The Gentlemen's Ranch (Erotica Series, Book 1) (2 page)

Camryn spies a tray with
champagne flutes. “Oh, my, Cristal. May I?”

“
Of course, help
yourself.”

She picks up a glass,
downs the drink in one swallow, and then picks up
another.

“
Hand one over, sister,” I
tell her and we both laugh at the absurdity we’ve gotten ourselves
into. “These guys better be hot, Cam, that’s all I can
say.”

Sophia clears her throat
demurely. “You will have no problem finding a handsome,
well-educated and wealthy man here at The Ranch.”

The champagne must have
worked. Camryn starts peeling out of her clothes. “What happens
next?” she asks as she lifts her shirt over her head.

“
You will go into the
Great Room and be announced to the men. Based on the results of
your profile, you have already been matched with four suitors. They
will seek you out to engage in pursuits of mutual interest. The
Ranch offers many activities including dancing, swimming, horseback
riding, tennis.”

Naked?

I suck down the contents
of my glass and reach for another. Camryn, bless her heart, is
already swaddled in a big, white robe and a rosy glow on her cheeks
has replaced the hives on her neck. “Party time, Tesh!” she sings
to me in a high-pitched voice I recognize as Cam’s buzz voice. “You
heard the lady, no time for dawdling.” She giggles and I can’t help
but laugh with her.

“
This is definitely one of
those What Happens At The Ranch, Stays At The Ranch kind of
experiences. Okay, Cam?”

She makes a twisty motion
at her lips and then throws away an imaginary key. “My lips are
sealed.”

“
Mmm hmm, just like our
last Christmas party? When you announced to everyone in the room
that I slept with my boss?”

“
I did that for you! It
helped your reputation, didn’t it?”

“
For the
worse!”

“
Well, you needed
something to jump start your love life. Your bed has cobwebs for
Christ’s sake.”

The self-proclaimed
Steward, although seeming to get a kick out of our banter, motions
with her hand for me to get moving.

I pick up my second glass
of champagne and start to undress. “Everything?” I ask Sophia. “Can
I just leave—?”

“
Every stitch, Ms.
Morgan.”

I knock back the
champagne, strip and tie a pink robe tight around my
body.

“
Very good,” Sophia
praises with a curt nod of her chin. She turns, petticoats swishing
and gestures us out of the Parlor. “Now, remember, these men want
to get to know you better. To that end, some of their requests may
be physical in nature. Per your contract, you must submit to all
requests.”

Camryn giggles again and I
feel an unexpected twinge of heat pool in my lower region.
Panties would be nice at this moment. Even a
thong. I’d settle for a band-aid.

“
However,” Sophia interrupts, “please note that sexual
intercourse is
not
permitted on Day One, and only on the subsequent days should
you consent.” She stops at a pair of enormous wooden doors and
turns back to us. “Above all, enjoy yourselves,” she says with a
wide smile. “Be opened minded. Get to know the men and let them get
to know you. Your perfect match is behind these doors. I promise
you that.”

The doors open wide, and
the Steward hands a card to a white-gloved man standing just
inside.

He reads the card and
turns to the gathered guests. “Gentlemen, may I have your
attention. I would like to introduce the Lady Tesh Morgan and the
Lady Camryn Kennedy.” The man ushers the two of us
forward.

I glance back nervously
for Sophia, but she is already gone and the doors are
closing.

My head is swimming
dizzily as I turn back, and I can see immediately that I was wrong.
Very wrong. Every man in the room looks
exactly
like the pictures on that
velvet invitation.

And, Holy Moses, what the fuck is everyone
doing?

My eyes sweep the
high-ceilinged, cavernous room, but I find it hard to settle on any
one scene because it is all so…unbelievable. Soft candlelight
illuminates a bizarre spectacle of shameless exhibitionism. Blatant
sex acts play out in several darkened corners of the room. Right
next to me, a man and woman lie together on a velvet chaise. He
kisses her throat while his hand is quite thoroughly exploring
under the hem of her blue robe.

“
Are you close?” he asks
in a breathless pant.

“
Yes,” she rasps. “Oh,
yes.”

Next to the couple,
another woman with a collar around her neck kneels naked at the
feet of one of the bachelors. He holds a leash firmly in one hand
and one of her breasts in the other.

Several men and women—some
clothed, some not—dance in seductive rhythms to the music of a trio
of musicians playing on a raised dais against one wall.

Beyond the room, open
doors show a torch-lit courtyard where people are participating in
tamer recreation either swimming in a grotto pool or quietly
sipping drinks.

It feels like I should
turn away, but I stand riveted. Despite my ripe old age of
twenty-eight, I don’t have a lot of experience with these things
and witnessing the sexually charged atmosphere stirs my blood, and
I have to cross my legs to relieve the pressure building there. I
suppose one would have to be frigid not to feel
something
in the face of such ribald
voyeurism.

I need another drink. Now.

A tall man with dark hair,
wearing an expensive suit approaches. Camryn, of course. Not
me.

“
Hi,” he says and offers a
long-fingered hand to Camryn. “I’m Adam Steele.”

Courtesy of the Cristal, she is back to her
confident self. “Camryn Kennedy,” she says smoothly.

He leans in close. “Since
neither one of us is into public displays, walk with me. The
gardens here are spectacular.”

She threads a hand through
his proffered elbow and leaves me behind with a wink.

No! Cam!
I want to pull her back. She can’t leave me here
like this! But, she can and does. I pull the belt on my pink robe
tight and I’m about to walk out to the more sedate courtyard when I
catch sight of a man standing alone at a bar that runs the length
of wall opposite the musicians. He is leaning casually back against
the bar on one elbow and his eyes are directly on me. There is
something compelling in that gaze. Since I’ve never met him, I
don’t know what he’s thinking, but…I want to. He face is unlined,
but he has slight premature graying at the temples and wears
glasses. From the distance, I would put him in his late thirties.
Even though he is as handsome as any man in the room, he seems out
of place for some reason.
What are you
hiding behind those glasses?
His phone
rings and he puts it to his ear and turns to the bar to take the
call.

“
Tesh, right?”

I turn. A man stands
before me with a deep natural tan and a row of perfect white teeth.
He has the most adorable blond curls and is wearing shorts and a
polo shirt. Not my usual style, but I remember Sophia’s admonition
to keep an open mind. “Yes, Tesh Morgan.”

“
I’m Doug.”

“
Hi, Doug, nice to meet
you.”

He leans down and whispers
in my ear, “Loved your profile. We’re a 72% match.”

Okay, now I’m
mortified.
I knew the men would read it,
but I didn’t think they’d talk about it!

“
Come on, doll. Let’s get
a drink,” he suggests with a mischievous twinkle and I’m trying to
figure out just what part he loved the most about it.

“
Sure.”

He directs me toward the
bar where the man that caught my attention is just finishing his
call. Doug orders the drinks and Glasses turns toward me. He is
probably not the first person the women here would look at,
concealed as he is behind those large glasses, but he is
definitely
my
type. I can see intelligence and confidence in his eyes and a
hint of humor. Our eyes meet and it does crazy shit to my
insides.

“
So, you don’t surf, huh?”
Doug asks with disbelief coloring his voice.

“
Wh…what?” I stammer and
turn back.

“
Surfing?” he asks again
and hands me a glass. “You don’t surf?”

“
No. Kind of hard to do in
Chicago,” I tell him.

Undaunted, he gives me a
megawatt smile. “I’ll just have to teach you then. Especially, for
a girl who is so perfect in every other way. Let’s go for a walk,”
he says and grabs my hand.

I turn back toward
Glasses, but he has left the bar and is walking in the opposite
direction.

With a pang of
disappointment, I follow Doug out to the courtyard. Here things are
definitely more relaxed. Oh, wait. Except for that particularly
well-endowed woman in the grotto with several men around her. Her
head is thrown back and she’s moaning loudly as they fondle and
kiss her.

I turn away to study my
surroundings. Even out here, I feel as though I’ve stepped through
some time warp. It’s like I’ve been transported to an early
European hamlet with the quaint, little stone cabins that dot the
grounds, interspaced between big willowy trees and rows and rows of
high-walled gardens.
It’s surreal.

Ah! But, that’s the point,
isn’t it?
Everything at The Ranch is
expressly designed to allow guests to detach from their real lives
in order to shed inhibitions. The message is clear. This place
is
not
normal,
therefore, you do not have to
act
normal.
Genius.

Doug leads me to a
secluded spot off the garden trails. The little private niche
behind towering hedges contains a large hammock for two.
How convenient.
Doug
turns to me, takes the glass out of my hand, and sets it down. “I
like you, doll.”

Gee, thanks. Is it the pink robe or the four
words of conversation?

He grabs my arm and tugs
me close for a soft, tender kiss. His hands come up to cradle my
face as he pulls back to look at me. “Do you know how badly I want
to see what’s under that robe?”

Oh, shit.

Yet, I like Doug’s playful
nature. The atmosphere changes and the heat builds in the space
between us.

“
May I?” he asks and
reaches for the tie on my robe.

My breath hitches in my
throat and I stop breathing. He doesn’t seem to notice as he waits
for my answer
—
an
answer he really doesn’t need due the contract I signed. Still, I
nod mutely and he unties the belt at my waist.

Slowly, he opens the robe
and pushes it back along my shoulders until it falls to the ground
behind, leaving me naked and exposed. “Wow, are these real?” he
asks.

A full C, closer to a D,
and all natural, thank you very much.
“Yes.”

One hand goes to my breast
and his breathing picks up as he gently squeezes. I close my eyes
as his thumb brushes over the nipple and I instinctively lean in to
him with a soft moan.

I can’t believe I’m
standing nude before this complete stranger, but he doesn’t know me
and I don’t know him. There is something very hot in that
knowledge. Let’s face it. All the words are bundled very carefully
here at The Gentlemen’s Ranch, but I’m here to engage in sexual
activity with strangers.

Both hands now begin to
massage my breasts and he drops to his knees in front of me to take
a taut peak in his mouth. I run my hands through his blonde curls
and press him close.

Doug is nice. Doug is
sexy. But, do Doug and I have enough in common to talk about on a
regular basis? The jury is still out, but I think it’s time to move
on to Man Number Two.

Glasses?

Doug and I spend another
hour enjoying harmless fondling and conversation wrapped up
together in the hammock. Afterwards, he walks me back to the
courtyard. I want to go into the Great Room to see if Glasses has
returned, but a big bear of a man stalks over. He throws a
good-natured glare at Doug. “About time. I thought you’d never
bring her back.”

Doug shrugs, but already I
can see him eying a pretty redhead by the pool. But, he does give
me a passionate kiss before allowing the Bear to take me
away.
For me or his competition?
“See you later, doll.”

“
I’m Nate,” The Bear says
brusquely as Doug walks away.

“
Tesh.”

He swallows my hand in his and starts moving
toward one of the cabins. He’s on a mission, but what it is I have
no clue. “So, you’re an Accountant?”

I blush.
One of the more G-rated things he must know about
me.
“Yes.”