Nothing Forbidden Page 6

  She collapsed into a puddle of mush in the mattress, ass still up, hair a tussled halo around her.

  Max stayed semi-erect, despite the orgasm, rubbing his hand across her ass cheeks. He always liked her butt, and it was nice to think she still had it, even after all these years.

  He withdrew with a shared groan. “So who were you just with?” he asked.

  Katie’s face went bright. Her throat constricted. She sank into the mattress, but didn’t turn around. Didn’t even open her eyes.

  Max helped her out. “Bradley, was his name? Bradley Spencer from IMBARK?”

  At last, she turned on her side and looked up at him. Max lay down beside her, brushing a damp strand of hair from her face.

  “Doing some research?” she asked.

  Max looked sheepish. “I couldn’t help it. I wanted to see who it was making a play for my wife tonight.”

  Katie’s body warmed, even through the glow of her climax. “And?”

  “So you’re not denying that he was?”

  Katie bit her lip coyly. “I’m not.”

  “I can definitely see your type. A little older. Successful. Well-dressed. I bet he was respectful, even as he was trying to get with you.”

  “He was...” Max had Bradley pegged. He was all of those things. It made sense. Bradley was a lot like Max, and she was attracted to that type.

  But then she thought of AJ. AJ was nothing like that. He was exactly the kind of guy she should hate—a cliché for a rich girl to crush on. Was that what was happening? Was she living out this cliché at thirty years of age?

  “Go ahead and keep thinking of him,” Max said, rolling her onto her back. He was hard again—not fully, but enough to sink into her damp sex.

  Katie tried to bring Bradley’s image to mind—tried to indulge her husband’s fantasy—but AJ kept imposing himself. She could almost smell his musk. She spread her legs, willing Max to dominate her the way she imagined AJ would.

  “At least part of you wishes this is where your night ended,” Max said as he began to fuck her. “I can feel your excitement. Your nipples...they’re so hard.”

  He rolled the hard points with his free hand. She arched her chest, pushing her full swells into his palm. Behind her eyelids, she imagined AJ squeezing them, roughly pawing at them.

  Max was gentler than that, but he knew her body well enough that it didn’t matter. He could play her like a virtuoso, teasing out a moan even as she wanted something harder—rougher, more aggressive.

  She grabbed his hand and guided it into the balmy space between them. He took the hint, although she sensed his surprise. He found her clit at the base of her landing strip, flicking it as he slid in and agonizingly slowly out of her.

  “This what you wished he’d done to you?” He fingered her button, sending wave after wave of pleasure through her body. “Or maybe this is what he did?”

  Max picked up speed as his own fantasy formed. His hips thrust harder. His fingers circled her clit with purpose.

  She encouraged it, even as their fantasies diverged. “Yes,” she whispered. “Yes, just like that...”

  “He got you somewhere dark. A corner booth, maybe,” Max said, the narration broken by his heavy breathing. “He kissed you. His hands wandered.”

  She imagined AJ’s lips on hers again, aggressive, demanding. She laced her fingers through his thick hair, pulling him closer. They were back in the alley in New York, making out against the brick wall. This time, his hands wandered and she didn’t stop him. They slid across her ass. They slid inside her pants—inside her thong.

  “Did he like what he discovered?” Max asked. He pulled at the closely cropped hairs of her strip. “Was he surprised that such a proper woman kept herself like this?”

  Is that what Max really thought? Was that why he got so excited about how she groomed herself?

  “Yes,” she hissed. “He...he loved it. Called me...called me a dirty girl...”

  She liked that. Liked the ring of it. Max did, too, taking her harder.

  “Oh, yes, Katie. You’re such a dirty girl. So...” He moaned. “So...” Louder. Closer. Harder. “So fucking bad. So...so...” The rest was lost as he came, ramming himself to the hilt as he went off inside her.

  Katie clutched at his head, drawing him against her shoulder as she folded her legs around him and pulled him close. She sank her teeth into her lower lip, stifling her own moans. She didn’t come, but it felt good enough that she was fine with that. She held her husband as he sighed and finished inside her. Visions of AJ were gone. They were back in their bedroom, and the fantasy was just that again.

  Max rolled off of her and went into the bathroom to grab some tissues. He brought a wad back to her, and she smirked at how practical this part of their sex was.

  “That fantasy really gets you, doesn’t it?” Katie said once they were settled in. She still felt the buzz of her martinis—enough that she had the courage to be truthful. “I like it, too.”

  Max was quiet for a long time—long enough that she wondering if he’d fallen asleep on her. When he spoke, though, his voice was clear. “Doesn’t need to be a fantasy...”

  She almost gave the standard response: Yes, it does. But they’d had such a good night—good enough that she could entertain that possibility again.

  “It doesn’t always need to be like Chloe and Greg. Not all guys are that sinister. We mostly just want to get laid.”

  “I know.” She did. Max and John were good guys. Trustworthy guys. They were safe.

  Safe. That was kind of the problem. Bradley was safe. AJ was not. And who couldn’t she get out of her head? Who was the one she really wanted to fuck?

  And what did that say about her?

  “Look, I love you so much,” said Max. “And the way you tease me—like tonight, or Wednesday with that late night dinner date—or any of it...that’s all enough for me. It’s more than enough. That you’re willing to tease me like that at all is just awesome.” He ran swirls across her thigh. “But you should know that if you ever wanted to do more than just tease me, I’m open to that, too.”

  “But Hong Kong—“

  “Was Hong Kong. I thought you were going behind my back. Now I know that you’d never do that.”

  “I wouldn’t.”

  He snuggled close, kissing her on the top of her head. “Honestly, it’s just sexy knowing that you’re out there, up to no good.”

  “So what are you saying?”

  “I know that you didn’t do anything with Bradley tonight. I know that you were just teasing me. But...” He hesitated. She finished the sentence for him.

  “But I could have if I’d wanted to.” She looked at him. “Wouldn’t you want to watch?”

  “I would, but...but I don’t have to. The idea of you out there—“

  “Being naughty.”

  “Being naughty,” he agreed, “is so hot. That’s enough.”

  This whole conversation felt familiar. They’d been down this road before, and it hadn’t ended well. Before she could help herself, she called it how she saw it. “Bullshit.”

  Max stiffened. “What?”

  “Bullshit, Max.” Katie’s body shook with the adrenaline of the upcoming confrontation, but she needed to call a spade a spade. She rose up. “I know what you’re doing and you need to stop it.”

  “Stop what? I don’t know what you’re talking about.”

  Katie ran the conversation through her mind before stepping into it. How do you tell a confident man that he was overcompensating due to a lack of confidence? Truth was, the last time they’d tried this open lifestyle, it had nearly destroyed them. It had certainly destroyed his confidence in her. For one fleeting moment, Max had believed—truly believed—that she’d cheated. That was hard to come back from.

  “I think that your excitement is clouding some deeper…emotions.” She almost said insecurities. It was the correct word, just not the appropriate one to say aloud. “Hong Kong happened. I hate that it did, but we can’t ignore how that changed things.”

  Max was stony faced. He was processing it all. She went on.

  “It turns you on thinking about me fooling around and being naughty, but at the same time, deep down, I know that it scares the shit out of you. I’ve seen it. We’ve been there, Max. Not to rehash the same conversations again and again, but I think we need to move past this point.”

  Max didn’t say a word for the longest time. He just lay there, looking at her but lost in thought. Katie knew him well enough to let him think it through.

  “You’re right,” he said at last. “So what do we do about it? Do you want to call it quits?”

  That would have been the easiest solution, but it was also the laziest. “I don’t.”

  She felt Max’s cock stir. He was so predictable.

  “But we should establish some ground rules,” she said.

  Max groaned. “You know, you don’t have to wear the accountant hat all the time.”

  “This one’s more my Type A personality one.” She laughed. “And yes, I do.”

  “So ground rules,” he said. “How about we keep it simple. Nothing is planned, but everything is shared afterwards.”

  “Sounds perfect.” Katie straddled him, kissing him softly. He was being so good, he deserved a little tease. “And who knows, maybe I’ll be too busy being naughty to tell you right away.”

  She thought about AJ then, and he could easily make her feel naughty enough.

  As if on cue Max said the words that would haunt her in the weeks and months to come.

  “No barriers, Katie. Nothing’s forbidden.”

  “That’s a bold statement,” she said.

  “I’m a bold man.” She hugged her close. “A bold man who trusts his wife.”
br />   They made love for a third time that night, but the fantasy talk was over. As their bodies undulated in the dark, their minds were on the unknown ahead.

  Chapter 6

  “I feel naked,” Katie whispered to Max. She tugged at the veil across her nose and mouth. It didn’t conceal anything, but she could pretend it did. Not so much for the rest of her harem girl costume.

  Max looked her up and down, lingering on her overflowing cleavage. “You look amazing.”

  She dug her elbow into his side. “It’s not fair that you get to wear all those robes and I’m basically wearing a bikini.”

  “Hey, you and Nadia were the ones who decided I should be the sultan.” Max was dressed in the black and gold robes of an Arabian Prince, complete with a brocade fabric headpiece featuring a plume and a jeweled diadem.

  “I’m now convinced that Halloween was invented by a man,” she said.

  “A genius,” Max agreed with an infuriating nod. “And don’t tell me that you didn’t have fun last year.”

  Katie grew hot at the thought. Last year, Max had arrived late to the bar, leaving her at the mercy of costumed, horny men. When he finally did arrive, he’d pretended to be one of those costumed, horny men, and they’d ended the night fucking in the parking lot.

  In the back of both of their minds, they were probably thinking of how this year could top that. It was probably why Katie had agreed to wear this ridiculous costume. The turquoise spangled top was no bigger than a bra, hung with golden chains; the baggy genie pants were as transparent as her veil and featured open slits up either side; the tall, golden sandals with their spindly, golden heels highlighted her perfect feet and red painted toenails. She tugged again on the veil, feeling the eyes on her.

  “Look, there’s John and Nadia,” Max said.

  Their friends were on the opposite end of the room, laughing with one another as they sipped drinks from Jack-O-Lantern Solo cups. It was nice to see them happy together. It was even nicer to see familiar faces. This was a house party thrown by friends of Nadia’s; Max and Katie knew no one.

  As they approached, Katie studied her old colleague, John Mitchell. To complete the theme, he was the sultan’s guard. He wore a brocaded vest that left his arms bare, along with a crimson fez on his head and Roman legionnaire style sandals. He looked sexy—and so very different than in the business suits that she was used to seeing him in. Her mind jumped right to sex and the one evening they’d shared after The Katherine had opened.

  It happened every time she’d seen him—not that she’d seen him much. Since they no longer worked for the same accounting firm, and he was still in New York, they’d only gotten together once or twice socially since that fateful night.

  “You made it!” Nadia said, spotting them approaching. She appeared buzzed already. “And damn, girl, you look hot.”

  “I can’t believe you talked me into wearing this,” Katie said. “I can’t pull it off like you can.”

  Nadia’s costume was a black and gold version of Katie’s, only where Katie in a harem girl outfit was definitely a costume, Nadia actually pulled the look off with her deep golden skin and shimmering black hair. She’d added a jeweled belly piercing that dangled in the center of her flat stomach and matched her earrings. A golden bangle wrapped around her left bicep.

  “Please, no one’s looking for authenticity,” Nadia said. “They just want to see skin. Right, John?”

  Katie looked at John just in time to see him pull his eyes off her chest. That sent a flash of heat through her.

  John’s smile was almost shy. He shrugged, and said, “It’s Halloween, after all. And she’s right, you look great.”

  Katie’s mind flashed with an image of John stripped naked except for the fez as she bobbed her lips along his length. Her pussy quivered.

  “Thanks. You don’t look so bad yourself,” she said. “How are things, by the way?”

  “Good. Still stuck in New York, but I’ve got a lead on something.”

  “Oh?”

  He’d been talking about getting out. He and Nadia had been splitting time between New York and DC, and while the two cities were only four hours apart and the couple had an open relationship, Katie knew her friend well enough to see how hard it was on him.

  “Yeah. Too early to even talk about, though,” he said.

  “Well, if there’s anything you need from me, let me know.”

  Nadia snickered at that. She’d sidled up to Max, a hand on his arm. She whispered something into Max’s ear, which caused him to smile and nod his head. They looked so chummy. Katie felt jealousy spike through her—a reminder that no matter how secure she was with her marriage, she’d never be as comfortable as Nadia and John were with an open relationship.

  Not that she couldn’t trust Max. Nadia had worked for Max for over five years and they’d always been close and flirty. It used to make Katie nervous. Now, Katie had no reason to be; Nadia loved John too much, and Katie knew Max loved her.

  “Max and I will get drinks,” Nadia said. “You two get caught up.”

  Katie started to object when John said, “Come on, I’m going to grab a smoke. Keep me company.”

  Katie glanced back at her husband, who gave her a subtle nod. Go, have fun, he seemed to say. She knew him well enough now to know that he was getting turned on by the possibility of a repeat of their foursome.

  Katie linked her arm into John’s. “Lead on.”

  They went out onto the balcony, which was empty. It was warm for late October, but she was still wearing next to nothing. She half considered going back in to get a drink to warm her.

  “Smoke?” John asked.

  That would do. “Please.”

  She only ever smoked when she drank, and only then very rarely, but the idea of hot smoke in her lungs, along with the buzz that accompanied it, sounded tempting. She was too sober to be with this man alone.

  John took out a cigarette, lighting and handing it to her. Sharing a cigarette felt bizarrely intimate, even though the last time they’d been alone was when they’d cabbed back to her house after the opening of The Katherine, torn each other’s clothes off, and fucked each other silly.

  She was still amazed that she’d done that. She sucked down the smoke to calm her nerves.

  “So how’re you doing, Katie?” John asked. Katie looked up at him, not seeing her longtime friend and former coworker, but instead seeing him as the last man to fuck her besides Max. He added, “Things better with the new firm?”

  Katie blinked, reminding herself who he was. A friend. Just a friend. She handed him the cigarette.

  “Yeah, much. It’s a smaller accounting group, so we all wear more hats, but I don’t mind the grunt work from time to time. Reminds me why I became an accountant.”

  John nodded, smoking the cigarette as he watched her thoughtfully. Their eyes met. “You’re basically good at anything you put your mind to.”

  “Same with you.” Her heart skipped in the pregnant moment.

  He handed the smoke back to her.

  They stared at one another, smiling and comfortable.

  Katie had always liked John. He was the opposite of an alpha male—the kind of guys who she found herself drawn to lately. He was on the other end of the spectrum, the consummate good guy. The kind her parents would have been happy for her to marry. She’d always liked him for that, but the more she got to know him, the deeper that appreciation became. He was strong when he needed to be, stubborn about things that he was passionate about, and more ambitious than his introverted personality suggested.

  He was also fantastic in bed, she thought, her stomach once again doing flips.

  She held the cigarette to him. His fingers lingered against hers before he took it. She remembered the way he’d kissed her so many months ago. The way he’d held her hips as he made her scream. That didn’t help with her nerves.

  She forced the conversation to more appropriate things. “You and Nadia still doing okay? With the whole long distance thing and all?”

  “Yeah. Better than most couples in our situation, I bet.”

  “Well, you’ve got a pretty unconventional way of dealing.” Katie’s face went bright red. She was far too sober to have this conversation, yet here she was, spewing freely.

  “Everyone’s different,” John said. “How about you two? How are you guys doing?”

  “Great,” Katie said, maybe a touch too quickly. “All things considered, I mean.”