A soft rustling drew my attention as I kneeled to return the vodka and soda to the fridge, so I squatted quietly listening, eventually dismissing it as my imagination when only silence ensued. As I passed by a set of heavy drapes I saw something move in the shadows seconds before a steely hand gripped my arm and I was pulled roughly into a hard chest. My first instinct was to turn and face whoever it was but the arm wrapping around my middle held me in place.

"Hey! What do you think you're doing? Let go or I'll scream." Panic filled me when I felt warm breath fanning my ear. My hands reached to grab the arm around my waist, my fingers wrapping around a lace-clad wrist.

"What do you think I'm doing, Trish?" The voice next to my ear was barely above a whisper, yet I recognised it immediately. "You can ask me again to let go and I will, without question. Or you can relax and enjoy... I promise the only thing you will be screaming will be my name."

"Jeremy?" The warm cherry-scented breath on my neck sent shivers coursing through me as his grip relaxed, his hands moving to cup my breasts as lips brushed my neck. "Ohhh we shouldn't be doing this..." I half protested as I pushed back against him.

"We shouldn't? Give me one good reason that isn't your boyfriend." His thumbs stroked my nipples as they strained painfully against the wet fabric of my dress, making me moan softly as desire spread through me like wildfire.

"No... I mean, yes." Oh hell, I don't know what I mean... Getting out of his hold would've been easy enough, still, I found myself barely putting up a fight as he trailed light kisses down my neck and along my bare shoulder and back up to my ear. "But... I can't do this to Jack."

"Shhhhh..." he breathed into my ear. "I said any reason but that."

"I... I don't want..." I felt his desire grow against me as I pushed my ass back, crushing myself to him wantonly.

"You. Don't. Want. What. Trish?" His teeth tugged at my lobe between words, my name on his lips feeling like a caress to my already heated skin.

How am I supposed to think with you doing that?

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Everything about her felt right, as if she'd been made to fit perfectly into my hands. Nothing about the way we'd talked earlier had been even remotely flirtatious, so what made me come up here and do this? I didn't have the answers and I didn't need any. All I knew was that I wanted this woman more than any other woman I'd ever known. And I was not about to question it.

"I don't want... you to stop."

I growled against her skin as she uttered the words I'd been waiting to hear, my arousal straining against the silk fabric of the pyjama bottoms I'd pulled on after the painful release from my tacky bonds. Let me tell you, it was beyond torture, only my awareness of her being in my bathroom had kept me from screaming like a pig on a pyre as I ripped off the tape.

She tried to turn in my embrace, but my arm tightened around her again, one hand reaching up to impatiently shove the bodice of her dress down to grope her breasts, tugging hard at her pebble hard nipples. Her skin felt warm and smooth even through the lace of my gloves, but I wanted more, needed to feel her warmth against my palms, so I let go of her, pulling off the gloves and dropping them to the floor before my arm wrapped firmly around her again.

I yearned to lead her to my bed and take my time exploring every inch of her, but I had a feeling that it would be the right thing at the wrong time. I wanted to turn her around and kiss her, sample the sweetness that laid beyond those perfect lips, but that too would be a mistake. So I allowed my dick to lead the way.

"I couldn't, even if I wanted to," I whispered against her skin.   

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His mouth devoured my neck as he walked us toward the fancy high-backed sofa on the other side of the room, shoving me forward to lean over the back. His breathing ragged as his hands moved beneath my dress, I felt his fingers slip under my silky white panties, teeth grazing my neck as he tugged hard, shredding the delicate fabric effortlessly.

This is where you need to say stop, Trisha. If you have any sense of decorum you would stop this man whom you've met less than two hours ago.

Yet I could not bring myself to stop him. Not when I felt him fumble behind me with one hand as he held me down with a palm to the back of my neck. Not as I felt his erection brush against my naked ass, the head slipping between my thighs and sliding teasingly along my slick slit. Not even when he grabbed my hips and thrust forward, impaling me with his bulging organ.

I gasped loudly as his girth stretched me; my body reacted to the sudden intrusion by contracting sharply around his shaft. His lips teased my neck as he held himself inside of me, moaning deeply as my muscles continued to squeeze him. This was not the kind of encounter I was used to, not with Jack or anyone else before him. This was something else. Jeremy was something else.

And you thought the man was gay...

A slow tingling began deep inside of me as his hips began to rock gently, his steely rod sliding rhythmically in and out of my silken tightness, his one hand slipping between my thighs to strum my delicate bud lightly as his other hand caressed up and down my spine. I felt his fingers move up across my nape and into my hair as his thrusts picked up momentum; my moans grew louder as his fingers stroked my swollen clit hard and fast. I reached up to tease my achingly hard nipples, pinching them between my fingers as my hips moved to meet his thrusts, slowly gliding our way toward slippery bliss.

I felt my hair fall down around my shoulders before feeling him grab a handful and twist it around his hand, his mouth feasting on my neck as he tugged my head back and thrust hard, grinding and shifting to drive himself deeper inside of my fevered canal as we moaned together. My muscles clenched as his hand moved to grope my tingling flesh, stroking, pinching and twisting. Every nerve in my body felt like it would explode as his pistoning rod touched me in places that had never been explored before.

▼▲▼

My body read hers perfectly, careening forward as she pushed back to meet me, absorbing every slick quiver, every tremulous squeeze and steaming hot slippery clasp of her body as my feathered fingertips slipped back down to work her throbbing pearl back along its path to bliss, teasing it with sweeping circles, then strumming it, while thrusting harder with hungered urgency.

My body slammed into hers as I drove up and moved my hips from side to side, finding every possible angle of giving her pleasure. With every new thrust, she arched back harder, her moans growing louder.

"Jeremy..." The huskiness of her voice heightened my arousal, my name on her lips touching something deep inside of me I'd thought died a long time ago.

Taking new lovers had always come naturally to me, leaving them behind even easier. But this... this was different. There was an intensity to the way she made me feel, so much more than just another fuck with a pretty face and willing body. In that moment, as the room filled with our moans and the sound of our slick bodies slapping loudly against one another, I knew that this wasn't a woman I wanted to let go of. Ever. 

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I was amazed at the fervour of our lovemaking. This was not what I'd expected dirty sex with a stranger to feel like. And yet, it was as if all of my repressed desires had been unleashed, our bodies moving in perfect unison as he buried his engorged erection deep, filling my soft, but tight silken sheath as we moaned together in pleasure, becoming one as the intensity grew to fevered pitch. Soon the room was filled with our moans and the sound of our slick bodies slapping loudly together as we fucked our way to orgasmic bliss.

His deep guttural moans filled my senses – the most erotic sounds I'd ever experienced - my walls rippling in erotic pleasure around him, his fingers rubbing in fast circles around my pulsing clit, pulling my head back hard as pure animal lust took us over.

I shut my eyes to keep the room from spinning as the crescendo started to build deep inside of me, his fingers working my inflamed button furiously, his grunts and mercilessly hard thrusts pushing me over the edge. Primal screams of intense pleasure ripped from me as my entire lower body erupted into violent spasms. 

▼▲▼

Her orgasm was a thing of wonder, the sounds escaping her somewhere between a whimper and a howl, body visibly shuddering as wave after wave hit her. I grabbed her hips and drove deep, holding myself inside of her, the surging hot waves rippling through her caressing my pulsing shaft. I leaned over, pinning myself to her, absorbing every quiver as the spasms passed through her. At that moment, I had the cliché thought that I could stay like that forever, holding her as she rode out that wave.

She reached back, trembling fingers running through my hair, a simple touch that drew a deep moan from me, and I felt myself losing the battle against my own desires. I wanted whatever it was we shared to last longer, fighting back my own release, but with a deep groan that rumbled up from my centre, I started thrusting again, my engorged shaft sliding in and out of her clenching canal in long, sensual strokes.

"Fuck!"

I pushed back from her again, all attempts at control abandoned, feeling myself grow harder as I pulled her roughly back, pushing her back over the sofa as her body lifted with me. The tips of my fingers tingled as they pressed into the soft flesh of her hips, a sure sign that something long-dormant inside of me had awoken.

Is this the woman the tomes spoke of? I abandoned the thought as my body rammed into hers.

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His fingers dug painfully into my flesh as our hips moved together in frenzied unison, his powerful thrusts slamming me hard into the edge of the sofa as my body shuddered its way toward another orgasm. His hips bucked spastically, groaning deep and throaty as hot cum erupted from him in thick jets, splashing up against my walls as another intense orgasm ripped through me, my fevered body bucking beneath him as every nerve in my body exploded in ecstasy.

He pushed me forward, pinning me to the back of the sofa, his twitching length making me tingle in places that had never been touched before as we trembled against each other blissfully. I felt his hand brush the hair from my neck, his warm lips teasing my tingling skin as he pulled out of me. I groaned as my muscles contracted, feeling empty and bereft of something I could not clearly identify, clutching the edge of the sofa as I gasped for air while trying to bring my rapidly beating heart back under control.

"Jeremy..." I gushed breathlessly. Time has a way of slipping away from you when you are in post-climactic rapture, so I have no idea how long I remained clutching the sofa; my legs wobbling unsteadily, head in a spin as I tried to recover from the most passionate shafting, ever.

▼▲▼

I turned toward the door at the sound of a low wolf whistle, cringing at what I knew was to come next. "Now that's my kind of fun party."

Fuck! The last thing I needed was for my brother to walk in on us, but as always, the universe had a sick sense of humour when it came to my expectations in life.

"Enjoy the show, Edward?" I tried hard to sound composed but failed miserably.

"Immensely." I hated the way his eyes moved over her body but knowing my brother, any reaction from me would only make matters worse. "I'm hurt. I offered you an unforgettable time, Angel. And you blew me off to ride my little brother's unimpressive noodle?"

"You done trying to kill my buzz?" I adjusted my pants and tied my robe before reaching for a cigarette and lighting it. "Or do you want to join us for the next round?"

▼▲▼

"Edward! What are you... ohh... sorry... I... we..." I nearly lost my footing trying to straighten up unsteadily, searching around my legs for panties that were no longer there, feeling a heated flush spreading through me as I contemplated how long he'd been standing there.

"Jack know you're up here?" He waved a hand in the air as if dismissing the thought. "Of course not. Else he would be up here enjoying the show with me. And from what I just saw, he's one lucky son of a bitch."

"That he is..." Jeremy said as he blew out a plume of smoke, a slow smile playing at the corner of his mouth as he leaned in the doorway, arms folded across his chest. "We should invite him up here?"

His attitude stung as if he'd physically slapped me across the face. Was this the same sweet man I'd just... I felt too ashamed to even think about what I'd done with this stranger. And what stung, even more, was that he was doing this with his smug brother standing there observing it all.

What were you expecting? A proposal? You're so dumb!

"I.... I'm sorry. I need to go. It was good meeting you." I stammered as my heart fell and I brushed past him. How could he be this cold? How could any person be this cruel?

He grabbed my arm and leaned in close to my ear, the subtle scent of cherry combined with the smell of cigarettes invading my senses as he whispered, "You deserve better than him. And me." I observed the briefest flicker of seriousness flit across his features before it was replaced by a look of indifference as he let go of my arm. Something about the way he looked right through me stung, my dismissal clearly noted. I noticed for the first time that he'd thrown on a dark blue silk robe over his costume, looking ridiculously handsome with his painted face and stockinged feet.

"I have to go. Goodnight, Jeremy."

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"What? No goodnight for me?" Edward laughed, clearly enjoying his moment. 

I shut my eyes as she walked out into the passage, afraid that if I opened them and watched her walking away I would never be able to let her go. Anger and disgust twisted like a blunt knife in my gut as I thought of the hurt in her eyes. Of the look of embarrassment not so much caused by my brother, but by me.

"Get the fuck out." I didn't look at Edward as I made my way across the room, shrugging out of my robe and stepping out of my pants as I headed into the bathroom.

I stepped into the shower, standing under an icy spray until my body felt like it was frozen all the way through to the core. Why Edward of all people?

How do I fix this? Only one way... do nothing. She'll get over it.

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I wound my way through the crowd; the din in the ballroom seemed overbearingly loud after the serenity of the wing I'd just left. I found Jack at the bar nursing a brandy, he looked even more annoyed with me than before.

"Where the hell have you been? I've been searching everywhere for you. And what happened to your hair? You look like you just rolled out of bed. Find a bathroom and run a comb through," he said and gestured at my hair scornfully, "that!"

"But... I wasn't feeling well," was all I could muster in my perplexed state. An argument was the last thing I needed with him at that point, so I merely nodded and headed to the bathroom to freshen up. All I could do was run my fingers through my hair; it would be useless trying to put it back up without any pins... that was when I noticed the red smudges on my neck. The dark red lipstick smudges. Had he noticed them? 

Tears I'd been fighting since the moment I walked out of the suite of horror streaked down my face as I rubbed at the lipstick with a wet handtowel, disappointment at myself, at my own stupidity, flooding me. 

An uncomfortable silence hung between us on the ride home with Jack throwing suspicious glances my way periodically. I pretended not to notice as I stared out the window, my skin still tingling, my body feeling bruised in the most delicious way. My thoughts were far from settled as I thought about Jeremy despite my resolve to shove all thoughts of him from my mind. 

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