Naked Angel (30 page)

She gasped. “Martha . . . are you serious?”

“What? You think I’m going to let that schmuck Marty Bandinow have final say in picking the best burlesque troupe?”

Mallory’s eyes teared up for the umpteenth time that night. She threw her arms around Martha and hugged her so fiercely that they both toppled over. They hit the floor laughing.

“What’s all the commotion over here?” Alec said, helping them up.

“We’re back in business!” Mallory said, waving the check at him. He took it from her, and after a quick glance, his face registered the same surprise and delight that Mallory felt.

“Martha. I don’t know what to say . . . except that now I have no chance of making a respectable woman out of my wife. You have just ensured that she will be taking off her clothes in public for at least another year.” He hugged Martha.

“Well, my mother always had a saying: Don’t throw out the baby with the bathwater. My marriage might be down the drain, but I’ll be damned if I lose the best burlesque club New York has ever seen.” She looked around the room. “I’m thinking we might have to talk about a Painted Lady, Vegas.”

Mallory and Alec looked at one another and smiled.

“But for now, I’m going to bed. Party on, kids.”

Martha shuffled away, leaving Mallory and Alec to stare after her in wonderment.

“I think Martha has the right idea,” Alec said, kissing her. “I say we retire to the bedroom ourselves.”

“We can’t leave our own party,” Mallory said, running her hand down his back and squeezing his ass.

“We’ll be back down in time to join them all for breakfast,” Alec said. “It will be the perfect way to start our life as husband and wife.”

“Husband and wife . . . I like the way that sounds.” She kissed him. “So no more surprises for me tonight?”

“You always tell me you don’t like surprises.”

“And you never listen to me! It’s funny—I guess I didn’t know myself as well as I thought I did. And somehow, you’ve always pointed me in the right direction.”

“That’s right,” Alec said. “And now I’m directing your hot ass to the elevator.”

Mallory let him lead her by the hand.

As soon as the elevator doors closed, he pulled her against him and kissed her neck and then her lips.

“I can’t wait to fuck my wife,” he said.

“I hope you’re not disappointed,” she said.

“What’s that supposed to mean?”

“I’ve heard married sex can be pretty dull,” Mallory said, rubbing his hardness through his pants.

Alec pressed one of the elevator buttons.

“That’s not our floor,” she said.

“I know. That’s the roof.” He kissed her again, his hands sneaking under the bottom of her corset.

“I thought you were going to fuck your wife?” she said.

“I am.”

“On the roof?”

“That’s right, baby. Our sex life will keep reaching new heights.”

“What if someone sees us?”

“I’m hoping someone sees us.”

“You are bad,” she said. “You don’t want me getting naked onstage, but you don’t mind a stranger seeing us having sex?”

“I want all of our naked adventures to be together, Mallory.”

“They will,” she said, as the elevator stopped on the top floor.

“So let’s start now. The first of our married adventures.”

The door slid open. She walked outside, and he followed behind her.