Body Shots (21 page)

Brad's body was big and muscular. He was handsome and polite. His voice was as silky and as deep as crushed velvet. Still, there were only two men she wanted pressed up against her. Two men who could make her body hum with desire in ten seconds flat. Brad was neither of those men. And she was just so damn pissed that Mac and Trent weren't there, watching her dance with a gorgeous guy right at that moment. So they could see that she'd moved on. That she wasn't going to wallow in self-pity. That she wasn't going to sit around and wish for something that could never be.

Oh, who the hell was she kidding? She wanted Mac and Trent there so they would get insanely jealous and rip her out of Brad's strong arms and . . . was that a tattoo?

“What is that?”

Brad followed her line of vision. His grin turned rather ornery as he answered, “It means good fortune. I believe it's an Asian symbol.” He shrugged. “It was an impulse thing.”

Crystal laughed. “Does it work? Have you had good fortune?”

He winked and pulled her close again. “Seems to be working for me tonight,” he whispered into her ear.

Whoa. Now this was getting to be too much. The fact that a gorgeous man was holding her in his arms and whispering in her ear and she felt not one iota of interest was enough for Crystal to freeze up a bit. Maybe give Brad a hint or two.

Crystal pushed back just the slightest, grateful that he didn't protest, and she tried to sound kind as she let him down flat. “You're a very . . . interesting man, Brad. But I'm afraid we'll have to keep the dirty dancing out of it for the time being.”

Brad stared down at her for long seconds, then glanced back over to where Mollie and Josh sat. “I know you're not with that big fella sitting at the table you just vacated, because he's all over your girlfriend. So, who is it that's keeping me from my fortune tonight?”

Crystal tried not to feel the kick in her gut as she thought of Trent. She looked away from Brad's suddenly very serious brown eyes and answered his question. “His brother. But he's not interested in me any longer. I only came here tonight to . . . I don't know why I came.”

Brad pulled her back into his embrace, only this time he seemed to keep it on a more platonic level. The intensity that had been radiating from him was gone, replaced by a man who admitted defeat with rather remarkable aplomb. “If you wanted to rile him up, don't look now, but I think you've accomplished that particular goal. In fact, I'd hazard a guess that he's none too pleased with either of us right now.”

Crystal started to swivel her head around to see if Trent was there—it had been too long since she'd seen his gorgeous, chiseled face—but Brad stopped her.

“Ah, now hold up there, darlin'. You want him to come after you, don't you?”

“Yes,” Crystal replied, all the while wishing she could just go to Trent and smack some sense into him.

Brad winked. “Then just follow my lead and he won't be able to resist.”

“He probably could care less if I'm dancing with another man. This whole thing was a mistake, I just knew it. I should just go home and put on my pj's,” Crystal ground out, feeling more the fool every minute.

Brad chuckled low and bent to whisper into her ear, “Don't bet on it, darlin', it's eating him up watching me tell you all my dirty little fantasies right now. Hell, he never even made it past the front door. He's just standing there, looking for all the world like a raging bull ready to charge.”

Oh, now didn't that just give a girl a grin? “So, you think if I whisper back in your ear he'll maybe get the lead out?”

“I guarantee it.”

Crystal grinned, a bit of the naughty vixen surfacing, and she rose up on tiptoe, her breasts flattening against Brad's chest as she did. She spoke in a low whisper for Brad's ears alone, “There's no way I'll ever tell you my dirty secrets, Brad, but I don't mind making that man a bit nuts, since I've been going insane ever since I met him.”

“Mm, you can tell me anything, so long as you keep that sweet body of yours pressed tight.”

Crystal pulled back and slapped Brad's chest playfully. “You really are a flirt. And trouble, if I had to guess.”

“Right on both counts,” Brad said, as he straightened a bit. “Here he comes now.”

Crystal shook with nerves, but Brad's strong arms around her kept her from falling on her face. Thank God for small favors.

“Whoa, he's a mean-looking one,” Brad bit out.

“Crystal.”

The deep, dark voice was barely recognizable, it was so cold and remote. Where was the warm, cajoling tone she remembered?

She turned her head and pretended to just now notice him, even though she knew she was a lousy ass liar. “Trent! I didn't realize you were here.”

“Just arrived,” Trent answered as he pinned Brad with a steely look. “Care to introduce me to your friend?”

Crystal looked back at Brad and saw the mischievous glint in his eyes. She knew two things in that moment. One, Brad was probably one hell of an ornery child. His mother deserved a medal. Second, there was about to be lots of bloodshed, because it was clear that her plan to get Trent to realize he'd made a huge mistake in offering her money for services rendered was about to blow sky-high. She'd seriously miscalculated just how jealous the man could be.

Damn and double damn.

“I'm Trent Dailey, and I own this nightclub. You are?”

Brad dropped his arms from around her, and Crystal suddenly felt very afraid. While Brad had been holding her, she'd had a false sense of security—sort of like having a cell phone handy when you're driving down a lonely, deserted street, even though you know that, should something happen, the cell phone would probably be out of range and rendered useless. That was how she felt at that moment—rendered useless.

“Name's Brad Mayes.” The two men shook hands as if they were greeting a new pal. As if you couldn't cut the tension between them with a knife.

Trent nodded and then zeroed his powerful gaze on her. He looked at her from head to toe, and she watched as a muscle twitched in his jaw. He never said a word about her outfit. “I didn't know you were coming here tonight,” he gritted out.

“I know,” she said, unable to say more for the lump in her throat.

His gaze seemed to devour her, and Crystal shivered from head to toe. “You don't own a single dress like this,” he said in a low voice. “Your clothes are classy. This is—is something a call girl would wear.”

His angry voice shook her to her bones, but she was still too furious with him over his offer to “keep her” to stay on the side of caution. “Isn't that what you wanted me to be? Actually, this dress ought to fit the image you have of me much better.”

He shoved a hand through his hair. “Will you never forget about that? You're the most stubborn woman!”

Her anger drained away at his description. Was she truly that stubborn? She had no retort. Nothing at all came to mind.

Trent cupped her face in his large, calloused palms. “I don't want to keep picking at this wound. You're here now, and I want to show you something.”

Crystal looked around and realized Brad had disappeared. “Yes, I'm here. I'm not sure why I haven't walked out yet, though.”

“Come with me,” he said as he led her to the private apartment upstairs. Once inside, he flipped on the light and said, “I've missed you.”

“Trent,” she said his name in warning as she crossed her arms over her chest.

His expression was one of comfort, as if he was trying to let her know that everything would be okay. His anger dissipated, and he was once again in control of his emotions. She wished she was so quick to bounce back. But then his heart wasn't breaking with every sliver of time she spent with him. He didn't know that she was deeply, madly, helplessly in love.

Trent reached out for her hand, and Crystal stared at it a moment as if in a daze, then finally she took it. He held it tight and pulled her over to the bed. He gently sat her down on the side of the bed, then to her utter shock, he knelt in front of her and said, “I'm sorry for what I said. I've been slowly dying since you left me.”

In that moment, Crystal saw a vulnerable side to Trent. He'd seemed so confident and in control. Watching him now, she knew she wasn't the only one with their emotions in overdrive. It went a long way to soothe her ravaged heart.

“You don't want any other men except Mac and me,” he whispered. “You sure as hell don't want Brad.”

It wasn't a question, but she answered him anyway. “No, and it's frustrating, believe me.”

He frowned. “Why does this bother you, baby?”

“Because you're no good for me, Trent. You insulted me, and still here I sit.” She covered her face in her hands and groaned.

Trent pried her fingers away and brought them to his lips, where he kissed each fingertip with relish. Crystal opened her eyes to see Trent staring at her hands.

“You were slipping through my fingers, like water. I thought to capture you before you were gone completely.”

“I don't understand.”

“I reacted badly with you,” he explained as he looked back up at her. “I wanted you to stay and you made me feel . . . needy. I'm not real good at feeling needy. It goes against my very nature.” He stroked her cheek with his thumb and murmured, “You send me out of control every time you're near me.”

She understood because she felt the same way. “This may come as a shock, but you aren't the only one who hates that feeling.”

Trent's eyes held hers captive as he wrapped his hand around the nape of her neck and drew her close. “Mm, so I'm beginning to see,” he murmured, then he kissed her. It was so brief and soft, she barely had time to take in his scent before he pulled away. “This evening is for you.”

She had no idea what he meant by that, but when he released her and pushed her backward until she was sprawled atop the cool blankets, she forgot everything she was thinking. Her worries flew out the window as erotic images of her gorgeous lover filled her head.

Trent, in all his bronzed and dark-haired glory, stripped out of his clothes and spread out on the bed next to her. His well-muscled body and the intensity in his eyes were enough to have any woman drooling, but the heavy weight between his legs made her face burn. He was hard and ready, and he was all hers.

Crystal tore her eyes away from his erection and searched his face for answers. He didn't wear his heart on his sleeve the way she did, but Crystal could still make out his thoughts. It was as if he was trying to reassure her, even encourage her to take the lead. She was lost to this new type of lovemaking.

Trent wrapped his arm around her shoulders and pulled her stiff body in tight. She was as rigid as a wooden plank, every muscle strung tight with nerves and fear.

“Relax. Leave all the big questions for later. For now, just feel my body against yours,” Trent softly commanded, his voice so rich and smooth, sliding over her skin, soothing and firing her blood at the same time.

“It all feels different now. I'm scared,” she confessed and buried her nose into his side.

“I know, but it will be okay,” Trent promised.

She didn't move. Her intense emotions for him had her feeling like an open wound.

“You aren't relaxing. I need you to leave everything for later and simply take joy in our bodies. Think only of the two of us and how good we are together.”

Crystal wanted to strangle Trent.
He wants relaxed, I'll give him relaxed,
she thought with venom. With the single-minded purpose of making Trent squirm, Crystal began touching him. She moved her right hand first, smoothing it over his pectorals, running her fingers through the coarse curls that littered his chest. Then she inched her leg up and over his, letting her sex slide along the side of his muscular thigh. Trent groaned and she continued, encouraged by the hungry sounds coming from him.

She teased her fingers down the front of him, giving herself free rein, as in some dark part of her soul, Crystal enjoyed having Trent at her mercy. Evidently, she had a bit of the dominatrix in her. Who knew?

“You are so sweet, Crystal, so soft,” Trent complimented. His hands skated over her overheated skin, as his lips pressed into her hair.

Crystal brushed her fingers over the head of his cock, rubbing the pearl of moisture all around, then brought her fingers to her lips and sucked the sticky fluid off them one by one. Trent groaned and pulled her on top of his huge body. He grinned wickedly up at her, then drew her down for a kiss. His lips, so warm and eager, tasted her as if he wanted to spend a good long time pleasuring each and every part of her with his mouth. Lips parted and tongues met in a wild mating dance, and all the while his hands massaged and caressed. When his fingers came so close to her clitoris, she broke the kiss and opened her eyes.

“Let me.”

“I'm still mad at you. I'm only a challenge to you. You saw me walking away and you wanted me all the more.” Even as she said it, she knew it was a lie.

Trent stroked her nether lips. Crystal's body vibrated at his touch. “I love you. My life without you is like a day without sun,” Trent murmured. “You are a challenge, yes, but that is only one of the things I love about you, not the only thing. You should know better, baby. I do not play such childish games.”

“But I—”

Trent stopped her torrent of questions with a lingering kiss. Afterward, he raised his head a mere inch. “No more talking,” Trent ordered. “Just feel. Drop your guard and give yourself to this moment.”