Woman Named Red

by Stasia Black

  Trisha Wolfe—thanks so much for giving your feedback and edits when you were in the middle of your own edits and release insanity! It is such a privilege to know you and your feedback was incredible. The parts that excited you and things that were slower highlighted just what I needed to work on. I SO appreciate you giving me your time, energy and expertise.

  Belinda Donaldson, you were my very FIRST reader on this—yes, I even eventually found the email lol ;) You have no idea what an amazing thing it is to have a real live human to send a book off to right after you’ve finished writing it and get feedback right away. You’re awesome and I am so lucky to have you!!

  Karina L, you are so amazing, with me from the very beginning and across genres, hugs foreverrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrr!!!!!!!!!!!!! I always so appreciate getting your gut reaction to my books and getting a feel for whether they’re working or not. Thank you!

  This book would be an ugly mess of miscapitalizations, grammar mistakes, and missing words without the proofreading genius of Maria Pease from The Paisley Editor. She’s awesome! Fellow authors, highest recommendations!

  Last but not least, thank you to my hubby. Gah, this year has been INSANE and will hopefully only get more so ;) Thank you SO MUCH for your unwavering support, even on the days I’m PMSing and am sure nothing in the universe will ever go my way and I want to go hide under the covers. You always drag me out of my hermit cave back into the light—sometimes to, you know, go hiking or some other healthy bullshit, but other times, for donuts and over-sugared coffee. You’re basically annoyingly perfect and win all the husband points.

  Sneak Peek of Modern Day Geisha

  Coming August 2017

  Chapter 1

  I take a deep breath before I enter the room and adjust the silky kimono that barely covers the tops of my thighs. How should I play this one?

  I should probably go virginal. It’s one of Yang’s guys after all. They all love that submissive village girl just out of China BS.

  I was raised on MTV and grilled cheese sandwiches in the good old US of A and four years ago couldn’t speak Chinese for shit, but none of them need to know that.

  I bow my head and push open the door. My pedicure has a chip on my pinkie toe. Damn, if Madame Liu notices that, she’ll have my ass. I’ll have to take care of it as soon as I get back to my room. Hopefully this won’t take long and I can even get back in time for a bath before the other girls get in.

  I step inside the room and close the door behind me, all without looking up. There’s no need, after all. I know this goddamned tiny room like the back of my hand.

  The stained grey carpet. The horrible red and black patterned wall paper and paper lanterns that hang from the ceiling. And of course, the central piece of furniture that dominates the small room—the bed.

  And the men of course. They rotate in and out, the only feature that ever changes. But after a couple years, they all started looking the same too. Occasionally one will stand out. The particularly vicious fuckers. You learn to watch out for them. But all in all I don’t have it too bad. My best friend and roommate, Keiko, got Yang’s cousin Daniel as a regular, and he’s a total violent nutjob. She’s constantly having to get artful with concealer so she can keep up with her other johns.

  I’m lucky. Really. I am.

  Scuffed motorcycle boots.

  I always look at the shoes first. You can tell so much about a man by his shoes. Are they buffed and expensive leather? He’s probably going to have particular tastes in the kind of fuck he wants. Construction boots? They’re often one and done, in and out. A lot of times they’ve got to run off and get home to the wife. Sometimes they want a little something special—usually a blowjob. Maybe they want to slap your ass, whatever the wifey won’t do for them.

  Motorcycle boots, though, I haven’t had one of those in a while. That and him being one of Yang’s—I feel my back straighten slightly even though I know better. Men are like animals. They can smell fear in a woman and most of them get off on it.

  One of the reasons I’m Yang’s most sought after ‘geisha’s? I show no fear.

  “I’m Petal,” I say in a soft voice that’s little above a whisper. “How may I serve you?” I blink with a slight overexaggeration as I finally look upwards at the owner of the motorcycle boots in my best imitation of Bambi. It sounds ridiculous, but I shit you not, men eat it up.

  I’m not prepared for how good-looking he is. He’s wearing worn blue jeans that hug his legs and a black long-sleeve Henley that does little to disguise that he’s built. They don’t look like the kind of muscles guys build at the gym either. Nothing about him is smooth. No, he’s all rough-hewn angles. A jaw that’s cut at a sharp angle, slanted nose and eyebrows that are a heavy slash over each eye. And speaking of those eyes. They’re intense and they focus on me but just for a moment before he looks away.

  He was sitting casually on the corner of the bed when I walked in but he springs up as soon as I move closer. The action brings him closer to me. He moves so quickly, it startles me and, even after four years of this, I can’t help jerking backwards.

  “Sorry.” His voice is deep and gruff. He rubs a hand across the shadowed stubble on his chin. “Look, I think there’s been a misunderstanding here.”

  His deep brown eyes meet mine for a second before he drops them again. Then he makes like he’s going to move around me and go for the door.

  Shit. Shit shit shit.

  “Don’t go so soon,” I say quickly and lay a staying hand on his chest. “I want to get to know you.”

  Again, moving with a quickness that surprises me, his hand grasps my wrist and draws my arm away from him. “Thanks but no thanks.” He takes another step toward the door.

  What the—

  Fuck virginal. Looks like we’re going to have to bring out the big guns.

  As I prance in front of him, I whip off the tiny robe I’m wearing. I decided not to wear anything at all underneath this time. Sometimes I go for the sexy peekaboo lingerie, but I’m glad I opted for commando today. This guy better give up on playing hard to get and fast.

  This time he’s the one who looks shocked by my bold move. I take advantage of his momentary pause and press my naked body up against him, my breasts flattening against his chest. Leaning up on tip toe, I press close and take his earlobe in between my teeth. At my brief nip, he expels a loaded breath.

  All right. Well, at least he’s interested. I don’t think he plays for the other team. That’s one hurdle down.

  But then his hands come up to my shoulders and I just know the bastards about to push me away again. I wrap my arms around his neck before he can and he drops his hands like he doesn’t want any contact with me.

  “Yang sent you here as a special treat, didn’t he?” I ask in his ear, in the quietest voice possible and not bothering with a seductive tone. Obviously we’re going to have to get down to this the straightforward way. “Nip my left ear if he did.”

  There’s a pause and he withdraws from me a few inches to look me in the eyes. Really, doesn’t he know how impolite that is? I’m trying to fuck him. There’s no need for eye contact. I give him my most seductive grin and roll my shoulders before kissing back up to his ear again. “Just answer the question. Did Yang send you here as a treat or not?”

  His hands which hung limply at his sides rise to my waist where he holds me like I’m an explosive device. Oh my God, what is with this guy. But he does move his lips to my left ear. He doesn’t use his teeth, but he does murmur, “Yeah, he did. So what?”

  That’s what I thought. Damn, this guy must be a newbie. But Yang sent him to me. So he’s in the inner circle.

  Or Yang’s testing him.

  I sigh internally. Why can’t life just be easy? I’m good at what I do but I really prefer it when there’s no extra effort required. This guy has effort written all over him.

  I roll my hips from side to side, grinding against him. There’s a hardening at the front of his jea
ns and he tries to pull his pelvis back from me. I laugh loudly like he’s just made the funniest joke, then smile shyly at him through my hair. I go back up on tip toes to his other ear. “Well then you better get with the program because there are cameras in here and it will look pretty weird if he sees you not enjoying what he’s so generously given you.”

  His body stiffens at the mentions of the cameras, and not in the way men usually stiffen in this room. Though as I press back up against him, I notice again that a certain part of him isn’t unresponsive to me.

  “That’s right,” I croon. “Let it happen. Doesn’t it feel good to just let go? Let me make you feel good, big boy.”

  “It’s Bo,” he says sharply. “Not big boy.”

  “Bo,” I lay emphasis on his name, arching an eyebrow seductively and then leaning in and licking down the throbbing vein on his neck. “I’m Petal. Now that we’re on a first name basis, why don’t we get better acquainted?” Christ, his neck is huge and the muscles in his shoulders bulge and bunch where I have my hands to steady myself.

  I stroke a hand down his chest. Time to see what kind of package we’ll be dealing with. I stretched myself ahead of time like I always do. Most of the time dudes who come here have tiny peckers, but every so often, I’ll get a guy who’s hung like a horse. Better to stretch ahead of time than get your hands on the damn thing and regret it in the moment. With a neck like that, whew, who knows what I’m going to find down there.

  I only get to his lower stomach, though, before his hand snatches my wrist again.

  My gaze snaps up to his. What the fuck? I thought we’d settled this. I.e., this is going down. For whatever reason, Yang arranged it. Ala, we perform our parts and dance like good little marionettes. Yang gets his show, Bo gets off, and if I’m lucky, I get to take a bath while there’s still a little bit of hot water left.

  For several seconds we stand there frozen, his hand on my wrist, me trying to communicate everything I can through my glare, and him with those damn deep brown eyes and unreadable expression.

  Then, without breaking from his gaze, I lift my free hand and pop my middle finger in my mouth. I suck on it hard, moving it in and out of my mouth. A soft moan escapes my throat and I release the finger with a loud pop. Bo’s mouth hardens in a straight line but his pupils don’t really blow until I drop my wet finger to my nipple and start plucking at it.

  “Oh fuck,” I hiss, biting at my lip. My legs twist together and I can’t help the way my breaths start coming shorter and shorter.

  And this right here is the second and most important reason why I’m Yang’s best girl.

  Because I don’t fake it.

  I can come on the drop of a dime. And I can come over and over and over. Even with the ugliest fucker, it doesn’t really matter. If I rub at my clit for even thirty seconds, I can usually pop off. Apparently it makes every man who fucks me feel like a god.

  Yang likes to say my body was made for sex work. That he did me a favor when he ‘collected’ me for my father’s gambling debt five years ago.

  I’m not allowed to tell the johns it’s just some fucked up quirk of biology and they aren’t anything special. Yeah. I learned my lesson about that one the hard way. That’s been my real specialty though—learning things in my life the hard way.

  I sling one thigh over Bo’s so that I’m riding him and I put a hand around his neck. I always request that music be on in the room before I arrive and a song with a sensual beat comes on. I grind myself against his thigh and aw yeah, right there, shit, I swear I’m almost there. Yeah, I can still come with the ugly assholes, but Bo being so hot does really move things along.

  “Oh my God, you’re making me so hot,” I hiss as I roll my hips and grind down against his leg. “I’ve never felt anything like this before.” More high-pitched mewling noises escape my throat as I go to roll down again. One more time and it will hit, I can tell the climax is just sitting right there. And usually that’s enough to get any guy in the mood. It’s like a trigger for them. Maybe it’s chemical, when a chick comes they—

  “Don’t bullshit me.”

  Suddenly Bo’s hand is at my throat and the next thing I know I’m pressed up against the wall. His fingers squeeze and my eyes widen. Oh shit. Shit, are they seeing this on cams? Tiny better get his fat ass in here ‘cause I’m gonna—

  “Don’t ever bullshit me,” Bo says again, relaxing his hold on my throat and stroking down my neck to my breastbone and then coming back up to secure his fingers back around my neck.

  And that’s when it registers. It’s not a kill-you kind of choke-hold. I know the difference because I lived through one of those. Long story.

  No, what he’s doing? And the way he’s looking at me, with his chest smooshed up against my breasts like that? I’ve experienced this kind of choking too, though only once, and with a dude who didn’t really know what he was doing.

  But Bo? By the pressure and the way he’s got his hand on certain points at my neck, like they’re exact pressure points—fuck, he knows what he’s doing.

  Immediately, my body arches against him and a climax hits. My gasp is mottled with his hand blocking some of my airway, but shit, that makes it even higher. My body arches up toward the peak like a full-figured yawn, stretching all my muscles.

  Bo’s eyes widen as he watches me and realizes what’s happening. They’re always so astonished. I swear. The female orgasm isn’t really that elusive. I’m not a fucking pink elephant dudes. Just put a little work into your own women and you can achieve the same effect, sheesh.

  “You like to play rough?” I ask in a gravelly voice as soon as I can talk again. “Because I’ve been a bad, bad girl.” I level my eyes at him. “Big boy.”

  His hands loosened on me as soon as I came, so I take the opportunity to flip in his arms so I’m facing the wall. I stick my ass out toward him and wiggle slowly back and forth. I glance over my shoulder and see that his gaze is zeroed in on the anatomy I’m showcasing.

  “Are you just gonna stare, or are you gonna give me what I deserve?”

  His eyes flick up from my ass, meet mine, and then drop back to my ass. I grin and put my hands on the wall, scooting down a little more so that I’m in perfect spanking position.

  I bite my lips and wait, wiggling my butt back and forth in the air in an enticing motion.

  And I wait.

  And wait.

  Oh my God, seriously?

  I look over my shoulder again, and he’s still just standing there, staring. I know I should be more annoyed and with any other john, I would be. But he really is good looking—and more than that, he’s got that thing. You know, the thing where you can tell he’s a serious bad boy and badass. All dominant, all trouble. He works for Yang, so he’s probably an evil jackass on top of that. But I’m not seeing any evil yet—just intense curiosity and that odd discipline. He wants me, that’s obvious, but he’s not letting himself have me. In my business, let’s just say I don’t see a lot of self-restraint.

  And all that intensity is wicked sexy. It’s nice to get off from stimulus that’s actually worthwhile for once.

  But still, it’s time to get this show on the road. “You want to fuck me here?” I reach back and spread my ass cheeks. “I like it in the ass.” I look over my shoulder and give him my best fuck me eyes. “And I like hard. Come on big boy. You know you want to give it to me up the ass. When was the last time you had a girl betting you for it like this. It’ll make both of us feel so good.” I let my voice take on a slight whine at the end, and then I drop my hand between my legs.

  “I need it. I need it again.” My breaths start to get shorter. “You don’t understand. I need it so bad. It’s like a sickness. And I need a fat cock inside me. There’s condoms on the side table. Let me put one on you and oh God,” I turn toward him, hand working my clit.

  “No, I can’t wait.” I drop to my knees. “I need to taste your cock. I’ve got to have it.” I let out a desperate, needy cry as I reach for
his belt buckle.

  But right as I get to my knees, he’s drawing me back up to my feet with one of his strong hands on my upper arm and the other in my hair. The hand in my hair isn’t yanking so much as a symbolic power play as he drags me by my arm toward the bed.

  He forces me face down on the mattress. “I said don’t bullshit me. Don’t try to run your normal playbook with me.” His hand lands in a crack on my ass.

  I yelp because I wasn’t expecting it. Before I really get my head around it he’s landed several more smacks. Little yips escape my mouth at the stinging spanking. I can’t help the glare I shoot his way when I look over my shoulder and for the first time since I lifted my eyes when I walked in the room, I see something other than the unreadable intensity on his face. He’s grinning at me. The bastard— What a motherfucking—

  He spanks me again, that cocky grin never leaving his face.

  Yeah, so I don’t know what comes over me next. But him just sitting there, laughing at me, it just flips a switch. There are rules to the world I live in. Strict rules. Breaking them can make life very unpleasant. But it’s like I just forget everything I know.

  “Aw, are you shy?” I lift my eyebrows in mock concern. “Does your dick not want to come out to play? Do you a witty bitty pipi?” I hold two fingers an inch apart. “Lots of guys have that problem. Trust me,” I huff with a laugh. “I’d know, I’ve seen lots of guys. Don’t feel bad.” I reach back and pat him on his jean clad thigh. “I’ll make it good for you and I’ll come too. No faking. Scouts honor.” I hold up two fingers in the scout salute. I lean back toward him. “No bullshit, as you put it. I’ll make the experience unique to you. You can have your own special special snowflake fuck.”

  The grin has dropped from Bo’s face during my speech and in the seconds that he stares at me afterwards, I realize how big I just fucked up. There are cameras. Madame Liu heard every word that just came out of my mouth. Bo was just getting into this and I’m pretty sure I just killed whatever cockstand I was finally managing to encourage with that little emasculating rant—