A WILDer Wonderland - Sexy Stories Of The Season

by Angel Payne

“Perhaps…lewd,” he said with a wolf’s sneer, kissing her hard.

  “And lickable.” He shoved his way into her mouth tongue first, jamming it along hers in time to the lunges of his cock into her sweet cunt.

  “And loved.”

  It spilled from him as he reached home deep inside her, the head of his cock welcomed by her deepest cave. He withdrew and plunged again. Ava screamed and let her head roll back. “Loved,” he repeated before jerking her close again, marking her neck with the force of his vow. “I love you so much, Ava.”

  Every thrust took him in deeper, even as the climbing pressure in his shaft incited him to drive faster. He felt the lipstick smearing onto his own thighs, and as Ava tore off his jacket then his tie, he knew the shit was getting on his clothes, too. He welcomed the stains. He wanted them. In sharing them, he committed himself to the bond of their bloodlike color…pledged that for the rest of her life, this amazing woman would always feel branded by his desire and adoration, would always know how deeply he treasured her, how thoroughly he loved her.

  “Te amo, Maestro,” she cried to him in return. I love you, Master.

  “Then come for me, sunshine.” He swooped the lead over his head so that her bound wrists were locked around his neck. “Come with me.” With his hands cupping her ass, he was able to slide her body tighter against his. He locked his stare to hers as he grinded her pussy harder on his hot, pounding length.

  “Yes, Sir,” she said in a sweet whisper. “Oh yes, Sir. Oh…yessss…ohhhhh!”

  As her mouth fell open and her climax washed over her, Ethan detonated, too. He released his moan into her mouth as he jetted his seed into her body, the white-hot ecstasy claiming every inch of his skin, every tendon in his limbs. Her lipstick was everywhere on his clothes and body, her scent was everywhere in his head, and his deepened love for her was everywhere in his soul.

  After their breathing evened, he reached back and unfastened his belt so she could move. He tenderly pulled her legs down, too. As he helped her climb off the table, he cracked, “Well, I know who won’t keeping a straight look on his face for any future meetings in here.”

  She slapped his chest lightly, making him chortle. Though she snickered a little too, her features quickly sobered. “Are they really bringing lobster up for us? Because it looks like I tried to make you over or murder you, and failed miserably at both.”

  He gathered her back against him, savoring the feel of her body as he brushed tendrils of hair from her face. He’d only asked the kitchen to be on standby for lunch today, because he honestly had no idea how open she was really going to be to his plan for their little “open and honest” summit. Since Ava had astounded him once again—and he hoped to God she never stopped for the lifetime he’d spend loving her—he decided to take another risk with their plans for the day. A pretty huge one this time.

  “I have a better idea for lunch.”

  She instantly picked up on the enigmatic underline in his tone. “Oh?” Her response was playful and light, almost injecting him with a frisson of guilt.

  Almost.

  He kissed the tip of her nose. “You trust me?”

  “With my body, heart, and soul.”

  Okay, now he felt guilty. But he also knew he was right. No matter how much she’d wish her lipstick was really his blood in another hour, this was the lunch she needed. The healing they needed.

  CHAPTER FIVE

  This was his “better idea?”

  Ava held nothing back from her glare as Ethan drove the car through the private gates that led to his parents’ residential community.

  She’d readily agreed to “sneak out the back” with him at the office, even though that plan included a chilly ride in the building’s freight elevator and getting curious looks from the workers at the loading dock. But after discovering that they all had genuine affection for Ethan and were less concerned by her lipstick all over him than by the joy of meeting her, it was fun to hang out and listen to him trade quick life updates with them.

  After a few minutes, Ethan pulled her off to the car, that mysterious smirk still in place on his face. Yeah, the same one she wanted to slap clean off of him now.

  As he pulled the car around to what looked like a back entrance to the mansion, she intensified her glower. “You ever heard of a little something called ‘too soon?’”

  He turned, resting his forearm atop the steering wheel, his dark cobalts pinning straight to her. “Sunshine, listen—”

  “Dios mio. Are you really trying that again?” She jerked her head to indicate the chilled mist, rain, and wind that was pretty nasty, even for Central California. “Best as I can tell, there’s no sunshine around here for miles. Give up on the explanations, Sergeant.”

  His gaze narrowed and his lips compressed. “Fine. If that’s the way you want it, no explanations.” He paused for a moment, releasing a measured breath, giving Ava a ray of optimism in thinking he might just re-start the car and take her back to the hotel. But that was the moment she forgot he was a stubborn, unrelenting, I always-achieve-my-goal member of the First Special Forces Group. “You know that leaves me no choice but to pull the command card, instead.”

  She angled her head back against the headrest. “Yeah, I know.”

  Another breath left him, this time as a huff. “Ava, I’m not going to haul you bodily out of the car. The choice is ultimately yours. But I’m due back at base day after tomorrow, which means I’ll be on a plane for somewhere by the end of the week. Getting onto that bird will be a hell of a lot easier if I’m assured that you and my parents haven’t started off on the completely wrong foot.” He reached for her hand, wrapping his warm, long fingers around hers. “It was their wrong foot to begin with, but nonetheless—”

  “All right, all right.” She yanked her hand back so she could use it to smack his shoulder. “You had to play the deployment card, didn’t you?”

  His answering chuckle made the car feel like a little bungalow of warmth against the storm. She followed the line of his shoulder, so strong and formidable, back up to his face, which was alive with his brilliant eyes and deep-dimpled cheeks. Dios, how she adored this man. He really was her haven in life’s storm, asking her for so little. She owed it to him to try and make a go of it with his parents, even if it would never be what she’d ultimately hoped for.

  “Creativity’s my middle name,” he bantered, “remember? The US Army has trained me well.”

  “Cabrons,” she muttered. Bastards. She shoved the car door open as he laughed again. “Fine. Let’s just get this over with. And you get to explain the stains all over your shirt.”

  “Not necessary.” To her surprise, he walked around the front of the car, scooped her hand into his, and kept walking—away from the main mansion. After passing by a large greenhouse, probably filled with his mother’s prized orchids, they arrived at a little stone cottage, situated off a quaint path off the back of the pool deck. “We can clean up in here,” he explained, “and nobody will bother us.”

  “What is it?” She looked around in curiosity after he unlocked the door, flipped on the lights, and let her walk in ahead of him. It seemed like a clubhouse, with a small seating area, a couple of changing booths, and a lot of expansive shelves that were now empty. On the wall were posters of rock bands from fifteen years ago. An ancient video game system sat dusty in front of an older model TV monitor. “Mierda.” She giggled. “Am I actually in the Ethan Archer teen-man cave?”

  “Guilty, I guess,” he answered. “This place became my retreat for years. It’s supposed to be a showering and changing hut for pool party guests, though it wasn’t so convenient after Dad and Mom added the newer one closer to the house. There’s a shower in the bathroom, and I’m sure I’ve got an old sweatshirt or two hanging out in the credenza, too.”

  Ava seized the opportunity to turn arched brows on him. “Your ‘retreat,’ huh? Where a lot of your old clothes just happen to be left behind?”

  He rolled his eyes. �
��Yeah, yeah. Full disclosure time. So we may find a few other…presents lying around.”

  “Shiny pretty ones?” she jibed. “In cute little foil packets?”

  He gave a cavalier shrug but walked back toward her with a hint of gawk in his step. “I’ve liked girls for a long time, baby. You know that. At least we were always safe.” As he planted himself and drew her close with a flirtatious smile, Ava emitted another giggle.

  “I think I have the visual now. A midnight swim under the stars, a promise to show her the rest of your tattoo in the pool house…”

  “Back that cart up. What kind of a wild child do you think I was? My parents would’ve killed me if I had my toe tattooed, let alone my leg.” He slapped his right thigh. “The ink didn’t come until a year and a half ago, after I nearly lost this thing to a ground rocket attack.”

  She wound her fingers into his to silently thank him for the revelation about the tattoo. He’d never told her much about it beyond how the interlocking symbols were the Chinese word for gratitude. A bit more of him made sense to her now, making it somehow easier for her to conjure him as a gangly sixteen year-old, sweet-talking a girl beneath the summer stars.

  But even though the image was endearing, it again underscored how different their backgrounds had been, especially after Mamá had died. Ava chuckled because of it. “Changing hut, huh? Where I come from, the ‘changing hut’ was the back of Andrea Smith’s mom’s van, where we took turns holding the towels up for each other and hoped the boys didn’t come back early from surfing.”

  Ethan’s eyes lit up. “That sounds like a blast.”

  “It was cold and frantic and meant half the beach came home in my panties.” She finished with a grin. “But yeah, it was a blast.” Her stomach did a teenage-style flip in response to how his eyes intensified when she mentioned underwear. “Guess I should be glad our paths didn’t cross,” she murmured. “For you, I might’ve dropped the towel.”

  “And for you, I would’ve cut surfing short.” He tugged her chin up and concluded it with a kiss, which fast turned into a hot tangle of tongues. And then another. And another. Within minutes, he had her pinned to the wall as they necked like feverish kids who’d newly discovered the magic of French kissing.

  The rain came down harder on the little cottage’s roof, adding to the illusion that they were all alone, locked in a secret haven with nothing but time and passion to burn. Ethan moaned into her mouth while tucking a hand beneath her skirt and palming her ass. Ava answered his quest with a high mewl and a desperate grind, needing more of the bulge that now throbbed against her naked pussy. “Oh, Ethan,” she rasped, lost to the magic of his strength and the desires from every touch. “Ethan…Ethan…”

  “Yeah, baby.” His words were like steel shavings in her ear, demanding as the cock that pounded at the zipper fitted to her core. “I know. I know.”

  “Ethan?”

  They froze together. The strident call hadn’t come from her. It was outside, from somewhere in the rain. And it was female.

  “Ethan, are you out here, honey?”

  And it was getting closer.

  “Shit,” he spat—right before the door swung in to reveal Elle Archer in a sleek white rain trench with a matching umbrella and rubber boots. Well, the boots didn’t match exactly. They had little interlocking cherries all over them. What the hell did cherries have to do with dodging rain puddles?

  “Well, here you are!” Wearing an overly-bright smile, the woman clearly tried to look everywhere except the obvious: the spot where Ethan still had his hand rammed beneath Ava’s dress. “I was talking to Ashley at the office, and she said you’d been in but then had disappeared before lunch. Then I thought I might’ve heard your car on the back driveway, not that I could hear a thing through all this rain…”

  Ava barely held back a snort. Of course she couldn’t hear a thing. Or wasn’t watching that damn driveway like a she-falcon hoping for a mouse to drop in for lunch.

  “…so have you dropped in for lunch?”

  Ethan straightened and let Ava do the same. “We thought it might be a good idea to come by,” he responded, “since last night was such a zoo.”

  Elle gave a preening sigh. “Oh, but what a zoo! I think we’ll make the city news page with it, not just the society column. If it’s a slow news week in San Francisco, they might carry a little piece on it. Didn’t everyone look terrific? I’m sure Cherry Reed wore that suede number just to catch your eye, E. You always told her you liked her in brown, and—”

  “I’m partial to red these days.”

  He bit out every word as he wrapped a possessive hand into Ava’s. She hated admitting that it felt better to have him holding her like this, but it did. Mierda, what was wrong with her? She dealt with lunatic attention seekers every day of the week. Hell, she worked for a woman who chewed up women like Elle Archer for breakfast. But you don’t want to marry Bella Lanza’s son.

  And there was no time like now to suck up her fears and make that fact known.

  Plastering on a brave smile, she scooted forward and said, “There’s nothing wrong with brown, either. It’s a wonderful neutral. I have lots of it in my own closet.”

  Elle blinked at her like she’d just spoken every word in Martian. Once more, Ethan’s grip came as the reassurance she needed, though the new tension to his presence was disconcerting. Or maybe “tension” was putting it diplomatically. A peek up at his profile confirmed her suspicion. His lips were a board-straight line, as taut as the glare he bolted into his mother.

  “Sunshine,” he uttered, “you’re shivering. The bathroom’s through that door. Why don’t you grab a quick shower?”

  She gave in to the instinct to squeeze his hand now. “Sure.”

  His mother huffed and waved a dismissive hand. “That isn’t necessary. She can shower up at the main house.” Her face pinched. “Dear heavens, Ethan Aaron, it looks like you need to, as well. Is that…lipstick?”

  Like a scene from some super hero cartoon, Ethan pulled up on his posture, seeming to grow a foot in the process. “She’ll shower here.”

  Elle rolled her eyes. “You’re being ridicul—”

  “Get in the shower, Ava. Please. Now.”

  She didn’t waste any time scurrying toward the door—though unbelievably, she actually felt a twinge of concern for Elle. She knew Ethan would never physically lay a hand on his madre, but the dark smoke invading his gaze and the pulse that hammered in his jaw were enough to make her throw the shower on but leave the stall empty. She went back to the bathroom door and cracked it open just enough to get a peek at what was going on.

  “Is that really lipstick on your shirt, E? What happened? It’s everywhere. Which is definitely where you weren’t last night. I barely saw you after Daddy gave his toast.”

  “Mother.” His broad shadow shifted, and there was the sound of him taking a heavy step.

  “Somebody said you left early, but I’m sure they were just—”

  “Mother.”

  “What?”

  “I’m only going to say this once, so sit your ass down and listen.”

  Ava pressed a hand over her mouth to muffle her gasp. Elle wasn’t so diplomatic. “I beg your pardon, young man?”

  “I left ‘young’ behind a while ago, Mom. That doesn’t mean I don’t love you.” His hands appeared, reaching for hers. “If there’s one thing the Army has taught me well, it’s just how much I do love you and Dad, how grateful I am for you both.” He pulled in an audible breath. “But my heart has grown big enough to love another. Ava’s my soul mate, Mom. No amount of parading my exes out at your parties or pretending this is something I’m going to get over, like Batman or Buffy the Vampire Slayer, is going to change it. I proposed. She said yes. And I’ve never been so happy.”

  There was a significant silence now. A thick sniff. “Just like that, then?”

  There was a smile in Ethan’s reply. “Yeah. Sometimes you get lucky, and—”

  “Lu
ck has nothing to do with it, Ethan!” A chair scraped before the cherry boots took some furious stomps. “She’s—what—a Hollywood hair person or something?”

  “She’s a respected stylist and designer for one of the biggest stars in the industry. Her looks are on the red carpet, and—”

  “Stop. Stop. I can’t listen anymore. Do you know how many years I spent as you were growing up, cultivating the appropriate relationships for you? Watching all the right girls for you?”

  “Ava’s the right girl for me. The right woman. And you know how I know that? She reminds me a lot of you, when you drop all this society bitch stuff, and you’re simply a passionate, joyous person.” There was a rush of energy as he stepped back over to her. “She wants a mom. She hasn’t had one since she was nine. She cries about it in her sleep, and it breaks my damn heart.”

  Ava swallowed hard. Tears stung, sudden and sharp and sweet . How the hell had he put all of that together? And knew it with such perfect clarity?

  “You’re with her when she sleeps?”

  He actually got out a laugh. “Yeah, mom. Sometimes I am. But even if I wasn’t, I’d know one thing for certain. All she wants to do is be a great daughter for you. She wants to get to know you, damn it, so yank down your walls and let her!”

  Elle squirmed and fumed through a very long pause. “Since it’s you asking—”

  “I’m not asking.”

  She psshed at him. “Don’t be insolent.”

  “Mom, I’m the guy who cut off the president’s hand to accomplish shit. I’m. Not. Asking.”

  She didn’t bristle at him this time. For a second, Ava wondered if the woman even breathed. She wasn’t sure her lungs were cooperating beneath the weight of her astonishment.

  And the love that had just grown a thousand times over for her incredible Sergeant.

  At last, Elle yanked her trench shut again and swept toward the door, readying her umbrella for another tromp through the deluge. “I’ll fix some sandwiches from the party leftovers,” she offered breezily. “Both of you come up to the house when you’re ready, and we’ll have a good visit. Maybe you can help set up the Christmas tree while I get to know your fiancé a little better.”