Heat (13 page)

Max put his finger to his lips.

“Take off all your clothes.”

Mallory’s “What?” was cut off by Max’s hand over her mouth. He shook his head and looked at her challengingly.

She licked his palm and he snatched his hand away, shaking his finger at her in warning. Max kicked off his fight shoes and tore off his T-shirt. He raised an eyebrow at her. She slid out of her sandals and pulled the maxi-dress she was wearing down so it puddled at her feet. Max’s eyes went straight to her chest.

“Assist your partner so that he or she is comfortable on the table.”

Max pointed to the table.

Mallory gestured to his pants.

With a wicked grin, he stepped out of them, pulling his underwear off as well.

Perfection
.

Mallory’s mouth went dry. She already knew he had a fine ass and gorgeous abs, but the rest of him was breathtaking. The swell of his cock pressed against his belly. It almost distracted her from his muscled legs, lightly dusted with slivers of hair. Her fingers twitched to touch him. She reached out, but he grabbed her hand and indicated that she should take off her underwear.

Mallory’s eyes widened. It stood to reason that if she wanted to jump him, she needed to drop her Victoria’s Secrets. But right now they felt like the only armor she had. She wasn’t sure she wanted to be naked in broad daylight in a room full of people that she could sense and could almost hear. Max smiled and kissed her cheek. He lifted her up in his arms and she clutched at him to keep from shrieking. Laying her gently on the table, Max brushed his hand across her breasts, down her stomach, and over her thighs.

Her hand strayed to his backside and she petted him like he was an exotic tiger. He pressed his erection against her hip. The hardness of it belied how soft it felt.

“Once your partner is comfortable, I want you to stand at their feet.”

Mallory craned her neck to watch him.

He pressed his cock to the bottom of her foot and the heat of him nearly made her jump off the table. She curled her toes against him, liking the feel of his flesh there. His eyes burned into her and heat pooled between her legs.

“Hold their feet lovingly, squeeze gently.”

Max backed off and her foot felt chilly without his warmth, but soon his big hands engulfed them. He pulled them so her body slid down the table. She was sure she was going to land on the floor when he stopped and knelt at the foot of the table. Draping her knees over his shoulders, he put a finger to his lips to shush her.

Then he turned his head and pressed a kiss to her inner thigh. Mallory’s head smacked back against the table and she looked up at the high ceiling in disbelief. Her wildest fantasies didn’t even come close to this.

Max kissed the other leg and she squirmed back. He placed a hand on her stomach and looked straight at her when he exhaled a hot breath against the silk of her panties.

“Yes?” he mouthed at her.

She nodded her head, closing her eyes as his tongue traced the outline of the silk. Mallory’s fists clenched on the sheets. The instructor was droning on about something, but Mallory couldn’t hear her over the roar in her own ears. What was she doing here? Who was she? This was something Colleen would do, not her. This wasn’t like her. When she had sex, it was in bed, under the covers. It was quick and nice, and then she and her partner rolled over and went to sleep. It wasn’t this craving, this wildness that made her want to crawl across the floor just to get to him.

Max’s tongue slipped inside her panties and touched her slick wetness.

She stifled a whimper of need with her arm as he pulled her panties aside so he could press his face deeper. Each stroke of his tongue jolted through her and her legs trembled. Her eyes closed as he flicked over her bud. She thought it would be difficult to lie back and enjoy this without the nagging feeling of guilt that it was his turn, but it wasn’t. Her toes curled and her hips lifted as he continued with the gentle circles. Not making a sound? That was the hard part.

She wanted to beg him to go faster, to slip his cock inside her. But if she let out the cry that was building in the back of her throat, Mallory didn’t think she’d be able to take the embarrassment. So she writhed in delicious torment, concentrating on keeping her breathing silent. His tongue was amazing. She wanted to grab his head and rock against him. She wanted his fingers parting her flesh to plunge inside her. Need burned through her. Mallory forgot about David. Forgot about everything but the quick darts of Max’s tongue until her second orgasm of the day shook through her. She left teeth marks on her arm and was surprised her thighs didn’t crush Max’s head when she came.

She was delighted to see a crazed light in Max’s eyes as he stood up and backed away from the table. He gripped his cock in his hand and pumped it fast.

But Mallory wasn’t about to lie there and watch. She slid bonelessly off the table to her knees. Rubbing her cheek over his knuckles and the tip of him, she pressed kisses against them and trailed her nails up his thighs. He shook his head, his breath harsh. She peeled his fingers away and held his hand. Max threaded the fingers of his other hand through her hair and he looked down at her.

“You don’t have to do this,” he whispered, barely breathing the words.

Mallory put her finger to her lips and then kissed the tip of him.

“I’m going to explode in your mouth,” he sighed softly when she took him deep in her throat.

His fingers tightened on hers. Mallory couldn’t remember a time when she’d held hands
with a man while blowing him. But she liked it. She went slowly, not wanting to give away what they were doing with any loud sucking sounds. Risking a glance up at him, she saw his teeth were gritted and a flush stained his high cheekbones. Mallory tried out the swirling technique that Alex taught the group and Max cleared his throat to hide the groan. Her other hand—the one not holding on to his, stroked his ass. She slid him out of her mouth and he swallowed audibly when she licked the length of him like a giant lollipop. When she lavished attention on the head, his hand in her hair pushed her closer and she engulfed him again, sucking hard. His whole body tremored. He blew out a sharp blast of air that was a silent scream and came down her throat.

Mallory smiled as she swallowed and with a final kiss on his quivering tip, stood up and hugged him tight. Wrapping his arms around her, he pressed kisses to her temple. He lay on the massage table, pulling her on top of him. His hands secured her and they kissed and kissed, oblivious to the erotic massage instructions.

Max helped her into her clothes and told her how to get back to the main section of Couture from where they were. He had to get back to the arena. Mallory wandered a bit in a daze. Her lips felt swollen and she could still taste Max on them. It made her want to curl up against him. But he had that stupid fight, and she needed to talk to her sister about Chrissie spotting her.

She practically floated up to Colleen’s office. Nefertiti had her wait in a chair while she buzzed her sister. Mallory stared off into space, reliving the day’s events. She and Max had a chemistry that she couldn’t believe. She felt like a teenager.

“She’s off the phone,” Nefertiti said. “You can go in now.”

Mallory walked into her sister’s office, sobering up when she realized the situation with Chrissie could mean David was on the way here right now.

“Enjoy your time in the members-only section?” Colleen said with cool amusement.

“How did you know?”
More important
, what
does she know?

“Who do you think buzzed you in? What were you running from?”

“Do you have cameras everywhere?”

“Not everywhere. Otherwise I wouldn’t need to ask you what scared you.”

“Where are your cameras?” Mallory demanded.

“The security cameras are in the hallways and common areas. The private cameras are in the designated areas. And they’re clearly marked.”

“Oh.”

“Why? Are you afraid we’ve got a camera over your bed and you’re tonight’s pay-per-view?” Colleen went over to the bar and poured them two whiskeys.

“I’m not going to dignify that with an answer. Besides, your porn channels are free.”

“So why were you looking to hide out this time?” Colleen handed her the glass.

Mallory sighed and sank into the chair facing her sister’s desk. “I saw David’s sister, Chrissie, by the free coffee. She was talking about some anime parade?”

“We’ve got a Japanese designer in this week and she’s doing a line of clothes taken from the manga and anime. It’s pretty wild.” Colleen squinted at her computer screen, clicking on a bunch of tabs. “David’s last name is Turner, right?”

“Yeah, but Chrissie goes by her mother’s name, Dubois.” Mallory took a sip of the smooth whiskey. She didn’t even question the brand. It was top shelf and she hadn’t had lunch yet. Oh well, it was five o’clock somewhere.

“Crystal Dubois?”

“That’s her.”

Colleen nodded. “Got her. Yeah, she’s here for Kasumi’s show. Stay away from the runway and the makeover salons for a few days and you should be fine.” Colleen sighed. “I hope it’s a big hit.”

“It seemed to be generating some buzz. Or at least Chrissie and her friend were excited about it.”

“Did she see you?” Colleen sipped her whiskey.

“I’m not sure. She thought she saw me, but I made my getaway thanks to you. Did she follow me?”

“No.”

“Someone did.”

“Honey, it’s a big place and I’ve got a lot of members going into that section of the resort. It’s not always about you.”

“So what are we going to do about Chrissie?”

“Well, since she doesn’t know about our real purpose here, she’s going to remain on the fashion side of things. And since you seem to like walking on the wild side, you’re going to move on over to the kinky side of things.”

Mallory started to protest and then realized she didn’t want to.

Colleen fished around in her desk and tossed her a brooch that had three yin signs connected in a circle.

“Pretty,” she said.

“Wear it until we can get you into the system. That will tell the guards that you’re allowed in the private areas.”

“What about David?”

“I told you. He’s not allowed on the premises.”

“But what if Chrissie talks to him and tells him that she’s seen me?”

“Let her.” Colleen shrugged. “If he’s stupid enough to come here, he will be taken care of.”

“What do you mean ‘taken care of’?”

“I mean he’ll be arrested for trespassing at the very least. I hope he tries to get physical with one of my men. I didn’t hire them for just their pretty faces. Speaking of which, Max is off limits.” Colleen eyed her sister. “I know he’s hotter than lava, but you can’t sleep with him.”

“That’s none of your business.”

“Actually, it
is
my business. He can’t show favoritism. It’ll cause a lot of problems and draw attention to you. Look, I’m glad you’re unclenching a bit. You deserve to let your hair down. There are plenty of guys in the Hot Spot who are guests just like you. Choose one of them.
Heck, try out some of the specialty rooms. But keep your hands off Max. It could cost him his job if someone complains. You think you’re the only one that wants to do him? His entire class wants to play hide the sausage with him.”

Mallory crinkled her nose. “That’s vulgar.”

“Whatever, Polly Prissy Pants.” Colleen made a “yadda yadda” motion with her hand.

“What about Sam from your secret Batcave room?”

“Sure, he’s all yours. I can arrange a meeting. Tonight after the fight?”

“No!” Mallory shouted, feeling a rush of annoyance. “That’s not what I meant. I mean, doesn’t Sam work for you? Yet last night he was banging Angie in the thousand-bucks-an-hour suite.”

“He’s not currently on my payroll. He’s also a member. Most of my instructors are. Angie Wilkes is not one of his students. Although I don’t think that would stop her. And Sam would hump a hole in the wall.”

“But you were about to set us up.” Mallory had the urge to pull on Colleen’s hair, just to wipe that snide cool smirk off her face.

“I set up a lot of my friends.”

“I can find my own hookup, thanks.”

“Your loss. Sam could also make the hole in the wall scream his name.” Colleen whirled her pen in the air.

“I don’t want Sam.”

“Just as long as you don’t have your heart—or anything else—set on Max.”

“I like Max. He’s special,” Mallory wheedled, but Colleen wasn’t buying it.

“He’s off limits. He’s on my payroll. It could be construed as prostitution.”

“Whatever,” Mallory said, feeling like she was fourteen again.

Colleen shrugged and then took pity on her. “So, do you want to watch our boy fight tonight? You can join me in the box seats.”

“Not really. I can’t keep the doctor part of me from cringing.”

“The fights are very safe. The referee is trained to stop them before anyone gets seriously hurt. Dr. Parks will be there, so you can put the doctor part in a bag.”

“It’s not that easy.” Mallory crossed her arms.

“Besides, you aren’t betting against Max, are you?”

“I’m not betting, period. Isn’t that illegal?”

“The casinos are laying odds. You could phone in a bet.” Colleen nudged the phone toward her. “They hate that I stole this fight from them. They think I’m going to steal their business—which, of course, I am.”

“I don’t have the money to lose.”

Colleen sighed. “You need to take more risks.”

“Thanks, but my life is risky enough without adding knee breakers to it when I can’t pay the vig.”

“Do you even know what that means?”

“No, I heard it in a Leonard Elmore movie and I thought it sounded cool.”

“Get out of my office.” Colleen pointed with a pencil.

A terrible thought hit Mallory and she took one last sip of the whiskey before she set it aside. “Do you want Max for yourself?” Max had said Colleen propositioned him. She’d said he was hot. She touched him often. This wasn’t good.

“What? No.” Colleen shook her head. “I don’t have time for a lover right now.”