Jaymie Holland
Tattoos and Leather: INKED Excerpt
Hearts in Chains: Wounded Excerpt
Tattoos and Leather
Branded
Jaymie Holland
Copyright © 2014
Tattoos and Leather: Branded by Jaymie Holland
All rights reserved. No part of this e-Book may be reproduced in whole or in part, scanned, photocopied, recorded, distributed in any printed or electronic form, or reproduced in any manner whatsoever, or by any information storage and retrieval system now known or hereafter invented, without express written permission of the publisher, except in the case of brief quotations embodied in critical articles and reviews.
This is a work of fiction. Names, characters, places, and incidents are products of the author’s imagination or are used fictitiously. Any resemblance to actual events, locales, or persons living or dead is entirely coincidental.
E-book conversion by Bella Media Management.
Published by Pink Zebra Publishing.
13-Digit ISBN: 978-1-939778-81-9
Despite the fact that the sun had gone down, it was so damned hot and muggy she could have entered a wet T-shirt contest and won.
Drew Holloway blew out her breath and stopped on the sidewalk, mindless of other New York City residents walking around her. She kept one hand on the handle of the rolling case that held her Sweet Sensations demo kit. At the same time, she pulled the thin material of her off-white Spandex top away from her chest and looked down at the form-fitting, sleeveless, backless top. The bra she wore was sheer, almost as if she wasn’t wearing one, and her nipples poked at the top that was damp with perspiration.
She pushed her hair away from her forehead, trying to let the sweat dry in the evening air. Fat lot of good that did. The city should have cooled down some by now but the heat wave had been ruthless, all the brick, concrete, and asphalt holding on to the heat.
And the humidity—for crying out loud. Maybe she’d move to Arizona where supposedly it had a
dry
heat.
She dug inside her purse, pushing aside the fat wad of cash from the toy party, which was her rent money, searching for something to fan herself with. She pulled out the past due electric bill and waved it in front of her face before she started walking again. She wasn’t far from Spirits, the bar owned by her friend Megan Faircloth’s husbands, and where their mutual friend, Faith Thomas, worked.
It was going to be a real bitch trying to sleep tonight in the tiny apartment she used to share with Megan before she married the hunky identical twins. The lone air conditioning unit was in the living room so Drew had taken to sleeping on the couch the past week. Even that hadn’t been enough. The unit had started to sound strained and she was worried it would give up soon.
Yeah, she needed to have her super, Marty, take a look at it. She could handle his leers if he just kept the unit working and kept his meaty hands off of her. Since Megan had moved out to live with the Sexiest Twins on Earth, Marty had let his interest in Drew become obvious. It was as if the fact that she now lived alone gave him permission to make lewd remarks and stare at her with eyes that clearly undressed her every time he looked at her.
If he touched her, she’d grind her four-inch heels into his foot and twist his balls off. She mentally shrugged. She could handle him, no problem.
She gripped the handle of her demo kit and tugged. Her thigh-high black skirt had been working its way up and she stopped fanning herself long enough to tug the skirt down to make sure her garters wouldn’t show. She didn’t know why she bothered because the skirt would just inch back up again.
She walked past storefront windows with Fourth of July themed displays. The holiday was in less than a week, and red, white, and blue decorations were proudly displayed all over the city.
A block further and she reached Spirits. She pulled the door open and stepped into blessed coolness. For one moment she closed her eyes and allowed herself to stand in the entryway as she let the door close behind her.
“You okay?” Brittany’s voice brought Drew out of her moment of indulgence.
“Feels so good in here.” Drew let out her breath, opened her eyes, and met the woman’s gaze. “It’s hell outside.”
“I get of blast of heat every time the door opens.” Brittany smiled as she sat behind an elegant teakwood desk. It was her job to check names against a list of the gentlemen’s club’s exclusive clientele. “But better that than being out there.” She inclined her head at the entryway door.
Drew fanned herself with the electric bill. “No kidding.”
Before she walked through the double doors that would lead her out into Sprits’ dining area, Drew let go of the handle of her rolling display case and looked in an ornate mirror on one of the walls. “Ugh,” she said when she saw her smudged makeup and wilted hair. “‘I’m melting! Melting! Oh, what a world! What a world!’” she exclaimed in what she thought was a good imitation of the Wicked Witch of the West in
The Wizard of Oz.
Brittany laughed and extended a box of tissues to Drew, who took one and dabbed at the makeup below her eyes, wiping away the black smudges.
Drew adjusted her top and skirt, and fluffed her hair. She dug into her purse before bringing out a tube of lipstick, applied the lip color, then tucked the tube back inside her purse. She waved the bill in front of her face again in an effort to dry some of the perspiration.
This gentlemen’s club was filled with sexy, gorgeous, and available, men. Her pride—okay, mostly her vanity—kept her from walking into the club without arranging herself first.
No doubt the men were all cheaters like every one of her past boyfriends and lovers. That’s how men were—every man she’d ever been with or had known had cheated. Even her own father, as well as her stepfather, had cheated on her mother.
But she enjoyed flirting with men nonetheless, she just wouldn’t fuck any of them. She’d sworn off men and had managed to avoid entangling herself in any relationships, and she did not do one-night stands. After Kurt, she was done with men.
For one moment, she toyed with the idea of batting for the other team and looking for a lesbian lover, like Brittany, for example, but that thought went right out of her mind. She loved a man’s body too much and women didn’t do anything for her. Of course she noticed beautiful women, but didn’t feel an attraction to them.
Drew pulled a clip out of her purse and twisted her hair up and away from her face, and she felt blessed cool air on her neck. She straightened her shoulders and turned away from the mirror to face Brittany. “What do you think?”
“Gorgeous as always.” Brittany gave a naughty grin. “I wouldn’t kick you out of bed.”
Drew snorted back a laugh. “One of these days I might just take you up on your offer.”
“You’re always welcome, sweetie.” Brittany smiled. “Faith should be on break soon. She just asked me a few moments ago if I’d seen you.”
“Thanks.” Drew grasped the handle of her Sweet Sensations display case that was for her sex toy business. She did parties mostly for groups of women who ordered anything from dildos to lubes to lingerie. “Mind if I leave this in the coat check area?”
“Not at all.” Brittany nodded in that direction. “Plenty of room. Not seeing a whole lot of coats these days,” she added with amusement in her voice.
After the case was tucked away in the coat check room, Drew gave Brittany a little wave then pushed open the double doors and walked into the gentlemen’s club.
Drew was used to leering and suggestive looks from men, along with a fair share of lewd remarks, but she didn’t let it bother her. She used her sexuality to her advantage, wielding it like a weapon.
One thing she liked about Spirits was the absence of that type of behavior. Men here looked at her appreciatively, but none had ever stepped out of bounds or made her feel uncomfortable. Rather, the reserved attention tended to make her feel more powerful.
A smile touched her lips as she started across the floor. She headed toward the glossy bar, its surface finely decorated in a classical pattern. Faith had told her that Nick and Sean Dorian had shipped the finely crafted bar to New York from Italy.
Drew let out her breath as she thought about her overdue electric bill. It must certainly be nice to not have money issues.
Prickles at the nape of her neck told her she was being watched. With a sultry smile on her lips, she looked over her shoulder and met the heated gazes of Colton James and Dane Packard. A little shiver traveled the length of her spine as she allowed her gaze to linger on the pair who owned JP Security Consultants, Inc., and provided security for the Dorians.
Two men couldn’t possibly look sexier than Colton and Dane. Megan thought her husbands were beyond compare, but Drew didn’t find the Dorians nearly as hot as Colton and Dane. Not even close, as far as she was concerned.
The two had been in her apartment once, when she and Megan had still lived together. Colton and Dane’s company had been responsible for installing the security system that the Dorians had insisted on once they started seeing Megan. Drew hadn’t wanted it, but had relented for Megan’s sake. The system even had cameras, but Megan’s husbands had promised they’d only be turned on if the alarm went off.
Colton and Dane had been there while their men installed the system, and Drew had stayed around just long enough flirt with both. She might not want a relationship, but she still loved to flirt. She’d had fun until they’d started lecturing her about going places by herself, that it wasn’t safe alone at night.
She could take care of herself, thank you very much. She’d been adamant, and they’d finally dropped the subject. It was clear they weren’t happy with her, but she wasn’t going to live her life in fear. Now that Megan had moved out, she had been considering having the security system ripped out or disabled. But jeez, it was too freaking hot to expend the energy to do it and she didn’t have the cash to hire someone.
A few times Drew had also run into the pair at the penthouse where Megan now lived with Nick and Sean. Colton and Dane not only did security consulting for the Dorians, but they were apparently good friends with the twins as well.
Once again she’d flirted with them, but she hadn’t given them the opportunity to start in on her about her safety. She’d left the penthouse before they’d had a chance.
A thought drifted through Drew’s mind and she wondered if Colton and Dane had ever shared a woman. She’d never been with two men. It wasn’t until Megan met the twins that Drew started toying with the idea of having two alpha men in her bed at the same time. Considering she’d sworn off men, and she didn’t do sex without establishing a relationship, having a double delight was never going to happen.
But it would be the ultimate,
she thought as her attention focused on Dane, meeting his blue eyes, before her focus drifted to Colton and his stunning green gaze. Both men were tall and rather large, and would make a statuesque woman like her feel positively petite.
Megan had told her that before starting the security consulting firm with Dane, Colton had been a seasoned police officer with the NYPD. Colton had short dark hair and strong square features, and was incredibly intense. She could easily imagine him in uniform.
Yes, Officer, I’d be happy to pay the fine for this ticket right here and now.
Tonight he wore a white collared short-sleeved shirt that left his arms bare with the exception of the tattoos on one side that ran from his shoulder to his wrist. She loved tattoos on a man—it was so damned hot.
Dane looked every bit the Navy SEAL he’d been before leaving the service. That was until one saw that he sported a ponytail. She found it so very sexy and imagined herself pushing her fingers through his thick dark hair. He had a teasing sense of humor, making comments that had caused her to laugh when she’d been around them. He wore a black collared shirt, a Navy tattoo on one upper arm, a dragon on the opposite arm.
She gave the men a seductive smile before she turned her head away. She continued to the bar, but her thoughts stayed with the pair. She felt their heated gazes on her back. Sometimes she thought she saw disapproval in their eyes, but mostly an intensity that told her they wanted her. She wasn’t sure why they would look at her with disapproval when it was clear they desired her.
Well, it didn’t matter anyway. She had a fulfilling life and didn’t need a man to complete her. It definitely didn’t hurt to fantasize, though, and she’d done so more than once with one of the many toys she’d purchased for herself from her own business. Considering her frequent need to “cool off”, it was awesome that she got her toys at a great discount.
