The Naughty List (2 page)

“I will. I’m plannin’ on spending all night eating out your sweet pussy. But I want you to strum that clit first. Get it nice and juicy for me.” He reached for her hand and sucked her index finger into his mouth, wetting it. She didn’t require extra lubrication, but the rasp of his tongue and slight scrape of his teeth was beyond arousing. A fresh surge of moisture trickled from her slit and slid toward the crack of her ass. Ry released her finger and guided it to her pussy. Her clit throbbed, begging for her touch, but she bypassed the demanding nubbin and grazed the slick folds of her labia, teasing herself. And Ry. His nostrils flared, his consuming focus glued to her motions. Undulating her hips, she dragged her fingertip higher in slow increments. She hovered just beneath the quivering bundle of nerves, waiting, stringing out the torment. Ry licked his lips, his erection thickening.

Unable to deny herself a second longer, she caressed her clit. The contact shot an electrical current of pleasure throughout her body, making her jolt. A moan snuck past her lips. “Ooh.”

Ry’s attention jerked to her face. His gaze locked with hers. “Tell me what you’re feeling.”

She’d known he would ask. Ry was always all about the details. “My clit is wet and slippery.”

“Is it beating beneath your finger?”

“Not yet. Soon.”

“Tease it with little flicks.” A hungry hum of pleasure rumbled from Ry’s chest when she complied with his request. “You like that, don’t you, baby?”

“I like your tongue on me more. Or your cock. Inside me.”

A sexy, knowing smile tipped one corner of Ry’s mouth. “Maybe. But we both know what you like best.”

She tried to look away from his dark, seductive stare, but it reeled her in.

“What is it that you love most, Lace?”

“Y-you. Fucking me.”

“Where?”

“In my ass.” She bit her lip.

“What is Bram doing while I’m fucking your ass? Watching?”

She shook her head. “He’s with us. Filling my pussy.”

“That’s right. We’re fucking you together, baby. The way it’s always been meant to be. Our cocks are pounding into you, soaked with your juices.”

A strangled groan tore from her throat, the first beat coursing through her clit.

“We’re gonna make you come, Lace. So fucking hard.”

Lacey’s phone chimed again. She gave a startled jerk, snapping from her fantasy.
Holy shit
. Her breath sawing from her lungs in short gasps, she dropped her gaze to her lap, half afraid she’d find her hand buried between her legs. She was relieved to note that it wasn’t. Mortifying enough that she’d been mentally masturbating at work. If she’d been pleasuring herself in reality? She would have crawled beneath her desk and not come out for the next week, particularly if Ry had opened his eyes and noticed what she’d been up to.

Reminded of her fantasy lover’s presence, her focus veered to the couch. He was still in his relaxed pose, and the unmistakable sound of soft snores proclaimed him asleep.

Thank God for small miracles.

Her cell beeped again, announcing yet another text. There was no great mystery as to who it was most likely from. Smothering a sigh, she swiped the aggravating device from her bag and glanced at the words typed on the screen.
Why aren’t you rescuing me?

She skipped to the previous message.
Olivia’s got me cornered in the bar
.

Lacey blew out a heavy breath. Olivia Barnam was only one among a long parade of bimbettes who’d fallen into Bram’s bed, but the woman had proven to be less willing to leave it than the others, and as a result, had gotten into the habit of stalking him at work. While she wasn’t exactly a fan of Olivia’s, Bram was a big boy. Let him take care of his own damn problems. She punched in a quick reply.
Busy right now
.

Almost immediately, Bram’s response pinged back at her.
I’ll do anything you want. Just. Get. Your. Ass. Out. Here.

Anything she wanted? Her pussy grew even wetter as she considered the possibilities. Yeah, not bloody likely. She eyed the wall before quickly typing in her selling price.
Elvis. I want him destroyed
.

Bram’s answer took a little longer coming this time.
Ry won’t go for that.

Sucks to be you, then.
A spark of orneriness prompted her to add,
Give Olivia a smooch from me.
She hit send. Before she even lowered her cell to her desk, Bram’s message flashed across the display.

Fine. Elvis is adios.

Ooh, yeah. Victory tasted sweet. She scooted out of her seat and strode to the door. A moment later she left Ry’s snores behind and entered the Dockside’s bar area. Although it wasn’t technically happy hour yet, the space was already getting crowded. She spotted Bram over by the pass thru, his smile strained as Olivia plastered her sex-kitten body against him. Wow, he hadn’t been exaggerating about being cornered. Olivia had literally backed him into the wall.

Lacey’s irritability vanished. Big boy or not, Bram had been forced into an untenable situation. He couldn’t very well make a scene in front of everyone, and Olivia damn well knew that.

Anger roiling in her stomach, Lacey crossed the room. As she neared, Bram looked her way and caught her eye. Relief scuttled across his gorgeous face. Elbowing her way to his side, she plunked her hands on her hips. “I’ve been looking all over for you. Did you forget you were supposed to help me look for the extra case of pilsner glasses?”

Bram took his cue in stride and, with an overabundance of exuberance, slapped his hand on his forehead and grimaced. “Damn, I did. Sorry.”

Holy crap that was some bad acting. No wonder he was kicked out of the drama club. And here she’d always assumed it was because he’d been caught buck-ass naked in the costume changing room with Allison Reedy.

She wagged a finger at him. “Sorry’s not going to cut it, Colton. I’m getting a little tired of constantly covering your butt.”

Bram’s eyes widened. Apparently he’d read between the lines. Good. He needed to either learn how to handle his bimbettes better, or keep his dick in his pants once in a while.

Olivia’s smile should have come with a frostbite warning. “Bram and I were in the middle of a conversation. He’ll have to help you later.”

Lacey blinked before narrowing her eyes. Oh hell no.
The bitch did
not
just undermine me in my own damn restaurant.
“No, I need him now.” Amazingly, she managed to keep her voice level and calm.

Flicking one long, platinum strand of hair over her shoulder, Olivia swept Lacey with a disdainful glance. “Please. We both know why you really came trotting over here.”

It was on the tip of Lacey’s tongue to say,
Yeah, to save my best friend from Stalkerella.
Frankly, she didn’t care if the truth pissed off Olivia, but like Bram, she didn’t want to draw any more attention than they had to. “I’m afraid you’ll have to enlighten me there.”

“We’ve all seen the way you drool over Bram. And Ryan.” Olivia’s high-pitched laugh was more headache inducing than a kennel full of yipping Pomeranians. “As if you’d have the slightest chance, honey. You couldn’t even keep your fiancé’s attention for long, could you?”

Lacey’s face went hot as fire before becoming icy cold. It was a strange sensation. She dimly heard Bram’s low, furious baritone reprimanding Olivia, but the damning words were already out there, hovering in the air like poisoned darts.

“You know why Dan left, don’t you? Because you’re boring. A goody-goody who doesn’t know the first thing about how to please a man. Or keep him happy.” Olivia’s obnoxious, tinkling laugh floated free. “Or should we say keep him
period
?”

Lacey didn’t bother correcting the misstatement about Dan being the one who left. It didn’t matter, and Olivia sure as hell didn’t care. Bitter acid sloshed in Lacey’s tummy, burning her esophagus. She swallowed, desperate to keep it down.

“I told you to shut. The. Fuck. Up.” Bram’s rugged, handsome features held a wealth of rage as his fingers dug into the powder blue cashmere covering Olivia’s arms. The woman’s heavily made-up eyes widened. Obviously she’d never experienced the full scope of Bram’s temper.

That made two of them. In the fifteen years she’d known Bram, Lacey hadn’t seen him lose it like this either. He’d always been the eternal goodtime boy. Full of light and laughter. In every way Bram was the polar opposite of Ry. He was a jokester and all-around ham, whereas Ry exuded quiet intensity. Even in looks the two men would never be mistaken for twins. Besides standing a good three inches taller than Ry’s solid six foot one, Bram had the sun-kissed, blond surfer-god vibe working for him in spades. Ry, on the other hand, looked more suited to a Harley than board shorts. Though God knows, he filled those out mighty fine too on the rare occasions he donned a pair.

But now Bram appeared to be getting in touch with his inner alpha. “If I ever hear you talk to Lacey that way again, so help me, I can’t be held responsible for my actions.
Comprende?
”

Olivia gulped before nodding vigorously.

“Glad we have that clear. Now how about you leave before I have the bouncers escort you out?”

Her full, bottom lip turning down in a pout, Olivia curled her fingers around Bram’s forearms. “But I drove here specifically to see you. I’ve missed you, Brammy Bear.”

Brammy Bear?
Oh barf.

“I’m not telling you this again. We’re no longer together. Don’t waste your time or mine anymore.” Not waiting for Olivia’s reply, Bram shouldered past her and grabbed Lacey by the elbow. He hauled her toward his and Ry’s office, his pace brisk. With her shorter legs, it took two steps to his one to keep up with him. He shoved open his door and followed her inside the cramped space before securing the lock to guarantee their privacy. The overwhelming, pungent smell of plastic greenery and cinnamon-spiked pinecones floated around them. Bram tunneled a hand through his spiky hair. “Shit. Lace, I’m sorry. Olivia’s an idiot.”

“It’s not your fault she’s a moron.” They both knew that wasn’t what he’d been apologizing for, but she couldn’t bring herself to acknowledge the real reason his expression looked agonized and uncomfortable.

Unfortunately, Bram didn’t feel so inclined. “She doesn’t know what the hell she’s talking about. You’re not boring. Or a goody-goody. Dan was—
is
—a damn fool for what he did.”

“I know that.”

Bram stared into her eyes, apparently not completely buying her assertion. “Lace, you’re a desirable woman. Any man with half a brain wouldn’t do anything to fuck up his future with you.”

She gave a crooked smile. “Well there you go. Dan did have half a brain. Too bad he carted it around in the wrong head.” Not giving Bram an opportunity to voice any further pearls of wisdom, she turned toward the door and wrestled the lock open. She had to get out of there before she gave in to the tears prickling at the backs of her eyelids.

“Lace—”

She escaped the office and sealed off the remainder of Bram’s words by shutting the door behind her. Praying no one noticed her fierce trembling, she dashed toward the restrooms.

Chapter Two

“I’m going to kill that damn Olivia.”

Ry rubbed the grogginess from his eyes as Bram snicked Lacey’s office door shut. It was a miracle Bram hadn’t slammed it, judging from the way he white-knuckled the knob. Ry cracked a yawn. “What’d psycho Barbie do now?”

“She brought up Dan. In front of Lacey.”

Ry stopped in mid-stretch. A growl slipped past his throat. “She did
what
?”

“She insinuated that the engagement ended because Lace was boring.”

“You’ve got to be shittin’ me.” He gave his head a shake. “Jesus, Olivia is one stupid broad.” It was beyond him what Bram had seen in her. Well, other than the obvious—enormous tits and legs that didn’t know the meaning of the word shut.

“You’ll get no argument from me there. I kicked her ass out and told her to stay gone. For good.”

Ry nodded. “Where’s Lace?”

“She ducked into the women’s restroom.” Bram’s eyes clouded. “She looked like she was seconds away from crying when she hightailed it away from me.”

Ry swore beneath his breath. It was a damn good thing Olivia had heeded Bram’s advice and not stuck around. Because she sure as shit didn’t want to cross Ry’s path right now.

Bram parked his butt on the arm of the couch. “Do you think we should send one of the waitresses to check on Lace?”

He met the agonized uncertainty in Bram’s eyes. No doubt it was a mirror of Ry’s own expression. Desperate as he was to ensure that she was okay, he remembered the pain Lacey went through following her decision to break her engagement. Most folks had been kind and sympathetic to the situation. But there’d been those who’d whispered and snickered behind her back. She’d tried her best to hold her head high and pretend those gossiping fuckers meant nothing to her. But he’d known better.

“No, we’ll give her a minute.” He wouldn’t draw any nosy attention to Lacey’s predicament if he could help it.

Bram nodded solemnly. They were silent for a long stretch, the tension slowly escalating with each tick of the wall clock situated near the Elvis painting. The uneasiness percolated in Ry’s gut. What if Lacey had taken off? She was in no condition to drive, not as upset as she likely was. He glanced toward her desk and noticed her purse was still on the floor. Okay, one problem solved. She couldn’t go anywhere without her keys.

Even as he processed the thought, the door swung open and Lacey walked inside the office. Her eyes looked red and puffy.
Motherfucker
. His chest vising, he leapt to his feet and wrapped her in his arms. He sensed her struggle to hold in more tears but eventually a soft sob escaped, nearly muffled by his shirt. Running his palms in soothing circles along her back, he kissed the top of her head. Bram stepped to the other side of Lacey and rubbed her trembling shoulders before also ducking and kissing her temple.

She sighed, accepting their comfort. Her hand clutched his waist, the other reaching for Bram. She snuggled close, her breasts pillowing against Ry’s chest. The delicious floral scent she always wore clung to every inch of her. Even her honey-blonde hair seemed to be infused with the luscious essence that was Lacey. The aroma invaded his senses, adding its own brand of torment as he reeled under the heady intoxication of her.