Crimson (3 page)

“No. You didn’t.”

“Yes, I did. Why? You can’t tell me that’s an heirloom. It was hideous.”

“It’s cursed.”

Heather dropped the magazine. That was one of the few statements that could have distracted her. She looked up. Tasha watched her with wide, worried eyes.

“What?” Heather asked.

“It’s cursed.”

“Right.”

“No, it is. Oh no.” Tasha sank down in her chair and stared mournfully at the ceiling. “What are we going to do?”

Heather rolled over and forced herself sit up. Tasha seemed quite serious about this. “How can a dress be cursed?”

“I don’t know
how
it was done, just that it is.” Tasha sighed before she pushed herself upright and looked at Heather. “You put it on and you’re destined to find your true love.”

“Why is that a curse?” It sounded pretty good to Heather.

“Because until you find him, you can’t take it off.”

“What?”

“It’s true. The dress can’t be taken off. No matter what you do. It can’t be torn, cut, even burned. Once it’s on you, you have to find your true love or you have to wear the dress.”

Heather laughed. Truly, was there any other response? She couldn’t be serious.

Except the zipper had stuck when they’d tried to take it off. But…no, it couldn’t be. She smiled and waited for Tasha to say it was just a joke, but she never did.

“You’re serious.”

“Yes.”

“And how do we know this?”

“My mother.”

“Your mother?” Heather smiled, thinking about “Aunt K”. Technically, she was Heather’s great-aunt but that got too confusing at family parties. Tasha’s mother was fun and lively. Tasha’s father, on the other hand, was a complete asshole.

“Yes, after she divorced my father. She went into this little shop and by chance tried on this wedding dress. It was more of a joke than anything else. But she couldn’t take it off.” Tasha shook her head. “She was stuck wearing the thing for a week until she ran into Nick.” Nick was Tasha’s stepfather and an all-around great guy. He was seven years younger than Tasha’s mother and so obviously in love. The two were a great couple.

Still, happy as that situation appeared, Heather wasn’t buying it. It was a dress. There was no way it could be cursed.

“How can a dress know who Mr. Right is?”

“I don’t know how it works, just that it does.”

“What if you have multiple Mr. Rights? Maybe there are a dozen men out there who are a perfect match and you just have to pick one.”

“No.” She glared at Heather, exasperation filling her eyes. “It’s one man. The dress only responds to one man.”

Heather chuckled. Sometimes Tasha was too fun to mess with. “I’m sure Cait will be fine.”

“Unless she meets her true love,” Tasha said. Her voice vibrated with trepidation and warning. Damn, Heather felt as though she was a character in a horror movie. Oh what the hell? She’d play along.

“But I thought she couldn’t take the dress off unless she meets him. So we want her to meet him, right?” Heather shook her head, confused and seriously considering more wine.

“The dress can’t be taken off until she meets her true love.” Tasha paused and bit her lip. “But if she meets him…”

“Yes,” Heather prompted.

“The dress will, kind of, strip itself off.”

“What?!”

“Yup. Just sort of falls off. Leaving you standing there in nothing but your panties.”

“You’re kidding me.”

“No. My mother was at work, and boy, was she surprised.”

“The dress takes itself off?”

“All the way down to the undies. At least that’s what my mom told me. You know, later. When I was in my twenties.”

“I think your mother’s playing you.”

“I don’t think so.” Tasha stretched over to the opposite chair and grabbed her purse. “We need to call Cait. Tell her not to put on the dress.”

Heather looked at the clock. “It’s too late. She left here wearing it and the party started an hour ago.”

Chapter Two

Dear Diary,

I’m so ready for this weekend to be over. The Bridal Ball is tonight and Mrs. Warren wasn’t happy when she found out I wasn’t going to attend. It’s not really my thing. Certainly not without a date. I’m going to sit home, watch TV and drink some wine. Nothing is prying my butt off this couch tonight.

Cait tugged on the bodice of the wedding gown, trying to pull it just a little higher, maybe make her breasts a little less noticeable. But every time she tugged, the material dropped back into place.

Wishing she’d had time to run home and get a jacket, a scarf,
anything
to provide a little cover, she walked down the wide hallway leading the ballroom, mentally calculating the hours until she could leave. The best she’d been able to do was pull her hair back in a bun during the drive over. At least it wasn’t a wild mess any more.

She sighed, looking at the open doors to the ballroom. This was not her kind of event. It was fun and for a good cause—the families of fallen police officers—but it was the kind of thing she wanted to attend with a date. Not stag. And not while she was working.

If she were just a participant, she would love to attend. Good food, wine and dancing. Hmmm, dancing. Bodies pressed subtly together, close enough to tempt, but leaving so much to the imagination.

She looked down. The shallow peaks of her nipples were barely pressing against the thick silk bodice. She would be fine. Nothing she hated more than walking into a room with her nipples showing through. Usually it was from the cold, but sometimes it was just pure sensual stimulation. Could she help it if her nipples responded to the lightest touch? To hide the reaction of her body, she’d learned to wear thick, padded bras. But tonight, that wasn’t possible.

For a woman of her double D chest size, going braless was an act of bravery in itself. Still, the gathered, elastic binding of the bodice did a lot to hold her in.

“Oh, thank God you’re here.” Mrs. Warren grabbed Cait’s hand and pulled her to the side of the wide hallway.

“Of course. I’m here to help.”

“And thank God, I say again.” Mrs. Warren had a touch of drama in her. “The room isn’t properly laid out and the coat check is a mess.” She stepped back. “But you look wonderful. Going for the homely bride, were you? Because the dress is ugly.”

Cait nodded, reminding herself that she actually
liked
this woman. She scanned her eyes up and down Cait’s body.

“Well, if that was your goal, I’m afraid you failed. You should have done something to tone down your eyes and maybe hide your shape a bit. You look lovely, and I have to say, I’m pleased to see you dressed as a bride. So many women tonight will be dressed in those dreadful bridesmaid’s dresses, looking frumpy as if that was their right. I think we have an obligation to make ourselves look attractive.” She smiled at Cait. “If nothing else, to taunt men with what they could have had, if they’d behaved better.”

Cait couldn’t stop her smile. Mrs. Warren had attitude and the chief made it quite clear she ran their household.

“Let’s go.” She clutched Cait’s hand and dragged her up the slight incline to the coat check room. The roll-up covering for the window was down. “Please, could you handle this? The volunteers will be here in thirty minutes and it’s nowhere ready to be used. Fix it, please.” With that command, she pushed Cait’s shoulder toward the door and walked away, calling for the next victim—uh, volunteer—she saw.

Cait sighed and stared at the door. This wouldn’t be so bad. She could spend her night trapped in the coat check. Could be worse.

She pushed open the door and stopped.

It just got worse.

Officer Rain Lucas looked up, his eyes filled with irritation and frustration. But after one heartbeat, his gaze dropped to her chest. Surprise flared in his brilliant stare, followed quickly by hunger.

Cait wanted to groan. The man hadn’t said two words to her beyond work in the six months since he’d been back on duty. His return to “light duty” had been one of her first jobs as the department spokesperson. The news media was all excited about an officer returning to the job after being shot. Rain had been less than thrilled. He’d refused to do interviews and barely gave her enough personal information to sound credible.

In the past six months, they’d managed a civil working relationship, and now he was staring at her breasts as if he was a teenager seeing his first skin magazine. Every time he looked at her from now on, all he would notice was her breasts. Damn, this dress had been a monumentally bad idea.

The fact that he and his friend Tanner starred in her late-night fantasies really had no place in her thoughts. It had been easier when Rain ignored her. Now the hungry look in his eyes was going to stick with her.

Tonight, he was out of the crisp blue uniform he wore on the job and dressed in a tux. The collar was open, his tie hanging down at one side. He looked disheveled and sexy—like a hunky groom who’d just had a quickie with his bride in the coat check room. Or more likely, one of the bridesmaids.

Cait’s nipples tightened behind the silk bodice but she didn’t have the courage to look down to see if they were making an appearance.

Man, it’s hot in here.

The door closed behind her with a thump, surprising both of them. The sound seemed to jerk him out of his breast-induced stupor. He snapped his eyes up and glared at her. The annoyed look helped her control the reaction of her own body.

“What?” she demanded. Instinct, honed from years in junior high as the most developed girl in her class, insisted she fold her arms over her chest but pride wouldn’t allow it. Rain was the type of man to notice and she wasn’t giving him the satisfaction.

She dropped her purse beside a chair in the corner and hesitated for just a breath before pushing her shoulders back and her chest out. Bracing herself for his reaction, she turned to face him. This time, there was no mistaking the blatant stare at her breasts.

Or the quiet “holy fuck” that escaped his lips.

Cait tried not to smile but found the urge impossible to deny. She took a breath, just to see what he would do.
Oh wow.
She thought he might actually start drooling.

Feeling smug, she snapped her fingers to grab his attention.

His head popped up and dang if it didn’t look as if he was blushing.

“Now…what’s the problem?”

The irritated crinkle across his lips warned he was truly annoyed.

“Are you here to fix this?” There was a touch of exasperation she’d never heard in his voice before. Strange, coming from the guy who once led the SWAT team.

“Fix what?”

He waved his hands, full of hangers, around the room. “This! Tanner abandoned me and the chief’s wife shoved me in here. She told me to fix it and walked away. What the hell do I do? I mean, do we even need this? And it was freakin’ seventy degrees today. No one is going to wear a coat tonight.”

Cait’s first reaction was to smile, but then the front of her gown inched down, the silky material sliding over her taut nipples. A shiver raced across her skin and this time she didn’t stop the urge to cross her arms. She needed a moment for Rain to look away so she could pull the bodice back in place.

“It gets chilly at night and most women will want to wear a wrap of some sort,” she explained, meeting his snarky attitude with one of her own.

“Whatever.” He sighed. “But what the hell do I do with all these tags?” He dropped the hangars onto the counter.

“You match them, hang them on the hangers.”

Feeling a little arrogant that the cop who’d faced down an armed gunman was panicked by the sight of coat hangers, she stepped forward, pushing the little tickets and cards out of the way. She took a deep breath and inhaled the most delicious scent. It was a mixture of aftershave and pure male.

The center of her pussy pulsed and her knees trembled. Yeah, eight months is definitely too long, she thought.

She looked up, unable to stop herself, staring at his sharp, defined profile. Always a bit oral, she licked her lips, imagining her mouth on his. Or her tongue sliding across his skin, running over the tight, rippled abs she pictured beneath the rumpled tux.

“Yes?”

Rain’s voice, overly sarcastic and demanding, shook her from her thoughts.

“Uh, you need to hook all these tags over the ends of the hangers.” She looked up to see if he was listening, and met his gaze. Damn, why had she never noticed his eyes were green? Beautiful green. Hypnotic and captivating. The pulsing in her pussy turned to a throb and sank, filling her core until she had to squeeze her thighs together.

She jerked her gaze away and stared at the racks of hangers behind them. “I’ll work on this part.” She forced her body to turn away—when every feminine desire demanded she rub up against him, press her breasts against those tight chest muscles, feel her nipples brush across his skin, rock her clit against his erection.

She didn’t dare look back and see if he was hard. The temptation was too great. The ache in her pussy swelled. She pressed her lips together, crushing the groan that threatened.

As she reordered the hangers, she looked over her shoulder and stared at Rain’s back, broad shoulders that tapered down just enough to his waist. He didn’t have a slim, girly kind of waist. His was narrow but looked nice and firm. And she could almost imagine the six-pack that marked the front of it.

But that was just fantasy.

His ass…now that she could see…barely visible beneath the long coat of his tux jacket. But still, the sight was lovely.

Her ex had one of those tight, skinny butts that made her feel huge.

Unable to stop her gaze, she stared at Rain’s ass. It was tight and hard, not tiny. She probably couldn’t wear his jeans, but she wouldn’t feel as though she was crushing him if she was on top.

The tugging on her bodice intensified, drawing the dress lower. She glanced down and saw the darker-pink of one nipple. Oh damn. Spinning to make sure her back was firmly directed to Rain, she grabbed the material and yanked it up. The dress once again in place, Cait turned her attention to the hangers. She counted, mentally tracking the tally in her head.

The elastic loosened once again, but she ignored it. She had work to do and it wasn’t as if the dress could slide to the ground.

Even as she counted, she was aware of Rain moving behind her. He was silent, but impossible to ignore. The delicious scent of his aftershave filled her head. Unable to stop her imagination from running wild, she pictured him naked, stretched out on her bed, strong fingers wrapped around his hard cock, watching her, calling to her.

Heat gushed into her pussy. Her nipples tightened painfully. This time, she glanced down and, sure enough, they were making distinct little mounds through the silk bodice.

Ignore it. Count hangers. Focus. Focus on the hangers, not on the sexy male behind you. Sexy, strong. Yummy.
She licked her lips, imagining how he would taste. Unlike many women she knew, she loved giving blowjobs, liked to feel her lover’s cock against her tongue and to hold so much heat in her mouth. The warmth that had started between her legs had expanded through her body as if it was a lava flow
.
Air brushed her skin, cooling her, tempting her.

Temptation
. That was Rain. His body, hard and strong. She knew the months of recovery had strengthened his damaged muscles and everything she could see looked in prime condition.

Damn, she could practically feel it—a long, thick cock inside her, pumping up into her pussy as she rode him.

Her knees wobbled and Cait clutched the coat rack, using the weak metal to keep herself upright. Heat and need filled the center of her body. Even as she acknowledged the insanity of it all, she wanted him, inside her, above her, his cock filling her, over and over again. The bright-green eyes staring at her as he fucked her, as she rose up and down on that hard, delicious cock.

She licked her lips and imagined him fucking her mouth.

Slowly thrusting deep, his hands in her hair, holding her in place as he worked his shaft in and out of her mouth. Another moan gripped her throat, begging for release. Maybe if she turned away, she could secretly rub her pussy against one of the metal posts to ease the ache.

Focus. Focus.
She tried to command her mind, but the warmth of Rain’s body was so close and she was so cold. Shivering.

She looked down and saw her breasts. Naked. Nipples hard and tight. In fact, everything except the red scrap of silk she’d put on for panties was gone. The white wedding dress was pooled around her ankles.

How the hell had she become naked?

Concentrate. Concentrate.

Rain repeated the word over and over in his brain. Despite Tanner’s dare, he had no intention of fucking Cait tonight. Or trying to seduce her.

Hell, a woman hadn’t seen him naked since before the shooting and fire. He wasn’t going to start now. Not with the woman who put his porn star fantasies to shame.

He slipped the tab over the end of the hanger and shoved it to the side, fighting to keep a firm grip on his desires, trying to ignore the woman behind him.