STORY EXCERPT

“Thanks, do come again soon.”

Caitlyn waved the last of the restaurant’s customers away, closed the door behind them and gratefully leaned her aching back against it.

“I thought they’d never go.” She kicked off one flat pump and rubbed her cramped toes against her opposite calf, sighing when feeling slowly returned to them. “Why do people linger for so long?”

Tony Angelo looked up from counting the night’s takings and winked. “You make them too welcome, cara mia.”

Caitlyn tried not to wince. She hated having to be nice to the creep. She hated it even more when her boss tried to flirt with her or spouted Italian endearments in an effort to impress her. He was about as Italian as she was a size two, and Caitlyn suspected the closest he’d ever gotten to Italy was Venice Beach. She wondered what he’d say if he knew she’d spent two years as an au pair in Florence and that her Italian was better than his.

She was immune to Tony’s noxious form of charm—with good reason—but the customers fell for it wholesale. It amused her in a masochistic sort of way. This was West Palm Beach, the land of the rich and powerful. But it seemed being rich didn’t equate to having full-on bullshit detectors. The old ladies Tony sweet-talked lapped up the attention and kept coming back for more.

“All part of the service,” Caitlyn said wearily.

Tony looked up from his calculator with an expression of…well, calculation. Damn, she could have phrased that better. He was too arrogant to suppose any woman could hold out against him for long and would interpret her remark as deliberate encouragement. He’d put the move on Caitlyn the moment she’d applied for a waitress job in his pseudo-Italian restaurant two long weeks ago and seemed genuinely perplexed by his lack of progress. It was pathetic.

“Come and sit down, put your feet up, and have a drink. You’ve earned it.”

It was then that Caitlyn noticed they were completely alone. How had that happened? Where was the other waitress? Oh yes, she’d had to leave early, Caitlyn remembered now, but the kitchen staff ought to be around still. A feeling of unease trickled down her spine. Had Tony found out who she really was and why she was here? Had he sent everyone home without her realizing it while she’d been chatting with those last customers? Shit, she was in trouble and had no idea what to do.

“Just give me a moment.”

Caitlyn was wary, but the thought of Mia strengthened her resolve. Tony was in a mellow mood, and she was probably inventing trouble where none existed. This was the opportunity she’d been striving to create, and she couldn’t afford to let it pass. She already knew he enjoyed boasting. Perhaps, if she encouraged him to talk, he’d let something slip—some clue as to what had happened to Mia. Better yet, she might finally get past the permanently locked door to his private apartment—the only place where she was likely to find any clues—but at what price? Caitlyn could take care of herself but wasn’t sure how much longer she could keep up the pretense, or avoid having her cover blown by someone she knew, so it was now or never.

“I…er, need to use the bathroom.”

“You don’t need to make yourself beautiful for me. It’s impossible to improve on perfection.”

Christ, did he really just say that? Caitlyn wanted to gag. Instead she headed toward the ladies’ restroom, thinking the guy really was a grade-A jerk. The restaurant was eerily quiet, no sound other than Tony’s calculator and his muttered oaths when the totals didn’t meet with his expectations. He’d even turned off the god-awful taped Muzak that flooded the restaurant during opening hours. He told the clients that it reminded him of the “old country,” and the suckers fell for it every time.

Caitlyn lingered in the bathroom, preparing herself mentally for this obviously staged one-to-one, anxious yet determined. She was smarter than Tony, and she was a woman on a mission. She could do this. She…hell, what was that?

Shouting? Breaking glass?

Without stopping to think, Caitlyn rushed from the bathroom back into the main body of the restaurant. What she saw there made her stop dead in her tracks, rendered temporarily motionless with shock. Then survival instincts kicked in and she ducked behind a serving station, her heart beating at double its normal rate. Looking absolutely petrified, Tony stood behind the bar, pleading with a thug pointing a gun directly at his torso.

Shit, this was bad!

Don’t shoot him. Not until he tells me what he’s done with Mia. Then he’s all yours.

The gunman briefly glanced in her direction, almost as though he could hear her thoughts or her frantically pounding heart. She was pretty sure he hadn’t seen or heard her above the sound of Tony’s pleading voice. Caitlyn reminded herself that she was wearing flat shoes with soft soles that made no noise on the tiled floor, and she hadn’t given herself away by letting the door to the bathroom slam.

No, the thug couldn’t know she was there. Reassured, she poked her head out and tried to get a better look at him. She couldn’t see his face very well because he was wearing a padded jacket and had the collar pulled up around his ears, but just his size was enough to scare her shitless. The man was huge, but she could see that his bulk was made up of muscle rather than fat and if he did see her she’d never outrun him before he got a shot off. The hand holding the gun was rock firm, she noticed, quailing. This guy was the real deal.

“Last chance,” the gunman said. “Tell me what I need to know while you’ve still got the breath left to do it.”

“Look, I did what you asked. She’s here.” Tony spread his hands, which were shaking, and sweat trickled down his face. “We had a deal. I’ve done my part.”

“Then I don’t need you anymore, asshole. Bye, bye.”

Caitlyn smothered a gasp as the gunman waved the gloved fingers of his spare hand at Tony and pulled the trigger with the other.

ADULT EXCERPT

Bryce worked his way down her torso, slowly, methodically, nodding to Jared when he was ready for him to use the feather Bryce had given him. He attacked the soles of her feet with it while Bryce concentrated on her sweet pussy, pushing her legs apart and working his hands closer and closer to her most sensitive areas without actually touching them.

“Need to come,” she muttered drowsily. “Make me come, Bryce.”

“Oh no you don’t!” He slapped her hand away when she tried to touch herself. “Much as I’d like to watch you bring yourself off, now isn’t the time. Just behave and let us decide what’s best for you.”

“You’re such a tease,” she complained, sighing dramatically.

“And you love it.”

Bryce kissed her oily belly button while Jared tortured her inner thighs with the feather. They worked in tandem, a perfectly oiled machine in all respects, driving her increasingly wild as they took her to the brink and then backed off. Bryce rolled her onto her side and lay facing her, nipping and biting at her pretty nipples while Jared rimmed her anus with a semi-extended claw.

“What are you—”

“Shush.” Bryce brushed the hair away from her face and kissed her brow. “Jared’s playing with your ass. Do you like?”

“Hmm, I like.”

“That’s good, baby. Real good.”

At a nod from Bryce, Jared lubed up a butt plug and tried to slide it into Caitlyn. She immediately tensed her muscles against it.

“It’s okay, babe,” Bryce said soothingly. “Let Jared in. He’s gonna make you feel like you’ve gone to heaven.”

Bryce distracted her with kisses, one finger gently rubbing against her clit as Jared tried again. It worked like a charm, and the plug, Bryce could see in the full-length mirror at the side of the bed, slid all the way in.

“There, how does that feel, honey?”

“Different. Nice. I’m not sure. I want to please you, so if you like it—”

“We do, but we don’t want to do anything to you that makes you feel uncomfortable.”

“No, I’m good with it. It feels warm now.”

“It’s filled with oil,” Jared said. “Your body heat warms it and that’s what gives you the glow.”

“It also distends you.” Bryce chuckled. “We’ve got big cocks, even if I do say so myself. Wouldn’t want to hurt you.”

“Need to come,” she grumbled for a second time.

“Sure you do,” Bryce agreed. “But you also have to be punished for asking.”

“Punished how?”

“You’ll see.”

He massaged oil into the cheeks of her ass and then brought his hand down lightly across them. She gasped but held her position. He repeated the process a little harder, this time nudging her clit with the fingers of his opposite hand. When she cried out Bryce knew it wasn’t because he’d hurt her.

“Does it tingle, darlin’?”

“Yes, but in a good way.”

“That’s right. It’s supposed to. Breathe deeply, roll with it and see what happens.”

He spanked her a little harder and her cries increased. Bryce removed the blindfold. He wanted to gauge her reaction through the expression in her eyes and make sure he didn’t take her too far this first time. He knew without asking that she’d never been spanked before, or had anal sex either, and didn’t want to freak her out.

He needn’t have worried. Her eyes glowed translucent and needy little mews slipped past her lips. Her nipples had solidified, and she moved her hips each time he gave her clit even the most minute attention. She was ready, and so was he. He had been since first setting eyes on her.

Bryce nodded to Jared and pushed Caitlyn onto her back.

“Hold your arms above your head and spread them wide,” he ordered.

When she complied, Bryce shackled each wrist independently, tying the chains holding them to hooks at the top of the bed. He then gently attached clamps to her nipples. At the end of the chain was a third clamp intended for her clit.

“You sure she can take that?” Jared pheromoned.

“I reckon she’ll feel shortchanged if we don’t give her the chance.”

“It’s your party, buddy.”

“Yeah, and you know what I need you to do.”

Jared snorted. “When don’t you?”

“Those clamps feel okay on your tits?” Bryce asked her.

“Hmm, wonderful.”

“Then let’s see what you make of this one.”

Bryce attached the final clamp to her clit, and she screamed when he tugged lightly on the chain. “That’s…well, it’s unbelievable,” she said, her eyes huge with expectation.

Bryce shared a smug glance with Jared that said I told you so.

“You’re incredible.” Bryce leaned over her, tugging gently on the chain and kissing her at the same time. “So responsive, so adventurous, so every damned thing.”

“Hmm.”

“But now, this guy needs to see some action,” he said, rubbing the tip of his cock across her belly, his voice a husky purr.

She smiled and licked her lips, her eyes fixed on the stud piercing his cock. “Sounds good to me.”

“You like the idea of that little ol’ stud rubbing inside your sweet pussy?”

“I won’t be asking you to remove it.”

Bryce growled, pushed her legs farther apart and settled between them.