The After Dark Collection: Books 1-3 in The Gift Series Read online

  Sex is the same. You might love giving fellatio to one man and not to another.

  Or maybe a certain lover can bring you to orgasm in ways no one else has. In places on your body you never imagined you’d want to be touched.

  How do you know?

  You don’t know. Until you try.

  And when you try, don’t think of sex as failing or succeeding. Think of it as the journey to discovery.

  To discovering everything you like.

  As wiser people than me have said—it’s not about the destination, but the journey. And enjoying the ride to your heart’s and body’s content.

  They removed the AirPods.

  Kate raised a brow, and Lily gave me a what does this mean look.

  I drew another breath and took another step on my personal journey. “I’m sleeping with Adam tonight. We made a deal. I’m giving him my virginity because I trust him. Because I’m ready. Because it’s time. And when we’re done, we’ll walk away as friends.”

  Lily choked on her latte.

  Kate nearly dropped her coffee. “What? Why?”

  Lily set down her drink, collecting herself before she added, “Be careful, Nina.”

  “I’m on protection,” I said, reminding her. “You know that.”

  “No. I mean be careful with this.” Lily tapped her heart.

  But how could I be anything but careful? I knew the score.

  All I had to do was keep my head on straight about the final destination—friendship.

  That way, the journey would be filled only with pleasure.

  Starting in a few more hours.

  16

  Nina

  His text arrived shortly before seven as I emailed some shots to Marco and Evangeline. My phone vibrated next to me on my desk. I grabbed it, eager.

  Adam: I’ll be home in thirty minutes. On the dot. Be on your knees in the living room, waiting for me. Wear what you had on when you were on your hands and knees in bed the other night riding your toy while I slept quietly a room away.

  With the phone in hand, I practically sprinted to my bedroom, yanking open the drawer with my sleep clothes. Sleep shorts and tanks, like I wore the other night. But I’d taken off the shorts and the panties. I grabbed a white tank, tossed it on the bed, then took a quick shower. When I was done, I spread cherry lotion on my legs, dusted some blush on my cheeks, and slicked on some lip gloss.

  I set my glasses in their case and popped in a pair of contacts.

  I checked the time.

  Fifteen more minutes. I grabbed my tablet, clicking to some of my favorite photographers’ pages, checking out their new work. I was always on the hunt for inspiration, whether it was new angles or styles and colors. I bookmarked a few images I liked, stopping briefly at a shot of a couple on a bed. A man kissed the hollow of a woman’s throat, while she seemed to gaze knowingly at the camera. I imagined what came next, pictured them stripping each other, and saw the camera capturing it all.

  But when I looked at the image again, I didn’t see some unknown couple. I saw Adam and me, and I gasped then moaned.

  Yes.

  I wanted that.

  All of that.

  And I wanted him to know how much.

  I checked the clock. Ten more minutes. Just enough time to give him a surprise gift.

  I turned off my tablet and pulled on the white tank. It was a cropped top—it landed at my midriff. I wore nothing else. Quickly, I walked to my studio, grabbed a tripod, and returned to my living room.

  I set up my phone and its camera timer, kneeled, and took a self-portrait in just the position he’d requested.

  One shot. One chance. I rose and peered at the image.

  Yes.

  He should be pulling into the garage right now.

  In one of my most daring acts ever, I sent the photo, and a wave of satisfaction rolled through me from what I’d just done.

  I couldn’t wait for him to walk through the door.

  17

  Adam

  Control was my thing.

  In business school, I’d studied its value. He who keeps his composure negotiates best, and he who negotiates best gets what he wants.

  At the gym every day, I practiced that control too, working out, following a regimen. Never breaking.

  Tonight I’d stuck to my workout plan, weights and the treadmill. I didn’t need to go soft, not when I’d be spending plenty of time in my birthday suit with the prettiest woman I’d ever known.

  When I finished my routine, I sent her a text letting her know I’d be home in thirty minutes.

  After a quick shower, I pulled on jeans and a T-shirt and headed to our building. As the elevator rose, my phone dinged with a reply. I slid my thumb over the screen. A multimedia image was loading, and the caption read: I’m a good dirty girl, waiting for you like you asked.

  My mouth went dry. My chest heated.

  I clicked open the photo.

  My dick jumped to attention, saluting anyone and everything in the free universe.

  And that was when the truth smacked me in the face.

  She had all the control.

  It wasn’t her body, though those curves and lush skin required worship all night long. And it wasn’t her face, though she was stunning in every way.

  It was her daring.

  It was her sexuality.

  It was how she owned her wants.

  She wanted me to see her before I walked in. And hell, did I ever see her. This was the most alluring photo I’d ever gazed at in my life—Nina on her knees, wearing only a tank that barely covered the bottoms of her perfect breasts. Her lips parted slightly. Her skin dewy. Her face beautiful and full of sensual desire.

  This picture was the proof—she had the control. She held the power. Even if I’d be the one to tell her what to do and when to do it, she was calling all the shots.

  She was the director of the theater of her desire, and I was merely her actor, playing his part.

  But at least I had the starring role.

  I reached her door, took out my key, and opened it.

  I didn’t say Honey, I’m home in my playful fifties husband tone.

  Tonight was not for joking.

  I said nothing as the door squeaked open and I entered her pleasure den. The lights were dimmed. Music pulsed, a low seductive beat that set the mood.

  My eyes snapped to her immediately.

  She appeared exactly as I’d asked her.

  Exactly as she’d shown me in the image.

  She gripped her wrists behind her back, but her body was soft, not rigid. She looked up at me with wide, expectant eyes, waiting for me to speak first.

  My body sizzled as I stared at the filthy angel waiting for me to defile her. “Do you know what dirty girls get when they send naughty pictures?”

  She shook her head, her voice breathless. “No. What do they get?”

  I moved to her, dropped to the floor, curled a hand around the back of her head, and took her lips.

  I kissed her fiercely, with all the hunger that had built all day. Hell, all year. I swept my mouth over hers and consumed her lips, kissing her exactly how we both liked. She moaned into my mouth as I lowered my hand between her legs, sliding my fingers across her hot, wetness.

  My God, she was a divine creature. So aroused already. So wet so soon.

  Control yourself.

  As much as I wanted to play with her with my fingers, that wasn’t what I planned to do first. I needed to give her something else.

  I rose, jerked off my T-shirt, and unzipped my jeans.

  Her eyes lit up like sparklers. She licked her lips, such an eager girl, ready to please.

  I shoved down my briefs, exposing my hard shaft. She nibbled on the corner of her lips as she gazed at my erection.

  I stroked my length, stopping at the head, squeezing. “Tell me something, dirty girl. Have you ever sucked a cock before?” I knew the answer from her list, but I needed to hear it from her.

&
nbsp; “No.”

  “How do you know you’ll like it, then?”

  She raised her chin. “Because I’m getting wetter just looking at yours.”

  I groaned to heaven and hell and back. How was I going to last with her? With this innocently filthy beauty.

  My only chance was control. I had to wrest more of it from her, or I’d lose myself. I was already spiraling far too fast for my own good.

  That was why I’d placed another toy order today. That was why I’d try to avoid her name too. If I used her name when we were intimate, we’d become Adam and Nina, when we were supposed to be the man who was number ten and the dirty girl. The virgin and her tutor—that was who we were when we worked through her list. Nothing more. I couldn’t chance it.

  “Open my gym bag,” I said in my sternest voice. “Take out the paper bag on the side.”

  She let go of the grip on her wrists, reaching over and sliding open a side zipper on my bag. She murmured when she saw what was inside. “You bought this today?”

  “It arrived at my office this afternoon. I washed it with soap and water. I wouldn’t let anything touch your perfect body that wasn’t pristine. Put it on while I watch you.”

  She rose, slid the pink straps over her luscious legs, then positioned the pink butterfly over her clit.

  “Give me the remote, dirty girl.”

  She handed me the control.

  “Now get on your knees, hands behind your back, and I’m going to feed you my cock.”

  “Oh God,” she said, her shoulders trembling.

  Yes, that was better.

  The more I stayed firmly in control, the less likely it was I’d lose myself to this gorgeous woman at my feet. I had to keep it together or those feelings would return, and there was no place for emotions.

  She opened her mouth, gasping as I stepped closer, wrapped a hand around her head, and turned on the vibrator.

  “Oh, Adam,” she moaned, her face falling against my thigh, her hair touching my hard-as-stone length, my name sounding fantastic on her lips. Too fantastic. “That feels so good, but I want to taste you,” she said, breathless.

  This woman. She was going to ruin me.

  “I know you do. And you’re going to do both,” I said, rough and smoky, like I had to be with her. “You’re going to suck me off while I make you come with this toy. Consider this number eight on your list, with a little extra something just for you.” I yanked her head back. “Open those lips and kiss the tip, like a good dirty girl.”

  She opened those shiny pink lips and darted out her tongue, shuddering as the butterfly buzzed against her clit. I upped the pressure one more level as she wrapped her lips around the head.

  And I saw stars.

  Bright, brilliant stars.

  Already. From that first lick. “Yesssss. You know what to do,” I rasped.

  “Mmm. You taste so good,” she whispered as she licked the head like I was an ice-cream cone.

  My vision blurred as lust rippled through my every pore. So soon. Too soon. She was too good, and I was losing it.

  “Tell me something,” I said, fighting to keep the control in my voice.

  “Yes?” she asked as she lavished flicks of her tongue down the underside of my shaft.

  “How’d you learn to do that? Because you don’t kiss a dick like that unless you’ve done it before or watched a lot of videos. And I want to hear it from you. I want the answer from your lips before I give you what you want,” I said, hitting a button to level up the toy once again.

  Her whole body shook. “Oh God. Adam. Oh God,” she panted, barely able to control herself. Good. That was what I wanted. Nina, unable to keep it together. Nina, falling apart before me. “I watch videos. I learned online. I practiced.”

  “On what?” I asked, expecting her to say a lollipop or a banana.

  “On my fingers,” she answered, as she drew the head back in and I nearly exploded from the eroticism of that image.

  “You practiced on your own fingers?”

  She nodded as she opened farther, bringing me in another inch.

  I wanted to thrust deep into her mouth and go crazy, but I needed to see this more. I pulled out. “Show me. Show me how you taught yourself to blow my ever-loving mind.”

  She raised her right hand to her mouth, inserted two fingers, and sucked them down to the first knuckle, then the next. My dick jumped, begging me to get back into the warm pleasure cave of her mouth. But Nina wasn’t done. She added a third finger, showing me she could handle girth, then drew all three far and deep.

  I burned everywhere. Flames licked my skin.

  “That’s enough,” I bit out. “Now do that to me. Show your tutor what a perfect student you are.”

  Wrapping her hands behind her back once more, she opened her lips, and I gave her my length, easing in at first, watching her lips widen around my shaft. I stared at her gorgeous mouth on me all while she gazed up, looking for my approval.

  Curling a hand around her head again, I gave her just that. “You’re so deliciously good, my dirty girl. So damn sexy. And I love that you saved your mouth for me. And I’m going to reward you.” I turned up the device another level, and her body trembled, her eyes hazy with desire as the butterfly hummed louder between her legs. But there were no more words from her. Because her mouth was full. “Now take it all. Take all of me like you know you want to.”

  She drew me in farther, stopping briefly to adjust. I didn’t let go of my grip on her hair. Didn’t want to. And she didn’t need it. She knew what she was doing, and I watched her as she willed her throat to take me down to the root.

  When I felt her relax, I pushed in the rest of the way, sliding to the back of her throat. She gagged once, her eyes watering the slightest bit, which was insanely hot. But what was hotter was how she kept her lips tight around me.

  I met her gaze, gentling my tone. “Can you take it, baby?”

  I knew the answer before she gave it with a nod. She didn’t want me to stop.

  “Yes,” I groaned, my eyes sliding shut. “Your mouth, baby. Your tongue. So perfect.”

  She was a sorceress, working her magic on me. Nothing had ever felt like this. Nothing had come close to Nina, my beautiful virgin, taking me so goddamn deep, I could feel electricity in my toes. Across my scalp. Everywhere. I was a power line, jolting from pleasure every damn second.

  And as much as I wanted to let go and pump, I had to watch. I opened my eyes, savoring the slow, steady rhythm of her taking my length in and out, deep then shallow, my shaft sliding between her lips. It was the most erotic thing I’d ever seen. So was the expression on her face—like she was lost in the moment.

  I could get lost too.

  And I had to stay focused. Had to use words and control. I ran my fingers along her cheek. “Look at you. Look at you sucking me off just like you wanted.”

  I could feel her moan against me. She sucked harder, with vigor and lust in her brown eyes.

  “I’m not going to look away, dirty girl. I’m not going to look anywhere but at your gorgeous face when you taste me coming down your throat for the first time. And I’m not going to pull out.”

  A tremble seemed to roll through her body, and she nodded.

  “You’re going to swallow, and I know you’re going to love it,” I said, picking up the pace as desire barreled through me, curling through my veins.

  Her knees slid wider, and I glanced down. Holy hell. She was rocking her hips, thrusting against the butterfly as much as she could. My girl needed to get off.

  “You must be aching. You want to come so badly, don’t you?”

  She nodded as she sucked.

  “Are you close?”

  Another nod. Another fantastically deep suck.

  And I was done.

  The pleasure in me snapped, breaking, as my climax started to rush through my body like a tornado. “Don’t stop, baby. I’m coming.”

  My hand curled tight around her, and I fucked her sweet
virginal mouth through my release. “Yes. That’s it. Take it all,” I urged her as I came, my whole body shuddering.

  When I pulled out, she let go of her own hands, grabbed my hips, and cried out against me, “Oh God, I’m coming too. I’m coming so hard.”

  Like that, with her face against my thighs, her hands clutching me, her body quaking, my sweet, dirty girl fell apart at my feet.

  A few seconds later, I turned off the butterfly, tossing the remote on the couch. I kicked off my shoes; shed my jeans, briefs, and shirt; and scooped her up, carrying her to her bedroom. She moaned happily in my arms the whole time, enjoying the aftereffects of her own climax.

  I laid her out on the bed, her silky hair spilling across the pillow, her body soft and pliant.

  She was incredible, and my heart thumped harder as I drank her in. She was so fearless, so eager. And she gave herself so freely. I’d never experienced anyone like her before. And I wanted to experience all of her, again and again. That hammering in my heart grew louder, and I wanted to tell it to shut up, but I wanted to kiss her more.

  So I did.

  I dropped a kiss to her forehead, inhaling her scent.

  She smiled.

  Then I kissed her nose, and she murmured.

  Then I placed one on her lips.

  She sighed softly.

  “You deserve another orgasm,” I said, my head swirling with longing for her, for more of her. “You know that? That was so damn good. You deserve to come again.”

  I didn’t give her a chance to resist. I moved down her body, slid off the vibrator, and kissed her delicious wetness.

  “You are the sweetest thing I’ve ever tasted,” I whispered as I wrapped my hands around her ass, cupping her cheeks, bringing her closer to my mouth.

  “I am?” she asked, but there were no nerves in her voice. Only a lovely, warm sound, letting me know she liked the praise, wanted to hear more of it.

  “You are perfection, and I need another taste of you. I need to have you all over my lips,” I said, and for a second, it occurred to me that I was begging her. And it hit me too—I didn’t care. She was worth pleading to. I’d get down on my knees for another taste of her.