AFTER APPLYINGa depilatory to her legs, Lynx scrubbed herself clean in the shower. With all the hair removed from her body, she took time caring for her sensitive skin. Using a pumice stone to the inside of her palms, she removed any evidence of her desecrating her own skin. Then she sat on the settee near the window, rubbing coconut cream over her calves, smoothing it down her pedicured feet and back up to her flat tummy. She swirled it around the crystal stud in her navel, trying not to think about her past, present, or future. The last of which was so hazy, she could barely make out that one actually existed.
But it was hard not to drown in the sea of memories washing over her like a tsunami overtaking a small island.
Soft music played from the iPod dock in the corner, and an emerald off-the-shoulder Givenchy dress hung on the door. The song was sad to fit her mood. It was a melancholy tune with morose lyrics about missed chances and lost love. An electric violin struck a high note in the background, and Lynx let the wave of emotion sweep over her.
Missed chances in life and love—she knew about that. Like in her current situation, she missed the other girls she’d met here like a pup yearns for its littermates, long after they leave for their forever homes.
Lynx had been chosen as one of the favorites, which meant she was moved to her own apartment and was paid more to have sex less frequently. She went on trips to London and Singapore, and was the envy of all the other nameless faces and bodies who filled the group housing.
Yet she still yearned for the others. She missed their chatter and smiles, the movies and conversation they shared in the afternoons. Their words of comfort were all she had when she moved here.
She also had missed her chance to find what she came for, because the answers were buried somewhere deep inside that group of girls. And now she was rarely able to leave her little palace other than byhisside.
Sighing, she slid the dress on over her silky skin, the green satin clinging to her curves. With her small breasts braless and free, the precious fabric rubbed her nipples, hardening them into tiny little peaks. There was nothing she could do about that. The sensation created by the silk reminded her of another man’s warm breath and mouth, and her body reacted.
A man whose name she didn’t dare breathe.
Her benefactor could never know any other man existed for her, or he would strike out against him. She was nothing more than a piece of property to her current man, but he didn’t share well when it came to her. There was no way she could tip her hand, allowing him to see who her heart really belonged to.
Tonight, he would come, and Lynx would spread her legs and take him deep in her ass. She’d suck him in her mouth until he released all over her face. She would do whatever she had to because she was on a mission. For tonight, she planned to ask to visit the girls one afternoon. She’d say she wanted to show off her new swimsuit to the others.
As she stared at herself in the huge gilded mirror, Lynx could only think of the one man who truly cared for her.
“Michael,” came out as a hushed whisper as she ran her manicured fingers down her cleavage and over her left breast, tweaking her own nipple. The dress hung loose off her shoulder as she worked herself up in preparation for the night ahead, pinching and squeezing her own breast until she was panting.
“Wonder what you’re doing, baby? Are you happy? Do you miss me?” she said quietly to herself with her eyes closed tightly, imagining his face, his close-cropped hair soft and smooth like velour, and his strong frame. When he’d looked at her with all the compassion in the world, she’d always put up her shutters, keeping him and his love at bay.
Stepping back to sit on the bed, Lynx wrapped her arms around herself, pretending they were muscled and firm. The image of his tattoo floated in front of her still tightly closed eyes ...
SHE ANDMichael had been standing on the beach that day, her back to his front, his erection pressed against her ass. Her hair was unbraided and loose, flying around both their faces in the breeze.
The warm ocean air had been their cocoon, protecting them from the storm that waited inside for them. As long as they stayed huddled together, watching the sunset from the beach, they’d be okay. It was the words that would be spoken inside that would bring them down ... she was sure of it. That was why she hadn’t moved from where they were standing.
Funny, the wild and roaring ocean was her harbor, and Michael’s office was like being out in rough seas.
“Let’s go in, babe,” he whispered in her ear, pressing himself forward just a touch, making his intentions known.
“It’s so beautiful out here. I wish I could just lay in the sand, running my hands through it, allowing my feet to sink deeper until I’m one with the tide. With the water washing over me, I’d be a new woman. Untouched. Not tinged or colored by my past or what I do now,” she admitted as the sky turned red and purple.
“You’re not tinged, babe. Not then, not now, not ever. I love you. And you don’t need the ocean water to cleanse you. Whatever crap you’re spewing is just that—BS. You’re perfect.”
He took her earlobe in his mouth and sucked gently, distracting her so she didn’t notice when he led her toward the club.
Wearing rose-colored glasses, Lynx followed him up to his office where he laid her out on the couch. Carefully removing her eggplant-colored swimsuit, he knelt in front of her, worshipping every inch of her brown skin.
He dropped his mouth to her core, swiping his tongue up and down before settling on her clit, where he sucked hard. Lynx’s back arched off the sofa as she ground herself into his face. On a breath, “Michael” came floating out of her mouth. When he slipped first one finger and then another inside her, she bucked into his face. When she came, it was spectacular. Different. A beginning and an end all rolled up in one. But only she knew that at this point, so she allowed the ecstasy to rain down over her.
She tried not to compare it to the times she climaxed when she was working. Usually, she desperately tried not to let that happen at all. Most of the time, she faked it, but sometimes it felt too good.
But nothing like what she just felt with him.
With Michael, feelings mixed with the fingers and tongue and cock, making their coupling inherently different. With him, she went off like fireworks over the bay on New Year’s Eve.
Every time she came with him, she begged her soul to let this be the beginning of a new life for her. But she always ended up back in her old ways. All she needed to do was quit and let go of her private mission, and Mike would welcome her with all her past baggage. But she couldn’t—no matter how hard she climaxed.
Lynx heard him rolling on a condom. Of course, they’d never done it bare. She followed all the appropriate practices and was tested regularly, but rubbers were a must when it came to Michael sinking deep inside her well-used pussy. It wasn’t her preferred word, but appropriate in this case. While they didn’t fight about much, they fought about this—he hated how many men she let sink deep inside her.
She just didn’t get why he continued to dip his very own wrapped-up length inside her. Michael was wealthy and gorgeous. He had strong convictions and the best heart. Why would he waste his time with someone like her?
Like at the moment, he had lifted her as he sat and brought her down on top of him. With her riding him, her legs straddled on either side of his hips, he brought his hand up, brushing the hair out of her face so he could stare deep into her eyes.
“Lynx, babe, this is pure beauty,” he said, never letting go of the eye contact, his hand gripping her hair.
She didn’t respond, just shut her eyes and rode Michael to his own climax. Then she got off of him and ended it for good.
She had responsibilities that she couldn’t ignore.
THE LOUDclack of the knocker on her door signaled the end of her private time with her memories.
Lynx stood and smoothed her dress before walking into the foyer. It was showtime. She was going with her benefactor to a party tonight before she came back to do her duty, and sometime this evening, she needed to get him to authorize her visit with the girls.
