StripperwithSpice (7 page)

“This is your last chance to say no, Janice.” His voice is
softer than before but much hoarser.

“I need you, Carlos.”

The tension in his body now is so strong he trembles with
it. He pinches his lips together, making them pale for a moment. “Are you sure?
I don’t want to make you unhappy.”

I grip his cock harder, probably too hard. “I’m sure. I need
you. I need you to fuck me.”

A cryptic smile flits across his lips, even now. “You won’t regret
it.”

He pulls off his briefs and gets a condom packet out of one
of the nightstands. I notice his hands tremble as he opens it. Do I really make
such a confident hunk nervous? The thought fills me with power. He makes quick
work of unrolling the bright-red condom down his erection.

Finally getting on the bed, he squats between my knees. My
mouth and pussy both water for the red shaft just waiting to pierce me. Without
a word, he lowers himself over me, supporting his weight on his left elbow. To
my surprise, he looks into my eyes and strokes the side of my cheek with this
right hand. It’s almost as if he cares about me. Why not pretend he does?

This is a one-night stand, I remind myself. His tender
gesture can’t possibly mean anything except he’s as caught up in the moment as
I am. But wouldn’t it be nice if we were in a relationship and he gazed at me
that way every day before we had sex? With this man I’d definitely have sex at
least once a day…

He looks down and so do I as his cock enters me with
agonizing slowness, as if I’m a fragile virgin. I realize, too late, that we
forgot to take my thong off. The lace triangle rides up and to the side. It’s
been so long since I’ve done this my body barely lets him in. Maybe it knows
something I don’t. After all, I could get hurt this way.

After several long, delicious moments, he’s inside me to the
hilt.

“You’re so tight. I really like that too.”

He stops.

The only movement in our bodies is our breathing and our
pulses, which are both much faster than normal. He feels so damn good. The
length of my core stretches around him and squeezes him in return.

Surprising me again, he brushes the hair back from my
forehead. “Stop thinking.”

“I’m not—”

“Yes, you are. I can tell. Let go.”

I nod, frantically grasping his shoulders as he pulls out of
me.
Don’t leave!
Not yet. He enters me again, faster and harder this
time.

“Aah!” I cry out from the exquisite sensation.

My hands skate from his shoulders down his arms. His tattoos
remind me I’m not with a typical boring analyst. I’m with a hot young stud in
the prime of his life.

Am I really being fucked by a sexy male stripper? This can’t
possibly be real. I must be having a scorching-hot dream. Each thrust of his
lean, flexing hips drives me deeper into the soft bed and further into
oblivion.

“Do you like this,
querida
?”

Nodding again, I release the breath I’ve been holding.
Hearing his sexy foreign endearment hastens me toward the edge. My shaved pussy
feels each kiss of the slick condom as it slides inside me. As if awakened from
a deep sleep, the walls of my cunt come alive—tingling, burning and swelling
until they almost hurt.

Carlos smiles. I guess he’s finally sure I won’t say no.
We’re both in this now until we come. The smile fades as his jaw sets with
determination. Leaning on his outstretched arms as if doing a pushup, he
rotates his hips. As a result, the firm head of his cock penetrates me at
different angles, firing nerves I didn’t know I had. Mercy, he’s dancing inside
me.

“Mmm,” he moans. “You feel so goddamn perfect.”

Without thinking, I dance too—meeting his decadent thrust
one time and dodging it the next. The bed I’m lying on is no longer flat. As he
pierces me from one angle to another, it moves as if I’m on a ship. The entire
room is riding hard right along with us.

Radiating from my core and clit, pressure builds inside me.
It swells my breasts and even pushes behind my eyes. I’m one of those seeded
dandelion heads. One puff and I’ll shatter into the wind. As if someone flipped
a switch, a constant keening sound now spills from my throat.

He slows down and frowns. “Are you all right?”

“No.”

“Good.” Smiling again, he picks up the pace.

My head whips from side to side. “This is…the best…the best
sex I’ve ever had.”

“Good. I’m glad you’re enjoying our little game.”

His words remind me of the situation. When our two hours are
up, it’s goodbye. Did I decide that or did he? I grip his shoulders with my
hands and his hips with my thighs. No sane person would let something this good
go.

“Stop thinking.” He kisses the side of my neck. “Come for
me.”

Returning my mind to the drumbeats of pleasure pounding
through me, my belly tightens. Each scrape of his hardness is exquisite
torture. I want to bottle up this feeling to save it forever, but it passes too
quickly. I’m climbing, climbing…

Breathing hard through his mouth, he slides a hand between
our damp, straining bodies and thrums my clit back and forth with one finger.
My steady climb takes a giant leap to the summit. The climax shakes me as if
I’m a rag doll.

“Oh God.” Half screamed and half sobbed, the words are torn
from me.

My upper body writhes against the bed while Carlos’ cock,
still inside me, anchors my lower body. I’m completely out of control. My arms
fly out and hit his with a violence that shocks me. It’s a good thing I can’t
injure myself with soft pillows around me.

“That’s it, Janice,” he whispers. “Come all over my bed.”

The aftershocks of my orgasm continue with strength of their
own, fueled by the hardness of his cock still lodged deep inside my cunt. My
nails dig into the muscles of his arms. The solidness of them is the only thing
keeping me from flying into the abyss that threatens to suck me away.

As soon as I realize he hasn’t come yet, he drives into me
harder and faster than he ever has before. He must have put his own pleasure
aside to be sure I had mine. Every tan muscle glows with sweat. Even his dark
hair is damp and tousled across his forehead. He’s ten times more gorgeous in
motion than he is standing still.

He winces and his entire body jerks the bed with force.
Wanting to please him the way he pleased me, I squeeze his cock with every
internal muscle I have. With a giant thrust, he collapses on top of me. I feel
the small spasms inside me while he fills the condom with ejaculate.

Wonder and magic tingle through my blood. This is no sleazy
one-night stand. Even though it’ll kill me to say goodbye, the opportunity to
share this is a gift I’ll never forget.

Our arms slide around each other and our heads end up
ear-to-ear. That’s fine with me because I don’t have the strength to look at
him right now.

“Did you enjoy it, Janice?”

“You have to ask?”

“I would have done more moves on you if we had more time.”

I assumed he’d try a variety of positions and regale me with
sexual gymnastics, but I’m glad he didn’t. The missionary position made it more
real somehow.

After pulling out of me, he leans to the side and props his
head on his hand. I study his face, touching the scar near his eye I’d seen in
the picture.

“How did you get that?”

He grabs my hand a little too fast and kisses it. “That
little scar? Roughhousing when I was a kid.”

Stop asking such nosy questions, Janice. This is just a
one-night stand, remember?

“We have a little time left.” He kisses my hand again and
lays it on the pillow. “What do you want to do now?”

I clear my throat. “This is where we part ways.”

My eyes grow heavy as if they’re filled with water. If I’d
known how hard it would be to end it, I never would have agreed to this. He’s
in my soul now.

“Stay.” His hand brushes the tops of my breasts, not with
passion but caring. “I don’t have to work tomorrow. We could have dinner. Take
our time in bed.”

When I sit upright, my head feels light. My blood still
lingers in other places.

“I
do
have to work tomorrow.”

With a fingertip, he traces a circle around my nipple
without touching it. “Call in sick. Let’s have all night and another day
together.”

The warmth pooling in my breast glues the thought to my mind
for consideration. As if an electric buzzer stings my butt, I jump off the bed
and grab my pants.

“When I make an agreement I stick to it, Carlos.”

He sits up and winks at me. “Breaking the rules is more
fun.”

Which is exactly why this would never work. He’s young,
passionate and impulsive. I’m the complete opposite.

Hanging his head, he sighs. “All right. Let’s get cleaned up
and say goodbye.”

I use the bathroom first, shocked by how wanton I look in
the mirror. Not only is my makeup smeared and every hair out of place, I have
the eyes of a woman who’s just had her deepest desire satisfied.

Did I really just have sex with a stranger?

When I’m done, I wait for him in the chair I sat in earlier.
He emerges from the bathroom in a clean white tee shirt and shiny black jogging
pants. He picks up his phone from the dresser, enters something and hands it to
me. I take it, seeing an empty phone number box under the name Janice.

“Enter your number.”

I stare at the box. “I can’t.”

The corner of his mouth twitches. “It would make it a lot easier
to call you if you did.”

I give the phone back to him. “We agreed on a clean break.
If I give you my number, I’ll sit around wondering why you never call.”

“I’ll call, damn it.”

I bite my lip to keep the emotion out of my voice. “Carlos,
this has been the most wonderful day of my life, but we’re completely
different. I want to end it with this perfect memory.”

His face hardens, his dark eyes smoldering with
determination. “Where do you live?”

I sigh. “Fairfax, Virginia.”

“I live in Silver Spring, Maryland. That’s not exactly the
other side of the world, you know.”

“Isn’t this game about what I want?”

He holds up his hands in surrender and steps aside as I walk
toward the door. “You’re right. It is.”

I stop at the door, something sharp digging inside my chest.
“Goodbyes are no fun, are they?”

The memory of losing a job I’d loved for years flashes into
my mind, but I push it away.

He takes me into his arms. “I want more, Janice, but I
respect your wishes.”

With my head turned to the side as he holds me, I realize
I’m in danger of changing my mind. I can’t let go. My fingers are hooks and my
heart is lost in a fog I don’t ever want to escape from.

I never dreamed a one-night stand could feel like this.

To make matters harder, his hand drifts down to my bottom
and holds it in a possessive squeeze—as if I belong to him now on some primal
level. Touching his cheek, I kiss him, once and lightly, on the lips. His scent
fills me, making one last hold on me it takes all my strength to break. I can’t
even say the word goodbye before I rush out the door.

It closes behind me with metallic finality, echoing down the
hall. I stare at the lock where what seems just moments ago Carlos slid in his
keycard. The gold letters of the room number burn into my mind as I file it away
in my memory.

He never got around to telling me the story about his eagle
tattoo. I guess I’ll never hear it now. Clapping my hands to both sides of my
head, I wince. What have I done? I must have been out of my mind to think I
could handle a one-night stand. It was a mistake!

Well, it’s done. All I can do now is try my best to forget
it.

I wheel my suitcase into the bar to tell Zena I can’t have a
drink with her after all. The room is nearly deserted and she’s sitting at one
of the high round tables with an exotic drink.

“Hey, Zena. I just came to say goodbye. I can’t—”

She grins over the umbrella sticking out of her drink. “You
did it.”

“Did what?”

She points to the stool across from her. “Sit.”

I grip the handle of my suitcase. “I really have to go. I
have a mountain of work to do tonight.”

“You’re not going anywhere until I get details.”

“All right.” I look at my watch. “Ten minutes, but I
shouldn’t drink. I have a long drive.”

Zena flags down a nearby waiter to get me an iced tea. The
lingering scent, taste and touch of Carlos is all over me, reminding me we
really made love. Part of me doesn’t ever want to shower or brush my teeth
again because it’ll all wash off.

I slide onto the barstool and focus on stirring the iced tea
the waiter brings. “Did Dorothy go home?”

“Yeah. I’m sure thoughts of Rolf will boost her sex life for
a while.”

“What did they do on their date? Carlos told me the raffle
was fixed.”

She cocks her head. “Interesting. He must have chosen you. I
doubt that was the case with Rolf and Dorothy though.”

“So what did they do? Did she say?” By keeping the focus on
Dorothy, it would remain safely away from me.

“They had drinks and he gave her a foot rub right here in
the bar.” Zena peers at me with narrowed eyes. “You look stoned.”

I blink and sit straighter. “I do?”

“It was that good, huh?”

“All right, yes. We did it even though it was against
convention rules. I didn’t want to at first but he…he convinced me.”

She twirls the drink umbrella and moves the slider up and
down. “Hubba. Hubba. I just bet he did. So how was he?”

“Zena!” I look around but there’s no one close enough to
hear. “It was good. It was nice.”

“Nice?” she asks with a scornful curl of her lip. “You mean
he didn’t hang you from the ceiling and fill your body with sex toys?”

“No, it was pretty traditional, but that made it right
somehow. For the record, he was hard. Very hard. Hard as a coconut.”

She slaps the table, letting out a howl of laughter. Both of
us giggle until tears come to our eyes.

“So when are you going to see him again?” she asks, looking
serious again.

“I’m not,” I reply.

“He just wanted a one-nighter, huh? That’s too bad.”

“No, I did.”

She sets down her drink with a thump. “Are you insane?”

I fold my arms on the table. “He and I are completely
different. There’s no future for us.”

“You don’t know that. Why not see where it goes and get all
the good sex you can?”

“Where it’ll go is me getting too attached,” I reply. “My
job is very demanding and I don’t have time for a relationship. It’s better
this way.”

She stares at the umbrella as she twirls it between her
fingers. “Yeah, maybe you’re right.”

“What about you, Zena? No boyfriend?”

“Not right now. Unfortunately the kind of guys I go for
aren’t great in the relationship department.”

“Let me guess, you go for guys like Rolf and Carlos?”

Zena nods. “I really should stop coming to these conferences
and torturing myself.”

I dig my nails into my palm, torn between wanting and not
wanting to know more.

“So you’ve dated a male stripper before?” I ask.

She gazes at the silent flat-screen TV across the room. “I
fell in love with one.”

“What happened?”

“He screwed everything in sight. I tried to act cool about
it at first, but I couldn’t take it.”

Something cold and prickly wraps around my insides as I
stare at the lemon wedge floating in my glass. Maybe I shouldn’t have stepped
inside Carlos’ hotel room after all.

“Are they all that way?” I ask.

“You ought to research the lifestyle sometime,” she tells
me. “It’s pretty shocking and it takes a lot to shock me.”

“Such as?”

Damn my analytical mind, always needing the details.

She drains the rest of her drink. “Well, women hit on them
everywhere they go because of how good they look. They usually screw at least a
couple of them on show nights. Then there’s the afterparties.”

“What’s an afterparty?”

“It happens after the Saturday night show, which makes the
most money. The dancers invite the prettiest girls to party with them at
someone’s house or a hot nightclub.”

“Sounds depressing.”

“Then there’s the after-afterparties,” Zena continues.
“Everybody goes to one of the dancer’s pads to drink, screw—and whatever—until
the sun comes up.”

I hold up my hand. “I’ve heard enough.”

Sunrise? Are you kidding me? I’m lucky if I can keep my eyes
open until midnight.

“But Carlos is probably different. Some of them actually get
into committed relationships.”

Maybe. But I don’t plan on finding out. If I’d known all
this before, I never would have slept with the man. Thank goodness it’s over.

“If they’re so bad, Zena, why do you keep coming back to
these conventions—especially when the rules don’t allow you to get too close?”

“Rules didn’t stand in your way.”

“True,” I reply as my cheeks flush.

“This is where I fit.” She shrugs. “Ordinary men just don’t
cut it for me. They watch TV all day with paunchy bellies, burp, fart and
scratch their nads. Romance is a foreign language to them and they don’t know
or care what a woman wants.”

I smile in agreement. “You just described my past
relationships.”

“I figure one day I’ll get lucky and land a good one.
Meanwhile, a fantasy is better than nothing.”

Not me. My walk on the wild side today was incredibly
thrilling and maybe even necessary but no more. I’m never attending one of
these conventions again. Why tempt myself with something that’s bad for me?

“I’ve got to get going.” I stand and give her a hug. “It was
so nice meeting and hanging out with you.”

“You too. We’ll have to keep in touch. With me in Columbia
and you in Fairfax, we’re practically neighbors.”

She pulls out her phone and creates a contact record,
reminding me of Carlos doing the same thing earlier. This time I enter my
number.

“Maybe I’ll see you next year?” she asks.

I don’t think so.
“Yeah, maybe.”

* * * * *

The next day at work, I scramble to catch up. After wild sex
and the long drive, I didn’t get much done last night. I’m flipping through
emails and files faster than a dynamo. The pace here at Trendler Trust isn’t
just quick. It travels at the speed of light. One false move and I could find
myself unemployed again. Damn this languor in my body that battles with the
frantic energy.

It feels strange to wear my old underwear again, and have
these beige slacks and blouse always looked so boring?

Hard as I’m trying to forget yesterday’s incredible sex with
Carlos, I can’t. When I stood by the copy machine this morning, I pictured the
moment when he slid his hard cock out of his pants. Instead of stacks of paper,
I touched clingy, black underwear. And when I poured a cup of coffee in the
break room, I swore it had a trace of mesquite scent in it.

I want to be in that hotel room again, not here. What’s he
doing today? Sleeping in? Having a leisurely breakfast? The muscles in my neck
and shoulders have already settled back to their original bowstring tightness.
I sigh as I imagine his powerful fingers digging into the muscles and
dissolving the knots.

Harriet Crawford, an older woman with man-short hair, drops
a file on my desk with the finesse of a drill sergeant.

“I need this by lunchtime. And there’s a meeting in five
minutes.”

Blinking in confusion, I focus on the fluorescent light
glaring from the large sword pin on her lapel.

“Sure, Harriet. Uh, what meeting?”

“Check your email.”

The lining of her tartan skirt swishes as she marches away.
I glance back at the computer to see a ton of new emails and meeting invites.
Shuddering, I drink some coffee but it’s cold. The sound of rapid clicks on a
nearby keyboard reminds me to pick up the pace. As if I could forget in this
place.

My phone rings.

“This is Janice,” I bark into the phone.

“Hey, sexy. You sound stressed.”

The receiver almost drops onto my keyboard. It can’t be.

“Carlos?”

“
Sí, señorita hermosa
.”

The gold honey of his voice pours through the phone, making
me forget all my deadlines and everything except the incredible afternoon we
spent together.

“H-how did you find me?” I demand.

“Since you didn’t give me your number, I had to investigate.
Your employer is listed on LinkedIn.”

Damn social networking.

A male stripper calling my workplace and sounding sexy is
the last thing I need right now if I want to get any work done today.

“I can’t stop thinking about yesterday, Janice.”

His voice is so calm and warm. He’s probably lying on his
bed right now…with no shirt on and those tight, black briefs. Is he hard? My
abdomen heats up as if someone turned on an oven switch, but I flip it back
off.

“I can’t talk, Carlos. I’m very, very busy.”

“You sound so stressed out. I wish I was there to calm you
down.”

So do I.

“Look, you can’t call me here.”

“Then where can I call you? Give me your cell number.”

“Of all the women who must be chasing you—” Remembering
where I am, I lower my voice. “Why me when I’m not giving you the time of day?”

I answer my own question. He probably enjoys the thrill of
the chase.

Well, I don’t have time to play games!

“Have dinner with me tonight,” he says next. “I’ll come to
Fairfax.”

“That’s not part of our agreement.”

A meeting reminder pops up on my computer. I have a million
things to do to prepare for it, not to mention the noon deadline I have to meet.

“I’m breaking our agreement,” he declares. “You need me,
Janice, and I need you.”

A chord of agreement thrums inside me even though it makes
no sense.

I hold the phone in one hand and look up data on the
computer with the other. It would be much easier to type if I put the call on
speakerphone. Wouldn’t that be entertaining to the rest of the office?

“How can you need me?” I whisper. “We hardly know each
other.”

“That’s why I want to get to know you, over dinner,” he
says. “I really need to fuck you again, but we can just talk.”

He needs to fuck me again… What he just said and the way he
said it sends a zap of electricity straight to my cunt.

Okay, that’s it. Dirty talk on the office phone strays too
close to threatening my job. If this particular call is monitored, I’m already
toast.

My mouth tightens with restrained fury. “Don’t call here
anymore.”

“I won’t if you give me another number.”

“Fine.” To get rid of him immediately without the risk of
having him call me back here, I give him my cell number and hang up on him.

What was I thinking getting involved with a younger man? He
must believe the entire world revolves around sex. Of course, that’s not
necessarily a bad thing…

My fingers tremble on the keyboard and my heart pounds as if
I’m running a marathon. Another annoying reminder pops up on my computer
screen. The meeting starts now and I’m completely unprepared. I’m not even
coherent.

All I can think is Carlos needs to fuck me again and I’m
afraid I need it too.

* * * * *

I can’t believe I’m doing this, I think while parking at a
nearby restaurant that evening. How did Carlos talk me into this? When he
called my cell phone number at the end of the workday, I was so stressed I
would probably have agreed to anything.

“Just this once,” I’d told him.

I am not going to end up hurt like Zena.

Over dinner, I’d reason with him and explain why a
relationship between us would never work. As soon as we finish eating, we’re
leaving the restaurant. No sex. Absolutely no sex. For this reason, I chose to
wear a button-down shirt of hazel-colored cotton instead of the black lace. Why
give him the wrong idea?

I walk inside the vestibule, wishing the restaurant interior
beyond wasn’t so dim and romantic-looking. I’m thankful it doesn’t have
tablecloths and candles, but we should’ve met at a fast-food place instead.
With enough fluorescent lights beating down on us, we probably wouldn’t even
think about sex.

The door opens behind me and I smell mesquite. Without
looking, I know he’s here.

“
Buenas noches
.” He squeezes my arm and kisses me on
the cheek before opening the inner door for me.

Punctual and a gentleman. What’s not to like? I need to find
something to dislike and fast.

He wears a rust-colored suede jacket, black jeans, boots and
a white shirt. I swear he looks sexier dressed than he does naked. An insane
urge to watch him strip everything off rips through my body. Just being around
him releases champagne bubbles of excitement inside me until I can’t feel the
floor anymore. The awful day at work slips off as if it’s an old skin.

“You’re a persistent man,” I tell him after we’re seated at
a much-too-intimate wooden booth, waiting for the drinks we ordered.

“I go after what I want. I didn’t cause you any problems at
work, did I?”

“Besides distracting me? No.”

“Good. You sounded pretty miserable today. Is your job
really that bad?”

“It’s…challenging. If I want to keep it in today’s economy,
I have to work my butt off.”

“I can think of much better uses for your beautiful ass,
Janice.”

Heat collects under the inside of my blouse and I squirm in
my seat. How can I withhold sex from this man? I’m practically ready to unzip
his pants and get him inside me right here. If we end up alone tonight, I’m in
trouble.