A Gentleman in the Street (27 page)

She blew out a breath and tossed her hair over her shoulder. This was dumb. She was neither his wife nor his girlfriend, so whatever they had been muttering about in that room would never apply to her.

His breath made the fine hairs on her neck perk up as he leaned down and whispered in her ear. “Have you ever been one of these people?”

What did that mean? She bristled, ready to defend her friends. “I am one of these people, darling.”

“No.” He nodded to the center of the room. “The show. Have you ever done that?”

“Been whipped?”

“No.”

“Held the whip?”

His mouth quirked up. “As believable as you would be as a dominatrix, no. Have you ever been a part of the scene?”

She took a deep breath. “No.”

“Why not?”

“I don’t know. I’ve never found the right incentive.” She lifted a shoulder. “Not that I haven’t given a show or two. Just not on the stage.”

“Hmm.” His consideration was punctuated by the ecstatic cries of the woman. The noise filled something inside of Akira.

Depraved.
The word was often tossed her way, and though she scoffed at it in public, internally she knew they were right.

Her life would be so much easier if she were different. If only she were the quiet, biddable female her mother had craved. If she were the silent, malleable doll her father had attempted to browbeat her into.

Sweat gathered at her hairline, the smell of sex and the heat generated by multiple bodies suddenly overwhelming her. She needed air. “Excuse me,” she choked out. “I have some hostess duties calling my name.”

He straightened. “Right now?”

“Mm-hmm. Feel free to stay.” She slipped out of his grasp, his fingers snagging on her hair as she bolted. She didn’t stop to savor that bite of pain.

She should have known he wouldn’t listen. His heavy footsteps sounded a few seconds behind her in the deserted hallway. “Akira.”

Perversely, she hated how quiet his voice was. Nothing rattled him, did it? He had to be perfect at everything.

Including being perfect for you.

Terror shot through her. No. Nobody was perfect for her. Certainly not Jacob.

If only you could be the woman for him.

She whirled around to confront him, her skirt flaring with the movement. “Why aren’t you done yet?”

His brow furrowed. She had to keep her gaze on his face because it was too tempting to glance down and stare at his chest, which was exposed by the sloppily fastened buttons of his shirt.

“Done with what?”

Done with me.
“Done trying to prove to me that you can play in my league, Campbell.”

“Akira…”

“No. Don’t you do that. Don’t you say my name like that.” She took a step closer. “Finish this. Drop the other shoe. Call me whatever names you want and get out.” He would leave eventually, right? Better it be now. He didn’t belong here. He couldn’t be one of her regulars, her friend.

How would she be able to get enough of him if she could see him whenever she commissioned those elegant black invitations? She had been obsessed with him for years, and that was when she had been certain he hated her. If he came whenever she called, literally…

She would never be safe. Control would be gone, forever, because she would be in a continuous state of losing her head over him.

His mouth dropped open. “I would never call you…”

She made a sharp motion with her hand, cutting him off. “Go away. Go anywhere. I need a drink.”

She swiveled and marched away from him, back through the main salon. The vibe had changed in here, as it always did when the night wore on. Skin flashed. Tongues tangled. Hands groped. Carnality replaced flirtation and lust reigned supreme.

Akira was so inexplicably mad, she couldn’t even savor it.

A few feet from the bar, Akira was pulled up short by two large hands on her waist. She didn’t have to look behind her to know who had captured her. Those paws could only belong to one person.

“Let me go,” she said between her teeth.

His reply was immediate. “No. I don’t think so.”

If she didn’t know stamping her foot would make her look like a child, she’d do it. “I mean it.”

“Say the safe word then,” he replied, matter-of-fact. “That’s how it works, isn’t it? You say the safe word, and I have to stop?”

Spy. She tried to force her mouth to say the word, but she couldn’t. Just couldn’t. “Go home.”

“Nope.” His hands slipped around her waist to meet in the front, clasping her tight. The sighs and moans and gasps around her were like a soundtrack. Her own personal orchestra of need.

Jacob’s cock was thick where it nestled against her ass. He made no apologies for it. “I know shutting up is a challenge for you, but you’re going to do it.”

She snorted, unable to sputter anything else out.

“I’ll take that as an agreement,” he said. “Now, I get our history makes it difficult for us to have any kind of relationship. I’ve apologized, in every way I know how, short of cutting open my veins and bleeding for you. I told you I want you, and I understand you may be wary of that too. But you need to listen to me now.” He brought his lips directly to her ear, so only she could hear. “There is nothing you could do that would make me want you less. Nothing you could do that would kill this desire for you.”

“You don’t even know…” she wheezed. “You don’t know me.”

He laughed. The bastard laughed! All low and amused. “Akira. I do know you. I’ll wager I’ve known you longer than anyone else here.”

“Length of time doesn’t mean anything.”

“You’re right.” He nudged her hair aside so he could kiss her neck. “But you noted how good my observational skills are.”

“And what have you observed?”

“You seem to think I’m some sort of scared boy who’s going to run when I discover something about you I don’t like. Which is stupid.”

“Is it?”

“Yes. Let’s get one thing straight. Nothing you do with your body would shock me. And nothing could disgust me.”

She choked out the words, though a small, dangerous kernel of hope bloomed in her chest. “You say that now, but when…”

“No.” His hand clenched over her stomach. “There is no
but when
.”

“You’re a decent guy…”

“Decency doesn’t equal a lack of a filthy imagination, Akira.” His breath coasted over her shoulder. “Look around. Tell me what you see.”

She glanced around her. They had drawn some attention, though she suspected friends were respectfully pretending not to listen in on their furiously whispered conversation. “I see sex.”

“Yes. And love. And trust. You’re not running from them. Why are you running from me?”

Because these people didn’t love her as anything more than a friend, a fun hostess. Their bond might be deep, but it wasn’t all-consuming.

Like it could be with Jacob.

“It’s just…not the same,” she said stubbornly. “I don’t have to defend myself to you.”

There was silence. “Perhaps I’m being unfair. I have to prove myself to you, right? That’s the whole point of tonight?” Jacob’s forefinger hooked under the laces on her corset. “Maybe you need to let me show you how bad I can be.”

“What are you doing?”

Dumb question. His fingers too blunt and clumsy to figure out the knot on her corset, Jacob merely grabbed ahold of the lace and tugged. Hard. The material tightened uncomfortably over her breasts before loosening with a snap, becoming more lax when he yanked the ties through the eyelets.

They stood in the center of the room. The young bartender she’d hired more for his discretion and open-mindedness than his drink-mixing capabilities was slowly polishing a glass, but watching her. One by one, as more of her skin was revealed, heads turned their way.

Jacob pushed the corset down, taking her skirt with it, until the clothing pooled around her feet and she stood naked in front of the crowd. She closed her eyes, but she could feel gazes flicking over her as she stood there in nothing but a thong.

“I wish the stage was in here,” he murmured. “You should always be the center of attention.”

She said the only words she could manage. “This isn’t like you.”

Rough hands ran over her ass, petting her and parting her, stroking her flesh. “I’m just learning who I am, but I think this is exactly like me.”

“So you’ll what? Have sex in front of a crowd? I may not set myself up as the main attraction, but I’ve done it before. Have you?”

“No.” His face rubbed against her hair, as if he were trying to absorb her through his skin. “But I think it should be fine. I’d be self-conscious, but I’ve been told I have a first-class ass.”

The tug of lusty humor was frightening. A Jacob ready to embrace her desires wholeheartedly was a dangerous Jacob. She’d never recover when he slipped out of her grasp.

“Besides. These are your people. They’re safe. Right?”

She inhaled, her resistance wearing thin. “Yes. They’re safe.”

His palms shaped her hips and stroked over her breasts, lifting them as if offering them to the crowd. “Should we let them have a taste?”

Debauch him. Stain his soul.
Her greatest dream. All hers for the taking. Her fragile wall of resistance crumbled. Her head fell back against his shoulder, and she gave a helpless nod.

“Too bad,” he said. “There are too many of them, and I don’t want to wait that long.”

“So pick a couple,” she whispered, seduced by him and the sexuality thick in the air.

He paused, and she realized for all his posturing, he was still a newbie at this. She waved her hand at the men sitting on the closest sofa. Out of the corner of her eye, she caught the grin that split Remy’s face as he grabbed his friend Ty’s hand and strode toward them.

Jacob’s chest touched her naked back, fine cotton brushing against her shoulder blades. “What do you want them to do?”

“I thought you were in charge,” she said archly.

She felt him smile. “Why can’t we both be in charge? Division of power.”

Share the power? She shared a lot of things, but power wasn’t one of them. Being top dog was easy.

Sharing was…uncharted territory. Scary. But so tempting, she couldn’t resist playing with fire. She stretched her hand up behind her, scratching her fingernails over his cheek. “I want to be stuffed full, every inch of me filled with cock,” she murmured. “There. That’s my command. Now you decide how to get us there.”

His exhalation ended in a groan. “I think I can do that.” He gripped her neck. “On your knees.”

Oh, yes. Yes, yes, yes, she wanted his quiet, stern, powerful voice. The voice she had fantasized over for years, the one that made her wonder if he’d play naughty professor or conquering knight with her.

She gave in to the pressure on her neck and sank to her knees. Whispers and rustles came from their audience, which was growing, murmurs of her participation spreading through the other rooms.

Jacob knelt next to her, beckoning Ty and Remy closer, until they were standing near enough for her to touch. He smoothed a strand of her hair away and pressed a tender kiss on her cheek. “Take out their cocks.”

A month ago, she couldn’t have imagined Jacob knowing what a cock was, let alone saying the word. Dear Lord, he had changed.

Or maybe he had stayed the same. Her perception had changed.

With shaking hands, she undid Remy’s pants first, pulling out his erection and stroking it until he hissed a curse. He was already hard, but that was no surprise. The man was always ready to go. It was part of what made him so in demand in his profession.

“Now the other one.”

He was objectifying the two men, turning them into tools for her pleasure. Tools he could direct.

Desire made her lightheaded. How had such a relatively inexperienced man looked inside her and pinpointed her favorite fantasy?

The answer buzzed around her brain, but she swatted it away, not eager to confront anything deeper than physical pleasure. She glanced up at Ty. Of average height, the third man was built like a boxer, compact and muscular. He was a sweet guy, someone Remy had brought as a guest a few years ago and who had made enough of a favorable impression that she remembered to include him afterward. His smile was sweetly seductive, teeth flashing white against his black skin as he watched her, dark eyes hot.

She didn’t let go of Remy’s cock while she undid Ty’s fly, her hand delving inside his trousers to find him hot and hard. His cock wasn’t as long as Remy’s, but it was nice and thick. He hissed out a breath when she stroked him.

“Suck him,” Jacob directed.

“Which one?”

He paused, as if considering her question. “Either. Both.”

Her thighs tightened, and she glanced between the two men. She held her hand up to Jacob’s face. “Lick this for me. I need lube.”

Holding her gaze, he licked her palm, his tongue rough. She enclosed her wet palm around Remy’s cock, while using her other hand to steady Ty. He groaned as she swallowed him down, almost to the back of her throat, sucking him deeper with every stroke
.

Remy’s hand settled in her hair, his familiar fingers tangling as he directed her to take his friend harder, his growls of approval spurring her to her best performance.

Jacob’s calloused hands slipped over her shoulders and her chest, weighing and cupping her breasts. She gave a muffled shriek when he pinched her nipple hard, the sound pulling a groan from Ty.

She was disappointed when Jacob eased her off Ty by holding her neck, but she couldn’t resist the surge of arousal at his hand pressing against her vulnerable windpipe.

“He’s going to come,” he chastised her, his louder voice a sign of his growing confidence. “How will you be stuffed full of cock then?”

Akira licked her lips. “There’s no shortage of men here.”

She felt him smile. “You are such a greedy woman.”

She was greedy. She always had been. It was one of her many shortcomings.

His hold gentled, until he was stroking her throat with his thumb. He pulled her around so she was facing him. Green eyes clashed with hers, filled with excitement and need.

“Remy,” he said, his voice guttural. “On the floor.”