Lisa's Gift (2 page)

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Lisa’s Gift

an adult. She didn’t need anyone—even Lisa. Yet the void in her chest proved she did. She needed her friend more than life itself.

With her finger and thumb, she applied pressure on the bridge of her nose and sucked in a ragged breath. No more tears, she wouldn’t cry.

She couldn’t help but think returning to Arizona was a bad decision, even for the cushy job offer she’d received.

No
. It wasn’t; she just needed time to adjust. She was tired and taking everything out of context. She just needed a good night’s sleep.

As she rolled off the bed, the door opened and the effervescent Lisa, wrapped in a short silky robe, bounded into the room and into Jana’s arms.

“Jana, my God, you’re a sight for sore eyes. Let me take a look at you.” Lisa’s picture-perfect face beamed as she held Jana at arm’s length. “Gorgeous. You’re gorgeous.”

Jana tried to smile, an action that fell short of its mark. Yes, she would admit that she wasn’t the scrawny girl she used to be. It had taken forever for her breasts to develop, but when they did, they matured into a nice set of 36Cs. Her jeans rode low on a set of now slender hips, and she was taller by two inches compared to Lisa’s five-six. Jana had taken to letting her hair grow long, showing off the natural highlights in her auburn hair, and her blue eyes were no longer hidden by glasses.

Laser surgery took care of that flaw.

“What’s wrong?” Lisa furrowed her brows, but then they shot upward. “Oh, my God, tell me you didn’t see—” She searched Jana’s face.

“You did.” With her usual casual air she said, “Awkward moment.” She paused briefly. “Okay, the moment’s over.”

Jana couldn’t help smiling at her bubbly friend.

She drew Jana again into her arms. “I’m glad you’re here. I can’t wait for you to meet Nicolas. Do you remember Nicolas?”

As if her friend conjured Nicolas, he appeared. Wearing nothing but a pair of jeans, the top button undone, he filled the doorway looking three times as good as Jana remembered. That cocky grin and the twinkle of mischief in his eyes glowed with the knowledge of a man and not a boy.

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Mackenzie McKade

By the male arrogance in the way he leaned against the doorjamb, she knew
he knew
Jana had seen what Lisa and he had been doing earlier.

A wavy lock of ebony hair fell across one sapphire eye and Jana couldn’t help but want to sweep it aside, run her palm across the five o’clock shadow that was present on his square jaw. He wore his hair shorter than in the past, cropped at his neck, longer on the top falling across his forehead.

Lisa brushed her hand in his direction. “Nicolas, she’s here.”

He moved with the air of a predator, slow and sexy, stealing the air from the room as he stepped inside. “I see that.” His tone was a deep mixture of sensuality and heat.

Jana couldn’t think, couldn’t breathe, and she couldn’t remember when she’d ever been this close to him. Man, what she’d give to reach out and run her fingers through his light layer of chest hair and follow the dark line that traveled down his six-pack and disappeared into his pants.

Jana choked out, “Yes. Uh…yes, I remember Nicolas.” She felt his eyes caress her body, stopping at her breasts, causing her nipples to harden into tight nubs that pushed against the cotton shirt she wore.

Then his hot gaze moved across her hips and touched the apex of her thighs.

Well fuck!
Moisture released from between her legs at the mere thought of what he must be thinking.

Damn man. She couldn’t believe he was doing that in front of his girlfriend, Jana’s best friend.

God, Jana was tired. She cocked a brow showing her disapproval.

Lisa laughed and strolled into his arms. She swatted him on the chest. “Stop teasing her.” She snuggled close and glanced at Jana with a smile. “Nicolas has an insatiable appetite.”

Jana’s eyes widened.
TMI!
Too much information
. More than she cared to hear. It seemed odd that Lisa was lackadaisical at Nicolas’s obvious interest in another woman. Namely—
her
!

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Lisa’s Gift

Lisa wrinkled her nose in her cutesy kind of way and she said, “I knew you would like her. Soon you’ll love her as much as I do.”

Okay, this was too awkward a situation.
Duh!
Didn’t Lisa realize how it would affect Jana, catching her best friend with the man of her dreams? Or was Lisa just clueless—something totally out of character for Lisa? She was the most sensitive, loving individual Jana knew. “Come into the kitchen and I’ll fix us a turkey sandwich,” Lisa offered. Damn, but her friend fit perfectly in the curve of Nicolas’s body. Her blonde hair was a striking contrast against his golden skin.

“Uh, Lisa, I’m not hungry. In fact, I’m dead tired. We can talk tomorrow.”
Please, please let me get away from those penetrating eyes
.

Nicolas had yet to release Jana from his sight. Although he held Lisa, he stared at Jana like he was indeed hungry and his focus was not on a turkey sandwich.

He smiled as if he knew of Jana’s discomfort and only wanted to enhance it. He released Lisa and made a move toward the queen-size bed. “Ready for bed? I’m game.”

Jana’s jaw dropped, and she knew her eyes had taken on the size of saucers.

Lisa’s smile faltered. She reached out and circled his biceps with her fingers. “Nicolas, not now.” He just gave Lisa that mischievous grin Jana had seen so many times in him when they were younger.

Surely he didn’t think he was going to jump from Lisa’s bed to hers.

The asinine idea caused a sudden flood of heat to consume Jana’s cheeks.

Lisa gave Nicolas a pleading look. And then once again her smile returned. “Jana, I’m sorry. We need to let you get some sleep.” Lisa slid her palm down Nicolas’s arm, capturing his hand in hers before turning and leading him from the bedroom. Before she disappeared, she glanced over her shoulder. “We’ll talk in the morning.”

Alone again, Jana tried to decipher what just happened, but she was too tired, confused, and numb from the rush of emotion that had hit her when she arrived in Chandler. She was better off not even thinking about www.samhainpublishing.com 13

Mackenzie McKade

the situation between Nicolas and Lisa, which could only push her deeper into the solemn mood in which she found herself.

What she needed was a good cry. Her doctor said to cry was healthy, but Jana couldn’t—wouldn’t. She had shed too many tears as a child. It was time to be tough. Time to start living her life and rise above the past.

Tears were for children.

And it was time to get some sleep and forget what she had just experienced. Tomorrow she would wake and everything would be fine.

She released a disgusted breath. Yeah, and when Lisa woke up she’d be in Nicolas’s strong embrace. Perhaps Jana would just climb in bed with the both of them. Wouldn’t that surprise the hell out of everybody?

Instead she undressed, slipped on a different T-shirt and crawled into bed—alone.

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Lisa’s Gift

Nicolas pulled Lisa’s naked body into the curve of his own as they lay in bed. He was hard again. The little minx in the room down the hall had stirred a fire inside him he hadn’t expected. But evidently Lisa had. For several weeks she had teased him, tempting him with her friend’s attributes. And she’d been right. The instant attraction had been there.

He nuzzled Lisa’s neck. They were going to have a helluva time together. “Your friend isn’t what I remember.”

Lisa cast him a frown over her shoulder. “She isn’t the same person.”

There was a bite to her words.

Usually her disobedience in the bedroom would result in a punishment, but Lisa hadn’t been acting herself lately. For several months he had enjoyed her company and not once had she tested his authority, until a week ago.

He had been in-between submissive partners when he met her at a mutual acquaintance’s cave party. At the time, something had been missing in his life. He just couldn’t quite put his finger on it. And then she appeared from out of nowhere, sexy and accommodating and available.

“Hey, baby, I wasn’t talking trash about her.” His hand caressed Lisa’s waist, following the swell of her hip. He could feel her tense beneath his touch. “It’s just that I’d heard rumors about what she went through with the Carters. The old man was a mean bastard.” Nicolas slipped his fingers between Lisa’s thighs, seeking her heat.

She gripped his wrist. “Not now, Nicolas, please. I’m not feeling very well.”

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Warning bells went off in his head. She had never refused him, nor had she ever used her safe word during their playtime. But tonight after her friend’s arrival she had turned cold, distant.

Or could it be something else?

Even though they had drawn up a contract that specified that when they entered the bedroom his rules applied, his pleasures were all that mattered, there was a time for the Master and slave role and this didn’t appear to be one of them.

“Did I hurt you?” They had tried a new toy tonight, one with electricity that she had appeared to enjoy. Had he been wrong? Always careful, he had tried the violet wand on himself before their play session.

There was a definite sting to the charge, but nothing she couldn’t handle as long as he kept the voltage to its lowest point. He drew her closer into his embrace. “I’d never hurt you, Lisa. You’ll tell me if I do?”

She rolled upon her back. Her eyes looked weary, still she managed a smile. “I know, Nicolas. I guess I have a lot on my mind.”

Lisa scooted further away, closer to the edge of the bed, putting distance between them. Another thing she had never done before, especially since she knew he demanded his woman naked and close, easily accessible when he had the desire to touch her. In fact, many nights he had fallen asleep buried deep within Lisa’s body. She was his to do with as he pleased and it pleased him to take her at any time.

“We need to take it slow with Jana. I don’t think she’s ever been introduced to this lifestyle.” She shielded her eyes with her palm, as if the light made her head ache. “You do like her, don’t you?”

Nicolas chuckled. Hell yes, he liked Jana. What man in his right mind wouldn’t? His fucking hard-on was proof. She had a natural submissiveness about her that called to him. Not to mention she was a beauty. He loved a woman with auburn hair. Just the thought of what he would do to her made his testicles draw tight. “Will Jana be interested in joining our lifestyle, especially after what the bastard down the street did to her?”

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Lisa’s Gift

Old man Carter had beaten Jana days before graduation. She had missed the special event, because she’d been hurt so badly she couldn’t walk. He had scarred her in more places than her body. Her return to Arizona tonight was her first visit since the attack. Even though the son of a bitch had been incarcerated for his sins and Jana’s foster mother had moved away, Lisa had told Nicolas she believed Jana’s return to Chandler would have a negative effect on her.

Breaking away from that abusive family was the best thing that ever happened to her. The next was a four-year science scholarship at the University of Southern California, a chemical engineering degree and the job she landed with Medical Devices in Tempe, according to Lisa.

Nicolas couldn’t believe the anger that surfaced within him. He enjoyed the BDSM lifestyle behind the bedroom door, but only when his partners were consensual. He’d never touch a woman against her wishes.

And damn the son of a bitch who did.

And yet, from the scene he and Lisa had staged earlier, Nicolas thought that Jana just might be interested in their lifestyle. Lisa’s friend had been frozen in place, her eyes wide with shock at first, quickly melting to arousal. He had smelled her desire. It called to him, begged him to take her. Control to a Dom was everything, and it took everything he had not to demand that she sink to her knees and assist Lisa in pleasuring him.

Lisa’s laugh was weak as she withdrew her palm from her eyes. “Oh, yeah. She’ll join us. You have never seen a more inquisitive person than Jana. She and I explored each other’s bodies on several occasions. Horny teenagers.” Lisa chuckled, her laughter dying. “But she has a lot of baggage. The fucker did a job on her, so just in case, let’s take it slow.”

Lisa yawned. The glow had disappeared from her face. How she could go from vibrant and alive to looking like she was desperate for rest and sleep he didn’t know.

Females were strange. Their emotions flipped faster than a light switch. He loved them all the same. Within each one there was a beauty and it wasn’t necessarily external. Young or old, they held a charm about them that had always fascinated him.

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He drew in a breath, inhaling Lisa’s soft, powdery scent and the smell of sex lingering in the room. Her silky skin, moans of pleasure, even her cries of pain were an aphrodisiac to his senses when they acted out scenes. His erection grew firmer and he wrapped his fingers around his engorged shaft. He could fuck her all night long, which was his right. He slowly moved his hand from his balls to the tip and back again as he glanced at her back. His hot gaze followed her delicate spine until it reached the small of her back where the swell of her ass began. He stroked again. She had a great ass. The thought made his testicles pulse.

Her shoulders rose with each inhale. He could hear her soft breathing.

She was asleep.

Nicolas tightened his jaw. He was not a man who did without. His grip on his erection tightened as he pumped faster. Yet, it was obvious that Lisa was troubled tonight. Forcing her to submit would see to his needs, but something told him her heart wouldn’t be into the act and that was the beauty of the game. The thought sent sensation radiating down his cock. The intensity of a woman’s eyes as she submitted, the hunger to please her Master, even the haze of desire as she released upon command, was power—pure adrenaline raging through his body.