Embracing the Fall (5 page)

The man he was with was a stranger to her. And what a handsome one at that. Ziporah
stood a little straighter and had a completely girl moment by frantically worrying
if her lipstick was still in place, or if she had obliterated it with her coffee cup
this morning.

He was tall, not as tall as his companion, but taller than her, so that was good enough.
He was gorgeous. Green eyes that felt liked they were locked on her and one of those
perfect masculine square jaw lines, that to her, spoke of strength of character. He
had hints of dimples in his cheeks as well as his chin. He was also bald. She loved
a strong, confident, bald man, and right now she was looking at the finest example
of one that she had ever encountered.

“Well, hello there,” Gage said in his panty-melting drawl. “It’s been an age, Ziporah.
How’re ya?” He moved in for a warm brief hug. Z marveled that he would.

Ziporah had a reputation as a ballbuster. She worked hard to keep that intact. Her
work brought her up against hardened criminals and smarmy defense lawyers every day.
She had to be tough, smart and hard as nails to get where she was in her chosen career.

In spite of that, Gage never failed to treat her with that southern
Gone with the Wind
courtesy that made her feel feminine, fragile and cherished. She loved that about
him. Loved that he could treat her like a lady without making her appear or feel like
he saw her as weak or beneath him. It was a rare man indeed who could pull that off.

“Ziporah.” Gage swept out one hand toward his friend. “This is my good friend, Evan
Grant. Evan, this here is Ziporah.”

“Pleased to meet you,” Evan said, and reached out to shake her hand.

“Likewise.” Z barely managed to reply, not only was his hand warm, strong and giving
her chills, she was mesmerized by his voice. The man had the same honey-dipped accent
as Gage, only his was richer. Deeper somehow, and so smooth on the ears, she almost
closed her eyes to savor it better. Just as she was about to draw away, the chips
fell into place and shock sucker-punched her. This must be Master Evan.

“Holy shit.”

“Excuse me, ma’am?” Ziporah felt a fire erupt in her cheeks. Crap, she hadn’t meant
to say that out loud.

“Oh, sorry,” Z stammered as her brain frantically tried to come up with a plausible
excuse. “I, uh, I just realized I forgot something important for my current case.
Sorry.”

“Where you rushin’ off to, darlin’?” Gage asked. “We were just droppin’ in to see
if Brice and your cousin wanted to grab lunch. You got time to join in?”

“Yes, please do,” Evan said. It hadn’t escaped Z’s notice that Evan hadn’t taken his
eyes off of her since he stepped off the elevator.

“Sorry guys,” she replied, anxious to get away from his mesmerizing presence so she
could think, “I have to be in court soon. Thanks, though. Have a good time.”

The rich, heavenly scent of cinnamon and apples filled the air of the tavern from
the three pies cooling on the display rack, as well as from the three still in the
back that should be coming out pretty soon. Cami polished the gleaming bar top with
a clean rag, out of nerves rather than necessity. Everything that needed to be done
for the night had been done.

The kitchen offered a decent number of choices. Cami paid top dollar for Natacha,
the cook she had hired to insure the food would draw the people back just as much
as the music and atmosphere. And boy was that ever the best decision she had made
in her life. Not only was she amazing with her selection of meals, but the desserts
the woman crafted were good enough to bring Cami to her knees.

“Here, try this.” Natacha came out from the back, holding a spoon out for Cami.

“What is it?” The sauce in it was a bright pinky-orange.

“It’s the guava sauce I made up for the cheesecake.”

“Guava?” Hmm, Cami thought. That sounded scary. Cami didn’t think she’d ever even
tried a guava before, but Natacha hadn’t steered her wrong yet. She opened up and
the second the spoon hit her tongue, her knees turned to liquid.

“Oh. My. God.” The Haitian cook giggled and delight filled her sparkling brown eyes
as Cami slid down the bar and flopped her butt on the floor. “I can’t believe this.
Oh, wow. I wanna marry this sauce.”

“I know, right?” Natacha joined her with a laugh and draped her arm along Cami’s shoulders.

“No, seriously.” Cami couldn’t stop licking the spoon. The tangy-sweet-nothing ever
tasted quite so good-flavor lingered on her taste buds like heaven. “I want to fill
a pool with this and swim in it. I want to name my first child after it. I want–”

Natacha shoved her over and got up. “I get it, you like it.” Cami stayed sprawled
where she was and gazed up at her cook. She was a lovely curvy woman, with latte colored
skin, a dash of freckles on her nose, full beautiful lips and natural hair. No weaves
or straightening for this girl, she wore her hair loud and proud and was stunning
in her god-given beauty. “I’m heading home. The cheesecake needs to cool for at least
an hour, so no touching till I get back. You can have some tonight.” She must have
seen Cami shift her eyes toward the kitchen, because Cami got a swift kick on her
hip. “I mean it, girl. You wait for tonight. I get back and see you’ve been poking
in my kitchen, and you an’ me’s gonna have some words.”

As she marched off toward the door, Cami called out, “You don’t scare me!”

“Yes I do.” Then the door shut with a swoosh and she was alone.

Cami pushed herself up and there was a smile of pure happiness on her face as she
got back to work. The tension eased for a moment, thanks to her spunky friend.

An hour or so later, when slender tanned arms slipped around her from behind and she
felt a familiar form press to her back, Cami let herself still for the first time
all day.

“Everything looks amazing, Cam.” Ziporah’s voice soothed her raw nerves and brought
a calm to her jittery stomach.

“I keep getting so nervous that I’m sure I’m going to puke, but since I haven’t eaten
today except for one tiny sip of heaven, I don’t.” She chuckled when she felt her
friend shudder against her. Ziporah may have nerves of steel in a courtroom, but when
it came to things she liked to call ‘gross out boy stuff’, she was a complete wimp.
Puke was at the top of that list.

She let her head fall back on Z’s shoulder and rested against her. It was the calmest
she’d felt all day.

“I’m sorry that I’m such a basket case, Z.” She huffed. “It seems like tonight is
the most important night of my life. What if he doesn’t like me?”

“Impossible.”

What if I don’t like him?”

“Again, impossible. Trust me on this one.”

“What if you don’t like him, or I’m not a submissive after all?”

“Cami.” Z’s voice was a soft caress. “Relax. Remember? This is an adventure. And you’re
not in it alone. In fact, I invited the whole gang here tonight, so we have plenty
of back-up. If we don’t like this guy, or things get off to a wrong start, there will
be people we trust here, who happen to be in the know about this stuff, watching over
us.”

She turned around to rest her forehead against Z’s and looped her hands around her
neck. “I can’t figure out why you haven’t killed me in my sleep yet. Is it because
you’re having pity on me, or is it my fabulous cooking skills?” Ziporah snorted at
that, because they both knew she was the worst cook on the planet.

“You’ve been a beast.” Ziporah kissed her on the tip of her nose and gave a quick
squeeze before she turned to pour herself a cup of coffee and said, “But that’s what
besties are for. Remember when I was studying for the bar? I was so cranky, I was
driving myself crazy. I don’t know how you managed to put up with me.” She cradled
her coffee in both hands and leaned back on the counter. “This is payback.” Then she
smiled.

“Urgh,” Cami groaned and hung her head, “please don’t tell me I’ve been as bad as
you were.” Then she ducked away in the nick of time as Z took a swing at her.

Cami picked up a plate and served Z a slice of pie, the steam rising fragrant and
mouthwatering. Since it smelled so good, she relented, with an inner scolding about
how tight her jeans fit, and got herself a generous helping, too. She didn’t dare
go looking for the cheesecake until Natacha came back, because Natacha was right,
Cami
was
afraid of her.

“C’mon,” she said motioning with a nod in the direction of the table she wanted, “let’s
sit and eat this before my inner-Richard Simmons wakes up and catches me.”

That night, Evan walked into Cami’s tavern, Haven, with not one, but two women on
his mind. One he was committed to meeting and possibly helping into the lifestyle,
and the other he was hoping to get another chance at meeting someday. Ziporah had
blasted him with her cool, commanding presence and had rocked him back on his heels.
Quite a feat indeed, when less than an hour before, all he’d been able to think about
was the coming meeting and its importance to someone he considered very dear. The
two women had rooted into his brain and taken up permanent residency. He’d been useless
for the rest of the day, distracted and unfocused on the work that had needed his
attention.

But that was done. The endless afternoon was behind him now and he could set about
getting to the mission at hand. Maybe someday, after Cami was settled into the role
of sub and had either found a Dom or was comfortable enough to search for one on her
own, he could find a way to get Ziporah’s number from her cousin. Tonight, he was
going to focus on the owner of this surprisingly welcoming establishment and see if
he could help her determine if this was indeed the life for her.

Evan was planning on speaking with Cami, finding out how far she was willing to go
and what she hoped to get from her time with him then possibly providing that service
for her. Bondage, flogging, spankings and exerting his dominance, both verbally and
physically in an effort to ease her into the world of BDSM, were the extent of his
expectations. Now all he had to do was find out what hers were and see where that
left them both.

As he made his way past the bar and toward the dance floor, the music was loud but
not overly so, which was nice. He wouldn’t have to shout to be heard, he liked that.
The place was crowded. Since Zoe had given him some of the details about her and this
place, he felt a measure of pride as he looked around. The woman was a lot more than
a beauty with a stunning voice like he’d been told. She looked to have a hell of a
head for business on her, too.

Evan spotted Gage easily. The man towered over everybody else there as he swirled
his raven-haired wife around the dance floor with a grace and style that should be
impossible for someone with his bulk. Just then, Gage dipped Zoe low and Evan saw
a couple dancing right behind him. The sight froze him where he stood.

The two women who’d taken over his brain for the better part of his day were right
there, dancing together. Ziporah had shed her suit jacket and power heels. She was
dancing in her bare feet, wearing her snug grey skirt that ended a respectable two
inches above her knees, and a plum colored camisole that left her long, toned arms
as deliciously bare as her legs. She shimmied and swayed in perfect rhythm and Evan
felt his palms itch with the need to touch.

The woman she was dancing with had to be Cami. Zoe had told him what she would be
wearing and had given him a general description of her looks. He’d been told she was
soft and curvy, with multi-hued blonde hair and a downright beautiful face. Well,
it was a completely accurate description; yet at the same time not accurate at all.
He stood where he was in stunned silence while he adjusted to the reality of the beauty
that was her.

All those soft curves were bumping and grinding to the beat with a gusto that made
him smile, even as lust tightened like a fist in his gut. She turned then, and when
he got a look at her ass, all he could think was JLo had nothing on this woman. She
dipped her knees and started pulsing and thrusting those jean-clad hips while she
looked back over her shoulder with a saucy smirk for her friend, and Evan began walking
without realizing it.