Deacon and Franky were settled down, doing the responsible daddy thing. Part of me was wistful with envy at the lives they had. The one between those two was Kory. He didn’t even live in New York anymore. In high school, he'd decided that he didn’t want to live in the city, and he’d gone to a small arts school in Ohio before settling in Michigan.
Then there was Vic. I knew it sometimes confounded people, but out of all of my brothers, the one I was closest to was Vic. We were only three years apart in age, and we’d fought like crazy growing up. For a while, I’d hated him a little. I would have gone to one of the best Ivy League colleges with a full ride if it hadn't been for him.
But Vic wasn’t the man now that he’d been then. He was a different man now, a better one.
It wasn’t much surprise that I knew exactly where to find him that evening. He'd finished work – I still wasn’t entirely sure what he did, and sometimes, I thought it was better that I didn’t. I had my brother’s schedule memorized. Twice a month, he got to see his son. Fridays, he and I hit the same place: our parents’ house for dinner. Once or twice a week, he’d hit a pub.
But Mondays and Thursdays, Vic had one place he’d go and that was the basketball court in the park near where we'd grown up.
Moving up to the fence, I curled my fingers around the chain link and watched the game in progress. A few people called my name or shouted greetings. I waved but kept my focus on the game.
It was pretty obvious I couldn’t get Ash or Isadora out of my head on my own, so I needed help.
Nothing did it quite like family.
I hadn’t been there more than ten minutes before Deacon showed up.
“You in the mood to kick his ass?” My oldest brother slid me a sidelong look, a smile crooking at his lips.
“Eh, well. It was this or go pick a fight.” I shrugged. “I figured I should avoid getting arrested again since I'd lucked out Friday.”
“Try to avoid punching cops in the future, sweetheart.” He hooked an arm around my neck and hugged me.
I snorted.
The game ended and Deacon and I moved onto the court. Deacon met Vic’s questioning look with a cocky grin before he looked at me.
“What are you up to, Toni? Hanging out with that loser?” He jutted his chin toward Deacon and fired the ball at me.
I caught it and shot it back almost as hard. “Was in the mood for a game. You up?”
“Any time.”
I didn't know when Franky hit the court, but I heard his wife, Yvette, hollering out my name in the distance. “Kick his ass!”
“Which one!” I shouted back. Then I was scrambling to grab the ball before Deacon had it, and all I had in my head was the game.
Two long, sweaty hours later, I collapsed back against the door of my apartment and closed my eyes. My legs felt like noodles and my arms had turned into cement weights.
If nothing else, a couple of hours with my brothers were able to accomplish something nothing else could. My brain felt empty now and I was so tired, it was an effort just to walk across the room and lock myself into the bathroom to shower.
Not even twenty minutes later, I collapsed face down on the bed.
I slid into dreams.
And in my dreams, I slid into Ash’s arms.
Although, really, it wasn’t his arms that held me so enraptured.
It was...everything.
Chapter 14
Toni
I couldn’t move my arms.
I couldn’t move my legs.
I could move my head, though.
My head and my mouth were under my control, as were my eyes.
When Ash had told me that he’d spank me if I didn’t watch my mouth, I'd laughed.
Then I'd moaned.
Moaned, shook, shuddered...
His hand came down on my ass and the hot lick of pleasure was so intense, I almost couldn’t stand it. His voice slid over me like liquid sex.
“You’re going to come. Don’t try to fight it. You’re going to come and I’m going to feel it. I’m going to draw it out and you’re going to be wet and hot...”
“Just do it already!” I snarled.
He laughed and the sound of his laugh wrapped around me, sending tendrils of heat racing through me and I wanted to reach up, grab him by the back of his head and pull him down so I could kiss him.
His mouth on mine. His tongue rubbing against mine.
His hands...then his hands were on me. Fingers plucking at my nipples until I was arched up and whimpering. His knee came between my thighs.
I’d been on my belly. Bound. Tied.
Now, I was free and I intended to take advantage of it.
“Kiss me.” I shoved my hands into his hair.
His cock was inside me. Stroking deep and hard, stretching me and burning me. He was hotter than he’d ever been, his hands firmer. He gripped my hips as he lifted me up, then dragged me down. “You’re going to come,” he said again. “Come for me.”
An electronic peel cut through my head, out of place and discordant.
I twitched.
It sounded again.
My phone. Shit.
The dream shattered and I jerked upright in bed as the phone rang again.
Grabbing at it, I brought it to my ear. “What?” I demanded.
The need to come was riding me hard and I was breathless, aching and empty.
“Toni.”
The sound of Vic’s voice was like the coldest of cold showers. Nothing like a brother to cool the libido.
Groaning, I flopped back on the bed. “Is this urgent?”
“No. I just…”
“Fine. Call back in twenty.” I slammed the phone down and flopped back on the bed, desperate to take care of the need twisting inside me.
Memories flooded me as I slid my hand down the middle of my body. There were dreams and there were dreams. Sometimes, you just had to let your body have what it needed.
***
“You are so not a morning person.”
I looked at the clock before answering. “The clock might read two a.m. but that doesn’t make it morning. You’re calling in the no-man’s land hours, pal. What’s the deal?”
“Well...”
Blowing out a breath, I reached for patience. When it came to my brothers, especially Vic, patience was crucial. Fortunately, I'd had a lifetime of practice.
“If you’re mad I kicked your ass on the court...”
“You wish,” Vic shot back at me, his voice amused. “No, it’s just that picture you gave me. It’s weird, Toni. I’ve been asking, and I’ve been asking a lot of people, the right people. Nobody knows him. Nobody's seen him. That’s not normal.”
“What do you mean, it’s not normal?” Knuckling at my eyes, I tried to coax my brain into waking up. I had to get better about this. There would be times I’d be dragged out of sound sleep in the coming years and I’d have to make some seriously crucial decisions. Psychological emergencies weren't for wusses. “Plenty of people don’t exactly make a career out of the criminal life.”
“Yeah, but almost everybody has an electronic fingerprint anymore, Toni.” He hesitated, then added, “I called in a couple favors to some people who specialize in tracing those fingerprints. Just about everybody in the modern world has them. Their face is somewhere. Driver’s licenses, passports, you name it. Not this guy. He’s like a ghost.”
An icy hand gripped my heart. If the only suspect was a ghost, I was afraid Isadora was already as good as dead.
D as dead.
To be continued in Blindfold Vol. 4, release October 9th. CLICK HERE to receive a reminder on release day.
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FREE BONUS: Casual Encounter Book 3
Casual Encounter
Vol. 3
By M.S. Parker
This book is a work of fiction. The names, characters, places and incidents are products of the writer’s imagination or have been used fictitiously and are not to be construed as real. Any resemblance to persons, living or dead, actual events, locales or organizations is entirely coincidental.
Copyright © 2014 Belmonte Publishing LLC
Published by Belmonte Publishing LLC.
Book Description
I thought I could handle this business arrangement. It was what I'd wanted, after all. Someone to teach me how to be the kind of woman every man desired. Every man, that was, but one.
When Bree Gamble agrees to let escort Cade Shepard mold her into a beautiful, confident woman, she tells herself that it's business, nothing more. A transaction between consenting adults. Sex with no emotional strings attached. Exactly what she needs after the disastrous end to her previous relationship.
However, as things with Cade progress, she is forced to admit that she's starting to fall for the handsome gigolo.
Will Bree be able to keep her feelings hidden or is her relationship with Cade doomed?
Find out what happens next in the third Casual Encounter installment by best-selling author M.S. Parker.
Chapter 1
Without thinking about it, I reached out and tapped the touchscreen again, letting Cade's voicemail play through a second time. I stared at Adelle's phone, unable to bring myself to look at my friend. Not that it mattered. I knew she wasn't looking at me. She hadn't been able to since I'd taken her phone. The fact that she was acting embarrassed was proof that she knew she had been caught.
It wasn't that I didn't think Cade had other clients. And it wasn't because I thought Adelle shouldn't hire an escort. I couldn't exactly judge her for that. I even knew and was pretty much okay knowing that Adelle had probably used Cade's services in the past. Getting mad at her for having fucked him before would've been as useless as getting angry at anyone for their previous relationships.
No, it was because she'd scheduled a session with Cade just two days after he and I had been together. And she'd done it knowing he was my mystery savior, the man I couldn’t get out of my head. She’d done it following my devastation from learning he’d slept with me out of contract instead of desire. I'd gotten past that. I’d forgiven her. I’d placed our friendship as more important. But considering how her deceit involving Cade had nearly destroyed our relationship, I couldn't believe she'd involved him again. That was the part that really left me stunned.
The thing about this entire situation that hurt me the most had nothing to do with Cade. It had been how my friends viewed me, how little they truly knew me. Adelle, who I'd known as long as I could remember, hadn't been able to understand why I'd been furious with her for hiring a prostitute without telling me. And now, it seemed like she understood what she was doing would hurt me, but she didn't care.
As the message ended for the second time, I stood. I pushed her phone across the table. “I'll be going.” My voice was harsh. “I don't want to keep you from getting together all your little toys for your session with Cade.”
She opened her mouth but I didn't want to hear anything she had to say. Apology. Excuse. Angry retort. I was through listening to her shit.
“Feel free to schedule a few more sessions this week. You'll both have plenty of free time. I'm done.” She called my name, but I ignored her and hurried down the hall and out the door.
As I got into my car, I was glad I'd driven instead of letting Adelle send a car to pick me up like she'd wanted to. I just wanted to get away as quickly as possible. My tires screeched a bit as I drove down the driveway and I kept the speedometer rising even as I turned onto the road. My heart was pounding, my head chaotic, and there was still one more thing I needed to do. I waited until I was at least a mile from Adelle's house before I pulled into a store parking lot. This wasn't the kind of call I wanted to make while I was driving, and if I waited until I got back home, I'd either lose my nerve, or Adelle would've interfered. There was still a good chance I wouldn't be able to avoid that as it was.
I pulled out my phone and made the call. I was torn between wanting it to go to voicemail so I could avoid what I knew was going to be an awkward conversation and hoping Cade picked up so he could tell me it was all a horrible misunderstanding.
I scowled. It was that kind of thinking that made me need Cade in the first place. I tried too hard for the romance, for the emotional connection. I was blinded by how I felt. That had been why I hadn't seen what had been going on between Ronald and the wedding coordinator before they ran off together. There was no misunderstanding this situation. Adelle had hired Cade to do his job. That was it.
I tapped Cade's phone number and closed my eyes as it rang. I had tears in my eyes and desperately didn't want to cry or sound as if I was. This part was a business decision, nothing more. I breathed a sigh of relief when it went to voicemail. I hoped it meant Adelle was talking to him already. She could explain what happened so he'd understand my message.
I kept it short and professional. “Cade, I don't believe I can continue with our arrangement. I'm sorry for any inconvenience this may cause or disruption to your work schedule. I wish you all the best.”
It wasn't until I hung up that I realized I hadn't said my name. I assumed he'd recognize my voice. Knowing he might not realize who I was broke the last of my resolve not to cry. My face crumbled and with a sob that torn through my soul, I put my face in my hands and let go.
Chapter 2
I turned off my phone for the rest of the Saturday. I didn't feel like having to go through the whole dance of sending calls to voicemail and deleting them. I would deal with them tomorrow. I had papers to grade and I wanted to avoid gorging myself on ice cream again. I'd had enough over the past couple months.
Unfortunately, while I did manage to avoid the ice cream, I wasn't able to concentrate enough to get much grading done. At one point, I'd had to refrain from going on a rant on one student's essay regarding the friendship between Mercutio and Romeo, and how Romeo's relationship with Juliet betrayed Mercutio. That was when I realized I needed to just go to bed.
When I showered, I tried not to think of the last time I'd been with Cade and the shower we'd taken together, but it wasn't easy. I could almost feel him against me, the way he pushed me against the wall and thrust inside me, making me wail. How hard it had been to make him stop when I'd realized, in the heat of the moment, we'd forgotten a condom. How we'd finished each other off with our hands.
I closed my eyes and rested my forehead against the shower wall, cursing myself for the memories. I didn't want to think about them. I didn't want to think about him. I told myself that I'd ended things because it was too weird with Adelle involved, but a part of me had already been thinking I was getting too attached. Even now, my body was craving his. I needed his hands on me, his mouth, his cock...
“Dammit, Adelle!” I slapped my palm against the shower wall. “Why'd you have to fuck everything up?”
I let myself cry again in the shower, but once I was out, I was done. No more dwelling. I was going to move on. I sighed as I dressed for bed and climbed under the covers. I was getting tired of having to give myself those 'moving on' pep talks. Maybe, I thought, I needed to consider actually moving. My brother and sister-in-law had been trying to talk me into moving to Texas for the past couple years. I could visit them for Christmas and take a look at the schools in the area. I wouldn't leave until after
this year was done, but if I had that plan all set up, I could get through until June.
I fell asleep wondering if I could meet a nice cowboy, who would sweep me onto his black stallion and steal me away.
When I woke on Sunday morning, I didn't exactly feel good, but I was clear-headed enough to see things for how they were. I wasn't going to leave a job I loved and move hundreds of miles away. I would eventually forgive Adelle because I wasn't going to throw away a lifetime of friendship because we'd hit a rough patch. I'd learned enough from Cade that I could manage, and not continuing with him would make it easier to get things smoothed out between Adelle and me. I would miss the sex, of course, because he was the only lover who’d been able to make me climax like that. He was easy on the eyes and not bad to talk to, but that didn't mean anything. I could think fondly about our time together, but from a clinical perspective. It was all physical. Nothing else.
With all of that firmly sorted out in my head, I ate breakfast, turned my phone back on and started to work on my papers. Adelle had called twice yesterday, but hadn't left any messages. I was surprised, but decided to let it go. I would forgive her, but I wasn't going to make the first move. Not now anyway. The pain was too fresh and sharp.
I fell into the rhythm of grading and let literature essays purge everything else from my mind. Grammar corrections came automatically and my red pen marked the mistakes. I stopped around noon to make myself some lunch and then kept working while I ate. If I stayed busy, I didn't have time to think. That was a very good thing.
I finished my work shortly after making a grilled cheese sandwich for supper and wondered if I should clean the apartment to stay busy. It wasn't exactly dirty, but I didn't want to spend the rest of the evening sitting on the couch watching TV or finding some chick flick to cry through. If I cleaned the kitchen and bathroom, I could then shower and go to bed. There was a new murder mystery I'd been meaning to read, but I'd been too distracted recently to get started on it.