Despite the fact the Braves still lead the Nationals by a few games to occupy top spot in the division, I hope they make some serious moves before the trading deadline, because May sucked. Hopefully they'll get some help in the bullpen and possibly free up a lot of money by trading Uggla and BJ. Hate to say it, but after their performances so far this year it might do Hayward and Hudson some good in the minors for a little while. And is it just me, or does Freddie look like he's phoning it in?
~Sincerely, Worried Fan in SC
Let's hunt down Mike and Verity after their hot night in the 'real Obsidian VIP lounge'. At this point, I know more about where their story is heading than I do my favorite baseball team, and that ain't saying much for Atlanta.
Zipping
up his jeans, Mike gazed at Verity’s sleeping form. The colorful tattoo covered
her far better than the dark sheets, but he feared he’d wake her if he pulled
them over her. Even wildcats needed their rest, and if she woke, he knew he’d
stay for another round. She’d gotten him hard more times than he thought
possible and he had a night game. Better go now while his legs could still hold
him. Hopefully, the sated feeling suffusing his body would carry over to the
game. Baseball was best played loose and, compared to how he felt now, he’d been
wound far too tight. Quickly, he got into his shoes, unable to resist clawing
at the half-healed design Thane had put on his arm. The itch reminded him to
snag the small jar of ointment off the nightstand.
She
swore she made he fragrant ointment herself. He'd try anything that might speed the healing process and stop the damn tattoo from itching. Like his mother, Vee was into all that New Age
stuff, telling him to wear certain crystals and offering herbal remedies. Her
tat was completely healed, while his
had hit the annoying stage. Recalling the hour it’d taken
him to trace the elaborate design on her back with his tongue made his lip tingle, a sensation that unbelievably echoed in his cock, but he
eased the curtains around the alcove closed and strode resolutely to the
elevator.
The
minute the door slid open on the lower floor, the amused expression in a pair of green eyes halted his late-morning walk of shame. Across from the
elevator, visible through an open office door, the twin sat behind a
desk. But, if they’re twins, wouldn’t their
hair be the same color? Not to mention their eyes? Fraternal twins? He didn’t
recall much from high school Biology. He eyed the deep blue shine on the sister’s
glossy black short cut. Dyed. Had to be.
“Need
help getting out of here?” This time of
day, Mike hadn’t expected to see anyone in the nightclub. He stepped off the
elevator and paused at the door of the office, shoving the small jar into his
pants pocket. Wracking his memory for this woman’s name turned up a blank. "Actually,
I was wondering about that.”
Her
mouth looked the same, yet her smile seemed different than Vee’s. “Would you
like a cup of coffee before you go? I have a fresh pot.”
The
vivid interest in her eyes made him uncomfortable. He felt like he was being
considered for lunch meat by some predator. Those eyes looked like she’d knocked the bottoms out of Sprite bottles to make
contact lenses. “No, thanks, but I’m not sure how to get out of here.” He watched warily when she stood, moving from behind the desk and slinking toward him,
her movement all swaying hips and jiggling breasts. The way she brushed the
back of her hand across his groin when she passed sent his spidey sense tingling.
“I’ll
let you out, of course. Is my sister awake?” He wondered if this one had stayed overnight or
come in early to check on the little love nest upstairs. She turned in the direction
opposite from the VIP bar and main nightclub.
“No,
I closed the drapes. I think she’s down for the count.” He felt the woman was
waiting to hear something else from him, but she pulled to a stop in front of a
door only a few feet down the corridor from the elevator. He felt awkward but figured he needed to say something. “Uh, thanks a lot for
letting her off work last night, and for use of the apartment. I was afraid for
a minute, out on the patio, I’d gotten her into trouble.”
Amusement
reappeared on her face. “Never, she’s my sister. Although, I must admit, finding
you two out there was quite a shock. Vee’s always so… controlled. Last night is
hardly her style.” Abruptly, she changed the subject. “You don’t have a
membership, do you? I don’t think I’ve
ever seen you here before.”
“My
friend has one. Last night was my first time here. I liked it. You have a great
place.” He expected a sales pitch. He could
get a complimentary membership if he asked, most likely, since some clubs liked having
sports figures in their place, but he wanted to get out of here.
“Thank
you.” Her catlike eyes narrowed. “Who’s your friend?”
“Victor
Montalvo. He’s our catcher.”
“What
does he catch?”
Suppressing
a groan, he peered hopefully over her shoulder at the door. “Baseballs. If you’ll
excuse me, I need to go throw some at him.”
She
leaned on the bar to open the heavy fire door. He could see a corridor with another
door at the far end, but felt annoyed that she’d positioned her body so he had
to touch her again to get past. “This opens onto the employee parking. There’s an elevator that will take you to street level or any
other floor of the parking garage, but you’ll have to go down one flight of
steps to get to it.” She held up something resembling a poker chip, but he'd have sworn her hands had been empty moments before. “Here’s a
parking token, in case you used the garage. Come back and see me sometime,
Mike. Just ask for me at the door. Goodbye, for now.” She pressed the token into his hand and slid
the palm of her other hand down his arm. Her nails raked the hair on his
forearm. He stepped into the corridor
quickly, uninterested in the obvious come-on.
Once
out the second door, he saw only two cars on the vast employee deck. One was a sleek Jaguar, parked right by
the door. That had to belong to the sister. The other was parked farther from
the door. He had to walk past to reach the stairs. He made a lap around the vehicle, noting the
custom black powder coated rims, the expensive racing tires, the manual
transmission, the custom paint job done in flat black, with racing stripes
denoted only by their gloss. The custom license tag was cute, too, VSPONY. Her ride
wasn’t something she paid for tending bar part-time for her sister. Every
imaginable expensive car could be found in the player’s parking lot at Turner Field.
This model Mustang cost about a hundred grand.
Still
thinking about the intriguing blonde, he loped toward the stairs. Nothing about either the car or the woman seemed
controlled to him. She’d been pure, passionate heat. And, God, she said the sexiest,
dirtiest things, too. It’d been her idea to go outside
on the large deck on the roof and fuck against the railing overlooking the city. It'd be a while before he forgot that sexy voice urging him on as he took her from behind. Jogging down the
stairs, he could still feel all that hair wrapped around his fist. Knowing that anyone on the street below could
hear them, or anyone looking out from one of the surrounding office buildings
could see them, only made the encounter hotter, more surreal.
Something
stabbed his hip, interrupting his reverie. He worked the little jar free from
his jeans, pausing at the foot of the stairs to rub his fingers over the
faceted amethyst-colored plastic jewel on the lid. The bauble matched her eyes.
In the bright light of day, he had to admit, that color wasn’t exactly normal,
either. Contacts had to be the explanation, he decided, having little trouble finding
his car on the deserted deck. Unlocking the door, he felt sure the sisters were
into wild-ass colored contact lenses.
But,
damn, if last night hadn’t changed his luck, he was in for a long season. He dropped
the little jar into the cup holder in his console and cranked the car.
He
was still thinking about her as he regretfully showered her scent off his skin, tired yet strangely exhilarated. He wished he’d asked
for her number. At least he knew how to find her sister, or one of
the other employees probably had her number. He’d find her again, that was for sure, if he had to threaten to break
Thane’s arm to get the tattoo artist to cough up her digits. The former motorcycle gang member was much less intimidating than what's-her-name.
*****
When
Vee opened her eyes, it took a moment to recall where she was. Damn, still at Obsidian. She stretched,
luxuriating in the silky feel of the sheets against her skin and enjoying feeling tender in all the right places. The whisper of
the elevator door caused her to freeze. Was
he just leaving or had he come back?
Crawling
to the end of the bed, she peeked through the curtain to see Sage holding her shirt in one hand, her pants in the other. “Bring those over here,” she
ordered with a chuckle.
Sage
flashed a wicked grin. “Ah, you’re up. Sorry if I woke you, but I was just
bringing you something from the kitchen. From the looks of him, you’re bound to
be starved.” Vee made sure she kept the curtains around her neck when she
reached out to snatch her clothes.
Yanking
the top over her head, she realized she had no idea where her panties were. A
shower would’ve been nice, but she definitely wasn’t risking one with Sage in
the apartment. “Speaking of eating, what did you bring?” she called through the
curtain.
She
barely listened to the reply, but trying to find black underwear among black
sheets in a room that was half-dark was proving futile. “A huge bowl of boiled shrimp, one of fruit, and
some cold pasta salad. The usual stuff from the buffet, but it’s fresh and
we’ve changed the recipes since you’re tried any of this. I thought we could
eat and chat a bit if you were awake.
It’s nearly two. He must have
been as good as he looked.”
She
gave up on the underwear, jerking her pants on quickly. “Marked not from birth
but by a gifted hand, let not my blood see on my skin the decoration of man.” Hurry, hurry, she begged the Goddess. Sage’s
muffled steps were coming toward the bed again. Any second now, she feared her
sister would yank those curtains back before the spell could conceal her
tattoo. An hour seemed to pass until she could twist her head and see nothing
on her shoulder. Heart pounding, she pulled the curtains aside, only to find
Sage standing right in front of her.
Sage wrinkled her nose. “You need a shower,
girl. You smell like he did—ripe.”
Vee
felt her eyes widen. “You saw him this morning?”
“Uh,
honey, it was almost afternoon when I saw him. I was doing the books when he
came down. That was more than an hour ago.”
Vee
gave her sister a hard look, to let her know she didn’t plan on sharing the
details of her evening. Whatever teasing Sage had in mind, Vee had her own
agenda.
She
stepped around her sister, heading for the bar and the food, filling her plate before
sitting on a bar stool. Sage did the same, apparently content to eat before
beginning her inquisition. She relaxed too soon. “So, I didn’t see any phone
numbers lying around, unless it’s on one of the nightstands. Are you planning
to see him again?”
Cursing
herself for giving her sister home field advantage, Vee tried not to think
about whether or not he’d flushed all the condoms, realizing too late what Sage
had spent the time doing while she’d been hurrying into her clothes. She gave
the counter a furtive glace as well, mortified suddenly as she remembered where
the evening had begun. “I haven’t decided yet. I might, but only if we can use
this place again.”
“Of
course you can. What do you want to know about him?”
Verity
dropped the shrimp in her hand and stared at her sister in complete horror.
“You did not check him out. Tell me you didn’t.”
“All
I did was ask who he’d come in with. I looked up the member and asked a couple
of discrete questions of a few staff, that’s all.”
“Don’t
tell me anything. I didn’t ask him anything and I’m not sure I want to know
anything. It was one night, no questions asked.
You should be familiar with the concept.” She gave Sage a warning glare.
“Fine,
I’ll keep what I learned to myself.”
“Sage, I said I didn’t want to know.”
“And
when he shows up again looking for you? What do I tell him then?”
Intuition
told Vee there was something else going on. “You’re interested in him?” she
guessed.
“Not
if you say hands off. But you should be
glad you saw him first.”
Vee
hadn’t had time to think about whether or not she wanted to see the man again,
but her sister’s pushing was making her angry. Sage had to feel every man in
the world wanted her. Besides, she could find him without her sister’s help, if
she wanted, as Sage well knew. “Tell you what, Sage. If you can get him up here,
you can have him. Since Avery’s back, it’s not like I’ll be around. What I’d rather
talk about are the things I found in this kitchen. Don’t even try to play me.” She gave her sister a hard look, the catty
behavior wiping way any guilt she might feel for not revealing her visit from
the Triscaro.
Sage put on her best innocent look. “I
let Rosemary use the place last week. Nobody can blame me for what she does,
now can they? Besides, this damn
suspension has to end soon.”
Vee
shoved off her stool, happy when it fell over, in spite of the sound-absorbing
rubber flooring. Anger spoiled her appetite. “Sage, you have no idea who is
watching us, or when. And why didn’t you mention our sister was in town? Never
mind that. Back to what we were discussing. You need to start thinking before
you act. I swear, you two are just like Him, aren’t you? Too arrogant for your own good. Playing fast and loose with your suspension
might just get you a more serious punishment, do you ever think of that?” Or me. You never think of anyone but yourself.
“Don’t
use that tone. Rosemary can visit if she wants. Besides, if you’d minded your
own business, I wouldn’t be suspended and you wouldn’t have been….”
“I’m gone, Sage. Thanks for lunch. When you
see Rosemary, tell her I said hello, why don’t you?” She didn’t bother with the
elevator, simply visualizing her car. It was stifling inside the vehicle.
Vee
gunned the Mustang through the light afternoon traffic, trying to recapture the
way she’d felt just before she’d realized Sage was in the apartment. The whole
reason for taking the damn key from her sister had been to relax. Nothing like sex under a nearly full moon to help a woman center
herself. She’d been lying there
wondering if he would show back up at Obsidian tonight, looking for her. Not that she planned to be there, of course,
but since he knew Sage had some authority, he could get security to call Sage,
and Sage, in turn would call Vee. Except
Sage had a good look at him this morning, and now she wanted the damn guy. She should have just asked him to meet her,
but she’d decided to let him work for something, at least.
Damn
Sage for screwing with that. Sage wouldn’t be able to resist making a pass at
the guy, and men weren’t known for being selective. For all Vee knew, he
preferred brunettes with green eyes. Hell. If Rosemary was around, he could
have a blue-eyed red head. Okay, that
wasn’t fair. Rosemary’s not like Sage.
She pulled up in front of her detached garage
and waited impatiently for the door to lift. Once parked, she sprang out of the
car and hurried into the house, heading for a long bath. Then she planned to
relax with a decent bottle of wine, a sandwich, and a jigsaw puzzle before
pulling out her crystals. They’d been dark for too long.
She
skidded to a stop as she saw the figure waiting in her living room. Her heart
slammed into her sternum.
To be continued...
To be continued...
Be sure and follow me over to razz my fellow romance author Jennifer Simpkins about her Yankees, she loves that. Seriously, she does.
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