Full Exposure: A Loveswept Contemporary Erotic Romance (40 page)

“She looks like she hasn’t been laid in a few years. I want to enjoy my initiation, not give a sex ed lesson.”

That elicited a sound of fury from her. “You bastard—” Her response was cut off when Tom laughed and slapped his beefy hand over her mouth. Above it, however, her light green eyes lasered into him with the promise of retribution.

He mentally shrugged. If she felt insulted, he’d accomplished his goal, but he’d still spoken the truth. She had admitted it had been a long time for her, and he hadn’t doubted her. He still didn’t. The same wasn’t true for her reason for dumping him—their incompatible personalities and her busy work schedule. When he’d persisted, she’d told him his job was a turnoff for her. It was all bullshit. If the situation weren’t such a damn dangerous one, he would’ve actually enjoyed how the tables had turned.

Knowing it was expected of him, he moved closer until he towered over her. Tom took his hand away from her mouth. Ty brushed his fingers across her cheek and leaned down until his nose touched hers. “Sorry if it disappoints you, baby, but I don’t do women who look like they don’t swallow let alone suck dick with expertise.”

She narrowed her eyes at him, then pressed her lips tightly together as if to hold back her retort. Too bad. He would have loved to hear her response. He had no doubt that when Claire Fullerton let herself go, she was a sight to behold—in bed and out.

“Oh, she’ll swallow,” Jed said. “Suck, swallow, and any other damn thing we want her to do.”

With one last piercing stare into Claire’s wide eyes, one he hoped but doubted would reassure her, Ty straightened. “Get her the hell out of here. I don’t want her.”

He turned and started to walk away.

“Then I’ll have her for myself. The bitch needs to be taught a lesson.”

Ty froze at Jed’s words and closed his eyes. Fuck.

This was bad. Very bad.

Because no way was he letting anyone—be it Jed or the town’s most law-abiding citizen—touch her.

He clenched his fists, wondering how he was going to take Tom and Jed down while keeping her out of harm’s way. He—

“I don’t want you. I want him,” he heard from behind him.

Claire.

In disbelief, he slowly turned around.

A wide grin split Tom’s face. With a side look at Jed, he shoved her toward Ty, who caught her as she stumbled into him, his fingers gently wrapping around her soft skin to steady her. “Don’t …” he muttered, wanting to warn her. Explain. Something.

Claire swallowed hard, but the knowledge was already there in her eyes. Knowledge and determination. She knew what was going on. What was about to go down.

He didn’t want her, however. Not like this.

“I want you,” she whispered, her fingers suddenly lowering to the fly of his jeans. “Not him. Not—” Her voice broke. Her face was flushed, partially obscured by her fall of honey brown hair, and she was staring at his throat rather than his eyes. Her fingers were shaking, but she licked her lips and seemingly forced herself to say, “Please. I’ll do anything you want me to. Anything.” Slipping her hand inside his pants, she cupped him, rubbing through the material of his briefs. “J-just please don’t hurt me.”

His eyes widened and his brain seemed to short circuit.

Her plea at the end had sounded convincing, but the fear that had overwhelmed her minutes ago had ebbed. Her expression radiated desire and anticipation.

And, damn, it blew his mind.

It was like every fantasy he’d ever had come to life. He loved Claire’s prissy side. Her femininity. Ambition. Kindness. But to have all that and this, too? To know she wanted him so much that the danger of the situation wasn’t enough to dampen her arousal? His dick swelled to painful proportions, eagerly announcing it was ready, willing, and don’t-hold-me-back eager to give her what she wanted. She must have felt it, because her eyes dropped lower, and with a small whimper, she pushed her hand past the front placket of his briefs and gripped his cock.

He closed his eyes and bit back a groan.

In a flash, he envisioned her long bare legs wrapped around his hips. Her nipples in his mouth. His dick shoved deep inside her.

His blood boiled and surged to his cock, making him grind his teeth at the combined pleasure and pain.

Her breath hitched, causing his eyes to fly open.

She was still looking down, and his gaze followed. Her small fingers didn’t quite fit around him. The pale, delicate digits contrasted so beautifully with his heavily-veined blood-infused organ that he wanted to get on his knees and beg her to never let go.

Impossibly, she must have read his thoughts.

That, or she’d decided in the face of his silence to press her advantage. Because as he stood there, so stunned that his brain had virtually shut down, she whispered, for his ears alone, “I want you to come in my mouth this time. Mine.”

And then she fell to her knees before him.

“Master Dmitri doesn’t expect sex.” Cora grunted. “You’ll keep your clothes on.”

Presley Flynn scanned the foyer of the snazzy mansion and looked for something to hold on to as her roommate, Cora Adams, hustled her down the corridor. With a little shove, Cora added, “You wanted this, remember?”

“Clearly, I’ve lost my damn mind.” Presley pushed back against Cora’s hands, trying to hold her ground.

The mansion was pleasant, with thick dark wood on the trim of the doorways and gentle burgundy-painted walls, but it did nothing to settle her nerves. Beneath her feet, located in the basement, was the elite BDSM dungeon, Club Sin. “Maybe I need to go to a therapist. Or skip that part and go straight to the nuthouse.”

Cora stepped in front of Presley, and her big blue eyes, lined with dark makeup, sparkled. Her long chocolate-colored hair fell over her black blouse, and her red lipstick covered pursed lips. “You told me you wanted to join the dungeon.”

Presley snorted. “You said I was a long-lost submissive who needed the lifestyle. Which, apparently, is so far from the truth, since why am I on the verge of puking all over this fancy hardwood floor?”

Cora smirked. “Please don’t puke on Master Dmitri’s floor.”

“Okay, great,” Presley muttered in total agreement. “See, it’s best I leave.”

She turned to get the hell out of the place when Cora grabbed her arm, pulling Presley back in front of her. “One chance, Presley, that’s all you get. If you leave now, you won’t be allowed to come back.”

Cora walked forward, and Presley found herself matching her stride. They passed a grand wooden staircase on the left, leading to the upstairs. A huge wrought-iron balcony curved around the entire upper floor, which led to numerous doors used for God knew what.

They strode by an oval-shaped dining room, and Cora added, “There’s a reason why you read so many BDSM erotic novels. There’s a reason why it turns you on. And there’s a reason why you made the decision to come with me tonight.”

Stopping near the doorway to the office that Presley had been avoiding for the last five minutes, she inhaled. “You’re right. I did come here for a reason.” To surrender to her every desire. “I don’t want to walk out the front door, but—” She pointed toward the office. “I’m scared shitless to walk through that door.”

“Of course you are.” Cora grinned. “Your darkest, most secret fantasies await you in that office.” Without another word, she spun on her heel and headed down the hallway in the opposite direction.

“Do you plan on coming in?”

Presley started at the powerful low voice that seemed to draw her forward, giving the fearful butterflies in her stomach a flutter of excitement. Her feet moved without thought as she entered the office, which looked much like a library.

Books filled the shelves at the far end of the room, along with a grand wooden desk. A computer and telephone and other office accessories sat on top of it. A sleek black leather couch was situated straight ahead, under the bay window.

“Ah, she finally decides to enter.”

Presley froze, as time halted. The man never raised his head to look at her, but he didn’t need to. His presence filled the room, making her entirely aware of him. He sat at the desk, his head bowed toward the paper he’d been reading. With the slight curve to his mouth, he stole the air from her lungs. He was hot.

As the owner of Club Sin and the president of Las Vegas’s top casino, Dmitri Pratt matched the mansion with his wealthy exuberance. Hard angles defined his jawline and cheekbones. His lips were lush and sculpted and his nose straight-edged. The sleeves of his black dress shirt were rolled up on his muscular forearms, displaying a tribal dragon tattoo on his left arm.

When she didn’t move, Dmitri stated, with his eyes still focused on the paper, “Take a seat on the couch.”

Exhaling slowly, she shed the tension in her chest as she made her way to the leather sofa and sat down. The coolness of the upholstery against her heated skin came as much needed relief. She crossed her legs, doing her best to portray confidence.

In front of this powerful and experienced man, she didn’t want to show her apprehension. In fact, she’d never been
this
uncomfortable around men, but Dmitri wasn’t simply a man. He sexually dominated women, and as a Dom, he did the kinky things Presley had only dreamed of fulfilling.

He signed the paper, then he lifted his head. Presley forgot the world around her, absorbed in him. His piercing blue eyes gazed over her from head to toe before his focus returned to her face. The depth of those eyes pulled her in with the intensity of how he watched her. No, how he
studied
her. He didn’t give her a quick look but a long examination.

Under his stare, her body went mushy and
hot
. Flames flickered through her veins as he stood from his chair and approached. Her fingernails bit into her palms as her heart rate increased. His muscular frame didn’t fit his fluid gait. Each step he took exuded authority, like a lion on a hunt, but appeared graceful, with controlled power.

She scanned the thickness of his shoulders beneath his black dress shirt, and she noticed how the fabric clung to him, detailing the valleys of his muscles. Glancing lower, she found the rest of him to be more of the same—powerful and masculine. His black slacks, held tight by a leather belt hung low on his hips, hugged his thick thighs.

Stopping in front of her, he stared at her with impressively intense eyes, and a strand of his stylish blond hair hung across his forehead. “So, you’re Cora’s friend? Presley, right?”

The commanding nature of his voice made her breathing erratic. This man had the capability of making her feel giddy as a schoolgirl, as if he were her secret crush who’d noticed her at last. “Yes, that’s me.”

Dmitri’s mouth twitched, and he tucked a finger under her jaw, tilting up her chin. “Welcome to my home, Presley.”

She shivered at the stern yet gentle hold. “Thank you.”

He slid a finger along her jawline, cocking his head, and his study of her touched the center of her soul, awakening her body in a foreign way. As if, for the first time in her life, a man looked at her and truly saw her. His examination made her bare, totally exposed to him, and unusually vulnerable.

Locked in a stare she couldn’t break free from, she wiggled in her seat, unable to stop herself, then she froze. After another shift, she couldn’t ignore the damp silk between her thighs. How was that even possible—nervous one minute to undeniably turned on the next?

Dmitri’s eyebrow arched, and that sexy smile returned. “Pretty little thing, aren’t you, doll?”

He removed his hold and she quivered, and her body hummed with desire. The memory of his touch remained. The path his finger had taken was scorched into her skin, and the heat within only intensified as she drew in his masculine scent, edged with sandalwood.

Watching the twinkle in his eyes increase, she cursed herself for being entirely too obvious. Or maybe she should curse him for being so talented at reading people. To calm down, she glanced around the office, looking for something to take her mind off of her response to him.

It was hopeless.

The home seemed like a fairy tale all in itself. Along the dark taupe wall across from her were four huge canvases forming a solid picture of a lone tree and a moon, reminding her that she was out of her element. “That painting is beautiful.”
Enormous and expensive
. “Did you pick it out?”

Dmitri followed her gaze for only a moment. “Do I look like the type of man who’d know about art?”

She licked her dry lips, staring at his sculpted mouth that held the mysterious smile, and she admitted, “Kind of.”

“No, doll, I couldn’t care less about it.” He winked. “That’s what interior decorators are for.”

Dmitri deftly turned and strode toward the watercooler in the corner of the office. Presley frowned at his back. Perhaps she had misread him and he wasn’t as fancy as she’d thought, since he seemed amused by her response.

After filling a tall glass with water, he returned to her and offered her the glass. “Here, drink this, love.”

“Thanks.” She accepted the glass, and settled the cool glass on her lap, not sure she’d get the water down her dry throat.

Dmitri leaned in and gazed into her eyes dead-on. “I didn’t give you the glass to hold. I gave you the water because you need it. Drink up, Presley.”

The stern set of his jaw indicated he wouldn’t relent, so with a shrug, she sipped the water. The cool liquid rushed through her mouth and down her throat, easing the tightness as she swallowed. Maybe she needed that more than she’d thought. He gave a firm nod. “Better.”

As he sat next to her on the couch, his thick thigh brushed against hers, and a spark blasted through her, causing her cheeks to warm. The side of his mouth once again curved as he stared at her blush before those intense eyes zeroed in on hers. “Now, then, tell me a bit about yourself.”

“Well—” She focused on their conversation and away from how incredible his body felt against hers. “My parents are still together and have a good marriage. I grew up in Apple Valley my entire life, but I moved to Vegas about four months ago to live with my ex.” She took another sip of the water and realized she’d almost opened a door she didn’t want to go through. Gathering her thoughts, she looked at her hands, clenched around the glass, and continued. “That’s a story not worth repeating.” No way in hell would she tell him about her ex-boyfriend, Steven Moser, on whom she wasted eight years of her life. “Let’s see … I’m twenty-five and have no kids.”