Wicked

Her bare skin was silky soft

Will sought the release for the top of the dance outfit Renae wore, then gave up and dived for her waistband.

She laughed teasingly, and moved out of reach. “Wait a sec. I have to call in to work and let them know I’m going to be a little late.”

Will raised an eyebrow. “A little late?”

He took her hand and pressed it against his pants, letting her feel the rock-hard arousal underneath the thin material. He watched her pupils grow large in her green eyes.

“Okay,” she said slowly, “maybe a lot late.”

He reached out and dipped a fingertip inside the top of her bra cup. “Maybe you should tell them you’ll be out the whole day….”

He watched her swallow with some difficulty. “The whole day?” A slow, sultry smile spread across her lips. “You really are looking to repeat the other night, then.”

He grinned wickedly. “And then some…”

Dear Reader,

In the first two SLEEPING WITH SECRETS titles, Forbidden and Indecent, we willingly passed into the shadowy side of sex and love with our characters, but in this book… Well, not even we were prepared for the traditional male-female roles Will and Renae naughtily blurred….

In Wicked, E.R. surgeon Will Sexton doesn’t know what hit him when Renae Truesdale—the sexy neighbor he’s indulged in wicked fantasies about for the past three months—decides to test his playboy ways. But when hot, sticky sex evolves into so much more, can Will handle Renae’s extensive sexual résumé?

We hope you find Will and Renae’s journey to sexual enlightenment and love everlasting as provocative as we did. We’d love to hear what you think. Write to us at P.O. Box 12271, Toledo, Ohio 43612, or at [e-mail], and visit us on the Web at www.BlazeAuthors.com and www.ToriCarrington.com.

Here’s wishing you love and hot, memorable reading!

Lori & Tony Karayianni

aka Tori Carrington

Wicked

Tori Carrington

www.millsandboon.co.uk

We dedicate this book to Cissy Hartley, Sara Reyes, Celeste Faurie, Debra Evans, Helena Beasley, Lee Hyatt, Janice Bennett, Kathy Boswell and the entire gang at Writerspace.com. Thank you for providing a warm and wonderful forum that lets us be fans as well as authors. See y’all in the chatroom!

Contents

Chapter 1

Chapter 2

Chapter 3

Chapter 4

Chapter 5

Chapter 6

Chapter 7

Chapter 8

Chapter 9

Chapter 10

Chapter 11

Chapter 12

Chapter 13

Chapter 14

Chapter 15

Chapter 16

Chapter 17

Chapter 18

Chapter 19

1

SIZE DOES MATTER.

Emergency Room Surgeon Will Sexton had always believed that to be the case. But being British, he liked that Americans actually understood that. There was no such thing as the size of the ship doesn’t matter, it’s the motion of the ocean. As he dragged himself home after twelve straight hours on duty at St. Vincent Mercy Medical Center in Toledo, in a mammoth SUV that could comfortably hold three families, he brightened at the thought that once inside his large condo, set back on a large piece of land, he could collapse on his large king-size bed. It all added up to a vastness he’d never come across anywhere in working-class Southwark, England, just south of the Thames outside London.

Will parked his car in the large lot, which was designed to hold other large cars and was never without a free space, and climbed out onto the hot asphalt. The hazy August sun was beginning to peek over the horizon as he made his way down the long walk that led to his large condo and thus to his large bed. Okay, so yes, occasionally he did miss his bangers and mash. And it very rarely got this hot in jolly old England. But ever since skipping over the pond that was the Atlantic in order to earn his degree at the Medical College of Ohio nine years ago, he hadn’t been back home for more than a week’s stay. Fact was he’d grown comfortable, liked it here with the Yanks. Not only was everything around him bigger, but the citizens themselves seemed to think bigger. Well, maybe not all of them, but if one were inclined to take his life into his own hands, one could make a run of it here a lot easier than he could make it back home. Work hard, and you were rewarded well. Seemed like a good, solid philosophy to him.

And if William Charles Sexton, middle son of Dorothy and Simon Sexton, housewife and meat factory worker, respectively, had done anything throughout his life, it was work hard.

And he’d been well rewarded.

Will hiked his duffel a little higher on his shoulder. Still, somehow he thought he’d never get used to the hot summer weather here in the midwestern U.S. Heat and lots of it seemed to be the name of the game as of late. Actually that applied both literally and figuratively when it came to his life.

His good, if exhausted, mood took an immediate nosedive at the reminder.

Five months. That’s how long he’d gone without sex. And not because of a size issue, thank you very much. Rather he’d been dating senior resident Janet Nealon for the past five months. And it was just his luck that Janet had decided the month before they’d started going out that she was going to wait for her wedding night before she had sex again.

Again.

Will hiked his duffel up again and scowled.

“Ah, one of those born-again virgin types.”

He recalled his best mate Colin’s words when Will had complained about the state of his sex life a few months back.

“Those are the worst kinds.”

Will had made the mistake of asking him how so.

“Well, because you know they’ve given it up—they’re just not giving it up to you.”

Will eyed the six-unit building that held his apartment, his gaze immediately drawn to the condo on the third floor, directly above his. Of course, it didn’t help that the female neighbors in 3B had cast themselves in starring roles in his growing sexual fantasies. It seemed not a night went by that he didn’t think of the two hot lesbians in bed together, sweaty and naked. Crikey, he’d had to change his sheets just last week after a particularly steamy dream in which both women had taken a great deal of pleasure from working on him.

Of course, he knew that if Janet finally gave in, his fantasy life would vanish. Well, maybe not disappear entirely—after all, the two women fantasy was a popular one among men his age and he didn’t see that changing anytime soon—but at least he wouldn’t have to rely on those same fantasies to give him the physical release he needed.

And he wasn’t going to take things “in hand” himself, as Colin had suggested he do.

The problem was he was getting nowhere fast with Janet. The night before last, before she’d left for a ten-day medical seminar in L.A., he’d pulled out all the stops during their hot and heavy petting session, taking great satisfaction in bringing her to orgasm. But when he’d convinced himself she was going to return the favor with some primo, long overdue sex, she’d buttoned up her blouse, kissed him lightly on the mouth, then thanked him before handing him his coat, so to speak.

Will’s teeth had been set so tightly together his jaw had hurt.

It was a good thing Janet seemed to meet some internal criteria that he’d set up long ago with her fresh good looks and her bubbly disposition. Still, he didn’t know how long he could stand it.

He pulled the door to the building open and froze. Considering the sad state of affairs, this would happen to him, only to him.

On the stairwell coming down stood the number one billed star of his fantasies from 3B, Renae Truesdale. Will squinted at her. And if he wasn’t mistaken, she was wearing what looked like…what appeared to be… He swallowed hard. She was wearing a bloody belly-dancer outfit. At eight o’clock in the morning.

Oh, he really didn’t know how long he was going to be able to stand it….

RENAE TRUESDALE KNEW two things for sure: that sexy doctor Will Sexton from 2B thought she was hot, and that sexy doctor Will Sexton thought she was a lesbian.

She slowed her steps on the staircase from her third-floor condo, the gold disks that made up her top and the low waist of her belly-dancer costume giving an enticing jingle. Of course, it went without saying that she’d had the hots for the doc since she’d moved in six months ago. Who wouldn’t, what with all that wavy, slightly disheveled light brown hair, bedroom-blue eyes and lopsided naughty grin? Oh, and then there was that irresistible British accent and his hesitant mannerisms that made it seem that he was thinking bad, bad thoughts every time she ran into him.

And now was no exception.

Of course, she wasn’t a lesbian. Her roommate, Tabitha, was, but she wasn’t. But she had come to enjoy playing up Will’s misperception to delicious perfection. There were few things more satisfying than watching a man as attractive as he was treading foreign waters. No matter how acceptable the alternative lifestyle was becoming on television and in the media, the simple truth was that not very many people actually knew someone gay or lesbian, much less could call one a friend.

From personal experience Renae also knew that certain men were turned on by the thought of two attractive women living together, whether or not they were homosexual. Will, with his throat clearing and hot gazes, definitely fell into that category.

“’Morning, Will,” she said, purposely swaying her hips as she descended the remainder of the stairs with suggestive jingles and shakes until she stood in front of him.

She watched a swallow make its way down his throat, past his Adam’s apple even as his gaze plastered to her breasts, then lower to her bare stomach and the red crystal navel ring she wore.

“Um, yes. ’Morning.”

At some point she really should put the poor guy out of his misery and tell him that she wasn’t a lesbian. Her smile widened. But not this morning. Not when he looked about a breath away from climaxing on the spot.

As the only daughter of a stripper, she’d learned long ago that it wasn’t so much what you said that mattered, but the time you chose to say it. No one had to know of her challenging upbringing unless and until she decided to share it with them. The same went with her friendship with Tabitha. She and Tabby had been best friends ever since high school, well before Tabitha’s coming out of the closet, and when her friend had said she’d needed help with the condo payments six months ago when she’d been laid off, Renae hadn’t hesitated to move in and share the financial burden, no matter what everyone thought.

Especially no matter what handsome doc Will Sexton and countless others believed.

He cleared his throat again and gestured toward her apparel, the back of his hand nearly grazing the tips of her breasts. “Um, going to work, are we?”

Renae couldn’t help a small laugh. He looked so uncomfortable, so damn sexy. “Yes, I am.”

Oh, she knew full well that he had no idea what “work” for her constituted. Seeing what she was wearing at 8:00 a.m. on a Saturday morning, she could only guess what he was thinking. And shoot her if she was wrong, but she was pretty sure his idea didn’t include the Women Only shop where she did retail work along with teaching belly-dancing classes. While she normally didn’t wear her costume to work, she’d been running late this morning and had discovered that she hadn’t any acceptable clean clothes to wear. So she’d improvised.

Besides, she’d reasoned, who was going to see her that early on a Saturday morning?

She’d forgotten that was the time Will usually came home.

She pulled the side of her bottom lip into her mouth. Then again, maybe she hadn’t forgotten at all.

“Do you, um, you know, give private shows?” he asked.

Renae raised her brows. While she normally enjoyed teasing Will, this was the first time he’d come out and said something so blatantly and directly sexual to her. She’d figured it was because he couldn’t quite wrap his mind around the whole lesbian angle. That he was coming on to her now marked a change of sorts. A change she wouldn’t mind encouraging.

“Mmm,” she said evasively, a shiver running over her exposed skin at his continued visual interest in her and her costume. “It all depends on who wants the performance.”

Something about the way he stood gave her the distinct impression that he was about to grab his wallet out of his back pocket and offer her any amount she wanted to perform for him.

Little did he know she’d do it free of charge.

“I see,” he said, clearing his throat again.

Renae gave a wicked shimmy. “Don’t you just love the costume?”

His gaze flew to hers. “Love…yes. I daresay it is an intriguing bit of apparel.” He gestured again, his hand brushing against her breasts this time before he quickly drew it back. “There do seem to be parts of it missing though.”

“Do you think?”

She swayed her hips, the metal disks clinking together again, drawing his gaze there.

While Renae didn’t fool herself into thinking she was a perfect female specimen, she did know she was attractive, despite her shorter stature and her fuller curves. The ample size of her breasts alone was known to stretch a few necks. And giving belly-dancing classes over the past four months had honed the muscles of her stomach until they were defined, firm and supple. Her skin was tanned warm gold from the swims she took in the community pool every morning and afternoon when she knocked off of work.

Will’s quiet chuckle surprised her.

“You’re a tease, do you know that, Miss Truesdale?”

She considered him leisurely, suggestively. “Who said I was teasing, Dr. Sexton?”

His blue eyes darkened as he looked at her, plunging them both farther into uncharted territory.

Renae blinked, caught off guard by the rush of hormones through her system. What had been harmless flirting before had just moved into more serious, more sensual terrain. And, she was surprised to find, she wanted to explore it. If just for a little while.

And Will appeared equally willing. “Then what is it you would call what you do every time our paths cross?”

“Oh, I don’t know,” she said ambiguously. “Issuing you an invitation?”

“An invitation?” he echoed.

“Mmm-hmm.” She stepped closer, smoothing down the collar of his crisp white shirt, the sleeves of which were rolled up to reveal his strong, hair-covered forearms. She’d meant to put him on alert, but found her own palms sensitized as she stroked the Egyptian broadcloth, feeling the heat of his body just below the material.

“An invitation to what, might I ask?”

She stepped closer, increasingly aware that she wasn’t only arousing Will, she was arousing herself. Her nipples tingled in sweet anticipation, her stomach tightened, and her thighs squeezed slightly together. “What do you think?”

Her hips skimmed against his, and she instantly detected his very obvious physical reaction to her come-on. Oh boy. Suddenly she was having just as much difficulty swallowing as he was.

Who would have thought? While she’d always gotten a little thrill at flirting with Will, she’d never seriously considered pursuing anything with him. But as she stood there, well aware of the signals he was giving off, the signals her own body was sending her, she realized they’d reached a fork in the road. She had one of two choices: either laugh off the current sexual tension radiating from them both and walk away, or kiss him and let nature take its course.

Funny, but she didn’t seem to be in a hurry to make either decision. Instead she allowed her gaze to drop leisurely to his mouth. His lips were so well defined. So sexy. So naughty. And she had little doubt he’d know what to do with them.

Liquid awareness swirled in her stomach then gathered at the center of her sex. She shivered slightly in response. How long had it been since she’d had sex? Gone out on a date, even? Too long, her body instantly responded. At least eight or so months. And even then the experience hadn’t been anything to remember.

“You, um, should probably get going,” Will said quietly.

Even as he said the words, Renae got the distinct impression that he didn’t want her to go anywhere but up to his condo with him.

“Otherwise, you might be late,” he continued.

Renae recognized the sexual tension that seemed to emanate from him and wind around her. She decided she liked the feeling. Liked knowing that Will wanted her but appeared to have his own reasons for not laying claim to her. Reasons that went beyond his misperception of her relationship with her roommate.

“Mmm,” she finally agreed. “Yes, I probably should be going.”

She said the words even as she knew she wasn’t going anywhere.

DAMN IT ALL TO HELL, he was going to kiss her.

Will looked down into Renae’s provocative face, suffering a need so consuming, so overwhelming it loomed outside anything he’d experienced before. Oh, he was a normal male with normal male urges. But considering what he knew about the woman looking up at him like the answer to his sexual prayers, the only thing he should be doing was heading for the door.

Instead he said, “What would you do right now if I kissed you?”

Her full, luscious lips curved slightly upward in a sexy smile. “Oh, I don’t know. Kiss you back?”

That was all the answer Will needed. He curved his hands around her gloriously bare back and hauled her to him, noisy costume and all, not stopping until he’d molded her mouth to his.

Damn. He’d been hoping that her lips would be dry, her skill lacking. But kissing Renae Truesdale was nothing short of sweet heaven. Squared.

Or, rather, burning, seductive hell. Because surely that’s where he was heading by kissing a woman who was definitely not Janet. A woman who led her life differently from the majority of society.

A woman who was making him not care a lick about any of it with every delectable flick of her tongue.

Will moved his hands against her back, growing all too aware of the softness of her skin, the suppleness of her warm flesh. Heavy breathing filled his ears and with a start he realized it was his own.

He groaned and caught her pert bottom in his palms, crowding her even tighter against his almost painful arousal. How easy it would be to carry her up the flight of steps to his condo. Lay her across his unmade king-size bed. Act out every last wicked fantasy he’d had about her ever since she’d moved in.

But to do so would be to tempt fate in a way he wasn’t sure he should just then.

Unfortunately he wasn’t having much luck convincing his hormone-ravaged body that it should care.

Renae’s fingers had pulled his shirt from his trousers and were even now flattening against the taut skin of his stomach, her moves bold and mesmerizing. She slid her touch lower and cupped the length of him in her hand.

Will’s answering shudder was so all encompassing that he feared if she suggested they do the deed right then, right there, he would be helpless to stop himself from pressing her against the wall of mailboxes and curving her legs around his waist.

The hand disappeared from the front of his trousers at the same time her mouth moved from his.

Will blinked at the sexy vixen, his brain little more than scattered gray matter turned to lustful mush.

“Well, I’d better get going,” Renae said, her color high, the pitch of her raspy voice even higher.

He found himself nodding stupidly, his mind knowing she was right but his body screaming otherwise. “Yes, you’d better.”

She smiled, skimming her luscious body against his in order to gain access to the outer door. It was all Will could do to stop himself from collapsing against the wall of mailboxes. Thankfully he was still standing upright when she turned toward him.

“That was definitely interesting,” she said, as if surprised and pleased at the events of the past few moments.

“Interesting…yes. That it was,” he agreed.

And Will had the feeling that things were only going to get a lot more interesting from there.

2

RENAE LOVED WORKING at Women Only. The shop that sat on the Ohio-Michigan border was more than a job to her that provided a check at the end of the week. Ever since owner Ginger Wasserman had opened the place and hired her on the spot five years ago, she’d felt invested in the shop’s success. Responsible for making the clientele happy. Dedicated not only to coming up with new ideas for services and supplies women might be interested in, but to seeing them through.

That was why it seemed strange that the shop was the last thing on her mind when she arrived there fifteen minutes after her intimate encounter with Will Sexton next to the mailboxes.

“Boy, you must really be looking forward to this class.”

Renae blinked Lucky Clayborn’s pretty face into focus. More than her co-worker, she and Lucky shared similar pasts that had aided in their growing close over the past two months. And now that Lucky was opening up a satellite Women Only shop downtown, Renae saw more of her than ever. Which made coming to work doubly enjoyable.

“The costume,” Lucky said by way of an explanation.

Renae stared down at the belly-dancer outfit she wore, almost surprised to discover she still had it on.

It had been a long time since a guy had driven her to the point of distraction.

Longer still since one had made her forget what she was wearing.

Very interesting, indeed.

“Your class awaits,” Lucky said, motioning toward the curtained-off room to the right.

What had once begun as a traditional one-showroom retail shop had slowly expanded to take up four units in the strip mall that had once been Strip Joint Central. While a couple of men’s clubs remained, Women Only was quickly growing to crowd them out and the area was becoming better known for catering to the positive needs of women rather than the baser needs of men.

To the left of the showroom were the cushy massage rooms and a comfortable class area designed to look like a large, inviting sitting room where everything, from how to give a blow-his-mind blow job to educating women on their G-spot, was discussed. To the right was the open studio room lined with mirrors where Renae and others taught belly dancing and, yes, even the art of stripping. But rather than for dollars, they taught them the skills to perform in private for their mates.

“Renae?” Lucky moved her hand in front of her eyes. “Are you all right?”

She considered the way her blood still thrummed through her veins, and the dampness of her thighs, and smiled. Oh, yes. Everything was more than all right. It was great.

“Fine. I’m just fine. Have you seen Ginger?”

Lucky wrote something down on a pad she held, seeming more than a little distracted herself. Which was normal, Renae thought. If she had a guy like Colin McKenna waiting at home for her every day, she’d spend the rest of her life with her head in the clouds.

“She was in and out already. Said she might be back after lunch.” Lucky looked at her. “Did you want something in particular? You could always call her cell.”

Renae made a face as she adjusted the top of her costume. What she had to discuss with Ginger couldn’t be done over the phone. And she didn’t want to make an appointment, either. Because to do so would indicate something was on her mind.