by Nicola Marsh
She could’ve let the memory of that degrading night drag her down but she hadn’t. She’d taken the money and walked away without looking back.
She could’ve taken the easy option and done more strip shows. That one night, she’d earned more than dancing two months’ worth of gigs. The owner had offered her a sizeable pay, enough to set her up. But she’d knocked it back for the reason Hudson had articulated: she hadn’t wanted to be tainted by the kind of life she didn’t want.
She’d never regretted it but she couldn’t help but wonder at times how much easier her life could’ve been if she’d had that kind of money as a nineteen-year-old.
Hudson stared at her, a host of unasked questions hovering between them, before he blinked and glanced away. ‘I don’t do anyone favours unless they deserve them but if what I saw today is any indication of what you can do on stage, I’ll keep my ear to the ground. Let you know if I hear of any big opportunities here in Sydney, maybe even overseas, okay?’
‘Thanks, that would be great.’ This time, she didn’t hesitate in wrapping her arms around him in a grateful hug. It felt right, comfortable, and nothing like the tension-fraught comforting hug last week. ‘Anyone ever tell you you’re the best boss ever?’
‘Only every single day,’ he said, his smile bashful when she released him. ‘Speaking of work, I better get back out there otherwise Tanner will fire my ass for slacking off on my management duties.’
‘And I’ve got an appointment for a one-off show.’ She glanced at her watch and leapt to her feet. ‘Crap. I didn’t know rehearsal ran overtime. I’m going to be late.’
She glanced at her drenched workout gear and grimaced. ‘No time to head home for a shower. You don’t have one around here that staff can use, by any chance?’
Hudson hesitated, a flash of something indefinable in his stare, before he huffed out a breath, as if he’d come to some momentous decision. ‘I live in the apartment over the club. You’re welcome to shower there if it makes things easier for you.’
A ripple of awareness made her skin prickle. She couldn’t turn up for a dress fitting for another show sweaty and flustered; or worse, late. But taking advantage of Hudson’s generous offer meant getting flustered in another way entirely.
Standing in his shower stall, imagining him in there, soapy and slick and naked...
‘Uh, thanks, that would make life easier,’ she said, clearing her throat when her voice sounded a tad high. ‘I appreciate the offer.’
‘No worries,’ he said, waiting until she gathered her stuff before heading for the door.
Easy for him to say, she thought as she followed him. Because getting a glimpse into Hudson’s home life, getting naked in his bathroom, getting ideas into her head that she shouldn’t, had her very worried indeed.
CHAPTER EIGHT
GROWING UP AS a jack of all trades in Kings Cross, doing odd jobs for whoever would pay, had garnered Hudson a reputation for having sound business sense and good ideas.
Offering his shower to Mak hadn’t been one of them.
What was it about this woman that brought out his latent knight-in-shining-armour complex in a big way?
It had been bad enough sitting through two hours of rehearsal. One hundred and twenty excruciating minutes of watching Mak gyrate and contort and flaunt her hot body encased in skin-tight cotton and Lycra.
Pure torture.
And this was only the first day. How the hell would he keep a grip on his lust and pretend having her back in his life as a friend was all he wanted?
His only saving grace was the tight turnaround on this project. Two weeks of rehearsals. Two weeks of nightly shows. Then Mak would move on to the next show, and he could breathe again. Because right now, with the thought of her naked behind his bathroom door, he couldn’t. His lungs felt as if they’d been clogged with concrete. His cock, too.
‘Idiot,’ he muttered, kicking a heavy wooden leg of the coffee table. It didn’t do much to relieve the frustration.
The bathroom door creaked open, and Hudson swore his heart stopped. If Mak came out here dressed in only a towel he’d have to make a run for it before he followed through on every single filthy fantasy running on repeat through his head.
‘Uh, I hate to be a pain, but there’s a problem with the flick mixer and I can’t get the water temperature right.’
He risked a glance towards the bathroom and saw her poking her head around the barely opened door. Caught a glimpse of creamy bare shoulder. The hint of a towel lower.
Fuck. He’d forgotten to call the plumber this morning to fix the dodgy shower mixer. He’d had the same problem, unable to adjust the perfect temperature, and it had taken a lot of jiggling and fiddling to get it right earlier that day.
‘Have you tried moving it around?’
She wrinkled her nose. ‘I’ve tried everything. Do you think you could fix it for me? I really can’t afford to be late to this costume fitting.’
‘Sure,’ he said, when he should’ve said ‘hell no’ and headed down to the club where the music would be so loud it could drown out his licentious thoughts. As if. ‘But only if you’re decent.’
He’d meant it as a joke but he caught the flare of awareness in her eyes as he broached the distance between them. It didn’t help.
Neither did the sight of her wrapped in one of his navy towels. It ended mid-thigh, exposing her long dancer legs, toned and tanned. Stunning. He couldn’t help it: he looked his fill before letting his gaze drift upward to where she clutched a loose knot over her chest.
That was when he saw the telltale poke of nipples through the cotton. It wasn’t cold in here, which meant Mak was as turned on as he was.
His cock gave a throb, as if to remind him he had a beautiful, half-naked woman in his bathroom and what the hell was he going to do about it.
The smart answer would be nothing.
But he’d given up being smart around the time he’d been dumb enough to drive this woman away first time around.
He took a step towards her. ‘Mak, I—’
‘Fix the shower, Hudson, please.’ She held up one of her hands, letting the towel slip a little. Revealing a swell of breast that left him salivating.
‘I’ll fix it for you on one condition.’
Her eyes widened imperceptibly, her irises expanding. ‘What?’
‘You let me watch you.’
The dare tumbled from his lips and he didn’t regret it. If he was to have any chance of convincing her he wanted her beyond friendship, he needed to see if he could get past that night five years ago that changed everything. Seeing her stripping on stage had brought up a host of awful memories he’d rather forget and he’d reacted accordingly. This time, he had to get past his hang-ups before he told her how much he wanted her and to do that, he had to see her naked.
Testing himself might be the stupidest thing he’d ever done but better to know now before he fucked up their tentatively re-established friendship because his libido couldn’t be quelled.
Her lips parted on a shocked O. It wouldn’t surprise him if she slapped him. He half expected it. Braced for it. Tension made his muscles bunch beneath his shirt.
He needed a workout after this; should hit the gym tonight, no matter what the time. He had a feeling he’d have a lot of tension to work off.
‘The last time you saw me naked, it didn’t work out so well,’ she said, aiming for flippant, but he caught the worried undertone to her comment. Like she was testing him.
This time, he wouldn’t be so foolish as to fail.
‘Don’t do that, try to trivialise something I did that screwed up our friendship,’ he said, taking another step towards her. ‘We’ve moved on from the past and this thing between us now? So frigging potent I can’t see straight. You feel it too?’
He held his breath for an eternity, her indec
ision clear in the conflicted emotions flickering in her eyes, before her barely perceptible nod encouraged him to continue. ‘I want you, Mak. No complications. No expectations. But I know you have to be somewhere so, for now, let me watch.’
It sounded so dirty when he said it out loud, but she hadn’t turfed him out yet. In fact, the longer she stared at him with a mix of fascination and wariness, he got the impression she wasn’t so averse to his suggestion.
‘Fix the mixer, fast,’ she finally said, so soft and breathy he wasn’t sure he’d heard right.
‘So that’s a yes?’
‘Just fix the thing,’ she said, releasing her grip on the towel.
It slithered to the floor. Along with his jaw.
She was breathtakingly beautiful, the kind of exquisite that made his chest ache.
The first time he’d seen her naked he’d been angry and resentful and out of his mind with worry. He hadn’t wanted that life for her. He’d seen what it had done to his mum and it killed him deep inside every time he thought of what she’d done to make ends meet. For him.
Since that fateful night he’d deliberately blotted out the memory of Mak naked, hadn’t wanted to taint his image of her.
Now, with her standing in front of him, uncertain yet unabashed, he looked his fill. Imprinting every single detail on his memory. Her perky C cups. Pale pink nipples. Mole above her belly button. Trimmed golden-red bush.
Perfection.
She snapped her fingers, breaking him out of his trance. ‘The shower, remember?’
He managed a rueful grin and pointed to his head. ‘Sorry. My little brain was caught up admiring the splendour of your beauty while my big brain,’ he said, pointing lower, ‘is telling me to strip naked too.’
‘Don’t you dare. I don’t have time.’ She waggled her finger at him, which would’ve held more sway as an admonishment if her breasts hadn’t jiggled with the action too. ‘Shower. Now.’
How he managed to fix the damn shower mixer he’d never know, considering his hands were as fumbling and clumsy as his efforts to not stare at her. Damn near impossible.
After four botched attempts, he had the water at a reasonable temperature and stepped back, allowing her to enter the double stall.
‘Room for two in there,’ he pointed out, clenching his hands into fists to stop from reaching for her as she stepped past him, smelling of sweat and arousal.
‘Maybe some other time.’ And with a jaunty flick of her hip, she closed the door in his face.
But didn’t turn her back on him. Instead, she pumped body wash into her hand from his dispenser and slowly, leisurely ran it down the front of her body from neck to navel.
Damned if it wasn’t the most erotic thing he’d ever seen.
The shower stall started steaming up and no way in hell would he tolerate his view being obliterated, so he flicked the exhaust switch and perched on the edge of the bath tub to enjoy the show.
He couldn’t believe his luck. When he’d thrown out his challenge he’d expected Mak to verbally flay him, calling him anything from pervert to sicko.
Never in his wildest dreams had he expected to be privy to this.
Eyes closed. Water sluicing down her body. Her hands rubbing her breasts, over and under in hypnotic circles, lathering up so that bubbles covered her. Drifting lower to her stomach. Lower yet...
His breath caught as her fingers skirted her mound, before momentarily delving between the folds.
Lust pounded through his body in time with his heart. Every muscle tensed in his desperation to hold back. Every ounce of common sense swamped by how badly he wanted to touch her. Fuck, he was in blue ball hell watching her. Wanting her. Craving her with every horny cell in his body.
When she let out a low moan, Hudson couldn’t take it any longer. He sprang up from the bathtub, wrenched open the shower door and knelt.
Her eyes flew open. ‘What are you doing?’
‘This.’ He leaned forward and grasped her ass with his hands, edging her towards him.
‘This wasn’t part of the deal...ooh...’
He tongued her, a long, slow sweep between her slick folds that had her bracing against the shower walls and arching into his mouth ever so slightly.
It was all the encouragement he needed to devour her. Alternating between sucking and nibbling. Teasing her clit with repeated little flicks before returning to laving her deeper.
She went a little crazy. Hips undulating. Thrusting at him. Urging him on. Her incoherent pleadings escalated along with every lap of his tongue. So responsive. So fucking hot.
The moment before she came he slipped a finger inside her, another, pumping into her as he licked her. She fell apart, her knees buckling as she yelled, ‘oh, yeah,’ so loud his ears rang.
Smug that he’d satisfied her the way he wanted but calling on every ounce of restraint not to push her up against the shower stall and bury himself deep, he stood, water dripping down his face. That was nothing compared to his soaked clothes.
When he started to back away, her hand snaked out to capture his.
‘Where do you think you’re going?’
‘To change.’
Confusion clouded her eyes and she gnawed on her bottom lip. ‘But... I mean...what about you?’
Suddenly shy, she glanced away. ‘Why don’t you join me in here?’
It was the best invitation he’d heard all day—all frigging decade—but the first time they had sex he intended to make it count. All night long.
‘I’d like nothing better but you’ve got an appointment, remember?’
Her muttered ‘Fuck the appointment’ made him smile as he closed the shower door.
‘Trust me, babe, if I joined you, we wouldn’t get out of there for a week, so how about you take that as a prelude and I’ll do the right thing and wait for you out there?’ He jerked a thumb towards the hallway.
She didn’t respond, staring at him in wide-eyed wonder, as if she couldn’t believe what had just happened.
Join the club.
Eventually, she nodded and turned away, but not before he saw something that made his heart soar.
The coy smile of a well-satisfied woman who wanted more.
CHAPTER NINE
‘HEY, HONEY, I’M HOME,’ Charlotte called out her standard greeting as she entered the lounge room of their tiny Bondi apartment, dumped her satchel and fell into the nearest seat. ‘I hope you had a better day than I did.’
Makayla’s day had been average. What had happened after rehearsal in Hudson’s bathroom had more than made up for it.
Even now, three hours later, she couldn’t believe it.
He’d gone down on her.
Giving her an orgasm to end all orgasms.
What that man could do with his tongue...
‘Why was your day so bad?’ Makayla managed a sensible question while inside she still screamed, Oh, my God, Hudson and his tongue!
‘New boss from hell.’ Charlotte took off her heels and stretched her legs out, scrunching her toes. ‘Haven’t even met him in person yet but taking orders from him remotely is bad enough.’
‘I thought all accountants were perfectly polite types who treated each other with dignity and respect?’
Charlotte flipped her the bird. ‘That’s how much I respect your opinion. As for my boss being an accountant, I think he’s one of those business drones who only see the bottom line and couldn’t give a flying fig about personnel.’
‘Sounds like a rough day,’ she said, busting to get Charlotte’s opinion on what had gone down with Hudson—literally—but not sure she wanted to talk about it.
‘Looks like yours wasn’t.’ Charlotte tucked her legs under her, eyeing her with curiosity. ‘You’ve got this weird smug smirk thing happening.’
‘Rehearsal went well,�
� she said, her lips twitching, unable to stop a grin spreading over her face, the kind of grin that made her cheeks ache. ‘Really well.’
‘What the...?’ Charlotte’s eyes narrowed before she squealed. ‘No way. You slept with someone on your first day?’
‘Of course not.’ But she’d wanted to drag Hudson into the shower with her. She’d admired his self-control while cursing him for it.
When he’d first asked to watch, she’d been shocked at his cheekiness. He’d asked her to do the very thing that had ensured he’d ended their friendship five years earlier.
Yet her surprise at his audacity had quickly given way to intrigue and she’d been turned on by the suggestion. But she’d wanted to make him sweat. In trying to prove a point—that he was duplicitous for wanting to watch her naked when he’d freaked that one time she’d done it with good reason—her plan had backfired.
Having him watch her shower had been the most erotic thing she’d ever experienced. She’d tried to stick with the programme of deliberate torture as revenge for how badly he’d treated her the last time he’d seen her naked, intent on purposely driving him crazy. Unfortunately she’d driven herself nuts in the process.
She’d never been so turned on, had been shocked yet relieved when he’d opened that shower door. Not that she was a complete fool. She’d known what might happen when she’d agreed to let him watch her. Had counted on it, so she could call him out for being a hypocrite and release all the pent-up regret that she’d harboured despite their newly awakened friendship now. She’d planned on stopping him with a few terse words. She hadn’t expected to admire him because he’d been man enough to acknowledge the attraction simmering between them.
Even as her resistance had crumbled and her residual anger had faded, she’d had reservations. Getting physical with Hudson would change everything. He’d already seen her naked and found her lacking once. What was to say his freak-out that night years ago wouldn’t happen again because of his baggage she didn’t know about?
She’d been an idiot. She should’ve known that in agreeing to his challenge out of anger, it would backfire on her. She’d been curious to see how far she could push him. She hadn’t expected him to push back...and how. But she couldn’t get past one question that kept bugging her: was he genuinely so damn hot for her that he couldn’t resist or had he been trying to prove a point—to himself—as she’d been doing?
