Flaunt It: Paolo's Playhouse, Book 1 Read online

  “No, Ben,” she said, her voice a little sad. “That has nothing to do with it.”

  “Then why? Why do you say no every time I ask you?” He’d never come out and asked her before because he wasn’t sure he wanted to know the answer. But now he did. No matter what it was.

  She crossed her arms in front of her and rubbed her skin as if she was suddenly cold. The look of anguish on her face was enough to make him want to walk away from her right now, just so she wouldn’t look so sad. “Why should I say yes?” she asked, lifting her chin with the challenge. “Why should I change my whole life because of you?”

  “Because I love you, dammit,” he shouted. She’d already rejected him, it couldn’t possibly hurt any more than it already did to speak the words he’d been reluctant to say out loud. The words he’d been certain would send her running. “Because my life is so much better when you’re a part of it.” She just stared at him, not saying a word. His heart raced, his body chilled. He lowered his voice to a whisper. “I love you, Piper.”

  Oh shit, those were tears streaming down her face. But she didn’t run away from him like he’d been afraid she would. Instead, she rushed up to him and wrapped her arms around him. “Well, it took you long enough to say so.”

  “What?” He wasn’t sure he understood what was going on, but he gathered her close, soaking up her warmth. This time he might never let her go.

  “Don’t you get it? I love you too much to be just another girl.” She stepped back just far enough to swipe at her tears. “I wasn’t sure how you felt about me. I couldn’t stay with you if you didn’t love me. I couldn’t move in with you if you didn’t feel the same way about me that I felt about you.”

  Ben stood there like a fool, with his mouth half-open, while he tried to find the words to tell her how he felt. Finally he just croaked out, “You love me?”

  “Don’t look so surprised.” She tilted her head to study him. “Why do you look so surprised?”

  “You could have any guy you want.”

  “I don’t want just any guy, you ass. I want you.”

  “But the way you dress. The way you flirt with all the guys at the bar.”

  “Okay, so I admit I like the attention.” She cocked her head to the mirror. “I like that attention. But I do it for you.” She slid one hand up his chest and rested it over his heart. “When all that attention gets me hot and horny, I leave with you, don’t I? I take all that pent-up sexual energy and I give it all to you.”

  Yes, she did. How could he not have realized that? He gathered her into his arms. “I love you, babe.”

  She kissed him, lightly, teasingly. “So I heard. I love you too.” She reached around him and squeezed his ass. “How many pairs of eyes are on your butt right now, Ben?” Mischief glimmered in her eyes. “I happen to love your ass and to think that there is a woman on the other side of the mirror staring and wanting and not being able to have what I have right now…well, lover, it just makes me so hot I can hardly stand it.”

  He was so hot he could hardly stand it. “Really?”

  She nodded and squeezed his cheeks again. His cock jerked against her bare stomach. He grabbed her ass too and pulled her up against him, grinding his aching erection into her softness.

  “So showing off like this, it makes you hot for me?” he asked.

  “Doesn’t it make you hot for me?” She narrowed her eyes and glared at him. “Or does knowing there’s another woman over there admiring your body make you want to go out and screw someone else?”

  “Of course not.”

  She smiled. “Well then.”

  “You drive me crazy, though, flirting with all those guys. Letting them…”

  “Letting them what?”

  “Get little peeks of you.”

  “You get to peek too, don’t you? It gets you hot, doesn’t it?”

  “Yeah.”

  “That’s what I want. That’s why I do it. To get you hot and drive you a little crazy.” She winked. “Besides, it’s good for business.”

  “I love smart, sexy women.” He pulled her close. “This smart, sexy woman.”

  And this time when she kissed him it felt different, even though he knew it couldn’t be. It felt special, this kiss between two people who loved each other. When they pulled apart, Ben looked over to the mirror, wondering about the people on the other side. Did they get what they expected from their evening here? Would they feel shortchanged if he and Piper left right now? He wanted to give her the attention she deserved, not worry about putting on a show for a bunch of strangers.

  She cupped his face in her hand and turned him back around to look at her. “Don’t think about them,” she said. “We’re here to have a good time. We’re here to show them how good we are together. Isn’t that why we’re here?”

  Was that it? Had he really brought her here to show her off? Did this have more to do with him and his insecurities than with what he thought of as Piper’s exhibitionism? Was it simply that she was secure in who she was? What she wanted?

  What had he been trying to prove?

  “Let’s show them how a couple in love has sex,” she whispered.

  “No,” he said, certain now of what he felt and what he wanted. “Let’s show them what it’s like to really make love.” He took her small warm hand and led her over to the bed.

  Piper kicked off her shoes and then climbed up into the middle of the large mattress, giving him a chance to take a long look at her ass before she knelt down and crooked her finger, beckoning him to join her. At this point he would have followed her anywhere. He joined her in the center of the mattress and knelt in front of her, close enough that her nipples grazed his chest. His cock bobbed then rested against her stomach.

  Her gaze raced over his face, as if she was trying to read him now, but Ben wasn’t afraid of what she might see. He figured she’d known him from the beginning. Knew what he needed. What he wanted. Knew that she was the perfect woman for him.

  It just took him a little while to catch up.

  He laid her down on the mattress gently to show her how precious she was to him. She looked up at him with a soft smile. Ben cupped her beautiful face with his hands and brushed her pink lips with his. “I love you,” he said again, his lips still touching hers as he said it. He should have told her months ago. He’d have to keep telling her, over and over. He didn’t want her to ever forget it.

  He proceeded to kiss his way down her body, starting with her graceful jaw, her slender neck, her soft shoulders. When he reached the swell of her breasts, he lingered there, gathering the pert globes in his hands and kneading the firm flesh with his fingers. Then he lowered his mouth again to taste each perfect nipple, to suck on them, to roll them around on his tongue and tease them with his teeth. She arched up into him, grabbing his shoulders and digging her fingernails into his flesh. He sucked harder and she shuddered beneath him.

  Finally he relinquished his hold on her breasts and took his attention lower on her body. The skin on her flat stomach was slightly salty when he swept his tongue along the concave path. Piper’s hands had dropped from his shoulders and now clutched the bedclothes on either side of her body. When he dipped the tip of his tongue into her navel, she made that little cry that shot his arousal off the charts.

  Ben settled between her thighs, inhaling that Piper scent that had his mouth watering. With the first lick through her puffy folds, her whole body jerked. He chuckled and dove in with relish, licking and sucking her sensitive flesh, drinking in her juices and teasing her swollen clit. She whimpered and writhed beneath him. He cupped her ass and lifted her hips to give him even better access to her sweet pussy.

  She cried out his name, rocked her hips, grabbed onto his hair. He rubbed her tiny bud hard with his tongue, hoping he was driving her every bit as crazy as she’d ever made him. Then when he decided he’d given her about as much sweet torture as she could stand, he scraped that sensitive nub with his teeth.

  He could tell t
he moment before the orgasm hit her. Everything tensed up in her body, from the thighs wrapped around him, to the fingers holding his head in place, to the clit tightening between his teeth. And after that split second of frozen motion, her body was riding the sensations. Her wild cries echoed through the room. Ben kept his hold on her hips and continued his assault on her clit, wanting to drive her higher, wanting to give her as much pleasure as he possibly could.

  For the rest of their lives.

  That was just a little bit more than he wanted to think about right now. Piper’s frenzied movements had lessened and Ben licked one last time, drinking in as much of her juices as he could. He let go of her hips and her body settled back down onto the mattress, limp.

  She gazed up at him, her eyes a bit unfocused, her mouth slightly open. She licked her lips before she spoke. “Wow. I think my bones all turned to jelly.” Her voice was ragged, breathless. “I can’t move.”

  And he didn’t think he could be any more aroused. “You don’t have to.” Ben crawled up her body, sliding along her damp skin, aiming his cock for her heated core. When he found the spot, she was open and ready and he plunged to the hilt in one smooth stroke.

  Damn, that was good.

  Buried in her sweet heat, Ben looked down at the woman he loved. Her eyes were open, clear now, staring back at him. Her lips lifted in a slow smile.

  “Hey, lover.” Her voice wasn’t more than a rough whisper. “Welcome home.”

  He was home. He began to move inside her. Slowly at first, savoring the sensations rippling through him with each deliberate plunge into her hot core. But it wasn’t long before his thrusts grew faster, turned harder. Not long before he had no control over the drag of his cock along her slick passage. He might wish he could enjoy a little longer, but instinct took over, pushing him toward the finish he couldn’t delay any longer.

  Piper wrapped her legs around his hips and pulled him even deeper inside her. He caught her mouth with his and he exploded, shooting his come into her with strong pulses. When his body bucked with the intensity of the orgasm, she hugged him close and swallowed his cries of completion.

  He didn’t even realize he’d collapsed on top of her until she nipped his bottom lip and groaned, “Can’t. Breathe.”

  “Sorry.” He rose onto his elbows, not wanting quite yet to move any farther away from her. Not wanting to sever that connection to her.

  He caught movement out of the corner of his eye and remembered the mirror. The audience. Fuck the audience, he had something more important to be concerned about right now. He looked back down at Piper. “Are you okay?”

  “I’m great.” She reached up and brushed his hair back from his forehead. “That was it, you know.”

  “That was what?”

  “My fantasy. Just holding you, the man that I love, while we make love. No toys. No games. Just skin on skin. Just heart to heart.”

  “But you’re always up for the fun stuff. The kinky stuff.”

  “Well yeah, but not all the time, Ben. Sometimes it’s best with just you and me.”

  “I can go along with that.” He nodded toward the mirror. “We probably didn’t give them much of a show when we actually got down to it.”

  “I don’t care,” Piper said. She pulled him down and kissed him wet and deep. “It was fun.” She kissed him again. And again. “It was more than fun. It was amazing.”

  She was amazing. He slipped from her body and stretched out beside her. “Do you think that was because we knew someone was watching us?”

  She shrugged and brushed her fingertips along his cheek. “It was fun because someone was watching us. It was amazing because we love each other.”

  It sounded so simple when she said it like that. “Did I ever tell you that you are smart?”

  She laughed and his heart soared just knowing he’d made her happy. “You know,” she said softly, looking over at him through her long lashes, “if you don’t mind, I’d love to go home with you tonight.” Then she grinned and the sassy Piper was back. “Although I still don’t know if I’ll get a decent night’s sleep.”

  If his heart was already soaring, it must have just made it to the stars. “I might be able to restrain myself long enough for you to get a few z’s.”

  “Thanks for bringing me here tonight.” She stretched, managing to sweep her hand along his body as she did. His cock stirred even though he was totally spent. He didn’t doubt it always would as long as they were in the same room. Hell, as long as they were in the same country.

  “I suppose we should get up and let someone else have a turn at the room,” she said with a sigh. “Let someone else get lucky.”

  “I guess you’re right.” They slid off the bed and Ben watched as Piper strutted up to the mirror and pulled the curtain closed, blowing a kiss to the invisible audience before the panels closed completely.

  “We should try this again sometime,” Ben said, surprising himself. He stepped into his pants while Piper put her dress back on. “We could reserve this room again. Or try another one.”

  “I’d love that,” she said brightly. “We didn’t even get a chance to try some of the toys in those cabinets.” That was his Piper, up for anything. “But right now I’m starved. I worked up quite an appetite. How about you?”

  “Let’s grab a bite to eat and head back to my place.” Ben slid his arm around her waist and tugged her against him. “Just you and me.”

  For the rest of their lives sounded better all the time.

  About the Author

  Natasha Moore fell in love with the written word as soon as she could read. As she grew up, she discovered romance and now enjoys the chance to add some extra sizzle to her stories. She lives in New York State with her real-life hero who is happy to tell everyone that he’s her inspiration. They travel in their RV whenever possible. The great thing about writing is she can take it anywhere.

  To learn more about Natasha Moore, please visit www.natashamoore.com. Send an email to Natasha Moore at [email protected] or join her Yahoo! group to join in the fun with other readers as well as Natasha Moore! http://groups.yahoo.com/group/natashamoore Find her on Facebook and follow her on Twitter too. And stop by Natasha Moore’s group blog, Fierce Romance. http://fierceromance.blogspot.com

  Look for these titles by Natasha Moore

  Now Available:

  The Ride of Her Life

  The Passion-Minded Professor

  Bound by Design

  Binding Ties

  See Me

  Coming Soon:

  Paolo’s Playhouse

  Taking Chances

  Birthday Girl

  Plaything

  All she wants for Christmas is him. All he wants is everything…for her.

  Priceless

  © 2011 Lena Matthews

  Urban Fairytales, Book 3

  As Christmas bears down on Eric Athers’s empty wallet, one question plagues him: What to get the love of his life when he has less than nothing?

  It doesn’t help that his wife, Nia, who works extra shifts to support him through his medical residency, practically glows with holiday spirit. Her determination to put the “Merry” in Merry Christmas only serves as a painful reminder of everything he’s unable to provide for her.

  Nia loves her husband to distraction, and she can’t for the life of her figure out how someone so smart can be so dumb when it comes to something as simple as a little holiday. Christmas is so much more than presents and shopping malls.

  All she has to do is show her own personal Scrooge that the best gifts come from the heart.

  Warning: This story is guaranteed to melt your snowman.

  Enjoy the following excerpt for Priceless:

  Eric’s words were so unexpected it took a minute for his meaning to sink in. “Decorate me.” Nia licked her lips, and she took a few steps back. “That sounds a bit…kinky.”

  “Your point is…?”

  Her throat suddenly felt very dry. “Yeah…not
sure I have one,” she admitted, still a little floored by Eric’s suggestion. Although he hadn’t been her first lover, he was definitely the most passionate and inventive. “What exactly do you mean though?”

  “What I said.”

  Nia glanced over at the box on the floor then back at her husband. He couldn’t really mean… “Are we talking star on head, ornaments on nipples, decorate?”

  “Well…” Eric tilted his head to the side, a contemplative look on his face. “Not star on head.”

  But nipples and stuff were apparently fair game. “Oh,” she said after a few seconds, because she really had no comeback for that.

  “Any objections?”

  She blurted out the first thing that came to mind. “The hooks might scratch a bit.”

  “Possibly, but I promise to kiss it better.” Without waiting for her to reply, Eric made his way over to the box which held the leftovers. He picked up the box and carried it to the table, setting it down with a resounding thump. Carefully, as was his way, he began to sort through the remaining decorations. “Hmmm…looks like we have lots to choose from.”

  Words escaped her. He was absolutely serious. One second he’d been dogging her tree, the next talking about using her as a tree. Nia shook her head in amazement. Every time she thought she had a handle on her husband he would do or say something completely out of character. Some days she wasn’t sure who she was married to—the focused, studious, determined doctor, or the sensual, dominating, erotic lover.

  Nia was torn between wanting to say hell no, and her desire to do every depraved thing he hinted at. No, that wasn’t true, she wasn’t torn at all. “What about rules? I think we should have them.”

  “Fair enough.” Eric strolled over to the oven. Warm air burst from the door as he opened the appliance, taking a bit of the sting out of the room. They’d learned quickly to use that part of the stove as a heating source when they were in the kitchen. “First rule, I make all the rules.”