My Wicked Valentine (Club Wicked 1) (7 page)

Unzipping the front of the catsuit to reveal enough cleavage
to make the average man drool, she leaned forward and smiled at the newcomer.
“Hi, can I get you anything?”

She let her accent thicken on the last few words, and the
man with the beard smiled. “Well, darl’n, that all depends on what’s on the
menu.” He had a faint inflection to his words, she’d guess Texas.

Isaac was still chuckling as he leaned back on his stool.
Maybe he would fall, and that would shut him up. She was pissed the floor was
probably impeccably clean instead of dirty like he deserved. “I’ve never done
anything of this before, but my wicked fantasies all involve Dominance and
submission. You know, forbidden pleasures.” She paused, enjoying the way the
other man’s eyes darkened, and he somehow became more imposing. “I would like
to start with someone who knows what he’s doing.” She cocked her head to the
side and licked her lips. “Do you know anyone who would fit the bill?”

Before the other man could respond, Isaac was leaning over
the bar and plucking the medallion off her upper chest. He looked at the other
man, all traces of mirth gone, and said, “If you’ll excuse us, Jesse, I think I
need to introduce my pet to some of those forbidden pleasures she’s so fond of.
Be a friend and jump over the counter for me and grab a bottle of champagne.
The good stuff.”

Jesse slid across the bar surface, and she had an impression
of long, strong legs in denim sliding past her. The moment Jesse touched the
ground, he turned and lifted her by the waist onto the counter. Before she
could take a breath, Isaac had his hands on her hips and tugged her forward
until her swollen core pressed up against his abdomen. God bless him, that man
had a six-pack hidden behind his shirt.

He leaned forward and whispered into her ear, “Thank you for
playing along.” He paused, and his breath warmed her skin, his body so close to
hers, and he smelled so good. She could stay here and inhale him like this and
float in bliss.

Unable to speak, she moaned low in her throat when he licked
the side of her neck, his teeth skimming the surface of her skin with little
bites that made her shivery inside. He grabbed her ponytail with one of his
hands and wrapped his fist in her long hair. With the makeshift rope of her
hair, he held her head at an angle, further exposing her neck to him.

He placed one gentle kiss on her banging pulse, and she
arched against his stomach, her hips twitching.

The next moment, he released her hair and stepped back,
putting space in between them. She breathed a bit harder than normal, but he
appeared unruffled. “Come along, Kitten. You want to learn some forbidden
pleasures, and I can’t wait to teach them to you.”

He lifted her from the bar, allowing her to slide down his
front and take note of his very thick erection pressing into her. A woman could
have ten kids, and a man that wide would still be wall-to-wall. Maybe he wasn’t
really aroused. Maybe he was carrying around a water bottle in his pants. She,
on the other hand, was practically panting.

Without another word, he turned and motioned for her to
follow. Her heels clicked against the wooden floors as she trailed after him.
They crossed the room, and it seemed like everyone was looking at them. Then
again, if they were men, they were probably watching her boobs bounce all over
the place. She shrank down into herself a bit, feeling like a slut. She
certainly looked like a slut, acted like a slut—well, she must be a slut.

That thought struck her as both funny and sad at the same
time, but it took the curve out of her spine. Fuck it. She wore a mask, and she
knew some of the members hadn’t bothered to disguise themselves. It really was
a collection of DC and Baltimore’s highest and brightest. And hottest. She
caught the eye of a man she recognized as a major action movie star, Hawk. He
had long, shiny black hair and looked to be of Native American ancestry. She
never thought celebrities looked as good in real life as he did. He was
flawless.

She ran into the muscled wall of Isaac’s chest and stumbled.
He sighed and shook his head, placing a hand on her lower back to lead her into
a waiting elevator cab. With a wicked grin, he took the cold bottle of
champagne and rolled it over her buttocks. She screeched and jumped away as the
doors to the elevator slid shut.

Rubbing her cold butt, she glared at him. “Okay, seriously, what
the fuck was all of that about?”

He shrugged and began to unwrap the champagne bottle. “Do
you like gardens?”

“What?”

“Do you like gardens?”

“I guess so. My grandma had a lovely flower garden. But I’m
still mad at you.”

“Would you like to drink excellent champagne in the middle
of a thousand roses and look at the stars? You’re free to yell at me. I just
thought we could spend that time relaxing instead. You’ve been exposed to a
great deal in a short amount of time. So let me make up for being a beast and
join me for a drink?”

He made it sound so reasonable that her anger deflated a
bit. “You were a beast.”

“I was.”

“Wait, it’s like thirty degrees outside. I’ll get
hypothermia in this outfit.”

He laughed and shook his head. “Don’t worry. It’s in a
greenhouse.”

The doors to the elevator slid open, and she forgot what she
was going to say. Stepping out of the cab was like stepping into a fantasy
land. They were on the rooftop of a four-story building. Wicked had to be
somewhere outside of DC, because for as far as she could see, there were trees
and gently rolling hills with the city lights way off in the distance. The roof
itself was a forest with real grass. Well, maybe forest was a stretch, but it
was certainly amazing. Most amazing of all was the warmth.

When she looked closer, she could see where the panes of
greenhouse glass had been joined together with super thin strips of metal. A
faint breeze came from somewhere, so the air was circulated, but if she didn’t
look hard, it would almost be like being outside. Except she was in a
fairy-tale forest high in the sky with a handsome prince.

She mentally gave herself a smack. No, no romantic nonsense.
She didn’t care what all those princess movies she’d watched as a kid said.
There were no princes in real life. She needed to get her head out of the
clouds and back to earth.

Isaac leaned against the door of the elevator, keeping it
open. “Shoes off, please.”

She nodded and slipped her heels from her feet, putting her
shoes on the marble slab right off the elevator. Not waiting for him, she took
a step and sank into grass as soft as a baby’s blanket. Everything around her
smelled like summer even though a crystalline winter moon hung from the sky
above them.

“This is amazing, but won’t you get in trouble for bringing
me here?”

“Actually, Sara, Mrs. Florentine, arranged this.” He
shrugged and looked a bit uncomfortable. “She’s serious about me wooing you and
pulling all the stops.”

“Woo me?”

“Yes, Sara has rather old-fashioned ideas about how a
gentleman should court a lady.”

“I’ll say. Having a midnight glass of champagne in the
middle of a summer forest, in the sky above the trees, while snow is on the
ground is
so
old-fashioned.”

“What can I say? I think I might be an old-fashioned guy
where you’re concerned.”

A wisp of silvery cloud floated across the moon, slightly
dimming its light. She wondered what he meant by being old-fashioned around
her. The silly, girlish part of her mind wanted to believe that he may have
more feelings for her than he let on, but he’d been very clear about not
wanting a relationship. Weren’t relationships old-fashioned? Or maybe he just
said that in passing, just a play off her response. Most likely he’d meant
nothing by it, and she was seeing something that wasn’t there. That thought hurt
more than it should. She tried to shake off the melancholy, to recapture her
joy. Looking around at the amazing garden, it wasn’t hard to immerse herself in
the moment, to enjoy what she had rather than longing for something romantic
and silly.

She laughed and held the bottle of champagne while he rolled
his pants up. He turned to look up at her, and his delicious lips curved into a
crooked smile that made her heart beat faster. “What?”

He finished rolling the cuff and stood to face her. As her
eyes adjusted to the darkness, she marveled at the shadows created on his face,
giving him an almost sinister air. Like the evil prince in the fairy-tale
garden. He lifted his hand to touch her, then shoved it in his pocket instead.
“You know, you look lovely in the moonlight.”

“Flattery will get you nowhere, good sir.” Her voice came
out husky, giving weight to her flippant words.

He only grinned and rolled up his socks while placing his
shoes neatly next to her heels.

She surveyed the area and decided which path to take. To the
right came the faint sound of water while to the left an enormous hammock with
dozens of silk pillows swayed between two trees. Straight ahead was the
entrance to what looked like a hedge maze. Delicate purple flowers wreathed the
bushes of the maze, and she wasn’t sure she’d ever seen the exotic blossoms
outside of a book before.

When she wanted to ask a question about the kind of bushes
growing here, she found he’d moved up behind her without her knowing. The
warmth of his frame burned along her spine. If he touched her, all bets were
off. There was no way she could resist him, not after him watching her all
night, and especially not after his actions toward her at the bar. The memory
of sliding down his hard, masculine frame sent a tremble through her sex. They
were both adults, and if he belonged to a club like this, he certainly wasn’t a
prude. She didn’t think she was misreading his attraction to her. Hell, she
could practically feel his lust pressing against her, touching her in the most
intimate of ways. Her body craved him, and she couldn’t think of any reason to
fight it.

He moved around to her front and looked down at her before
taking the champagne bottle from her unresisting fingers. “Come on, I want to
show you something.”

He slipped his fingers into hers and led her to the right
toward the sound of falling water. They crossed a grassy space big enough to
host a large picnic and went past some erotic statues that probably belonged in
a museum instead of Wicked’s private collection. As they neared the source of
the sound, she began to pick up a marvelous perfume to the air. The colors that
burned in the darkness flared to life when they walked around a corner. Then
her world took on an almost surreal reality as she stepped into an enchanted
garden filled with roses of every description and hue.

Stunned, she whispered, “Places like this don’t really
exist.”

“They do in my world.” Isaac let go of her hand and took a
step back. “Go ahead. Everyone reacts this way when they first see the roses.”

She walked to the center of the massive garden and admired
the black marble fountain depicting a circle of women in old-fashioned farm
clothes laughing and splashing each other. Water lilies bigger than her hand
floated at the edges of the fountain, and she traced her fingertips over their
silken petals while examining the sculpture. There was something familiar about
these figures, but she couldn’t think exactly of what it was. In the dim light
of the moon, the women seemed to almost move among the flowing water.

But the most wonderful thing of all was the enormous number
of roses. The air was saturated with their perfume, and it was the most amazing
thing she’d ever smelled. Sharp tones mixed with the heavy sweetness of Old
World flowers. The fountain cleared the air enough so it wasn’t overwhelming,
just an amazing olfactory experience.

A faint glow on the other side caught her eye, and she
wandered over to investigate, curling her toes in the grass and enjoying the
faint scent from the crushed blades. On the opposite side of the fountain lay
an enormous white blanket and two brass lanterns. There was also a plate of
fruit and chocolate as well as a few decadent pastries. Her suddenly empty
tummy growled, and she sighed.

“This is amazing. Almost perfect.”

“Almost?”

She lowered her lashes and gave him the look that never
failed to bring men running. “There is just one more thing that would make this
perfect.”

He looked amused, but she could sense a sudden tension in
him. His eyes grew darker, and he took a step closer, sitting on the edge of
the fountain next to her. “What would that be?”

“Could you
please
help me get out of this corset? I’m starving, but I can’t eat anything with it
on.”

He shook his head and motioned her closer. “You’re terrible.
Turn around.”

She did as he asked, then shivered as his fingers stroked
down her back to the top of the lacings. “You know, I find latex to be amazing
stuff. You’re fully covered, but at the same time, it’s like you’re naked. And
curves like yours look amazing in it.”

She sighed in relief as he began to loosen the corset, and
her lungs filled fully with air for the first time in hours.

Each little tug set her off-balance, and she found herself
leaning back into him, her thighs braced on the outside by his firm legs and by
the fountain behind her. His movements slowed, and he slid his hands beneath
the now loose waist corset, massaging her lower back.

“Better?”

She fought the urge to melt and managed a breathy “Yes” in
reply.

He laughed and tugged at the corset. “It will be easier if
you shimmy it down instead of unlacing it all the way.”

Giving in to a wicked impulse, she pulled the corset down
her legs and bent over in an exaggerated slow movement, conscious of Isaac’s
body cradling hers. She kicked the silver corset off and turned around with a
grin that faded at the fierce look on his face.