Exposing Victoria Read online

  Shane laughed.

  Vicky arched a brow. “Did I say something funny?”

  “I just get a kick out of you and all your contradictions.”

  “What contradictions?”

  “Like when you act as if you don’t give a damn about my opinions one minute and then go fishing for compliments the next.”

  Vicky fumed. “I am not fishing for compliments.”

  “Come on, counselor, save the bullshit for court. Underneath that prickly exterior is the exhibitionist we both know and love. You want me to say how sexy you are. You need to hear it.”

  “You’re a goddamn ass.”

  “The thing is,” he said, ignoring her anger, “I have a short memory. The only way I’ll be able to answer you is after I’ve had you in the alley after dessert.”

  Her pussy throbbed. It was like a dirty secret the way he could get to parts of her no one was supposed to see. And yet, the more he saw, the better it felt.

  “I know you’re up to one of your games,” she told him. “And I’m not playing.”

  “It won’t be a game, baby, not when you’re holding up your skirt for me, offering me your pussy. You’re gonna come too, the question is—will I cover your mouth and save a little of your dignity or let you scream out like the alley cat you are?”

  “I hate you,” she spat.

  “Careful,” he said with a wink. “Strong emotions like that are liable to get twisted.”

  She snorted. “Into what, love? You’re more delusional than I thought. But you are not going to win. I’m not going to storm out of here and make a scene. I’m going to finish my food and then walk out, leaving you with the bill.”

  “That’s not all you would be leaving me with.”

  “Feel free to use the alley,” she said with her most evil smile. “I hear it’s a great place to jerk off.”

  He raised his glass. “A toast.”

  Stupidly, she followed suit.

  “To the only woman who’s ever been worth my chasing.”

  “To the only man,” she countered, “who’s ever made me get down on my knees and thank god for my dildo.”

  Shane arched a brow. The fucker was conspiring to get the last word, as usual.

  “If it’s being on your knees that holds your interest, it can be arranged.”

  She rolled her eyes and chewed another bite of prime rib.

  At least it gave her mouth something safe to do.

  Chapter Five

  The eavesdropping Kevin nearly fell into the room as Kat opened the door.

  “I was polishing the knob,” he explained rather unconvincingly.

  “The only knob you’ll be polishing after that lame story is between your legs,” Kat declared.

  Vicky was in no mood, not after her experience last night with Shane. “Just come in if you’re that dead set on violating my privacy. Jeez, it’s bad enough I have one of you.”

  Kat and Kevin plopped down on the sofa, wide-eyed.

  “So where were we?” asked Kat.

  “You left off at the part where Shane was paying the bill,” said Kevin, proving his proficiency at listening through doors. “And you were trying to stall for time by hiding in the bathroom.”

  “I wasn’t stalling for time,” said Vicky, though she had in fact hoped Shane might get the hint and leave the restaurant on his own. “I was fixing my makeup.”

  “What for?” said Kat, employing unwanted logic. “If you didn’t want to see him anymore?”

  “A woman can put on lipstick for a lot of reasons,” Vicky shot back.

  “There’s only one I know of,” Kevin said. “What about you, Kat?”

  “I know of just the one also,” Kat confirmed. “So did you manage to stall long enough, Vicky?”

  Vicky sighed. This was where the story was going to go downhill fast, from her perspective at least. “No, I did not.”

  “Shane was waiting for you when you got out?” Kevin asked.

  Vicky winced slightly. “He…didn’t actually wait.”

  Kat, always a sucker for a good caveman story put her hand over her mouth. “He came in after you?”

  “Yes.” Vicky could still hear the echoes of Shane’s voice, the finality of his words as the door closed behind him.

  “What did he say?” asked Kevin.

  “He told me there was no point in trying to avoid it. He said he was going to take me in the alley and that was that.”

  “How romantic,” Kat sighed.

  “You are truly demented,” said Vicky, though it made her wet just thinking about it.

  “Did he grab you or what?” Kat asked.

  “He stood outside the stall door and told me to open it.”

  “Which of course you did,” said Kat.

  Vicky nodded. “He told me face-to-face that we could do it the easy way or the hard way. Naturally I told him to go to hell, whereupon he gave me a taste of the hard way.”

  Kat and Kevin were on the edge of their seats.

  “First he kissed me. He…he took me by the hair and bent my neck back…” Vicky’s nipples grew rock hard at the memory of her body helplessly pressed against him.

  Kat dreamily licked her lips, her power of speech momentarily gone.

  “He laid down the law,” Kevin supplied.

  “What law?” Vicky snapped. “The man’s an outlaw.”

  “What happened next?” Kevin wanted to know.

  Vicky cleared her throat. “I was understandably shocked. It put me off my game.”

  The next few minutes had been all Shane, his hands sliding up under her dress, running over her bare thighs and cupping her ass.

  It had been an extremely bad time to be bereft of panties. That was for sure.

  Shamelessly, he had reduced her to hot moans, her sex grinding against his. She had been dripping wet, her juices flowing down her inner thighs and she did not care one bit.

  Shane’s moves had been carefully crafted, naturally.

  The idea had been to get her so worked up that she would do anything to have his cock inside her, including submitting in a public alleyway.

  Her mind had been aware of the trap but her body fell—hook, line and sinker…

  —

  “Sweetheart,” he rasped, blowing lightly in her ear. “You know where this has to go.”

  “No.” She whimpered her protest, knowing she was doomed from the outset. “Can’t we go to my apartment?”

  “We could,” he acknowledged, biting her neck. “But we won’t.”

  Vicky’s knees nearly gave way at the feel of his hungry lips and teeth, demanding, teasing, but she was determined to fight to the last possible second.

  “I’ll…make it worth your while,” she said, breathless.

  Shane smiled, a strange look in his eyes as he ran his fingers through her hair. “Sweetheart, do you think you can bargain with your body? You think I don’t get everything I want?”

  Vicky’s sigh was a release she could not put into words. “Shane,” she whispered, “I don’t know what to think anymore.”

  He held her face in his hands, making her think for a moment that it was about more than another round of quick, raunchy sex.

  “You don’t have to think, for once you just follow,” he told her.

  Shane took her hand and led her back through the restaurant and out the back door. Her heart thundered as the chill of the air hit her body.

  Would it really happen?

  The answer was yes, and it was the best sex yet, raw and lightning fast, hands clawing at each other’s clothing, desperate to expose and possess. It was over almost before it began. He shoved his cock into her so hard it made her groan. She took it all, clenching his shaft with her vaginal muscles, wanting it all, her nerve endings screaming with the excitement and danger that came from the threat of being caught…

  —

  “Long story short, we did the deed and he took me home a little while later,” Vicky said, anxious to get to the end.r />
  “Oh come on,” Kevin complained. “You’re leaving out the good parts.”

  “Vicky wants us to use our imaginations,” said Kat, rising to her feet.

  “But mine needs help,” Kevin protested.

  “I’m sure you can figure it out on your own,” said Kat, shooing him off. “Let’s leave her in peace.”

  Vicky was grateful for the quiet. Kat could always read her mind, sensing when it was okay to joke around and when something more serious was on her mind.

  Not surprisingly, Kat returned a few minutes later, alone.

  “We’re going to talk about this,” Kat insisted. “I just can’t let you keep hurting. No arguments.”

  “Who am I to argue with the world’s bossiest submissive,” Vicky quipped.

  This time Kat locked the door and turned the fan on high to drown the sound. “That ought to take care of Kevin.”

  Vicky sighed as Kat sat on the sofa and patted the cushion next to her. This was going to be one of those talks, the kind where Vicky didn’t get in two words edgewise.

  The scary thing was, Vicky was feeling so mixed up right now that she actually welcomed Kat’s interference.

  “Vicky, I’ve known you a long time,” Kat began.

  It was a classic opening line, usually followed by something like ”you know I have only your best interests in mind, when I tell you this”.

  “Feels like a lifetime,” Vicky said, acknowledging their many trials and tribulations, their shared struggles and victories that had moved them to the very pinnacle of the city’s legal establishment.

  Kat took her hand. “Vicky, are you happy?”

  The question caught her off guard.

  “As happy as anyone, I suppose.”

  “Not just content,” she countered. “But really, truly fulfilled?”

  “You’re not going to start trying to marry me off now are you?” Vicky asked warily. “It never fails—ex-smokers, ex-singles, they’re always after converts.”

  Kat laughed, that light, sweet sound of hers that Vicky envied so much. Vicky had always felt like the more somber of the two.

  “All right, I’ll let it be. But I know something’s up with Shane.”

  “Nothing’s up. He’s been here exactly one time. I have spent less than twenty-four hours with him, total.”

  “So you’re counting the minutes.”

  Vicky snorted. “Stop playing lawyer with me. And you’re not a very good matchmaker either. He and I are like night and day. We have the same color hair and we both breathe oxygen, that’s where it ends.”

  “He gets under your skin though. I’ve never seen a guy do that.”

  “That’s because he’s a stubborn, insensitive blockhead.”

  Kat was smirking.

  “I don’t like him, Katherine, and that’s final.”

  “Uh-huh. So when are you seeing him again.”

  Vicky rose and went to the window. “Damned if I know. Maybe he’ll scale the side of the building like Batman or parachute in for a quickie in the stairwell.”

  “Why don’t you call him?”

  “You don’t call men like Shane. It’s like…tempting a bull or something. You’re happy when he’s leaving you alone.”

  “But you’re not happy,” Kat reminded. “You’re just content.”

  Vicky glared. “Well, we all can’t be ecstatic like you.”

  Kat frowned. “I found my soul mate, it’s true, but that doesn’t mean it’s not a real relationship with all the give and take and negotiations.”

  “What could you two possibly negotiate over? Whether he spanks your left cheek first or the right?” Vicky snapped, regretting her words instantly.

  Kat’s big eyes showed the sting.

  “I’m sorry,” said Vicky. “Kitty Kat, I’m real sorry.”

  “It’s okay.”

  “No, it isn’t.” Damn Shane for messing with her life. Things had been so simple before he came along. “You know how my supposed date ended last night?”

  Kat shook her head.

  “He pecked me on the cheek and told me I was getting hotter and hotter, that he would need a fire permit to handle me at this rate. What does that even mean?”

  “You could ask,” Kat offered helpfully.

  Vicky rolled her eyes.” You don’t get it. How could you possibly? I can’t live like this.”

  Aching inside, waiting on pins and needles for the phone to ring, for some more roses to show up, some sign, any sign that he was still out there.

  “Live like what?”

  “I just want him gone,” she said. “Permanently.”

  “You mean like overseas on a mission?”

  Out of nowhere, a wave of panic gripped Vicky. “He’s really going? Are you sure?”

  Kat arched a brow. “I really don’t know but you seem interested all of a sudden.”

  “Drop it, Kat. Just get me his phone number from Chase, will you? I will handle the rest.”

  How embarrassing was that? After giving her the best sex of her life, Shane hadn’t even given her his phone number, nor had he asked for hers. Apparently Vicky didn’t merit an entry in his little black book.

  Vicky called him, halfway hoping he wouldn’t answer.

  He did.

  “Hello?”

  “It’s me.”

  ”Counselor?”

  “Uh-huh, listen, I want to make this short.”

  “You low on minutes or something?”

  ”I’m serious. I’m just calling to tell you it’s over.”

  “What’s over?”

  “Anything that might happen between us.”

  ”Okay.”

  “Wow, don’t sound too broken up about it.”

  “It’s a free country.”

  “And you’re free to keep on being an asshole.”

  “What did I do? Isn’t this what you want?”

  “Of course it is.”

  “So what’s the problem?”

  “No problem, everything’s perfect as usual.”

  “Are you trying to say goodbye or start a fight?”

  “I don’t want you calling me anymore.”

  “I’m not the one who called, you did.”

  “Points for logic on that one…jackass.”

  “I can tell you’re upset. Where are you?”

  “Don’t even think about seeing me.”

  “You haven’t enjoyed it so far?”

  “Oh yeah, it was all good, every sleazy minute,” she replied sarcastically.

  “I don’t think you mean what you’re saying.”

  “Sure I do and I can play the field, like you.”

  “There isn’t anyone else.”

  “Too bad, because tonight I’m on the prowl.”

  “If you take stupid chances—”

  “I already did…with you.”

  “Just meet me somewhere. We’ll talk.”

  “It’s never talk with you, it’s all foreplay.”

  “I don’t want to play word games.”

  “I’ll be straight with you then. I’m having sex tonight.”

  There was complete silence from Shane.

  “Other men will touch me. If only you knew.”

  “You’re at your office, aren’t you? I’m on my way.”

  “It’s too late. I have a secret life that you couldn’t possibly imagine. Besides, you’re going overseas anyway.”

  “I’m not going anywhere, Vicky, and you’re not making any goddamn sense.”

  “Don’t raise your voice.”

  “I think it’s what you want, for me to get jealous.”

  “I wouldn’t waste my breath.”

  “You want me to tell you I don’t like to share? Fine, I don’t,” he growled.

  “So now I’m your property, is that it?”

  “You can be whatever you fucking want.”

  “How generous.”

  “Damn it, woman, what do you want from me?”

  “Nothing you cou
ld ever give.”

  “In that case, have a nice life.”

  “Sounds like a plan to me.”

  “Victoria, don’t hang—”

  She ended the call, feeling pretty pleased with herself for all of thirty seconds. After that she threw the cell phone.

  Picking up the land line, she made good on her threat.

  “Elaine?” she said. “It’s me.”

  “Vicky, darling,” cooed the director of the Society for Sexual Freedom. “Wherever have you been keeping yourself? You haven’t turned monogamous on us, have you?”

  “Perish the thought. As a matter of fact, I would like to pay a visit tonight.”

  “To the Gold Room, I hope?”

  “Is there any other?”

  “Not for you, my sweet Victoria, not for you.”

  —

  Shane confirmed the source of Vicky’s call using a piece of technology no one outside the active intelligence services was supposed to have. Even then, a warrant was required.

  He had no qualms. It was one of those times in life where you took action first and picked up the pieces later.

  Vicky had not sounded right on the phone, not by a long shot. He might chalk it up to her being in a bad mood but there were some pretty deep emotions raging in the undercurrents.

  Call it instinct, a gut connection he had felt with very few women in his life. Victoria was about to do something she would regret. He only hoped he could get to her in time.

  He hadn’t helped matters with his clipped answers. Why hadn’t he been able to come out and tell her he had feelings for her?

  If she did something drastic now as a result of his cool response he would never forgive himself.

  Prowling for men was no joke, not these days, not in a city like this. He knew just how reckless she could be. She had let him fuck her without using condoms. He’d thought it was because there was a special connection between them, so much fire that it affected her common sense, but he couldn’t be sure. There were predators out there and they would go for a woman like Victoria in a heartbeat. She wasn’t just gorgeous, she had this light about her, an angelic quality that only grew brighter the more passionate he got.

  Shane realized it wasn’t a very objective analysis. Unfortunately, Victoria did not bring out the reason in him.

  She drove him crazy, she cost him precious sleep and she made him about as exasperated as any woman he had ever known.