CHAPTER ONE
----
“H as Vegas been everything you hoped?” I asked my husband, Thom, as we sat at the fanciest bar in our sprawling hotel. Behind us, tiny lamps cast low light on the chrome tables, and crystal chandeliers with crimson and orange bulbs spread starlike sparkles over the dark walls and the designer-clothed patrons.
“So far it’s been great.” He set down his beer. “But right now, my love, I’m more interested in you than in Vegas.” With a mischievous look in his eye, he raised his tapered glass to clink against my martini.
“What is it?” I asked. “Something’s amusing you.” I glanced toward the mirror that lined the wall behind the bar. “Do I have spinach between my teeth?”
“You’ve never looked more spectacular.” He put his hand on my thigh and stroked, teasing his fingers under the hem of my deep red satin dress.
As I brushed my thumb over the tiny creases at the base of his index finger, my body heated from the inside out, making me glad for the dim lighting and the overhang of the bar, which joined to hide our indiscretion. We’d been married ten years, dating for five and a half before that, and still my husband could make me wet with a touch, a look, sometimes a glance.
“Maybe we should finish our drinks upstairs,” I whispered, then traced my tongue through the tight groove at the edge of his ear.
Thom squeezed my thigh, shifting on his stool to disguise the rising pole tenting his pants. “I have a surprise for you.”
“Is your surprise by any chance under your belt?”
He laughed deep in his chest, a sound I loved more than just about anything in the world, and it was all I could do to keep from straddling him right there on the barstool. I couldn’t wait to get up to our room. Desire traced through me at the thought of elevator sex. When in Vegas, right? Did we dare?
“The surprise isn’t under my belt,” he said, his voice husky.
“Too bad.” I shifted, and his fingers slid higher on my thigh. “That looks like a very satisfying surprise.” I brushed my fingers over his erection, unable to imagine wanting him more. He stared into my eyes with a mixture of passion and unmistakable mischief. What was he up to?
“Remember that night when you told me your fantasy?” he asked.
“Yes . . .” I felt the flush on my cheeks deepen.
“I want to make your fantasy come true. Tonight.”
“You’re not serious.”
“I am.” Heat nearly consumed his eyes, burning me, too.
Clearly he relished the idea of playing the part of “stranger” in my sex-with-a-stranger fantasy. Of course, in the scenario I’d described there’d been multiple men, multiple strangers all taking me in turn, a group of men with no focus other than giving me pleasure.
What I’d imagined was purely fantasy. Thom was the only lover I’d ever had and, other than in dreams, I’d never been tempted by another man. Not really. Still, I loved that my husband was willing to role-play this fantasy for me.
“Do you come here often?” I asked, raising my martini glass and winking.
“Oh, I’m not playing a stranger,” he said. “That wouldn’t work.”
“What?” I leaned back. “You want me to approach someone in the bar? Pick someone up?”
“I hired someone.”
“A gigolo?” I blurted.
Grinning, he put his finger to my lips and we both glanced around the bar to see whether anyone had heard my outburst. The bartender quickly turned her head in the other direction.
I started to giggle.
Grinning, Thom leaned in close so he wouldn’t be overheard. “I hired a company called Fantasies Unleashed. They specialize in making fantasies come true.”
“Sexual fantasies?”
He nodded and the heat returned to his gaze. The look in his eyes was positively predatory.
“How would that even work? I mean...”
He cupped my face in his hand, stroking the tiny sensitive space where my cheek meets my ear. “They’re very professional. Trust me. Tonight, if you want to go
Saul Bellow
Jillian Cumming
Dawn Sullivan
Greg F. Gifune
Justin Halpern
Tobsha Learner
Vikrant Khanna
Frankie Rose
Bill Bryson
James Hadley Chase