Opposites Attract (4 page)

‘Mm-hmm.’

Ted eagerly took the invitation and kissed his way down her body. He stopped at her chest, pulling her nipples out over the top. Susan moaned, wiggling her hips against him. He sucked her nipples between his teeth, giving each ample attention before moving on. Kissing between the cross-laces of her corset, he made his way down the centre of her body. His tongue dipped into her navel, swirling it. She arched her back in pleasure. Hooking her panties, he pulled them down over her hips.

‘Mm, you shaved. I like it,’ Ted said.

Susan glanced down. He was positioning himself between her thighs. Looking up at her, he moved to lick along her clean-shaven folds, drawing his tongue down her slit. Focusing on his efforts, he twirled the tip over the sensitive bud he found hidden.

‘Ah!’ Susan sighed breathily, trying to stay quiet. She thrashed on the bed, reaching to pinch her nipples. Ted sucked her clit between his teeth, flicking his tongue back and forth. A thick finger slipped inside her pussy, working slowly in and out of her opening, rubbing her sweet spot. She clamped her thighs down hard on his head, holding him to her as she rocked her hips to his mouth. ‘Ah, Ted, ooh. That feels so good.’

Her stomach tightened and she bit her lip to keep from moaning too loudly. He kept his finger moving inside her as he pulled himself up between her thighs. Sliding his hand under the pillow, he grabbed a condom and tore the package open with his teeth. One handed, he slid the condom over his erection. Then, removing his hand, he replaced his finger with his cock, thrusting into her ready body.

She loved being with Ted. He knew just how to stroke her, how to make her feel beautiful and loved. When he looked at her, it was as if she was the only woman in the world.

Susan lifted her leg over his shoulder, opening herself up to him. Ted groaned, working back and forth, going deeper with each pass. He braced his weight on his hands, moving in such a way that his body rocked along her sensitive bud. Each push sent wonderfully erotic sensations through her. She freely touched his chest and arms, amazed each time they came together by how wonderful he could make her feel. No matter how often they had sex, she never got tired of it. He knew all the right places to touch, the right pressure to use.

Susan moved her hips in circles against him, hitting her clit even harder. Her orgasm hit her like a wave, rolling over her body until she could barely breathe. Her sex clamped down on him hard. Ted buried himself to the hilt, jerking above her as he came.

‘Ah, baby, you feel so good,’ Ted whispered next to her ear, stopping to kiss her lobe. ‘I’ll never get tired of doing that.’

‘You better not,’ Susan said. ‘Or I’ll just have to get kinky on you.’

‘Mm, kinky, you say.’ Ted leaned up and grinned. ‘Well, maybe I am a little tired of it.’

‘Oh, you!’ Susan hit his arm, giggling as he kissed her.

Alexis lay on Ted’s brown leather couch. She was wide awake. Ted’s apartment was nice, true to the industrial, unpretentious style of the Meatpacking District. Not so nice as her former penthouse, but elegant with classical lines. Ted was a polo shirt, khaki pants kind of guy. It went well with Susan’s dressy casual style.

Ted was by no means a rich man, but he did rather well for himself. His bookshelves were filled with books he’d actually read. A couple of photographs hung on the wall – one of a sidewalk, another of a sidewalk café in Paris. Susan had bought them for him from a street vendor.

By the occasional soft noise coming from Ted’s bedroom it was easy to guess what he and Susan were doing. It’s not that she wanted Ted for herself, but she couldn’t help but be jealous of her friend. It felt like an eternity since she’d been laid. Well, a little over a month. After her mother’s arrest hit the news, every one of her lovers had quit returning her calls.

She’d only had two half-offers in the last month. One was the pizza boy who’d offered to buy her pizza for her when her credit card was declined. She’d been desperate, for both attention and food, but she’d never be that desperate. The second offer was from one of her lovers who had wanted her to use the back entrance to his home so he wouldn’t be seen with her. Yeah, like she’d lost all self-pride.

Feeling the ache in her loins, she sighed. OK, so she was pretty close to losing all self-pride. It seemed like everyone was getting laid but her.

Maybe pizza boy was free?

Argh. What was she thinking?

Alexis turned into the couch cushion and pulled the pillow over her head. There, now she couldn’t hear them. How long could Ted and Susan have sex anyway? Didn’t they remember they had to get up early tomorrow to go to California? Shouldn’t they be sleeping instead?

Alexis sighed, wallowing in her misery. California. It was a good idea. It had to be. There she could get a fresh start. She wasn’t so foolish to believe they wouldn’t have heard of the now infamous Francine Grant there, but they might not know Alexis Grant. Maybe she’d even reinvent herself like a movie star. She’d have to work on finding a new name.

Closing her eyes, she tried to go to sleep. Ted’s light moan penetrated her sound barrier. She grimaced. Yep, everyone was probably getting laid tonight but her.

Ethan honked his horn twice as he waited for his travelling companions. He wondered if they’d even hear the horn over the loud construction in the background. A couple of the men hadn’t moved since he’d pulled up, leaning against their work truck as they made loud catcalls to a leggy blonde. Ethan couldn’t help but laugh. It seemed everywhere he went construction workers were all the same. No woman was safe when it came to their shameless flirtations. Though, as the woman walked by him, he could understand their attraction to her. A woman didn’t dress in a short skirt and high heels unless she wanted to be noticed. He smiled and couldn’t help but think that in this neighbourhood it was hard telling if the blonde was really a woman.

Turning his attention back up the side of the brick building, he hoped they didn’t try to bring too much luggage. He’d told Ted to pack light. His 1965 Lincoln Continental might be a big car, but there was only so much room in his trunk after tattoo equipment and his luggage. He wasn’t going to throw any of it out. How else was he going to pay his way across?

By taking companions with him they should make fairly good time, not that he had anywhere he had to be by a certain day. Going there was an adventure in and of itself. He could easily go on his own, but it would be nice to have someone help with the driving and someone to talk to when the highway seemed to stretch a little too long.

Leaning against his hood, he sighed. The Meatpacking District used to be one of his favourite sections of the city. The district’s brick streets and awnings had a gritty, raw feel to them as if straight out of a 1970s gang movie and, being one of the last market districts in New York, it was bound to have a little of that working-class charm you couldn’t find in Chelsea. But as of late the Chelsea crowd was slowly taking it over with fancy restaurants and overpriced galleries. They nestled right next to the few remaining meat businesses, most of whose low-rise buildings still reflected the turn of the century style in which they were built. It was morning but the area was already busy. Even with the upscale changes, this was still definitely one of the more distinctive places in the city.

Ethan yawned. He was tired. OK, so maybe spending his last night in New York banging every sexy skirt wasn’t the most responsible plan he’d ever come up with. But damned if he wasn’t feeling relaxed today. Ginger had been a minx. Just like he planned, she’d hopped straight in the shower with him and he’d had her pinned against the stall wall before barely getting out a ‘Hi, how are ya?’

Ethan knew two women were coming with them on the trip, Ted’s girlfriend and her friend to be precise. Ethan didn’t really feel like catering to two females, but what could he do? He really didn’t feel like footing the bill for everything either. He’d already determined that there would be no sexual encounters with his travelling companions – at least not until they were in California. There was no reason to complicate the trip and the last thing he wanted was some girl hanging on him, thinking they were boyfriend and girlfriend. Ethan shivered. No thank you. But Ted seemed pretty cool. Hopefully the chicks would be too.

‘What. Is. That?’

And, then again, maybe not.

Ethan frowned at the haughty voice. Tilting his head down to look over the top edge of his sunglasses, he grimaced. The woman was eyeing his car with a look of complete and utter disdain. With just one glance he knew the type. Rich. Spoiled. Aggravating. They were planning a road trip and here she stood in a silk floral dress – no doubt by some designer he never heard of. Didn’t she get the concept of comfort? They weren’t going to a fashion show.

Ethan sighed. She was pretty, but pretty in a way that was so fake it made him sick. Well, not so sick that he wouldn’t be willing to sleep with her should she offer it up. Her dark hair was perfect. Her dress was perfect. Her strappy little high-heeled shoes were perfect. And her make-up and sunglasses and tiny purse? Yep, all perfect.

Ethan hated the look of her kind of perfection. He supposed it came from being an artist. He found perfection in non-perfection. This woman looked delicate, like a doll someone had kept on a shelf her entire life. Her hands were lifted up by her shoulders, as if she could contract some kind of disease just from looking at his car.

Please, not her
, he thought, not saying a word.
Let her walk on by.

Alexis looked at the horrible car. At least it was black, which was about the only good thing she could say about it. OK, it might have been a little naive of her, but when Susan said they were taking a car, she assumed the vehicle was made within the last five years. This giant monstrosity was hardly a safe mode of transportation. She had one word for it.

Ew.

Pulling the sunglasses from her face, she turned to study the man next to the car. This clearly was a mistake. For heaven’s sake, he couldn’t be her ride. His light-brown hair was short, spiky and tipped with the most ungodly shade of bright red – as was his goatee. He was also covered with tattoos – from his wrists to where his arms disappeared under his raggedy old T-shirt. Even the side of his neck had some sort of fire growing over it like fungus.

‘Mr James?’ she managed, her voice tight.

The man nodded. Was it just her, or was there something very gangster about the way he tilted his jaw up at her? All right, he probably learned the attitude in prison. Alexis took a step back. If she could just edge to the building before he got any ideas, she’d run back to Ted’s apartment and bolt the door. If he didn’t leave, well, they’d just call the police.

‘Oh, wow,’ Susan yelled, coming from the stairwell. Alexis tried to grab her friend’s arm as she passed, but missed. ‘Cool wheels.’

Ethan pushed up from the car, grinning at Susan. Her stomach tightened at the look and a shameful tingling erupted inside her. She suppressed it, refusing to let her lack of sex make itself obvious to this nasty tattoo artist. Alexis watched, her mouth open, waiting for her chance to rescue her friend so they could escape.

‘Thanks,’ Ethan said. His voice was low and primitive, and his accent was only lightly influenced by New York. If she had her guess, he was born elsewhere. Alexis shivered. OK, so he had a nice voice. So did some serial killers, she imagined.

‘I did most the work myself,’ said Ethan. ‘It’s not finished yet.’

‘What is it?’ Susan asked, giggling. ‘Sorry, I know nothing about cars, but I love looking at them. This one has such character.’

‘Yeah, that’s what I thought when I first saw her. It’s a 1965 Lincoln Continental.’ Ethan smiled. ‘It’s a work of art, or at least will be when I get done with it. There’s a shop in California that I heard about that specialises in custom –’

‘It’s old,’ Alexis said, her tone condescending. She wrinkled her nose in disgust. ‘Surely, this thing is not safe.’

Susan paled, frowning at her. Alexis shrugged. What was the big deal? It was the truth. 1965 was old, especially for a car.

Ethan looked at Susan. ‘Is your friend OK? She does know I can hear her right?’

‘I’m Susan.’ Susan grinned, holding out her hand. ‘Ted’s girlfriend. Thanks so much for letting us tag along. This is going to be so much fun.’

‘Hey, glad to have the company,’ Ethan said. ‘I didn’t really feel like driving it by myself.’

‘I see you met Al –’

‘Sam,’ Alexis interrupted. She gave Susan a meaningful look. Susan frowned, even as she shrugged. ‘My name is Samantha Wellington.’

‘O-K,’ Ethan drawled, looking her over. She couldn’t see his eyes through the sunglasses he wore, but she knew he was looking. All men did. He was probably contemplating where in the US he was going to hide her body after he finished doing unnatural things to it. Alexis felt a jolt of desire. OK, the fact that she was becoming aroused by a nasty tattoo man only meant she’d been too long without a vibrator.

‘Um, Susan, can I talk to you for a minute?’ Alexis waved her friend over.

‘You two got bags?’ Ethan asked. ‘I want to hit the road.’

‘Hey, yeah, they’re up here,’ Ted said from the stairwell, carrying down his luggage. ‘Want to give me a hand?’

Alexis waited until Ethan passed her before saying to Susan, ‘Are you insane? We can’t go on a road trip with him. He’s been in prison.’

Susan frowned.

‘Did you see the tattoos?’ Alexis persisted.

‘Not everyone who has tattoos has been to prison, Alex –’

‘Sam. I decided last night I’m changing my name to Samantha Wellington. Sam for short.’

‘What is going on with you?’ Susan asked. ‘Is this some sort of mental breakdown? Sweetie, I know you’ve been under a lot of stress, but this is a vacation. You’re supposed to relax. OK? Promise me you’ll mellow out and take it easy on Ethan. I know how you can get.’