Invitation to Passion: Open Invitation, Book 3 (9 page)

 
    
“Amethyst.” Brunette number one.

 
    
“Glory.” Brunette number two.

 
    
“Tiffany.” The blonde waggled her plucked
eyebrows at him.

 
    
He didn’t respond to the sexual message in
her eyes. She was hitting on an already taken man.

 
    
“Are you Jud’s mother?” Tiffany smiled at
Stacy like a ballplayer psyching out the other team.

 
    
He almost laughed, the remark was so
ridiculous and the intent clearly feline. Stacy was a live wire beneath his
arm, her tension riding his rib cage. She pulled away, and he let her go with a
spurt of elation at the idea that she was about to enter battle. It had nothing
to do with the desire to have women fight over him, which, at this stage of
life, was insignificant. He simply wanted Stacy to realize she
wanted
to fight for him.

 
    
When she answered, it was with her eyes on
him, not the twenty-something beauty queen. “Jud doesn’t have a mother. I think
he was hatched.”

 
    
Well, hell, so much for fighting for him.
He smiled at his own idiocy. Stacy was not an easy conquest, but she did drive
him to play childish games.

 
    
“Well,
darling
,
I’ll leave you to”—her gaze slashed Amethyst, Glory, Tiffany, and then
him—“your triple fun dip. I have my own to find.”

 
    
Rather than do battle, Stacy was the type
to walk away with dignity, but like hell she’d have her fun without him. “I
don’t think so,
sweetheart
,” he said
with extra emphasis, then held her gaze, challenging her. “We have an
agreement.”

 
    
“Not when you’re breaking it.” She lifted
her chin.

 
    
“I have no intention of dissolving our
pact.” But he liked the angry spark in her gaze. She was jealous.

 
    
Before she could object, he cupped her face
in his hands and took her lips. Not a demanding, take-charge kiss, but a soft
melding of his mouth to hers. Her lips parted, and he delved more deeply,
tasting her, letting her taste him. Her fingers fisted in his lapels, her body
leaned into his, and a low moan rose up from her throat. He kissed her until
the sweet lushness of her mouth and the scent of her was all that mattered.

 
    
She smelled of hot woman and need. Sex.
Arousal. The small group they’d been standing with had grown to a full-fledged,
hungry audience expecting a down-and-dirty show.

 
    
When he released her, she stared up at him
with dazed eyes. He steadied her in the light hold of his arms. Putting two
fingers to her lips, her gaze flitted from his mouth to his eyes, then his
hair. His heart thumped erratically in his chest, waiting for her words. He was
never quite sure how the woman would react. Which was a big part of the
delightful challenge.

 
    
“Oh, I think I’m going to swoon, that was
so romantic,” brunette number one, or maybe two, said. He couldn’t be sure and
didn’t care. She’d pegged the nature of his kiss exactly.

 
    
Stacy shook her head, and some of focus
returned to her eyes. She wriggled in his arms. He loosened his hold to a mere
grasp of her arms, but he didn’t let her go completely.

 
    
“That was a taste of what’s to come,” he
leaned in to whisper, his mouth against the shell of her ear. “I promised you
ecstasy, remember? I’m prepared to do anything to provide it.”

 
    
She was silent for two beats of his heart.
“Anything?”

 
    
And he knew he had her. “Oh yeah.”

 
    
Pushing lightly at his shoulders to gain a
few scant inches of distance, her gaze once again mapped his face, her eyes a
deep, thoughtful green. “All right. But
you
remember, you don’t come through with the goods, I’m outta here.”

 
    
“Deal, sweetheart.” Then he grabbed her
hand before she could change her mind and pulled her from amid their avaricious
audience.

 
    
“And stop calling me sweetheart,” she
hissed for his ears alone.

 
    
“Yes, dear.”

* * * * *

 
    
That kiss. Stacy shivered as the full
impact of it sizzled through her once more. She still felt drugged by it as Jud
led her upstairs. He’d scrambled her brains. He’d melted her bones. And she had
the feeling that though
he
was the
one who promised
her
anything, she’d
actually agreed to something completely different. Not to mention that wild
spark of jealousy when she’d actually been thinking he was sizing up the three
stooges for triple fun. She had to keep repeating in her head that this was
just
a sexual challenge, one she had no
desire to turn down.

 
    
Jud unlocked the door to a room that wasn’t
a bedroom like most of the other private rooms. Instead, a large circular tub
surrounded by gleaming marble tile sat at one end. Steam rose from the water
and fogged the mirror behind it.

 
    
“We’re going to do a little hot-
tubbing
?”

 
    
Jud smiled. “Nothing quite so mundane. I’m
going to bathe you. And you’re going to bathe me.”

 
    
“But I just spent an evening preparing
myself. Why do it all over again?” Though thinking about giving Jud an intimate
water massage was extremely appealing.

 
    
“And I’m clean as a whistle, but bathing
isn’t just about getting clean.”

 
    
To Jud, everything was a sensual adventure.
She spun on her heel to survey the rest of the room. On the opposite end, piled
atop plush cream-colored carpeting, lay a thick dark blue futon covered by a
mountain of pillows. Along the wall between the tub and the makeshift pleasure
bed was a cabinet filled with a smorgasbord of sexual toys running the gamut
from vibrators and dildos to cock rings and specialty condoms.

 
    
“Gee, everything a girl could ask for.”

 
    
“And more.”

 
    
She tipped her head, eyeing him
speculatively. And appreciatively. “Pretty sure of yourself, aren’t you?” She
raised her hands to encompass the room and all its apparent preparation. “What
if I’d decided not to come tonight?”

 
    
He lowered his head, smiling as if he had
some private thought. “With me or by yourself, I knew you’d come tonight.” He
loosened his tie a notch. “And I’m always prepared for any eventuality.” He
took her hand. “Now show me what you’re wearing under all that leather.” Husky
command entered his voice, and his dark eyes melted to the color of cognac.

 
    
She’d done sexy stripteases for men, but
something in Jud’s look made her want to rip her clothes off her body. Though
she didn’t have much to strip off. Maybe she should have worn some frilly
lingerie to entice him, but she’d dressed with easy access in mind.

 
    
She skimmed a finger along the
bustier-style bodice. “Why don’t you do the honors?”

 
    
Jud eyed the zipper running the length of
her red leather dress. Reversible, it could be undone from either end. He leaned
down and slowly zipped up until he revealed her neatly trimmed bush. His eyes
on hers, he trailed a finger over her sex just short of slipping inside her
folds. Her body reacted with a flow of warmth and moisture from deep inside.

 
    
“Naughty woman. If I’d known you were bare,
I don’t think I could have resisted your zipper down in the bar.”

 
    
Which is what she’d had in mind when she
chose the dress.

 
    
His mouth quirked up on one side. “And
that’s exactly what you were hoping for, wasn’t it? Did I disappoint you?”

 
    
She’d wanted his hands on her, but somehow
that kiss had been all the hotter for the fact that he’d only touched her lips.
“You haven’t disappointed me yet, Jud.” She raised one brow, then shrugged.
“But there’s always a first time.”

 
    
“Always keeping me on my toes.”

 
    
“Or on
yours
knees,” she said, hinting at what he could do for her now to make up for it.

 
    
“Sweetheart, I’ve been on my knees for you
for months now. You just haven’t noticed.”

 
    
“Talk, talk, talk. Let’s get to the main
course.”

 
    
“This
is
the main course. Everything we do is.” He held a strip of the dress and zipped
to the top with a flourish. The leather fell away and dropped to the floor,
leaving her naked except for her red high heels and the choker at her throat.
He leaned in, skimmed his lips along the beaded necklace, inhaling deeply.
“Appetizer, main course, dessert,” he whispered, the rush of his breath across
her skin making her shiver.

 
    
God. All these years, maybe she’d been
rushing things. She hadn’t gone straight to intercourse, but she hadn’t taken
time to enjoy sexy banter, kissing, or simple touches. The dance of attracting
a man had been her foreplay, but once she’d chosen a partner, she’d jumped to
the erogenous zones, which was nice indeed, but purely physical. She’d missed
the slow build of passion. She had a feeling Jud could keep up the play until
she screamed and begged for a fast, hard fuck.

 
    
The way his gaze stroked her bare flesh was
far more than an appetizer. Her skin flushed, her breathing jumped a notch, and
her body slickened deep inside in anticipation.

 
    
“You have the most enticing breasts I’ve
ever seen. Hold them up for me.”

 
    
She cupped herself, unable to resist a
slight pinch on each nipple to make them hard and rosy.

 
    
“Stop that, or I’ll fuck you where you
stand.”

 
    
“Control yourself, Jud.” But again, a
thrill zoomed to her clitoris. Yes. Definitely. She’d missed something big.
Long, slow foreplay. If nothing else, that’s what she’d take away from this
time with Jud. Slow down. Enjoy the flirty touches, fingers roaming her back,
long hand strokes up her calves to her thighs, a deep kiss. Except that she
didn’t find the prospect of a sexy kiss so attractive with say, Erik or Caesar,
her boys of Saturday night. There wasn’t a man she’d been with in the last few
months that she could say she felt like kissing. Except Jud.

 
    
It must be that he had a magic tongue.
Speaking of which, she wanted it on her, in her, all over her. Soon.

 
    
He turned her, patted her bottom, and
pushed her to the tub’s two steps. “Bend over and put your hands on the edge.”

 
    
She still wore her shoes, and the stance
had her butt in the air, her pussy open for his view. The mirror behind the tub
revealed him squatting fully clothed by her side. His hand moved as if to
caress, but there was only his breath on her backside, nothing more. He lifted
one foot and removed her shoe, tossing it aside, then the other.

 
    
He rose. “In you go.”

 
    
Steadying herself on the tub’s rim, she
climbed in, then sank beneath the surface to let the bubbling water froth over
her breasts. Steam rose, and she was glad she’d worn waterproof makeup.

 
    
Jud simply watched, a dark heat masking his
thoughts and harshening the lines of his face.

 
    
She floated to the side, then flourished a
hand at him. “Well, come on. Get those clothes off.”

 
    
“Shall I do a striptease?”

 
    
She salivated, then laughed at the image
that came to mind.

 
    
“The thought of me stripping makes you
laugh? I’m offended.”