A Real Page Turner (7 page)

When he knelt behind her, she wiggled her ass in invitation.

He laughed, and then he slipped inside her, very slowly. He would give her an inch before he stopped, until she wiggled again. Her reward was another inch, and then another. When she figured out her wiggles made him push in a little more, she kept moving her hips.

But he was on to her, and he would stop, leaving her wanting the feel of him, the friction of his length sliding inside her.

“Please,” she begged after he’d stopped for a particularly long length of time.

“You’ll take what I give you, when I give it to you.”

April shivered at his deep, commanding tone. “Now stay silent until I give you permission to speak again. And don’t move, or else you’ll stand in the corner and watch me finish with my hand, and you won’t get anything.”

He put his hands on her hips, which helped her to stay still. Then he fed her the remainder of his cock, unhurriedly, until she thought she would scream for him to hurry up and fuck her.

When he was fully nestled inside her, he slapped her ass. “Do you want it?”

“Yes, Sir.”

“Then ask for it.”

“Please, Sir, fuck me.”

He withdrew and slammed back inside her. April thought she would crumble into a pile of goo. She’d never felt anything so exquisite during sex. Most of the time, things were over for her after the spanking part. For a fleeting moment, she wondered if that’s why she’d never allowed Tom to fuck her.

Then, all thoughts of why and who left her as Titan ordered, “Again.”

“Please, Sir, fuck me.”

He repeated the action, and then told her to ask again. He did this six times, each thrust hitting just the right spot, making her feel as if she might come apart at the seams.

After the sixth one, he ordered her to stay silent, and he started to fuck her hard. April closed her eyes and settled her shoulders against the carpet, her head down as Titan plunged in and out of her. She knew that tomorrow she’d be sore, both her ass and her pussy. It would remind her of the delicious way he’d claimed her.

“Finger your clit,” he demanded. He kept one hand on her hip, and grasped her shoulder with the other. It seemed he went in deeper, and she cried out.

“Come, April.”

April passed her fingers over her hard bud, and then pinched it before the dam that had been building inside her burst. Her muscles tightened around him, and she heard a guttural moan from behind her.

Her orgasm was strong, but short, coming on the heels of the one she’d had earlier. When she relaxed, she could feel him pulsing inside her. For a moment, she panicked that she wasn’t on any form of birth control. But she remembered the sound of him opening a package, and knew he’d taken care of it.

When she felt him leave her, she sighed.

“You stay exactly where you’re at. I’ll be right back.”

“Yes, Sir.”

She heard him move away, heard the sound of water running in the other end of the house. Soon, she heard the sound of him dressing, of his zipper going up. It made her want to cry out that she didn’t want him to put his dick away, that she wanted to play some more. She supposed that is what happened when you went too long without sex, when it came about again, you didn’t want to stop. You wanted it to last all night.

“Get up.” Her body was still trembling as she gained her feet. “Hands behind your back, legs spread, head down.”

When she was in position, he came up behind her and placed his lips right next to her ear.

“You’re mine now, April, aren’t you?”

April shuddered in pleasure before she whispered, “Yes, Titan, I’m yours.”

***

The door to the shop opened around one, and Misty sauntered inside. There was no other word for it. Her friend was smirking from ear to ear, but she didn’t say anything.

“The shop is empty,” April told her.

“Good, I wouldn’t have wanted one of your customers to hear me say you look like a well-fucked woman. Are you?”

She tried to hide the grin that spread across her face, but it was impossible. “I am indeed.”

Misty started to dance around the room, pumping her fist in the air and singing, “Told you so, told you so, told you so.”

April laughed along with her.

“I’m not even going to ask if it was good,” Misty said as she plopped herself into a chair. “It’s obvious that it was more than good. You’re grinning like the cat who ate the canary.”

“Yes,” April confirmed, feeling a little like a virgin relating her first sexual experience. “It was… spectacular.”

“Having trouble sitting down today?”

“Yes.” But that didn’t stop her from wanting another spanking tonight. She thought back to last night, and the incredible things Titan had done to her. After he’d dressed, they sat and talked for a little bit, mostly about sex and the things they liked.

“My new friend likes it rough,” Titan had said as he’d stroked her hair. “I plan on giving it to you as often as possible.”

After they’d decided that dinner would be at her house again tomorrow night, he’d opened his pants and ordered her to suck him.

It had been so long since she’d given a blowjob that she felt clumsy at first, but Titan had stroked her hair and told her to calm down, to take it slowly. When he’d finished, she’d cleaned him with a warm, wet rag. After he’d stripped, they’d retired to her bed.

Sometime in the middle of the night, he’d woken her, his fingers inside her. He couldn’t get it up again, he said, but he could make sure she screamed one more time. And she had, as his fingers worked their magic in her wetness.

When she’d dressed for work, he’d lounged in bed and she’d questioned him once again about how he was making a living while he wasn’t working.

“I’m doing okay,” he’d said with a grin. “Don’t worry, I’m not going to hit you up for a loan or anything like that.”

Once again, she’d felt as if he’d danced around the subject, and she said as much to Misty right now. April told Misty about Titan’s occupation, how everyone had been wrong. She hated to admit that it gave her doubts, since Tom and the others thought one thing, and the opposite had been true.

She pushed away her thoughts, and moved on to another subject. “I wonder if the cops are anywhere nearer to finding out what happened to Virginia,” she said.

Misty shrugged. “Maybe you should call Threadway and ask him.” The lilt in Misty’s voice made April laugh.

“Listen, I have one man in my life right now, and that’s all I need. No offense to you, but I don’t Dom hop, so to speak.”

“You don’t know what you’re missing,” Misty said. “Variety is the spice of life. Plus, if things don’t work out with Titan, you have someone to fall back on. I know it sounds crass, but now that you’ve had some, you’ll want it more and more.”

That was true. Having good sex made her want more. But sex wasn’t why she wanted to talk to Threadway. She wanted to see if he could tell her anything about Virginia.

She thought about what Titan had said last night, about the possibility that Threadway wanted to have his way with her, or give her a taste of his belt. She needed to see him, and the best way to make sure the detective knew it was purely professional, just in case Titan was right, was to have Titan here with her when the officer visited.

She told Misty what she was thinking, and about what Titan had said.

“He could be right,” her friend replied. “Threadway likes to make new conquests. Once he figured out you were submissive, and like to have your ass reddened, he probably thought you would be perfect to take over his knee.”

April thought about how she could get Threadway there while Titan was in the store. She didn’t have any new information to tell him, since she hadn’t remembered anything. Should she make something up? She quickly dismissed that idea. Lying to the cops could only get her into trouble, and it would lead them in the wrong direction.

She wanted them to find Virginia’s killer, and she wanted them to do it fast. She felt a little strange about the whole situation, since she and Virginia had not even been that good of friends. They didn’t go to each other’s houses, or eat together. She said as much to Misty.

“I think you might see a little bit of yourself in her,” Misty replied. “She was a reader, and you both enjoy the same type of books. Plus you’re both submissive. I think that’s why this has rattled you so much.”

April didn’t see it, but she didn’t say as much. She just nodded, as if she agreed, even though she wasn’t sure it was true.

“I need to talk to Titan about getting together with the cops.”

“Yeah, because the two of them like each other so much,” Misty said with a laugh. “Maybe you should invite him over for dinner, and afterward they can flip to see who will spank you.”

April was about to tell her that wasn’t necessary, because she didn’t want anyone but Titan to spank her. Before she could say anything the door opened, and Threadway came inside, followed by his partner. He had a paper sack in his hand, which he placed on the counter.

“April,” he said as he opened the sack. “I want you to look at these books for me.”

He placed them on the counter and she went over and studied them. “That’s easy, they’re all by T. G. Red. She’s one of the most popular authors in Regency romance fiction.”

“Hmm.” Threadway tapped a book. “T. G. Red was the pen name of Virginia Midland. Did you know that?”

April’s mouth hung open. It took a few, long moments before it closed and she shook her head. “No way.”

“Way,” Threadway responded, his voice dripping in sarcasm. But, she noticed that he was grinning.

“She would have told me,” April said, her voice rising. “After all, I own a bookstore, and we could have done a signing here, to, you now, sell
books
.”

Threadway shrugged. “All I know is her tax forms report income from publishers, and she has files on her computer that show she was in the middle of a book, written by T. G. Red. Our techs found it for us.”

His confirmation of facts felt like a punch in the gut. April stumbled back and sat in the chair. All this time, when she’d been talking to Virginia, she’d been talking to one her favorite authors; and she hadn’t had a clue.

Anger swelled up inside her. Why hadn’t Virginia told her? She could see her friend not telling people she met at parties: “Oh, by the way, I write books.” But for her not to tell the owner of the bookstore where she made trades and purchased other books? It was like a betrayal. How could she come in here and talk books with April, but not reveal her writing persona?

“You really didn’t know, did you?” Threadway sounded amazed.

“No, detective, I didn’t,” she retorted, her words harsh.

“I just figured…” his voice dropped off, as if he’d decided not to finish his thought.

“Yeah, I would have, too,”
April said, lowering her voice a little. She looked up at him. “Are you positive about this?”

“We haven’t talked to the publishers, but I don’t think the tax forms would lie.”

“No, you’re right.” She wasn’t sure exactly what to say.

“You’ve read a lot of her work?” Rogers asked. Threadway’s partner had been so quiet that April had forgotten he was there.

“All of it,” she responded. “Whenever she had a new book come out, I would read it. She wrote Regency, which I like.”

“And you never thought to try and contact her, since she lived in Denver?”

“Her bio didn’t say Denver,” April said as she stood. She walked to the shelf and took down T. G. Red’s newest book. “It just says that she lives in the United States. It doesn’t even give a region.”

“Did the two of you ever discuss Red’s books?” It was Rogers who posed the question.

“Not that I remember.” April sat back down. “But as I told you before, I don’t mark down what books customers buy. I keep track of the genres they like, so I can put back new books I get in to try and sell to them.” April tossed the book onto the floor.

“You’re angry,” Threadway said. “Why?”

“Because, we could have made money together. Things have been tough lately, and she’s a big name in the romance world. If she was at the store, we could have drawn quite a crowd.”

“So you’re angry because she didn’t make you money,” Rogers said.

“I’m mad, detective, because it’s like she didn’t trust me. Why the big secret?”

Rogers shrugged. “I can’t answer that for you. You could have a séance and ask her.”

Threadway cleared his throat just as Misty jumped up from her chair and stood in front of April. “I don’t think jokes are what my friend wants to hear right now, detective,” Misty said.

“Who said I was kidding? Wouldn’t be the first time people I’ve met in a case have tried to contact the victim.” Rogers wasn’t laughing.

April huffed in disgust and shook her head. Just as she was about to scream that she wasn’t holding a séance, the door opened and one of her regulars came inside. She was a sixtyish woman who overdosed on mystery novels, much to April’s delight.  Despite her joy at Carol’s spending habits, now wasn’t the time for her to come in, not with two cops in the shop. The next thing April knew, Carol would be putting on her sleuthing hat and trying to figure out what happened to Virginia.

“Gentlemen, could—” before she could say ‘could you leave?
’, Threadway said they were going

“We’ll be back around six.” He headed out the door. April took Carol’s bag of trade-ins and the woman headed toward the mystery section, which was at the back of the shop.

When she was out of earshot, April glared at Misty. “Why are they coming back?”

“How should I know?” Misty started to pace. “But maybe Rogers has an idea. It is October, the time of paranormal delights.”

April held up a finger in warning. “If you say the S word, I’m going to ban you from this store for life.”

“Liar,” Misty laughed. “I gotta go to work. I’m looking forward to hearing about your time with Titan. Call me later when you’re free.”

When she was gone, April wanted to scream. And then she remembered Carol, browsing through the stacks, oblivious to the drama that had just taken place. April had work to do. She needed to go through the offerings Carol had brought in, check her card to see if she had any credit, then tally up the new books and add them to the old ones, if there were any.

She opened the bag and started to sort. There were several new cozy mysteries, a few hard-boiled ones, and buried down at the bottom were two romance novels, which shocked April. Carol didn’t read romances. She checked them once more, noticing that they were of the hard-core variety. Now she was really shocked.

She set them aside, and then picked them back up. It was none of her business what her customers read. She’d just wished she’d discovered it sooner, because she had a whole section of these books, brought in regularly from a few customers who devoured them.

April added the total as she waited for Carol to come back. When the older woman placed her selections on the counter, April gave her the total of trade-in value.

“I went overboard, like I always do,” Carol said with a laugh, and then she gasped. “I didn’t mean to put those in the sack.” She looked horrified, her face turning a brilliant shade of red.

“It’s okay, Carol,” April said. “I don’t care what you read, honestly. In fact, I’ve read a few hot romances in my life, and I take quite a few in trade.”

“You do?” Her eyes widened, and then she grinned. “Where are they?”

“I’ll show you,” April said with a laugh. “I’ve read a few of them myself,” she repeated, hoping it would ease Carol’s mind. She didn’t want her customers to be worried about bringing books into the store. She headed toward the romance section, leaving behind the sweet ones, and the Regency ones. When she pointed to the shelf, she saw Carol’s eyes light up.

“I have a whole bunch of these at home,” she said. “I was a little nervous about bringing them in.”

“Bring them,” April said. “I’ll take them off your hands.”

Carol laughed. “You know how I got to reading them? I saw online that one of my favorite mystery writers wrote erotic romance under a pen name, so I searched her out. It wasn’t easy because you know she used initials and all that so that her regular readers wouldn’t find out.”

For the second time that day, April felt as if someone had punched her in the stomach. T. G. Red, not a very common name. Did Virginia write other books? Mysteries, novels, or chick lit? Searching her out on the Internet would take time, but it might tell her if Virginia authored other books.

After she’d checked out a happy Carol, who had spent more money than she had in a long time, April sat down at the computer and start searching T. G. Red to see what she could find out. She knew several sites that listed books, and most of them had links to authors’ pseudonyms. Unless that author wanted to keep her alter ego secret.

She’d barely typed in T. G. Red when there was a ding at the door. One of her regulars came in, toting two sacks of books. Seconds later, another regular came in. That meant she would have no time to do her search right now.

If the afternoon stayed this busy, she wouldn’t have any time to do what she wanted. And there was that promised visit from Rogers and Threadway. What she needed was someone who could do the search for her.

She could think of only one person. While her customers perused the shelves, April picked up her cell phone and dialed Titan.

“Your bottom missing me already?” he said as a greeting.

“As a matter of fact, yes,” she replied. “But that’s not why I called.”

“I’m disappointed.”

She imagined him on his couch, stretched out with a TV remote in one hand, and a beer in the other. “So, what are you doing?”

He chuckled. “I’d much rather you asked what I was wearing. That would show me you were in a playful mood.”

“Okay.” She looked around before she lowered her voice and said, “What are you wearing?”

“Clothes,” he said with a laugh. “I just wanted to see if you’d do it.”

April couldn’t help but chuckle. “I need your help. I want some research done, on an author.”

“I can do that. But first, tell me what you’re wearing.”

She laughed. “The same thing I was when I left the house this morning.” April’s insides tightened in a delicious way, his words exciting her even though she was still sore from the last spanking he’d given her.

“When we get off the phone, I want you to go into the bathroom, take off your panties and leave them in your desk. I want to know your pussy is bare while I do the research.”

“For it to be bare, I’d have to leave my pants off, too,” she said softly.

“Don’t tempt me,” he replied. “Who’s the author?”

“T. G. Red,” she said. “A Regency romance novelist.”

“Okay,” he said. Was it her imagination, or was there a catch in his voice when he said that?

“It’s going to be a late day at the store,” she said, but she didn’t tell him the cops were expected back around closing. “I’m going to order Chinese. I hope that’s okay.”

“I guess,” he said, his voice sounding normal. “But it’s gonna cost ya. I was hoping for a home cooked meal.”

April laughed. “I don’t have time. This weekend, though, I promise.”

"I’ll hold you to it.”

They said goodbye and she hit end. Afterward, she realized she hadn’t told him about the visit from the detectives.

They would have quite a bit to discuss tonight.

***

Just as they’d promised, Threadway and Rogers showed up shortly before six. It wouldn’t have mattered if they had shown up earlier, because the store had not been very busy after her regulars left.

April had spent the afternoon thinking of ways she could increase her foot traffic, and ways she could find out more about Virginia without the two policemen finding out.

When they came inside the store, she sighed heavily. “I don’t know what I can tell you,” she said as a way of greeting. “Do you really think that I knew about Virginia’s career? Or that it had anything to do with her death?”

“We don’t know,” Threadway said. “But you’re the only book person I know.”

“I don’t know what to tell you, detective.” She shrugged, wondering when he would get the truth of her words, since she kept repeating them. “Honestly.”

“What about the man you saw her with?” Rogers said. “And the fact that she came into your store just days before she died. You might be the last person to see her alive.”

“Thanks for that.” She put down the book she’d been holding. His words made her sick. It brought back images of Virginia, happy and smiling one minute, then dead the next. “I’ll sleep very well tonight just having that on my mind. But I’m being honest when I say I wouldn’t know the man if he walked up to me on the street and shook my hand. The only time I saw the man was at Charlie’s that night, for all of two minutes, tops.”

Rogers just stared at her, as if he expected her to open up and spill every secret Virginia had, when she thought it should be obvious by her reaction to the news they’d delivered that afternoon that she didn’t really know the woman. How well does anyone know anyone, she thought.

“I just wanted to… reinforce the fact that you need to call us if you find out anything,” Threadway said.

“Do you think I’m a private detective as well as a bookstore owner?”

“Nope,” Threadway said. “I just think you might have a few of the pieces I need to put the puzzle together. By the way, how’s your friend?”

“Misty?” She glanced at him in confusion. “You just saw her a few hours ago.”

“Not her, the other one.”

Her confusion increased. “What other one?” She thought about it for a moment before she said, “Are you talking about Titan?”

“That’s the one.”

“He’s fine, detective.” She didn’t elaborate, but she watched him carefully as he studied her.

“Okay, let us know if you think of something,” he finally said, and the two of them left.

April locked the door behind them, wondering why he’d questioned her about Titan… again. Was her new lover a suspect in Virginia’s murder? Did they know something about Titan that she didn’t know? And if so, why weren’t they telling her, instead of beating around the bush by asking about him?

She wasn’t that concerned about it, really, because after last night, she was forming a bond with the man. If he’d wanted to hurt her, in ways other than those that she enjoyed, he could have done it last night while she was sleeping.