STORY EXCERPT

Docksiders was one of the best pickup bars in Norfolk. You could ID the Navy guys by their short haircuts and that military way they had of standing—relaxed, but also sort of at attention. At least until they were several beers under. Felicity had been forced to pout in order to get her friends there—Cassie usually went right home to her family. Just occasionally, she’d agree to an after-work glass of wine at the quiet neighborhood bar right down the street from the hospital. And, well, Angela hit for the other team. This wasn’t her usual scene, either.

Cassie leaned across the table and took her hand. “We’re not going to leave you here.”

Felicity met that sweet, concerned gaze and nearly caved. But no, it wasn’t a usual night. She wasn’t going to spend it living with her usual caution. “Thanks, Cass. But I mean it. Go home. You, too, Ange.”

Angela exchanged a glance with Cassie and shook her head. “No, Fee. What you’re planning isn’t safe.”

She nodded her head toward the guy at the bar with the soft brown eyes. He was cute, just a little pudgy, and only about five ten. In her three-inch heels, Felicity would be an inch above him. Best of all, it looked like he liked redheads. “He’s nothing I can’t handle. I’ll be careful. You know I will. And I’m not leaving here alone.”

Cass tried once more. “You’re not alone. You’re with us. And we love you.”

“I love you back. Now go away.”

Felicity had a stubborn streak and her friends knew it.

Angela was leaving it up to Cassie, and that one finally gave a reluctant shrug and stood. “All right,” she said. “But text me the address of wherever you end up tonight, along with the guy’s name, rank, and number. And be sure to let him know that’s what you’re doing.”

With a small smile, Felicity nodded. “Copy that.”

When the two were out the door, she nodded at the server for another. While she waited, she went back to making eyes with the guy at the bar. It looked like he was getting his nerve up just as her drink arrived. But as soon as the waitress set it down, a large hand lifted it and set it back on the serving tray along with a twenty-dollar bill.

“She’s done.”

Apparently, six feet and three inches of hard male was enough to scare the waitress away. This wasn’t the soft guy at the bar. This one was all muscle and testosterone. His biceps stretched the short sleeves of the black tee he wore, and it was a snug fit across his chest as well. It was looser at the waist, where he was substantially narrower. His jeans were worn and fit him intimately, like an old friend. They did nothing but call attention to his package, which was just about at eye-level.

The tail of a dragon tattoo curled up one around one arm. A curve of scales peeped out at his shoulder, and she had to wonder whether the thing was blowing fire along the guy’s back or chest.

It looked like she might have a chance to find out. If she dared.

Felicity lifted a brow, hoping for imperious but doubting she managed so far as stern.

In any case, he didn’t look impressed. “If you have one more, some might question your ability to consent to what I’m going to do to you tonight.”

Yikes. She picked the safer topic to quibble with. Her empty glass was still on the table, but only the one. “How do you know that’s not just my second?”

“It was going to be your fourth. Now it’s not.”

He crossed his arms over his chest, a move that served to emphasize the bulge of his biceps. His eyes were blue, cold and hot at the same time, like the tempered steel of a fine blade. His mouth was a firm slash across his chiseled face. He leaned forward, looming.

“You’re coming with me. You wouldn’t have liked the guy at the bar you were eyeing anyway. If you’d paid a little bit of attention, you’d have seen the white band on his finger where his wedding ring usually goes. I already got that you don’t like a cheater.” He leaned closer. “Stand up, Felicity.”

Maybe it was that third margarita. Maybe it was that life lived carefully. Maybe it was as simple as that tongue-throat thing.

Felicity knew it wasn’t safe. She knew she was taking a chance. But she stood.

“Good girl, Red.”

She let him take her hand and lead her out of the bar.

* * * *

The woman was an idiot to give herself over to him so easily. But for tonight, she was his idiot.

Reinen Kilbourne thought he should feel a little bad for encouraging her to put herself so much at risk. He wasn’t going to hurt her—at least not in any bad way—but she didn’t know that. She was taking a ride on the wild side and, in most instances, he’d be opposed to a woman behaving so carelessly.

He’d spotted her as soon as he’d walked into Docksiders, and from that first good look, he wanted her. She was a tall, lush redhead with bright green eyes.

He liked redheads. He like brunettes, too, and blondes…That wasn’t to say he was without discrimination. Sure, he liked women to be curvy and busty and generally easy on the eyes. He also liked them smart and sassy and just a little bit…submissive. It wasn’t necessarily easy to find all those qualities in a single package, but he had a sense about Red here.

Staying out of her line of sight, he’d taken a chair at a table behind her. Leaning back to eavesdrop—it was a skill he had—he’d gotten the gist. Some asshole doctor had dumped her in the most humiliating of ways. Himself, he’d have found a bit of retribution for the dude that would sting some. Felicity chose a method that the ass might not even notice, and put herself at risk for it.

Turned out it was Reinen’s lucky night.

ADULT EXCERPT

Reinen wrapped Felicity’s legs around his waist and lifted her so she fell, almost collapsed, over his shoulder. He turned and kicked the door shut behind him.

Her naked breast rubbed against his tee as he carried her into the house, and he had one hand with a good grip on her ass. Already she’d had two rocking orgasms to his zero, and that was a better record than she’d had in three years with Brian. There were times when he’d come, and times when they’d both come, but never a time when she came and he didn’t.

Either stranger sex was wicked hot, or Reinen was right. She’d hit the freaking jackpot. And she hadn’t forgotten what he’d promised her. That cock she felt even now rubbing up against her pussy was hard and bulky—and, for tonight anyway, it was hers.

Apparently, however he wanted to give it to her.

He was right about her height and weight—Felicity wasn’t a petite woman who was accustomed to being carried off for the purpose of ravishment. But for the first time, she felt like it. Reinen carried her easily, bounding up the three steps into the house like he carried no more than a sack of groceries. A sack of groceries that had him eager for a snack.

He took her through a short hallway where she got a glimpse of a powder room and a descending staircase. It opened into a huge kitchen and informal dining area. There was a large island with a cooktop, and he took her there. He set her down firmly on the cold granite surface—a sensation that was both chilling to her bare ass and oddly soothing to the slightly abused, tender tissues of her pussy.

His body was wedged firmly between her legs, keeping them spread wide. He kept her nudged close against the pressure of his hard cock still contained in his jeans. Holding her there with one hand, he tugged her shirt down to bare her other breast. Her shirt and bra cupped her, squeezing her breasts up and together in a way he seemed to like.

He growled as he savored the view. “Arch back,” he said.

She knew what he wanted. She dropped her head back, arching her spine so her breasts thrust toward his face. He took advantage, using one hand and his mouth to pet and suckle her. He buried his face in her cleavage, nuzzling her, then drew hard on one nipple while he tugged on the other with his fingers. Moving his mouth to the rise of her breast, he sucked a bruise onto her.

She knew it wasn’t the first mark he’d put on her, but it was the most intimate, the one that would let any other man know she’d been in Reinen’s possession.

He handled her until she was near the point of pain—or maybe just past it—and panting with need. Then he lifted his head and let loose of her long enough to reach between them and open his jeans. He watched her, those hot-cold eyes shimmering, as he covered himself with a condom he’d taken from his back pocket. He took his time about it, making sure she got a good look at him. At his size.

Gripping the hair at the back of her neck with one hand, he held her bound. He leaned in and kissed her hard and deep before lifting back to watch her face. With his other hand on his cock, he rubbed himself against her opening. She whimpered as he pressed in, the size of his cock confirmed by the extreme stretch of her body.

He pushed in steadily, ruthlessly. Seemingly endlessly.

“You’re fucking hot, Felicity. Tight. This hurts you a little, doesn’t it?” He pulled back once and thrust in again. “Hurts good, right? You’re going to like it. You’re going to scream.”

He kept that grip in her hair and wrapped his forearm around her lower back, securing her as he began slow, hard thrusts. He pulled her forward, a motion that chafed her bottom along the countertop in a surprisingly tantalizing way and opened her for even deeper penetration.

She shuddered with the extreme stimulation of it and saw the blaze of satisfaction in his eyes.

“You need this, Red, don’t you? You need a good fuck.”

He tugged at her hair when she didn’t answer.

“Yes,” she said, and it was almost a sob.

“Say it.”