronto Daily Gleaner raised his hand. “You just called PC here, Pet. Is that some sort of nickname the two of you have?”

  “Are the two of you in a relationship?”

  “Did you know each other before the awards?” The woman from Flower Pots pushed past the reporter to openly glare at them. “This is hardly fair. If they’re working together they should be treated as one entry, not two. They’re getting double the coverage this way.”

  Evan stomped his foot, doing an excellent impersonation of a three-year-old. “I demand to have more exposure as well. My site would benefit from better advertisement.”

  As the questions and comments flew at them, each one growing in volume as the reporters and other nominees all began to speak at once, Darcy balled his hand into a fist. This was nothing but a stupid award his brother nominated him for. It meant nothing to him.

  An anguished sob broke from Petra and she fled the room.

  “Petra!” Darcy took off after her.

  “Petra? Is that her real name? What does she do for a living?”

  The questions disappeared with the door shutting behind him as he followed Petra out into the street. “Pet, please stop.”

  “Fuck off, Williams.”

  Even though he couldn’t see them, he could hear her tears. “I’m sorry. I didn’t mean for that to happen.”

  “No, you’re just another thoughtless male. You act before you think about the consequences to others. Well, no thank you.”

  He really didn’t want to be having this conversation out on the sidewalk. “Will you stop for a minute?”

  Petra spun on her heel, and in a heartbeat was marching directly for him. “Why, so you can make fun of me some more?”

  “Dammit, I wasn’t making fun of you! I had no idea who you were outside of being the cute girl from the coffee shop.”

  That first day he’d laid eyes on her was still etched in his mind. And she hadn’t been with her friend. She’d been alone that day, looking around as if she’d landed on Mars. Her hair had been piled up on top of her head, tendrils falling down to caress her face and neck. She’d been wearing jeans and a T-shirt with some cute cartoon on the front, and he’d been fascinated by the way she couldn’t meet anyone’s gaze.

  If he’d known then that the shy, pretty coffee shop girl was also PC, he’d have thought twice before making her a part of his nighttime fantasies. Now that he knew she wasn’t only bubbly, quirky Petra, but also PC, he couldn’t get her out of his mind.

  One moment Petra was staring at him, her anger an almost tangible thing, and the next a sob exploded from her.

  Fuck. He was the biggest fucking asshole in the world.

  He took a step closer. When she didn’t immediately flee, he closed the distance between them and wrapped her in a hug.

  “I worked so hard,” she muttered in between sniffles and sobs.

  “I know you did. You deserve that award.”

  “But the other nominees think we cheated!” Petra looked up, her red-rimmed eyes still swimming in tears. “I’ve never cheated on anything in my life.”

  Yup, I’m a big, giant asshole... “I promise we’ll make this right. And come on. This is beyond stupid. We run advice blogs in the same city. We’re not trying to keep government secrets or something. Having a personal relationship can’t be against the rules. That’s insane.”

  Petra didn’t look the least bit convinced. Pushing her hair back from her face and slipping his arm around her waist, Darcy turned and led her down the street. “I know you probably don’t want to believe me, but this really won’t be a big deal. Every event loves to have a little bit of scandal associated with it. It draws attention to the awards and the people. That brings in interested viewers.”

  “You really think this will blow over?” She wiped her eyes with the heel of her hand.

  “I’d bet my site on it. We’ll give Robins a few hours to deal with the reporters, calm Evan down, and then we’ll show up again. A few apologies and we’ll be right as rain. They’re just jealous they’re not as awesome as you.”

  They continued in silence for several more minutes. It became easier to forget that he’d only really known this woman for a few hours, and that this sense of comfort and rightness shouldn’t come so naturally. It shouldn’t feel so perfect to have his hand around her waist, his fingers holding her hip as they moved side-by-side.

  He shouldn’t want to lean in and press his nose into her hair. Run his fingers down her bare arms. Bite the side of her neck so he could feel the sharp intake of her breath. No, they were already in enough trouble because of their amazing one-night stand. He couldn’t make things worse for her by acting on his impulses.

  And yet, after another minute of walking, Darcy knew things weren’t going to be as easy for him as he might like. Clearing his throat, he gave her hip a light squeeze. “Where are we going?”

  Petra stopped, a frown marring her face. “I’m not sure.”

  “Did you want me to get you someplace? Call you a cab?”

  “Actually, my place isn’t that far from here.” The way she said it, she sounded surprised. “Did you want...?”

  Darcy realized what she was about to offer, even if she’d stopped herself. He had two choices—let the statement go and see her on her way, or jump on the chance to get to know the woman behind PC in a private environment.

  “I would love to.”

  Petra jerked in his hold, but didn’t pull away. “I’m sure it’s a terrible idea.”

  “Maybe. But it’s also a chance for me to spend some time with the real PC. I don’t know about you, but I’m curious as hell.”

  It wasn’t entirely fair, holding her so close to him while she tried to make a decision like this. But Darcy was honest enough with himself to know he didn’t always play fair when it came to women who’d captured his attention.

  “I’m not sure I should have you over.”

  “You can call your friend again. Let her know that I’m there, if it will make you feel better.”

  Petra did step away then. “I was thinking about the competition. It wouldn’t look good if they found out we were together after the accusations tonight. I mean, most of my advertisers are pretty awesome, but I have a few who wouldn’t want to be associated with any type of scandal.”

  Darcy cupped the back of his neck, squeezing the muscles that had tightened. “Look, there’s no way we broke any rules here and we wouldn’t have even if we were dating. My brother entered me in this competition and I�
��ll be honest, it doesn’t mean much to me. If the committee caves to the other contestants and asks one of us to withdraw, I’ll do it.”

  “What?” Petra’s eyes were wide and her lush lips parted. Shit, he really wanted to kiss her. “I can’t ask you to do that. How is that fair to you?”

  “It’s fine. More than fine. If it means I get to be with you, it’s totally worth it.”

  “Darcy—”

  “I know you think I’m a bit of an asshole. Both because of what I’ve said online and how I treated you last night, but—”

  “I don’t.” She bit down on her lip for a moment before chuckling. “I don’t think you’re an asshole at all. And you have nothing to apologize about for last night. I haven’t felt that special in a long time.”

  The sincerity of her words made his cock hard, and something strange happened to his insides. He closed the distance between them once more, but didn’t touch her. “So, if I said I’d love to come back to your place for coffee and a chat, you’d be okay with that?”

  Petra cocked her head to the side, a slow smile spreading across her face. “If by coffee you mean sex, then yes, I’d totally be okay with that.”

  Grinning, he held out his arm. “Then lead the way, madam.”

  Chapter Seven

  Hot damn...I had no idea how many uses there were for a vibrator. Ladies, keep in mind, a man might enjoy the feelings as much as you do. Also, handcuffs and wax, such an amazing combination.

  —PC, Sexcapades — sex advice for women

  Guh.

  —D. Williams, Mantastic — advice for REAL men

  It was pretty much official at this point, Petra had lost her mind. Was she really going to sleep with Darcy again, this time knowing full well who he was?

  A quick glance at his handsome face was all she needed for her mind to shout a resounding hell yes! Every fantasy she’d ever had about D. Williams was coming true. Not only was he great in bed, Darcy was a gentleman who was concerned about her safety. Sure, she didn’t actually know him, but they’d been practically having foreplay online for a year now. She’d seen what she considered to be the worst of him...and somehow it didn’t quite gel with the man walking beside her.

  She fumbled with her keys as she tried to get them into the door to her building. Wow, they were really going to do this. Go back to her tiny condo and have crazy monkey sex. Darcy would now know where she lived, could post that information online if he got vindictive over an argument they were having. Her hands began to shake even before she lifted them to the lock.

  “Hey.” He tucked a lock of her hair behind her ear. “Would you rather not do this? I can leave right now.”

  This was insane. Darcy might be a mess of contradictions, but not once had she ever gotten the creepy vibe from him. Not online and not in person. Sure, he pissed her off sometimes with his outdated thinking about how to seduce women, but on more than one occasion she’d seen him come down hard on anyone who implied women didn’t deserve respect, and banned them from his site.

  “Pet?”

  “No, I’m just afraid my place is a bit of a dump. I don’t know what you’re used to, but as you can tell, I’m not exactly living in the lap of luxury.”

  Darcy laughed. “I promise I won’t hold it against you.”

  Letting out a sharp huff, Petra shoved the key in the lock and pushed the door open. “Okay, but I warned you.”

  By the time they reached her condo door, she really was freaking out about the condition of her place. Shit, had she put all the vibrators away? Lube?

  Did it really matter?

  “Your building isn’t bad.” Darcy had turned to face her, his back pressed against the wall by her door. “It’s secure and clean. You should see the dump my brother lives in.”

  “Well, it’s not much to look at, but the neighborhood is fantastic.”

  “And excellent coffee is nearby,” he said knowingly.

  She smiled as the lock clicked free and she opened the door. “Welcome to my humble abode.”

  It was strange watching Darcy walk past the threshold and into her living room. He was actually here, in her home, D. Williams.

  Oh my frigging God.

  “Hey, you really do have vibrators everywhere.”

  Petra bolted into the apartment, slamming the door behind her. “Ah yes, sorry about that. I just got another new product package from a company looking for me to do a review. A follow-up to my last post.” Nice, vibrators out in the open. Smooth, girl.

  Darcy didn’t seem to mind, picking up the biggest of the bunch. It was fire engine red and scared the shit out of her on principle. “Have you actually tried any of these out?”

  Snatching it from his grasp, she shoved them all into the box. Of course they didn’t all go back in neatly, leaving several ends sticking out the top. “I don’t think I want to answer that question.”

  “Oh come on. I’ve always wondered how many of your posts were based on actual experience, and how many were you simply writing what you thought women wanted to hear.”

  “I’ll have you know I have lots of experience. Just because I’m not out there like a lot of people doesn’t mean I’m ignorant to the ways of awesome sex.” Liar, liar, look at your nose grow.

  Darcy nodded, but his sincerity was undermined by his smirk. “So, you have lots of experience with things such as—” he picked up another box, one she hadn’t had a chance to look at herself, “—sex candles. Do you use the handcuffs on your partner, or do you prefer to go all Dominatrix on their asses and tell them not to move?”

  Petra’s mouth went dry. “Sex candles?”

  “That’s what you have here.” He held the box up and gave it a shake. “Sounds like you have a good supply of them too.”

  Some days she hated her overactive imagination. Right then it was far too easy to picture Darcy stretched out naked on her floor, her straddling his waist with the candle in hand. The hot wax would make misshapen splotches on his skin as she dripped it. His cock would twitch every time she pulled a hardened blob free...

  “Petra?”

  “I need to get a glass of water.” Without another glance, she bolted from the room.

  Thankfully, Darcy took the hint and didn’t follow her. Flipping the tap on, she leaned over the side of the sink and patted several handfuls over her cheeks and neck. What the hell had she gotten herself into?

  She wasn’t PC. If she’d felt uncomfortable at the welcome party, then this was the next level of hell up from that. Sure, Darcy was only teasing her, but she wanted to experience these things. Her sex life had been boring. Sean had been a control freak who thought the only opinion that mattered was his. The things he’d said to her when they broke up still bothered her, but she’d tried telling herself that sex didn’t need to be a specific way to be right. People could have fun in bed without being freaks.

  It had taken her a long time to get over that. Alice had helped, providing her with a wide collection of porn and sex magazines targeted at women. Since then Petra realized it was okay to want something exciting. Sean had been a jerk, and not in the majority when it came to his views on sex. It was one of the reasons why she started Sexcapades in the first place.

  Women needed to take control of what they wanted in the bedroom if they were going to be happy. If a woman’s partner was man enough to keep up, then all the better. If he wanted to turn tail and run, or called you weird or a freak for wanting to do things a bit different, then he wasn’t the right person for you in the first place.

  She wasn’t a freak.

  Darcy hadn’t made her feel that way either.

  Grabbing a glass from the sink, she filled it up enough to take several deep swallows. If she didn’t get her ass back to the living room and stop hiding, he might take the opportunity to run away. He had to know she was a bit of a basket case at this point. No sense in hiding from him.

  Plus, the illusion of PC should now be adequately shattered.

  Quickly running
her hands through her mass of curls, she fixed her clothing and dried her face. She could do this. It’s not like she hadn’t had sex with him before. Things would be fine.

  “Can I get you anything? Coffee? Beer?”

  “A beer would be great.” Oh thank God, he’s still here.

  Grabbing two bottles of the microbrew she’d picked up a few days earlier, Petra strode back to face her fate.

  She managed to get two steps into the room before she stopped again. Darcy was sitting on her couch, his suit jacket off, tie undone and shirt sleeves rolled up. On the coffee table in front of him were the entire contents of the sex candle box. He was reading a pamphlet as he toyed with a skinny black candle.

  Oh. My. God.

  Swallowing hard, she managed to plaster a smile on her face. “I hope you like lager.”

  Darcy made some noncommittal noise as he accepted the bottle. “Do you have a lighter?”

  Don’t panic. Don’t freak. Sure as hell don’t pant and beg. “Nope. I might have some matches though.”

  “That would work. Apparently people don’t actually need to be into pain to be really turned on by this stuff. The skin will redden a bit, but there shouldn’t be any burns. It’s a special wax.”

  She could easily picture what the red marks would look like against her skin after he’d peeled them off. She’d be so sensitive afterwards, wanting him to caress the spots while he fucked her.

  “Petra?”

  “Sorry.” Dammit, she was blushing again. “I was daydreaming.”

  “I bet you were.” He grinned. “I said, were you planning on doing a blog post on this stuff?”

  The blog. Right. “Probably. I normally try and do one when companies send me products. It’s really the least I can do.”

  “How were you planning on writing this one up? Would you use it on yourself, or someone else?”

  A loaded question if she’d ever heard one. Taking a seat beside him, Petra put her beer down and picked up one of the other candles. “I would probably do a bunch of research. Find out what other people said about it, look into the company, customer stories, that sort of thing.”