by Lynn, Janice
What were the odds of Jude’s engagement party falling on the anniversary of the day she’d walked out of her mother’s life? Perhaps it was fitting that yet another chapter of her life would end on this particular date.
She glanced at her watch. Close to ten. Jude and Mandy’s engagement party would have already had its most exciting moments. Moments that his parents, who he was obviously close with, would have shared.
Longing to hear her mother’s voice filled Avery. Longing she hadn’t had in years. Didn’t want to have now.
She gently scooted Payback Puss off her lap and searched for her cell. The back recesses of her mind stored a never dialed number. Why she’d looked it up all those years ago, she wasn’t sure, wasn’t even sure if her mother still went by that number. Perhaps she’d moved a dozen times since.
Avery hit send. Her pulse thundered in her ears as the line on the other end rang. Oh God, what was she doing? She went to hang up when someone answered.
Her mother.
“Hello.”
Avery gulped. This was a mistake. A big one. She hadn’t spoken with her mother in eight years. There were reasons for that.
“Hello?”
Avery couldn’t speak. She opened her mouth, tried, but nothing came out.
“Is anyone there?”
Her heart pounded all the faster. The fragile connection was about to be broken.
“Wait,” she called, knowing her mother’s finger touched the hang-up button.
“Avery?” the astonished voice asked. “Is that you?”
She’d gone and done it now. Her mother knew it was her. Which she had to admit surprised her since she’d only said the one word and years had passed since their last conversation.
“Yes.”
“Are you in trouble?” Her mother didn’t sound pleased to hear her voice. Big surprise there.
“I’m in New York.” Why she said that she wasn’t sure, but she supposed it fit as much as anything else she might say to her mother.
“If you’re calling for money, you should know I don’t have any.”
Avery’s heart pricked. “I’m not calling for money. I just wanted to hear how you were.”
Her mother paused. “You sure you ain’t wanting money?”
“I do fine on my own.”
“Oh?” A short pause. “Maybe you could let me borrow some? Just until I get on my feet again.”
Her mother was asking to borrow money? After not speaking to her for eight years she wasn’t asking if she was okay, if she was married, or if she had kids, her every word centered around the almighty dollar. Same old mom. Same old hurts.
“Maybe.” Avery wouldn’t commit to anything, but she vowed to check into her mother’s life. If there was a real financial need, she’d send money. Right or wrong, she was her mother. “You’re okay?”
“Always a dollar short and a day late.”
Money again.
“You need anything particular?” her mother asked. “I’ve got company and would like to get back to him. A real looker if you know what I mean.”
Avery bit back a sigh. What had she expected? Her mother had never shown affection and had always been more interested in herself or whatever man currently resided in her life than anything Avery did.
“Nothing in particular. Have a good night.” Avery disconnected the phone in the midst of her mother reminding her to send money.
She slumped forward and cried. Shed the tears she’d refused to let loose all those years ago over the loss of a mother who really hadn’t been much of a mother to begin with. Shed the tears over the loss of a first love who’d been almost as selfish as Avery’s mother. But most of the tears she shed were over Jude. Jude hadn’t been selfish. Not to her. He’d given, and she’d taken. She was as bad as her mother. As bad as Scott. She’d hurt the man she loved.
A man she started baring her soul to but had held back. Held back for fear of being rejected. She hadn’t told Jude she loved him. Hadn’t told him she’d fight tooth and nail to win his love back. Hadn’t fought at all to win his affections, just given in to his demands for her to help him restore his life. He’d cared once. Surely with time he could care again.
Why was she wallowing in self-pity when the man she loved was somewhere in the city?
Because he’d told her to wait for his call.
When that call came, she’d give Jude the vengeance he wanted. A vengeance better than any he could possibly imagine.
She’d give him her heart, soul, and body on a platter.
* * *
Avery must have dozed because the ringing of her cell phone caused her to jerk. She glanced at her watch. Almost midnight. She’d definitely dosed.
“Hello,” she answered, smothering a yawn and thinking it was one of the girls calling to check on her.
“Where are you?”
Jude. In the background she could hear music and lots of voices. It amazed her she could hear anything as her heartbeat drummed so loudly in her ears.
“My place. New York. Like you said.”
“Good.” He hung up the phone not giving her a chance to say another word.
Good? Did that mean he was coming? Or that he was glad she had no social life?
Just in case, Avery ran to the bathroom, gazed at herself in the mirror. She eyed her long braid, considered taking down her hair, and adding make-up to her washed out from crying face.
But to do that would be acknowledging she thought Jude was coming over tonight. He wouldn’t do that so fast, would he?
He’d made her promise one night, his terms, whenever he chose. Him being the one to hold all the cards. The whole idea of it was the power trip of her being at his mercy. They both knew it.
Why would he bring that power rush to an end so quickly?
She took a cold wash cloth and washed her face free of all make-up and traces of tears. She added a touch of gloss to her lips, pinched her cheeks, and said to hell with it. She glanced down at her jeans and G.R.I.T.S. t-shirt. Perhaps Girls Raised in the South do it better wasn’t the exact message she wanted to send, but if Jude showed, tonight wouldn’t be about seduction anyway. It was about Jude getting even.
She quivered at the thought. Would he purposely degrade her? Make her crawl on her knees and beg him for sex? For release? What did he have in mind? Whatever, she knew it would be sexual and that she’d willingly do his bidding.
She’d beg for his love, anything he’d give.
Her inner thighs clenched and she cursed her physical weakness when it came to Jude.
Why was she working herself up like this? He wasn’t going to come. He was a smart man. He’d drag this out, make her suffer as she’d made him. He’d placed the call to toy with her mind, just like what was happening.
She pulled off her jeans, left her t-shirt on, and brushed her teeth. She was going to bed.
* * *
Jude called himself all kinds of a fool. Why was he here? Standing outside Avery’s apartment considering letting himself in with the key she’d provided so he could take his vengeance any time he wanted.
More like take her any time he wanted.
It’s what he’d insisted upon. She’d used him. Now he intended to use her. It surprised him when she’d agreed. Agreed to give him her numbers, free clearance with the doorman to come and go as he pleased, a key to her apartment so she was at his mercy whenever he decided.
He’d put her life on hold, insisting she stay in New York, just as she’d put his life on hold by her treachery. So why the hell had he come straight after dropping his parents at his place?
Avery deserved to suffer. For him to drag this out for days and keep her wondering, on edge. But the thought that he could be inside his dark angel, that she’d agreed to give him complete control over her for one night, was too much for him to resist. The taste of finally putting Mandy in her place sweetened his tongue, but didn’t fill the void within him. He wanted complete vengeance. Now. He slipped the key into the l
ock and opened the door.
Quietly, he snuck into the apartment. The large window overlooking Central Park let in glitters of city light and cast a faint glow around the room.
Now what? He asked himself. He was inside her apartment, had no idea if her roommates were here, no idea which bedroom was hers, no idea what he was going to say once he saw her.
Jude took off his shoes to keep from making noise as he searched for Avery’s room. If her friends were home, he didn’t want to wake them.
He straightened, tried to readjust his eyes to the light and felt a foot connect with his mid-section. Hard.
“Oompf,” he groaned, doubling over just in time for a knee to collide with his chin, jarring his bones so deep every part of him rattled.
Enough was enough. Jude reached out and grabbed hold of a smooth calf and pulled his attacker’s ankle toward him, knocking her off balance. Had to be a her with legs like those.
Avery’s. He was sure of it.
A fist smashed into his chest, knocking the wind from his lungs. Hell. She was kicking his ass.
And making him horny as hell.
“Hit me. I know you want to,” she taunted.
Hit her? Anger surged through his body. Anger at all the things she’d done to him. But hit her? A woman? His honor would never let him.
A hard chop landed across his chest. Then she pummeled him. “Hit me,” she demanded.
Protecting himself from her flying fists, he dropped her to the floor and pinned her beneath him. “Not exactly the welcome I planned.”
Avery stopped fighting although he was sure she’d been holding back all along. Had she known it was him and beat the crap out of him anyway? Why? Trying to get him to hit her? Hell no.
He wouldn’t appease her conscience that way.
“You didn’t say you were coming by,” she said, her breath brushing against his cheek, reminding her soft feminine body lay trapped beneath him.
“Wasn’t that the whole idea? To take you on my terms? What kind of retribution would it be if I politely called and announced that I’d be dropping by later for some S and M.” A metallic twang embittered his mouth. He’d bit his tongue when her knee smashed into his chin. “How did you know I was here?”
She wiggled, but not with enough effort to convince him she wanted free. If she really wanted loose, he suspected he’d be doubled over in pain and she’d be standing over him.
“You didn’t turn off the security system.”
“What security system?”
“The one you set off.”
Damn it. “You didn’t mention a security system.”
“You didn’t ask.”
Smart mouthed woman. He grinned, then called himself names again. “Are your roommates asleep?”
“They aren’t here.”
“Will they be back?”
“Of course.”
“Tonight?”
“They won’t be back tonight.”
“We’re alone?”
“Yes.”
Her chest heaved, her breath stroking his cheek.
“I’m here to collect my debt.”
She didn’t speak.
“Kiss me,” he ordered.
“How?”
Damn it, was she going to ask a question every time he gave an order?
“No more questions. When I give you a command, you improvise. Go with whatever your gut instinct says I want.”
“Okay.”
His eyes adjusted to the low light. He could tell she stared up at him. Stared at his lips. What was she waiting for?
“Kiss me,” he reminded, shifting his weight above her to slide his thigh between her legs, to where he pressed against the vee of her womanhood.
She lifted her head from the floor and pressed her lips to his. Her tongue traced over his lips. He got the impression she checked for tender spots. She strained her neck, trying to deepen the kiss. That’s when he realized he still had her arms pinned. He relaxed his hold. Immediately, her arms slid around his neck and cradled his head.
Then she kissed him. Deep and without holding back. She made love to him with her lips, her tongue. A low flutter rumbled in his belly, urging him to kiss her back, to take her mouth and body and brand her as his.
A voice of reason called him a fool for giving in to his need for her. A voice he reminded that he was here to take his vengeance, to make her pay, to use as he’d been used, nothing more.
He ground his thigh into her, his hips creating a rhythm growing in intensity. A rhythm that had him growing period.
He had to keep control. If just her kisses blurred his mind so much, this was going to be harder than he’d thought.
He was harder than he’d thought.
Her lips trailed across his jaw and she latched onto his ear lobe with her teeth. She bit him. Hard enough that he flinched. Hot breath caressed the stinging flesh, soothing, confusing, turning inside out.
When she had his blood strumming through his body at mach one, she gave one last hard suckle to the lobe. “What now?”
Jude clenched his teeth. This was about submission and punishment. About making her feel used, cheap, like the whore she was. She’d slept with him for money.
“Strip.” He rolled off her and felt for the light switch, found it, and flipped it on.
His gaze dropped to the woman lying in the floor, staring up at him. Her hair lay in a long braid to her left. Her lips were kiss swollen. Her t-shirt hiked up around her belly revealing hips encased in a sexy pair of tiny pink panties.
“Not much for you to take off from the looks of it.” He purposely kept his voice unaffected. He was affected. What he wanted was to bend over and take those panties off with his teeth and then kiss every inch of her body.
“I could change,” she offered, sitting up and eyeing his crotch with obvious interest.
“Do you have anything in leather?” he asked just to be ornery. He didn’t want her to change. He wanted her naked.
She snorted. She must have an entire wardrobe filled with the stuff. “How kinky do you want me?”
He swallowed the saliva pooling in his mouth. Otherwise drool would run down his chin.
“I’m going to make myself a drink while you do whatever it is you need to do.” He waved his hand. “When you come back I want your hair free and no more hitting me.”
She touched her braid.
“I want you in the skimpiest leather thing you own.”
She gave him a peculiar look then nodded. “Okay.”
Jude wandered into her kitchen and asked himself what the hell he was doing. He’d gotten even with Mandy. At least as even as one could with someone who’d put him through hell. Now was supposed to be Avery’s turn. He was supposed to screw her, make her feel used. Like she’d done to him. Instead, he wanted to make love to her, to hold her and demand she love him, to tell her the truth about him and Mandy.
He wouldn’t.
He poured a small glass of Jack Daniels and mixed it with soda from the fridge. Dipping his head back he emptied the glass, ignored the burn, and poured another, not questioning too closely the need for liquid courage.
He walked into the living room, sank onto the sofa, and became the victim of a cat stare.
“Who the hell are you?” the cat seemed to be wondering. Jude wondered the same thing because he didn’t recognize the almost possessed man of the past few weeks.
First, he’d been determined to find Angela at all costs. Once he’d found her, discovered the truth, all he’d been able to focus on was revenge. Revenge against Mandy. Revenge against Avery. Revenge mostly because she’d made a fool of him.
Made him care for her when she toyed with him in the name of work.
Which didn’t explain why she agreed to his terms for revenge. Why had she? When he’d made the claim she owed him a night of retribution, he’d expected her to slap his face. Certainly, he hadn’t expected her to agree.
Snap.
Jude glanced toward
the door.
Oh hell. He was in deep.
Avery stood there looking like every man’s S and M fantasy. She wore a studded black leather collar, a leather one-piece that’s intricate webbing showed more than it covered with its low-cut cleavage and its high-cut vee narrowing to her apex, black thigh-high garters and heels that towered so high she’d probably look him directly in the eyes. In her hands was a long, black leather whip that looked dangerous.
She flexed her wrist and the whip curled out. Snap.
She teetered to him with the sweetest shake of a rear-end he’d ever had the privilege of seeing on display. She stepped directly in front of where he sat, soaring above him.
“Do you need spanked?” she asked.
Not hardly. “You do.”
Her eyes widened, and he realized she’d taken the time to put on make-up. Charcoal lined her eyes and made them resemble cat eyes, dark and mysterious. Mesmerizing.
“I don’t let men spank me.” Her lips pursed in challenge.
“Under normal circumstances. These aren’t normal circumstances, are they?”
“I gave you the opportunity to hit me.”
“I don’t hit women with my fists, not even women who deserve it. But I am going to give your bottom the spanking you’ve earned.
She struggled with his comeback, then shrugged. “If that’s what you want.”
“It is.”
She dropped the whip at his feet, shot him a challenging look, then bent over the coffee table.
Jude stared at the round cheeks on proud display beneath the thong back of the leather one piece and finished off his second drink. When he made no move to touch her, Avery twisted her head to look at him.
“Well,” she asked impatiently. “What are you waiting for?”
“I’m the one calling the shots. Turn around. I’m enjoying the view.”
She frowned, but did as he asked.
She deserved a whooping. A hard one. He raised his hand to smack her cheek and instead found himself tracing over the curve of her bottom. She twitched, her buttocks tightening responsively.
Jude grinned, placed both hands on her bottom, and squeezed her cheeks.
He ran his palms over all exposed areas then traced the edge of the leather, dipping his fingers toward the barely covered center of her desire, pausing when he felt the snap.
