Man Cave, page 8
“Is it like in the movies?” she wondered.
“Being arrested?” I stared at her for a second and realized she was serious. “Walk of shame in a big, fancy Vegas hotel full of people? Mortifying. Handcuffs? Not sexy like you might think. Pat down by a beefy woman? Let’s just say I’m never switching teams.”
“All those people who witnessed your walk of shame think you’re a sex goddess. Ever think of that?”
I gave her a look. “Really? That’s what they were thinking?”
“Fine, they were probably all judgy and thinking you’re a ho. Again, it’s kind of flattering.”
“Trust me, it wasn’t flattering. Not any part of it.” I’d already relived all the late-night fun over and over. “Except my mug shot is better than my driver’s license photo, so that’s a perk.”
“I want to see it.”
“Hell, no.”
“You said you had to pay bail?”
I nodded. “I had no idea you could put it on a credit card. I thought I had to deal with a shady bail bondsman named Carl or something.”
“Your friends couldn’t get you out?”
I shook my head. “Since they were at the craps table, they didn’t see me get arrested, thank God. At the booking center, I was able to leave Alana a message before they took my belongings away, let her know what happened.”
“You swiped your credit card and got out of there?”
I shook my head again. “No one gets out until a hearing before a judge. She set bail.”
“That means you have to go back?”
I nodded. “I have a court date next Tuesday. Bridge, if I’m found guilty, it’ll be a misdemeanor and I’ll have a record. I can lose my teacher’s license and my job and–”
She raised a hand, cutting me off. “That’s not going to happen. Sharks for lawyers, remember?”
I shook my head. “Those are Mav’s people. I can’t let him help. Not only because I don’t have the money to pay for them, but no way can he know about this.”
“This isn’t like your mom being her usual lazy self and you covering their electric bill.”
“It is exactly the same. I did something stupid, and I won’t have someone fix it for me.”
She sliced a hand through the air. “Unless you’re planning on being arrested again, it’s not the same at all.”
I pursed my lips. Considered, then shook my head. “It doesn’t matter anyway. Mav can’t know.”
“Why not? It’s kind of funny.” Her lips twitched.
I glared. It was not funny. “I could lose my job. The less people who know about this, the better chance of it not getting around town. Maybe even from gossip alone.”
“Mav’s not going to tell people.” Her tone indicated she was a little hurt I’d even consider him to lack the integrity needed to keep this secret.
“I trust him, but the less who know, the better. Even now, there’s an arrest report out there. Anyone could look and find out what happened. That is not gossip.”
“Okay, that’s bad.”
“I have to find the money to fly back and pay a lawyer to represent me, then hopefully get the charges dropped. That’s the best scenario. Me being broke, but no longer a ho. I’ll be happy with that at this point. Broke and unemployed would be really bad.”
Then I’d really be my mother.
She gave me a pitying look. “I’m glad Mav suggested putting that down payment money into investments so it would grow, but now it’s locked up.”
I shrugged, because it was true. Mav knew about me and that house and put me in touch with one of his financial advisors. They’d promised a huge growth on the savings, and I’d been game. But that meant no touching, even now when I could use some of it. It was good in a way, that my down payment I had so far was safe. But I wouldn’t be able to add much more right now.
“So much for buying that cute house you want, right?”
My stomach dropped and it was the first time all day I felt close to crying. I swallowed hard. “Right. I’m not sure how I’m going to swing adding more to the down payment fund now. This is going to set me back months, at least.”
She stood. “For tonight, you’re back home. That’s a start. Want to spend the night?”
I nodded. I was exhausted and in no mood to drive to my apartment.
“Pick a bedroom, then come down and watch Dex’s game. Maybe we’ll see Lindy on TV like last week.”
I shook my head. “All I want is a shower, then sleep. I have to work in the morning, so I’ll be out of here early to go home and change.”
“Sure. And don’t worry about the guys. I’ll tell them something besides the truth.”
Them. Not just Mav, but Theo, too. I could only imagine what he’d think of this. That I was either an idiot or a ho. Or both. I went down the hall to the farthest extra bedroom and laughed at myself.
Me. A ho. Had I really been arrested for being a prostitute when I really hadn’t ever had sex? How ridiculously ironic was that?
17
THEO
* * *
Bridget came down after a while, snuggled right into Mav’s side to watch the last period of the game. No Mallory.
I didn’t say anything, just kept my gaze on the game.
Mav didn’t ask what was up with Mallory, only kissed the top of his woman’s head.
Didn’t he want to know what the fuck was going on?
I did.
Ask, dammit. Be fucking nosy!
I waited two game penalties, five minutes on the time clock and a commercial break when Mav got up again for another beer and a glass of wine for Bridget.
“Mallory have a good time in Vegas?” I asked, trying to sound conversational instead of probing.
She shifted on the big couch and faced me.
“Yup.”
“That’s all?” I asked, instead of what I wanted to get from her, “Did that good time involve fucking anyone with that untried pussy of hers?”
Bridget pushed her glasses up as she shrugged. “You know the saying, what happens in Vegas stays in Vegas.”
She had a good point. I’d been there before, and we’d done some shit that was probably pretty tame in comparison to others. Still, I didn’t need it to be rehashed. Except she was pretty much telling me that something happened without telling me something happened. Because if Mallory hung out at the pool and drank, gambled some and saw a show, then Bridget would have just said that. No one pulled the What happens in Vegas line unless there was alcohol poisoning, a bad tattoo, or a wedding you didn’t remember.
Like Dex and Lindy. So something fucking happened. Knowing Mallory had a get-laid goal, it was probably that. Which pissed me off. Yeah, I was a fucking hypocrit since I wasn’t a monk or a virgin. But Mallory? She had me all kinds of fucked up, all because she came so beautifully on my fingers.
I appreciated Bridget’s loyalty to her friend to keep secrets, but she wasn’t helping.
Fuck this. I stood. “Bathroom.”
“No more diarrhea?” Bridget asked with a sly smile.
“Pretty sure that problem is resolved.”
Tom was history. Ha! That was fucking funny. But there was nothing I could do about a dude from Vegas or my anger toward him for touching what was mine. Hopefully he stayed in Vegas, too.
I crossed paths with Mav on his way back to Bridget. I waited at the bottom of the stairs for the couple to settle back into the couch. They were lying down and I couldn’t even see them over the tall back. The game was still going, twelve minutes left, so I had time.
Good. I snuck up the stairs and headed right for Mallory. I wanted answers. And my hands on her body.
18
MALLORY
* * *
I came out of the steamy bathroom and froze. There, leaning against the bedroom wall, was Theo. My heart kicked into overdrive and my fingers instinctively clenched the top of the towel. For him, he was dressed down in jeans and a plain, white, long-sleeved t-shirt. His arms were crossed over his chest, completely relaxed, as if waiting for a woman to come out of the shower was natural.
Maybe it was for him.
Me? Not so much. Especially when I was naked except for a towel. I startled and a thrill shot through me. Goosebumps rose across my damp skin and not from the cooler air.
“Theo,” I breathed. He was so intense, so… focused. On me.
His gaze raked down me, shoulder to bare toes and back. I could only imagine him using that when assessing a patient, but his gaze wasn’t clinical. It was hot.
My nipples hardened and I gripped the towel even tighter.
“Have fun in Vegas?” he asked, his voice deep, even. Low. I had to wonder what his resting heart rate was because the man was chill. It made sense, being a trauma surgeon and all. His profession required a level head, a steady hand, and a calm demeanor.
Out of those three, I liked his steady hands the best.
“Sure,” I replied, a little wary as to why he asked. Bridget wouldn’t have gone downstairs and blabbed. Not unless Mav decided to tickle the answer out of her. Or orgasm denial. I heard it was a great persuasion tool, although I wouldn’t know. “What are you doing in here?”
The door was closed behind him, meaning he hadn’t wandered in lost.
“I think you know the answer.”
Yup, definitely not lost.
“Oh?” My heart was galloping faster than a horse at the Kentucky Derby. “What’s that?”
He ran a finger over his new beard which was a little longer than Thursday night. It made him look less like a stuffy doctor and more… rugged. And dangerous, because he was impossibly more handsome. More intense. More fiercely male. More everything.
Which meant I felt more. More sizzle. More heat. More heart clutching need.
Why him? Why this man who seemed to have Superman vision and knew I was wet and aroused? He must have pheromones seeping from his pores. Why else could I always be so affected by him? Right from that first glimpse of him in the photo on Mav’s laptop I’d been drawn in.
“Sex.”
That one word had everything in me clenching. Sex. Yes, please.
This wasn’t the restaurant parking lot, and I should be used to Theo’s direct ways by now.
“I haven’t gotten the prescription for birth control yet,” I reminded. He’d been so adamant last week about protecting me from not only STDs but pregnancy.
He pushed off the wall and came closer. I swallowed, held my ground. I wasn’t afraid of him, but what he made me feel.
“I know,” he replied. “You said your appointment’s this week.”
He remembered, but then again, I had no doubt any guy would keep track of when he could get his dick inside a woman.
“Tomorrow.”
His dark eyes were on my thighs, as if he remembered how they looked and felt beneath his palms. “There’s lots of different kinds of sex. Did you like coming on my fingers?”
I licked my lips. Nodded.
I wasn’t a prude. Or shy. Or a liar. He knew I’d liked it by the way I came. If speed orgasms were an Olympic sport, I’d be a gold medalist.
“This time, you’ll come on my mouth.”
Oh my go–sh. My pussy clenched again, and my hard nipples chafed against the damp towel.
Speaking of damp…
He stepped even closer. Oh, fu–dge.
“Lose the towel.”
19
MALLORY
* * *
I had no idea why Theo made me nervous. No, I did. It was simple. It was because he was Theo James. Everything about him made me come alive. My heart accelerated, and my breathing turned into breathy little pants. My hands got sweaty. My pussy clenched.
It made no sense. The guy was quiet. Sullen, even. Moody. He was a highly educated professional, yet he’d moved here to Hunter Valley. He was a total fish out of water.
He was my complete opposite.
He was older. Completely different career. Worldy.
Especially because there was no doubt he was experienced in all the things.
Like right now.
Lose the towel.
He was in control. He knew what he wanted and that was to make me come. With his mouth.
On my pussy.
I’d never had a guy do that to me before. Now I was the fish out of water. I wasn’t–
Shut up, Mallory! The guy wanted to eat me out and I stood around like an idiot.
He patiently watched me, waited. His gaze was heated, needy. His stance confident. His words… gah. Panty melting, if I were wearing some.
If he could make me come like he did in the parking lot, I was all for it.
So I dropped the towel.
20
THEO
* * *
She did it.
She dropped the towel.
Holy fuck, she was gorgeous. Short and curvy, her skin so pale I could see a network of light blue veins beneath. Her wet hair clung to her shoulders, droplets of water sliding over her, leading my gaze to her full breasts, perfectly lush and rosy tipped.
Tucked away behind a closed door in the back corner of Mav’s house, she was all mine. I licked my lip with an eagerness to get a taste of her.
Her hips were wide, plenty to hold onto when I fucked her. At the apex…
“You’re bare.”
She looked down at herself, shook her head. “I’ve got a little landing strip. I think completely bare’s a little weird.”
“A triangle pointing to the promised land,” I clarified.
My dick strained against my jeans to get to it.
She flushed because if she’d never had a man between her thick thighs before, then she didn’t understand just how perfect that pussy was. And I only got a hint of pink folds.
I approached, set one hand on her shoulder and the other boldly over her pussy, cupping all that hot, damp flesh.
She startled but didn’t move. Her eyelids drooped and her hips rolled into my palm.
“Wet,” I said, stroking over her folds.
Her eyes fell closed and her mouth opened, her warm breath fanning my neck. This close, I couldn’t miss her sweet scent. Whatever shampoo was in the bathroom, but also the musky hint of her arousal.
She was potent, which meant dangerous. I wanted her to be on birth control, but condoms alone worked. Now that I had my hands on her, I wasn’t sure if I could wait. Condoms alone wasn’t irresponsible… No.
Her hand took hold of my wrist, pressed me more firmly against her. Not shy, just… new. The way she’d clenched so responsively around my fingers when she came last week, her untried pussy would milk the cum from my balls once I got inside her.
I groaned, realizing she was different. I’d never felt such attraction and need before. Not only to get off, but to get her off. My dick was staying–sadly–in my pants and it didn’t matter. My goal was to get her to come. I’d eat her out, get her arousal and need all over my face.
Fuck, yes. The idea of having her pussy scent in my beard and her taste on my tongue… I growled, feeling ridiculously possessive.
“Theo,” she whispered, her hands going to my biceps to hold on.
Leaning down, I took a nipple in my mouth, gave a hard pull. Her hands shifted to my hair, tangled and tugged.
I alternated between those perfect mounds, discovering she liked it a little rough, a little wild. Just like she was. Her hips rolled and my name breathlessly escaped her lips when I pulled back. Inspected my work, where I saw those tips were tight and bright pink.
Dropping to my knees onto the bedroom’s carpeted floor, I kissed down her belly, then nudged her center with my nose.
“Fu–dge,” she murmured.
I lifted my head, stared up her perfect bare body.
Her eyes opened and she looked down at me with a confused, needy look.
The corner of my mouth tipped up. “Fudge?”
“I swear too much,” she explained. “Gotta be careful around the kids.”
I nipped at her inner thigh, and she gasped. “Definitely no kids here. My new goal is to get you to say fuck when you come. No, shout it.”
“Theo.”
I loved the way she breathed my name, as if she was right there with me, that somehow, I was hitting every one of her hot buttons.
It was time to find one more. With my mouth.
With my hands on her hips, I turned her so her back was to the bed. I shifted and with a little push between her breasts, she dropped onto the edge. Grasping her ankles, I lifted them, which had her tipping back.
Placing one foot, then the other, on the mattress, I had her wide open and the perfect view of her gorgeous pussy.
“Wait.”
I looked up her body and into her eyes. There I saw a mixture of arousal and nervousness. No, confusion. Resolve? Fuck if I knew. I wasn’t going to do anything she didn’t want, even if her body was all in. Since the teenaged kid who took her virginity didn’t do more than a few overeager pumps, this was probably pretty intense for her.
I was intense on top of that. I waited.
“Do you… I mean, are you assessing my vagina? I mean, like a doctor… um, clinically?”
What? That was what was going through her head?
“First off,” I said, keeping my voice calm and even, knowing her concerns might be a little odd, but were valid. I saw her as a patient just last week and we would’ve–clinically–ended up in a very similar position if I’d completed the exam instead of referred her. “I’ve been in the trauma department for years, specifically in surgery. I only worked a two-month OBGYN residency rotation when I was twenty-six and I assure you, I was never once aroused. By any patient. Until you.”
I stood so she could see how hard I was, how my dick was going to have a zipper mark in it from my jeans.
“During the appointment, you got hard for me?” she asked, her eyes wide with surprise.
I nodded. “I referred you to a doctor who will be professional and take care of your healthcare needs. As for me? I can’t be professional with you.”
