Definitely Naughty (5 page)

That made her blush. Well, blush more. It was one thing to be prancing around nude from the front, but to turn around? She’d always been self-conscious about her butt and her hips. The thong had been a risk. But he’d been so sweet and so amazing…

She stepped over her clothes, then closed her eyes and held her breath as she turned around. It was worse than trying on bathing suits. She counted the seconds, figuring ten was all she could handle.

“My God,” he whispered, moving toward her. “You’re stunning.”

She exhaled when he put his hands on her shoulders and she leaned back against his hard chest. Among other things.

The elbow in his back woke Liam with a start. The room smelled like sex. Better than that. It smelled like Aubrey. The grit in his eyes wasn’t enough to dampen his smile as he turned in his bed. Memories of the night flooded his system, making his morning wood even stiffer.

God, she was all dark curls and pale skin in the dim light from the closed curtains. He wanted to kiss her shoulder. Then make a new trail all the way down her back. But he really needed to go to the bathroom. Life was definitely not fair.

Instead of waking her, he did his best to slip out of bed silently. As he stood, he caught sight of his alarm clock. “Fuck!” He should have been at the precinct an hour ago. What the hell happened to the alarm?

“What’s wrong?”

“Late,” he said, wishing the sound of her sleepy voice didn’t go right to his cock. “We’ve got to hurry.”

“I don’t have to be anywhere,” she said, then buried her face in her pillow.

“I do.” With real regret, he yanked the covers down. Last night had been the best thing that had happened to him in a long time, and he’d love nothing more than to join her for the rest of the day.

“Mean,” she said.

“If you want to pee, do it now, because I have to shower.”

“What about my shower?” she asked, pouting as she lifted up to lean on her elbows.

He would have asked her to join him, but there was no way that would end in anything but sex. He’d never been late, not once, not even when he’d been in the academy. “Of course, you go first, but please be quick as you can. This is a horrible way to end a fantastic night, but we’ve got to hustle. So…” He jerked his head toward the bathroom door.

“Fine,” she said, although it was clear she wasn’t happy. “I’ll shower at home. But next time, you need to take the day off.”

The idea of a next time didn’t bother him at all. Neither did watching her scoot off the bed, her small breasts jiggling as she bounced. Her nipples were hard, and he knew exactly how they tasted. Jesus, this was not the time.

She swerved when she got to his side of the bed, kissed his shoulder and ran a finger up the length of his straining dick, making him tense so sharply he bit his tongue.

“Pity we can’t take care of that,” she said, still looking at his erection. “But you’re late and we’ve got to hustle.”

After she closed the bathroom door, he managed to walk the short distance to the kitchen. The phone charger next to the coffeemaker was empty, and he cursed, wondering what else he’d forgotten to do in the madness of last night. Jesus, she’d been so responsive. As if they’d been together dozens of times, but with all the perks of a first time. Unreal.

He looked at his bedroom door, wondering if she was putting on her clothes. It might not be too late to call in sick. He’d only taken one day in all these years, so nobody could complain, and then he’d have the whole day to find out exactly how compatible they were.

His hand was on his cock, hard against his stomach again. What the hell had she done to him? Calling in sick when he’d just been responsible for a major bust? Had he lost his mind?

He turned on the coffee, brought out two to-go cups and willed his erection to go down before she joined him. It didn’t.

He was on the steps of the precinct when he remembered that he hadn’t gotten the trading card back. Damn it.

Aubrey floated all the way home, and it had nothing at all to do with the strong scent of ganja in her cab. Her high was all Liam’s fault. Liam. She wasn’t sure what he’d do for her designs, but he inspired the hell out of her libido.

When she walked in the door, she found Caro on the Ugliest Couch in Five Boroughs, still in her sleep shirt and tiger slippers. “So he wasn’t just a pretty face?”

Aubrey lost the shoes on her way to join her friend. “No, he was not. In fact, he proved unequivocally that I was a hundred percent right.”

“About?”

“Him being my muse. Sent from the gods themselves.”

Caro clicked off the TV, which Aubrey hadn’t even registered. “Tell me.”

“We should wait for Sanjula.”

“She won’t be here until God-knows o’clock, and we both have to go to work, so give me something. For pity’s sake, we ended up making s’mores in the microwave and watching
Love, Actually
for the billionth time last night. I need hope in a hopeless world.”

Aubrey put a comforting hand on Caro’s arm. “Trust me. Magical nights still exist.”

“You gonna see him again?” Caro pushed her hand through her platinum-blond pixie cut.

“Well, yeah. He’s a babe and he’s smart and he’s a police detective for real.”

“And…?”

Aubrey hesitated, felt a blush bloom and a reticence she’d never had with her friend. “He stole my breath away.”

Caro’s eyes widened. “That’s…wow.”

“I know,” she said, shaking her head as if to banish her foolishness. The sex had been the best ever, but it was just sex. Anything else was her making up stories because she was still on a high. “Poor everyone else I’ve ever slept with. Alas, there’s a new title holder. Now, I must take a shower and have more caffeine because I don’t think we slept for more than two hours.”

“I’ve got to meet this dude.”

Aubrey stood up. “Meet, yes. Share, no.”

“You’re so selfish. And after I gave you my last yogurt the day before yesterday.”

Aubrey didn’t take the bait. “He’s a temp, and I’m going to get maximum bang for my buck. I still have nothing for the window. And Yvonne’s getting impatient.”

“Be that way,” Caro said, getting up, too. “Even though you’re a lousy friend, I’m going to make coffee for you. Because I’m just that nice.”

“Oh, you’re a goddess.”

“Well, no. I was planning on having coffee, anyway. Still, do me a favor and ask your muse if he has any single friends.”

“I’ll do my best.” Aubrey made her way through the postage-stamp-size living room/kitchen to the closet that was her bedroom. It was so teeny, her double bed barely fit. But they were in the East Village, close to everything that mattered, so what was a little inconvenience when it came to washing? Or cooking? Or heating?

Nothing was going to bother her today. Because she was going to make sure she and Liam got together again
toot
sweet
.

He’d finished his interview with Bart Norris, the man behind the money-laundering scheme. It was the first of many, and since Norris had his lawyer with him, there’d been more questions than answers. It shouldn’t matter in the end. The physical evidence and the paper trail were solid. That didn’t guarantee a conviction, but it was something.

Liam had stepped outside, taking a rare lunch break away from his desk. He needed the walk in the bracing cold, partly to wake him up, but more to help him stop thinking about Aubrey and last night. At the door of Ray’s Pizza, he found his cell in his hands, his thumbs already fast at work.

Before he could think it through, he’d hit Send.

Then he put his phone away, feeling a little stupid and a little hopeful, and ordered a slice of pepperoni from the street window. Three office workers were standing nearby, wolfing down slices from their paper plates. His slice arrived in under a minute and his phone sounded shortly after.

He’d just gotten to the crust, and now he shoved too much of it into his mouth and tossed the paper plate in a nearby trash can.

This time, he didn’t put the phone in his pocket. Or start walking, or go back and order another piece of pizza, which he’d planned on doing. Instead, he stood there, staring at his smartphone in the middle of 7
th
Avenue, waiting for her text like an eager teenager. He tried out the idea that he was only interested in getting the trading card back, but even in his state of exhaustion, it didn’t fly for a second.

The ding preceded a map. The address Broadway and West 80
th
. Underneath that, she’d written, Le Muse, 9:00?

He hit Send and started a quick march back to the precinct, wishing he could hurry the clock.

“Aubrey, cut it out. There are people right outside.”

“And there’s a lock on the door between them and us, so…” She went back to unbuttoning Liam’s shirt.

He put his hand over hers. “Let’s go. We can catch a cab and be at my place in no time.”

She sighed as she looked into his gorgeous eyes. “You’re not thinking this through. I have all my art supplies right here. If it bothers you so much, we don’t have to do anything. You being naked should be enough to get my creative juices flowing.”

He looked at her with both eyebrows raised and his lips parted. He added a small exasperated huff, which made her more determined than ever. The only things missing from his nonverbal statement were fisted hands on his hips. God, he was adorable.

“I’m an NYPD detective. I’m not stripping naked in a storeroom on Broadway. Anyone could come in.”

“Not anyone. Only four of us have keys.”

“That’s three too many.”

She moved closer to him. Pressed into him. Felt his thickening cock through her skirt. “What if I told you that the other three people weren’t on the premises?”

“It would have been a lot simpler if you’d told me your plans. We could have met after hours. Not that I’d have taken off my clothes, but I’d have helped you carry your supplies to the privacy of my apartment.”

Pulsing against him with a steadily increasing beat, she licked her lips while staring at him through her lashes. “I understand you’ve never been a muse before, but one of your responsibilities is to honor my process. My process involves drawing your extraordinary body, which will not only give me a dopamine high, it’ll put me in a relaxed state, and distract me enough to spark my creativity and let the ideas flow.”

“My process is not to get arrested for indecent exposure. And excuse me,” he said, although his voice lowered every time she thrust against his cock, “but you’ve never had a muse before. No one has, because they’re mythological.”

She shook her head, finally sneaking her hands from his grip. “First of all, physiological responses are science, Liam. You can look it up. Also, you hadn’t planned on taking me home last night. Look how well that turned out.”

“Yes, you’re right. It was off-the-charts great. Except that every man and woman in my department, including my boss, was all over my ass about being late. We had a major bust yesterday, and I was the lead detective. Then I came to work after, what, two hours of sleep? I was unprofessional and irresponsible. I can’t do that again. I won’t.”

That stopped her for a moment. His demeanor had changed during that impassioned speech. She’d already guessed he took his job seriously, but she hadn’t considered the implications of their arrangement on his career. Still, she wasn’t the only one who needed a change in her routine. Liam may have a cool facade, but for the half hour since he’d arrived at Le Muse he’d been flexing his jaw, furrowing his brow. Even his kisses had been different. Distant somehow.

“Oh, my lovely muse, now I see my instincts were completely on target. You need to be distracted just as badly as I do.” Both of her hands went to his delicious ass. She gripped it and pulled him toward her, closing the space between them. “There’s so much I want to do to you,” she said, lowering her voice. “One decent idea on paper and then we’ll take full advantage of your state of undress.”

Liam’s eyes closed and he rolled his head back with a moan that sounded like giving in. At least she hoped so.

After two shakes of his head, he met her gaze again. “You’re impossible. I want you, but I can’t do it here.”

She wasn’t going to give up yet. She still had a few surprises up her sleeve. Or thereabouts. Letting him go, she stepped far enough away that they weren’t touching at all.

His hiss of disapproval made her want to smile, but she held it together. “First of all, it’s only nine-thirty.”

One of his hands moved toward his cock, but he stopped himself. “So?”

“The three other people who have keys aren’t here anymore. In fact, we’re the only people left in the building.”

“You can’t know that.”

“I work here most nights, specifically because I know I’ll be alone. If you want, we can take a quick walk around to double check, but the only person who ever stays this late is Yvonne, and she’s at a party in Long Island.”

“She could come back.”

“In theory, yes. But she won’t. She’s wooing connections for the Christmas sale.”

Again, he huffed, but she made her second point before he could speak. A visual point. One she could hardly believe she was willing to make, but she hadn’t been kidding about needing inspiration. Turning so her back was to him, she began to lift her skirt up. It was a hunter-green, knee-length pencil, and it took a while to inch up.

Behind her, his breath got louder.

She hadn’t planned to use this maneuver to manipulate him, but he’d left her no choice. She’d selected her wardrobe carefully based on the wild hope he’d be in touch. Her heart hadn’t stopped pounding since she got his text.

When her skirt was midthigh, she paused. He made a sound. A half gasp, half choke? It was tempting to make him wait, but she didn’t want to. She just kept scrunching up the thick material until he could see the tops of her black stockings, held up by the metal clips of her garter belt.

This time, she was absolutely sure what his moan was about.

The damn pink ruffles on her garter belt had done him in. His own fault. He’d showed his hand last night when he’d asked her to turn around. She was a dangerous woman, and he’d better get his act together because now he was on the floor of the storeroom, his back sticking to sheets of drawing paper while Aubrey rode him like a mechanical bull.

He was loving every second of it.

She’d kept the stockings and the garter belt, ditched the blouse and her shoes. He shouldn’t have been surprised to find she hadn’t bothered with the more traditional panties and bra.

The minute he’d seen those frills over her ass, he’d stripped so fast he’d crashed into a shelf full of boxes. He’d been naked, condom in place on his very hard cock, before the bottom of her skirt had reached her waist.