I've Been an Awful Good Girl (2 page)

           
The pirate set his empty bottle on a passing waiter’s tray and took her hand.
“My first wish is that you come with me.”

           
Aye,
matey
.
“Let’s
go.”

***

           
She slipped her hand into his, touching off an avalanche of desire that nailed
him in the crotch. He wanted to fan that heat to a freaking inferno. Her damned
perfume circling his head didn’t help. It made him want to start licking at her
toes and work his way up. Every room he passed, the door was closed. Jesus Lord
he needed to get his hands and lips on her soon. His male hormones were on high
alert, clanging with all bells, urging him to satisfy the sexual need he’d
suppressed for the last several months. Ahead, a door stood open. Thank God. He
quickly scanned the room to make sure it was unoccupied, pulled her inside and
shut the door.

 Two
lamps burned on side tables and a gas fireplace flickered at one end. Bookcases
soared almost to the high ceiling. The room was quiet except for the light
fluttering noise from the hearth. The woman standing before him was straight up
sexy. Her top gave him a nice view of her breasts and the sheer pants of the
lower half of her costume showed off a great pair of toned legs.  He
breathed in the sultry scent of her and gazed into her green eyes gleaming with
temptation. Her lace and leather mask shimmered in the light. Firelight
flickered over her face and her lips were glossed, parted slightly so he could
see the tip of her tongue. Where did she get that costume?
Hot
damn.
He wanted to start with her mouth and work his way down to that
soft, wet spot of paradise waiting for him between her legs.

With
his hand still holding hers, he turned off the lamps then found the switch for
the fireplace and lowered the flame. He stood before her. “I’m ready for my
second wish now.”

           
She gave him a small smile. “Your wish is my command.”

           
“I want a kiss.
A slow, wet kiss.”

           
Stepping in close, she laid her hands on either side of his face, nibbling at
his lips until lust arrowed from his gut to his groin. A massive hard-on sprang
to attention in his tight pants. Deepening the kiss, she sucked his lips into
her mouth, gently at first then followed the movement with a nip from her teeth
and a teasing slide of her tongue. All the while she stared directly into his
eyes, her gaze never faltering. She thrust her tongue between his lips and
tangled with his as she wrapped her arms around his neck, pressed her breasts
against his chest and her crotch next to his. Sweet mother of God, the woman
made him burn. Another minute and his skin would smoke.

He
grasped her head, sinking further into a savage mating of lips and tongue. She
moaned and the sound shot through his veins like summer lightning. He wrapped
his hands around her waist, slid his palm inside her costume and caressed her
ass, her skin like silk over his callused palms. With one final stroke of his
tongue, he went to work on her neck. She leaned her head to the side to give
him better access, her lips parted. He kissed his way over her neck, letting
the warm, cinnamon taste of her coat his tongue. Someone else he used to know
tasted like cinnamon, but the memory eluded him no matter how hard he tried to
bring it into focus. He nudged aside a wavy lock of blonde shoulder length
hair, sucked her ear lobe between his lips then started to plant a kiss beneath
her left ear. He blinked and focused on a tiny birthmark in the shape of a
butterfly. Shock ripped through his stomach like a piece of shrapnel.

She
couldn’t be.

No
freaking way. Not Emma!

Suddenly,
feeling as though he were deflowering a virgin, he removed his hands, stepped
back and stared at her.

“What’s
wrong? I did shower before I came.” Her eyes were sleepy with arousal, her lips
swollen from his kisses and tipped at the corners in amusement. He reached
behind her head to untie her mask and she swatted his hand away. “No, this is a
masquerade party and our identities are supposed to be a secret.”

           
“Fine, I’ll go first.” He took off his mask and glared at her.

Her
mouth popped open and her eyes widened. “Cameron Fletcher?”

Chapter
Three

“How
are you, Emma?”

“I—I’m
good. How did you know it was me?”

She
was good all right. There was only one problem. She was his best friend’s
little sister who he hadn’t laid eyes on in ten years. He and Ryan had gotten
together as soon as he arrived home, but the last time he’d seen her, she’d
been sweet sixteen and beginning to blossom into a woman, a woman he’d had the
hots
for but didn’t dare touch. Now here she was a
beautiful woman, sexy as all hell and ready to give herself to him. “What the
hell are you doing here?”

           
“I think that should be obvious. But you didn’t answer my question.”

           
“What question?”

“How
did you know it was me?”

The
woman looked like an annoyed sexy, genie with her arms folded over her chest.
The position of her arms caused her breasts to strain against the confines of
her costume giving him an eye-full of her delectable breasts.
“The birthmark beneath your ear.”

She
lifted a hand and lightly touched it. “It’s lightened over the years. I didn’t
realize you’d seen it before.”

He’d
seen it the day he’d left to join the army. He’d dropped by Ryan’s house to
tell him and his family goodbye. He’d hugged everybody including Emma. But the
only person he’d kissed was Emma. More like he’d tried to swallow her whole.
She’d kissed him right back making him crave the taste of cinnamon ever since,
then slowly pulled away, tucking her hair behind her ear revealing the
birthmark. No way he could he have missed it. “Yeah, I’ve seen it.” He cocked
his head to the side as a disturbing thought entered his mind. “Did you know it
was me?”

           
“No, of course not.
I was just—I mean I wanted to—what
I’m trying to say is that we’re both consenting adults —” she glanced at his
crotch and smiled,—“if what’s happening down there is any indication.”

           
Irritation crawled through his belly and heat climbed his neck. “That’s not
funny, Emma. I’ve known you practically my whole life, for God’s sake. Do you
try to seduce every guy you meet at a party?” He hoped to hell not.

She
raised her chin, her eyes full of fire. “First, that’s none of your business
and second why should you care who I seduce or don’t seduce?”

She
hit the nail on the proverbial head. He cared. Curse him to hell, he cared. Too
damn much. “I don’t, unless it happens to be me and the thought of seducing my
best friend’s sister at a party turns my stomach.”

Her
smile disappeared. “Gee, thanks for making me feel like shit.”

“You
know what I mean.” He waved a hand toward her costume. “What man wouldn’t want
to wrap his body parts around a half-naked woman for some no-strings sex?”

Emma
lowered her hands to her sides. “I’m not half-naked. I’d show more wearing a
bathing suit. And besides, this was just—I
don’t usually—oh,
never
mind.”

An
image of Emma wearing one of those tiny bikinis made out of three scraps of
material attached to dental floss straps flashed into his mind.
Sweet Jesus.
“The best thing we can do is forget this ever
happened. Okay?”

           
She frowned and threw her shoulders back.
“            No, it’s
not okay. It did happen and if I’m not mistaken we both enjoyed it.”

           
He had enjoyed it, God help him. He’d enjoyed it to the max and his body was
screaming for more. If he didn’t get out of here now, he was going to jump her
bones for real next time. “That was before I knew you were you and before you
knew it was me. Get your coat and I’ll take you home.”

“I’m
not ready to go home.”

 Was
she planning to find another guy? A hard knot formed in his stomach. Why should
he care? She was a grown woman and definitely not his responsibility. “Fine,
I’m out of here.”

*
* *

After
Cam left, Emma remained in the room, her body rigid and her hands in fists at
her side, hopping mad. She knew Cam was back in town, but she had no idea he
was going to be at the masquerade party. Damn it, she thought she was over him.
Angry tears stung her eyes, her skin grew taut and her heart thumped like a
wild thing in her chest. How dare he treat her that way? She remembered the day
he left for the army. He came by their house to say goodbye and they were left
alone for a few minutes. In those few minutes they’d leaped on one another like
two people who hadn’t seen water in days and were dying of thirst. When they’d
heard Ryan’s footsteps out in the hall, they’d pulled apart just in time before
he strolled into the kitchen.

Cam
had yanked a lock of her hair and said, “So long,
Em
”
as if his tongue hadn’t seconds ago been in her mouth, one hand on her breasts
and the other cupping her ass. He’d acted like nothing had happened and she
pretended she didn’t care, but inside, her sixteen-year- old heart tore into
shreds and she’d spent years pasting it back together. If anyone had asked her
before her encounter tonight if she was over Cam, she would have sworn
absolutely. But seeing him again, having him kiss and hold her the way her
young heart had once craved and enjoyed for a few memorable moments, she wasn’t
so sure.

***

After
saying a quick goodnight to the
Cranfords
, Cam walked
out of the mansion into the snowy night. The cold air hit him like a wave of
ice after holding Emma’s body, warm and pliant from head to toe. The chill did
nothing to curb the lust still flowing through his veins. He could still feel
her, taste her and smell her. His body tightened with the need for more and he
had a hard on that even the blast of cold air couldn’t diminish. He unlocked
his Mustang, climbed inside and cranked the engine. Turning on the wipers to
clear away the snow that had accumulated, he looked toward the house. Lights
glowed in nearly every window, the eaves were strung with icicle lights, the
bushes and trees glistened with red and white twinkle lights. It was picture
perfect except that Emma was still in there, probably trying to pick up another
guy. Damn it, all he’d wanted tonight was to find some comfort in an anonymous
lover’s arms and he’d ended up with Ryan’s little sister. Christ, how had that
happened? Suddenly, the front door opened and his genie stepped out wrapped in
a long coat and boots on her feet. Relief blew through him. So, she was ready
to go home after all. Gingerly, she navigated the snowy front steps and over to
her car. He wanted to get out of his car and go say something to her but he
knew if he did, his hands would be all over her. He waited until she drove away
and the lights from her car faded.

There
was only one way to beat back the lust blazing inside him. He drove to a
twenty-four hour gym determined to work off his need for her and forget
everything that had happened. But even after a hard two hour workout, and
dripping with sweat, his mind and body was still full of her.

Chapter
Four

Once
back in her apartment, Emma slumped to the edge of her bed and began to take
off the costume.
Do you seduce every man you meet at a party?
Cam’s
words hurt. She wasn’t some starry-eyed teenage girl anymore. She was a woman,
a full-blooded woman with needs and desires just like every other woman. Why
did it have to be Cameron Fletcher of all people that she hooked up with to
shatter her good girl image tonight? She had no idea he’d be at the party. Why
couldn’t it have been a stranger, some anonymous sexy nobody that she could
have her fling with and walk away?

She
remembered her brother’s advice back in high school. ‘Hey, I know you’ve got it
bad for Cam but
forget
it. He might be my best friend,
but he’s a hound dog when it comes to women so stay away from him.’

Cam
hadn’t been a hound dog with her. Damn it. Instead, he had awakened all those
old feelings,—the feelings she thought she had put to rest,—the feelings she
thought she had vanquished once and for all. Damn
him
for making her want him after all these years. No way could she forget that
tonight ever happened.

Tomorrow,
she’d go and see him, tell him what tonight had been about and why she had
tried to seduce him. Then she would try and convince him that her status as
Ryan’s little sister didn’t matter. All she’d wanted to do tonight was shed her
good girl image and he’d managed to stand in her way just like Ryan would have
done, if he’d been there. Now that her anger had cooled, she realized she
wanted to continue what they’d started at the party. First thing in the
morning, she’d go see him and tell him her plan.

***

Cam
spent a restless night and it was all Emma Baker’s fault.