All Of Her (Fantasy Heights) (3 page)

Steph appeared in the wings. She positioned herself for a good view as the drummer called out a count. The band broke into the opening riffs of one of Robert Warnous’s best-known classics.

Warnous himself sauntered on stage a moment later. Dressed simply in jeans, t-shirt and cowboy boots, he didn’t look any different than he had for the last two failed attempts. Better rested, perhaps, and his short dark hair a little less disreputable than usual. Whatever they’d done differently, it worked. When it came time for Warnous to sing, he raised the microphone and slid easily into the first verse. His voice sounded warm and sultry enough to remind even the harshest critic that he had genuine talent.

Around her, a cheer went up, louder than Amanda might have expected from such a small group. Warnous acknowledged it with a wry smirk and kept on singing.

Amanda ignored him in favor of Steph, who had tented her hands over her nose and mouth. Even from a distance, Amanda could see the soft luster of tears in the woman’s eyes. Not of sadness, but some mixture of joy, pride and relief.

Amanda looked next to Thomas to see his reaction. He was not looking at Steph. Instead, he was staring back at her. It was hard to read his expression, more like he was concentrating on reading hers.

Later
, she wondered what he made of it when she got up and, instead of making the dignified retreat she’d planned, she all but ran from the Hall. She continued through the quad, past the offices and out to the parking lot. She’d developed a habit of walking to and from work. Bad habit. Dumb habit. The parking lot and main gate security kiosk were the only way in and out of the resort. It was dark now, and her imagination, primed with burning notes and doors that should stay shut, bloated the open, empty, darkened parking lot into something menacing and exposed as she rushed toward the kiosk.

The sight of the two guards and their friendly nods and waves as she passed did a lot toward calming her down. She was making devils out of dust-motes. Okay, so Fantasy Heights wasn’t so peaceful beneath the glossy, refined surface. But that didn’t mean there was an Amanda-eating shark circling in the depths, waiting to strike.

She slowed her steps and breathed deep, tasting an edge of sweetness on the night air. Nothing happened. No one jumped out at her, not a single mishap occurred during the mile between Fantasy Heights and home. She even marched right past Gail Warnous’s house. Defiant, although she was not terribly brazen. She didn’t even look at the place, and she made it home safe and sound.

She wished she’d bottled some of that bravado a few days later as she reported to wardrobe. She had stubbornly forced herself to stay clear of the resort and everyone associated with the place during her days off. Today would be the first time she allowed herself to process everything that had happened, and decide how to handle it. And she decided to handle it for now by heeding Thomas and her mystery client’s warnings to keep her eyes down and her mouth shut.

Over the last three days, Beverly, her scheduler, had been forced to shuffle and improvise. It seemed Thomas had been called away—a fact Amanda viewed with some suspicion—and she found herself substituted in with Derek again. She met up with him in a restroom alongside the Palace’s Venetian suite. She found him cringing into the vanity mirror. He leaned down to rake his fingers through his hair, trying to win a futile battle against wavy brown rebellion.

Amanda caught him in the act and paused in the dressing-room doorway to admire the view. Designer chinos and shirt enhanced his broad shoulders and whipcord-lean torso leading down to a high, tight ass and long, lanky legs. Sinfully hot, and even if she wouldn’t call him traditionally handsome, everything else about him appealed to her. Mostly his intelligence, but also his appetite for pleasure, and his general air of mischief. In all, a gloriously uncomplicated man.

She wished she could think up something witty or clever to say, but her only thoughts had to do with how soon she could get her hands on the man.

Green eyes met hers in the mirror. Not a spark of answering humor, like usual. Instead, dour-faced, he glanced at his watch. “I suppose it’s time.”

“Suppose? Is something wrong?”

“Yeah. I’m nervous.”

She scoffed at him. “What on earth have you got to be nervous about?”

His brows went up, and he lowered his chin to give her an old-fashioned look. “Remember the last time we were on set together?”

She did. Every lust-soaked, delicious second of it. Looking back, she could see his point. Potent, primitive chemistry like theirs didn’t make for a great professional mix. Sticking to the script and focusing on the client’s pleasure took far more discipline than usual.

He must have seen the flush stealing over her skin. “Don’t get me wrong,” he said. “I like you. A lot. But I learned my lesson last time, and if the client hadn’t requested us both by name, you wouldn’t be here. And of course there’s no pressure or anything.”

“What do you mean?” she asked.

“The client is some VIP friend of Steph’s. Emily something-or-other.”

Oh, shit. Emily was really Lily Briggs, one of the women she was supposed to stay away from. Her first day back, and already she was forced to defy her mystery client’s note. Not that there was anything she could do about it. They were due on set that very minute.

As she stood there and watched Derek glower, a thin strand of panic snaked itself around her neck. Thomas and her mystery client were caught up in something bigger than this resort. How many of her coworkers were similarly masked? What if Derek was one of them?

What if he wasn’t?

Luckily, that inner reservoir of calm reason she’d found earlier offered up a lifeline. It didn’t matter. None of this had to affect her. She was here to do a job. Wrest her power and self-esteem away from her failed engagement. Experience. Experiment. Be brave. She was not here to get caught up in some unknown struggle.

Whether Derek was a player was his business, not hers, and if he knew Emily’s true identity, he never let on. An admirable and wise decision, she figured. She followed his lead as he took her hand and opened the door into the suite with its marbled floor and tall, paned windows. They stood open, allowing a light, cool breeze to stir the gauzy drapes.

An observer waited in one purposely shadowed corner. Amanda took note of the man only long enough to make sure it wasn’t Josh. Any thought of him came paired with thoughts of Thomas, and she was determined not to let sub-currents distract her from pleasing her clients.

Seated at a table, sipping champagne, were Emily—who was really Lily—and a guest. Lily was around thirty, petite and sandy-haired, dressed in a pewter-colored cocktail dress. Her companion caught Amanda off guard. She’d somehow had it in her head that Lily would have brought her husband, but the man sitting beside her was not Brandon Briggs. He was a bit older, with sharp dark eyes and reserved way about him.

When Lily saw her, the older woman got to her feet, holding her hand out to shake. “Amanda, hi. It’s so good to see you again.”

Amanda smiled, shook hands, and nodded. Lily and Derek kissed each other’s cheeks in a polite social way. Lily silenced many a question with a simple introduction. She introduced Tony Prosper. “He’s my... bodyguard, I suppose is the easiest explanation. He and I have been close for a very long time.”

The way she said ‘close’ painted a clear picture of a woman married to a powerful man for business reasons, whose heart clearly belonged to someone else.

Sad, she thought, but then let it go when Derek called her abruptly back to business. He drew her in front of himself, facing the other couple. All of her attention was focused on him as he found the zipper at the back of her dress and began to draw it down.

Her head began to sprint in an entirely different direction, racing toward what awaited her at Derek’s hands. Her pulse picked up, and another stain of excitement spread across her skin.

Derek raised his hands to her shoulders, pressed his palms over the black dress’s cap sleeves, and slid them down. He did it slowly, exposing her bit by bit. First the healthy swell of breasts, then her pink nipples.

Both Tony and Lily stared openly, desire stirring in their eyes. Derek allowed the dress to slide over her hands. He tugged until the dress fell in a silken whisper around her feet. Now she stood completely nude save for a diamond choker and heels. At Derek’s quiet command, she stepped out of the heels. Together they crossed the few steps to the chaise.

She remembered vaguely picturing a fantasy like this the last time she’d been in the room. The rest played out nothing like what she’d envisioned. Instead, she became an avid but passive prop in an interesting game.

Lily must have come a long way since their last encounter when she’d been shy and somewhat self-conscious about her body and sexual contact. She and her bodyguard undressed one another. Lily had smallish peachy nipples tipping pale-skinned, generous breasts. She’d waxed since last time, leaving her pussy bare and inviting.

Tony was five-foot-eleven and towered over his petite employer. His build was stocky and thickly muscled. His penis was average in length but very thick. Amanda wondered what it might feel like to have him inside of her, pounding away, spreading her so far open. Her pussy sizzled at the thought. Whether or not she’d ever feel it remained to be seen. The game started out another way, with Tony and Lily kneeling at the foot of the chaise. Each of them grasped one of Amanda’s knees to hold her spread wide and immobile.

Derek, it seemed, had been privy to this game’s rules ahead of time. He lay on the chaise just above her head, resting on his side to watch and, much as usual, giving commands.

“Taste her.”

He waved a hand toward Lily, indicating she should go first.

The other woman did look uncertain, but soon enough dipped her head and split Amanda’s pussy lips apart with an aggressive swipe of the tongue.

Amanda sighed out a pleased breath and settled back, enjoying the concoction of arousal and submission. Serving as a plaything had a different kind of appeal she hadn’t really felt since her first night in the shadowbox. It seemed delightfully selfish to lie back and writhe with enthusiasm as first Lily and then Tony tried to one-up each other, applying their mouths to her pussy, stimulating and penetrating.

Derek only let them play for about half a minute each. Then he changed their task.

“Finger-fuck her.”

Again, Lily went first. Amanda expected a woman to be gentler, but she was wrong. Lily banged her with firm, deep thrusts. She pumped into Amanda hard enough to make her throw her head back and gasp aloud as her body sent elated, heated messages that soon had her dripping wet.

Tony had a different style. His was not so aggressive but just as brain-meltingly pleasurable. He pushed two fingers inside and curled them forward, seeking and finding that softened expanse of flesh inside that swelled and warmed in response.

She mewled her approval and grinded her hips, rocking against his hand. He lowered his head to tickle at her clit with the tip of his tongue.

“Hey. Cheating,” Derek warned.

Derek was being left out of the game. Amanda reached up and felt along his thigh until she found his cock erect and straining against his zipper. He pressed his hand over hers and held it there, even while giving the next command.

“Fuck her with the dildo.”

Tony produced a long, purple silicon dildo. Once it was liberally lubed, Lily pressed the head against Amanda’s pussy lips. Again they differed in style. Lily with frantic force, Tony with more finesse. Amanda did not pick a favorite. It all felt good, and by the end of that round, she’d lost a great deal of connection with her surroundings, sent deeper into a lustful, sensual haze.

Derek shifted the game’s focus. He directed Tony and Lily onto the bed, and turned them loose on one another. Oral first. Derek did not allow Amanda to sit idle or cool down. After removing his pants, she stretched out beside him on the chaise to play with his cock. He slipped two fingers into her cunt, working them slowly in and out as they watched the other couple.

He ordered the couple on to mutual masturbation. This was a big hit that put a stop to the game. It ended when Lily gave Derek an order. “Turn Amanda over the edge of that chaise. I want to watch you fuck her.”

Amanda was eager to comply. But however eager she felt, Derek was even more so. In short order, he had her draped over the edge of the chaise. When Derek thrust into her, strong, to the very hilt, it was like lighting a fuse in the other couple. Their mutual masturbation turned into Tony forcing Emily over the edge of the bed and taking her from behind.

While the clients raced to get each other off, Derek took a different course. He settled into a wanton, hypnotic rhythm. He knew how to move, and he demonstrated his mastery of the art with a deeper thrust, hands on her hips to give himself leverage.

She breathed out a long, appreciative sigh and rocked back against him. His hands tightened, and he leaned down to whisper against her. “Oh, God. Hold still,” he warned. “Don’t move. I want to enjoy this as long as I can.”

She tried to obey, but her internal muscles had a mind of their own. They flexed and quivered. She liked the sound he made, half whimper, half growl, in response. The sound moved through her, translating into pure, sugary electricity that travelled up her spine into her breasts. The peaks tightened into hypersensitive knots that rubbed against the velvet chaise, creating a most tantalizing friction.

When Derek lowered his head again to press his mouth to the back of her neck, the sensation felt more like a jolt than a caress. Instant, powerful aches demanded release as she and Derek reached a distinct breaking point. His motions grew more and more fevered, his grind deeper and less measured. His loss of control sent her body into an absolute tailspin, hurtling her over the edge of orgasm with no mercy. She lost all connection for heaven knew how long, spinning on a thick, hot wave of pleasure. The only thing she registered was Derek succumbing to their chemistry, his entire, muscular form locked and rigid, convulsing with release.