Marlee Dunn walked up to the reception desk and smiled at the grey-haired lady behind it. “I’m here to see Colton Dunn.”

The receptionist frowned. “Do you have an appointment?”

A deep male voice rumbled out of the office behind the desk. “She doesn’t need an appointment. Send her in, Sandra.”

The receptionist frowned sternly at her.

Marlee gave her a polite smile and strolled around the reception desk and through the open doors.

A tall, well-built man in a grey suit jumped up from his desk to meet her. He threw his arms around her and lifted her off the ground to spin her in a circle. “There’s my one and only baby sister. How was the flight?”

Marlee kissed him on the cheek warmly. “It was great, especially since you bought me a first-class ticket.”

He looked even better than she expected. His suit hid his muscled chest, but she felt his solid bulk through his clothes. He’d gotten bigger since she saw him last, and had clearly been taking care of himself. She would be able to give her mother a good report when she got home for sure.

His blue eyes sparkled, and his gelled hair stuck up in the front. He threw his weight around the office with reckless confidence. He was king inside these four walls—and in the rest of this skyscraper office building of his. He had certainly done well for himself since he left home.

He set her on her feet. “I couldn’t let you ride in the cattle section, could I? Where’s your luggage?”

“I left it down in the lobby. I’m sure you don’t want it cluttering up your office.”

He waved his hand. “Forget it. You’re not going to be stuck around here long enough to clutter up anything. Take a seat over there. I just have to finish something up, and then I’ll take you to my place.”

Marlee made herself comfortable on a modern-looking couch by the window. Colton’s impressive office overlooked the city in three directions. She watched freight ships plowing into the river while Colton tapped on his computer.

In the middle of her reverie, another man entered the office without knocking or announcing himself in any way. He walked in like he owned the place. He cast the same commanding glance around the place as Colton did.

This man wore a black wool suit with a T-shirt underneath. She could not help but notice how the thin cotton stretched over his bulging chest, and his jacket sleeves pinched around the armpits. His thighs tightened inside his pant legs when he bent over to set a tablet on Colton’s desk.

He moved around the desk to stand next to Colton’s chair. His buzzed blonde hair stood up an inch taller on top than the rest of his close-cropped scalp, and sharp grey eyes flashed once at Marlee. He got as far as, “Take a look at these figures I just pulled up from the City Council....” before he stopped in mid- sentence. He straightened up and fixed his eyes on Marlee. “Well, what do we have here? You didn’t tell me you had a date, Colton.”

Colton stood up to block his view. “Don’t even think about looking at her, Ash. That’s my sister over there, so you’ll stay away from her,” Colton asserted.

Ash's eyes popped wide open. “Your sister!”

Colton scooted around the desk. “Yes, my sister. She’s here to spend Christmas with me, not to fend off your advances.”

Ash’s hand raised to his wide chest. “Colton, I’m hurt. You should know I wouldn’t make advances on your sister.”

Colton came to Marlee’s side. “You better not, or you’ll answer to me.” He turned to her. “This is my partner in crime and my right-hand man, Ash Hobbs. He’s the most notorious bad boy on Broadway, so keep a safe distance. He could go off at any moment.”

Marlee laughed and held out her hand to Ash. “It’s a pleasure to meet you.”

He bowed over her hand and closed his eyes. “I’m sure the pleasure is all mine.”

The minute he let go of her hand, he opened his eyes and gave her a once- over. Marlee understood that look from men. He swept her up and down, from her curly chestnut hair layered around her face, to her tight jeans tucked into the leg warmers wrapped over her Doc Martin boots.

On the way back up to her face, he followed the healthy curves under her tan leather jacket. He couldn’t fail to notice the cleavage hiding under her woolly scarf. His eyes widened again, when he realized she caught him looking.

Colton instantly took control of the situation. “Ok. You’ve been introduced. Now show me your figures, and then I’m taking Marlee to lunch. I need to drop her off at my place so that she can get settled. Then I’ll meet you back here in time for the meeting.” Colton turned back to Marlee. “Sorry for the bad timing, but we have a big negotiation meeting with the city later this afternoon. The place is in an uproar, but you don’t want to hear all about that.”

“No, I would love to hear all about it,” she returned. “I barely know anything about what my only brother does for a living. I want to hear everything about everything.”

“Well, we don’t want you underfoot this afternoon,” Colton told her. “Once I get you taken care of, I need to concentrate on this meeting to the exclusion of everything else. You’ll be a lot more comfortable at home than here. After the meeting, we can live it up, and I’ll show you all around town.”

“I know,” Ash interrupted. “After the meeting, I’ll take you both out to dinner to celebrate knocking this contract out of the park.”

Colton narrowed his eyes at his friend. “If we knock it out of the park, you mean.”

“We will. Come on. What do you say? We’ll all want to relax and enjoy the fruits of our labors.”

“That sounds great,” Marlee replied. “Thank you.”

Colton frowned. “You better not be trying anything.”

“What could I be trying?” Ash asked. “I just offered to take you and your sister out to dinner. You deserve it, after the hours you’ve been slaving on this contract.”

“All right,” Colton agreed. “As long as it’s just dinner.”

“And maybe a drink afterward,” Ash added.

“What’s wrong with that?” Marlee asked. “I want to get out and see the city. I don’t want to be stuck in your apartment for three weeks.”

“Great. Then it’s all settled.” Ash headed back to the desk. “Come on. Let’s get this show on the road.”

Colton hesitated one more second. Then he shook himself and returned to Ash’s side. The two men bent over the tablet while Marlee went back to looking out the window. She got so interested in the sights spread out below her; she didn’t hear a thing until Colton tapped her elbow. “I’m ready to go when you are.”

Marlee looked around. Ash had gone, along with his tablet. “Where’s your friend?”

“He went back to his office. He’ll work straight through lunch, so we have every scrap of information in hand when we meet the City Council.”

Marlee followed him to the elevator and out of the building. “What’s this contract you’re working on?”

“Just another transportation contract,” he replied. “We negotiate on behalf of the shipping companies bringing freight into the Harbor. Most contracts don’t require this much rushing around. This one’s different, though. The City wants to impose some new restrictions, and the shipping companies want the City to front up with some concessions to make shipping easier, not harder. On top of that, City wants them to pay an additional duty on every container that comes in. Meanwhile, the shipping companies want the City to pay them a percentage of their profits to encourage trade. It’s a big jumbled morass of competing charges and demands.”

Marlee gazed at her brother in awe. “And you’re in the middle of all that? It’s amazing. How did you ever work yourself up to this?”

He chuckled. “By the sweat of my brow, little sister. By the sweat of my brow. No, seriously. It’s not that complicated when you learn the ropes. Besides, the thornier the negotiation, the more we get paid. That’s why we put in so many extra hours. We have to know what we’re talking about when we walk through that door.”

“By ‘we,' I assume you mean you and Ash.”

Colton twisted two fingers together. “We’ve been like this ever since we left business school. He’s the best thing that ever happened to me, and he says the same thing about me. We’re the two chocolate cookies in the Oreo sandwich,” he chuckled.

“So what’s the filling?”

“Anything that makes money. We tackle it together, and we don’t leave it alone until we kick its ass.”

Marlee nodded. “I can believe it, looking at the two of you. You’re at the top of your game, as well as being at the top of this building of yours.”

Colton waved his hand aside. “That’s nothing. I’m just happy you’re here. There’s nothing like family. It gets lonely living out here on the opposite side of the country from the rest of you.”

Marlee squeezed his hand. “Mom and Dad miss you, you know. Heck, we all miss you, but they’ll be glad when I tell them how well you’re doing. Now if you would just get married, they’d be in heaven.”

Colton laughed and held the elevator door open for her.

She collected her suitcase from the lobby and met him by the front door. “Now what do we do? Are you going to hail a cab to take us there?”

He stared at her. “A cab?”

“Yes, a cab. It’s freezing out there, and I don’t want to wheel this suitcase all the way to your apartment.”

He gave her one more incredulous stare. Then he snorted with laughter. “We’re not taking a cab. We’re going in that.”

He pointed to a black limo parked in front of the building. He took hold of Marlee’s suitcase and pushed his way through the door.

He left her standing there with her mouth open like an idiot. That? They couldn’t be going in that.

A blast of cold air rushed through the door behind him. It tossed his jacket aside, but he squinted into it and wheeled the suitcase to the limo. The driver got out, and the trunk popped open. The driver hoisted the suitcase into the back, and Colton propped open the passenger door. He came back in and hooted. “Man, it’s cold out there! Come on. The heater’s on. You’ll be warm in the limo.”

He didn’t give her any chance to argue. He grabbed her hand and tugged her through the door. The wind hit her like a freight train, but he kept her moving and shoved her into the limo. The next minute, he ducked in behind her and slammed the door.

He threw himself back in the seat. “Whoo! That wind cuts like a knife.” He glanced over at her. “Are you all right?”

She couldn’t stop staring at everything around her. She was NOT riding in a limo through the streets of New York with her gazillionaire brother. It just couldn’t be happening. She knew he was rich, that he fought his way to the top of his game—but not this. He couldn’t be this rich.

He didn’t break in on her thoughts again, until she shuddered and shook her head. “I had no idea, Colton.”

He looked out the window. “Don’t tell Mom and Dad, okay?”

Marlee’s head shot up. “Why not? You should be proud of yourself. You earned this.”

“I don’t want them to think I’m getting big in the head or anything. I don’t mind you knowing. I wouldn’t want them to think I’d changed or anything.”

“You have changed, Colton,” she insisted. “You’ve changed for the better. You’ve played the game, and you won. Anybody would be proud of you. I’m proud of you.”

“I want them to think I remember where I came from, and for them to feel I’m still their little boy.”

Marlee couldn’t help but laugh. She hopped over to the other seat and hooked her hand through his elbow. “You’ll always be their little boy, and you’ll always be my brother. We’re all proud of you, and I’m more proud of you now than I ever thought possible. You’re a big success, and I’m glad I get to be the one to visit you like this. I missed you.”

He squeezed her arm. “I missed you, too. It’s been too long.”

The limo took Colton and Marlee to an impressive looking restaurant where he ordered for both of them. Plates and plates of beautiful, inventive looking, food creations were served to them. They ate their fill of perfectly steamed vegetables with smoked salmon, vibrantly colored rice and pasta, and desserts that were to die for.

They rode in style to the other side of town. The pair got out in front of another towering ultramodern skyscraper of steel, concrete, and glass.

Colton took hold of Marlee’s suitcase, and they strode into the lobby.

She was taken aback by the place. The interior was unbelievably lavish in its design.

Colton, unfazed by the spectacular building that he simply called home, held the elevator door for her and pressed the button for the twenty-seventh floor.

The elevator opened in the carpeted hallway outside a single locked door. He opened it with his key device and waved Marlee inside.

To her surprise, she found herself in a huge garden. Palm trees and other exotic, green feather-like plants grew toward a high glass ceiling, and a little stream flowed over a rocky waterfall next to the platform on which she stood. Koy darted in a pool next to her feet, and flowering fuchsias and orchids drooped all around her head.

Marlee stopped in her tracks. “What is this place?”

Colton laughed. “This is my apartment. Come on. I’ll show you to your room, and you can make yourself comfortable.”

She followed as he walked away down a marble bridge crossing the stream.

The tiles turned into a curving atrium rising into the sky. Marlee couldn’t see the top of it, but a beam of daylight streamed down from above.

He turned aside into a hall cutting sideways. “This is the guest wing.”

The hall ended in a huge bedroom suite. Marlee never saw a bed bigger than the one standing on a raised dais in the center. Sheer silk embroidered Gauzy curtains surrounded it, and tall windows shed more light into the place.

A curved glass wall separated the bathroom suite from the main room.

Marlee just caught sight of an overflowing tub of steaming water. Trimmed trees and ferns surrounded it, and grey stone pebbles across the floor made it look like a forest hideaway. Across the room from the bed, a kitchenette hugged one wall. A glass-fronted fridge and freezer sat next to the stainless steel sink. She froze. “You don’t seriously expect me to stay in a place like this, do you?”

Colton shrugged. “You don’t have to stay here if you don’t want to. You can sleep on the couch if you prefer.”

She cringed. “I hate to ask even what kind of living room couch that would be!” She laughed

“This is just my guest bedroom. Come on. I’ll show you around the rest of the place.” He parked her suitcase next to the bed.

Still stunned, she followed him out of the so- called guest bedroom.

Back down the hall, he turned a different way off the atrium. Already Marlee started to lose her way in this massive apartment. He followed a different hall opening into another enormous space full of trees and plants and water falling somewhere out of sight.

He wandered farther down a twisted pathway until he stopped on a flat expanse of white marble. It ended with a sheer wall of solid glass. Nothing separated the forest from the sky above the city. The same sweeping view stretched to the far horizon.

Leather couches, recliners, and divans surrounded the sitting area. A wide- screen TV stood in a cabinet nearby. A rack of magazines and a shelf of books completed the living room—if that’s what you could call it.

Colton waved his hand. “Here you go. You can stay out here if you want. The kitchen is right over there. You can help yourself.”

Marlee looked all around, but she saw nothing but more trees. “Where’s your room?”

Colton laughed. “Find it yourself. You’ll have all the time you want to explore while I’m at work. Just don’t get lost in this place.” He threw himself down on the couch and picked up a magazine. He flipped the pages without really looking at them.

Marlee studied him. Who was this man, this mogul who lived in a palace in the air? She would never have recognized him.

She sank down on the couch opposite, but she didn’t dare look around. “It’s gonna take me a while to get used to this place.”

“You’ve got plenty of time.”

“How did you ever afford this place?” Marlee closed her eyes. “No, don’t answer that.”

He tossed the magazine on the table. “I just keep this place to impress business clients. When Ash and I have to put somebody up when they come into town on business, we put them in the guest room. Once they see we’re legit, they usually cave to our demands.” He jumped up. “Come on. I want to show you my room. Maybe then you’ll understand.”

She hesitated, but he hurried away into the trees. She had no choice but to follow. She found him standing outside another door.

A mischievous glint sparkled in his eye. “Are you ready for the ultimate surprise?”

What could she say? He was full of surprises. He opened the door, and they stepped into a very plain living room. In fact, it looked remarkably similar to Marlee’s parents’ living room back home. Wooden beams angled up the ceiling from the white plaster walls. A low wooden coffee table separated two brown leather couches from TV. A normal-sized Christmas tree stood in one corner.

Ornaments and bead strings hung from its branches, and a stuffed angel sat on top.

Through another door, Marlee spotted a queen-sized bed with a brown comforter tossed to one side. Clothes scattered on the floor and the exposed mattress. It was the private residence of a single man for sure.

Marlee grinned at her brother. “Colton!”

---

He chuckled. “Don’t tell anybody, okay? You can stay in here if you want to.

The bathroom’s right over there. Just leave the toilet seat up.”

She followed the jerk of his head. A simple bathroom with toilet and shower stall came off the living room. In all the years he worked in New York, he never outgrew his middle-class upbringing. All the money and success hadn’t changed him one bit. He didn’t want all that luxury and glass. He wanted to live somewhere comfortable and familiar.

Marlee tackled her brother so hard she knocked him off his feet. She threw her arms around him and crushed her head against his chest. “You’re the best.”

He pushed her back. “If you get lonely, you can come back here, but you might like to explore the rest of the place, just for giggles. I better go now. I’ll be back around five, and we’ll go out for dinner.”

Marlee spent the rest of the day exploring Colton’s apartment. Whenever she overloaded her senses on the towering ceilings, the magnificent indoor gardens, and the lavish furnishings, she high-tailed it back to the sanctity his secret den.

So that’s the way her brother lived. On the outside, he was a lion of the business world. On the inside, he was still her brother. He still walked around in his socks and threw his dirty laundry on the floor. His bathroom needed cleaning, and he kept a glass of water on the table next to his spot on the couch where he watched TV.

He returned at five o’clock on the dot and found her in the main living room watching the boats again. He stripped off his jacket and fell full length on the couch opposite. “Phew! I’m glad that’s over. Now we can relax until after New Years.”

She smiled at him. “Were you really worried about it?”

“Not really. I just want to do a good job. I don’t like doing anything by halves. If I’m going to bother with it, I’m going all the way. You know what I mean? That’s why Ash and I are such a great team. He’s the same way. Nothing is good enough unless it is top quality.”

“How did you meet him, anyway?”

“We met in the gym at Syracuse. We got talking, and it was love at first sight, you could say,” he joked.

Marlee laughed, and he grinned. She recognized her good old brother in that smile. His business tycoon persona started to wear thin.

He cocked his head to one side. “I’ve got something to say to you, Miss Marlee.”

Marlee raised an eyebrow. “Oh? Only one thing?”

He propped himself up on his elbow. “It’s about Ash. I just want to warn you about him. He’s taking us out to dinner tonight, and that’s fine. But I wasn’t joking when I told him to stay away from you before—”

“Oh, lighten up Colton,” she interrupted.

“Listen. He’s a hopeless womanizer. I’ve seen it, over and over. It’s the one thing I strongly dislike about him. He can’t keep his hands to himself, and he goes through women faster than he changes his underwear.”

Marlee burst out laughing all over again. “Are you worried about him hitting on me?”

“I know he’ll hit on you. You’re exactly the kind of woman he does hit on.”

“What’s that supposed to mean? What kind of woman is that?”

He waved his hand up and down in front of her. “Drop dead gorgeous. Curvy. Smart. Sexy. Put together. Sharp dressing. That’s what I mean. He’ll be all over you.”

“I’m sure he won’t do that. You’re his friend and his business partner, and I’m your sister visiting from the West Coast. I’m sure he’ll mind his manners.”

“You don’t know him as I do. Just take a warning from me. Don’t get into anything you can’t get out of, and don’t believe a word he says. He might promise you the moon. Just don’t think he’ll follow through on it. He’ll get what he wants and move on in a heartbeat. I’ve seen him do it a million times.”

Marlee just chuckled at him. “So you’re worried about him trying to get me into bed, and then me getting hurt when it turns out to be nothing more than a one-night stand. Is that it?”

“Something like that.”

“Thank you for the warning, Colton. You might be pleasantly surprised, though.”

“I won’t be pleasantly surprised by his behavior because he won’t behave. He’ll do what he’s always done.”

“Maybe he has more to worry about from me than I have to worry about from him.”

“I doubt that.” Colton’s phone vibrated. He pulled it out and studied the screen. “The limo is downstairs. Ash is waiting for us. Just remember what I said, okay?”

Marlee slid into the limo, shuffling across to make room for Colton. She scuffled to adjust her seatbelt as the limo glided out onto the street. Lights and horns floated past outside, but Marlee snuggled into the pleasant warmth inside. A lamp in the ceiling illuminated the passenger compartment.

As she looked up, she met Ash’s eyes.

He was sitting directly across from her. His steel-grey eyes hardened and hit hers with his penetrating gaze, as he shrugged his shoulders inside his jacket.

So this was the most notorious bad boy on Broadway? Yum.

Instead of a T-shirt, Ash wore a pressed, tailored buttoned shirt with the top button unfastened. He gave her another once-over. “How did you like your brother’s apartment?”

“It’s very nice. Thank you. I suppose you have one like it, too.”

“Who me? No, I could never live in a place like that. I live in a brownstone in Queens.”

Marlee stared at him. “Do you? Do you take a limo from Queens to town every morning to get to work?”

“No, I drive my car.”

“A Ferrari, I suppose.”

“No, I have a BMW.”

Marlee pursed her lips and nodded. “Impressive.”

“Not as impressive as this brother of yours. He never does anything by halves.”

“That’s interesting. He said the same thing about you.”

Ash’s cheeks colored, but he never took his eyes off her. “I suppose he warned you all about what a shark I am.”

Her cheeks glowed. She was enjoying this. “Yes, he did. He told me not to let you get anywhere near me.”

He cast his eyes down to her feet and back up to her...yes; he was staring at her chest. “I’d like to get near you, all right.”

Colton growled under his breath. “What did I tell you?”

Marlee laid her hand on her brother’s arm. “Don’t worry. I can take care of myself.”

“You’re only encouraging him,” Colton shot back.

“We’re just talking,” Marlee told him. “Now, Ash, I want to know all about this negotiation you just had. Colton never tells me anything about what he does.”

“I told you all about it,” Colton protested.

“There’s really nothing to tell,” Ash replied. “Your brother blew everybody out of the water and got exactly what he wanted. He won a bunch of concessions from the City, and he got the duties the City wanted from shippers. He also positioned our holding company to make a whopping profit from the new arrangements by purchasing advanced shares in some of the shippers involved. He’s a genius, this brother of yours.”

“I didn’t do anything,” Colton countered. “It was easily just as much your win as mine. You’re the one who dug up those figures.”

“And you’re the one who came up with the idea of buying before they signed the agreement. You watch. Tomorrow morning when the agreement gets published, the stocks will shoot through the roof. You’re the one who decided to buy while the price was low. I don’t even want to know what sort of deals you’ve got cooking behind the scenes that I don’t even know about.”

Marlee turned to her brother. “Is this true?”

“I told you not to believe a word he says,” Colton snapped. “He’s trying to butter you up by flattering me.”

Ash hooted. “Flatter you! That’ll be the day. How do you think he can afford that apartment of his? He makes ten times as much money as I do, and it’s all behind closed doors. He’s a monster.”

“He’s your best friend,” Marlee pointed out.

“So what do you think that makes me?” Ash replied.

“You say you’re a shark.”

Ash snorted. “I’m a patsy. He only keeps me around to make himself look good.”

Colton glared at him. “You better cut that out before you get yourself in trouble.”

Ash softened. “I’m just joshing you, man. You know I love you more than my upholstery.”

Colton scowled out the window.

Ash turned his attention back to Marlee. “So tell me. What do you do out there in sunny California?”

“I’m a horse trainer.”

His eyes widened. “A horse trainer!”

“Yes. I work for a racing stud outside Santa Cruz.”

“Interesting. That must be such a nice, relaxing job—nowhere near as stressful as corporate contract negotiation.”

“No, it’s not stressful at all. In fact, it’s boring. I’ve been jealous of you and Colton since I got here and saw what you’re up to. It must be so exciting to face down a challenge like that and win. I wish I had that kind of challenge in my life.”

“Don’t wish that,” Ash replied. “I sometimes wish I had a nice, relaxing job like training horses. Now that’s a job I could enjoy.”

Marlee laughed out loud. “Maybe we could switch for a few weeks. We could try out each other’s jobs and see how we like them.”

He brightened up. “Okay. You’ll have to give me a starter course, though. I don’t know anything about training horses.”

“And I don’t know anything about negotiating contracts.”

“I’m sure it’s not that much different. I’m sure you have to negotiate with your horses to get them to do what you want. These people coming to us with their contracts aren’t all that smart. It’s more about knowing how to handle them the right way—tempting them with the right bait—that sort of thing.”

Marlee nodded. “That sounds about right. You’d be a natural,” she joked.

The limo stopped, and Colton peered out. “We’re here.”

The trio got out in front of a restaurant packed with people. The crowd poured out the front doors. No one could get near the entrance.

Colton rolled his eyes. “This is great.”

“We have a reservation,” Ash replied. “I’ll go inside and find the manager.”He shouldered his way in, and the crowd parted to let him through.

The instant he left, Colton rounded on Marlee. “What exactly do you think you’re doing?”

“What are you talking about?”

“I told you not to get anywhere near that guy. You’ve done nothing but flirt with him since you got into the limo. Are you trying to make me mad? He’s dangerous, I told you.”

Marlee flashed him a grin. “Ooo, goody! I love dangerous men.”

Colton smacked his lips. “Don’t let me see that you are talking to him again. Just stay away from him.”

“Come on, Colton,” she chided. “I’m just playing around. I can’t exactly ignore him for the rest of the evening. He’s paying to take us out to dinner.”

“I don’t care if he gives you a million dollars. Don’t talk to him. Don’t even look at him.”

Marlee crossed her arms over her chest. “You can’t order me around like that. I’ll talk to anyone I please, and he happens to be a very good conversationalist.”

“Conversationalist! Do you think I don’t see you two checking each other out?”

Marlee felt her cheeks heat up. She hadn’t realized it’d been so obvious to him that she was checking out Ash. But she couldn’t help it. He looked so damn good with his broad shoulders and his narrow hips. She couldn’t stop herself imagining what he looked like under that suit. A man like that gave her butterflies in her stomach. “Look, Colton, I’m just having a good time. I’m not marrying him. Isn’t that what I came out to New York to do? You can’t keep me under lock and key the whole time I’m here. He’s your friend, not mine. He invited us out to dinner. Let’s just enjoy it while we can.”

He threw up his hands. “I wouldn’t object to you having a little witty repartee with just about anybody else, but not him.”

“How can you say that? He’s your closest friend and your business partner?”

“That doesn’t mean I have to approve of his dating habits.”

Marlee chuckled. “We’re hardly dating.”

“You don’t know him like I do. I’ve seen him chew up women and spit them out. I couldn’t let him do that to my sister. Just stay away from him.”

She sized him up. “I understand you’re trying to protect me, and I love you for that. I’m just talking to him. I would be rude not to. Let’s just get through this dinner. Then we’ll see where we’re at.”

He stood back and nodded. “Alright. I guess there’s no harm in that.”

Ash came back. “I’ve got our table. Come on.” He split the crowd with his massive presence. People fell away before him. If someone didn’t happen to notice him come up behind them, he only had to lay his hand on that person’s shoulder. Then they scampered out of the way with many heartfelt apologies. In an instant, Ash pulled out Marlee’s chair, and the two men arranged themselves on either side of her.

Marlee checked out the menu and closed it again. She couldn’t believe someone would pay these prices, just for food.

“What are you having?” Colton asked.

“I don’t know,” Marlee breezed. “You can decide for me.”

“How about the ratatouille?”

Marlee burst out laughing. “All right. Whatever you say.”

Ash set his menu aside. “I’m having a steak. A crisp negotiation in the bank like we had today puts me in the mood for a nice bloody steak. I need blood.” He lowered his voice to a vampiric chortle.

Marlee beamed at him. “You probably drag your maiden conquests back to your lair in Queens and tie them to the bedpost before you suck them dry. Come on. Admit it, Ash. You have a coffin in the basement instead of a bed.”

He shot her a wicked smirk. “You’d like me to tie you to my bedpost, wouldn’t you?”

“You couldn’t handle my sexual appetite, sonny,” she shot back.

“Really? Try me.”

Colton slammed his hand down on the table. “Do we have to talk about this at the dinner table?”

“Yes, we do,” Marlee countered. “Tell me what you like, Ash. Are you a bondage man, or do you have more of the cannibalism-type fetish? Colton says you chew up girls and spit them out. Maybe you just suck their blood and stack the bones in your basement.”

Ash chuckled with glee.

Colton gritted his teeth and turned on Marlee. “What are you trying to do? You’re baiting him right in front of me.”

“Fine. I won’t talk to Ash anymore. I’ll just sit here and eat my ratatouille.” She wadded up her napkin and stuck it in her lap. She laced her fingers together, propped them under her chin and her elbows on the table, and blinked into the distance.

Colton glared at no one in particular.

Nobody said anything until the food came.

Ash took up his knife and fork and bent over his steak. “Mmm. Nice, medium rare, charbroiled maiden conquest. Just what I like.”

Marlee exploded in laughter again, but when she saw the look on Colton’s face, she buttoned her lip for good. Neither she nor Colton said anything for the rest of the meal.

Ash prattled on as though to himself. “What do you guys have planned for Christmas? I’m going down to Times Square to hear the carolers on Saturday. Maybe you’d like to come along. I wouldn’t be able to suck your blood there. Oh, wait. Colton wouldn’t let you come. Anyways, I still haven’t set up my tree yet. I got all my decorations out of the basement, and I....oh, sorry. I forgot. There’s no room in the basement for decorations with all the bones lying around. Well, it’s kind of hard to enjoy Christmas by yourself, isn’t it? It’s nice you two will be spending Christmas together. Do you have your presents wrapped under the tree yet?”

Marlee cast a sidelong glance at Colton. She just now realized she forgot to get him a Christmas present. Her parents sent theirs through the mail. The box would arrive in a few days, and she would put them under the tree in Colton’s room for Christmas morning. She forgot to get him one from herself, though.

Her mind raced. She would have to get away from him for a few hours sometime before the 25^th. “Are you guys working for the rest of the week, or are you done for the holidays?”

Colton’s head whipped around, and he bared his teeth.

Ash froze with a piece of steak perched on the end of his fork halfway between the plate and his open mouth. He stared back and forth between Marlee and Colton.

Marlee turned on Colton. “Well, are you? It’s a simple question.”

Colton finally answered, “No, we’re not working. I was hoping you and I could spend some time together.” He glared at Ash. “Just you and me—no one else.”

Marlee’s heart sank. How could she give him the slip to buy him a present? She regretted teasing him by joking with Ash. He would watch her like a hawk now. Well, she had a week left before Christmas. Something would pop up. It always did.

After the meal, Ash went to pay the check.

Marlee stole a peek at Colton, but he wouldn’t even look at her. She passed her hand across the table to touch his arm. “Listen, Colton. I’m sorry I antagonized you. I never meant to cause any bad feeling between you and Ash.”

He let out a sigh. “I’m just worried about you. I don’t want to see you get hurt.”

She kept her witty remarks to herself. “I won’t. I promise.”

He raised his eyes to her face. “Are you sure? You won’t get involved with him?”

“How could I get involved with him? I’m only here for the holidays. Then I’m going home. Nothing can happen between Ash and me, and anyway, he’s your best friend. Don’t let any of this come between you.”

He clasped her hand. “Promise me you won’t fool around with him.”

Marlee’s cheeks burned. “What makes you say that? We’re just talking.”

He shook his head. “I’ve seen him do this before. He’ll charm the pants off you and leave you high and dry.”

“You keep saying that like I’m some innocent victim and he’s a rapacious hound. I’m a consenting adult. If I want to have a playful fling with him, why shouldn’t I? At least, I know what I’m getting into. I don’t expect anything more and I have you to thank for that. Ash doesn’t want it, and I don’t expect it. What can go wrong?”

Colton stared at her in horror. “You can’t seriously be considering this.”

“I never said anything about considering it. I’m just pointing out the facts. He’s a grown man, and I’m a grown woman. What’s a little sex on the side?”

Colton clapped his hands over his ears. “I’m not listening to this.”

“Suit yourself. Mom and Dad are thousands of miles away, and I’m on vacation here. Why shouldn’t I have a little fun with a hot guy?”

“You’re my little sister. I can’t think of you doing...that.”

“You better think about it, brother. I’m not some nun living in an ivory tower. I like men, and I like men like Ash. I like him the way you say he likes curvy women. If I decide to do it with him, you’ll have nothing to say about it.”

Colton groaned. “Tell me you’re not going to do this. Tell me you aren’t thinking of letting him touch you like that.”

Marlee giggled. “Come on, Colton. We’re both adults here. You don’t think I live my life a chaste virgin, do you? I’m going into this with my eyes open, so you have nothing to worry about.”

Before they could say anything more, Ash returned.

They made their way back outside and got into the limo. It headed up Broadway, and Marlee gazed out the window at the huge lighted signs on every side. She turned around to see both Colton and Ash staring at her. She shrank down small in her seat.

This situation turned into exactly the opposite of how she envisioned her New York Christmas getaway. Colton was furious with her for even suggesting she would want to have sex with a guy.

Ash’s dark grey eyes bored into her from across the seat. He could be thinking of only one thing. Maybe he wanted something from her she wasn’t prepared to give. What if she let him hit on her and then didn’t take no for an answer? Why did she hit on him and let him hit on her if she wasn’t prepared to go all the way?

She would love to go all the way with a guy like that. She would love to smear herself all over him. She would love to find out what was the worst he could do in the bedroom. Was he all talk, or was he more of a demon than she imagined?

She couldn’t exactly go through with it, though, could she? What would Colton say? She might ruin their whole business relationship. Colton owed his success at least in part to his friendship with Ash and vice versa. What would either man be without that?

Colton must have seen Ash go through a lot of women. None of that ever bothered him before. His sister was a different story. He probably felt responsible for her. Here she was, a country girl in the big city for the first time. If anything happened to her, even a broken heart, he would blame himself.

Marlee found herself staring across the seat at Ash. He fascinated her. Everything about him sparked her deepest curiosity. What would he look like naked? What would he look like when his muscled midsection contracted in lust?

All of a sudden, the limo stopped in the middle of traffic.

Colton startled out of a trance. “What’s going on?”

Ash leaned forward to look outside. “We’re here. Let’s go.”

“Where?”

“The bar. I said we’d go out for a drink afterward. Here we are. Let’s go. Are you coming?”

Marlee put out her hand for the door, but Colton grabbed her. “You’re not going in there with him.”

Ash pushed the door open himself. “I’m going in. You guys can come, or you can go home. I don’t care.” He got out.

Marlee tried to shrug off Colton’s hand. “Come on. Let’s go inside and have a drink.”

He yanked her back. “No way. You’re walking right into his trap.”

She struggled against his fingers digging into her arm. “Cut it out, Colton. I want to go in. This has nothing to do with Ash. I don’t want to slink home and go to bed. I want to go out.”

He threw his hand off her arm and sat back in the seat. “If you go in there, you’re going alone. I’m going home. You want to play around? You’re on your own.”

She shot one more glance toward the bar. She looked back at her brother.

Should she do this, even knowing what would happen?

What the heck? She came to New York to cut loose, and that’s what she would do. She shoved the door open and burst out into the frosty night.

The music in the bar thumped so loud she couldn’t hear herself think.

Marlee pushed her way through acres of waving arms and sweaty bodies. Strobe lights flashed in all directions. Colored spotlights slashed the air through clouds of steam and smoke.

She couldn’t see a thing in here to distinguish one person from another. She would probably never see Ash again. Oh, well. She had to find the bar and get herself something to drink. She jumped up and down while she looked over people’s heads. Finally, she caught sight of the bar. In the distance, she recognized a buzz-cut head with long hair sticking out the top. She made her way there and found Ash.

She elbowed him to get his attention.

His eyes widened when he saw her. The music faded near the bar just enough to hear when someone shouted in your ear. “Oh, there you are. I thought Colton would have taken you home.”

“I’m here to have a good time,” she yelled back. “I wasn’t ready to go home.”

Ash looked around. “Is he here?”

“No, he had to get his beauty sleep.”

Ash’s lips twisted into a grin, and he shook his head. “You’re a real firecracker, aren’t you?”

“You have no idea.”

“No, I don’t, so tell me.”

“You said you’re a shark. Well, I’m a shark, too.”

Ash stared at her. “What does your brother think of that?”

“He doesn’t know. He left home when I was a teenager. He doesn’t know what I get up to on the other side of the country.”

“Really? What do you get up to?”

“All kinds of mischief.”

“Do tell.”

She grinned at him playfully. “Wouldn’t you like to know?”

“Yes, I would. That’s why I asked. What sort of mischief do you get up to?”

“I chew up guys and spit them out. I have my way with them and leave them high and dry. I do everything Colton says you do with girls, so I guess we’re two of a kind.”

He stared at her with wide eyes. “Are you—dare I say it? Are you picking me up?”

She leaned close and smiled up into his face. “I’m trying my hardest. How am I doing so far?”

“Pretty damn good. I’ve never met a girl like you before.”

“Ha! You’ll probably never meet anybody like me again, either, and you should thank your lucky stars for that.”

He took a massive gulp of his drink. Sweat sprang out on his forehead. “Holy

shit.”

She swatted his arm. “Come on, Ash. I’ve seen you looking. Do you want to do this or not?”

He shrugged. He chuckled. He gulped. “I guess I do.”

She couldn’t wait any longer. She slithered up to him and slipped her hand under his suit jacket and around his waist. His rock-hard abs felt even better than she imagined. “Hey, baby. Come on. I want you.”

His deep grey eyes looked fixedly into hers. “Is that how you do it?”

“Colton says you have a different woman every night. I guess tonight’s my turn.”

He lowered his voice. “You’re asking for it. You know that?”

She moved in closer to him, until her body was pressed firmly against his. Already his cock hardened inside his pants. That iron hard dick excited her more than she dreamed. She wanted it. She wanted it right now. “You never did tell me what you’ve got in your dungeon in Queens. Do you want to take me there? Huh? Do you want to tie me up and spank my ass?”

He gasped out loud, then put his hand on her backside and gripped tight. He didn’t shrug or look away now. “Is this the ass you mean?”

She caved under his monster grip. She nudged her hips towards him, teasing his hard-on. “Oh, God, yeah.”

His kept his hand on her ass and stroked across it steadily with his thumb. “Fuck, that ass is so damn juicy. You want me to smack that ass for you? Huh? Do you want me to bend you over and make you beg for my cock?”

She bit her lip and stared doe-eyed up at him. “Spank me, baby. I’m a bad girl, and I need a spanking.”

He looked down at her face. “Is your pussy wet, baby? Is your pussy dripping wet for my cock?”

She couldn’t bear it any longer and rested her head on his chest. She could feel his breathing had become faster and deeper with excitement. “God, baby, fuck me. I need it so bad.”

He caressed her behind the neck with his hand. He set his drink on the bar and cupped her head with the other hand. He raised her face to his, and his mouth devoured her lips in craven kisses.

Marlee collapsed into his embrace. He was so incredibly hot; she couldn’t hold back. She hugged him around the neck and gave herself over to his kiss. His tongue met hers between their lips. His technique was hotter than she’d ever had in her life. The hand against her back glided down to her ass again. He lifted her off her feet to kiss her harder.

She pressed her breasts against his chest. God, yes! This was going to be one for the record books. He dug his hard-on between her legs, and her thighs fell apart. She rode his knee and mewed into his mouth. He knew just how to touch her, and his lips and tongue lapped her to greater delights than ever.

He pulled his mouth away to stare at her. His eyes filled her whole awareness. “You’re a real bad girl, aren’t you? Do you want to do this?”

“You know I do.”

“What would Colton say?”

Marlee looked away. “If you’re worried about what Colton would say, we probably shouldn’t do this.”

He hesitated. “I never thought I’d be doing his sister. This could get sticky.”

She locked eyes with him. “If you don’t want to do it, I understand.”

He laughed. “Oh, I want to.”

“Then what are you waiting for?”

“No one has ever picked me up like this before.”

She arched her eyebrow. “So now you know what all those women felt like.”

He blinked. “I never thought about that before.”

All this talking wasn’t getting anywhere. She swooped in to kiss him again.

She rose on her tiptoes to reach him moving her hips back and forth to toy with his bulging crotch. She could tell he wouldn’t be able to stand the wait much longer. He stood impassively for a moment, but he couldn’t stop his lips responding. Little by little, his hands crept around her until he grappled her harder than before.

He pulled free for another moment. “All right. That’s it. We’re leaving.”

Marlee bit the saliva from her lips. “It’s about time.”

He grabbed her hand to tow her out of the bar. He left his drink sitting where he left it.

The cold outside bit into her skin after the heat inside. Bodies fell away, and Marlee found herself standing on the sidewalk with Ash.

He spun around to kiss her again with all his animal ferocity. He pushed her back against the concrete wall and held his hard-on between her legs so firmly he nearly pushed her off the ground.

He teased her bottom lip and then filled her mouth with his tongue with expert application. That man could kiss like no one she ever met. He towered over her and continued to nail her to the wall through her clothes. His cock stabbed at her clit until she shrieked with pleasure. She’d been looking for excitement like this forever.

People passed by, but no one took any notice of them making out on a public sidewalk. They hurried to the bar to get out of the cold. Ash panted and groaned against her mouth. God, she wanted to get hold of his bare body right now. She slid her hands down his back under his jacket, but she couldn’t get hold of him.

She would have been happy to have him fuck her right here against the wall, but he wouldn’t do that. She knew better. A guy like him didn’t take his conquests in any rude corner of a dirty street. He would do it right if he did it at all.

He ripped himself away before she could stop him. “Come on. You’re coming with me.” He took her hand, and they set off down the street.

“Where are we going?”

“My house. That’s what you want, isn’t it?”

Marlee almost tripped over when she stopped, and he kept walking. “Your house! Do you mean your house in Queens?”

He didn’t answer. He hailed a cab and opened the door for her. “We’ll get my car out of the parking garage. What do you say?”

Marlee grinned excitedly. “Let’s do it.”

The minute he got her into the cab, they were all over each other once again. He needed her. He tipped her back in the seat and kissed her neck intensely while caressing her breasts with his hand. He tore up her shirt and slipped his fingers under her bra. He twiddled her nipples gently as he kissed her deeper and deeper. He pushed her shirt upward the rest of the way to tease her nipples between his teeth.

Marlee lay back and moaned with pleasure. What was he going to do to her? She ached for him between her legs, but at least now, she could touch him. She unbuttoned his shirt to fondle his chest. As she touched him, his muscles jerked under her hands.

She tugged his shirt out of his waistband, but that wasn’t enough. She started working on his belt, but he snatched her hands away.

Marlee caught her breath. “I thought you wanted to.”

He pushed her hand up next to her head. “That’s for your ass, baby. If you want my belt, you’re gonna get it.”

A thrill shot through her, and she felt tingles of excitement. So that’s what he wanted? Holy Jesus! What a man! She gave herself over to his kiss once again.

In a second, the cab stopped sharply in front of Colton’s office building.

They jumped up and scuffled to adjust their clothes.

Ash led the way into the underground parking garage where he unlocked the door of his silver-grey BMW.

Marlee settled into her seat.

Ash got behind the wheel and roared onto the street. Within minutes, they had crossed the bridge heading out toward Queens.

Ash didn’t talk much on the drive out of town. He couldn’t talk. He was so focused on getting her home.

Marlee’s mind whirled with it all. What kind of man did she get herself mixed up with this time? She did feel excited. She went for him and he took her up on it.

He had one hand firmly gripped the wheel. The other on her knee which he only moved to jerk the gear shift around.

The car tore in and out of traffic. She felt a rush of adrenaline buzzing through her the whole journey. He knew what he wanted, and Marlee did too. Ash would stop at nothing once he got her inside his own house. She said she wanted action. Well, she got it this time and no mistake.

He drove through Queens. Marlee had no idea where she was or where she was going, but she recognized when the neighborhood faded into tree-lined drives and sweeping lawns. He wasn’t taking her to any brownstone. Maybe he had something more sinister in mind. Maybe all that vampire talk wasn’t just a joke.

She shook those thoughts out of her head. He was no vampire. He was a man, a man with a very stiff cock between his legs and a boatload of testosterone to go with it.

In the end, he turned into one of the driveways winding between gardens so large Marlee couldn’t see the end of them. The trees cast the driveway in shadow, and the headlights swept one curve after another. Stars twinkled overhead.

All of a sudden, the car stopped. Ash put it in gear, set the emergency brake, and shut down the motor. He opened his door and got out.

Marlee unlatched her seatbelt.

Ash opened her door from the outside and offered her his hand.

Her breath caught in her throat when she saw the building behind him. “You said you lived in a brownstone.”

“I lied. This is my house.”

She stared up at a mansion of gleaming white stone. Colonnades flanked the tall steps leading to the entrance. Darkness gave the place a ghostly appearance. Not one light shone in that house. You could hardly call it a house. It wasn’t even a mansion. It was something closer to a palace. Buckingham Palace. In fact, it was exactly the way she pictured Buckingham Palace, but without the servants buzzing around all over the place.

He gave her arm a nudge. “Are you coming inside?”

Why did he even ask that? She let him bring her here. What else was she going to do? She giggled.

She heard her footsteps as she climbed the steps. He opened the front door. It wasn’t locked. He conducted her through a hall bigger than the atrium in Colton’s apartment. This place made Colton’s apartment look like a kindergarten playground.

Two sweeping staircases rose from the hall to the upper level.

Ash paused on the lower stairs to peer into her face. They could barely see each other in the dark. He didn’t attack and grope her now. He moved with deliberate slowness. He moved slower the closer he got her to his secret den of iniquity.

Tension racked her body until her teeth chattered. She squeezed his fingers tighter, and he smiled down at her. Did he feel it, too?

She followed him up the stairs. She should have been wearing a gown with a low-cut bodice and a long train even to set foot in a house like this. She belonged in the servants’ quarters, dressed the way she was. Yes, she was his servant. With this thought this whole scenario made more sense. She was a servant on her way to the master’s chamber to service his desires.

On the upper landing, he led her to a huge bedchamber. Ash switched on the light and closed the door behind her. A massive four-poster bed stood in the middle, and a fireplace dominated the other wall. Deep brocades and costly velvet decorated every surface. Was this Ash’s bedroom? Not likely. It reminded her of Colton’s guest room. Did Ash bring her here for a night of fun and frolic? Maybe he had a comfortable hideaway somewhere like Colton’s.

He stopped in front of her. “Well?”

She shifted from one foot to the other. Now what?

He looked her over from head to foot. Now that he had her, he didn’t try to touch her. He jingled his car keys in his pocket and waited.

Marlee tingled all over. He turned her on so much, in the bar and the cab.

Now he just stood there. She seethed in torment to get some satisfaction from him. Would he ever take her?

He compressed his lips. “You wanted me. Now you’ve got me. Now, what are you going to do?”

She stared at him. What did she want to do? What did she want to do with a guy like this? She wanted him to do what he wanted with her. She had to break the ice somehow. She had to get him moving, to release his pent-up power on her.

She took a step toward him. She was his servant, his conquest. If she held onto that idea, she could go through with this. She darted her hands under his shirt tails. She touched the raw muscle around his stomach.

He convulsed at her touch. His face pinched, and his breath caught.

Ah, yes! She loved a good, hard man like him. She knew how to make him crumble. She trailed her fingertips up his sides under his shirt. She fingered his chest and under his arms.

His breath came louder and shorter. He tensed his jaw.

She had him.

He fought hard to hold himself together.

She brought her hands out and started to unbutton his shirt. She collapsed against his bare chest with her lips and teeth and tongue. She devoured him with gentle kisses working her way down to his tight abs, but she didn’t go near his belt. He told her not to. She couldn’t touch it until he told her to.

She dropped to her knees before him, so her face was at his crotch. She teased his cock through his pants and listened as he panted deeply through strained groans.

He rested both hands on her shoulders, but he couldn’t stay like that forever. He gripped a handful of her hair firmly and pressed her head closer to his cock.

She continued to work his rock hard bulge through his trousers until he couldn’t stand it any longer. He shoved her back and pushed her down on her heels, his piercing eyes glared down at her. He was back in control now. “You want my cock, baby?”

She grabbed his thighs. She scratched up his pant legs and back down to his knees. “I want it so bad.”

He swept back his jacket and his open shirt to set his hands on his hips. He pushed his pelvis toward her. “Unbuckle my belt.”

She swallowed hard. She got her shaky fingers to obey her and slipped the belt tongue through the buckle. She cinched it open and let the buckle fall.

“Take it off and hand it to me.”

She slid the belt through his belt loops, doubled it over the way it was supposed to be, and put it into his open hand.

“Now turn around. Get on your knees and show me your ass. You remember what you said you wanted, don’t you?”

She nodded and waited for him to strike her. She held her breath. When would he let that belt fall? When would he end this torturous anticipation? She waited so long, she looked back over her shoulder to see him standing there. A black cloud covered his face. He stared lustfully at her backside. His lips pouted open, and he dragged his breath through gritted teeth.

The moment she looked, he barked out, “Turn around! Don’t turn to face me until I tell you to.”

She faced front. Her heart ached from pounding against her ribs. She couldn’t wait any longer. She moaned and twirled her hips in a circle. She wanted so bad to beg him to smack her, but she didn’t dare. She couldn’t do anything until he told her to. She knew how this went.

He stepped up close to her, and his big hand rested on her back. He traced down her ass in sweeping circles. “Christ, that ass is so fucking fine. I want to bury my face in that ass right now.”

She wished that he were already inside of her. Her body quivered for any touch from him.

He gave her a light slap across the ass, not enough to hurt. Then he went back to standing there, too far away to touch her.

“Pull your pants down. Let me see that sweet ass sticking up at me.”

She unbuttoned her jeans and pushed them down over her hips. She scooted them down to her knees. His breath rasped louder than ever. But still, he did nothing.

She wanted him so badly, but he made no move toward her. She bit her lip in agony. If only he would...

WHACK! Down came the belt on a glancing blow across her backside. Her ass giggled at the impact. Marlee yelped out loud. At last! SMACK! It came back the other way. She closed her eyes and screamed excitedly as loud as she wanted to.

He let the belt slash back and forth. WHACK! She tossed and writhed on her hands and knees. Fuck, that hurt so bad! She couldn’t get away from it. She didn’t dare try to escape.

He brought it down one more time. He gasped from the effort. The leather bit into her choice flesh. Her whole ass burst into flames from those vicious smacks. She braced herself for the next stripe, but it never came. Out of nowhere, his hand closed around her pussy from behind. His fingers rolled the swollen petals to toy the juice out of them.

He moaned low under his breath. “Fuck, that ass is so damn juicy. You want my cock in there, baby?” He plunged two of his large fingers into her hole. “Huh? Is that what you like?”

Her wetness coated his fingers. He pumped them in and out to blow her mind. She rocked back into them. Her yelps turned to whining moans of ecstatic desire. God, she loved it! She wanted it so bad. Faster she rocked, and he matched her with his jabbing fingers. Her juices gushed into his hand.

Like lightning, he jumped clear. He yanked his hand out, and the belt whistled through the air. WHAP! WHAP!. “Bad girl! Bad girl! I’m gonna punish you ‘til you are begging me to fuck you.”

WHACK! Adrenaline rushed through her body more than ever before. “Come on, you bad girl!” he bellowed. “Say you’re a bad girl. Say you want my belt across your ass.”

---

“Oh, fuck!” she moaned. “Oh, God, I’m a bad girl. I’m a nasty girl.” WHACK! “I need a spanking. Oh, Jesus Christ, fuck me hard!”

“You want me to fuck you? You want me to fuck you like this? Huh?” SMACK! “Is that what you want?”

“Oh, God, yes!” WHACK! “Oh, God, please don’t hurt me! I swear I’ll be good. Please!”

He moaned and panted louder. “You’ll be a good! Ha! That’s a laugh. You’ll be good when I punish you into being good!” WHAP! “Don’t make promises you can’t keep.” The belt fell again and again.

“You’re right. I’m not good. Not at all. Oh, God, yes!” SMACK!

Marlee couldn’t talk anymore. The intensity overwhelmed her senses, and her eyes watered a little.

It stopped instantly. She heard the belt drop to the floor.

He lay beside her, wrapped his arm around her and pressed his forehead to hers.

He inched his lips closer to hers. “God dammit, you’re beautiful.” He said, gazing down at her.

Marlee didn’t open her eyes. No one ever thrashed her like that before. Ash left her every nerve and emotion raw and exposed.

His bare hand touched her sore ass again. He caressed the stripes cutting into her flesh. He tickled down between her legs to the wet folds around her opening. He didn’t shove his way inside again, though.

He purred under his breath. “God, you look so good. You don’t know how damn good you look from back here.”

His hands gently covered more territory. He smoothed up her sides and under her shirt. He squeezed her breasts in both hands until she moaned all over again. She whimpered for him, but he wouldn’t touch her—not where she really wanted him to.

He pinched her nipples and grasped both hips in his hands. He pushed her back and forth until she rotated her ass in front of him.

If only he would take her, she would explode all over him.

One hand glided behind her, back to the soaking wet opening he just stretched wide for his use. He gently swirled his fingers inside, but he didn’t work her into orgasm. Not yet. He just toyed and titillated her until she panted and moaned in craven hunger.

All of a sudden, something hot and wet touched her engorged pussy. A strong wet probe burrowed between her butt cheeks and licked up and down her raging slit. His hands still held her hips in a firm grip.

Holy shit! He was doing it. He said he would, and he did it. She should know by now not to doubt his word. He ate her up and down. He tickled her back door and devoured her sore tissues between his teeth. He worked his way lower and tormented her hard clit until she backed into him with all her might.

She ground her pussy to ribbons on his face. She panted higher, on her way to the greatest climax of her life when his hand came down on her ass. His palm stung the stripes he just gave her. She jumped up, but he wouldn’t let her go. He stuck his tongue into her hole, and her juices dribbled into his mouth.

He ate faster and harder. He stuck his fingers into her pussy and nagged her deepest anatomy to distraction. She couldn’t bear it. She crushed her sweet cunt on his face and exploded into loud orgasmic cries.

In an instant, he was on his feet. He rose to his full height behind her. “Turn around. Get on your knees in front of me. Let me see you looking up at me with those big eyes of yours.”

She couldn’t stop sobbing in wretched delight. God, what a man he turned out to be! He deserved to be worshipped on her knees. She adored him. She’d been looking for someone just like him and hadn’t found him until now. She struggled to get her head together. She crawled around on her hands and knees to take her place at his feet. She bent her head to gaze up at him with her sex-starved eyes.

He would whip his cock out and stick it down her throat in a second. She wanted nothing else but to take his steaming load all over her face. He set his hands on his hips. “Take my pants off.”

She went to work on his pants for all she was worth. She unbuttoned them and eased the zipper over his throbbing bulge. She slid them down, along with his briefs. She pushed them to the floor. He kicked off his shoes so she could take his pants all the way off.

His cock jumped up. She tried to catch it in her mouth, but he grabbed a fistful of her hair and yanked her back. “Did I tell you to suck my cock? Did I tell you to touch me?”

She gazed up at him with wide eyes. “No, sir.”

He petted her check. “That’s right, baby. You know how to mind your manners, don’t you?”

She cast a glance down at that pulsating slab of meat. “Please, sir. Let me suck your cock. Please, I want to so bad.”

He threw her back. She fell to her ankles. “I’ll tell you when to suck my cock. You keep your place until I tell you otherwise.”

She looked down at her hands. “Yes, sir.”

He stripped his shirt and jacket the rest of the way off. He tossed them onto his pile of clothes and stood before her in all his masculine power. His chest seethed with his breath. His muscles strained under the skin, and his hips angled down into a tight triangle where his cock stuck out from a bed of fine hair.

He took hold of his cock and pointed it at her face. “Is this what you want, baby? Is this the cock you want to fuck you?”

“Yes, please, sir. I want it so hard.”

He jerked his head sideways. “Get on the bed.”

She scurried over to the bed. Her knees wobbled when she put her weight on her feet, but she managed to get there without falling over.

Ash stood next to the bed and watched until she stretched out on her back. He climbed onto the bed, turned her onto her side, and slid in behind her.

Her heart fluttered in tremulous excitement. This was it, the moment she waited for. He had her on his bed, in his house in Queens or wherever they happened to be. He had her where he wanted her. He made her submit, and now he would finish her off.

He stuck his hand under the pillow and brought out something dark. She didn’t get a good look at it until he raised her hands over her head. He lashed the black thing around her wrists and threw a few knots around the bed rail. She stared in horror at the thing tying her. It was a thick leather strap. How many girls did he tie to his bedpost with that? She was just joking when she mentioned it at the restaurant. Now here she was in living color.

Before she could argue or say anything, he cinched the strap tight. He clasped one hand around her pussy and eased her back against him. His hard cock poked between her butt cheeks. He was moving in on her. This is what she’d been waiting for, and he wouldn’t let her get away now.

She gasped for breath. Could she really do this? God, though, she wanted it. Wanted all of this. His hand tightened around her cunt. Her clit jumped against his palm. Tension and anxiety mingled with her deepest desires. She bucked against his hand to light her fire all over again.

He nuzzled his cock into her ass, but he didn’t bend it to find her wet pussy. He jabbed his thick head into her darkest hole. His teeth clamped on her ear, and his voice rumbled into her soul. “You want this, don’t you? You’re my bad, bad girl, and I’m going to give you exactly what you want. Do you want this? Huh?”

She whined, “Oh, please. Oh, please, don’t hurt me. Oh, God, don’t do this to me. I can’t stand it.”

He scooped up his other hand under her arm. He gripped under her chin and craned her head back to rest on his shoulder. His voice hypnotized her. It came from somewhere in her darkest soul, “I’m not gonna hurt you, baby. I’m going to make you scream and ome all over my hard cock. You know you want that, don’t you?”

She couldn’t answer. He hooked his fingers into her pussy, and his palm caressed her clit. He heaved her back onto his cock, and it popped into her black hole. She cried out loud, but he wouldn’t stop. He screwed it in another fraction of an inch.

She couldn’t protest. His hand around her pussy excited her to a raging inferno. She had to ride that hand to get herself off, and when she did, she worked herself back against his dick. Christ, that thing was so damn thick! How could she take that in her ass?

She had to. She had to. She had to come on his hand, and her hips couldn’t stop moving. She pulsed back and forth, and he copied her movements. Every time she backed into him, he thrust forward to meet her. Her wetness lubricated his passage.

The farther in he got, the more torrential passion swept over her. She rocked and kicked against his hand while his cock devoured her insides. How did this happen? She no longer cared. She needed to destroy herself on this man. She had to take everything he dished out. This is something she’d dreamt about, a man doing this to her. None seemed up to it. None were kinky enough or would ever spank a girl with their belt.

He worked all the way in until his hips touched her ass, but she couldn’t rest. She heaved against his hand. Her clit ached, and his fingers triggered her insides to come all over again. She shrieked and tossed, but the strap held her in place. His hands owned her. His body occupied her, body and soul.

She rode down hard on his fingers, and he plugged her full of himself from behind. He thundered in her ears, but she couldn’t hear a thing he said. He bellowed all the nasty names in the book, but his cock told a different story. Her inner muscles stroked his length. He sank his teeth into her ear. His sweat trickled down her back. He couldn’t keep this going any better than she could.

She panted and shrieked until she was hoarse. She pushed her ass against his hips to drive that demon cock into her. She couldn’t see or think or hear anything. She knew only his body, his cock, his hands, and his white-hot load filling her beyond belief.

YES! This was the fulfillment she hadn’t found until she met this beast of a man. Finally! God, she came and came.

Colton lounged on the couch in his den. He rested his head on one arm of the couch and his feet on the other while Marlee put their parents’ presents under the Christmas tree. Colton yakked about Christmases gone by, but Marlee didn’t hear.

Already Saturday the 23^rd rolled around, and she still hadn’t been able to escape long enough to buy Colton a present. The situation started to look desperate when his voice startled her out of her daydream. “So what do you want to do today? We can’t sit around here all day.”

“What did you have in mind?”

“Ash still wants to take us to the caroling downtown. What do you think of that?”

Marlee kept her back turned. “Nah.”

“What’s the matter? You don’t want to go anywhere with Ash anymore. What happened on your big date night? Don’t tell me he hurt your feelings like I said he would.”

“No, he didn’t hurt my feelings.” She his her face from him.

“Did you go home with him?”

“You said you didn’t want to hear about it.”

“You’ve been moping around here ever since. You’re not your usual glowing self.”

She shot him a grin. “I am so.”

“Well, you better fess up. You’ll feel a lot better if you get it off your chest. I’m your big brother, and I demand to know what happened. It’s for your own good, young lady.”

She sat back on her heels. “Nothing happened. We had great sex. That’s all that happened.”

“So why are you so glum about it?”

“I’m not glum. You said Ash doesn’t play for keeps, so why should I go out of my way to see him again?”

“Going to the caroling with him—I mean, with both of us—is hardly going out of your way to see him. It’s a simple casual outing. If you don’t care and he doesn’t care, what difference does it make?”

“What if he’s asking me out—I mean, what if he’s asking us out—in that way? What if he wants something more?”

“He doesn’t. Trust me. He wants something to do, and I do, too. Come on. We’re going. I’m making a command decision, and we’re not spending December 23^rd sitting around here watching TV.”

Marlee couldn’t help but smile at him. “You’re really taking this dominant male business seriously, aren’t you? All right. We can go.”

“Just don’t jump Ash’s bones right there in Times Square, okay?”

At that moment, Colton’s phone beeped. He dug it out of his pocket and checked the screen. “Crap.”

“What’s wrong?”

He swung his legs over the couch. “Can the caroling. I gotta go.”

Marlee sat up. “You gotta go! Where?”

“I have to go down to the docks. The shipping crews didn’t get the memo about the new regulations. They’re up in arms, and the city won’t let them land their cargo if they don’t comply. I have to rush down there to sort it out. I’ll be back in a little while, and then I’ll take you out on the town. I’ll make it up to you. I promise.”

Marlee sat down again. “That’s okay. I didn’t want to go to the caroling anyway. Take all the time you want. I’ll have dinner on the table when you get back.”

He threw his coat around his shoulders and stuck on a hat. “Don’t go all Martha Stewart on me, or I won’t know what to think.” He raced out of the apartment and left her alone.

She finished arranging all the presents under the tree. She cleaned up the room and folded the blankets on the couch where she usually slept. She was just about to click on the TV to wait for him to come back when she had a brilliant idea. Now would be the perfect time to sneak out and buy him a present.

She snatched her jacket and boots and headed along the winding pathways to the front entrance garden. She laced up her boots and wrapped her scarf around her neck when the doorbell chimed.

She hadn’t heard that sound before. She didn’t recognize it, but it came from the direction of the front door, so she guessed that’s what it was. She opened it and frowned.

There stood Ash, all wrapped up in his winter garb.

His face twisted into a grin. “Don’t look so happy to see me.”

“I’m happy to see you, but I was just going out. I can’t stick around to chat.”

“Good. Then you can come out to the caroling with me.”

She waved her hand and closed the door behind her. He followed her on the way to the elevator. “I don’t have time. I have to buy Colton a present before he gets back.”

Ash looked around. “Where is he?”

“He went to the docks to sort out some disagreement about the new regulations. I don’t know when he’ll be back.”

“That’s okay. I’ll come with you. I can help you decide what to get him.” He stepped into the elevator with her.

“That’s all right. I’d rather go alone.”

Ash faced her inside the car. “Are you trying to avoid me?”

Marlee’s shoulders slumped. “I’m not trying to avoid you. I just don’t want you to get the wrong idea. We had a nice time the other night. Let’s just leave it at that.”

“I’m not getting the wrong idea. I’m asking you to go and see the Christmas carols with me. What’s so complicated about that?”

“What comes after that? Are you going to ask me out to dinner again?”

“What if I did?”

She shook her head. “Don’t start that. You know this isn’t a good idea.”

“Come on, Marlee. Just come out and listen to the carols. Then we’ll pick up a present for Colton, and that will be the end of the story.”

She cocked her head to one side. “Do you promise?”

---

He held up his hand. “If that’s what you want, I swear, I won’t ask again.”

She brightened up. “All right. Just this once.”

The elevator whooshed open, and he escorted her out of the building. He didn’t have a limo waiting, thank the Lord. He called a cab like any regular Joe.

Marlee got in, but she stiffened at the thought of what they did the last time they rode in a cab.

She didn’t want to admit it to herself, and she didn’t want to admit to Colton how she felt about her date with Ash for sure. He blew her out of the water with the best sex of her life. She didn’t want to see him for fear she would get caught caring about him when she didn’t want to.

She kept her eyes turned forward. Lights and decorations crowded every square inch of the city. People rushed here and there to buy last-minute presents.

Ash stared straight ahead, too. Neither made any attempt to talk.

The cab skidded up to the curb, and Ash got out. He held the door open for Marlee. She stood on the sidewalk while he paid the fare. He rounded on her with his face set. “Are you ready to go?”

She nodded, and they set off down the street. Faint music wafted through the air. He kept a polite distance. He didn’t try to touch her or even hold her hand. You could cut the tension with a knife. What in the Sam Hill, did she agree to this disaster for? She should have given him a definite no and gone out alone to hunt for Colton’s present. Now she was saddled with this.

Hundreds of people crowded the streets long before they got anywhere near the carolers. Ash kept working his way farther and farther into the throng. Once, Marlee fell behind. He cast a glance over his shoulder to see if she was still there, but when he didn’t see her right behind him, he turned around and took her hand.

She didn’t balk. She let him guide her through the packed bodies. How he got through, she never understood. He wormed his way farther and farther forward until he got right in front of the stage.

The voices rose and fell in harmonic strains. They sent tingles down Marlee’s spine, and she started to relax into the moment. The glorious holiday cheer, the delirious happiness of Christmas mingled in the air. People rocked, swayed and sang along with the music until Marlee couldn’t help but join in.

She heard a deep male voice adding to the chorus, and she turned to see Ash singing, too. He smiled at her, and she squeezed his hand. She had him to thank for this moment. She dreaded coming with him when she shouldn’t have avoided him in the first place.

The longer the choir sang, the closer she felt to him. They could enjoy Christmas together. That didn’t mean they would ever take this thing any further. She would go home to California, and he would become a nice memory.

She hugged his arm. He shook her off to drape his arm over her shoulders. He held her close, and his voice vibrated through her. He was a nice guy, a hot guy, a smart and successful guy. Plus that masterful guy was in there somewhere too. She was glad she shared a night of passion with him.

He at least knew how to do it right.

When the music ended, it took a long time to get out of the crowd. They stayed locked together while the people around them dispersed. When enough space opened up for them to walk away, Ash took her hand. “So where do you want to go first to look for Colton’s present?”

They strolled down the street.

Marlee surveyed the windows. “I’m not sure. I don’t know what to buy him. I’m sure he has everything he wants.”

“That’s why you shouldn’t get him anything he could buy for himself.”

“That doesn’t leave much.”

“Well, we can rule out clothes, jewelry, watches, cars....”

Marlee snorted. “Like I could afford to buy him a car. Besides, where would he park it?”

“He wouldn’t. If he wants a car, he can get that for himself. Can you think of anything he liked when he was a kid?”

Marlee beamed at him. “I know! I’ll buy him a kite. He used to love flying his kite. I’m sure he hasn’t flown one in years.”

Ash laughed. “I’m sure he hasn’t, and I’m sure he doesn’t own one now.”

Marlee set off. “That’s perfect. Thanks. I would never have thought of that on my own.”

“Good. I’m glad to help.”

Her face fell. “So where do we get one?”

“We can go to Toys R’ Us. They’ll have one.”

Once again, they set off, this time hand in hand. All the tension melted away.

“What are you giving Colton?” she asked.

“Nothing. Colton and I don’t give each other birthday or Christmas gifts. We never have.”

Marlee gasped. “Why not? I thought you two were best friends.”

“We are. We have been for years. I suppose that’s why we don’t give each other presents. We give each other the gift of our friendship. That’s enough.”

Marlee shook her head. “That’s too bad.”

“Not at all. It’s wonderful. Did he get mad at you for going out with me the other night?”

Marlee cast a glance at him with this sudden question, but she couldn’t divine anything from his expression. “No, he didn’t get mad. But he got madder at me for trying to avoid you afterward.”

“So why did you?”

Marlee cringed. She should have known she couldn’t get out of discussing this with him. Well, the sooner she got her cards out on the table, the better off everybody would be. “He said you were a player, that you changed women faster than your underwear—all that sort of thing. That was just fine with me. We had a fling. The end.”

He stole a peek at her. “Is that what you think?”

“Isn’t that the way it is? I thought that’s what you wanted, and I’m the same way. You don’t want to get involved with anybody, and neither do I.”

“What makes you think I don’t want to get involved?”

Marlee yanked her hand out of his grasp. “If you want to get involved, that’s all the more reason I don’t want to be anywhere near you. We had a good time. That’s all. That’s all it’s ever going to be. We’re not getting involved.”

“Yeah. We had a nice time, so who says we can’t keep having a nice time?”

She threw up her hands. “Now you’re starting to sound like my mother. Colton said you were the most notorious bad boy on Broadway. I probably wouldn’t have had anything to do with you if I thought for two seconds you would turn this into some kind of relationship.”

“What’s wrong with a relationship?”

“Why do you keep asking those idiotic questions? I don’t want to get involved with you. I don’t want to get involved with anybody. I’m going home after New Years, and we’ll never see each other again. That’s what’s wrong with a relationship. If you want a relationship, why don’t you pick one of those women you change faster than your underwear? I’m sure one of them would love to bag you.”

He turned away and started walking. “I’m sure they would.”

She caught up with him. “Don’t get all down in the mouth about this. It was just sex. That’s all.”

“To you, it was just sex.”

“So what was it to you?”

He stopped walking to confront her. “Look, Marlee. No one has ever picked me up the way you did. No woman has ever submitted to me the way you did. You made me push it all the way. Mosr t women would have run or fallen to pieces. Not you. You lured my beast out and you took all I gave you and mewled for more. God dammit! No one has dragged me back to my house and fucked me silly the way you did. I was sure you had to have felt how I did that night about you. But you just dumped me in the morning. I...I don’t know what to think. What am I supposed to think?”

“Isn’t that what you’ve been doing to all these women?”

He turned bright red. “I guess it has. I never really thought about it. Colton tried to tell me more than once that’s why they always got their feelings hurt when I didn’t want to continue anything with them.”

“Well, there you go. Now you know what it feels like. I never planned to get involved with you. I wanted to jump you, and I did. I want that beast out and to take me to those heights,” she admitted. “We had great sex, and now it’s over. Can you get that through your head?”

“I don’t see how I can. You’re the most perfect woman I can imagine. You’re smart and funny, and you’ve got a body to die for. Then your taste in sex? Most women would cower at what I need… If I were going to get involved with someone, it would be you.”

“No, it wouldn’t, because I wouldn’t get involved with you.”

He fixed his smoldering eyes on her face. Faster than lightning, he grabbed hold of her. His arms strapped around her, and he planted his lips on her mouth. In seconds, he was kissing her harder and deeper than anything she could remember in her life. His tongue slithered into her mouth and quickened her desire all over again.

He hooked one muscled hand under her thigh and pulled it against his waist. He shoved her back against the wall and jammed his hips between her legs. He pulverized her crotch with his hard-on while his tongue tickled her insides to dripping passion.

He moved so fast she couldn’t stop herself. Before she knew what she was doing, she responded to him. Her tongue met his, and her hips arched forward to meet him. She moaned into his mouth, and a squirt of hot juice saturated her panties.

That fast, he pulled away again. He locked his eyes on her panting face. “You can’t tell me you don’t feel something for me. You couldn’t kiss me like that if you did. You want this. You want this just as much as I do.”

Her leg dropped to the ground. She stepped back, but she couldn’t get away from the aching need between her legs. She wanted it, all right. She wanted it now, more than ever. She wiped the saliva from her mouth, but she couldn’t think of one intelligent thing to say. Her face burned with pent-up desire. Would he ever release it again? Why, oh why, didn’t she let herself receive it from him?

He straightened his jacket and took his place at her side. “Aren’t you even a little bit curious what it would be like if we took this a little bit further?”

She shook herself awake. She couldn’t let him get the better of her with one little kiss. “A little bit further? You don’t want to take it a little bit further. A little bit further would be more sex like we had the other night. You don’t want that. You want to get involved. You want a relationship. Admit it.”

He held up both hands. “All right. I’ll admit it. I do want all that. I want that and a lot more. I never felt this way about anybody. I want to keep on going with you and never stop. You made me feel like no other woman has ever. Have you ever thought I went through so many women looking for you?”

Marlee stared at him. No. No. he cannot be serious. “I’m a free agent. I want to come and go as I please. I wanted to have a good time in New York and then go home to California where I belong. I thought you were a free agent, too. You’re supposed to be some sex king. You’re just nailing me and kissing me goodbye. You’re not marrying me.”

His face contorted in agony, and he spun away to hide from her.

Marlee stared at his back disappearing into the sea of passers-by. She didn’t just see that twist of pain on his face when she said those words. She couldn’t have.

He kept walking. He didn’t turn around. Holy God! It was true! She hurried after him. She caught up enough to walk at his side, and when she glanced at his face, she saw his features set in a firm mask of determination.

She murmured low. She didn’t want to hear those words coming out of her mouth again, “You don’t want to marry me, do you?”

He didn’t even look at her. He clenched his jaw. Now she was certain. “You want to marry me?”

Marlee’s mind whirled. What in the name of heaven, was she going to do now? She couldn’t marry Ash. She couldn’t even think of him that way. She stopped dead in her tracks and let him walk away. That was the kindest thing she could do. Let him walk on out of her life. Let him nurse his broken heart and never see him again.

Marlee waited until Ash vanished altogether into the crowd. She let out a shaky breath. She had to get out of here before he came back. She asked directions to Toys R’ Us and bought the best kite she could afford. It was a high- speed racing kite with two handles for turning it in the air. It flashed bright red and blue in the package. Colton would love it.

She paused near the front door. She scanned the sidewalk outside, but when she saw no sign of Ash in either direction, she hustled out and hailed a cab. She hurried back to Colton’s apartment and wrapped the kite as fast as she could. She hid it near the back behind the other presents where he wouldn’t see it until Christmas morning.

She got settled into the couch to wait for Colton to come back. To hell with Ash! She would stay indoors for the rest of her vacation if it meant not seeing him again. If he were going to pull something like this, she would sacrifice anything to avoid getting mixed up with him.

Colton took a lot longer getting back than she expected. She made dinner and put it out on the table in the kitchen, but he still didn’t come. She went back to his living room and watched the news on TV. He didn’t get back until dark.

She heard his footsteps ringing down the hall. He blew into the living room and flopped onto the couch. He tossed his phone on the coffee table and propped up his feet. “Jesus! What a cluster fuck! You wouldn’t believe the state of things down at the docks.”

Marlee smiled. “Did you get it all worked out? Is everyone playing nice for Christmas now?”

He rolled his eyes. “They better, ‘cuz it costs them $10,000 every time I have to drag my tired ass down there to wag my finger in their faces. You wouldn’t think grown men could act so much like spoiled children.”

Marlee switched off the TV. “Well, it’s over now. Now you can join me for dinner because I’m starving.”

“Not so fast, you,” he called out. “I’ve got something to say to you.”

“Can’t it wait?”

“No, it can’t. I finished at the docks around four. I’ve been talking to Ash in the park ever since.”

Marlee froze. “What about?”

“About you, of course. After I left the docks, I got a text from him asking me to meet him at Strawberry Fields. He always goes there when he has some serious thinking to do.”

“So what does this have to do with me?”

“What did you do to him? He’s a mess. I’ve never seen him like this before.”

I shrugged. “I didn’t do anything to him. I just fucked him. That’s all I did.”

“He says he’s in love with you. He says he can’t live without you. He’s ready to throw away our whole working relationship over this.”

Marlee threw up her hands and whirled away. “Aw, God, don’t you start with that stuff. He’s off his rocker. You told me he wouldn’t want anything more. You made a big deal about him never sticking with one woman for long. Now he goes and pulls this.”

Colton shook his head. “I can hardly believe it myself. He says he’s never met anyone like you before and he doesn’t want to lose you. He wants to go all the way with you. He wants you to quit your job in California and move in with him so he can—do whatever with you all the time.”

Marlee collapsed into the nearest chair and hid her face in her hands. “Can we please drop this? I’m not getting involved with him. He told me all this already, and I told him there’s no chance. Can’t we just leave it at that?”

Colton frowned. “When did you talk to him about this?”

She waved her hand. “Just before. I started to...Aw, what the hell. I might as well tell you. I wanted to go out to buy you a Christmas present. I’ve been going crazy trying to figure out what to get you. I was just about to walk out the door when he turns up on your doorstep. He convinced me to go with him to the caroling, and then we’d look for a present for you. It all came out, and I had to shut him down hard. I let him walk away, and I haven’t seen him since.”

Colton stared at her. Then he shook his head. “You really know how to wreck a guy, don’t you? You should see him.”

“I have seen him. That’s the problem. I won’t see him again. That’s for certain.”

“He’s an emotional disaster. He’s all wound up over you. He’s never been like this—ever—not in all the years I’ve known him.”

“That’s because no one ever picked him up the way I did. He’s always been the player, loving and leaving ‘em behind. Now the shoe’s on the other foot. He’ll get over it, and maybe he’ll be nicer to women in the future, now that he knows how it feels.”

Colton smacked his lips. “You can’t honestly be thinking of kicking him in the teeth like that. How can you be so cruel?”

Marlee rounded on him. “Isn’t this what you warned me about? Isn’t this what you were worried about him doing to me?”

Colton shrugged. “I admit I thought he would break your heart. I thought he would screw you and leave you hanging out to dry. I never thought you would be the one to do it to him.”

Marlee stood up. “Look, Colton. I like Ash. I like Ash a lot. He’s exactly the kind of guy I could get involved with—if I were in the market to get involved with somebody…which I’m not. We have no future together, and letting him know that sooner rather than later was the nicest thing I could do for him.”

Colton relaxed. “Yeah, I understand that now. I just hate to see him hurting like this. He’s my best friend. If there’s any way I can make it better for him, I want to do it.”

“Well, there isn’t. I’m not doing anything with him, especially not freakin’ marrying him.”

Colton’s eyes widened as he lost color in his face. “He wants to marry you?”

“Well, he didn’t actually come right out and say so. He didn’t have to. His face said it all.”

Colton whistled. “Holy hell! I didn’t realize it went as far as that.”

“It didn’t. It never could, and it never will. Now can we please eat something?”

He burst into a grin. “Sure. Why don’t you bring the food in here? We can have a TV dinner.”

“All right.” She collected all the food and spread it on the coffee table. They watched a little TV. Then Colton turned off the set and switched on the radio. They listened to more carolers on Times Square.

Colton reclined on the couch. “This is the nicest Christmas I’ve had in a long time. I forgot what it’s like having family around. I could almost wish you were moving in with Ash. Then we could spend Christmas together all the time.”

Marlee cocked her head to look at him. “Is what Ash said true that you are having deals going behind the scenes?”

Colton snorted. “He’s not supposed to know about that. He’s supposed to think I can’t live without him. He’s supposed to think we’re joined at the hip.”

“So I’m not the only one giving him the slip.”

“I guess I’m not giving him the slip if he knows about it.”

“So it’s true, isn’t it? You’ve got irons in the fire all over the place.”

“I’d be a pretty shoddy businessman if I didn’t.”

“I’m not so sure Ash doesn’t have his own thing going on the side, too,” she remarked. “Judging by the look of his house, I would say he’s doing pretty well for himself.”

Colton stared at her. “You went back to his house?”

“Sure. What did you think? Did you think I bonked him the alley behind the bar?”

Colton made a face. “I didn’t want to think about what you did. I didn’t think he took you back to his house, though.”

“Doesn’t he usually take his conquests back to his house?”

Colton coughed. “I don’t know what he does with his conquests, and I don’t want to know. I just never thought about him taking somebody to his house before. He seems more like a motel room kinda guy.”

“All right. I won’t talk about it anymore.”

“You’re hardly one of his conquests. It seems to me you conquered him, not the other way around.”

Marlee stole a peek at him where he relaxed on the couch with his eyes half open. “Listen, Colton. I’m really sorry about all this stuff with Ash. I never wanted to mess things up between you two. I should never have screwed around with him in the first place.”

“You didn’t mess things up between us. He came clean to me. He’s sorry he got mixed up with you, too. He doesn’t want this situation to interfere with our friendship. He wishes he’d stayed away from you. Then this never would have happened.”

Marlee hung her head. Neither she nor Ash kept their distance from the other the way they should have. Now they both had to live with the consequences.

“You’re right, you know,” Colton mused. “I never wanted to think my little sister could have sex with anybody. I never wanted to think of you as an adult before. I wanted to keep you a little kid forever. That’s the main reason I. didn’t want you near Ash. I thought he would take advantage of you.”

“Whatever you think of me, Colton,” she replied, “I didn’t take advantage of Ash. I didn’t do anything he didn’t want me to do.”

“Oh, I’m quite certain of that. I’m sure he went ever so willingly to his doom.” He chuckled under his breath. “He loves women. He loves to see how they act and react in bed. He loves hearing their noises and seeing the expressions on their faces when they cum.”

Marlee stared at him. “He told you that?”

“He told me all about it. He tells me more than I ever wanted to know. I’m sure he won’t tell me anything about you, though. He wouldn’t dare. I have to hear that from you.”

“I won’t tell you anything about him or what he does in bed,” Marlee muttered.

“Good. Now let’s get some sleep. There’s only one more shopping day ‘til Christmas.” He winked at me.

Marlee wadded up her wrapping paper and held up the leather riding crop Colton gave her. “Oh, it’s perfect! It’s exactly what I wanted.”

Colton snorted with laughter. “I’m sure it is. Just wait until you’re out of the room from me before you use it on anybody.”

She rolled her eyes and jumped up from the floor to kiss him on the cheek. “You’re the best.”

He surveyed the floor scattered with torn paper and boxes wrapped in plastic packaging. “Is there anything left?”

She fished her long present out from behind the tree. “This is for you, from me.”

He kissed her cheek. “Thanks, sis. You shouldn’t have.”

“Oh, I definitely should have. Just wait until you see what it is.”

He studied the package from every angle. “As long as it’s not some kinky sex toy, I’m sure I’ll love it.”

“No, the kinky sex toys are for me. This is something different.”

He held off as long as he could. Then he ripped the paper free. He stared at the kite for a long time.

Marlee shifted in her seat. “Do you like it?”

He turned to her with his eyes misting over. His voice cracked when he tried to speak, “O-only you could come up with something like this. Do you know I forgot all about this until right now? I wanted one of these so bad when I was a kid. I thought I would never be able to afford one, and I got so busy getting rich, I forgot all about it. Now that I can afford one, I never thought about buying one.”

Marlee swallowed down the lump in her throat. “I’m glad you like it. You can take it out to the beach on your off-days and fly it around.”

He sniffed back tears. “Come here, little sister.” He pressed his damp cheeks into her neck. “I love you. Let’s not let so many years go by before we do this again.”

Marlee hugged him tightly. “I never realized how much I missed you. Let’s do this every year from now on.”

He pushed her back. “Deal.” He wiped his eyes on his sleeve and turned his attention back to his precious kite. “Ash is gonna hate you for this. I’m going to have to spend a lot more time out of the office on nice days. This is gonna be my new obsession.”

Marlee couldn’t stop smiling. It was the best Christmas ever. She started to gather up the wasted paper. She balled it all up in her hands to throw it in the recycling bin when something heavy fell to the floor next to her knee.

She set the ball of paper aside to see what it was. She picked up a tiny square wrapped in plain brown paper. Scribbled across the top in black pen she read the words, Merry Christmas, Marlee.

She turned the box over in her fingers. “What’s this?” She looked up to see Colton watching her.

“Open it and find out.”

She shook her head. She didn’t need another mystery to solve. She tore the paper off to reveal a small box in bright blue velvet. Across the top, gold swirls spelled out the word Tiffany’s. Marlee’s eyes popped open. “This isn’t from you, is it, Colton?”

Before he could answer, she pried off the top. It snapped back. Nestled in a pillow of white silk sat a white gold ring with a stunning diamond solitaire fixed in the center. The stone gleamed up at her. It whispered its secrets for only her to hear. Marlee’s head shot up. “Colton!”

“I don’t have to tell you who it’s from. He wanted me to put it under the tree for you to find on Christmas morning.”

Marlee stared down at the ring. “I can’t accept this.”

“You better tell him that. He spent a lot of money on that ring. He’s serious about you. I’ve never seen him this serious about anything since we first went into business together. I don’t see him walking away from this.”

Marlee opened her mouth, but she couldn’t form the words. That ring spoke to her in ways she couldn’t understand. It spoke to her heart. Could Ash really feel this way about her? She’d thought it was just that she wasn’t available. How could she accept this? She couldn’t. She’d never let herself feel anything for him, but now she found herself staring her own feelings in the face.

What if...? What if she did let herself feel something for him? What if she let herself be convinced—not by the ring. The ring didn’t mean anything. It was just a vehicle. No, his actions, his face, his words and his kiss convinced her. Nothing else. Then the way he’d mastered her that night. Perfect. She couldn’t walk right for the whole day after. He hadn’t been afraid to do what she’d wanted so badly. To have that hot sex all the time? No more looking for it with boys, that weren’t man enough to man up like she needed.

What if she did quit her job in California to move out here to be with him?

Could she honestly be considering this? Could this really be happening?

Colton stood up. “I’m getting breakfast.”

He wandered out of the room and left her staring at that ring. So this was how Ash felt about her. It had nothing to do with sex, not for her or him. It went so far beyond sex she couldn’t believe it, further than she could have imagined.

She never met anyone like him, either. She never met anybody she wanted to give in to so much, body and soul. She never met anyone she cared so much about.

No. She couldn’t let herself start thinking that way or she would give in. She snapped the box closed and stuffed it into her pocket in an attempt to put this whole thing to the back of her mind, and went to the kitchen to help Colton make breakfast. The guy needed help scrambling an egg. He needed a wife a lot more than Ash did.

She read the comics while she ate and he did the dishes. She got lost in space until the doorbell rang. Her head shot up. Colton hurried down the hall to answer it. She heard voices, and her nerves prickled. She sensed a noose closing around her neck.

Colton strolled back into the kitchen. Sure enough, Ash trailed behind him.

Colton tossed his dish towel on the counter. “I’ve got to run down to the corner and get some more milk. You two talk amongst yourselves while I’m gone.” He slammed the door behind him.

Marlee closed the paper and pushed back her stool. She fixed her eyes on Ash. “I suppose you two cooked this whole thing up, didn’t you?”

He leaned against the counter. “How do you like the ring?”

“It’s beautiful, but I can’t accept it. I’m sorry.”

He shrugged. “I’m sorry to hear you say that.”

She jabbed a finger into his face. “That’s the negotiator talking. You’re sorry to hear me say that, but you don’t accept my rejection.”

“Why should I accept it when you don’t accept it yourself?”

“What makes you think I don’t accept it? I just said I don’t accept it.”

“We could be great, you and me,” Ash replied. “We could be better than great. We could be amazing together. I don’t want to let this slip away. We can’t let it.”

Marlee laughed, nervously. “Epic—kind of like that ring?”

He took a step closer. “Give it a shot, Marlee. You know you want to.”

She threw up her hands and turned her back on him. “You just don’t know when to take no for an answer, do you?”

He followed her out to the living room.

She glared out the windows with her hands on her hips.

He came up behind her so close, she stiffened. “You tried to avoid me. The only reason you would have done that is if you felt something for me, too. You didn’t want to admit it. You didn’t want to get involved with me because you planned to leave town. That can change. You don’t have to leave.”

She faced him. “I have other reasons for not wanting to get involved with you. I don’t want to get stuck with one man. I like variety. I like my freedom.”

He waved his hand. “You can go downtown and get yourself a young buck every night of the week for all I care. You can even bring him back to my house, and I’ll watch you crawl all over the floor for him. Just stick around. Don’t walk out on what could be the greatest thing in both our lives.”

She rolled her eyes. “You expect me to believe that? Besides, it’s clear that you think a lot of yourself. You think you could be the greatest thing in my life. ”

He didn’t flinch. He accepted her eyes drilling into his face. He came one step nearer. “I know I could. Tell me the truth. Have you ever had a night as great as we had together? Have you ever had a fling like that with anybody else?”

She looked away. It was true. No man had fulfilled her fantasies like that, Ever. “That has nothing to do with this. I didn’t come here for this.”

He cupped her chin lovingly in one hand and turned her face toward him. He stared down at her with his crisp grey eyes. She could not break away. “Don’t walk away from this, Marlee. Don’t hide from me. Let it happen. It will be good. It will be better than good. You don’t have to hide from it. It might be scary, but we can help each other through this. We can be together.”

Her breath caught in her throat, but she couldn’t answer. She had no choice but to fall into his overpowering presence.

He pulled her toward him by the chin. He guided her face up to his lips.

Those hot demanding lips closed over hers. They blotted out the whole world until nothing existed but him. He was right. It had nothing to do with sex—or maybe it had everything to do with sex. The right kind. Mind blowing. Maybe sex, love and destiny got all mixed up together until no distinction remained between on the next.

His kiss took her breath away, and his granite arms closed around her. Her head sank down on his chest, and her voice broke out of her constricted throat. “Why do you have to be so annoying?”

He squeezed her in his powerful grip. He twisted her spine so her head tilted back. She found herself caught in the undertow of his gaze. “Don’t fight it. Let it happen.” His mouth covered hers.

She had to let it happen. It had already happened in spite of all her efforts. She succumbed to his kiss. Her arms wrapped around his neck, and he lifted her off the ground. Her body sizzled from his hard grip.

He fell back on the couch with her on top of him. His tongue excited her in quivering ecstasy. She crawled up to straddle his hips. She couldn’t stop kissing him, faster and harder, deeper and deeper. What was he doing to her? She gave in! No man had ever got her under his spell like this.

He leaned his head on the couch back and let her kiss him. He stroked his hands up her back to her neck. He massaged her neck and shoulders as his strong hands glided down her waist to her hips gyrating on his lap. His breath filled her mind and her soul and her life with his being.

He pushed her back. “Where’s your ring?”

Her eyes popped open. She’d forgotten all about it. She took the box out of her pocket.

Ash plucked it from her fingers. He tugged the ring out of its bed, took her hand and slipped it on her finger.

Marlee held her breath. Was this real? Was that diamond sitting on her finger like it belonged there?

She glanced up at his face and found his deep eyes burning into her. “That’s where it belongs.”

She couldn’t speak. He was right. It did belong there. It weighed down her hand with its stunning mystic power, but it belonged there. It filled her mind and heart with tales of the future—their future, their future together. Whatever happened, they would face it together.

She broke away from his kiss. “What if Colton comes back?”

“He won’t come back. He told me he would stay gone long enough for me to convince you.”

She swatted his shoulder. “You guys! You’re gonna be the death of me.”

He enfolded her in his arms. “I don’t want to be the death of you. I want to give you life, just as you give it to me.”

She sank down on his lap. Already his monstrous energy infected her with that squirrely excitement down her stomach. She had to wind her hips around on his swelling cock. She had to seize this man in all his magnificence. She had to take the life he gave her and give it back to him tenfold. Whatever he was, she had to accept it. She had to accept herself so he could accept her, too.

She ran her fingers through his buzzed hair. Her hand felt strange with the ring burning a hole on her skin. That ring made her into someone different, someone new. It made her into so much more than a shark on the hunt for man-flesh. It made her into a whole person, the kind of person who could accept love and kisses and holding, the kind of person who could go home with him and live with him in his house.

His mighty arm slipped around her waist. He grappled her down on his upthrusting crotch. He murmured up into her mouth, “Are you mine now? Are you mine?”

She couldn’t contain her rising desire. “Oh, yes! Oh, yes!”

He kissed her, devouring her lips. Then hugged her in closer, until she was achingly close to where he wanted her. He tugged her down onto his hips onto his massive bulge. “Come on, baby. Come on.” His lips inched toward her neck, and he devoured her. The sweet scent of his cologne made her thoughts and emotions run wild. She wanted him more than anything, and not just for sex. She wanted those hands to hold her every day, those lips to caress her neck… She wanted all of him. She wanted to be his and make him hers. She wanted to worship him on her knees just as he worshiped her.

He didn’t have to tell her what to do next. She whipped his belt loose, and her hand plunged inside. She closed her fingers around his cock and stroked it hard.

His breath stuck in his throat. Color spread over his cheeks. He wanted it, too. He wanted whatever she would do to him. She got up just long enough to shuck off her pants. She took hold of his cock, guided it between her legs, and eased her way down onto it.

Once she got into position, she settled down to gazing into his precious face.

Ash gazed back up at her. He never took his eyes off her. He put his hands on her hips and guided her in gentle circles. His cock nestled inside her where it longed to stay. “Later,” he spoke. “I will be punishing you for ever believing you could get away from me. You’ve been a bad girl,” his deep voice purred at her.

Marlee paused as her body shivered. God, she would die from it. Or feel like she’d died and gone to heaven by the time he was done with her. As she had truly been a bad girl this time.

She bent down to kiss his mouth, although his eyes were already kissing over every part of her. They kissed her inside, and where his cock teased her clit. His eyes kissed her ass against his thighs and his pubic bone against her clit.

She mewed softly with heat and yearning.

She caught sight of something bright flashing on her hand. Of course, it was her ultimate Christmas present. He was her Christmas present—him and everything he brought to her life. Her old life withered into nothing. It no longer called to her.

Marlee would go home to that house and stay there with him, he would become her life, and she would become his. They would have Colton over for Christmas dinner. They would joke and laugh together and enjoy the holiday in the city. She would create a new family, a new tradition, a new world with him.