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MAN AFTER MIDNIGHT
By DEVYN QUINN APHRODISIA BOOKS Copyright © 2009 Devyn Quinn
All right reserved. ISBN: 978-0-7582-2851-2
Chapter One Butterscotch.
The stranger watching her dance had hair the color of butterscotch, a rich warm shade that just begged for a woman to run her fingers through it.
Barely able to keep her grip on the stripper's pole, Dani Wallace swung around for another glimpse of the mesmerizing man who'd hired her for a private strip session. Her palms were so damp she barely managed to hold the slippery metal bar.
She rarely looked twice at the men who came to watch her dance. From the stage, the faces all blurred together, one barely standing out from another. Her job wasn't to gawk, but to entertain, to fulfill the fantasies of the customers paying to watch her pare down to bare skin. The rule to keep her distance from the patrons was one she'd never broken.
Yet.
Taking a deep breath, Dani hooked one leg around the pole and bent herself over backward. There's a first time for everything. This hunk of eye candy designed to delight the female senses was too enticing to pass up.
Even upside down the stranger looked fantastic. His fashionably mussed shag framed a high brow and finely chiseled cheekbones. Deep-set eyes, a straight nose and a mouth just made for kissing finished his face. Broad shouldered and narrow hipped, he had long legs that stretched out endlessly. His clothing was casual but chic-black jeans and boots, white shirt open at the neck and a black leather duster. His presence held a sense of command, as if those around him were automatically beholden to serve him, to please him.
Stretched out on the leather lounge bracketing one wall, he had her pinned down under a penetrating stare that never once deviated from her body. Such intense scrutiny would be frightening had he leered, but he didn't. He appreciated. Eyes locked only on her, his nostrils flared. Hands curled into fists, his body was as rigid as the cock straining against the front of his tight jeans-an impressive sight in itself.
Dani pulled herself up and shimmied down into a deep squat. The fine hairs on the back of her neck tingled with subtle awareness. Her nipples were hard little nubs, aching to feel the brush of his hands, the scrape of his teeth. The heat behind his intense gaze felt hotter than the surface of the sun.
The stranger had been showing up at Faster Pussycats for about a month, always alone, always standing at the rear of the club. He just watched her-never speaking to her, never approaching her. Tall, impeccably groomed and mannered, he was impossible to miss. Tonight was the first time he'd requested a private session, paying the nightclub's price of three thousand dollars to claim her for the entire evening.
He'd paid in full, in cash. A percentage of the money would be going into her pocket when the night was over. While money might have come easy in his world, she needed every penny she earned. Damn credit cards. The joy she took in plastic had put her over the limit.
Still ...
Tonight didn't have to be entirely about the job. A little naughty fun would be nice for a change.
Dani sneaked a glance over one shoulder. His mere presence threatened to overwhelm, yet he hadn't said more than "please" and "thank you" to her. Through the last half hour he'd watched her gyrate through a medley of innuendo-laced dance beats, slowly taking off her costume until she wore nothing except a beaded G-string and a smile. Moisture seeped between her legs, exacerbated by the rub of the silky material against her sensitive clit.
Her tongue snaked out, tracing her lips. Her grip tightened on the pole, more slippery than ever beneath her sweaty hands. Inside the private VIP suites, the normal rules governing a dancer's actions ceased to exist. Anything could happen if a woman felt generous and the right man came along.
I've never slept with a client.
Common sense told her it was stupid to even consider the idea of having sex with a stranger. Her body had other ideas. Heavy awareness pulsed through her, an arousing accompaniment to the sensual music playing in the background. Put together in one very alluring package, this man was an enthralling enticement to any female. His bad-boy posture practically screamed temptation and trouble.
Dani swallowed the lump building in her throat, fighting to clear away the images unspooling across her mind's screen-images of her butterscotch stallion pinning her beneath his weight. She couldn't help wanting him. Attraction had smacked her upside the head like lightning striking the ground, unavoidable and with electrifying force. It was impossible not to imagine all the things she could do to his magnificent body. She hadn't had sex since breaking up with her boyfriend three months ago. Horny was her middle name, and she needed a little relief from the tension building up inside her. Her admirer seemed to be the perfect answer.
But would the risk be worth the physical gratification? Lust warred briefly with common sense as she imagined how great his lovemaking would be.
Lust won.
All tingling nerves and rising anticipation, Dani decided she had to have him. This man was too damn hot to pass up. She'd worry about the consequences later. She barely restrained herself from dancing over, unzipping his jeans and straddling his lap right then and there. No, she wouldn't go to him. She would make him come to her. Pleasure her.
Expertly balanced in a pair of six-inch stiletto heels, Dani rose to her full height and rotated around the pole. Smiling to herself, she kept perfect time with the heavy pulse of the sensual music, dancing until her entire body shimmered with a light mist of perspiration.
Heart hammering in her chest, she glanced at the stranger. As she suspected, he was thoroughly turned on by her blatant sexual display. He knew exactly what she was doing, as caught up in his moment of voyeurism as she was in her flagrant sexual exhibitionism, revealing every angle of her firm young body. In that moment she was his everything-his mistress of pleasure, the ball-breaking cock-tease, the bitch-goddess who would bring him to his knees to satisfy her own headstrong desire.
As the last song faded to silence, Dani leaned back against the pole, briefly cupping her full breasts before sliding her hands down her flat belly. Her fingers stopped just above the thin line of her G-string, the last piece of clothing she wore.
The hush around them was ravenous. Over the silence, she detected the sound of his heavy breathing. The odor of sweat laced with desire permeated the air between them, thick enough to cut with a knife.
"You like to watch." Her voice was husky, barely recognizable to her own ears. She kept her gaze on his face, watching his reaction to her blatant proposal. Desire coalesced into a hard knot deep inside her core. It was easy to imagine him naked, all rippling sinew and anxious anticipation.
He nodded, an intimate grin unfurling across his fine mouth. His gaze probed her as if seeking entry into the very depths of her mind. A connection, an instantaneous sexual charge, had definitely passed between them. "Very much."
Grinning wickedly, Dani passed the palm of one hand over her Venus mound, slowly sliding a single finger into the cleft between her thighs. "I know you want me."
He eyed her, clearly intrigued. His mouth slowly curved into a cynical smile. "Am I that obvious?"
Yes, he was. Transparent as a piece of Saran Wrap. "All men have only one thing on their minds." Dani tossed her head, giving her long ponytail a saucy flip. "Are you man enough to take what you want?"
His gaze drifted over every inch of her. Yeah, he was interested. Definitely. "Depends on what I would be getting."
Catching her lower lip between her teeth, Dani briefly cupped her breasts before tracing the pink areola with the tips of her fingers. "Whatever you want."
He arched one perfect brow. "Anything I crave?"
No time for second thoughts. It was too late to back down now. She'd extended the invitation. Whether or not he'd accept remained to be seen.
Dani nodded. "All access granted."
Abandoning his seat, the stranger stood and slipped off his expensive suede duster. He casually tossed it aside. "Desiring a woman is one thing." A few steps bridged the invisible boundary separating them. He deftly caught one of her hands, offering a courtly bow and a kiss. An electric shock traveled from his lips to her skin. "To take her is quite another."
Dani gulped against the involuntary reaction of muscles clenching deep in her core. "Oh, my ..." Knees threatening total collapse; a shudder whisked down her spine. Good grief. She'd never had a man kiss her hand, but his unexpected act of courtesy absolutely charmed. The only men she knew that kissed a woman's hand existed solely in the pages of romance novels.
The pressure on her hand tightened subtly. There was no obstruction between them but hesitation. His fully clad body was mere inches away from her all but bare one, taunting her with his nearness. "That you would grant me such a liberty is something I had hardly dared hope. Simply being allowed to admire you from afar is a privilege unparalleled, and quite an enjoyment within itself."
Gently freeing her hand, Dani shifted slightly to ease the press of the pole against her back.
"Am I being romanced or seduced, Butterscotch?"
The nickname seemed to please him. "Neither," he said softly. His fingertips grazed the curve of one bare shoulder, reigniting the buzz in her veins. "Let us say you are being persuaded, for I must admit my intent to be less than pure." His voice was deep but gentle, slightly tinged with an accent she couldn't immediately identify.
Their gazes locked. Lashes longer and thicker than any man had a right to have rimmed his eyes. Now that he was so close, she saw his irises were a fabulous shade of cobalt blue, thickly ringed at the edges with silver. No way in the world that color combination could be natural, but who cared. Combined with the rich shade of his hair, the look was stunning. Tiny lines around the corners of his eyes put him at a mature age, thirty at least. That made him old enough to know his own mind but young enough to go after what he wanted.
Dani gulped against the involuntary reaction of muscles clenching deep in her core. She skillfully slipped around the pole before he could repeat the caress. "Why me?" Despite her move, she was enjoying the game. Her willpower had already crumbled under the onslaught of temptation, but it wouldn't hurt to play out the tension. She didn't want to appear too eager, too easy. Her sidelong glance dared him to follow.
Laughing softly, her enchanting suitor circled in front of her with a smooth step of his own. He was so close that the smell of heated male skin permeated her senses. His presence seared, his inner primal nature threatening to overpower her sensuous cravings. She easily identified the mingling aromas of his cologne, a heady scent of musk mixed with sandalwood. It gave the impression of shadows, of things ancient and mysterious. Whatever the brand might be, it was thoroughly enticing. Just standing there, breathing him in was a turn-on.
He cupped her chin, scraping her bottom lip with his thumb, branding her. There was a tremble behind his touch, a longing barely contained. "More than beautiful, I find you to be a refreshing surprise, a woman who revels in her sexuality, embraces it," he answered in that enthralling way. "I wanted you since I first set my sight upon you."
Dani raked her tongue over paper-dry lips. "Is that so?"
A hint of shadows darkened his eyes, so immediate and so brief as to be barely detected. "Despite my contaminated intentions, I am, my lady, your most committed admirer."
Her knees threatened total collapse as a shudder whisked down Dani's spine. Something about him all of a sudden struck her as being eccentrically out of place, but she couldn't quite put her finger on it. His command of the English language was positively quaint. He was definitely a foreigner. At the moment it only served to make him that much more mysterious, and desirable.
"Flattery will get you everywhere." She tried to sound flippant, but her words came out strained. The oxygen in the room seemed to be seeping away, leaving her breathless.
The stranger leaned closer, erasing the distance between them. A gaze she could drown in locked and held hers. "I speak no flattery, only truth."
A forbidden thrill snarled its web around Dani's heart.
She couldn't believe what was happening, yet couldn't stop it. She didn't even know his name but didn't really care. Maybe she'd find out later, maybe not. It didn't matter who he was or where he'd come from. Their bodies were doing the communicating on an instinctive, more primitive level.
Bending closer, he brushed his mouth over hers. Her lips parted under the press of his tongue seeking entrance. Dani willingly opened to him, letting him in for deep exploration. The hot, sweet taste of him enhanced the wild, savage need he unleashed inside her.
Their kiss broke with the pressure of his warm palm settling on one bare breast. Exploring fingers grazed the bead-hard tip, rolling it between thumb and forefinger, gently tugging.
Dani struggled for breath against the whirlwind sensations his touch ignited. "God, that feels so good." The words, whispered low, barely made it past her lips.
His eyes reflected in the lighting around them, hunger and need simmering in the neon depths. "I am your humble servant in every way." An edge of need sliced through his tone.
Dani was so turned on her body thrummed all the way down to the tips of her toes. "Then please me ..." she said, savoring the moment. "Any way you want." Her words trailed off into a soft moan. Desire pulsed through her veins, filling her with a lust so strong that she felt it with every beat of her heart.
He treated her to a lazy smile, stroking one long finger over the curve of her breast, down her rib cage, going ever lower until reaching the line of her G-string. Kneeling as though he planned to propose, he bent forward, pressing a soft kiss by her navel. Moist, warm breath tickled her bare skin. Slipping his fingers under the elastic band, he ripped the tiny scrap of material off her body. The lace disintegrated, scattering tiny beads every which way.
A warm flush suffused Dani's cheeks. Because of the scarcity of costume she always kept her snatch meticulously bare, waxed down to nary a hair. Her nipples tightened into hard pink buds, and her stomach muscles contracted at the thought of his mouth and tongue exploring her sex.
"Good heavens," she gasped through an agonized groan of anticipation.
He planted a series of soft, slow kisses across the plane of her flat belly. "Do not think," he breathed. "Just feel." His hands slid up the insides of her thighs, hooking one of her legs over his shoulder for wider access. His mouth invaded the cleft between her legs.
Balanced against the pole for support, Dani thrust her fingers into his thick hair, holding on for dear life as he tasted every inch of her, his tongue flicking against her clit until her hips trembled.
Lost in the sensations, Dani pressed herself harder against his mouth, taking everything he gave. Her entire body quaked with an all-consuming carnality. She was so rigid that stopping now would shatter her completely. The need to come, to climax, was so pent up it hurt. The sensations he invoked in her body felt so good ... so completely right.
"I'm so damn close," she grated between rigid jaws. The tremors began in small waves, climbing higher and growing more intense until every inch of her body writhed in the grasp of heated tremors.
Dani bit back a long husky groan. Strong inner muscles tightened and a delicious spiral of pure molten heat wound through her belly. Body pulsing, she concentrated on holding on to the delicious sensations just a moment longer.
Somehow her lover made it back to his feet, his mouth unexpectedly claiming hers with a teeth-clashing appetite.
Dani welcomed him willingly, tasting the spice of her feminine cream on his lips. Delicious. She was ripe, hot and ready for full penetration. "I want your cock," she breathed out through a vibrating moan. "I want you inside me." Her vision was clouded with need, unfocused. Her pulse beat through her head, dizzying her. Eager hands plucked at the buttons of his shirt.
When she couldn't undo the buttons fast enough, she tore through the material. Her hands explored the ridges and cobbles of his chest and abdomen. Hot muscle tensed beneath her palms. His erection pressed against the prison of his tight jeans, but she couldn't stop shaking long enough to make her hands cooperate. (Continues...)
Excerpted from MAN AFTER MIDNIGHT by DEVYN QUINN Copyright © 2009 by Devyn Quinn. Excerpted by permission.
All rights reserved. No part of this excerpt may be reproduced or reprinted without permission in writing from the publisher.
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