Page 111 of Smolder (Anita Blake, Vampire Hunter 29)

Angel rolled her eyes at me but came closer for a kiss. “Keep touching the men, I’ll do all the work,” she said with a smile that was flirtatious, with that touch of evil in the corner of her lips where she could quirk the smile up and show a small dimple like a period at the end of some sexy comment, except this comment curved with her full lower lip. Without the lipstick she normally wore her upper lip looked thinner, but her bottom lip was lush with or without lipstick.

I tightened my handholds on Jean-Claude and Richard as I moved toward Angel. She leaned down to meet me; her hands caressed my cheeks until she cupped my face between her hands. She kissed me softly but thoroughly, until my eyes closed, and I leaned into her. She wrapped herself around me and I tried to free my arms to hold her, but Jean-Claude and Richard held my hands tighter, which was just enough bondage to make me kiss her harder with tongue and teeth, pressing my body against hers. She returned the favor, and we must have gotten a little vigorous, because the men’s hands tightened around mine, so that I pulled against them not because I wanted them to let go, but because I couldn’t not struggle at least a little. It fed into the kiss, until when Angel pulled away she was breathless and so was I.

She was half laughing as she said, “If we had time I’d make you suck my breasts.”

I laughed back, still pulling at the men’s arms, but in that moment my attention was all for the woman in front of me. “You don’t have to make me do it.”

“I want to be the wicked lesbian forcing the straight girl to experiment while the men hold you down so they can watch.”

“No, our tigress, you know that watching alone does not please me,” Jean-Claude said.

She grinned at him, mouth wide enough to show teeth, her eyes sparkling and eager. “Watch until it’s time for you to join us, maybe.”

“Much better, my tigress.”

“Wouldn’t that make you the wicked bisexual?” I asked.

“True, but in porn the fantasy is always the lesbian gets carried away and one good fuck makes her at least bi. It’s not true, but for building fantasies it works,” she said.

“You do enjoy role-play,” I said.

“I do,” she said, looking very pleased with herself.

I felt Richard’s thoughts scramble as he tried to decide what to ask, or if he should say anything. Was he allowed, was he invited, was he just supposed to shut up and let it play out? How did he get consent without seeming pushy? How would I feel about it? How would Jean-Claude? He’d been so controlled, but now his emotions opened him up. I didn’t blame him on this one.

I looked back over my shoulder and found that his face showed almost nothing of his confusion; good for him, it would have shown on my face. “It’s okay, Richard,” I said, then looked back to Angel. “Richard doesn’t want to take anything for granted, but he’s wondering if he’s included in this scenario?”

She looked at him, up and down like she was considering every inch that she could see, and some she couldn’t. She met my eyes with a very serious face. “You know my taste in men, what do you think?”

“I think you’ll like each other, and this scenario will work for all of us.”

She smiled and it filled her eyes with that joyous mischief that she had so often when she wasn’t working. “Then yes, he’s invited.”

I heard Richard swallow behind me, either clearing his throat or just figuring out what to say. He settled for “Thank you, I look forward to accepting the invitation another night.”

“You’re welcome,” she said, and winked at me before she sashayed to Jean-Claude. “Your turn.”

“Let me officially introduce you to our third,” he said, and Iwould have watched Angel and Richard meet, but Dev was in front of me, handsome face so serious.

“Is it my turn?” he asked. The need in his eyes was raw, but it wasn’t lust, it was something more complicated than that. “Don’t try and read me right now, Anita, please.”

“Okay, then kiss me, you handsome devil.”

He smiled and leaned down to put his lips against mine.

39

DEV KISSED MEgently, his fingers tracing my bare shoulder in delicate, skin-tingling lines while his other hand cupped the side of my face until his fingers slid into my thick curls. He let out a sigh of contentment against my lips and as if that had been a key to the door; my mouth opened to him in invitation and he stepped gently through, teasing and exploring with his tongue, instead of the forced thrust he could have had. I was open to either, but a part of me relaxed into his kiss and into his hands as they caressed across my bare back until the dress’s rough beads got in the way and I wished it gone so I could feel his hands all over my bare skin.

He knew what I wanted, because without pausing the kiss, his hands slid to the hem of my dress and pulled it up and over my right arm, but he couldn’t finish without breaking the kiss or moving Jean-Claude’s hand from mine. Then I realized that Richard wasn’t touching me but the energy hadn’t gone down, and nothing was trying to intrude on our energy. I was so startled that I pulled back from the kiss and the energy fell like a bird whose wings had been clipped.

Dev touched my face and our energy soared again. Richard grabbed my arm but the energy had already stabilized. Dev stared down at me, his eyes a little wide. I realized that I was standingnaked in the hallway with the dress bunched on the one arm that Jean-Claude was still holding, in my work boots. I had totally forgotten that there were people in the hallway who weren’t my lovers, or hell, that there were people in the hallway besides the five of us.

“What just happened?” Richard asked.

“Let go ofma petite, for a moment.”

“Which one?” I asked.

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