As Bad As Can Be (9 page)

He skimmed the tip of his tongue down her throat as he untied her halter top and the red dress fell away. She let her head fall back against the arm supporting her. His other hand, his clever fingers, searched out the front clasp of her bra and flicked it open. She helped him pull the stretchy red fabric out of the way.

The low, involuntary sound she made, not quite a groan, was one Shay echoed as his hand slid up over her bare breast. The slight roughness of his palm teased, the warmth inflamed. Then he began concentrating on her nipple, spiraling in toward it, brushing it, squeezing it until she was riding the delicious knife edge of pleasure and pain. She did groan then, in surrender, in anticipation.

Anticipation was what drove Shay, as he leaned down to lick at her nipples, feeling her shudder at the sensation. He knew she could feel, had to feel his cock straining against the denim of his jeans. In the faint light of the parking lot, her aureoles showed as dark smudges on the pale fullness of her breasts.

He bent his head and his mouth was on her, sucking first one, then the other nipple. There was something primal about it, the feeling of that hard nub against his tongue, against his lips. There was something immensely arousing in hearing her soft cry.

Then she was pushing his head away, standing up and reaching down to unfasten his jeans. In rapid succession he felt the shock of night air on his cock, then the bigger shock of the heat of her hand.

Mallory laughed softly and gave him a stroke that had his breath hissing in. “No underwear, Shay? You
are
walking on the wild side.” She moved her hand,
then ran her finger up to the tip of him where he could feel the pearly drop of precome that had slipped out. She slid her fingertip down the length of his hard-on, spreading the slippery fluid and leaving a trail of frenzied nerve endings in her wake.

Then she raised her fingertip up to her lips and sucked on it, as she'd done before with the bourbon. “Mmm, I think I need a better taste.” She knelt down beside him and slipped him into the wet heat of her mouth, and the world turned into a single spot of blinding pleasure.

The sound of Shay's helpless groan sounded in Mallory's ears as she moved her mouth up and down the hard length of him. There was something incredibly arousing about the immediacy of giving pleasure that generated such an obvious response. She moved her head, the silky smooth skin tightened against her lips. She stroked with her tongue, he caught his breath. She sucked, and she could feel his body tense as he fought for control.

Then his fingers were pulling at her shoulders to raise her.

“No,” she protested. “I want to…”

“Now,” he said raggedly. “I need to be in you now.” Then he cursed.

“What?” she asked, fumbling in the pouch at her hip.

“We don't have a condom.”

“Oh, yes, we do,” she breathed pulling one out of her bag. “Don't miss a trick, I believe you said?” The plastic crackled. Mallory leaned in for a kiss and threw a leg over the bike so that she straddled Shay, her legs atop his. He pushed the silky dress up to her hips. She
felt his palms run over her thighs. Then he slid them underneath her and helped her rise.

“Mmm, now who's living on the wild side?” he murmured as his fingers slid over the bare skin under her skirt.

Mallory moaned a little at the slippery smooth feel of the head of his cock as she rubbed it against the slick cleft between her legs. Then he put his hands on her hips and pulled her down. And all she could do was clutch blindly at his shoulders and cry out at the slippery friction as he impaled her on him.

His hands were strong around her ribs, holding her, helping her move. His flesh pulsed hard and hot inside her. Every stroke sent shivers racing through her. Every stroke, he went so deep that pleasure and pain blurred into one overwhelming surge of sensation that had her fighting not to cry out. The sliding, tormenting friction pulled her nearer and nearer to orgasm until she tumbled over, moaning and jolting against him. And an instant later, he followed.

 

T
HE SECONDS TICKED BY
as their heart rates slowed. Mallory leaned bonelessly against Shay, feeling his breath on her hair. The sound of a car passing on the highway registered only dimly.

“Mal,” Shay said softly.

“Hmm?”

“We're in the parking lot. We have to get ourselves fixed up and home.”

She opened her eyes then. It took all the energy she had to straighten up. “I suppose you're right.”

He reached out to help her fasten her bra and pull her top down, his hands brushing over her bare breasts as he did.

Desire sliced through her as if the previous few moments had never happened. Oh, yes, they did need to get home. And then they needed to get naked and do it all over again.

She braced herself and slid off Shay, the smooth, intimate rush of skin against skin making her catch her breath again. When he handed her her helmet, she leaned in for a kiss instead and they lost long minutes to the addictive taste of mouth against mouth.

Finally she straddled the bike behind him and then they were riding down the back road through the night.

 

M
ALLORY STOOD IN THE ALLEYWAY
behind her apartment, watching Shay pull his bike up onto the kick stand. He pulled off his helmet and got off the bike himself.

She stepped in to kiss him. “Let's go inside,” she breathed. “I've got plans for you.” She tugged at his hand to lead him toward her back stairs.

At the top, she unlocked the door that let them into her kitchen. Then she started to pull off his jacket. Shay shook his head and closed his hands over hers.

“We need to talk.”

“What about?”

He looked at her. “What we're doing here. What to tell your brother, for a start.”

Her chin came up a little at that. “The same thing I usually tell him when I sleep with someone. Nothing.” Dev was the last person she wanted to be thinking about just then. In fact, just then she really didn't want to think too much about anything.

Except the way it had felt to be with Shay.

She fought off impatience. This wasn't the way it was supposed to go. This wasn't the way it was sup
posed to go at all. No involvement. The plan had been to get him to sleep with her so that he'd make tracks the other way. She'd thought she'd known how he'd react, but that was before a wholly unexpected Shay emerged. She thought she'd wanted to get rid of him; now need for him overwhelmed her. It was just sex, she reminded herself. Nice, mindless sex.

She started to walk past him to the living room, snapping a switch to turn on soft lighting from a lamp in the corner.

“I don't care whether you usually talk to Dev or not.” Shay followed her into a room of plush furniture and warm wood. “I think this is a little different and we need to figure out what just happened.”

She turned to face him, leaning against the burgundy velvet sofa. “No one ever told you about the birds and bees?” she asked. “I'll give you another lesson, if you like.”

Shay followed her. “Not until I know what's going on here.”

“What's going on here is sex,” she said, with a bit more emphasis than she'd planned. “It's got nothing to do with Dev or business or anything else. Just you and me. In bed.”

“I don't usually sleep around just for the hell of it.”

“Well, maybe you should start. Let that wild side out, Shay,” she said softly, moving toward him to slide her arms around his neck. “Have a secret fling just for the fun of it. I won't tell if you won't.” Just sex, she thought to herself. And oh, what sex. He wanted it, she wanted it. That was all she needed to know.

Her lips were soft against his as she drew him to
ward the couch. Even as he kissed her back, he hesitated. Finally Mallory pulled back.

“While you deal with your moral quandary, I'm going to give a call downstairs to check on how they're doing. We can have an affair, or you can try to pretend that you don't want it. But decide quick, Shay. I'm not a patient woman.” She leaned in for a kiss that was all flash and fire. Before he could react, before his arms could come around her, she disappeared through a doorway at the far side of the room, presumably toward a phone.

Shay sat down slowly on the couch. What to do now, that was the question. He was smart enough to know that there was no way in hell this particular genie was going back in the bottle. There was no point in being ticked off with himself; if he could go back in time, he'd do the same thing. In fact, going back in time didn't sound like such a bad idea. Surely mortal man only got one or two chances at that kind of mind-blowing sex.

Shay scrubbed a hand over his face. There were two possibilities open to him. One was go cold turkey. If he were smart, he'd wash his hands of the whole thing. Tell Mallory so long, tell Dev thanks but no thanks, and get as far and as fast from this mess as he could. Never see that smile ever again. Never touch that soft skin.

Not appealing.

The other option was to say what the hell and take what she was offering. He'd never had a fling in his entire life. In fact, he'd never done anything irresponsible, even. And while he doubted that deep down he was wired for casual sex, now would be the perfect time to find out. Mallory was right, he'd been living
too quietly for too long. So they had a blistering affair, so what.

The only problem was that if he was having a blistering affair with Dev's sister, he really had to tell him. It wasn't fair not to. And yet, if he told Dev when Mallory didn't want him to, he'd be betraying her confidence. But if he didn't betray her, he was betraying Dev.

Shay leaned his head back and rubbed his eyes with the heels of his hands. If he were honest, he didn't give a damn about moral quandaries just at the moment. What was hammering through his head above all was the memory of how she had felt against him, how he'd felt inside her. And how much he wanted to feel that again.

He dropped his hands and straightened up.

And his jaw dropped.

Mallory stood looking at him from the doorway to her hall, still wearing her red stilettos.

And absolutely nothing else.

“I thought you needed a little more encouragement,” she said softly, walking across the Persian rug toward him. “Does this do the trick, Shay?”

He took two steps toward her and crushed her in his arms.

S
QUINTING IN THE BRIGHT
afternoon sunlight, Mallory pulled the door of Bad Reputation closed and pushed her key into the lock. Especially at times like these, she thought the decision to remain a night time bar was a good one. She fumbled for dark glasses as she heard footsteps behind her on the sidewalk.

“Hey.”

Her mouth curved in pleased recognition as she looked over her should to find Shay behind her. “Mmm, and to you, too.” She turned to flow in against him for a long, liquid kiss.

It didn't do to think about how good it felt to see him, to have his arms around her again. In the three days since they'd become lovers, Shay had become like some rich, decadent delicacy that she craved incessantly. It was just the novelty of a new lover, that was all, she told herself. A skilled, surprisingly inventive lover, but one who would eventually stop making her pulse throb, as they all did. One who would eventually become possessive and try to reform her.

As they all did.

Now was not the time to think about it, though. Instead she let herself fall into the luxury of his touch, indulging herself in his flavor and scent. Long seconds passed. Finally Mallory broke the kiss and leaned back. “It's been too long since last night.”

Shay traced a finger along her cheek. “I seem to recall that you were the one who pushed me out on the street.”

Mallory put her head down against his chest. “I told you, I don't sleep well with other people around.”

“Sleeping's not what I had in mind.” He brushed his lips over her hair. “It's not what I have in mind now.”

She softened against him before she remembered her purpose. “I'm afraid you'll have to wait until after closing, big boy.”

“Why's that?” His hands were doing tantalizing things to her breasts through the tight T-shirt covering them. What a difference a few days made, Mallory thought. They might have been standing in the doorway niche, but the pride of the Chamber of Commerce was essentially touching her on a street in broad daylight. And oh, what a touch.

She struggled not to go spiraling away to the place he seemed bent on taking her. “I can't do this now. I flubbed up my inventory and we're almost out of cocktail napkins. I've got to go over to the warehouse club to get more.”

“There's time,” he murmured, bending toward her again.

Mallory slipped neatly out around him. “It's Friday night. I've got to get back here in time to do bar prep.” She turned to walk toward her truck, parked farther along the street.

“You can get paper goods delivered, you know,” Shay said, catching up to link his fingers with hers as they walked.

“I know, but I get a better price by going to the
warehouse club, believe it or not. Convenience costs money.”

“You use white, right?”

She stopped on the sidewalk by her truck, keys in hand. “Why do you ask?”

“We just got a delivery of paper goods on Wednesday. I can probably spot you enough to get you by until you have time to go get them. Save you driving over to Providence.”

“Won't that leave you short?”

He shrugged. “I always keep some extra on hand. Besides, you can pay me back when you make your regular run.”

“Really?” She leaned a hip against the truck and cocked her head at him. “What's in it for you?”

His eyes darkened. “Well, if you don't have to spend an hour running to the warehouse club, you've suddenly got some time on your hands, now, don't you?”

“I suppose I do,” she allowed thoughtfully. “I wonder what I should do with it? I guess I could go over to the library and see if they've gotten in anything new. Or I could go over to the launderette and wash my sheets. I've been going through a lot of sheets lately,” she said with a wicked grin. “Or I could—”

Shay snaked out an arm and swept her against him. “Or you could let me take you upstairs and go down on you until you scream,” he said softly before his mouth closed over hers.

Time became plastic, irrelevant. The trek back to the bar was a blur. She'd managed quite nicely the whole morning, but suddenly she needed him naked, on her, in her.

Part of her.

They got through the door, barely. Mallory started unbuttoning his shirt with impatient fingers, then gave up and just pulled. There was a light tick that she almost didn't hear over the roaring in her ears.

“Is it safe to be doing this here?” he asked, his hands roving over her.

“The custodian's finished up and gone, no one's due in for hours yet,” she said, and then caught her breath at the heat of his hand sliding over her breast. “Besides, the door's locked, and I don't want to take the time to climb the stairs.” She slipped her hands inside his open shirt and ran her palms over the hard, bare muscle of his chest and shoulders. “God, you've got a gorgeous body. Does O'Connor's have a gym in back?”

Shay laughed against her mouth. “I bench press kegs during slack times,” he said, then pulled her to him. “You're amazing,” he murmured. “The first time I saw you dancing, I almost couldn't breathe. It was like I could see what it would be like to make love with you. It made me think about what you'd look like dancing up there naked.”

Mallory tugged his shirt loose from his jeans. “And did you do a good job?”

“My imagination was unequal to the task,” he said, sliding his hand down over her ass and making her wiggle closer to him. “Reality was beyond anything I could come up with.”

Mallory slipped her arms around him and ran them up his bare back, luxuriating in the heat of his body. “So you wanted to see me dancing naked on the bar?” she asked, watching his eyes turn heavy and dark. “Maybe I should see what I can do about that fantasy.”

She crossed to the jukebox and punched in a code. A humming bass line began, then the low chords of an organ, then the pulsing beat of Don Henley's “Dirty Laundry” rose around them. Nodding her head to the beat, Mallory moved behind the bar and climbed the steps that led to the top.

Shay watched as she strode onto the wooden surface, long and lean in her jeans, red heels winking. Her hips swayed to the music, with a little snap, a little sashay. She ran her hands down her sides, over the flare of her rear end, then back up to her waist. Drumbeats joined the metronomic organ as she shook her long tumble of sable hair. Her hands flirted with the bottom of her T-shirt, inching it up bit by bit to show the smooth, flat expanse of her belly.

Shay reached a hand behind him to locate a chair and settled into it, staring at the teasing expression on her mouth, the promise in her eyes as she danced for him and him alone. The first time he'd watched her dance, he'd thought that she looked like a woman dancing for her lover.

Now she was.

Mallory whipped off the shirt, tossing it on a table, and his pulse speeded up. Her hands slid up over her breasts, teasing the nipples through the satiny fabric of her bra until he could see them harden into buttons. Turning her back to him, she swayed to the music, wrapping her arms around herself. When she spun back around, her bra was unclasped and her breasts stood out firm and full.

And his mouth went dry.

This time, when she tossed the item of clothing, she aimed toward him and it landed in his lap, soft and silky and black as midnight sin. It smelled of her.

The song was growing more intense, the singer wailing, and Mallory moved up and down the bar as though it were a runway, now crouching down with her hands planted between her knees to press her breasts together, now standing up and moving rhythmically, running her fingers back through her hair. When she unbuttoned her jeans and teasingly pulled down the zipper, he found himself rising to his feet without volition. Then she turned her back to him and slid them down slowly, far enough to show the black thong that she wore, then down to the tops of her thighs. The tiny triangle of black lace made him immensely aware of the smooth roundness that framed it. Heart-shaped, he thought driftingly. Her ass was the shape of a perfect heart.

Shay moved toward the bar as though caught in a spell, watching as she turned to face him again, the lace front of the thong making a vee between her legs. He settled down on a bar stool at her feet, staring up at her as she swayed to the music, cradling her breasts in her hands.

Her thighs were lithe and lovely and she sank down into a crouch directly in front of him, then sat on the bar, her eyes hot and filled with promise.

Her leg stretched out beside him at eye level, the hot red stiletto gleaming. When she stretched out the other, Shay slid off her shoes and let them drop to the floor.

Mallory leaned back on her elbows and watched as Shay pulled at the cuffs of her jeans, stripping them off of her with exquisite slowness. His palms were warm against her skin as he circled her ankles with thumb and forefinger, then slid his hands up her calves. She shivered as she felt the warmth rising, to
her knees, to her thighs. Anticipation jittered through her as she watched him lean in and felt the heat of his breath.

Shay hooked his fingers in the sides of her thong and slowly pulled it down over her thighs, her calves, and off her feet, leaving a trail of sensitized skin in its wake. For a moment, he simply looked at her while desire thrummed through her until she quaked. The wanting made her weak, the waiting made her rigid with impatience. Then he leaned in toward her, draping her legs over his shoulders.

His breath was hot against her as he ran his tongue up the tender insides of her thighs, kissing the fragile skin at their apex. The tip of his tongue teased the folds of flesh, and she groaned in frustration. She craved his mouth against her. Instead he tantalized her with the lightest of touches, tormenting her with desire. Unable to help herself, she shifted and made a little moan of protest.

The sound turned into a cry as he pressed his mouth against her, hot and wet and relentless. She arched into mindless orgasm, tossed over the first peak, shuddering against him.

Once she'd stopped quaking from the aftershocks, she opened her eyes and started to lift one leg over his head.

“Huh-uh.” Shay held it in place and began running his hands over her stomach and up to her breasts. “Until you're screaming, I think I said. I'm not finished by a long shot.”

Mallory gave a sharp cry as his tongue slid against her. She let her head fall back and closed her eyes, focusing on the sensation. She felt his fingers squeezing her nipples, sending little shocks racing through
her as he traced tormenting patterns against her most sensitive places. She arched in shock, gasping as he scraped his teeth over her clitoris, then sucked until every part of her, every muscle, every nerve, every thought tightened down to that one spot. Tension spread through her, unbearable, all of it focused on the point where his mouth touched her, dragging her closer to the edge, and closer still.

Until she tumbled over, gasping and crying out, shuddering again and again. It went on a long time; the aftershocks lasted even longer. Finally she was still, languid and sated.

Shay's face was strained when she sat up and climbed down to the floor. Mallory leaned up against him, her breath still uneven. “I think you need to catch up a little,” she whispered, unzipping his fly and pulling out his hard, heavy cock.

Shay spun her around and bent her over. Surprised, she groped for the edge of the bar to steady herself. Then he slid into her in a surge that had her crying out. The strokes were fast, hard, and deep, racking her body with shivers, tearing moans from her. It was quick, savage, and she gloried in it. She felt him grow thicker, harder with each movement. He leaned forward to fill his hands with her breasts, managing one stroke, two, three. Then he groaned and spilled himself in her, pulling her hips hard against him, their moans mingling.

 

“T
HREE
H
ARP, ONE
B
USHMILL'S
, Col,” Fiona said, setting her tray on the bar.

Colin stuck a glass under the tap. “It is beyond dead in here. I'm glad I'm out of here soon.”

“Things will liven up later, you can be sure. It's
Friday. Of course, I won't know because I'll actually be out for once. Almost like a normal person, then.”

“You've got plans?” he asked in surprise. “I was figuring you and Shana and I could hit the movies.”

“And listen to you mutter about the subtitles? No, thank you.”

“You and your subtitles. You know there's a reason they invented talking pictures. If I want to read, I'll get a book.”

“It's that Irish love of poetry, me lad,” she said with a sassy wink. “Anyway, you should like them as well. After all, song lyrics aren't so very far from poetry, some of them. And didn't I notice my Yeats book moved last time you took a break?”

He started filling another pint, then reached behind him to get a glass for the whiskey. “Guilty as charged. Who knew you were so sharp eyed? Anyway, I'm just trying to improve myself.”

She studied him from under her lashes. “Ooh, it's a tall order, that.”

“So where are you and Shana going tonight?” he asked, pouring whiskey into the glass.

“Oh, we thought we'd look in on Bad Reputation.”

“You what?” He did a double take. “What are you doing going to a place like that? It's a guys' place. There's nothing there for you. You're wasting your time.”

Fiona gave Colin a sharp look as she took the whiskey from him. “Well it's my time to waste, then, isn't it?”

“It's tacky.” Colin glowered at her and put a final pint glass under the tap.

“You're just threatened by a bunch of women who aren't afraid to enjoy their sexuality.”

“Hey, I'm all for enjoying sexuality. If it's a strip bar, call it that and get it out of Washington Square. If you're going to be right in the heart of the waterfront, though, keep it clean. This isn't Bourbon Street in New Orleans. I mean, it's not trying to be a strip bar, I'll give them that, but it's everything but.”