Desire (2 page)

“No, I don’t think I should. I don’t trust you.
I want to go home.” Coming here had been a huge mistake and one she wouldn’t
repeat.

Brushing past him she moved toward the taxi. She
gave the driver of the taxi her address then settled back. Drake Johnson stood
by the kerb with his hands in his pockets watching her drive away.

She tried with all of her might not to look
back. She failed. Looking out of the rear view window she saw Drake hadn’t left
the kerb. He continued to look back as the driver rounded the corner taking her
far away from him.

Settling back in her seat, she let out a breath
to try to calm her nerves. Her hands shook as she held onto her purse.

Wendy should never have gone to Desire. Part of
her hated the club for what it had done to her father while another part craved
the promise the club possessed. Watching the dancers on the floor and the
customers had created a yearning deep inside her heart. For so long she’d been
forced to have her head in a book or forced to listen to her father’s tirades.

No more. She wouldn’t be forced to listen to
him.

She hated what Drake and Evan Johnson had done to
her father, but she didn’t see why she needed to spend the rest of her life
feeling guilty for not helping the situation. Her father constantly talked
about the, ifs and buts of life, saying if only she’d been old enough at the
time of the buyout to help him. She was tired of feeling guilty about something
she held little control over.

When the driver pulled up outside her apartment
building she paid him cash then got out. She made her way to the door and
unlocked the first door before making her way up to her floor. She lived on the
top floor of the apartment building. Her long-time friend and roommate, Tiffany
Sanders, sat on the sofa eating ice-cream while painting her nails.

“You’re back early. I thought you’d stay for a
drink or something. Maybe even get laid by a smoking hot guy,” Tiffany said
without turning around.

“How do you know it’s me? I’ve not said a word.”
Wendy closed the door then made her way over to the spare chair.

“I heard you sigh. That sigh holds a great many
secrets and a lot of other stuff, too. What’s up with my little bumpkin?”
Tiffany turned the television down then gave Wendy her full attention.

“I went. I saw, and I gained the attention of
Drake Johnson.”

“Oh, the owner and the devil
himself.
Spill the details, woman. I’m painting my toe
nails and eating ice-cream. It’s that time of the month, and you need to help a
desperate woman out.” Tiffany threw a cushion at her.

Wendy caught the cushion pressing it to her
chest. “I don’t know what to say. Drake’s smoking hot, but I didn’t feel anything
bad about the club. Yes, it hurt to see what had happened to my old home, but
people move on, right? I think it’s horrid that my father still rants and raves
about it. Seeing it now that I’m older, I don’t know. Maybe it’s my time of the
month soon.”

Her friend frowned at her. “You know, none of
what you just said made sense to me. Are you happy about the club or sad?”

“I don’t know.” Wendy glanced down at her hands.
Her arms were covered in goose-bumps from the memory of Drake’s touch.

“Drake made a lasting impression, did he?”
Tiffany stared at her breasts. Glancing down Wendy saw her nipples were rock
hard. Covering her breasts, she threw the pillow back at Tiffany.

“Hey, watch the feet.”

Chuckling, Wendy moved toward the kitchen to
make a drink. “I stayed long enough to get carded and drink two martinis.”

“Wow, be adventurous.”

She rolled her eyes at her friend’s mocking
laughter. Two martinis, to her, was a lot of alcohol. Look what had happened to
her sensibilities with regards to the enemy. Going to Desire had been a huge
mistake and one she wouldn’t be repeating anytime soon.

Chapter
Two

Evan stood watching over the club while waiting
for his brother to return. He’d spotted the raven-haired woman the moment she
entered Desire. The shot of lust had shocked him. It had been months since any
woman appealed to him enough to take home and fuck. At the sight of his brother
moving through the crowded club alone a wave of disappointment swept through
him. He’d been looking forward to tasting her and exploring her full curves.

Turning away from the display of sexual heat
Evan downed his drink then sat behind his desk. Minutes later Drake walked
through the door. His three years younger brother looked calm and collected.

“Where is the woman?” he asked.

“Does the name Peterson ring a bell?”

He tensed at the name. The name Peterson rang
more than one fucking bell in his mind. Evan never thought he’d hear that name
again. “What’s that old bastard got to do with anything?”

Drake flopped down in the chair opposite.
“That’s his daughter.”

Another wave of disappointment clung to him. He
couldn’t believe that Ronald Peterson could be responsible for bringing such an
attractive woman into the world. The few choice meetings with the man had stuck
in Evan’s mind.

“What was she doing here?” Evan asked, moving
some paperwork into his desk drawer. Desire was a thriving business, unlike the
atrocity that Peterson had kept trying to work.

Evan and Drake had offered the man a great price
for the land and building, but he’d refused all of their offers. The man was
losing business and fast. If it hadn’t been for their generosity his daughter
would have never made it to college.

“It looked like she was checking out the place.
I imagine her father is still painting us as the bad guys.”

“Even though our inheritance put her through
college,” Evan said. He and Drake had taken the time to figure out what and how
to invest their parents’ money. Their mother wouldn’t have liked the club, but
their father would have loved it. He smiled thinking about their parents’
responses.

“That looks like a good thought,” Drake said.

“I’m thinking about our mom. I doubt she’d like
the place. I imagine she’d be proud of what we’ve achieved.” Evan closed the
drawer to his desk.

“She’d be happy that we’re happy. What should we
do about Wendy?”

Evan sat back running a finger across his lip in
contemplation. “There’s not a lot we can do.” He saw the look in Drake’s eyes.
The possessive look shone deep in his gaze.

“You want her. I know you do because I want
her.” Ever since they’d hit their twenties, Drake and Evan had possessed a
mutual desire for the same woman. They were both attracted to the same woman and
had admitted the truth to each other.

Sharing a woman fired Evan’s blood more than it
did making money. He loved watching a woman come apart in his brother’s arms.
The need to watch and be watched was a part of him like breathing.

“We move on. I’m not going to force a woman to
come to us. She’ll probably never come to the club again.”

Even as he said the words Evan hated the feeling
inside his chest.

“Whatever, I’m going home. I’ll leave you here
to deal with the business side. I need my beauty sleep.” Drake tapped the desk
then made his way out of the office. When the door closed behind his brother
Evan slumped back in his seat. Staring at the phone he forced himself not to
pick it up.

He didn’t understand the need coursing through
his veins. Wendy Peterson wasn’t part of his life. She shouldn’t be having such
an effect on him. Tapping his leg, he stared at the phone while thinking about
her. He’d watched her sit at the bar. Her hands had rested out on the counter
waiting to be served.

The dark look on her face let him know she held
a great deal of secrets in her mind. Her body was meant for pleasure. Desire,
the name of his club and the images filling his mind, fit her perfectly.

Just from looking at her, he saw her on her
knees before him ready to service his cock. Closing his eyes, he allowed the
images to take control. He saw her spread over his desk waiting for him to lick
her hot little pussy.

Picking up the phone he dialled Mason’s number.
Mason Gibson was a man he could trust. His friend had many contacts with
reliable sources.

“Hello, how can I help
you
?” Mason asked the moment he lifted the phone.

Evan chuckled. “Why do you have to make it sound
like a sexual promise?”

“Evan Johnson, it has been a long time. Why do I
have to make it full of sex? Because that is what I’m about, sex.”

Running a hand down his face Evan stared across
at the closed door.

“I take it this call is not a social call?”

“No, it’s not a social call. I need you to do
something for me.”

“Whatever you need, Evan.
Let me grab a pen. Right, let me have what you want,” Mason said.

“I want to know everything about Wendy Peterson.
Where she lives, what she does for a living, and even how many boyfriends she’s
had in the last few years.”

Evan was going insane. He knew it in the way he
felt about this woman he’d never spoken to. None of it made sense to him.

Mason asked for a few more details before
hanging up the phone. Settling back in his chair Evan stared at the door. What
the hell had he just done?

****

Drake threw the keys onto the counter by the
door. He tore his jacket off then pulled his tie open. The suit bothered him
more than the way Wendy Peterson had looked at him. Running his fingers through
his hair, Drake made his way through to the kitchen. He grabbed a beer from the
fridge and then moved down to the basement where their workout equipment was
housed.

Unbuttoning his shirt he let the fabric fall to
the floor. He picked up the arm weights and started to lift them alternately.

The image of Wendy as she looked up at him
flashed across his mind. He’d never met anyone who held him at bay. She didn’t
even look interested in what he had to say.

I
need to stop thinking about her.

Her pale creamy skin and soft raven locks still
went through his mind, taunting him with what he couldn’t have. For many years
he’d gone after any woman he wanted. None of the women he’d dated were a
challenge to him. They fell at his feet as if he was some kind of fucking king.
He found it funny at how easily he could get a woman to fuck.

The first woman he wanted to strip bare and take
his time with had run away from him.

He counted each lift as he worked each arm. When
he’d done twenty on each arm he placed the weight back on the floor and went
toward the running machine. The energy inside his body needed to be worked off.
Thoughts of Wendy were not helping his cause.

She’d look so damn good on her knees in front of
him with his cock in her mouth. Her blue eyes would flash up at him as he
plunged deeper into her throat.

“Fuck,” he said. His cock thickened in his
pants. Turning the speed up on the running machine, Drake worked the muscles in
his legs and arms.

He didn’t understand how Evan could brush her
aside. The way she was affecting him she must be having some kind of an effect
on Evan.

They’d been connected like this since they were
teenagers. They’d sensed their connection with women at a young age. Sharing
had only entered their lives when they’d left home and gone to college. Having
a woman between them completed Drake. He’d known only a few men with similar
desires.

When his body cooled down enough to think, Drake
turned the running machine off, grabbed his beer, and made his way up the
stairs to his room.

He needed a shower. Drake needed a long, cold
shower to take the burn away from his muscles.

Opening his bedroom door he saw his bed made up by
the cleaning staff they’d hired. It amazed him how the staff were able to get
every single wrinkle out of the bedding. He actually spent time trying to
crease it just to see if they never succeeded in making it pristine.

“That’s it, I need a life,” he said.

Getting the time to crease his bed for
entertainment meant he had a great deal of time on his hands.

Pushing his idiotic thoughts to the back of his
mind he turned the shower on. Removing his pants and then his boxer briefs he
stared at the mirror. He wasn’t admiring his body but checking to make sure
there was nothing amiss. He took his health seriously. His father had lost
three brothers to cancer and had made sure both of his sons checked themselves
over.

Satisfied with his body check he climbed into the
warm shower. Once he got accustomed to the temperature he turned the dial to
cold. The blast of cold water had the desired effect. His body cooled off
immediately.

After he’d washed the sweat and grime off his
body, Drake turned the shower off, grabbed a towel, and climbed out.

He finished his business in the bathroom before
making his way through to the bedroom. Settling down into his bed he turned on
the plasma television to flick through the late night movies. He left an action
movie on while his mind wandered over the night’s events.