STORY EXCERPT

The room was a spacious suite with a king sized bed and expansive living area with a couch and two chairs. The bathroom was outfitted with a steam shower and a grand tub that could fit possibly four people. I giggled as I looked around, and then I flew myself onto the bed relishing its soft bounce. I kicked off my shoes and wiggled my toes. My body relaxed under the peaceful silence. Work had consumed my life to such a degree that not until this moment did I realize how lovely it was to have nothing on my agenda, no documents to review, no clerks to see, no senior lawyers to schmooze.

A knock at the door broke the silence. I sat up and looked around noticing that my bag had not been brought up. It must be the bell hop, I assumed.

At first, my eyes landed on his sharp black shoes and then rose up the impeccably dressed man in a charcoal suit sans tie. Given that he had to be over six feet tall, it took time for my eyes to land on his face, his sculpted cheek bones, full dark hair, hazel eyes, and cheeky grin. Then I froze. Brent Taylor stood before me.

My freshman year in college I waited tables at a little diner. Brent, the arrogant, impossibly good looking, senior college baseball star, teased me relentlessly. He stole my good tables, called me “Miss Priss” in front of everyone probably because he didn’t bother to learn my name, and devoted time to making me miserable by dividing up work load so that I got to do the grunt of it while he’d leave early to party with his girl of the month or jock buddies. One time he corralled some of his friends from the team to pick my car up and move it, leaving me with the panicked feeling of aimlessly walking around our parking structure fearing my car had been taken or that I had lost my mind.

“Oh, hell no,” I said, shaking my head as I shut the door. He quickly put his shoe in the frame preventing it from closing. His fingers curled around the edge of the door pushing it back open. I stepped back. He stepped forward, closing it behind him.

He folded his arms across his broad chest. I wished I had kept my heels on to give me a little bit of leverage, but without them I was reduced to my five-foot-two stature. My hands rested on my hips. We were having a sort of staring contest, although I was fuming and he still donned that cheeky grin as he sized me up.

I finally caved and spoke first. “No.”

“No?” He arched an eyebrow. “Try ‘Hello.’”

“No, and good-bye.” I turned in the direction of the bed with the intention of getting my shoes but I barely made it a step before I felt his hand on my elbow spinning me around to face him.

“Now is that any way to greet an old friend?”

“This was a mistake. Besides, I’m sure there are rules against this”—I waved my free hand in the space between us—“that we know each other.”

“I make the rules.” He shrugged. “I own the resort.” I heard the words but my mind couldn’t compute. How could I have missed this when I looked up the spa? “Now, I don’t usually play with the guests, but when I saw your name pop up on the reservation I knew I had to make an exception.”

I rolled my eyes and tugged my elbow free from his grip. “You own this? The whole place?”

“Don’t look so surprised.” He put his hand to his chest. “I’m hurt.”

“Pfft,” I muttered as I went to the edge of the bed and slid my shoes on. I stood up feeling better about the added four inches of height.

He glanced at my feet and whistled. I felt a small smile form at his approval. I dipped my head to hide it, annoyed with myself for letting him matter to me.

He closed the gap between us. His finger traced my jaw. I closed my eyes and breathed in his masculine scent. When his finger got to my chin he tilted it up. His other hand reached for my head and unclipped the pin keeping my hair in its tight bun. My unruly auburn hair spilled out down my back. A hint of a smile ghosted his lips as he wrapped a lock in his hand. “That’s the Sophia I remember.”

ADULT EXCERPT

Brent rested his head against to edge of the Jacuzzi. He dragged his hand across his face. With his eyes gazing up to the sky he said,. “I should have gone over some things with you before…well, in a normal circumstance a person comes to the guest’s room and talks with them about the amenities, the different services, and finds out what they want to do while they stay. We have a pool, a club, restaurants, golf course, and a BDSM quarters stocked with rooms for what people desire.”

I sat to the side facing him with my knees curled to my chest, the water remained at my shoulders. I propped an elbow on the edge and leaned my cheek on my fist.

He continued, “I should have told you what’s available, talked about preferences, and then asked you what you wanted.”

He sat up and dunked himself under the water again. Coming up for air he asked, “So while you’re here—“

“Look, I thought I was just getting away for a weekend. I’d like a massage, to be out by the pool, eat good food, and…” I put my palm up to the sky not knowing what else to say.

“Yeah, but Sophia, come on. You could have gone to the Four Seasons for that.”

His eyes were asking for me to come out and say it, that the idea of some sexual activity without any attachments is why I gravitated here, but I just couldn’t admit it. I’d hardly accepted it myself.

“I’ll have a masseuse come to the room in the morning.”

I smiled. “Thank you.”

“And whatever you want to eat, anything that you are craving, I’ll be sure to have it available. We even have a yoga studio.”

I put my hand on his cheek, the one on the receiving end of my slaps. “Thank you.”

“Why has it been so long for you? Two years you told Lora.”

I retracted my hand swiftly. “Are you kidding me?” Both hands covered my face now. I took a deep breath. “I wouldn’t have said anything if I’d known it was you who’d be looking over the file!” Oh shit. It dawned on me that she’d also marked me as sexually submissive.

I sunk under the water and glided to the other side to sit. “I work a lot. Like, pretty much all the time. I met someone in law school and we were together for a couple of years, but when a spot for a competitive internship came up, we both applied and I ended up with the spot. He wasn’t the same after that. Then after graduation I landed a job with a really great firm. He didn’t. We fizzled out. I’ve been busy working my tail off since.” I reclined my head on the edge.

“He wasn’t a match for you.”

“Thanks for stating the obvious,” I said with a half-hearted laugh. I sighed and stared up at the night sky dotted with stars, too many to count.

Brent waded toward me. I stretched my legs straight out so that my feet planted on his chest. “But do you know why?” he asked. He moved forward causing my knees to bend. I straightened them back out and he smiled at the push my feet exerted on his chest. His hand clasped my ankle bringing my left foot upward. He lightly bit my big toe. I snickered and withdrew my foot.

“That tickles.”

He now had room to swiftly move forward between my thighs. His elbows rested on the outer edge flanking the sides of my head. “He wasn’t as good as you, as strong as you, or as smart as you. It fizzled because you topped him, and that’s not something you want.”

His face was less than an inch from mine, his beautiful full lips hovering above me. I sucked in a deep breath and sunk below the water away from his reach and to the middle of the Jacuzzi. Under the water his strong arms captured my middle and dragged me back to him. I was on his lap, my back pressed to his chest, my body caged in his embrace. I twisted in his hold.

“Stop fighting me, and just let yourself feel,” he said.