by Brit Blaise
* * *
Amber Quill Press
www.amberquill.com
Copyright ©2006 by Brit Blaise
* * *
NOTICE: This work is copyrighted. It is licensed only for use by the original purchaser. Making copies of this work or distributing it to any unauthorized person by any means, including without limit email, floppy disk, file transfer, paper print out, or any other method constitutes a violation of International copyright law and subjects the violator to severe fines or imprisonment.
* * *
WILD AND WANTON
By
BRIT BLAISE
* * * *
ISBN 1-59279-589-7
Amber Quill Press, LLC
www.amberquill.com
Also By Brit Blaise
Another Cave Creek Cowboy
Cave Creek Cowboy
Cave Creek Cowboy Christmas
Cave Creek Cowboy In Vegas
Cave Creek Cowboy: Too Many Brides
Fix This!
Out Of Space
Music Man
Two Weeks In Paradise
The Virginia Model-Logues
DEDICATION
To everyone who believes in new beginnings...
CHAPTER 1
Nick fixated on Andrew Jackson's eyes peeking out over the top of stripper Mandy Minx's G-string. It was a tough job, especially when his eyes wanted to travel over the expanse of her peaches-and-cream skin. To make matters worse, every time someone stuffed another bill into her skimpy costume, the damned twenty dollar bill he coveted dropped lower. Mandy went into full splits, then pushed up and down with her fingertips to fuck the floor. The roar of the almost all-male crowd shook the rafters.
And just like that, Nick lost sight of the twenty.
Then he lost his mind!
He moved closer with the flow of horny patrons. The bill had worked its way down to the juncture of her legs, the place where every man at the Cat Club wanted to be—even him—especially him, and not just because he needed to see the money.
The other girls had grown used to him, but Mandy Minx was new, and this was her first night performing. How he could examine the twenty without arousing her suspicion? If he came on too strong with her, she'd tell him to get lost along with all the other horny jerks panting after her. This may be Mandy's first night in the Cat Club Lounge, but she was a professional dancer. Her résumé impressed everyone who'd read it. But, in a place like this ... who reads?
The bulge in the front of his now too-tight jeans clearly communicated she'd gotten to him with her wild and wanton cat-like gyrations. Maybe it was only because of her choice of music. She'd picked his all time favorite. That had to be it.
She did a series of pelvic thrusts and he winced as his balls tightened. He'd worked undercover for over a month at the club and not once had one of the dancers interested him, not even a little. Mandy Minx had his balls to the wall from the first note of her unusual routine.
Nick couldn't put a finger on what made this performance different from the others he'd witnessed over the last few weeks, but it was. Mandy had seemed unsure of herself, even novice as she began. It had to be part of her act because the ending had the patrons on their feet shouting their approval. Once she'd warmed up, she'd had the raucous crowd reaching their sweaty hands to stuff money into what was eventually left of her costume.
She ended her routine with vertical splits running up the brass pole.
"Polish it, baby,” someone yelled.
"Polish my pole!” called another.
When the music stopped and the spotlight dimmed, Nick walked onto the stage to escort Mandy off. It was his job to take care of her, and somebody had to do it! After a performance like that, the patrons would eat her alive if she left the stage without protection.
"You knocked ‘em dead, Ms. Minx.” He offered Mandy her satin robe, holding it so she could slip her arms inside. She hesitated as if unsure she wanted to touch him. He didn't take it personally. When she'd arrived, she announced first thing, to anyone who'd listen, she didn't intend to socialize with male co-workers or any of the clientele. In the weeks he been uncover as a bouncer-slash-security expert, he'd seen the girls doing men under the table ... so to speak.
Federal agent Nick Coulter didn't work vice, never had. What the women did to or for the men they danced for didn't interest him. He had much bigger, more dangerous prey to worry about ... counterfeiters. And someone had passed several bills to one of the girls who'd worked there, Allie Catz. But Ally had gone missing. Either she was involved or her admirer had abducted her, because the local PD hadn't found a trace.
"Wow! That was intense. I could use a cold one.” Her feral voice was throaty, almost hoarse and, for a fraction of a second, Nick wondered if he'd heard her purring. If so, this long, tall drink of cool water took her stripper-kitten role seriously.
She pulled the tie on her robe into a tight bow, which accented her sexy curves. “I'm keyed up ... or something."
"I thought I heard you say earlier you didn't drink."
"I also said I didn't want to fuck anyone my first night here. Now I know why the dancers get so frisky. It's very liberating to dance almost naked for a room full of men. More than just liberating..."
"Now you know why? You've been doing this for a while and you just now figured this information out?"
Mandy turned away, making Nick wish he'd kept his stupid mouth shut. “I've been very closed-minded in the past,” she murmured and gave him a sidelong look. “Now I'm trying new things, allowing my inner desires to blossom and grow. When I first walk into a new place, I like to set boundaries, but this time I've realized I may have spoken too quickly. It never hurts to keep an open mind."
"It's none of my business, but why this time? What's different about this particular performance?” Nick didn't like the direction of the conversation, particularly if it meant someone would get lucky with Mandy ... and especially if that particular someone wasn't him.
She turned to face him head on. The unique golden color of her eyes under the cat mask made him gulp. “You, Nick. You're what's different."
Nick almost swallowed his tongue. She was coming on to him? “I'm here to protect the girls, but nothing more. I don't mess with the women here at the Cat Club. It could cause complications for me."
"That's what drew my interest. The girls said you haven't so much a given them a second glance. If you don't mind me asking, are you gay?"
If he said yes it would make his life a whole lot easier. He wanted to lie and say he was gay to distance himself from how she affected him. “No, I'm not gay.” Fuck.
"Glad to hear it.” She looked away a second time, almost shyly.
She was an enigma and Nick didn't like it. He never could resist a puzzle, but messing with this woman would be playing with fire. He could lose all credibility with his colleagues if he got involved with a stripper. No way ... no how ... would he sleep with Mandy Minx.
But, hell! She had his full attention. Boy, did she! Nick needed to find a way to focus on his job and less on her long, lithe body. She'd made his mouth water with her hour-glass figure and porcelain skin. Her sensuous body was beyond perfection.
Nick made a thumb to his mouth, pinky in the air, drink gesture to a nearby waitress. The woman flashed him a wide smile and made a beeline toward them.
"What can I get you, Nicky?"
Mandy gave him an exaggerated, crossed-eyed stare and then rolled her beautiful eyes, making her even more captivating when she clowned around. The unusual color alone could bring a guy to his knees, but her thick dark lashes and black mask made them glow like solid gold nuggets. “Nicky?” she mimicked.
He could feel the effects of her amber gaze clear down to his
toenails. Maybe he should call for back-up. “Send a couple of drafts to Miss Minx's dressing room."
Mandy stood close by his side while Nick dealt with the flirtatious waitress, but she could hardly stand still. “This money itches, and I'm hot and sweaty."
She pulled her long auburn hair up with one hand and fanned the back of her neck with the other. Her long red fingernails made him fanaticize of how they would feel on his back. Those standing near started getting rowdy, so he gave her a little nudge, then followed her toward the dressing rooms. He had to wonder if the owner had purposely set the dressing rooms at the opposite end of the stage so his dancers would have to mingle while they were hot and sweaty and turned on from their own power over the men.
One of the lusty men grabbed for her and she stopped short. The twenty Nick coveted, floated from beneath her robe to land near her four-inch heel. Nick could see writing on it. What idiot passing counterfeit twenties would sign his name to the paper?
Not likely.
His disappointment was keen as he bent to retrieve the money before turning his attention to Mandy's horny fan. “Keep your hands off the dancers unless you're invited."
The man raised his hands in the air and wagged his shaggy brows in an exaggerated leer.
Mandy stepped back, initiating full-body contact by pressing her curvaceous backside firmly against his painful arousal. She'd managed to surprise him again, but he'd already lost track of how often she had in the short time since he'd first laid eyes on her earlier that same afternoon. She arched backward, and damned if she didn't wiggle against him too. What had been a nuisance now became a throbbing eruption poking her in the ass to gain her attention.
She turned her head to look back over her shoulder with her sumptuous cherry lips forming a plump kissable “O."
What could he say—"I'm allowing my inner desires to blossom and grow?” His arm automatically snaked around her as another patron moved too close. He could feel the taut muscles on her stomach stretch under the satin. She moved against his hand, while wiggling her bottom against him a second time.
The urge to bury himself inside her hit him like a jack hammer. His hunger for her became so urgent, his breath rasped in his throat. He inhaled deeper as he fought for control. Her scent, a clean citrus scent combined with something warm, almost musky, taunted him. In the midst of sweaty bodies and spilled booze, the fragrance seemed incongruous and even a little sad. Why did she do it? Why did she limit her choices by dancing in a strip club, even an upscale one, if such was possible? Why did he care? Or even give her a second thought? Because federal agent Nick Stone had a hard-on for a stripper? Oh, yeah, that he did! But it had to be more—he wasn't a teenager drive by hormones.
Everything about her was a paradox. He was in big trouble with this one, but knowing it wouldn't help him get out of it. It had been far too long since he'd held a woman in his arms, weeks even. And it'd been even longer since one affected him like this.
"If this was ‘live out your fantasies’ day, starting right now, this very minute, could you imagine the two of us in bed together?"
Nick gulped at her words. He had a job to do and the last thing he needed or wanted was to get involved with a stripper. What would the guys he worked with say?
Mandy's golden eyes searched his before she turned away, her disappointment visible. “Sorry, I thought because, well ... you work here and the girls said you're single. I hoped you'd be available for a no-strings fling. They're taking bets who'd be the first to get into your pants. I really wanted it to be me."
When she started to pull away, he held her tight. She was right. What man, working in a place like this, would decline her generous offer? If he didn't play along—just a little—it could blow his cover. Then again, did he really need an excuse? “I'd be lying if I said I wasn't interested in you. You have hard evidence I am. Take a good look around. You're the real life fantasy of most of these men, so why would you think I'd hesitate for a second?"
Mandy exhaled a long, breathy sigh and then shrugged. Her movements made her bodacious breasts jiggle under the satin robe.
Nick needed something to distract him. Anything.
What?
He spaced out as need outweighed reason and sensibility.
* * * *
Beth touched her cat mask, grateful it hid her embarrassment. It was difficult for her to proposition Nick, even using her Mandy Minx cat persona. The paralyzing fear she'd lived with for the last two years had kept her a prisoner, but the need for human contact had finally become more than she could bear. She forced herself to say exactly what she thought. “These men mean nothing to me. I've set my sights on you."
"Let's talk about this in private. Trust me. You're fulfilling their wildest fantasies with the dance you performed. We need to get you back to the dressing room before someone decides to get closer acquainted."
Beth started to move, taking great pains not to walk too quickly, even as an excess of energy roiled inside her. She needed to stay near enough to enjoy his musky scent ... to relish the beat of her own racing pulse as the blood coursed through her veins. In some ways, this was very much like the panic she experienced when leaving her house. Beth lived in perpetual fear. An innocent step outside her own door debilitated her. But not on this day!
Beth was so desperate to start living again, she'd sought the help of an online gypsy. The woman had sent a potion guaranteed to allow Beth to not only leave her house for the first time in two years, but to fulfill her deepest fantasies.
And ... it really worked!
Nick wanted her. Why would he deny himself or her? Just her luck. When she finally decided to do something positive to change the hand fate had dealt her, the man she wanted was playing hard to get.
She decided for an even more direct approach. “If I'm being too forward, put me out of my misery and be done with it. Appearances can be deceiving and I'm not good at male-female role playing. I can't waste a single second with games. I want you, but cut me loose if I can't have you."
When Nick didn't meet her gaze, she wanted to run and hide.
"Trust me, it's not you ... it's me. I don't mix pleasure with business,” he said.
After a second thought, Mandy accepted his reasonable explanation. She liked his honesty and integrity. But she also made up her mind not to miss a second of freedom. One way or another she would have all her desires fulfilled, if not with Nick, then someone ... She needed more of Madam Parushka's magic elixir, guaranteed to bring fantasies to life while it kept her paralyzing fear at bay.
"Keep moving,” he rasped into her ear. His breath cooled the sweat-dampened tendrils of hair clinging to her face and sent a chill to coil down the back of her neck. “We need to continue this conversation away from this horny mob."
He loosened his grip and she began to walk toward her tiny dressing room for all the good that would do. It was a four-by-six foot cubicle with curtains across the front and two sides. She could hardly have her way with him in there with no privacy.
Nick looked so very fine. His dark hair was neatly trimmed, short but thick. He was a big man, probably at least five inches over six feet, yet lithe. There wasn't a woman alive who wouldn't take a second look. Beth certainly had.
"Good job,” one of other dancers said as she moved past them. The woman smiled, until she looked over Beth's shoulder to Nick and then back. “I guess you did better than anyone thought. Nobody would've guessed you'd be the lucky pussy to get him and so fast."
Nick made an angry cat hiss sound. “The bet about who'd get into my pants?"
The dancer's eyes sparked with displeasure. “You told him?"
Beth didn't understand what the big deal was. “I didn't know it was a secret."
Nick moved his arm around her, an almost protective gesture. “What's Mandy's prize?"
Beth turned her head to look at his brilliant blue eyes framed in midnight lashes and blinked under his penetrating gaze. “You'd make a wonderful prize.” Th
en she held her breath awaiting his reaction.
"I don't think I've ever been anyone's prize. I'm not sure I can hold up to the pressure, but I'll give it a shot.” He took hold of Beth's her hand and continued down the hallway.
Did he really mean it?
His large hand dwarfed hers, but the sensation of holding a man's hand did something magic inside her. Beth's heart started to race so hard it became difficult to breathe. A giddy sensation followed and she almost giggled. Her cubicle was the last one on the left, near the exit to the alley. Thankfully, no one else stopped to chat. When Nick followed her inside the small space, closing the curtain behind them, she could hardly contain her excitement as she anticipated what he intended to do. Had her life finally taken a turn for the better?
An unwelcome but familiar burn inside her stopped Beth cold. Now was not the time for her fear to surface.
CHAPTER 2
Nick handed Beth the twenty-dollar bill she'd dropped earlier and placed a hand on both her shoulders. “Let me help relieve you of the itchy money. Turn around."
Beth turned her back to him and faced her mirror, glad she could see his reflection. The soft touch of his hands, as he trailed down her arms made her squirm. When he ran his knuckles over the curve of her ass cheek and allowed his finger tips to linger overlong at the back of her leg, she held her breath and willed him not to stop touching her.
Don't stop.
Please, don't stop!
Not sure what to do with her hands, she pulled a couple of bills out of the crotch of her g-string and then silently cursed her own stupidity. He'd offered to help retrieve the money, so she certainly didn't need to hasten the process.
"You missed one,” he said and ran his hand between her legs from behind and sat down on her stool directly behind her. Beth could see his handsome face next to the curve of her rear in the mirror. He was staring at the juncture between her legs as he continued to touch her ... there.
Beth had never had a strange man's hands on her until she danced. She'd never had a man stare at her sex, never mind a room full on men staring at the most private parts of her. That had been interesting. This was intense and more than a little wild and wanton. Her fingertips burned still hotter and he ran his fingers along her slit and pause at the channel of her sex.
