Between The Sheets - Complete Collection (3 page)

  Brandi wasn’t sure how she felt about that but, thankfully, she had no time to worry about it.

Hurrying home, she changed out of her business suit and hastened to change into jeans and a long-sleeved, graphic tee shirt.  She rushed downstairs and speed-walked the block and a half to the restaurant for her book club meeting.  Diamond and Lisa were already there with the rest of their members.  Renee came in right behind her as breathless as she was.

“Sorry we’re late,” Brandi said for the both of them as she and Renee took a seat at the bar high table.

Well into happy hour, there was a good crowd of people, non-stop hors d’oeuvres to eat and half-priced drinks.  Brandi’s stomach growled, reminding her she hadn’t eaten since breakfast.  “Have you all started yet?  Because I’m really hungry.”

“Go on,” Diamond said, waving her hand.  “We’ve only just begun the discussion so you won’t miss much.”

Brandi looked to Renee.  “Are you coming?”

She shook her head.  “I had a late lunch.”

Brandi nodded and headed to the buffet table.  The appetizing aroma of the food sharpened as she neared the buffet table.  A wide variety of tapas were available, which was why this was
the
place for happy hour.

Once she returned to the table, she found it easy to join in the conversation.  The book they’d chosen for tonight’s discussion was different from their usual selections.

“Okay,” their book club host, Sarina, said, “I think we should go around the table so everyone could give their opinion on the story.”

A small silence ensued, but Diamond didn’t let it go on long.  “Well, it was a well-written story, I can’t deny that.  The characters were well-developed, the conflicts believable, the plot made sense.  But those BDSM scenes?  Whew!  I ran the gamut from being titillated to horrified, depending on what part of that acronym played out in a scene.”

Brandi’s eyes widened.  “Titillated?  Which part?”

She smirked and lowered her lashes for only a second.  “Well, I think I could do bondage and submission, with me as the Mistress to a Submissive.  Of course, he couldn’t be a weak man.  Otherwise, what would be the point?  But to have a strong, hard muscled bodied man kneeling at my feet, ready and willing to please me?”  She shrugged.  “It intrigued me.  I wonder if there really are bondage clubs.”

“Of course, there are,” soft-spoken Renee answered.

Brandi’s mouth dropped open.  A quick glance around showed she wasn’t the only one in shock.  For her part, she would never have guessed that Renee knew anything about the subject.

Renee waved a dismissive hand and rolled her eyes.  “You guys are so naïve.  I’m as worldly as the rest of you.  This stuff has been around for ages.”

Diamond held her palm up.  “So?”

“So I think that as long as the individuals involved are consenting adults, then it’s no one’s business, but theirs.”

“But what did you feel when you read those scenes?” pressed Diamond for all of them.

“Well, I’m not sure.”

“Oh, come on, Renee, don’t pussy out now.”

Renee cut her eyes at Diamond.  “I’m speaking the truth.  I couldn’t figure out what I was feeling as I read the bondage and submission scenes, but the scenes involving pain totally turned me off.  I tried to get into the character’s head, to understand why they would choose to receive and give pain, but I couldn’t.”

“Anyone else?  How about you, Brandi?”

Brandi pursed her lips, considering the question.  “Okay, well, while I could understand the character’s motivation – and I’m talking bondage and submission here – I found it hard to believe that the protagonist could submit herself at all.  Yes, the story was well written, but I couldn’t accept it.  I mean, look at us.  We’re all strong women yet neither of us is even married.  Why do you think that is?  It’s easy to tell ourselves that there is a lack of men strong and sure enough of themselves to appreciate a strong woman.  But is that really it, or is it that we cannot easily submit to a man?  Think about it.  We’re used to making decisions.  We’re used to running things.  Building a partnership isn’t an easy thing to do.”

“You said a mouthful there,” remarked Diamond, serious for once.

Sarina cleared her throat.  “So are you saying, Brandi, that this book showed you something about yourself?”

Brandi nodded.  “I guess I am.”  The self-realization hurt. It made her think that, maybe, she deserved Nick’s callous treatment.

“Don’t even think it, Brandi Rafferty,” Diamond said, fierce.  “You did not deserve that crap Nick pulled.  You were nothing but good to that man.”

“Calm down, Di,” Sarina said, laying a hand on her arm.  “Although I agree with your assessment, I think Brandi did a good thing here.  She listened to her feelings and entertained a different viewpoint. No matter what we read, in some way, we identify with the feelings the characters experience, whether positive or negative.”

“I can respect that, but she needs to realize that Nick was a coward, a coward who hated the strength that is an integral part of who she is.  He wanted to bring her down.  You don’t think he came back around after that to see if he’d broken her?  I’d bet a hundred bucks he did, but she fooled him.  She handled it and kept on going.”

Brandi smiled and hugged Diamond.  “Thanks, girl, I needed to hear that.”

A tap on her shoulder startled her and she turned around to find Geoffrey standing there.  The silence at the table was palpable.  She didn’t need to look to know that all eyes were on him.

Licking her lips – a move that had the man staring – she said, “Hi, Geoffrey.”

“Hi, Brandi, ladies.  You all seem to be having an engrossing conversation.  Is it for women only?”

“No, you…”

Brandi jumped off her stool, placed her hands flat on his chest and pushed him away, shaking her head vigorously over her shoulder at Diamond who grinned.

“So, Geoffrey,” Brandi began, smiling brightly as she continued to push him away from the table.  “What’re you doing here?  Have you eaten?  They have really good finger foods here.  Do you want to dance?”

Geoffrey watched, bemused, as lightweight Brandi tried to take him away from the table, apparently without noticing that she had barely budged him an inch.  She appeared panicked, which just made him more curious.

“Do you?” she asked with more urgency.  “Do you want to dance?”

Perhaps she didn’t realize that the song currently playing was for slow dancing.  He did.   The opportunity to take her into his arms and hold her close was much too tempting to resist.  He allowed her to drag him to the rear of the bar where several couples danced on the small dance floor, then he pulled her tight against him the way he had been dreaming of doing.

She gasped, her muscles tightening, but he continued to hold her, swaying from side to side.

“Brandi,” he whispered.

His husky whisper of her name sent her into an internal meltdown.  Shivers coursed up and down her spine.  Yet even as her nipples tightened, butterflies took flight in her stomach and a fire started in her blood, her heart beat out a heavy rhythm of bone-numbing panic.

She didn’t want this.

She couldn’t go down that road.  Not again.

As though he sensed her panic, he began running his hand up and down her back, relaxing her.  It wasn’t working.  She had to get away from him now.

The conflicting desires kept her rooted in his arms, lost in the flames of desire that threatened to swamp her, to turn her into someone she couldn’t recognize.

“Geoffrey.”

Need and plea colored her tone.  It brought her up short, pulling her out of the haze enough so she could think.  Taking a deep breath, she willed her arms to drop from him.  A moment passed, then another.  His chest rose against her and he stepped back, his hands on her arms to steady her.

Geoffrey grasped her chin lightly and lifted it until their eyes met.  “You cannot deny what is between us, Brandi.”

She drew in a shuddering breath, but held his gaze.  “Maybe not, but I don’t have to act on it, either.”

“Are you not the least bit curious to explore what we feel?”

She shook her hand.  “I can’t.”

“You can do anything you choose.”

“Not this.”

A small silence as his eyes searched hers.  “You cannot make even one small step, Brandi?  Not for me, but for you.  Fear is not something you want to rule your life.”

Her mouth tightened.  “Don’t presume to know what motivates me, Geoffrey.  You don’t know me.”

He released a deep, longsuffering sigh. Brandi’s lips twitched, but she couldn’t keep the humor from her eyes.

“Now you laugh at me.  Why do you dislike me so?”

She rolled her eyes and grinned.  “Maybe because you don’t seem to understand the concept of the word ‘no.’”

“Have mercy on me, Brandi.  Let us start as friends and see where it leads, without pushing one way or the other.”

Suspicious, she eyed him.  “Friends?  Platonic friends?”

“Yes.”

“What exactly does that mean to you?”

His brow furrowed.  “Spending time together, of course.  For example, do you have any plans for Friday night?  If you do not, would you consider sharing a meal with me?”

“Are you asking me out on a date?”

“Must we label it?”

“I would prefer it, so that we both know where we stand.”

Gregory glanced over her shoulder.  His brilliant blue eyes filled with amusement and crinkled at the corners as he chuckled.  “Your friends are staring at us.”

“Yes, well, we are having our bi-weekly book club meeting tonight.”

“Ah, and I have taken you away from that.”  He dropped his hand and reached into his back pocket, bringing out a business card for her.  “Here are my numbers, both my mobile phone number and my hotel phone number with my room number.  Will you call me when you get home so we can discuss this further?”

Brandi stared at the card like it was a snake poised to strike.

Should I take it?  What might he think if I do?  Am I ready to do this?

After another moment, she took it from him.  “I’ll see.”
“Please.  Promise me.”

She sighed.  “Fine, Geoffrey.  Now just go, okay?”

His eyes narrowed, but he relented.  Bending toward her, he placed a warm, gentle kiss on her forehead.

___

Brandi let herself into her condo, kicked off her shoes and carried them through to the master bedroom.  She undressed, hung up her clothes and started a bath, pouring a generous amount of organic lemon verbena into the water.  The crisp scent relaxed her like none other and, tonight, she really needed it.

As she soaked, her impromptu conversation with Geoffrey played in her mind.  Even the thought of him had her going liquid inside.  The way he said her name, held her as if she was the most precious gem in his world.  She closed her eyes and listened again to his voice when he said her name.  Of their own volition, her hands skimmed over her breasts, pausing to pluck at taut, sensitive nipples.  One hand continued southward, sliding through curls and between her outer lips, seeking the crown, already pulsing and hard.  The hand worrying her nipple joined the other at the apex of her thighs, going lower.  She pushed a finger inside herself.  Brandi shuddered at the pleasure coursing through her.

“Geoffrey.” His name whispered through her lips and ended on a groan.  She tried going slow but the feelings built fast, ecstasy, fire and lightning raging in her blood. “Geoffrey.”

His husky voice, spicy, essential male scent, hard muscled body pressed against her, the long, hard steel that pressed on her abdomen when they danced.  She wanted him.  Inside her, over her, caging her in his strong arms, his body thrusting hard and heavy inside her, dominating, forcing her to feel more than she ever had before.

Her fingers moved faster, one thrusting inside her, the other rubbing around that tight knot of ultra-sensitive nerves at the crest of her thighs.  The harsh sound of her breathing, her low guttural moans growing louder.  Her body tightened and tightened until, with a cry, she exploded, free falling through time and space into a million bursts of color and light. “Geoffrey.”

___

At noon sharp, Geoffrey entered the offices of The Rafferty Group.  He thought he and Brandi had progressed the night before, but she never called him.  Rather than risk the chance that she would not take his call, he came to meet with her in person to regain ground if he had, indeed, lost some due to her overanalyzing everything he said or did.

Antonia glanced up and smiled, pleasure lighting her eyes.  “Hello, Mr. Rasmussen.”

“Good day, Ms. Chavez.”  With her, he preferred to keep things professional by the use of last names to avoid any misunderstandings. “Is Ms. Rafferty available?”

“Let me check.”

Geoffrey turned away to study a painting on the wall, all the while listening intently.  Though he would remain polite, he refused to let Brandi shut him out, even if he had to barge into her office to gain her attention.

“You may go on in, Mr. Rasmussen.”