Midnight Dream Girls 2: The Scent of Revenge Read online

  “Then all its success is due to you,” Morgan suggested. Suddenly realizing she sounded like a brown noser, she winced. “I sound like I’m kissing butt, huh? Sorry.”

  “Don’t be.” Brianna laughed. “Tell me about yourself.”

  The urge to change the subject filled Morgan’s mind. Ignoring it, she studied the condensation on the side of her glass and thought about how best to answer. “Well, I was in my last year of college, close to getting a degree in journalism, when I met Joey’s father. I thought it was love at first sight, and after a month or two, I gave in and moved into his apartment. It wasn’t long before he wanted me to work full time to help pay the bills. I thought I could always go back to college later, so I dropped out. Dumbest mistake I’ve ever made in my life.” She sighed, then pushed on. “When I found out I was pregnant with Joey, I thought my boyfriend would be happy too. Instead, he demanded I get an abortion. When I refused, he kicked me out. So it’s been just Joey and me ever since. And to tell you the truth, it’s not a bad life.”

  “Seems tough though,” Brianna suggested. “All that responsibility on your shoulders alone.”

  Morgan shrugged. “Yeah, but at least I don’t have some guy trying to run our lives, either.”

  “What about family? Do you have anyone to help out?”

  She had a fleeting image of her mother’s tirades about how she’d “screwed up Joey’s sleep schedule by keeping him up too late and letting him sleep too late”. But how else was she supposed to work nights and get any sleep?

  “No, no family. But I’ve got a great neighbor who’s happy to babysit him while I work.” Morgan left it at that.

  “Well, I have to confess I have no experience with kids since I’m an only child. But Joey’s definitely cute as a button.”

  Hearing his name, Joey crawled over to their feet, then used the rungs on the stools to pull himself up to his feet.

  “Would you look at that?” Brianna exclaimed.

  Morgan smiled with pride. “Yep. It’ll be no time before he’s walking all by himself. It’s crazy how fast they grow.”

  Joey burbled a series of unintelligible words, then bopped his fist against his mouth.

  “Uh oh, looks like he’s hungry.” Morgan lifted him up to her lap and stood up.

  “Yeah, I’d better run too. I’m supposed to be having dinner with my fiancé in a half hour.” Brianna helped Morgan gather up Joey’s toys, then talked to Joey while Morgan collapsed the playpen back into a manageable bundle.

  As Brianna shut off the lights and locked the front door, she said over her shoulder, “This was actually fun. You up for another practice session tomorrow?”

  Surprised to find she agreed, Morgan allowed herself to smile back. “Yes, it was fun. And yeah, I need all the practice I can get. As long as I can bring Joey again.”

  Brianna finished locking the door, then turned and smiled at mother and son. “Sure. He’s a doll. But I do need to tell you that you need to be really careful around here at night. There are…some unsavory characters who hang around after dark, and there’ve been some attacks on women in this neighborhood.”

  Another fleeting shadow crossed Brianna’s face, making Morgan wonder if there was more to her warning than she was telling. “Okay. We’ll be done before sunset again tomorrow, right?”

  “Absolutely.”

  “Then we’ll see you tomorrow!” Morgan waved goodbye to Brianna, laughing as Joey mimicked her hand wave with a tiny one of his own. She headed for her old four door maroon car, which she’d managed to keep running longer than expected, then buckled Joey into his safety seat in the back. After shoving the playpen into the floorboard, she shut the back door.

  The hairs on the back of her neck suddenly rose, and tingles of awareness electrified the nerve endings along her forearms. Someone was watching them, and it wasn’t Brianna, who was getting onto a cherry red motorcycle nearby.

  Morgan tried to ignore the sensation as she opened her driver’s side door. But it persisted, forcing her breathing to shallow and quicken. With a forced casualness she didn’t feel, she glanced around the area’s mostly empty, boarded up buildings and weed filled parking lots. The sun was still an hour away from setting, throwing strange angular shadows in between the buildings and the narrow alleyways that separated them.

  Deciding she didn’t want to know who might be watching them after all, Morgan quickly slid into her car, shut the door, and started the engine. Then, before buckling her seatbelt, she twisted in her seat and reached in between the stained tan upholstered seatbacks to push down both metal door locks. Locking the two front doors as well didn’t diminish her racing heartbeat, though, which only slowed once she got Joey and herself safely out of the neighborhood and into the normal bustle of early evening traffic.

  Chapter Three

  That night, Morgan’s dream lover returned.

  She was sleeping on her stomach, the sheet twisted around her waist, with her arms up under her pillow and head. She didn’t see him walk through her bedroom doorway in her dream like before. This time, he simply materialized at the side of her bed.

  “Morgan, did you miss me?” he asked, sitting on the bed beside her. The dip of the mattress from his weight sent a quick thrill of anticipation skittering over her skin, leaving goose bumps in its wake.

  Once more unable to speak, Morgan simply sighed and nodded. Oh how she’d hoped she’d dream of him again! After going so long without physical pleasure, his touch last night had left her aching for his return.

  “Good. I missed you too.”

  With her head turned to the side, she couldn’t fully see him. So at the touch of his hands on either side of her hips, she jumped in surprise. His answering chuckle made her smile sheepishly.

  “Tonight, I’m going to make you beg, my pretty. Don’t you think this will be fun?”

  Beg? What had her unconscious mind concocted now? Apparently she didn’t know herself well at all. But going with the flow of her dream had worked out rather well last night, so she’d do the same again tonight.

  She sensed him leaning over and brushing her hair to the side. Cool lips pressed against the back of her neck, over the crest of her shoulder and down along the ridge of her shoulder blade. His hands touched the sides of her waist, dipped below her T-shirt, and slid up to cup her breasts beneath. He caught each of her nipples between his fingers, lightly squeezing and rolling them until her hips lifted and bucked off the bed in pleasure.

  His hands slid down her body, gripped the sheet, and yanked it down around her ankles. Once more, her feet were effectively held together by the bunched up cloth, but she didn’t care. All she wanted was to feel him moving inside her until she came.

  She felt his weight shift on the bed as he moved to straddle her legs only seconds before her plain cotton panties were yanked down to her knees. The cool night air whispered over her ass cheeks, making her moan in suspense. She needed him now.

  “Tell me you want me to fuck you,” he commanded as all movement stopped around her.

  All too ready to acquiesce, she didn’t even hesitate this time. Yes, I want you to fuck me.

  “Ask me nicely. Say ‘please fuck me, Kilo’,” the words whispered hotly over her ear, tickling her and making her shiver.

  Kilo? Now where in hell would her mind have come up with that one?

  Before she could remember any books or movies where she’d seen his name, Morgan felt his hard cock pressing between her closed thighs. She tried to open her knees, but he moved up to straddle her thighs and clamped them tightly shut.

  “Let’s play a little game,” he whispered in her ear as one of his hands reached down to grasp his dick and tease its tip over her rounded ass. “Let’s pretend you’re my captive.”

  Oh, now this was sexy. She grinned and relaxed a little, knowing for sure she’d read this in a romance recently.

  “Now beg for it,” he growled near her head as his long frame stretched out over hers, forcing his cock
down between her thighs to rub her clit.

  She gasped, her hips instinctively arching up to meet him. Please…

  “Please what?”

  Please fuck me, Kilo. Fuck me hard. Make me come all over you, her mind cried in desperation. She couldn’t stand his teasing any longer.

  With one hard thrust, he rammed his cock into her, hitting the wall inside her vagina, but past the discomfort, the filling sensation his dick brought her was a welcomed relief.

  Yes, her mind encouraged her dream lover. That’s it, fuck me over and over.

  Without bracing himself, somehow he was able to push his cock into her again and again, making her ass rise up to meet his every thrust. And she could feel it, that long-awaited bliss, tantalizing her just below the surface. Yes, she was going to come tonight.

  A long growl and hot breath blasted her cheek as he came with three hard slams into her cunt, then pulled out of her just as quickly.

  Do not leave me like this again! she begged within her mind, her teeth grinding in utter frustration. Yet despite her pleading, she felt his weight lift off her body and the bed.

  “I must go.” His voice was thick with smug satisfaction. “Otherwise you will not need me as much when you meet me in person.”

  In person? She pushed away her thumping need for fulfillment and tried to focus on his words. Could her dream lover be someone she actually knew? This would explain how she’d created his voice and personality.

  “Yes. When we finally meet, I want you to want me so badly you will have no barriers with me, my pretty. And no, you do not know me yet. But you have seen me at the Midnight Saloon. And you will see me again. Perhaps then I will fuck you standing up against the brick wall of Brianna’s bar. How would you like that?”

  She made herself roll over, but couldn’t see him in the room’s darkness. Who are you?

  “You’ll know me when we meet.”

  And when will that be?

  She waited for a response, but got no answer.

  * * * * *

  Morgan’s first night on the job at the Midnight Saloon was hectic, with customers setting a familiar pace of orders that kept her hopping behind the bar until she thought her arms would give out. Much like her dancing, tending bar was a purely automated process. She just shut off her thinking and let her memory take over.

  But she couldn’t escape the strong feeling of being watched. Of course, there were plenty of people in the crowd looking at her, waiting for her to serve up their drinks. And a little ogling was also thrown into the mix. No, this feeling came from an altogether different gaze, one with purpose behind it, and it had the hairs on the back of her neck and forearms prickling. Absently rubbing those areas to try and reduce the feeling, Morgan took a break after an hour and mingled among the customers.

  Who was watching her so intently?

  As she made a slow, casual stroll around the outer perimeter of the room as much as the crush of the group allowed, she was startled to run into an unyielding wall of masculinity that didn’t move aside as every other customer had tonight.

  A broad expanse of white silk button up shirt filled her entire vision just inches away from her face, while the merest trace of an expensive smelling male cologne or aftershave tantalized her nose.

  Mmm, she found herself humming with a sigh as her eyes began to drift shut. It had been so long since she’d smelled a manly scent that wasn’t too spicy, too sharp, or overpowering in volume. Whoever he was, this man knew how to put on cologne.

  Morgan opened her eyes and let her gaze trail up his broad chest, past his strong neck, to his face. His sharply defined jaw line framed sensuous lips set beneath a long, straight nose. Straight eyebrows, one lifted higher than the other in almost a silent question, brooded over basset hound brown eyes that would have been soft enough to melt any woman’s heart if they hadn’t been staring at her so intently. Brown wavy hair, threaded with golden highlights she would’ve sworn were naturally bleached by the sun, flopped over his forehead. A strong sense of familiarity socked her in the solar plexus and made her step closer. Had she met him before?

  You’ll know me when we meet, the memory of her dream lover’s voice whispered through her mind. Could he be this man? Had she subconsciously noticed him the night she’d come to the bar to get a job and didn’t remember it? Was this the man her unconscious mind had latched onto and used to spin out such vivid, fantastic visions of heated sex? It would explain why she felt as if she knew him, and why her body was responding so readily to his nearness.

  As she studied the rakish curls over his forehead, her hands itched, and she couldn’t tell what her fingers wanted more…a pair of scissors to give him a good trim job, or to just dive into that hair and grip it tightly while he…

  His mouth lifted at one corner into the semblance of a smile, almost as if he knew in what direction her thoughts were speeding.

  “Aren’t you supposed to ask me if you can get me anything?” he asked, his voice rich, deep, and filled with crimson promises. Its perfectly smooth, modulated tone also screamed out another word…money.

  Holy hell, she thought, and took a stumbling step backwards. Another damn pretty boy.

  Instinctively, Morgan turned and pushed her way back to the bar and stayed there the rest of the night. The last time her heart had tripped over a model-gorgeous man, she’d ended up dropping out of college, getting pregnant, and becoming a single mother. No way was she making that mistake again, no matter how many dreams she had of him and his oh-so-pleasurable body.

  Toward the end of the night, Brianna tapped on her bare shoulder.

  “Morgan, we’ve got a special request for a body shot from ya.” Without waiting for her response, Brianna grabbed a nearby bottle of tequila and a shot glass, then headed towards the center of the bar to grab the mike.

  A special request for a body shot? Morgan tried not to frown, knowing that providing body shots was part of the job whether she liked giving them or not. She followed Brianna up onto the bar, then looked down towards the many faces level with the middle of her shins.

  “Hey everyone,” Brianna announced into the mike, her thick red hair swinging around her to emphasize her enthusiasm, “We’ve got a request for a body shot. Now who wants to see our new Midnight Dream Girl, Morgan, give this man one?”

  Morgan followed the direction of Brianna’s gesturing hand, and her gaze locked with a familiar pair of puppy dog eyes. She groaned, although the sound was lost amidst the crowd’s voracious cheering. It was the pretty guy again. Shit.

  Pasting on a smile, Morgan let her eyes do the talking for her, glaring darkly at him as she got down on her knees on the bar’s scarred surface and brought her belly button even with his face. He grinned back at her, lazily lifting an eyebrow as if he had all the time in the world, and stepped closer to her.

  Somehow, the nearer he drew to her, the less Morgan could hear the crowd’s yells and cheers, until finally all sound became only a muffled, faraway thud. This isn’t happening, she feebly tried to argue with herself. Not again.

  Dimly at the edge of her vision she saw Brianna fill the shot glass with liquor and then reach toward her. Her boss’ strong freckled hand firmly gripped her shoulder and guided her as she crawled forward to the edge of the bar, bringing the top button of her faded jeans only inches away from the man’s upturned face. She watched the right corner of his grin lift higher, noticed how the strong column of his neck was now more fully exposed above the collar of his shirt, and how the rapid beat of a pulse throbbed in the V where his collarbones met.

  A freckled arm tucked something cold in between the skin of her lower stomach and her jeans, yet she couldn’t pull her gaze away from his. If he blinked, she never saw it.

  Brianna’s freckled arm pulled away, and the customers and saloon staff seemed to fade from view. The room suddenly seemed to consist of only Morgan and this man. She sensed her body trembling, but couldn’t tell if it was from nervousness or eager anticipation. He lifte
d golden tanned hands to the bar on either side of her knees, his thumbs brushing the outer sides of her thighs and causing a tingle to spread along the area of her skin beneath its tight denim encasement. He seemed to grow a few inches taller, as if he’d stepped up onto something, and brought his mouth toward her body.

  Morgan knew the rules. He couldn’t touch her during the body shot. This was for the safety of staff members. But she could touch him, and was in fact supposed to hold onto him in order to help keep her balance. Her mind screamed at her not to do it, not to touch him at all, that she’d regret it. But she couldn’t stop her shaking hands from reaching out to grasp his shoulders and lightly rest over the cool white silk.

  Her vision still locked with his, she watched his pupils dilate, darkening his eyes and replacing all traces of puppy cuteness with fathomless want and blatant need. His smile faded, leaving only unyielding determination. And was there also the slightest trace of…confusion?

  He broke eye contact first, leaning in to close the final inches of separation between them. She felt quick puffs of hot breath disperse over her stomach and gasped as the tip of his nose buried itself in her belly button. Gripping his shoulders hard now, Morgan bent forward at the hips to tilt the glass for him. She felt his forehead press against her bare upper abdominals just below her black bikini clad breasts, his curly hair tickling their curves. His shoulder muscles bunched beneath her hands as he swallowed the shot.

  Her hair fell forward in a curtain over them, creating a semblance of sheltering privacy. Then his head lifted, bringing his mouth only inches away from her breasts. His gaze found hers in the semi-darkness beneath her ebony hair, and his gaze returned.

  “What’s your name?” she asked in a hoarse whisper, her throat suddenly dry.