KeytoExcess

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Authors: Christie Butler

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Key to Excess

Christie
Butler

 

Annie Sloan is a bad girl.
Seriously attracted to her neighbor and key buddy Matt Howard, she abuses her
key privileges and sneaks into his place when he’s away. She wastes no time
getting naked and slipping into his bed, fantasizing about Matt and what he
might do to her. Her hormones shift into high gear when Matt’s buddy Peter
joins them in her daydreams. She suspects the two of them have a habit of
taking a woman to bed together. The idea makes her feminine parts tingle.

Matt Howard loves women. Lately
he’s had a major hard-on for his neighbor, Annie. Thoughts of her gorgeous
curves and sexy red hair disrupt his sleep. After a weekend away, he returns
home to find Annie sleeping in his bed, ripe for the picking. His friend Peter
joins them for a thrilling night of sexual adventure. But Matt might want more
from Annie.

 

A Romantica®
contemporary erotic romance
from
Ellora’s Cave

 

Key to Excess
Christie Butler
Chapter One

 

The T-shirt smelled of sweat, soap
and sexy man. Despite having dug it out of Matt’s dirty laundry hamper, Annie buried
her nose in it, inhaling deeply. Without another thought she peeled off her
clothes, undies and all, and pulled the T-shirt on over her head. The hem
dropped to her mid-thighs, the soft fabric feeling tingly against her skin. Or
maybe her skin had already been tingly.

Annie was being a bad, bad girl.
She and condo neighbor Matt Howard were key buddies. After Matt had moved in
next door, the two of them had become friendly, eventually exchanging keys so
that they could pick up each other’s mail, water plants or anything else that
needed to be taken care of while one or the other was away.

The last time he’d been away, Annie
had left him a plate of freshly baked cookies for his return. When Annie had
gone to visit her sister a couple weeks ago, there was a beautiful flower
arrangement waiting for her when she came home.

Until today, those additions had
been the only breaks in their key protocol. Now she was involved in a serious
violation, using her friend’s key for her own gratification.

It had not been lost on Annie what
a handsome, sexy man Matt was. When he’d first moved in she had been involved
with a guy from work. By the time that relationship had ended, Annie had had
plenty of opportunity to watch the endless parade of women in and out of Matt’s
condo. There had been a few repeats on occasion, but mostly it was some new sex
goddess every time.

As time went on, Annie had
developed a serious jones for her neighbor. Just a couple inches taller than
she was, Matt was well muscled, with hair like Brad Pitt’s before his scraggly
period and the most gorgeous skin she’d ever seen on a man. A mere smile from
him would make her heart pound, would make her panties wet.

She’d already been intrigued, and
then last month she’d gone out for Sunday morning coffee and the paper. When
she’d returned and pulled into the parking lot, she’d seen Matt and his friend
Peter with a woman. Clad in a rumpled party dress, the woman was clearly doing
the walk of shame. She stood by her car and kissed the men. Both of them. Thoroughly.

Annie had stepped on her brake,
watching, her insides melting. Finally the woman got in her car and drove away.
Annie had been reasonably certain that the men had seen her watching, but what
the hell was she supposed to do? There’d been no place to hide, and it wasn’t
as if they were being secretive.

After that episode, Annie thought
back to the times that she’d seen Peter with Matt. Odd times—late at night,
early in the morning—a woman hanging about on occasion. One woman.

Annie didn’t consider herself to be
sexually naïve, but she still found this behavior astonishing. And provocative.
She’d become obsessed, hadn’t been able to get the thought out of her mind,
fantasies of being ravished by both men invading her dreams.

She wasn’t sure exactly how it
worked, whether Matt and Peter were bi and it was an all-out orgy, or the two
men took turns with the woman or took her together. Or some combination of the
above. But clearly Matt liked women. Now Annie had designs on becoming the next
woman Matt liked. He didn’t appear to be the relationship kind of guy, but they
were already friends. There was a good base to work from if he were so
inclined. As she was.

If not, maybe she’d at least get
some toe-curling sex out of it. Enter Peter Nash.

Unlike Matt, Peter was tall, dark,
mysterious. He always had this look on his face as if he knew something no one
else did. It was irritating. And hot as all get-out. She’d be thrilled to have
Matt all to herself, but if Peter wanted to join in she would have no
objection.

Annie had hit a bit of a dry spell
where men were concerned. And she was tired of dating the straitlaced, uptight
yuppies she usually hung with.

And so here she was in Matt’s condo
while he was away, abusing her key privileges for the sole purpose of feeling
closer to him. She ran her hands over the shirt she’d borrowed, imagining that
they were his hands, hugging herself, picturing his big, strong arms around
her.

For a guy, his place, decorated in
black, white and shades of gray, was relatively neat and tidy. His king-sized
bed was made up with crisp white linens that smelled fresh and clean. She
ventured into his bathroom, uncapped his cologne and sniffed in his familiar
scent, ran her fingers over the bristles of his toothbrush, clutched the towel
on the rack and imagined it wrapped around his hips.

Get a grip, Annie.
Moving
back to the bedroom, she threw herself onto his bed, rolling over and over. She
pulled the covers back and tucked herself in, laying her head on his pillow.
Closing her eyes, she pretended that Matt was there with her, around her,
inside her.

The next thing she knew, she was
being roused by a deep male voice.

* * * * *

“Thanks again for picking me up at
the airport.” Matt grabbed his carryon from the trunk of Peter’s car. “Wanna
come up for a beer?”

“Sure.” Peter followed him through
the lot, his work boots scuffing the ground. “Nice you came back a day early.”

“Yeah?”

“Saturday night ahead,” Peter
explained. “I’ve been gettin’ the itch.”

Ah.
Matt smiled at his
buddy. He’d known Peter for a few years, had met him through mutual friends.
When they’d first started hanging out, Matt thought Peter was around mostly to
pick up Matt’s castoffs. Peter Nash wasn’t an unattractive mutt, he just wasn’t
the most charming guy in the world. They were different men, but Matt found
that they got along well. Plus, Peter had saved his butt from a jealous
boyfriend on more than one occasion.

One night they’d been out at a club
and Matt had reeled in a voluptuous brunette while Peter was still struggling.
It was last call and the three of them walked outside. The brunette had taken a
look at the both of them, then grasped both of their hands. “Let’s go, boys,”
she’d said.

The fucking had been phenomenal.
Since then, every couple months or so they’d find a willing female to debauch
for the night. They were a good pair—Matt charmed the panties off the woman and
Peter could get down and dirty with her instead of going home alone. That way,
they all got what they were looking for—crazy-hot sex, sometimes shockingly
hot.

It was a win, win, win.

They headed up the stairs. “Anyone
special in mind?” Matt asked.

Peter laughed. “Nah. You know me,
man. I’m not particular. Just do your thing and be your charming self, buddy.”

Matt laughed with him as they
passed Annie Sloan’s door. His cock twitched at the thought of the tall redhead
who lived next door to him. Many times he had considered changing up their
relationship, but it was nice to have a woman friend. A woman friend who made
his cock twitch.

As he reached for his keys, he
recalled the morning that Annie had caught him and Peter seeing off their
Saturday night conquest. Since then, the air had changed between them. It was
thicker, tense. Filled with possibilities.

He was reasonably certain that he
could have her. It was obvious from the way she looked at him. But would sweet
Annie Sloan be interested in a three-way? And could tonight be the night?

Inside, Matt said, “There’s beer in
the fridge. Help yourself.” He made his way back to his bedroom and stepped
inside. Froze. He set his bag down quietly.

There was a woman sleeping in his
bed. A sexy redhead.
My, my.
It was sweet Annie Sloan herself. What was
she doing in his bed? And from the looks of things, wearing one of his shirts?

Matt crept closer, picking up her
discarded shorts, top and panties and placing them on top of his dresser. Could
it be that Annie had been having the same thoughts that he had?

Apparently so. He smiled, totally
not caring that she was in his condo, in his bed while he was supposed to be
away. In fact, she looked pretty fucking good right where she was.

Hearing Peter out in the hallway,
Matt turned to him and held a finger to his lips in the “shh” position before
waving him into the room.

Beer in hand, Peter stepped inside,
raised an eyebrow at the female sleeping in the bed. He whispered, “Isn’t she
your neighbor?”

Matt nodded.

“The one you’ve been wanting to…?”
Peter made an obscene gesture.

Matt nodded again, his engines
revving. “Care to join me?”

Peter grinned. “If she’s up for
it,” he whispered. “I’ll let you break her in.” He turned and left the room.

Matt’s cock was doing more than
twitching now. It was growing uncomfortably large in his jeans. There had been
more than one occasion that he had woken in a fevered sweat after pornographic
dreams about the sexy redhead who lived next door. And now here she
was—seemingly ripe for the picking. Clearing his throat, Matt said, “Well, look
who’s been sleeping in my bed.”

 

Annie’s eyes flicked open wide. She
was on her side, facing away from the direction of his voice.
His
voice.
Matt Howard—the man who had been haunting her dreams. The man whose bed she was
lying in.

Oh God.
What had she done?

She squeezed her eyes shut. Maybe
she could fall back to sleep and make this all go away.

“An-nie.” His voice was soft,
singsongy.

Behind her, the bed sank under his
weight. Heart pounding, she held as still as possible, utterly mortified that
this was happening. Then the warmth of his hand on her shoulder radiated
through her body.

“Annie,” he repeated, “what are you
doing here?”

Damn it.
“What are
you
doing here? You weren’t supposed to be back until tomorrow.”

Matt chuckled. “That’s right. I’m
sorry. What was I thinking, coming home early, scaring you to death?” He
lightly squeezed her shoulder, sending her heart racing even faster. “How
inconsiderate of me.”

No, no, no.
Damn his
hypnotizing voice and her raging hormones. How had she thought she’d get away
with this? Now she was mortified
and
she would lose her key buddy. No
good could come of this. No good at all.

Matt stroked his thumb under the
collar of her—his—T-shirt, revealing the bare flesh of her neck and shoulder.
Annie’s breath caught.
What is he doing? Why isn’t he pissed
and
yelling at me?

Her flesh tingled again, goose
bumps erupting as he traced circles on her heated skin. Her need spiked to a
ten and she fought to hold still, afraid of doing anything that might bring him
to his senses. Maybe some good
could
come of this.

“What are you doing in my bed,
Annie?” His voice was even softer, his breath warm on her ear. He made a yummy
noise as he peeled the shirt down a bit farther.

She really should stop him. Just
because she’d invaded his condo and his bed was no reason for him to think she
would submit to his charms. Was it? Wait a minute. Wasn’t that what she wanted?
She tried to remember his question. “I was tired?”

His low laugh rumbled through her.
“I’m going to ask you a question and I want you to tell me the truth, okay?”

He moved closer to her, so close
she could feel the heat from his body, could smell his woodsy scent. Mesmerized
by his soothing voice and stroking thumb, she could only nod.

“Did you get yourself off in my
bed?”

“What?” She hadn’t expected that
question. “No.”

“No?” He slipped the sleeve of the
shirt completely off her shoulder, baring her upper arm, dangerously close to
giving him a peek at her nipple.

“No,” she repeated.
Not yet
anyway.
She had planned to get to it though.

“Look at all these beautiful
freckles.” He leaned down and brushed his lips over her shoulder and neck,
again and again.

Heat flooded her body, settling in
her middle. Annie could barely breathe. Was it really possible that Matt Howard
was kissing her? She clamped her thighs together, trying to relieve the itchy
need there. “I hate my freckles.”

“No, no. They’re pretty.” His lips
trailed up her neck and he moved in even closer to her, nuzzling her hair.
“This fiery red hair. You’re gorgeous, Annie.” He stroked her side, moving down
her arm to her waist and settling at her hip, leaving a trail of fire.

Oh God. He’d find out she was naked
underneath the shirt.
Really, Annie? That’s what
you’re worried about
now?
At this point, he’d probably be stunned if she wasn’t.
And what
did he just say again?

“No,” she murmured. “Not gorgeous.”

Matt lightly pinched her ass and
she squealed. “Tell me the truth, Annie. Don’t you think you’re beautiful?”

“I’m okay.”

“Okay, bullshit. You are a
gorgeous, sexy woman.” He snaked his hand under the T-shirt and caressed her
butt cheek. “Mmm, you’re all warm and soft.” He kissed her neck again, his
tongue flicking out for a quick taste. It was as if he instinctively knew that
it was a major erogenous zone for her. He was a dangerous man.

Annie whimpered, hoping she didn’t
sound too desperate. It seemed that what she’d been hoping for, dreaming about
for months was about to happen. Her heart pounded and her flesh burned as Matt
touched her, moisture collecting between her thighs. And they’d barely begun.

His fingers teased the seam of her
ass, moving lower but not low enough. “I want you, Annie. Is that why you’re
here? Do you want me to fuck you, Annie?” Just like that—as if he’d asked her
if she wanted a cup of tea.

“Y-yes.” No struggle to tell the
truth there. There was no other possible answer.

“Thank God.” Matt rolled her to her
back, their gazes meeting for the first time since he’d woken her. His silky
dark-blond hair hung down over his forehead, blue eyes fierce and sexy. Pushing
the covers off, he looked down the length of her body. She could almost feel
his gaze as it swept over her. He palmed her breast through the shirt, tweaking
her nipple until it was hard and aching. “So sexy, Annie.”

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