The Season of Sin (Peace In The Storm Publishing Presents)

by Stacy-Deanne

  “Elle needed help that you couldn’t give.” Brianna patted KC’s knee. “You did all you could do.”

  “I’ve told myself that for years but still I feel pain when I think that I could’ve done more. I knew Elle was hurting and I should’ve realized the depression would drive her to something drastic. I’ve prayed for Victoria. I just hope she ended up with a good life and people who love her so Elle didn’t die for nothing.”

  CHAPTER TWENTY-SEVEN

  New York City

  Zoë poured a thin stream of Merlot on her thigh.

  “Mmm.” Steven’s tongue slurped the wine as it drizzled down her leg.

  She poured some into her belly button. Steven lapped it up like a dog drinking from a hose.

  She spread her legs and put her ankles on his shoulders. She poured Merlot down her bush. His tongue dove straight for the bull’s eye.

  “Mmm!” Zoë clenched the sheet. “Ohh.” Her legs bounced against Steven’s back as his tongue poked her clit.

  “Oh…oooh…yes.” She dripped wine down his back and held his head to her crotch. “Mmm. Yes, oh! Mmm. Oh, Steven!”

  His tongue prodded until she released a numbing orgasm that almost knocked her off the bed.

  “Ohh!” She quivered. “Ohh! God yes!”

  He held her hands to the bed to keep her from falling.

  “Ahh!” She jerked. “Oooh!” She fell back. “Ah. Oh.” She held onto the headboard.” God that was great.”

  “You came hard.” Steven poured Merlot over her nipple and sucked it. “Did I please you?”

  “You know damn well you did.” She gave him a slobbering kiss. “Oh you felt so good. So fuckin’good.”

  He slipped his hands under her buttocks. “You pulled a couple of impressive tricks there yourself.”

  “So you noticed?” She combed her fingers through her extensions. “I bet my hair’s a mess.”

  “Nothing about you could be a mess.” He kissed her shoulder. “It’s impossible for you to look bad.”

  “Well.” She wrapped her legs around him. “That’s because you’ve never seen me in the mornings.”

  “No there is no way you could ever be less than stunning. I don’t care what you say.” He licked the spot between her breasts. “Ready for round four?”

  “Oh.” She laughed. “I think you better let Momma rest a while.”

  “Well Papa’s all revved up.” He caressed her thighs. “Momma’s gonna have to learn to keep up.”

  “I don’t know if I can keep up with you, Steven.” She kissed him. “But it sure is fun trying to.”

  He crossed his arms under his head and looked at the ceiling. “This feels so good you know? Like a breath of fresh air.”

  She played with his nipples. “I hope you don’t think I do this all the time.” She threw her leg across him. “I really like you.”

  “I like you too but I think you know that by now.”

  “This is so weird.” She flicked her hair out of her face. “I’ve been attracted to men before but it never consumed me like this.”

  “You have no idea how much I wanted you. The first time I saw you…”

  “Yeah?” She propped up to see his eyes.

  “I wanted to tear your clothes off and have my way with you.”

  “Ha, ha, ha! You did not.”

  “Oh yes I did. Man I couldn’t describe the perverted thoughts I had.”

  She kissed his stomach. “I felt something between us too but wasn’t sure how you felt until you kept coming around Jasmine’s. I just felt this heat every time I looked at you. I wanted you so much. My nipples get so hard just thinking of your name.” She sat up on her knees. “I masturbate to you.”

  “What?”

  “Yeah I close my eyes.” She closed her eyes and touched her breasts. “And I touch myself and I imagine you inside me.” She sucked her index finger. “And I stick my finger in my clit.”

  “Show me how you do it.”

  She circled her palm across her nipple and pushed her finger inside of her.

  “And I rock so slowly.” She panted. “And I imagine you kissing my neck and your breath on my ears.”

  He closed his eyes.

  “And I go deeper.” She leaned forward and rocked. “And deeper until I come. Oh.” She bounced as she edged to orgasm.

  “Does it feel good?” He sucked her neck. “Does it feel like I’m really inside you?”

  “Oh god yes.” She shuddered. “Ohh!”

  He pulled her into his arms.

  “Steven?”

  “Yes.”

  “Why were you upset earlier? Before you came?”

  “Huh? Oh it’s not important.”

  “Look I’m not into sharing men.”

  “What?”

  “So if there is something going on with someone else, Detective Morris, whoever then you need to let me know.”

  “Nothing is going on with anyone else.”

  “Are you sure? Because before you put on the brakes and now you wanna fuck me every time you see me. I don’t wanna be used.”

  “Where is this coming from? We were having a wonderful time and you’re flipping out now?”

  “I’m not upset but telling you the deal. I really do like you and I don’t mind playing with you because the sex is great. But I won’t be the one you run to just because you can’t have someone else. I am not anyone’s substitute. You understand that?”

  “I’m here because I wanna be.”

  She rested in his arms. “I just wanted to be clear.”

  “It’s just funny to see someone so beautiful so insecure.”

  “No woman wants to be used.”

  “And I’m not using you. You invited me over here remember?”

  “Yes.” She rubbed his arm. “I’m sorry. I didn’t mean to spoil the mood. Just hold me. Hold me all night.”

  “I wish I could but…” He checked his watch. “I gotta go.”

  “What?”

  “Yeah I gotta get back to Albany. It’s a two hour drive.”

  “You don’t have to leave.”

  “I gotta go to work tomorrow.”

  She wrapped herself in the sheets. “To work or to Brianna?”

  “Oh, man.” He threw the covers off. “So it’s starting already?”

  “What?”

  “You got the leash on me already huh?” He got his underwear from the side of the bed.

  “Please no one has a leash around you but it won’t hurt for you to miss one day of work.”

  “You gonna pay my bills if I get fired?” He got on his knees to find his socks.

  “Oh please you won’t get fired for calling in once.” She hugged him. “Come on, baby. We can stay in bed all day and do whatever…” She marked his back with kisses. “We want to do.” She turned him around to face her. “You can have me anyway you want me.”

  “And you don’t know how much I wanna take you up on that offer but I can’t.” He flicked her chin. “You’re not gonna get all clingy on me are you?”

  “Clingy?” She walked around in the sheet. “I wasn’t clingy when you fucked me was I?”

  “I was joking. Lighten up.” He turned in a circle. “Where the hell’s my shirt?”

  “I don’t find it funny. I feel like now that you got what you wanted you’re through.”

  “Oh come on, Zoë.” He found his shirt behind the chair in the corner. “You know it’s not like that.”

  “Do I?”

  “What’s up? We just had some of the most incredible sex of our lives and now we’re arguing over bullshit. I’m going to work tomorrow because I have to. It has nothing to do with any woman okay?” He kissed her nose. “If you don’t trust me now then how long can this possibly last?”

  “So you do want this to become more than sex?”

  “Sure.” He put his arms around her. “But if it stays like this I won’t complain.”

  She hugged him. “I’m sorry. Believe me I’m not usually like
this but I really like you. I want this to be more than sex.”

  “Mind if I take a shower before I go? I’m all sweaty and stuff.”

  “Yeah go ahead.” She put on her satin robe. He stared from the doorway. “I thought you were gonna go shower.”

  “Well uh, that robe’s giving me other ideas.”

  “Get outta here.” She threw a pillow at him.

  “I’ll be out in a few minutes.” He hurried down the hall with his clothes under his arms.

  Ding! Dong!

  Zoë trotted across the checkered-tile hallway.

  Knock! Knock! Knock!

  She stopped at the front door.

  The security guard always buzzed first to announce a visitor.

  Knock! Knock! Knock!

  She headed for the gun in her computer desk but remembered the cop in her shower.

  Sometimes her nerves got the best of her.

  Bang! Bang!

  “Lisa!”

  “Shit.” She touched her chest.

  “Lisa! I know you’re there, baby! I smell that perfume all the way out here! Open the door!”

  “Fuck! I don’t believe this.” Her chest throbbed. “Shit! Damn it.”

  “Lisa! I’m not leaving until we talk, baby doll!” He beat again. “Open the fuckin’ door!”

  She popped her head out. “Shh! What are you doing here?”

  The green-eyed blond switched a toothpick around his mouth. His huge chest poked from under his muscle shirt. That deviant smile covered half his face.

  “Hey, baby.”

  “What the fuck are you doing here?”

  “Well I just missed you. What can I say?”

  “I told you that what happened in Chicago stays in Chicago. I also told you I didn’t wanna see you again.”

  He switched the toothpick to the other side of his mouth. “Yeah well I think we have unfinished business.”

  “We don’t have anything. I can’t believe you’d come here!” Her breast popped out of her robe. “Shit.” She held it closed. “Get outta here, Billy. I’m warning you.”

  “But Lisa we got a bond remember?” He touched her hair. “You can’t just erase me out of your life and pretend I don’t exist. Not after all I’ve done for you.”

  “Leave.”

  “You don’t know what that perfume does to me.” He pushed his nose to her neck. “I always wondered if every part of you smelled this good.”

  “Get away from me.” She shoved him. “Get out!”

  “I’m not going anywhere until I get what you owe me.”

  “I don’t owe you anything.”

  “I wouldn’t be so sure. Come here.”

  “Let go of me.” She struggled in his arms. “Billy!”

  “Of course I could tell the cops what we had going and see if they thought you owed me. What do you think they’d say, Lisa?”

  “Look.” She swatted at him. “I’m not alone. We can talk about this another time. Get off me.”

  She tried to close the door. He blocked it with the toe of his boot.

  “Uh-uh. I’m not going anywhere. You can’t just sweep me under the rug and pretend I don’t exist.”

  “Are you a complete idiot?” She pointed to the hall. “I said someone else is here.”

  “I don’t care.”

  “He’s a cop.”

  “Well looks like that could be bad news for you then. The faster you let me inside, the quicker I can leave before he comes out here.”

  CHAPTER TWENTY-EIGHT

  Billy strolled around the living room. He checked out Zoë’s China cabinet full of antiques.

  “How did you get up here without security buzzing me?”

  “Wasn’t no guard down there.” He turned a candy dish upside down. “I like your place. It’s almost as sexy as you are.” He touched the glass table.

  “Get your ass away from that before you break it. Now you listen to me and don’t ever forget what I’m about to tell you. You don’t call the shots, I do. We meet when I say and not until then.”

  “Well I didn’t like that rule too much, baby doll. I got sick of feeling like some whipped puppy. You owe me and you know what I want.”

  “I don’t owe you a damn thing. You’re lucky I had anything to do with you in the first place.”

  “The money’s gone. I had things to do and the amount you gave didn’t last.”

  “That’s not my problem. I hope you remember how it felt to have it because it’s more than you’ll ever see in your pathetic life. I kept up my end of the bargain. I paid you. It’s not my fault you ran through it.”

  “This ain’t about money and you know it.” He stared at her cleavage. “You know what I want.”

  “Go fuck yourself.”

  “I wanna fuck you.”

  “Let go of me!”

  He stroked her thigh. “Give it a chance and you might not want me to.”

  “Get off! We had a deal and I’m not giving you anything else.”

  “I can’t trust your ass.” He fondled her buttocks. “And it is a beautiful, luscious ass.”

  “Get off me, Billy!”

  “I keep thinking in the back of my mind that you’re gonna turn everything around on me and I’ll end up in prison.”

  “What the fuck you mean? No one knows about your sorry ass. You’re in the clear now let me go.”

  “You’re so beautiful.” He pushed his hand up her robe. “I thought we had something going more than business.”

  “What do you want?” Her breasts sat on his chest. “What?”

  “I want what you’ve been dangling in my face since we met.”

  “No.” She punched his rigid chest. “Let me go!”

  “You’re not in the position to say no to me. I could tear your world apart. Now here’s the deal. I won’t tell what a bad girl you’ve been. I promise.”

  “Get your filthy hands off me.”

  “If you sleep with me.”

  “Fuck you.” She broke loose.

  “Ah come on.” He cackled. “It’s a great deal, baby! You sleep with me and I’ll keep my mouth shut. I promise.”

  “It’s not happening. I’d never be that desperate.”

  “I’m not bluffing. I’ll ruin you and you know I can. Turn this fantasy you’re living into the shithole of a life you been running from.”

  “You’re disgusting. I shouldn’t have ever gotten involved with you.”

  “Either you give me what I want or I’ll go to the cops. I got you where I want you.” He cornered her against the door. “I’m running the show now.”

  “Get off me.”

  “That’s the deal, baby. You fuck me and then you never have to see me ever again. Now why don’t you give me a sample right now?”

  “Get away from me. Get away!”

  “Hey!” Steven put on his blazer. “What the hell’s going on?”

  Billy let Zoë go. “And you are?”

  Steven folded his collar down. “Detective Steven Kemp with the Albany Police.”

  “And I bet that makes you feel so important doesn’t it?”

  “Just go, Billy.” Zoë opened the door. “You’ve caused enough trouble.”

  Steven fixed his sleeves. “If you don’t understand what she means I think I can elaborate for you.”

  “I understand, Officer Kemp. I didn’t mean to interrupt. Are you two fucking?”

  “Miss Peron asked you to leave.”

  “Miss Peron? Lisa what the fuck is he talking about?”

  “Lisa?” Steven looked at her.

  “Just go.” She jabbed Billy. “We can talk later.”

  “Mmm. Hope you wear that perfume the next time we meet because I love it.”

  She slammed the door.

  “Who was that?”

  “Nobody.” She pushed her hair behind her ears.

  “Why did he call you “Lisa”?”

  “Because he thinks it’s my name.” She straightened the couch pillows.

&n
bsp; “And why does he think it’s your name?”

  “I know him from outta town. He has a crush on me. He won’t take “no” for an answer. When I first met him I told him my name was Lisa. I didn’t want him to know my real name.”

  “Uh-huh.” Steven twirled his keys. “Then how come he knows where you live?”

  “I don’t know. He just popped up outta nowhere.”

  “I don’t like this. You know him well?”

  “Just someone I met up with when I went out of town.”

  “Was he a boyfriend?”

  “He wanted to be but I told him straight up I wasn’t interested. He was just someone I had drinks with from time to time. But he made it clear he had feelings for me so I left it alone. I had no idea he was in New York and I certainly didn’t know he knew where I lived. That’s why I gave him a fake name so he wouldn’t find me.”

  “Do you think he was the person who was following you that night?”

  “Uh I don’t know.” She sat on the arm of the couch. “I didn’t think of that. He might be.”

  “This guy could be a stalker, Zoë. There’s too much crazy shit happening. Dylan’s attacked, someone follows you and now this guy shows up. You gotta be careful. Promise me.”

  “I will. I never would’ve answered the door if I knew who it was. The security guard didn’t buzz up.” She fixed his collar. “Thank god you were here.”

  “Well I gotta go. I’ll see you okay?”

  “Hold on.” She kissed him. “You can’t just leave me like this.”

  He stumbled. “Come on. Zoë I gotta go.”

  She raised her robe. “Sure you don’t want one for the road?”

  “If I don’t leave now I never will.”

  “You sure?” She slid her robe to the floor. “Are you really sure? Are you?”

  “Shit. I can’t get enough of you.” He hoisted her against the wall and forced her legs around his waist.

  “Oh yes.” She helped him out of his blazer. “Fuck me, Steven.” She unzipped his pants. “Make me come so hard it lasts until the next time.”

  A Week Later

  Zoë swirled her hand into the bubbly bath water. She dumped in perfumed salts she’d gotten free from her last trip at the spa. She threw in some rose petals. Nick had taken Jasmine and Dylan to dinner so she had Jasmine’s all to herself. She wasn’t about to tag along and be referee for another Hudson family spat. She took full advantage and decided to pamper herself.