Secret Weapon (5 page)

“I don’t want you to … participate in this evening’s activities.”

“What? You want me to leave?”

“No, I just mean I don’t want you and I to have sex tonight.”

“But we’re playing strip poker?”

“That’s right.”

“So this is all about getting teased? No follow-through intended?”

He was actually relieved. Being thrown in full force, with two other guys, wasn’t his idea of a dream date with Janine.

“Well, for you. But with Derek and Jonas … it could go further. I mean, if they want to…”

Damn, she was going to strip off her clothes in front of them, then if the other guys
wanted to
she would have sex with them. There was zero chance they wouldn’t want to.

“So it’s just me being left out? That’s not a hell of a lot of fun.” He frowned. “So I just sit in the living room while the three of you go off and—”

“Oh, no. You can watch. In fact, I think it’s a good idea if you watch.”

He grinned. “You want me to watch?”

She nodded.

“While you have sex with two other men?”

She shrugged. “Well, yeah. That’s sort of the point. If you can’t handle watching—”

“Then you and I are over before we even start.” His lips compressed. Damn it, she was testing him. “Look, I told you I can handle it.”

“Great. Then there should be no problem.”

“Don’t you think watching will make it worse, not better? At least, if I’m participating, I’m distracted.”

“I’m not trying to make it easier on you.”

“Great. Thanks.”

“Sloan, if you can’t do this, then it’ll be clear you can’t handle my lifestyle. If that’s the case, let’s find out right up front. Okay?”

He frowned. “Do I have a choice?”

“You always have a choice.”

His eyebrow quirked. “So I can have sex with you tonight?”

“No. I said you have a choice. That’s just not one of them.”

He glowered. “Fine. We’ll do it your way.”

She nodded and stepped toward the door, but he grabbed her hand and pulled her against him. He tipped up her chin and gazed into her topaz blue eyes.

“I’m going along with what you want now, but at some point, I’ll want some concessions of my own.” He stroked her cheek, delighting in the softness of her skin. “And just so you know, sex or no sex tonight, I intend to kiss you.” He leaned closer, breathing in her sweet floral yet citrusy scent. “Now. And later.”

He captured her soft red lips and drove his tongue between them, tasting her cherry-flavored lip gloss. At first she stiffened, but then she melted against him. He loved the fact she couldn’t resist his kisses, even when she was being stubborn. Every time she melted against him, his body hardened in response. Like now. His cock ached with wanting to drive into her.

The sliding door opened. “Hey, you guys. The party’s in here,” Derek said.

Sloan released her, gazing at her lovely face, her eyes closed. When she opened them, she looked soft and vulnerable. Like a woman who’d just been soundly kissed, and loved it. He wanted to drag her back into his arms and kiss her all over again, but she drew away and headed for the door.

Jonas waited at the table for them. “I thought you’d all abandoned me.” He grinned, then took a sip of his beer.

Janine sat down and Sloan took his place across from her. At least he’d be able to enjoy watching her. That was winning right there.

“So how does this work?” Sloan asked. “Why do we have chips if the object of the game has nothing to do with money?”

“Well, the chips don’t actually represent money,” Derek explained. “They represent the increasing stakes.” He picked up one of each color chip. He flicked a red one on the table. “The lowest is Truth. The losing player must answer a question of the winner’s choice.”

“Is the one with the lowest hand the losing player?” Jonas asked.

“No, everyone who is not the winner has to pay up.”

Derek picked up a green chip and tossed it with the others. “Green is Clothing. Self-explanatory. Everyone but the winner removes a piece of clothing. Each player chooses for him or herself what to take off. Two socks count as one item.” He glanced at Janine and smiled. “As do stockings.”

Derek flicked a blue chip beside the red and green. “Blue represents Dare. This is where the loser must perform some action determined by the winner.”

“Wait a minute. What happens if someone folds and the others continue betting?” Jonas asked.

“If someone folds, they have to do whatever action is represented by the last chip they tossed in.”

“So if Janine drops out at a green chip, for Clothing, but we all go to Dare, she still has to take something off?” Jonas asked.

“That’s right,” Derek agreed.

The way Jonas stared at Janine, his gaze lingering on her breasts pushing against the black cloth of her dress, got under Sloan’s skin. He didn’t like the other man looking at Janine with that hungry look in his eyes, yet at the same time, it kind of turned him on. The thought that Janine would soon strip off her clothes in front of three men, then sit and casually play cards while their hot gazes caressed her body sent his hormones buzzing.

Derek flicked a black chip onto the pile. “Finally, black means Ultimate Dare. With that one, the action is done in privacy with the winner.”

“Sounds like fun.” Janine stacked her four chips on top of each other, in play order. Red on top down to black on bottom. “I have a suggestion, though. For everything except clothing, why don’t we just have the winner choose which player does the Truth or Dare?”

“That’s okay with me,” Derek said.

Sloan and Jonas both nodded in agreement.

As Derek shuffled the cards, he said, “To keep things simple, we’ll draw cards first, then do the betting.”

He dealt out the first hand and everyone anted up with a red chip. They all looked at their cards. Sloan had a pair of jacks. Janine discarded two cards, Jonas one. Sloan asked for three new cards, leaving him with the jacks and a king high. Derek took three cards.

Janine, who was to Derek’s left, pushed her green chip toward the pot. Jonas did, too.

Images of Janine standing up and stripping off that slinky black dress washed through Sloan’s brain. He tossed in his green chip.

“I call,” Derek said as he pushed forward his chips, too, then gazed at Janine.

Janine turned over her cards. A pair of queens.

“I can’t beat that,” declared Jonas.

“Me either,” said Derek.

They glanced at Sloan. He couldn’t beat it, either, so he shook his head.

Janine leaned back in her chair and grinned. “Okay, boys. Pay up.”

All the men unbuttoned their shirts and Janine hungrily glanced around the table at the broad male chests being revealed. As her gaze fell on Sloan’s chest, she lingered, sending heat through him.

In the next round, the betting progressed to the same stakes, but Jonas won. More important, Janine lost.

Sloan stripped off his socks as he turned his gaze to her. She stood up and lifted her skirt a little, revealing bare white thigh above the lacy top of her black stocking.

Damn, Sloan wished he’d known she was wearing stockings and a garter belt. He would have fantasized all evening. She tucked a finger under the top of the stocking and ran it around under the lace. He realized there were no garters holding it up. As she rolled the stocking down her long, sexy leg, his cock swelled, pressing painfully against the confines of his jeans. Well, maybe it was a good thing he hadn’t known after all.

“I’m not sure that’s fair.” Jonas grinned as he watched her roll down the second stocking. “We’re all naked from the waist up and you’re just taking off your stockings.”

She smiled. “Don’t be a sore winner.” She twirled one of her stockings, then crumpled it up and tossed it to him, then did the same with the other one.

“When Janine loses, the winner gets the item of clothing she took off?” Sloan asked. “That’s a great bonus.”

Jonas stroked one of the stockings against his cheek. “And still warm.”

At Jonas’ words, Sloan couldn’t help thinking about Janine’s panties and what it would be like to have her toss them to him, still warm from her body. Possibly damp from excitement.

Janine lost the next round, too, this time to Derek.

Sloan stood up and dropped his pants while Jonas took off his socks. Janine rose and walked over to Derek.

“I need a hand here.” She turned her back to him.

He unzipped her dress and she turned around, then lowered it slowly over her shoulders. Sloan’s insides heated as the fabric drifted down her chest and over the swell of her breasts. It slipped farther down, revealing her black lacy bra. She pushed the dress over her hips, then released the garment. As it fell around her ankles, Sloan’s gaze shifted to the tiny scrap of lace that covered her womanhood. She stepped out of the pool of fabric and leaned over to grab her dress from the floor, which provided Sloan with a great view of her breasts. She handed the garment to Derek.

When she turned and walked back to her chair, Sloan’s gaze locked on her perfect, round ass, practically naked except for the tiny triangle of black lace at the top of her thong. His gaze followed her delightfully swaying derriere as she walked back to her chair, then sat down. She crossed her legs and Sloan thanked heaven for his foresight at choosing the seat across from her, giving him a clear view of her entire scantily clad form.

He rested his hand on his boxers, trying to hide his obviously rising erection. The other guys didn’t have the same problem yet, since they still had their pants.

Jonas handed Sloan the deck of cards and he realized it was his deal. He shuffled and dealt, keenly aware of Janine’s seminude state and her gaze lingering on his boxers.

Betting started with Derek. He pushed forward a green chip. Clothing. Janine glanced at her cards, then matched Derek’s green chip. When Jonas also slid forward a green chip without raising, Sloan smiled. He had three sevens, a probable win. He debated whether to raise to a Dare, but right now, more than anything else, he wanted Janine to lose another piece of clothing. When he revealed his hand, the guys groaned. More for effect, he suspected, since all the guys really cared about was whether Janine won or lost. And she’d lost another piece of clothing.

*   *   *

Extremely aware of three intense male gazes watching her, Janine drew in a deep breath as she reached around behind her back and unfastened her bra. Excitement skittered through her at the thought of revealing her naked breasts to these three sexy men.

She dropped one strap over her shoulder, then the other. Under the scrutiny of their hot gazes, she eased the straps off, holding the bra in place. Coyly, she folded one arm over her breasts, then drew the bra downward and dropped it. She covered her breasts with her hands, her arms crossed over her chest.

She leaned back in her chair and smiled at Derek, then Jonas. “Now it’s your turn.”

Both Jonas and Derek stood up and unzipped their pants, then dropped them to the floor. Both their boxers showed bulges pushing against the thin fabric. The men sat down, but Janine continued to gaze at Jonas through the glass, a smile on her face as she thought about the fact she’d be seeing his erection for the first time very soon.

She glanced at Sloan, anticipating seeing his equipment soon, too. Their gazes locked for a moment and she could see the reflected hunger in his eyes, as though her gaze lit a fire within him. He glanced at the swell of her breasts, pushing above her hands, and she felt heat thrum through her body, too.

Derek slid the deck in front of her.

“Your deal,” he said with a grin.

“Actually, it’s your deal,” she said.

“I’m sure if I take a vote, everyone will agree it should be your deal now.”

“That’s right,” Jonas said.

“I agree,” said Sloan.

She laughed. “Okay. I’ll deal.”

But first, she pressed her hands more tightly over her breasts and squeezed them, to murmurs of approval from the men. Then she glided her fingers over her distended nipples, basking in the glinting need in their eyes. She released her breasts, exposing them for the first time, then picked up the cards and shuffled. As she dealt the hands, her breasts ached with the heat of their intense scrutiny.

As they bet, Jonas raised with a blue chip for the first time. Dare. Both Sloan and Derek called. Janine glanced at her full house and decided to have a little fun. She tossed in a black chip. Ultimate Dare. It was time to shake things up a bit.

Everyone tossed in their black chips, then revealed their cards.

“I win,” Janine said, then glanced toward Jonas.

It was time to warm things up with him. She had the feeling he was a little shy.

“Jonas.” She smiled. “I dare you to join me in the closet for five minutes.”

She stood up and started walking toward the hallway. Jonas leaped to his feet and followed her.

“Derek, can we use the closet in your bedroom?” She knew he had a very neat walk-in closet, so they wouldn’t be tripping over shoes or knocking their heads against a shelf.

“By all means.”

Derek stood up and followed them. So did Sloan.

She walked into the master bedroom, then opened the closet door and stepped inside. Jonas followed her in and closed the door. Neither of them turned on the light.

She reached out and found his hard chest, then stroked her hands over his shoulders. In the darkness, he drew her toward him. Her breasts brushed against hard muscle, then his arms wrapped around her and he pulled her tighter against him, driving her hard nipples into his solid chest. He groaned and spun them both around. His big, hard body pressed her against the wall and he kissed her, his mouth hard on hers as his tongue pushed past her lips. She sucked on it, welcoming it deep into her mouth.

Man, this guy was anything but shy.

His hand found her breast and he cupped it, squeezing as his tongue plundered her mouth. Then he released her lips and kissed down her neck, then her chest, until he found her hardened nipple and captured it in his moist mouth. In the dark, with this virtual stranger touching her, suckling her nipple, she felt faint with need.