The Perfect Indulgence Read online

  “I’d appreciate anything you can do.”

  “I’ll start here.” She unbuttoned two buttons of her blouse, increasing the side-to-side motion of her hips in time to the music, wishing she’d worn something she could rip off...until she noticed how intently Zac was watching her.

  Instinctively, her fingers slowed down. She felt the smooth plastic of each button, felt it give when the hole stretched wide enough to set it free. Felt the brush of material over her skin as the shirt loosened and slipped off.

  “Yeah.” He pointed. “Yeah, I like that idea.”

  “I have more,” she whispered. She unhooked her bra, releasing her breasts, nipples emerging into the cooler air.

  “I really like that one.” He was unbuttoning his own shirt, white woven cotton with a thin blue stripe. Under it he wore a soft, sleeveless undershirt that showed off his well-defined arms. Chris loved those arms around her, loved their power and the way they held her tightly against him. “How’s this?”

  “Very nice.”

  The brass section started a spirited solo. Zac’s undershirt came off, stripped from the bottom up, slowly revealing his nicely muscled abdomen and chest, smooth and tempting to her fingers and tongue.

  Not yet. She wanted to wait longer, to be even hungrier for him.

  She kicked off one sandal, then the other. One-two, one-two.

  He stepped out of his shoes and pulled off his socks. One-two-three-four.

  The band let loose; Chris unfastened the waistband of her skirt and let it slide to the floor.

  Zac unzipped his fly, rescued a condom from his pocket and held it between his teeth, giving her a fierce raised-eyebrow look that made her giggle.

  One-ha! Two-ha!

  Keeping his spirit of melodrama, she shimmied out of her panties, paused with them high over her head, and flung them across the room, encouraged by the conga drums.

  Naked, one-two, and—attack!

  They came together in the middle of the room in an embrace that nearly knocked them both over, kissing frantically, half laughing, half deranged with lust.

  Chris turned her mind off, letting herself drown in the physical sensations, the style and rhythm of the music, the warmth of his mouth, the smooth, wonderful feel of his skin against hers, chest to knee, the sexy aftershave-enhanced smell of that skin. His impressive erection prodded her lower belly, making it clear how much he wanted her.

  She wanted him, too, more than just today and tomorrow, more than just once in a while.

  They moved toward the bedroom and fell onto the bed, twisting around so Chris was on top. Hands over her head, she straddled his erection, gyrating to the music, flinging her head around, letting the beat completely take her over.

  Without a drop of alcohol in her system, she felt drunk; without an ounce of any drug, she was high, full of so much life she was afraid she’d explode from the feelings and the joy of it.

  The piece ended. An Artie Shaw big-band number came on, “Begin the Beguine,” one of her mom’s favorite songs. She’d forgotten it was on there. The moody clarinet rose and fell over a tropical beat, a different kind of sexy.

  “Changeup.” Zac held her hips and tumbled her to the side, following, his big body covering hers.

  She wrapped her arms around his neck and stared into his eyes, loving their blue shade, their warmth, their openness, loving the connection that went deeper than any she’d had before. This man cared about her; he wanted only for her to be her own flawed self, to love and accept her flaws the way he had.

  Wasn’t that at the heart of what they taught at the Peace, Love and Joy Center?

  Somehow she’d missed the mark, adopting a model of behavior and being that was too far outside of herself for her ever to internalize it. She’d been a perfectionist even in trying to throw off perfectionism.

  Zac’s wonderful, handsome face came down to hers for another long kiss that ignited more fires in her body...but also more longing in her heart.

  She was ready to examine those emotions, to confront them honestly, to see, without the filter of analysis or rationalization, exactly what she felt for this man.

  A lot.

  “Chris.” He said her name with such intensity, such depth of feeling, that she allowed herself to hope he was as far gone as she was.

  From the other room, the big band finished an interlude and the clarinet resumed the elegant melody, crooning, crying, singing it out. Chris opened her legs, inviting Zac in, wanting them to join intimately with their bodies, as well as—someday, hopefully—with their hearts.

  Zac lifted to roll on the condom.

  During that brief pause, a few sensible and practical doubts crept into her thoughts. What was the point of falling hard for a man she’d soon be separated from? Maybe very soon? Wouldn’t the pain be that much greater if she got in too deep now? Wouldn’t it make sense to pull back now instead of forging ahead?

  Chris thanked the thoughts politely for their intrusion and told them in no uncertain terms to get the hell out of her head, because she had a really hot and really wonderful man in bed with her, and many, many things to do with him.

  She grinned up at him, gyrating to the jazzy tempo. “Let’s begin this beguine, baby.”

  He laughed and moved back over her to flick his tongue firmly over her nipple, then closer to suckle her, tongue swirling around her areola, stoking the fires. Under her fingers his hair was thick and soft and his back provided a glorious stretch of skin and muscle for her other hand to explore.

  “Mmm, I love what you do to me, Zac.”

  “I’d like to keep doing it for a long, long time, Chris.” He smiled into her eyes for several heart-pounding seconds before he bent to worship her other breast.

  Chris bit her bottom lip. A long, long time? What did that mean? Today, in terms of minutes? Or over and over in terms of days stretching on into the future?

  Shh. Quiet. Listen to the music. Love the man.

  The man stroked his hand down between her breasts and over her belly to tangle his fingers in the curls between her legs, moving them in gentle exploration before sweeping his hand back up.

  Then he moved it back down again, spreading her labia wide this time, lingering over her clitoris, sending a hot burst of arousal through her that caused her to arch up to his hand.

  “Mmm. You can do that for a long, long time, too, Zac.”

  “I intend to.” His warm hand slid up again, passed over one breast then the other, and slid back down, playing there, circling, rubbing...then he thrust a finger inside her, making her gasp with pleasure.

  “You like that?”

  “Oh...yes.” She closed her eyes, letting him make love to her with one finger, then two, his thumb stopping now and then to tease her clitoris.

  “Zac.” She whispered his name with the same tenderness he’d used, feeling a swell of emotion that had only partly to do with the pleasure his fingers were giving her.

  He moved down and his mouth replaced his thumb. His tongue swirled over her clit, bringing her up and up and...he stopped. She came down, panting, incredibly hot, incredibly disappointed. Until he resumed his magic and sent her spiraling back up toward a climax...and again, eased her gently down, his tongue resting, fingers going still inside her. Back up, then down, up, down, until she was shaking with frustration.

  “Zac!” This time there was no tenderness in her voice, only demand for her release.

  He lunged over her immediately, one hard thrust taking him in all the way. Chris cried out, nearly losing her mind at the pleasure. She spread her legs wider, drew her knees up to her shoulders, urging him to drive harder. He obliged her with strokes that shook the bed, made her grab at the headboard to keep from banging into it.

  Then his thrusts slowed to a stop, though his breath still came hard. He lay still for a moment, until she registered that the music had changed again. “Make You Feel My Love.”

  Zac lifted his head, this time moving in an entirely different rhythm
, a slow in and out, pausing to grind his hips over her clitoris while Adele’s rough, throaty voice sang of love and comfort.

  Chris hooked her legs over his, using the leverage to push back against him, slow in, slow out, gazing into his blue, blue eyes, thinking that she’d never felt this close to anyone, never allowed herself to be this wide-open. Not to anyone.

  Zac.

  He kissed her, took her lower lip into his mouth and sucked gently.

  “Mmm.” His back was long and lean under her fingers, his buttocks firm. She pushed her fingers into the muscle, feeling it contract as he moved.

  His body tensed; his motion accelerated. Chris responded once more, her desire climbing, body gathering itself, reaching toward the climax, maybe this time...

  He pulled out nearly all the way and slowly pushed just the tip of his cock in and out of her, stretching and teasing until she was so close, so close, not able to get over, but so close...

  With a groan he thrust all the way back in, then again and again. She dug her fingers into his back, close to screaming, feeling the orgasm approaching inevitably now.

  It tore into her, nearly unbearably intense, and she was yelling, oh, oh, oh, thrashing her head, completely out of control and letting herself be that way.

  Zac tensed, shouting his own pleasure as he came with her.

  The song finished. Another came on, and in an incredibly weird coincidence, it was “Afterglow” by INXS.

  Slowly Chris returned to earth, breathing hard, blinking in a kind of stupefied trance. Slowly, she untangled her brain from the fading ecstasy and tuned in to the man on top of her, slumped and breathless.

  This time when he raised his head to look down at her, she held nothing back, let him see her vulnerability, her passion, her awe of what they had done, her hope for what they might be able to do, given time.

  Time.

  “Zac.”

  “Chris.”

  They spoke together and both laughed, a little shaky, a little uncertain.

  I love you.

  No, it was too soon, the emotion unfairly influenced by the passion they’d just shared. These declarations needed to wait until she was sure, until...

  No. To hell with caution. To hell with analysis and practicality and common sense. She wanted to say it now because she was feeling it deep down through her whole body and through her whole heart.

  She opened her mouth to speak.

  Zac opened his mouth to speak.

  In a crazy intuitive flash, Chris thought he was about to tell her the same thing she was about to tell him.

  Her phone rang, catching them both with their mouths open, ruining the mood and the moment. Zac kissed her and rolled to the side. “Did you want to get that?”

  “No, I’ll look later.” She forced a smile, feeling cheated out of something potentially momentous and life altering, but also relieved. Zac might have been about to say, thanks for the world’s greatest orgasm. Or to ask to use the toilet. In which case she would have sounded pretty stupid telling him she loved him. Maybe it was just as well.

  Maybe.

  She snuggled up against Zac’s chest, inhaling his scent, concentrating on all the places their bodies were intersecting instead of on what might have been and whether or not it was a good idea.

  “What time do you think it is?”

  “I have no idea.” Chris lifted her head, straining to see the clock by the bed, forgetting that Eva didn’t have one. “I forgot we have a reservation. Hell, I forgot my name.”

  He stroked her hair, one of the best feelings in the world. “I know what you mean.”

  “I’ll go check.”

  “Do you have to?”

  “Yes.” She rolled away from him, sat on the edge of the mattress and stretched luxuriously. “Because otherwise I’ll worry.”

  His wonderful chuckle sounded behind her. “Of course you will.”

  Chris pushed off the bed. He didn’t care if she was a mess sometimes. And maybe she didn’t, either. Or shouldn’t, anyway.

  She padded into the hall to retrieve her phone from the pocket of her discarded skirt and brought it back into the room. “Just after seven. We’ve got plenty of time. And the call was from Eva. Wait, she texted me. Call me back ASAP.”

  “Go ahead.” Zac slid out of bed and took her in his arms. “But first...”

  Being kissed over and over and over by a man you’d just had amazing sex with was even better than having your hair stroked.

  “Mmm.” Reluctantly, she let him head for the bathroom, while she stood there like a moonstruck buffoon for about two minutes before she managed to calm down enough to dial her sister. “Hey, Eva, I got your message. Everything okay?”

  “Are you with Zac?”

  “Yes.” She turned toward the door he’d left through. “Why?”

  “Because the two of you better start getting serious.”

  Chris blinked. Had her sister been watching? “Really? Gee, I’ll get right on it. Why do you say that?”

  Zac came out of the bathroom. He stopped in the doorway, his head almost touching the top of the frame, body practically filling it, hands on his hips, looking her naked body up and down, his sexy lips curved in a smile.

  She was crazy about him.

  “Because, dear twin, Ames was offered the job this afternoon. They want him to start as soon as possible.”

  13

  BODIE WOKE FROM a strange dream in which he was shackled to an iron bed with chains around his wrists and ankles.

  He tried to scratch his balls, but there was a clanking, jingling noise and then his hand was brought up short.

  What the—?

  He was shackled to an iron bed with chains around his wrists and ankles.

  Oh, yeah. The blonde he’d met at the A-Frame. What had started as sex with light bondage had turned serious. She’d taken him prisoner, chained him to this bed, unable to move without her permission, unable to eat, drink or pee without her permission, unable to surf!

  Damn!

  Gus would miss him. Gus knew Bodie would never miss a session. He’d call the cops. Someone would have seen him leaving the bar with her. Someone would be able to trace him here, wherever here was.

  In the meantime, he was a prisoner, victim to her rough sexual games, some of which went on for hours.

  The door to the room opened. It was her, Gail, wearing the full getup—a black leather bikini, elbow and knee pads, and a black leather mask across her eyes. He’d thought she was pretty hot at the A-Frame, but he’d had no idea what she was capable of.

  “Good morning, slave.” She cracked her whip and climbed up onto the bed. He groaned, briefly closing his eyes. The woman was insatiable. She wanted more sex in more ways more often than anyone he’d ever met. “It’s time to begin your training again.”

  “Yeah, okay,” he croaked.

  “Okay, mistress.” She straddled him, glaring down, hands fisted on her hips, her onyx navel ring gleaming. “Well?”

  His cock rose obediently, mighty and straight like that dude’s sword, Excalibur.

  Bodie grinned up at her. He was the man! “I’m ready, mistress.”

  * * *

  “IT’S GOING TO be freezing!” Summer giggled nervously, holding Luke’s hand, staring apprehensively at the water. They’d climbed down into the tiny cove behind her house after Luke got the completely insane idea that it would be fun to go swimming.

  “It’ll be awesome. We’ll run, dive in, then turn around and run out. C’mon.” He gave her arm a tug. “Ready? One, two—”

  “No!” She pulled her hand away, unable to stop her nervous laughter. This was crazy. She couldn’t believe he’d talked her into it. It was a nice evening, but the sun was on its way down, and the water temperature at this time of year was in the low fifties. Brr. Even putting a toe in would be painful.

  Earlier this evening she and Luke had cooked a budget dinner of enchiladas at her house. He’d brought a six-pack of beer, and she’d had
a couple that had gone straight to her head, because she rarely drank. Luke had also stopped at two cans, which pleased her. Didn’t seem as if he had a problem there. Maybe that bar fight had been an isolated event. Stupid, but if controlling his alcohol intake wasn’t a problem, there was hope the incident was safely in the past.

  After dinner, she’d been ready to settle down with him in front of a movie, but Luke was determined to come out to swim—one of those ideas that sounded exciting and fun when she was warm in her own house, and entirely different when she was in a bathing suit facing the frigid water, about to go polar.

  “C’mon, we’ll run laps first to warm up.” Luke started across the beach at an easy jog. She followed him to the other side by the cliffs, then back, then over again, then back, struggling to run on the soft sand, both of them giggling.

  Summer had never, ever had this much fun with a guy. Maybe her younger brother when they were really little, before Ted had gotten into cigarettes, then pot, then drugs, and had changed into someone she no longer recognized.

  She was crazy about Luke. When she was with him, she felt she could leave her baggage and burdens behind. But life wasn’t just about fun, and she worried she was getting in too deep with someone who could just be killing time with her until he went back to his East Coast world, or until he “grew up,” as he put it, and married someone more like himself. Even if he stayed around, she worried she’d leave him behind, still playing his way through life while she lived out her career dreams.

  Summer shook off the concerns. Awfully heavy thoughts for a beautiful evening. They’d still be there the next day, and the next, though sooner or later she’d have to face them. Preferably before either she or Luke got hurt.

  “One more!” Luke touched the cliff with her and they raced back to the other side, all of about twenty yards, their feet thumping on the sand. “Okay, you ready now?”

  She was panting from their run. “I’ll never...be ready. You’re insane, you know that.”

  “I think I’ve heard that before, yeah.” He was flushed, eyes sparking blue in the dimming light. “Never stopped me before, won’t now. Come on.”