Stephanie Julian - By Private Invitation

Practically panting with desire, she cried out when one hand molded to her breast, pinching the hard tip between his fingers and sending lightning flashes straight to her womb. It tightened in response as did her pussy, and she opened her eyes to find Jared.

The glow of the light over the sink gave off just enough illumination for her to see the hard planes of desire on his face. His mouth had drawn into a straight line that made her sex pulse with the promise of satisfaction.

But not before she danced to his every command.

His other hand began a slow, forceful caress from her knee to her hip and down again. He repeated the motion until his hands worked in a rhythm that made her body respond. He stroked and she lifted into his hand, her flesh molding to his.

Switching hands, he paid attention to her neglected breast and leg until she thought she might sink into a blissful stupor.

Just as she felt her body tighten for what she hoped would be a climax, he released her.

Her eyes flew open and she tried to speak, to beg, but before she could, he put his hands under her ass and lifted her sex to his mouth.

He flicked his tongue over her clit before plunging it between her plump lips and into her sensitive sheath. After a few seconds, he retreated to nip her clit with his teeth, testing her limits with sharp bites and gentle squeezes.

Her body moved as if she had no control over it, completely under his domain.

And he played her like a grand master.

By the time he lifted his head and opened his jeans, she would have thought it couldn’t get better.

But it did.

When the broad head of his cock pierced her, she felt an entirely new set of emotions and sensations shift through her.

She’d moved from pleasure to complete abandonment. She wanted him to fuck her, begged him to fuck her, hard and fast, as he worked his cock into her in controlled thrusts.

Her hands reached for his wrists to hold herself steady as he rocked against her, vaguely noticing how his thrusts began to lose their smoothness.

He was losing his control with every thrust, every retreat.

She loved it. She tilted her pelvis and took him even deeper on his next plunge. He groaned as he thrust and held for several seconds before she rotated her hips and caused a shower of sparks to ignite low in her body.

Her sheath tightened around him just before her orgasm detonated.

She cried out, her body caught in the throes of her climax, and she vaguely registered the fact that he was pumping his release into her body seconds later.

Minutes later, when she’d regained enough energy to move, she opened her eyes and looked straight into Jared’s. Dark with some emotion she couldn’t fathom, his eyes stayed glued to hers as he pulled away from her body. Then he reached for her hands to pull her up into a seated position, lifted her into his arms, and carried her to the bathroom.

“Can you stand?”

She lifted her eyebrows. “Think that highly of yourself, do you?”

There, that made him smile. “I only ask because you look…a little tired.” He set her feet on the ground but kept an arm around her shoulders as he nuzzled a kiss into her neck. “Shower?”

Part of her wanted to just curl up in bed with him and pass out. But the other didn’t want the night to end, knowing he wouldn’t be there when she woke. And that— No, she didn’t want to think about that now.

“Only if you promise to wash my back.”

“Baby, that’s not all I’ll wash.”

In the bathroom, Jared turned on the water and waited for it to get to the desired temperature before he stripped off her bra and waved her in. Then he shed his clothes before following.

As the water fell around them, she let him wash her from head to toe, falling more and more under his spell with every stroke of his hands.

He poured her body wash into his hands, then slicked it all over her body, paying careful attention to her breasts and between her legs.

She felt arousal flare low in her belly and stepped closer to wrap her arms around his shoulders.

“Will you stay tonight?” She barely whispered the words in his ear but his hands faltered for a second.

“Absolutely.”

* * *

Jared couldn’t get his brain to shut off.

Annabelle had fallen asleep right away, which made him want to beat his chest like a caveman. He’d fucked her so good, she’d passed out.

And yeah, he knew that sounded crude but damn…

So why was he still awake when normally he’d be passed out too?

Because he loved lying here, holding her. That was part of it. The other part was the phone call he’d made earlier today. He hadn’t told Dane the whole truth about why he wanted him to come up here, and Dane had inferred that his visit would involve sex.

Yes, that was part of the reason. And no, he couldn’t completely explain his rationale for inviting another man into her bed. Except for the fact that she’d enjoyed the hell out of their play at the Salon and he wanted to give her more of that pleasure.

Hell, he wanted to give her a lot more than simply pleasure. Which made the second part of why he wanted to talk to Dane tricky.

But he had to know.

The bell over the door rang only minutes after she’d unlocked the shop.

Annabelle still wore the smile she’d had since waking up with Jared’s bigger, harder body curled around her. He’d tried to convince her to stay in bed with him and had almost succeeded.

But she did have a business to run.

Jared had kissed her one last time and ran his hand over her ass in a hot caress before he got up, pulled on his pants, and called his brother. She’d left to give him some privacy, since they seemed to be talking hotel business.

She didn’t recognize the man who walked through the door but there was something about him that seemed familiar.

First, she noticed how absolutely gorgeous he was. Straight, dark hair hung around a face full of sharp planes, cheekbones to die for, a straight slash of a nose. Only his full mouth…

She knew that mouth.

She felt a frown crinkle her brow. Why would she know him?

Her gaze shot back to his pale green eyes. She drew in a quick breath, her pulse kicking into a staccato pace as goose bumps covered her entire body.

Oh, shit.

She took a deep breath, trying not to let her recognition show.

What the hell was he doing here? Maybe he didn’t remember her.

Oh, God, please let him not remember me.

She forced a friendly smile, hoping he couldn’t see the sheer panic rushing through her like adrenaline. “Can I help you?”

He didn’t answer immediately, just let his own smile build.

“Nice shop,” he finally said.

Her smile wanted to slip but she shored it up. “Thank you. Can I help you with something?”

Was that smile of his supposed to mean something, or was she reading too much into a simple expression?

“I was told you have a decent collection of erotic art.”

She swallowed hard and forced her mouth to hold its pleasant curve. “Are you looking for something in particular?”

“As a matter of fact…”

“Hey, Dane. I see you found your way here.”

Annabelle whipped around at the sound of Jared’s voice. His expression was carefully neutral as he caught her gaze, but she knew he was cataloguing her every conflicting emotion.

“Annabelle, this is Dane Connelly. A friend of mind for a very long time.”

Her heart beating a mile a minute, Annabelle forced herself to turn back to Dane and put out her hand as she tried to swallow down her rising…confusion? Fear?

No, it wasn’t fear.

Anticipation?

Had Jared asked Dane to come? Why? To join them in bed?

Heat flashed through her body, hard and fast. Her nipples peaked beneath her cotton T-shirt and she went wet between her thighs.

She should be embarrassed, should want to crawl in a hole somewhere and hide.

But this was definitely not embarrassment.

This was lust, pure and simple.

And both men could probably read it all over her face though Dane’s smile was nothing but pleasant.

Damn them.

Fighting back the urge to gape at the man, Annabelle forced her lips to curve in a smile. She could do nothing at all about the blush she knew stained her cheeks.

“Nice to meet you, Dane.”

Again.

Jesus, did Jared actually think she wouldn’t know who this man was? That she wouldn’t recognize that mouth and those eyes?

Did he expect her to just fall into bed with both of them?

And would that be such a bad thing? The first time was amazing.

Dane released her hand as she pulled hers back, successfully quashing the impulse to rub her sweaty palms on the thighs of her jeans.

Damn it, she was not into playing games. She wanted to know what was going on. Her arms crossed over her chest as she looked directly into Dane’s eyes. “So, what brings you all the way to Adamstown?”

Dane’s lips curved in a devastating grin. “You’re right, Jed. I do like her. She cuts to the chase.”

What the hell was that supposed to mean?

She opened her mouth to ask but Jared touched her elbow, effectively cutting her off and drawing her attention. “I asked him to give me his opinion on a few of the properties since Tyler’s tied up at the hotel.”

Blinking, she tried to get her brain to function enough to ask rational questions. “Oh. Are you in the hotel business too?”