Infatuation - A Club Destiny Novel (19 page)

He didn’t make her wait
for long. Her eyes locked on the place where his body was joined
with hers, and when he lifted her legs over his arms, she was
treated to short, shallow thrusts of his hips, followed by longer,
harder ones until he was fucking her hard and fast. She latched her
fingers onto his thighs, trying to pull herself against him as he
pounded into her over and over.

“
Come for me, McKenna.”
The words sounded as though they had been ripped from his chest,
and when she looked up at his face, she noticed the sweat beading
on his forehead.

The welcome tingle started deep inside of
her, only to blossom into a full blown assault on her senses as
another orgasm ripped through her, his name tumbling from her lips
as she fought to hold on to him, scared if she let go, she’d never
be the same again.

*** ~~ *** ~~ *** ~~ ***

Article number two, as approved by Luke
McCoy and Travis Walker:

The Sinful in Seven Series:

Day Two: Business as Usual?

Is it true that Club Destiny might have a
little competition?

I find it fascinating that
with all the hushed whispers and absurd rumors, Club Destiny still
functions as a normal business on a day to day basis. It’s true
though, the club may be a little out of the norm, but when all is
said and done, business is business.

One of the items on the agenda at a member’s
meeting held today was the introduction of another upcoming
attraction that has been hitting the headlines. Today, I had the
pleasure of listening to Travis Walker, co-owner of Walker, Inc.
and the brain behind the Alluring Indulgence Resort, explain in
detail some of the exclusive amenities that will be available to
future guests. I am happy to clear up one of the rumors that we’ve
all been curious about... Luke and Logan McCoy have invested an
undisclosed amount of money in the new resort.

What does this mean for Club Destiny?

According to Luke McCoy, nothing. Club
Destiny will continue as it has for the last five years under his
watchful eye.

-McKenna Thorne

*** ~~ *** ~~ *** ~~ ***

As he lay in the dark, Tag held McKenna
against him, her head resting on his chest as he continued to rub
his fingers down her back. Her soft, even breaths told him that she
was asleep, but no matter what he did, he was unable to do so
himself.

Something had happened
between them when their bodies came together, and he couldn’t get
the remembered feel of it out of his brain. As much as he wanted to
deny it, Tag realized this was different. Whatever was going on
between him and McKenna, no amount of excuses about sex for the
sake of sex was going to change that.

He wouldn’t go so far as
to label it, but he could openly admit – to himself anyway – that
he’d never felt it before. It was as though she penetrated his
soul. What had happened between them wasn’t only about two bodies
colliding, it was much deeper and, quite frankly, Tag wasn’t sure
how he felt about that.

He couldn’t seem to let
her go from his arms, and that spoke volumes. Sex for the sheer
pleasure of it wasn’t a foreign concept to Tag. As a matter of
fact, he’d been involved in a number of relationships where that
was the only thing he wanted. And now that he was nestled against
McKenna’s body, he had a hard time remembering what that was
supposed to feel like. Not like this, he knew.

But he had to remember why
she was here. She wasn’t here to fall in love with him, and he
wasn’t supposed to be entertaining those thoughts either. This was
supposed to be a lesson. Teaching her about the carnal side of his
lifestyle, introducing her to kink and debauchery. Not complicating
his life with things like feelings.

McKenna knew more about his lifestyle than
she was leading on, and he was almost certain that she was aware of
how much he knew about her. Still, it didn’t change anything
because this was where he wanted to be. At least for a little while
longer.

Fuck.

How in the hell had he let this get so damn
complicated? The last thing he needed at this point in his life was
a damn woman who plagued every waking thought. So how the fuck did
he explain this?

*****

By the time dawn arrived, Tag had managed a
few hours of sleep. Barely. He would’ve still been asleep if the
cushiony warmth he’d been pressed against hadn’t moved.

“
Where’re you going?” he
mumbled, still groggy from sleep, but aware that McKenna was
getting out of bed.

She didn’t answer him, but he managed to
catch her eye as she walked across the room.

Hmmm... The woman was
thinking too much. He could sense it. And yes, he might’ve let his
mind get away with some irrational thoughts in the early morning
hours, but he knew he was over it now.

Shit, he hoped he was.

He turned onto his back, putting his hands
behind his head and kicking the sheet off of him. He waited
patiently for McKenna to emerge from the bathroom, which she did a
few minutes later.

“
Where are you going?” He
eyed her as she made a beeline for the door.

“
I need to go...
out.”

Tag didn’t respond, he just nodded. What was
he going to do? Chase her down?

Not this time, no.

He’d let her go. Give her
a little time to clear her head. Lord knows he needed a little
space of his own.

After she left, he forced
himself out of the bed, into the shower, and then down to meet
Logan in the club. He hadn’t expected his day to go this way, but
the urgent voicemail from Logan changed any plans he might’ve
had.

“
Morning,” Logan greeted
when Tag approached. There wasn’t an ounce of “good” in his tone,
which was why he apparently left the word out.

“
Mornin’.” Tag took the
seat across from Logan, noticing the newspaper sitting on the table
between them. Even with a passing glance, he saw the huge picture
and the caption across the front page.

Shit
.

“
I take it you haven’t
seen this yet?”

As he watched Logan sip
the coffee he’d been smart enough to bring with him, Tag wished
like hell he’d thought to make some before coming down.
Unfortunately, he was running on nothing, and since there wasn’t a
soul behind the bar that early in the morning, he knew he wasn’t
likely going to get his fix anytime soon.

“
I haven’t.” No, Tag had
been too consumed by one red haired vixen to know what the hell was
going on. If he wasn’t careful, that might become a
problem.

Taking a minute, he skimmed the article
printed beside the huge picture of Susan Toulmin. It was one of her
better shots, obviously taken before she lost her mind.

Admittedly, the woman was
attractive, and if they weren’t careful, she might just grab
someone’s attention. Like the reporter who obviously felt the need
to print this article.

“
She doesn’t seem swayed
by the judge’s insistence that she keep her mouth shut,” Logan bit
out.

There was no doubt that Logan was
frustrated, but Tag could only imagine how friendly Luke was going
to be after reading this.

“
Son of a mother fucking
bitch!”

Ok, he didn’t need to imagine. Luke came
stomping down the stairs from his office, a litany of additional
curse words trailing him.

Fuck
. It was too damn early to have to deal with the McCoy twins
without having his damn coffee.

And just like that, in
walked the red haired vixen carrying not one, but two large paper
cups of coffee and she was heading straight toward him. A small
smile tipped her lips as she handed over one cup, their fingers
brushing one another.

From the looks of it, the few minutes
McKenna spent out that morning had done wonders for her mood. He
wasn’t sure what she was thinking, or what she was feeling, but he
could definitely sense she’d calmed down some.

“
Thank
you.” Tag held onto the last word –
baby
– before it could come
out.

“
You’re welcome.” McKenna
started to walk away, but Tag put his hand on hers, stopping
her.

“
Wait. Join us, please.”
He needed her at the moment. Not only because he didn’t want her to
walk away, but she just might have some suggestions on how they
handle this new issue.

~*~*~

McKenna glanced back and
forth between the other two men sitting at the table before her
attention was redirected to the newspaper lying on the table in
front of Tag. Susan Toulmin’s big head filled up the majority of
it, along with the caption
“How many is
too many?”

Instead of reading the filth she knew she
would find, McKenna looked up at the three men now focused on
her.

“
What do you think?” Logan
asked.

“
About what?” She didn’t
read the article, so she didn’t know what it said exactly, but she
had a pretty good idea. No matter what, it wasn’t going to douse
Club Destiny in rainbows and sunshine.

“
I don’t care what anyone
thinks. I want to know what the hell we can do about it,” Luke
growled.

“
Unfortunately, she’s not
violating any request by the judge because she’s not talking about
the trial. And she hasn’t released any names.” Tag didn’t sound all
that confident.

“
I suggest we fight fire
with fire.” Backing down had never been McKenna’s style, and
despite the fact that she didn’t have a horse in this particular
race, something about Susan just rubbed McKenna the wrong way. And,
yes, maybe there was a bit of defensiveness she felt for the men at
the table.

“
We’ll start with a series
of articles.” McKenna knew her next recommendation was not going to
go over well. “We need to make the readers want to like the people
behind the club. Once we can do that, defending the club won’t be
necessary because you’ll have more people in your corner than you
know what to do with.”

“
The
people behind the club?” Logan looked skeptical. “As in
me and Luke
?”

“
To start, yes.” McKenna
could practically hear Luke’s teeth grinding together. “It’s not
like we’ll provide your social security numbers or your address,
but we need to let people know just how real the two of you are.
Since you,” McKenna focused on Luke, “are the face of Club Destiny,
it only makes sense that we share a little bit about
you.”

“
You want to share the
details of my private life?”

McKenna knew he didn’t like the idea, but it
made sense. “Are you ashamed of your life, Luke?”

“
Fuck no, but I don’t
think it’s anyone’s fucking business.”

The vehemence in Luke’s
tone was crystal clear, but so was the smile that tipped Logan’s
lips. Maybe, just maybe, she had someone in her corner. She was
surprised that Tag hadn’t weighed in at all, but she knew just what
to say to rectify that. “And you,” she glanced at Tag, “the amount
of interest I garnered from one single article was ridiculous.
People want to know more about you. At least this way, we’ll take
the focus off of the other members and redirect everyone’s
attention toward the three of you.”

“
Are you fucking serious?”
Luke again.

“
Very much so.” McKenna
stopped talking and watched all three of the men as they
contemplated what she was suggesting.

“
What’s in it for you?”
Tag finally asked.

McKenna smiled. He knew her better than she
thought.

“
I’ll write up the
articles, I’ll get each of you to bless them, and I’ll even get the
first one out today.” She paused for a moment. “In return, I want
to see why people spend outrageous amounts of money to be members
here.” Leaning in closer, McKenna lowered her voice, “And if any of
you try to tell me that they’re willing to spend it on an absurdly
boring playroom and a miniscule apartment, I call bullshit. I want
the real reason. And I want a tour.”

There, at least it was out there.

When Luke smiled, looking
directly at Tag, McKenna knew she’d pegged it accurately. Club
Destiny wasn’t about the second floor and the sleek, gray slate
floors, or the open play area that might draw a few people from
time to time. Shit, these people didn’t need to pay the kind of
money Club Destiny charged; they could get the same thing for a
hell of a lot cheaper down the street. There was something that no
one was telling her.

“
What do you think?” Luke
asked Logan.

“
I think it’s not a bad
idea.” He too was smiling. “What about you? Anything we need to
watch out for?” Logan turned to Tag.

“
As long as she doesn’t
talk about the lawsuit, you’re good as far as I’m concerned.” Tag
didn’t sound thrilled about the idea, but he wasn’t turning her
away either.

“
And the tour?” Luke asked
Tag directly, all three of them pretending as though she weren’t
sitting right there.

“
I’ll do the tour. Friday
night.”

Friday? McKenna wondered
why he wanted to wait so long and on her last night there to boot.
It was only Sunday, which meant she had to wait all freaking
week.