I stare up at him, fighting to keep my eyes open, wanting to take in the details to remember later just in case this is all we ever have. He’s looking down at me and smiling. His cheeks are red, there’s sweat on his brow and his dark hair has fallen forward over his forehead. His brown eyes sparkle with lust and a jolt of intense emotion spears through me when our gazes meet.
“Come for me, Lauren,” he pants, “do what you need to come, I’m close, baby and I want to feel you exploding around me.”
“Yes,” I croon and move a hand down to the juncture of our bodies. He lifts up for me so I can slide in and rest a finger on my clit. “I want to come all over your fucking cock.”
“God, Lauren, you’re amazing.” Stuart groans as I wank. He fucks me and I am a swirling mass of ecstasy. I am so close to orgasm I can taste it. A metallic edge, a sweetness in the back of my throat that seizes when I scream out my completion. I should be quiet, I know, but I can’t hold it in. I shake and shudder and pull him closer to me. Stuart stiffens and holds himself deep within me and with a grunt and a bitten back moan he finds his own completion.
We lie together, his body pressed into me, the damp jacket sticky on my back. We gasp in rhythm and silence builds around us.
“Better get back,” I finally say.
“I suppose. My boss’ll kill me if I can’t tell him what happened today.”
“And shit, we’re already late.” I shake my wrist but the time stays the same. He kisses me before we part and I enjoy the intimacy of the act, then we’re in a hustle of dressing. All my clothes are still wet. Stuart’s not any dryer either. We laugh between squelches and exclamations of disgust at cold, wet fabric clinging to recently warmed and sensitised flesh.
We leave the store room with furtive glances left and right. No one sees us but as we make our way up to the conference room we become more and more conspicuous, pulling stares from all we pass.
“Look, Lauren, I don’t know how to say this so I’m just going to say it. Can I have your number ‘cos I really want to do that more often.”
“Sure, we’ll swap numbers before we go, definitely, I want more too.”
He grabs my hand and squeezes it. My smile covers my face and when we burst into the conference room we’re still grinning.
“Welcome back,” the lady in charge greets us. I still can’t remember her name.
“Sorry we’re late,” I start, scrabbling for an excuse.
“You got caught in the rain, obviously. I was lucky, I got in just before it started.”
“Yes, the rain,” Stuart agrees. I just stand with my mouth agape. “We got soaked.”
“I can see,” Ms-Whatever-She’s-Called continues, “you should go off and get dry. I’ll save the worksheets for you.”
“Good idea,” Stuart replies, grabs my wrist and pulls me towards the door. It’s only then that I glance at the surrounding windows and see the grey clouds and the rain on the windows. “We’ll be back when we’re dry.”
I nod, wave and allow myself to be pulled out of the room and into the arms of my lover.
“You heard the woman, Lauren. We need to go and dry out.”
“Okay,” I stutter, my mind still hasn’t quite caught up with the action.
“I suggest we go to your place. What do you think?”
“Sounds good to me,” I grin, “But shouldn’t we - ”
“No, we shouldn’t.” Stuart emphatically states, “We’re going to go and fuck, okay?”
“Okay,” I reply, “If I come into work tomorrow and find out I’ve been fired - ”
“Well, then we could fuck some more and it’d all be good.”
I laugh. I can’t do anything but, his light-heartedness is infectious.
“Well, I can see you’ve got a one track mind and I better give in.”
“Good girl, you’ve got it.”
“Oh, I hope I do,” I reply with a wink, “because I really want it.”
“What is it they say in Manchester? Mad fer it? Oh, Lauren I am completely mad fer you.”
We squelch together, the damp clothes a reminder of those heady moments in the fountain. The hardness of his body echoes back to the fuck in the store room and the heat of his lips and the passion in his kiss promise much for the future.
Love Of My Life
By Wendi Zwaduk
Chapter One
“I hate elevators.” Zoe rubbed her hands on her jeans. She tapped her foot and measured her breaths. Riding in the lift didn’t bother her. No, the man to her left - he bothered her. Did he recognise her? And if so, did he care?
“He shouldn’t care,” she muttered.
“I shouldn’t what?” The man placed his hand on her shoulder. “Tell me.”
Well shit. Of all the places in the world, she had to run into Torin Michaels, her former lover and lead vocalist for her favourite rock band, Rampage, in the elevator of her apartment building. She willed herself to breathe rather than say something ridiculous. He hated the overcrowded city. Why in the name of God had he come back? Her gaze travelled along his body from the weathered leather jacket he refused to part with draped over his torso, down his tapered legs encased in faded denim to the thick soled shit kicker boots he always wore. The man embodied sex, sin and rock and roll.
“Zoe, I won’t bite.” His breath feathered on her neck.
Oh she knew all too well. He did bite, spank, tie and pleasure his lover until she dropped. She swallowed past the lump in her throat. Guilt? Repressed desire? Who knew, but she sure as hell wasn’t about to give him the satisfaction of leaving her again. No, she’d hold firm.
The rumour held he’d written a song for her once they split. Love of My Life. Bullshit. She hadn’t been the love of his life and he used her if for no other reason than he needed a muse for the song.
The lift jerked and slowed. Zoe watched the buttons on the keypad. The lights for floors five and six remained lit, but the car chuffed to a halt.
“Isn’t that a shit? Damn thing got stuck.” Torin pressed the buttons on the pad. “The phone button doesn’t work, either. Jesus.” He leant against the wall of the car and faced her. “So.”
“So.” Part of her wanted to slink away from him. Another part of her wanted to run into his arms - except his arms weren’t open to her. The rest of her chose to stand firm. “What brings you to Cleveland? The hot weather or the constant road construction? They’re tearing up I-90 again. The Inner Belt Bridge project has been put on hold so they can implode a parking garage on Carnegie. The detour has traffic really goofed up. I hear we’re getting another Casino. Like we need another place to gamble.”
“People like to try their luck near water.”
“You said you hated the water and the congestion. So why are you here?”
“You.”
Zoe froze. He hadn’t just said…no, her mind played tricks on her. “The Pier renovated the docks, making it really nice down there. The Galleria has a bunch of new store fronts, so we now have access to an organic food store. It’s nice. I can run by the lake in the morning then walk over to the mall in the afternoon and get my groceries and have a nice dinner. No need for a car.”
Torin rose to his full height and crossed the expanse to where she stood. He didn’t just walk to her, he moved like a cat. All swagger and slink and those muscles. “Did you hear me, Zoe?”
The possession in his eyes radiated to her core. He held all the power. One gravelly word from him and she used to come in his hand. No more. No matter how hot he was. Her nipples pebbled and the heat in her chest slipped southward.
“You like to push buttons.” Try as she might, she couldn’t look away from his eyes. In the dim light, she noticed the deep brown flecks nestled among the green.
“You’ve become jaded.” He stepped closer to her, enough she felt his breath on her skin. The scent of mint and musk curled around her. He grasped a lock of her hair and ran the strands through his fingers. “Who did I come back for?”
&nb
sp; “You, so you say.” She notched her chin in the air. “You came back to this city and all the things you said hemmed you in for me. You don’t like traffic, hate seeing all the buildings cluttering the skyline and yet you’re back in town.”
“You don’t believe me?” His voice rumbled down her spine. “Come here.”
“No.” She sidestepped him and allowed herself to breathe. She kept her back to him. If she didn’t see him, she couldn’t fall for him. “I can’t.”
“Claustrophobia?”
“Yes.” He’d remembered. She studied her reflection in the polished metal. “Gets me every time.”
“Let me take your mind off your problem.” He turned her around and held her in his arms, albeit loosely. Torin began to sway and sing. “I’ve never found a woman like the love of my life.”
She sagged against him and clutched his shirt. She figured he’d try to get into her pants. Zoe rubbed her cheek on his shoulder. She settled into the rhythm of his movements, transfixed by him.
“You broke my heart, so I gave you your freedom,” he sang. “My mistake to live with for so long. How can I say I was wrong?”
Zoe processed his words. She’d heard the song a thousand times on the radio, but never with the passion and pain in his voice. Tears shimmered in her eyes. She shouldn’t melt into him. Shouldn’t want him so much.
“Feel a little better?” He stroked her hair. “Babe?”
“Say you’re sorry,” she murmured. Well, hell. She meant to stay strong and tell him she wasn’t afraid, not cave to him.
Torin stopped moving. He leaned back in her embrace. “What?” He tipped his head to look into her eyes. “You’re crying.”
“All you had to do was say you were sorry.” She cleared her throat to keep her emotions at bay. “I understood.” There. She told him what she needed to say and still had her pride intact.
The lift lurched and the lights on the pad brightened. The bell pinged and the doors opened. His shoulders slumped. “Your floor?”
“I’m on five, yes.” Zoe slipped through the doorway. If she didn’t escape, she’d never be able to walk away. And wasn’t that what he wanted in the first place? No strings except the silk bindings they used when they played? Without looking back, she headed to the solitude of her apartment.
Torin placed his hand on the elevator door to keep it open and watched the sway of her ass as she retreated down the hallway. She left him. The audacity. The bell pinged again. Someone else probably wanted the car. Screw it. He strode forward. Zoe Masters managed to enmesh herself in every aspect of his life. He committed her image to memory. Her flair for fashion never failed to amaze him. She worked a tattered concert t-shirt and ‘fuck me’ boots like no other. The streak of green in her ebony hair magnified the green flecks in her eyes. Had he been stronger, he’d never have let her go.
With each step, memories bombarded him. The press hounded him to marry her. His manager begged him to dump her. The band urged him to leave things be. Zoe? She stood at his side and let him make the decisions he felt he needed to make. The bright lights of Los Angeles meant nothing without her. Hell, he’d been kidding himself too long. Any city felt like the middle of nowhere if she wasn’t in his arms.
Zoe disappeared into one of the doorways and her lock clicked shut. Torin made his way down the corridor, past her door to the bank of windows. The view took his breath. Lake Erie, in all her glory shimmered across the horizon. Sailboats and barges dotted the rough surface. To the left, the Key Building, Tower City and the other bank buildings making up Cleveland’s downtown glistened in the late day sun. If he squinted, he could see the flag atop the Atrius. He missed being able to wake up, head to the gym, walk a block to the Atrius to record, grab a sandwich at the restaurants downtown, then home to fuck the night away with Zoe. Most of all, he missed being able to walk down the street hand in hand with his girl.
But she evaded him in the elevator. He folded his arms. Zoe might have been the love of his life, but pushover never entered his mind. She had flaws, sure, but she refused to let him treat her with anything but honour. He’d come back to Cleveland to make amends and get her back. Then damn it, he’d get her back.
Chapter Two
“I never quite got him out of my life.” Zoe massaged her temples. Her cat, Flash, stared at her from across the room. “He’s back.” She knelt down and offered her hand. The cat jumped down from her perch and stretched, her tail curling in the air. Although she took her time, she crossed the living room and strolled under Zoe’s hand. The cat meowed and her purr vibrated Zoe’s skin.
“What am I going to do?” Zoe plopped onto her bottom. The buckles on her boots clicked on the foyer tiles. “I love him. Stupid, huh? To still love a man who walked away without a second glance. Am I crazy?”
Flash flicked her tail, then slunk away.
Zoe sighed. If she wanted to call him, she couldn’t. He never gave her his new cell number. She rubbed her forehead. He got on with his life…why couldn’t she?
The cat stared at the door, then burst out of the living room.
Zoe glanced over her shoulder. The apartment door remained closed. Had someone knocked? She stood and peeked through the spy hole in the door. The last person she expected to see in the hallway waited on the other side of the door.
“Torin?” Zoe flipped the lock and opened the door. “What are you doing here?”
“May I come in?”
She stole a glance out into the hallway. “I don’t understand.”
“Just me. No cameras, no press. They lost interest in me anyway.” He stuck his thumbs in his belt loops. “Besides, this is just between you and me.”
A private conversation? Fine. Zoe shrugged off a shiver and stepped out of the way. He deserved time to explain or whatever he had in mind. “Come in.”
Torin bowed his head and made his way into the apartment. “You look beautiful.”
“Thanks.” She closed the door and folded her arms, unsure of what else to do. Torin held the power to bring her to her knees with one word. If he’d slip into his Master persona, she’d know where she stood with him. No, he had to use the damn pleasantries like head games.
“I bet you’re wondering why I’m back and what I’m thinking.” He kept his gaze low. “Can we talk?”
“I suppose. Would you like something to drink? I don’t have any wine. I gave up drinking a year ago, but I’m sure I can find something.” She bit the inside of her mouth. More information than he needed. “What will it be?”
“You.” Torin looked her straight in the eye. “I thought I could live without you.”
Talk about a curveball. Zoe wobbled on her feet and her stomach lurched. A twinge of hope sprouted in her mind and she tamped the thought down. No need to get excited.
“I see.” Not her best response, but at least she said something.
“Did you ever roll over in bed and expect someone to be there only to be alone?” He sat down on the arm of her chair and dropped his hands into his lap. “The familiarity you crave is gone and you can’t bring it back. You know?”
She did, all too well. Zoe threaded her fingers together. The legs of his jeans held snug against his legs, giving her a delicious view of his crotch and cock.
Torin shook his head. “I hurt you, didn’t I?”
“Really?” The emotions she’d held at bay burst forward before she could rein them in. “Hurt me? Oh, I don’t know. You walking out the door and not telling me why might have been it. Or was it seeing you with another woman the day afterwards? Better yet, going to see Renegade and hearing you say you were happily on the market. Yeah, you cut me deep.” Tears slipped down her cheeks. “You replaced me. Did you think I’d be okay? That I’d move on and cheer for you and whoever you ended up with? You ripped out my heart then tossed it on the ground. You were my Master, the only man I played with and you booted me. I haven’t taken another Master. I can’t. None of them are you. So blow that up your ass.”
“You haven’t taken another?” He forked his fingers into his hair. “All the apologies in the world don’t make up for what I did.” His shoulders sank. “Instead of following my heart, I followed what the band wanted. They said we’d sell more records if you and I were through.”
“You dumped me over record sales?” She threw her hands into the air. “Jesus. And here I thought it was because we played our sex games and you didn’t want everyone to know.”
“Zoe, that is true.” He surged to where she stood. He stooped to look into her eyes once more. “I scared myself with our games.”
“How?”
“When you screamed and whimpered, I convinced myself you weren’t doing it because it felt good. I believed I was hurting you. I scared myself thinking I’d go too far and actually bring you harm. What kind of man spanks his woman with a flogger hard enough he leaves marks? What kind of guy ties her up and fucks her? A guy who is fucked in the head and needs his ego inflated. I kept away from you so I wouldn’t hurt you and I made it worse.”
Zoe covered her mouth with both hands to buy time to think. Things made so much more sense. They’d never actually talked about the games they’d played. They just played until they dropped. He didn’t fully understand the reasons behind the actions.
“I told the guys I dumped you to get us out of a slump. I couldn’t tell them I felt like less of a man because I beat you.” He rose to his feet and waved his hands in the air. “I loved hearing you say Master, but fuck. I didn’t trust myself not to go too far.”
“You didn’t beat me.” She touched his arm, stopping his movements. “Torin, you spanked me, yes, and used rope, cuffs and a lot of other things but you never beat me in the nastiest sense of the word.” She threaded her arm around his and led him to the couch. “Sit with me.”
Torin perched on the edge of the cushion. Flash sauntered into the room and leapt onto his lap. “I see you still have her.”
Smut in the City (Absolute Erotica) Page 13
