Waking Up to You: Overexposed (30 page)

Nick was the only one of the Santori siblings who had not.

“Let’s sit out here,” Mark said, nodding toward a couple of low, round tables in an outer chamber between the lobby and the main lounge area. They were out of view of the stage.

Nick wasn’t surprised. Mark was a good husband. Like the rest of their brothers.

“All right.” Gesturing to one of the waitresses, he ordered a club soda for himself and a beer for his brother. Returning to the table, he sat down across from his twin. “Can’t be away for too long, though.”

Mark settled back into the leather chair. “Nice.”

“Yeah, it is.”

“Good fringe benefits?”

Holding back a smile, Nick just shook his head.

“Hey, I’m married, these days are long gone. Throw me a bone.”

“Throw me one,” Nick replied before thinking better of it. “Tell me what it’s like.”

Mark frowned, obviously confused by the question. “It?”

“Marriage. What’s it like being tied down, committed?”

Those deep dimples that had charmed girls from the time he was two years old flashed in Mark’s cheeks. “It’s the best. Noelle’s everything I ever wanted.”

“Yeah, but how’d you know what you wanted?” Nick muttered as he lifted his drink and downed half of it.

Chuckling, Mark admitted, “I didn’t. I think it was more of a case of meeting her, and
knowing
that whatever I eventually did figure out I wanted for my life, she’d be part of it. It was always her. Everything else fell into place around her.”

Somehow, that made a lot of sense to Nick. Because even though he’d been thinking of dozens of reasons why he and Izzie couldn’t make it work—the primary one being that she didn’t
want
it to—he couldn’t help hoping it would. Because, as Mark had said, he suspected she was the one. That whatever else happened in his life, whatever direction he went in, whatever he chose, he’d want her to be a part of it.

Surprisingly, his brother didn’t press him about why he was asking so many questions. Probably not because he didn’t care—or didn’t suspect there was a reason behind them. But because he knew Nick well enough to know that pushing for answers usually only made him clam up tighter.

Nick appreciated the courtesy. And realized yet again just how much he’d missed his twin.

“Hey, Nick, we got a live one at the bar,” a woman said.

Glancing over, Nick saw one of the waitresses, who was rolling her eyes. “Serious?”

“Not yet. But he could be if he’s not handled right.”

“I’ll be there in a minute.” Addressing his brother, he added, “Is there a full moon out tonight? The crazies are out.”

Mark stood. “Yeah, including me. I must be crazy to be out here with you instead of home in bed with my wife.”

Feeling better than he had in the hours since Izzie’s accident with the chair, Nick reached out and grabbed his brother for a quick hug. Mark’s eyes widened. He was the demonstrative one, not Nick. “What’s that for?”

Nick shook his head. “I don’t know. Give it to your wife.”

“I’ve got plenty of my own to give,” Mark said with a grin. “But thanks just the same.”

The rest of the evening went by quickly, with more of the same insanity to deal with. Nick hadn’t been kidding—the crazies were out tonight, and a lot of them had decided to show up at the club. The bouncers had had to forcibly eject more guys in this one evening than he’d seen them eject in the past month.

The only positive thing about keeping so busy was that Nick missed the Crimson Rose’s final performance of the evening, too. He hadn’t even realized she was on until he heard the thunderous applause, whoops and whistles of her audience. But at that point, he’d been outside, doing a sweep of the parking lot to make sure none of their uninvited patrons had decided to come back.

Fortunately, they hadn’t. But there were still other issues to deal with, like his conversation with Harry about Izzie’s broken chair. She had called it an accident...and it might have been one. But he wasn’t taking any chances. He and Harry had talked about adding security cameras to the basement area of the club, to hook into the system already covering the upstairs. Izzie’s accident had confirmed the idea for both of them.

Just in case.

Saying goodbye to Harry, he headed downstairs, glancing at his watch. It was after two, the club was closed, everyone drifting out. But he knew she’d have waited. She wouldn’t have left without seeing him. Partly because she’d want to see his reaction to her act. Partly because she knew he’d kill her if she’d walked out to her car alone.

“Iz?” he asked, knocking lightly on her dressing-room door.

She opened it immediately. “Hi.” She was nibbling on her bottom lip and her hands were clenched in front of her. Rather than being dressed to go home, she wore just a slinky robe. Thankfully, though, the mask and hairpieces were gone.

“You doing okay?”

She nodded, then looked at him through half-lowered eyelids. “Um, so? What’d you think?”

He reached for her and drew her into his arms. “I didn’t see you dance.”

“What?”

“Sorry, other stuff was going on.”

“I heard there were some problems.”

“Yep.”

She fisted her hands and put them on her hips. The pose did really nice things, like pulling her short pink robe apart at the neck to reveal the lush upper curves of her breasts.

“You’re telling me you just happened to have to deal with various crises during the exact times I was onstage? And that was simply coincidence?”

She might not believe it, but it was true. At least, he
thought
it was. He guessed he could have done the parking-lot sweep a few minutes earlier or later. He hadn’t evaluated his decision before. But now, looking back...well, maybe something inside him had made sure he didn’t have to see other men looking at the beautiful body of the woman he considered his.

“You’re
sure
you’re going to be all right with this?” Her chin went up. “I won’t be able to handle it if you go all Cro-Magnon man and try to drag me by the hair back to your cave.”

“You woman. Me man,” he said, slipping his hands down and parting her robe farther. He nuzzled into her neck, breathing in her essence, realizing twenty-four hours had been far too long to go without making love to her. “Me got heap big appetite.”

She swatted at his shoulder. But she didn’t back up. “You’re such a dork.”

Nick had
never
been called that, or anything like it, in his entire life. Ass maybe. Jerk. Cold-hearted pig, on one occasion. But never a dork. And it surprised a laugh out of him.

She delighted him. Simply brought every good feeling that existed inside him out into the open.

“God, I love being with you,” he muttered, unable to help revealing a little bit of what he was feeling.

“I know, I feel the same way.”

She didn’t admit that easily, the words had come haltingly out of her mouth. Which made Nick value them that much more.

He moved his mouth down, sampling her collarbone.

“Did you put that lock on my door yourself?” she whispered as she tilted her head farther, silently begging for more.

He nodded, continued to kiss and lick, lower now, to the curves of her breasts, beautifully bare under the robe.

“Let’s use it.”

“My thoughts exactly,” he murmured.

He didn’t let her go, he simply reached back and flipped the lock, then dipped down lower to lick his way down her to her pert nipple. Flicking it with his tongue, he waited until she was quivering to cover it with his mouth and suckle her.

“Mmm...more.”

Nick stroked her sides, his thumbs meeting near her belly button and scraping lower to tease the top edge of her pretty pink panties. With one last sweet suck on her breast he moved down her, following the path his hands had taken.

Izzie moaned softly, swaying on her feet. Nick kept her steady as he kissed his way down the front of her body. The soft robe brushed his face. So did her soft skin.

“Do you know what I wanted to do to you the first time I came into this room?”

She tangled her hands in his hair as he dropped lower, kneeling on the floor in front of her. “I think I have an idea.”

He pressed his face in her belly, licking at that tender bit of skin right above her pelvic bone, slowly pushing her panties down as he dipped lower.

“Did it involve that nice big flat surface in front of the mirror?” she asked.

Smart girl. “Uh-huh.” Gently holding her hips, he flicked at the panties, watching appreciatively as she shimmied out of them. The robe fell, too. Under the bright lightbulbs ringing the mirror, he was able to see every glorious inch of her. But he wanted to see more—didn’t want his view blocked even by her pretty brown curls. So he turned her and edged her back until her bottom brushed the edge of the vanity top.

“Wait,” he said, suddenly remembering her accident. Wrapping his hand around the edge of the vanity counter, he tugged at it sharply, testing the shelf’s sturdiness. It remained firmly in place, well secured into the wall.

“Good,” she murmured. Rising on her tiptoes, she slid onto the vanity, parting her legs just the way he wanted her to.

Someone had brought her another chair, and Nick grabbed it, sitting on it directly in front of her. Reaching for her knees, he slowly pushed them apart, watching a pink flush rise through her entire body.

She made no effort to resist. Confident. Sensual. Incredibly seductive. She knew what he wanted and she wanted it, too.

He pushed her legs farther, until he could see the glisten of moisture on the sensitive slit between her legs. “Do you have any idea how beautiful you are?” he asked.

It was a rhetorical question. She couldn’t possibly know how beautiful she looked to him, wanton and aroused, opening herself up so he could pleasure them both.

He couldn’t wait any longer. With a low groan of need, Nick dropped his face to that sweet, warm spot. He lapped at her in one slow, long lick, feeling her thighs quiver beside his face.

Izzie tilted up for him, inviting him farther, and he sampled her again. “You taste just as good without the cannoli, Cookie,” he mumbled.

She managed a choppy laugh. “Don’t call me Cookie.”

“Can’t help it.” He nibbled his way up to catch her erect clit between his lips. He played with it even as he scraped his fingers across her swollen sex. She was drenched and ready to take whatever he wanted to give her. Wanting that warm, wet flesh wrapped around part of him while he continued to savor her with his mouth, he slipped a finger inside her.

“Mmm,” she groaned. “More. More of everything.”

He complied. Licking harder and sucking deeper, he slid another finger into her, then slowly moved them in and out, timing his strokes to her helpless moans.

With one more swirl of his tongue on her most sensitive spot, Izzie cried out and climaxed. He wanted to be part of that climax, to experience the spasms of her body as she clenched and shook. Standing, he tugged his shirt up and off, then unfastened his belt and pants and pushed them down, out of the way.

When he looked up again, Izzie had slid down to stand before him. He frowned. “I wasn’t
nearly
done.”

Her eyes sparkled. “Neither was I.” Then, with an Eve-like smile on her face, she turned around, facing away from him, until they were both looking in the mirror. She slowly bent forward, putting her hands flat on the vanity, curving that sweet ass back in pure, unspoken invitation.

His pulse roared. “You’re sure...”

“Oh, I’m
very
sure,” she promised him. She was still smiling, her eyes still glittered in avarice and hunger. “It’s
your
turn to take
me,
Nick.”

Remembering the way he’d begged her to take him the other night at his place, he nodded in lazy agreement. “Oh, honey, you can’t imagine how much I want to take you like this.”

Making love to her face-to-face—watching her incredible eyes widen with pleasure, and her sweet mouth fall open on every long sigh—was amazing. He knew he’d never tire of doing it.

But the idea of taking her like
this—
with raw, hot passion—excited him beyond reason. He’d be able to see her expressions in the mirror, be able to plunge deeper than ever before until he imprinted himself somewhere deep inside her. Deep enough that, perhaps, she might never want to let him go.

“Nick,” she begged, “please.” She arched again, those long dancer’s legs putting her curvy butt directly in line with his cock. She backed into him as he moved forward to her.

He held her full hips in both hands, bending a little so he could see her sweet entrance and ease his way into it. She hissed and arched, trying to take him deeper, but was powerless. His hands held her firmly, he was setting the pace.

And he planned to go slowly, wanting to savor every second of the experience.

“Give it to me,” she begged, watching him with desperation.

He smiled at her in the mirror and thrust forward a tiny bit. Rewarded by her gasp and the flare of her eyes, he pulled out again. This time, she didn’t beg for more, she simply licked her lips and watched, trusting him to make it good.

He didn’t make it good. He made it amazing. By the time he finally sank all the way into her tight heat, Izzie was whimpering. And by the time he began to lose his mind and thrust wildly, in and out, over and over, she was practically sobbing.

He thought they were alone in the building. But he couldn’t be sure. “Izzie...” he said, slowing to ease out of her, to calm them both a little “...wait.”

“Don’t stop.”

“I’m not stopping, sweetheart,” he said. Then he stopped. She whimpered, watching him, then realized he was turning her around. “I have to kiss you, Iz,” he murmured.

She twisted in his arms to face him, twining her arms around his neck and one leg around his waist. Plunging his tongue in her mouth, he tangled it with hers keeping his eyes open so he could stare into her beautiful face. Lifting her back up onto the vanity, he went right back into her, deep and fast, knowing this last stretch would be a quick, pulsing one.