Everything Bared (Six-Alarm Sexy) (36 page)

When the kiss ended, they were both panting, both on the edge. Will reached between her legs and stroked her clit. With incredibly controlled movements, he played and teased and drove her wild. “Keep your eyes on the window, sweetheart. Who do you think will come first?”

Tipping her head back, she did as he asked. Her hips bucked involuntarily, and at this point, she was pretty sure who’d win the race. Will slowed the motion of his hips. The man was playing dirty. “All right,” she hissed. “The blond guy with the military cut.”

Will’s laugh rumbled against her thighs. “You may be right. His face is so fucking red. Go for it. See if you can beat him.”

Rising up, she pinched each of Will’s nipple clamps in her fingers. She looked up at him. “Ready?”

His lips thinned and his eyes grew wild. “I don’t know.”

“Take a deep breath. One, two, three.” On three, she removed them. Will’s back arched and a yell tore from his throat. She knew the feeling, the sensation of blood returning to the numb area. The mix of pleasure and pain the greatest aphrodisiac. The tendons on his neck corded, and his purple nipples called to her.

Sitting up, she softly closed her lips around one and lapped at it. His fingers curled on her hips and he jackhammered into her. The quick sharp thrusts hit her G-spot with every stroke. Her orgasm built, spiraled, and reached the point of no return. The heat in her belly sparked. She ignited and took off like a flare. Throwing her head back, she screamed as her release took her to a place where the only beings in existence were her and the man she loved.

Dimly, she heard Will’s gruff shouts as he achieved his own orgasm. He gave a few more slow hip rolls, then collapsed on top of her, his hands supporting her head. She relaxed, enjoying the pounding of his heart against hers, the heat of his breath on her neck. God, she even loved the scent of their sex in the air. Laughing, she snuggled against him and closed her eyes.

Suddenly, she became aware of a third person in the room. Her head whipped around as she tried to see who it was. “Will! Oh God.”

A man stood against the sidewall, fully dressed with a huge boner. In his hands was a camera. “Thanks for the show, folks.”

“Fuck!” Will yelled. The man took off and Will chased after him. “Give me that goddamn camera!”

Dani snatched up a towel from the basket beside the couch and covered herself as she ran out of the room. Seeing an attendant, she called, “Where’d they go?”

He pointed to the emergency exit.

“My man ran outside naked?” she asked, her voice sounding incredulous even to herself. Did Will even know what he was doing? Had she turned him into a raving lunatic?

Giggles bubbled in her chest like the fizz in a soft drink. Until the seriousness of the situation wiped the smile off her face. Will was running around in the buff on the streets of Seattle. What if a cop saw him? What if bystanders took photos of him running naked down the street? What if the man who’d taken photos of them having sex released them to the media? Will would never be able to face his employees again. His reputation would be shattered, ruined forever.

And she’d be the one to blame.

Chapter 16

His mind on automatic, William chased the man with the camera out the back door of Club L’Estrange. Who was this man and what did he want? Whatever it was, William had to get those photos back. He raced down the alley, following the
thump thump
of the man’s shoes hitting the asphalt. At the end of the alley, he slowed and scanned up and down to the street to see which way to turn. At this time of night, the street was quiet, and William caught a glimpse of the man making a left turn several blocks away.

As he was about to take off after the man, William heard snickering and chuckling to his right. A group of teenagers were huddled in the alcove of a closed restaurant sharing a joint. One of the boys shook his head. “Dude. You need to cover that up.”

A tired-looking redhead smiled sweetly at the boy. “You humbled or something, Johnny?”

“Bitch.”

“Love the jewelry, man.”

At first William was confused. Cover what? Jewelry? All he had was his watch. As the rush of adrenaline faded, he became aware of tiny rocks biting into his feet, and the cool wind blowing on his skin.
Skin?
He glanced down and a full-body blush instantly heated him.

Fuck! He was buck naked. And not just naked—
collared
.

At least the nipple clamps were no longer there to make his humiliation complete.

And here he’d been worried about the man with the camera. At least in the club, he’d had some legal protection. Now he was on the street.

“You’d better get a move on, dude. Cops are coming.”

William’s gaze shot up the street where a police car had just turned onto the road. “Thanks.” Without wasting another second, William spun around and beat feet back to the club. Of course, to continue his streak of good luck, the emergency exit door was closed and locked. He hammered his fist on it several times, hoping Dani was nearby and would hear it.

He glanced anxiously down the alley. No cops yet. He banged on the door again. Relief flooded him when it opened a crack. Peering inside, he said, “Let me in. Cops are coming and I’m naked.”

The door opened wider and he squeezed through. A burly guard checked him out, his lips curving into a sneer. “What were you thinking, man? The cops catch you like that, they’ll arrest you for indecent exposure.”

William ground his teeth. That was the problem. He hadn’t been thinking at all. His impetuous actions could have made a bad situation even worse. But he wasn’t the only one to blame. He narrowed his eyes at the guard. “What I’d like to know is how the hell that guy got in here with a camera? Isn’t this place supposed to have a rule against that?”

Someone behind William answered the question. “We do, sir. Club L’Estrange will do everything in its power to prosecute this man. We have his face on our security cameras.”

William turned toward the new arrival, a well-dressed man in his mid-forties. Wrapped in a towel, Dani stood beside him, her expression downcast. She handed William a thick towel, which he quickly tied around his hips. “Will, this is the owner, Charles Price.”

Reining in his anger, William shook the owner’s hand. “This man, the photographer, was he a member?”

“New. He joined earlier this evening.”

“Convenient.”

“Very. We have his information on file. We’ll find him.”

“You think the data he gave you is valid?”

Tilting his head, Price studied William’s features. “Are you suggesting this man gained admittance to my club with the sole purpose of taking photos of you and Ms. Harris?”

William returned the man’s intent stare. “I am.”

“Who, may I ask, are you, sir?”

“I’m the CFO of Caldwell Fine Furnishings.”

“Ah, yes. Mr. Caldwell, my apologies. I didn’t recognize you without… your suit.” His lips curled into a slight smirk. Yeah, yeah. This was so fucking funny.

“Is the man one of your employees?” Price asked.

“No. Can you share what you have on him with my security team? For my sake and Ms. Harris’, I need to get those photos before they end up on the Internet.”

Dani shuddered. He held out his hand and, when she took it, he pulled her to his side. Her eyes were bright with unshed tears. “I’m so sorry, Will. I thought we were safe here.”

“As you were supposed to be, Ms. Harris. If my members cannot expect privacy in this club, then I might as well close my doors. Mr. Caldwell, here’s my card. Please have your people call me anytime. My team will provide all pertinent info, including any security footage of the man.”

Price touched the guard’s shoulder. “Tony, please get their clothes from room 12 and bring them to the locker room.”

“Right away, sir,” he said.

“Afterward, come to my office. We need to discuss why no one noticed a man with a camera prowling around this club.” Price’s tone was hard enough to break cement. The guard ducked his head and lumbered off.

“Thank you, Charles,” Dani said.

Price looked at them both. “It’s the least I can do. I sincerely hope this turns out to be nothing. Good night.”

William agreed, even though it was foolish to hope. This was connected to Caldwell Fine Furnishings. Connected to
him
. He felt it in his bones. Dani had nothing to do with this fiasco. Someone was out to get him. Out to destroy him and his company. After all the worrying he’d done about how Dani’s lifestyle could impact his world, everything had come in a complete ironic circle. He’d brought this down on them, not her. He just prayed he could protect Dani and keep her career from going up in flames.

By seven the next morning, William had put his entire security team to the task of locating Mr. Purnell, as the mysterious photographer had named himself in his membership application. Only his lead man, O’Connell, knew the exact circumstances under which the photos had been taken. William had hated revealing he’d been at the sex club, but he hadn’t seen a way around it.

Up early as well, Dani had rushed around the kitchen, preparing another one of her heart-attack inducing breakfast extravaganzas. Nervous energy came off her in waves. He didn’t know how to reassure her that they’d be okay. Wasn’t even sure it was possible. The fire service didn’t look too kindly upon what it saw as “conduct unbecoming” a firefighter.

Dani set a plate in front of him piled high with eggs, bacon, hash browns, and toast. He tugged her to him and kissed her belly through the long T-shirt she wore. “Relax, sweetheart.”

“I wish I could make last night go away.” She cradled his head. “If that bastard leaks those photos, it’ll be my fault.”

“Hey,” he said, pulling her onto his lap. “Stop it. Everything that happened up to that point was fantastic. Beyond anything I could have imagined. For the first time, I learned how to put aside my inhibitions and just
be
. And I have you to thank for it.”

“But if—”

“Whatever happens, we’ll deal with it together.” He kissed the side of her neck and his cock stirred to life under her ass. “Right now though, we’d better eat before my
inhibitions
decide to be free again.”

Laughing, she took her own seat. They ate in a comfortable silence until there was a knock at the door. William set his cup down, but Dani stopped him. “Eat. I’ll get it.”

The door opened, then closed. Dani returned with a manila envelope in her hands. Her face was scrunched in a frown. “Who was it?” he asked.

“No one. The hall was empty and this was outside your door.” She handed him the envelope. “It’s got your name on it.”

Like some science-fiction monster, fear wrapped its tentacles around William’s spine. Every hair on his body snapped to attention. He flipped the envelope over, searching for an address or who might have delivered it. There was nothing. Using a clean knife, he sliced open one end and peeked inside.

Photos.

Blood drained from his face. Dani’s eyes widened. “What is it, Will?”

William pushed his plate out of the way and emptied the contents of the envelope onto his placemat. “Fucking shit,” he said when twenty full-color images of him and Dani landed on the table. Both their faces were abundantly visible.

“Jesus.” Her voice no more than a breath, Dani grabbed one and stared at it like she could make it change. “What does that fucker want? Is there a note or something?”

He rooted though the stack until he spotted a slip of paper. “Here it is.” His heart thudding against his chest, William read the note.

You have until noon today to hand over one million dollars in small unmarked bills, or these photos will be posted on YouTube and Facebook. All evidence of William Caldwell IV’s embezzlement of company funds will be turned over to the police. Leave the money in a duffle bag in the bushes behind the Smith Cove plaque along the Elliot Bay Terminal 91 bike path. If you miss the deadline, talk to the cops, or anyone tries to stop me, a backup will release the photos and the evidence
.

When he was done reading, William’s gaze locked with Dani’s. “Maybe I’m naïve,” she said, her tone flat. “But I really didn’t expect this.”

He took her hand. “After the effort that guy went to in order to take the photos, you had to know he’d do something with them.”

“Oh, I knew that.” She smiled weakly. “I just didn’t expect this to be about your company.”

William closed his eyes as a tidal wave of regret washed over him. “I’m so sorry, Dani.” He snapped his eyes open. “I didn’t steal from the company.”

Dani stood and came around the table to his side. She cradled his face against her chest. “There’s nothing I believe more. What are we going to do?”

Holding her close, he breathed her in and let her warmth imprint on his skin. He needed her now more than ever. “I have to tell my father. This affects the company, so he needs to be in on the decision.”

Unwilling to let her go just yet, he held on for another minute. Their lives were about to be torn apart, and he wasn’t quite ready to face it, face the possibility that this mess would destroy them and take Dani away from him.