A Little Harmless Obsession (25 page)
Read A Little Harmless Obsession Online
Authors: Melissa Schroeder
Tags: #Red Hots!, #Contemporary Romance
A Little Harmless Obsession
She moved to stand but Evan shook his head.
“You can fight me all you want, but I’m going to take care of you.”
“I’ll just call my father.”
He sat down on his coffee table and offered her a grin, thinking of the conversation he’d had with Daniel that morning.
“I wouldn’t bet on it.”
Her eyes narrowed and he watched her temper move over her face. “Why not?”
“Your father and I came to an understanding.”
“What the hell does that mean?”
He shook his head. “First, I’d like to tell you a story.” She had opened her mouth “What?”
“Promise me you’ll be patient. It’s about my childhood.” She instantly stilled, her gaze glued to his. He took her hand in his and swallowed the fear that threatened to choke him.
“I guess you know that I had a less than stellar upbringing.” She nodded.
“It was probably worse than anything you could think of. My mother was a crackwhore.”
“That doesn’t matter to me.”
He brought her hand to his lips. “Thanks. Now shut up.” Her mulish expression made him laugh. “I’m not sure I would’ve ever figured you for a sub if you hadn’t signed that contract with Micah.
Her expression softened and she opened her mouth to respond. He shook his head. “Let me get this out. My father spent some time in prison, then disappeared, so it was just me and Mom for as long as I remember. Anyway, it couldn’t have been easy raising a son when she was so young, just seventeen, high school dropout with a young kid to take care of.”
She opened her mouth, but he placed his fingers against her lips. “Let me finish.” Understanding filled those Caribbean eyes and his heart squeezed. Just a little thing, but he felt it all the way down to his soul.
“Mom always had a thing for drugs, but when crack got a hold of her…she seemed to lose all sense of reality. It wasn’t long before she was bringing men back to the apartment to service.” Her eyes widened but she said nothing.
“Yeah. When I say crackwhore, I mean it in every sense. Smack was her favorite and that isn’t cheap.
Soon, she couldn’t keep up with the demand her own body wanted. So, she figured out a way to make even more money. There were always men who had a taste for young boys.”
“Oh, Evan.”
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He studied her face. He had expected pity or horror, not the sympathy and love he saw in her eyes.
There was another squeeze to his heart.
“I could lie and say it wasn’t bad. But it was bad, especially since she didn’t care if they got a little rough. It was no skin off her nose if they left me a little bruised. Sometimes they paid extra for that.”
“That fucking bitch.”
He laughed, he couldn’t help it. It was just what he would expect her to say. She was probably already trying to formulate a way to find his mother.
He shook his head. “Forget it, she’s dead.”
“What?”
“I know you. You were trying to figure out just where to find her, what resources you had. She’s dead. One night a john beat the living hell out of her. I found her the next morning. I’d disappeared the night before, hid out around the area trying to avoid anyone she might bring home that night.”
“That must have been horrible to find your mother that way.” He shook his head again. “You want to know the truth? I was relieved. Someone had done what I had wanted to do for years. I called the cops and ended up in the system. At that moment, I promised myself I wouldn’t have kids.”
“Why?”
He pulled in a deep breath and released it. “I was convinced that with her blood running through me, I was tainted. I couldn’t be sure I wouldn’t hurt my own children.”
“How old where you?”
“Ten.”
“But I’ve never seen anything mean in you, not that way. You go out of your way to be nice. I cannot even imagine what it must have been like. You are a good man, despite your childhood. Many people would use that as an excuse to not try hard. You accomplished so much with your life. You should be proud.”
Her compliments were balm to his battered soul. But there were things he had to tell her, one in particular. “I did things to ensure I could never have a woman like you. I dated women like Lee. I also engaged in ménages.” He saw the way her eyes lit up. “Forget it. There ain’t no way another man is touching you.”
She pouted. “Spoilsport.”
“One of those ménages involved Chris and Cynthia.”
She didn’t say anything for a moment. “But you aren’t involved anymore.”
“I wasn’t really involved, it was all about them. A onetime deal.” 148
A Little Harmless Obsession
“Oh, when she gave up control. I wondered how that happened, what they did. But she knows how squeamish I am about hearing sexual things about Chris. It’s like hearing about my brothers having sex.
Ick.”
“I think you’re missing the point.”
“You had a ménage with Chris and Cynthia, I get it. We both have a sexual past. Granted, mine is kind of boring compared to yours, but there you have it.”
“I had sex with your friend.”
She thought for a second and then shrugged. “Knowing you, you’ve probably slept with more than one person I know. It wasn’t while we were together. That would be different. That would involve knives and certain appendages that you value highly. Oh, and telling my brother. You know he works at the docks…he can make you disappear.”
For a second, he couldn’t respond. “You continue to amaze me.” Her smile widened. “That’s me, amazing May. So go on.” He wanted to pull her against him, kiss her, tell her how much he loved her. But if he did, he never would get all of the story out.
“See, my father had been busted for rape and assault, and my mother was a dead crackwhore who sold her son for drugs. I thought the best thing to have happen was for the family bloodline to die.” She pursed her lips in thought. “What makes you so sure you can even father children?” He laughed. “Jesus, May, only you would insult me when trying to lift me up.”
“You say you avoided getting serious because of the chance of children. You might be sterile.”
“God, you are a pill, you know that.”
Her smile faded. “That is what you were dreaming about that night? About your mother…and those men.”
He nodded, never taken his gaze from hers. “I had thought we could be involved and nothing would change. My conscience was trying to tell me something, I think.”
“What?”
“I love you, May.”
Tears filled her eyes as she patted his hand. “No, you don’t but that’s nice.” It took him a moment to understand just what she had said. “I do love you.”
“You feel obligated because of what happened, but you don’t really love me.” He stared at her for a second. “Listen, woman, I swear to the Lord above I love you. If you don’t believe that, well, too damn bad.”
“I love you. You know that. But you don’t need to feel as if you have to lie. I will still love you. I had already decided to call you that night.”
Some of the tightness in his chest loosened. “Yeah?”
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“Yeah. So there’s no reason to lie.”
“You know, it figures that you would do this to me. Never before have I told another person I loved them. I finally do it, and you don’t believe me. I spent a whole fucking day shopping for a ring, and you go on and on about how I don’t love you.”
“A ring?”
“Yeah. Fat lot of good it did me to come prepared. I finally find a woman who’s my whole life and she’s too stupid to realize it. Even after I tell her how I love her, she doesn’t believe me.” He stood up and started pacing the room and May watched him. Some of what he was saying was sinking in. Did he really buy her a ring, as in marriage? Her head was still whirling with what he had revealed and she couldn’t seem to catch up.
“Go back to the ring thing.”
He snarled at her over his shoulder and she had to bite her bottom lip to keep from smiling. Warm joy bounced through her, filling her heart as she continued to watch him pace around the room.
“You know, this is what’s wrong with women. You do what they want, then they gripe at you.
Damned if you can ever please one.”
“Evan.”
“What?”
“Ask me.”
He stopped and looked at her. The anger faded from his eyes and tears filled hers as she saw the love she felt reflected back. He moved to her then, kneeling beside the couch. He reached into his shirt pocket and pulled out a box. He opened it and within the satin lining sat a solitaire square-cut diamond.
“I love you, May. You’re the only woman for me, the only lover I need for the rest of my life. Marry me.”
Elation exploded through her and she smiled at him as she felt tears slip down her cheeks.
“Yes. I’ll marry you.”
He slipped the ring on her finger and then leaned in for a kiss. A touch of mouth, tongue, and then he was gone. She frowned and tried to follow him.
“No, you aren’t up to it. There’ll be time for that later.” She wanted to argue, but she knew he was right. Even right now, she was tired and in need of a nap.
He picked her up off the couch, sat down in her spot and settled her on his lap. His heart thumped against her temple and his body heat surrounded her.
“I have some champagne, but figure you can’t have any. We can save it for the engagement party.” She nodded and snuggled against his chest, happy in the warmth of his love, and drifted off into blissful dreams.
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About the Author
Born to an Air Force family at an Army hospital, Melissa has always been a little bit screwy. She was further warped by her years of watching Monty Python and her strange family. Her love of romance novels developed after accidentally picking up a Linda Howard book. Since her first release in 2004, Melissa has had close to 30 short stories, novellas and novels released with seven different publishers in a variety of genres and time periods. Those releases included an Eppie nomination and two CAPA nominations, along with a multitude of best sellers and recommended reads. Her contemporary, A Little Harmless Sex became an international best seller in June of 2005.
Since she was a military brat, she vowed never to marry military. Alas, Fate always has her way with mortals. Her husband is an Air Force major, and together they have their own military brats, two girls, an adopted dog daughter and they live wherever the military sticks them. Which until recently always involved heat and bugs only seen on the Animal Discovery Channel. In her spare time, she reads, complains about bugs, travels, cooks, reads some more, and tries to convince her family that she truly is a delicate genius. She has yet to achieve her last goal.
If you want to know more about Melissa, stop by the following websites
: www.melissaschroeder.net,
twitter.com/melschroeder,
http://www.facebook.com/pages/Melissa-Schroeder/17997114885.
She loves to hear from her readers so be sure to drop Melissa a note:
or
Melissa Schroeder
PO Box 2706
Manassas, VA 20108
Look for these titles by Melissa Schroeder
Now Available:
Grace Under Pressure
The Seduction of Widow McEwan
Harmless
A Little Harmless Sex
A Little Harmless Pleasure
A Little Harmless Obsession
Once Upon an Accident
The Accidental Countess
Lessons in Seduction
Coming Soon:
A Little Harmless Lie
The Spy Who Loved Her
A Little Harmless Addiction
The Last Detail
Purgatory: Devil’s Rise
Is it love or just a little harmless pleasure?
A Little Harmless Pleasure
© 2008 Melissa Schroeder
Cynthia Myers meets Chris Dupree at her former fiancé’s wedding. After a little dancing, and champagne, she ends up back in Chris’s hotel room. For one night of down and dirty sex. That’s it, that’s all. He lives far away, and she has other things to do…like get a life.
Chris is a switch. He likes to dominate but he also likes to play the role of a submissive from time to time. His last relationship with a sub turned nasty and since then, he has shied away from anything but straight vanilla sex. When he meets Cynthia, he finds a woman who could change his mind. His mate. The only problem is he has to convince her.
In a carefully orchestrated seduction, Chris teaches Cynthia about submission and dominance, allowing her take the reins. As he leads her through pleasures she thought she’d never experience, Cynthia’s self confidence soars and she finds herself falling in love with him. But, when he asks for submission in the bedroom, can she surrender to prove her love or was it all about a little harmless pleasure?
Warning, this book contains: Lots of sex, of course; bondage and submission done in a tasteful but wonderfully arousing way, propositions from a drunken woman, hot phone sex, southern accents, Hawaiian scenery, and OH MY, a m/f/m ménage that will send tingles all the way to your toes, along with other various body parts. A glass of ice cold water for refreshment is recommended while reading.
Enjoy the following excerpt for
A Little Harmless Pleasure:
“You’re embarrassed to be seen with me.” He said the words, worried they might be true. He didn’t think Cynthia was prejudiced, but he was in South Georgia, the heart of Dixie. It was different from Honolulu. Her family came from old Southern money, the kind that didn’t like to mingle with people of color—unless they were being served by them. But besides the color of Cynthia’s skin, there was the added problem of her background. She’d been taught to be ashamed of her sexuality. Even as she frowned at him, he slipped his arms around her waist and pulled her to him.
She settled against his chest. Her golden hair contrasted against his dark skin. He drew in a deep breath. The hint of her flowery perfume lingered beneath the scent of sex coating her skin.
