Bedding The Best Friend (Bedding the Bachelors, Book 4) Read online

  Annie knew it was silly, but she was disappointed. The top five wasn’t where she wanted to be. She wanted to be the best he’d ever had. Because that’s what the kiss had been for her.

  She cleared her throat and pulled away. Her dress had ridden up her thighs, and she wiggled a little to smooth it back down with shaking, sweaty palms.

  Ryan watched her, staring at her thighs. She could feel the color rushing to her face, and they experienced the rest of the ride in silence. When it was over and they were back on solid ground, she scrambled for something to say. “So now that the honeymoon’s over, do you want to gamble next?”

  “Sure,” Ryan said. “Unless you want to hit Madame Tussauds first while we’re right here.”

  Annie looked over and saw that the wax museum was nearby. “Okay, that might be fun,” she said.

  Ryan paid their way again, refusing to take Annie’s money. They walked through the Viva Las Vegas room first. They were suddenly amongst the greats who’d shaped the history of Las Vegas—Elvis, the Rat Pack, Liberace.

  Annie took a picture with the Blue Man Group, and Ryan posed with Celine Dion. Annie was about ready to snap the photo when Ryan slid his hand down and cupped one of Celine’s breasts.

  “Ryan Hennessey!” she scolded.

  “What? When will I get another chance to grope a superstar?”

  Annie laughed and snapped the photo. It would go in the album in which she kept most of her photos of her friends and family. She stored it next to her bed, so that if there was ever a fire, she could easily grab it before she ran out of the apartment.

  They went into the Sports Zone next.

  “You take Muhammad, and I’ll step in with Chuck,” Ryan told her.

  “Why? Do you think I can’t handle Chuck Liddell?”

  “I’m sure you could handle him,” Ryan told her with a grin. “But Ali was the greatest fighter that ever lived!” he said in a soft, scratchy voice, imitating Ali.

  Annie grinned back before donning a pair of red gloves the attendant gave her and stepping into the ring with Muhammad Ali. He looked so real, right down to his mouth guard. Annie put her glove to the side of his face, and Ryan snapped a photo of her knocking out The Greatest.

  Ryan got into the octagon with Chuck Liddell, and Annie snapped photos, but Annie’s favorite part of the sports room was watching Ryan try to go “head to chest” with Shaquille O’Neal. Ryan tried three shots, but Shaq stuffed all three.

  “It’s rigged,” Ryan told her.

  “Yeah, okay,” she said.

  “I could’ve had a career in basketball,” he told her.

  “If only you had grown a few feet taller?” she said with a grin.

  They moved into the next room. It was full of superheroes. Annie loved superheroes. Ryan teased her about it, but never failed to go see the newest Marvel Comics movie with her.

  She made him take pictures of her with almost every character. Spider-Man was her favorite, so she had Ryan take two of her with him. Ryan asked a lady behind them if she would take a photo of them both with the Hulk. They got on either side of the massive green beast and did their “superhero” poses, while the lady snapped the picture.

  When she handed the phone back to Ryan, the woman said, “You’re such a cute couple.”

  Annie waited for Ryan to tell her that they weren’t a couple, but he didn’t. Instead, he thanked her, and they moved on to the 4D experience part of the show.

  They got to watch a really cool 4D superhero show, and before they left, Annie sang for Simon Cowell, who told her she was “abominable,” and Ryan groped Katy Perry. It was a great time.

  “I think we took too long in there,” Annie told Ryan when they came out. “We better head over to the show now. Maybe we can do some gambling later?”

  Ryan agreed, and they took a cab to the magic show. The theater was all posh dark wood and red and black décor. When Ryan and Annie took their seats, Max and a beautiful brunette sat in the seats beside them. Only Max didn’t seem to recognize her.

  “Annie,” Ryan said, “this is Rhys, Max’s twin brother. And his wife, Melina.”

  They both stood.

  “So glad you could make it. I was about to get Melina a drink. Would you like one, Annie?”

  “Um, sure.”

  “I’ll go with you, Rhys.” Ryan leaned down and gave her a kiss on the cheek. “Be right back.”

  “So what are you two doing in town?” Melina asked.

  “Just a little vacation,” Annie told her. “Do you like living here in Vegas?”

  “I really do, actually. We don’t live near any of this,” she said, gesturing around the theater. “The neighborhood we’re in is nice and kid-friendly. But it’s fun to be so close to all of the action. Besides, this is where Rhys needs to be, and I need to be with Rhys. If I had to, I’d make the North Pole work.” Annie could see the love in the other woman’s eyes when she talked about her husband.

  “So Ryan and you…?”

  “He’s my best friend.”

  Melina nodded. “Rhys and I were great friends before we became lovers and then husband and wife. He’s still my best friend. I really believe it’s where everyone should start.”

  Annie glanced around to make sure that Ryan wasn’t nearby. “How do you do that, though? Go from friends to lovers? Weren’t you afraid of messing up the friendship?”

  “Yes,” Melina said. “And I’ll confess…neither one of us was brave enough to take that risk at first. Someone who loved us knew how we felt and pushed things a little. But once we opened ourselves to the idea…things progressed quite quickly.”

  “And you suddenly knew everything would be okay?”

  “No. There was no guarantee. But what started out sexual… Well, I knew the risk was worth it. I knew Rhys was worth it. And here he is now.”

  Annie looked up in time to see Rhys approach them, drinks in hand. “Ryan’s right behind me,” he said. “Excuse me for popping in and out, but since Max gets to do the magic, I need to make sure everything is running smoothly behind the scenes.”

  “Don’t let him fool you,” Melina told Annie. “He’s a pretty magical guy himself.”

  Rhys kissed his wife on the lips and said, “That’s where I get my magic from. That and the Super Twins. I’ll see you lovely ladies in a bit.” He left to attend to his business, and Annie didn’t miss the look of pure adoration in Melina’s eyes when she watched him go.

  “You have twins?” Annie asked.

  “Yes, a boy and a girl.”

  “Aw, that’s so cool,” Annie said. “I’d love to have babies someday.”

  “The joy is indescribable,” Melina told her.

  “The joy of what?” Ryan asked as he walked up.

  “Having babies with your best friend,” Melina said with a wink in Annie’s direction.

  She blushed and looked at Ryan, who watched her intently.

  The magic show was as wonderful as she suspected it would be. Afterward, they had a drink with Max, Rhys, and Melina. At one point, Max’s fiancée, Grace, stopped by, surprising him. She had a beautiful engagement ring on her finger. They all chatted and laughed, and at one point Annie realized that anyone watching them would think they were three couples enjoying a night out on the town.

  She, however, wasn’t part of a couple.

  She was a big, fat fraud, was what she was.

  Dread filled her lungs, making it difficult to breathe.

  She had come to Vegas with a specific agenda. Part of that agenda had been to get Ryan out of her system. Yet, since the moment he’d stepped on the plane in San Francisco—no, since the night he’d kissed her then had phone sex with her—she hadn’t been able to think about anything else.

  As the evening came to an end, Annie thanked Max again for the invitation. “I had an amazing time.”

  Before she left, Melina put a hand on her arm and said, “Don’t forget, sweetheart, some risks are worth it. Very, very worth it.”

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nbsp; She and Ryan got a cab back to the hotel. Ryan was talkative, going on about what a great job Max had done and even mentioning how awesome it was that Max got to spend his days surrounded by beautiful women.

  Annie wanted to scream at him, I got it! We’re just friends! But, of course, she didn’t.

  “Are we going to hit the slots now?” Ryan asked as they arrived back at the hotel.

  “I think I’d like to take a little nap. Maybe we could gamble a little later, after dinner?”

  “Are you okay?”

  “I’m fine. It’s just been a long day,” she told him. “I’ll see you in an hour or so.”

  Chapter Ten

  Annie entered her room, shut the door behind her, then flopped down on the bed. She was going to drive herself crazy with these fantasies she had in her head. She needed to snap out of it and get back to her plan.

  Closing her eyes, she tried to doze off, but all she could think about was Ryan. Finally, she sat up and pulled open the drawer next to her bed. She took out the sheet of paper with her list and reread it. She took a deep breath and closed her eyes. She tried to visualize doing the things on her list, but, once again, she couldn’t seem to get her mind off of Ryan.

  She thought about how sweet he’d been when she was attacked. She thought about how he’d looked at her like he wanted to eat her up when he picked her up earlier and how romantic the gondola ride had been. She thought about how much fun they’d had at the wax museum, and she wondered if there was another man whom she could desire and still have so much fun with.

  Sighing, she stood, stripped off her dress, and lay down in the big bed. She stretched out and rolled over and stretched out again, taking special care not to press her knee against the mattress. It was soft and comfortable, but cold and empty. She was determined to get her mind off of Ryan.

  The list. Focus on your list.

  What would it be like to make love to a stranger? She closed her eyes and tried to imagine it. Getting dolled up. Flirting and dancing with a stranger. Looking deeply into his eyes as he said she was beautiful and that he wanted to kiss her. She would probably blush, then say, “Yes, that would be nice.” His lips would be warm and soft as they met hers, and she would part her lips, letting his tongue slip inside. They would kiss deeply, and as the passion heated up, his lips would move down to her neck.

  She tried to imagine what he would look like. She could see dark hair and a nice build, but every time she tried to imagine his face, it was Ryan’s.

  The thought of kissing Ryan made her quiver. She imagined sucking his bottom lip into her mouth and licking it with her tongue. She loved his bottom lip and could hardly look at it lately without wanting to bite it. She thought back to their kiss on the gondola. Remembered how sweet his lips had tasted and how hot his tongue had been as it slipped between her lips and dueled with hers. Most of all, she remembered how hungry he’d seemed for her, and how his fingers had brushed her breast while his tongue delved into the warm caverns of her mouth. Annie shivered, imagining his hands becoming bolder, cupping both breasts then sliding over her body with both desperation and restraint, as if exploring a piece of precious art.

  She brought her hands up from her sides and lightly rubbed her nipples through the fabric of her bra. The more she rubbed and pulled at them, the harder they strained to break free of the sheer fabric holding them back. She finally unhooked her bra, pulled it off, and tossed it aside. Lying back again, she took her right breast in her hand and tenderly massaged it. Thinking of Ryan, she pinched her nipple between her fingers.

  Butterflies took flight in her body, and a fire kindled in her belly. She let out a long moan as she brought up the other hand and began giving the other breast the same attention. She lay there with her eyes closed and imagined it was Ryan touching her.

  Annie pulled her knees up toward her chest and let them fall open. She ran a trail with her fingers from her breasts down across her abs, over her belly button, and down to her mound, finally settling there. She rubbed her hand across the satin and lace of her panties. After only a few seconds, with the image of Ryan fresh in her mind, she increased her pressure and began to move her hips in time with her hand. She thought about Ryan’s lips on hers and imagined it was his hand running itself across her wet panties. Her breaths shortened, and she slipped her hand inside of her panties, thrilling at the feel of bare skin and then shuddering violently at the touch of her fingers to her now-swollen, aching clit.

  The panties were only in the way, so she slid them off and tossed them aside. Returning her hand to her mound, she pressed down just above her clit with her palm. She rubbed gently. She didn’t want to come just yet, although she already felt on the verge. As she moved her hand, she could not only feel her own wetness but she could hear it as well. She had her eyes closed, and she ran her tongue across her lips, imagining that Ryan was there, sliding his throbbing hard cock between her lips and across her tongue. She imagined herself sucking wildly on it as he thrust his hips, causing the head to press against the back of her throat, making him moan.

  Using one hand to spread herself, she used the fingers on her other hand to begin driving herself even more wild, pulling and pressing and rubbing as she squirmed and writhed across the bed. She moaned out loud and shivered as she plunged two fingers inside of herself. But it wasn’t enough. She needed. Longed for Ryan’s cock to be inside her.

  She glanced at the bedside cabinet then toward the door to make sure it was locked. Of course it was. She pulled out the bottom drawer and looked at the box that held her vibrator. She closed it again and lay back down. The tingling between her legs and in her nipples was only growing stronger, and the knowledge that Ryan might be lying on his bed in the very next room had not escaped her. She wondered if he ever thought about her when he stroked his cock.

  Annie slid the drawer open again. This time she took the box out and set it on her belly. She stared at it for a few seconds before taking off the lid.

  There it was, staring back at her. Eight inches of rippled pink latex, five speeds, tapered on the end, already infused with four Energizer batteries.

  She reached inside the box and pulled out her new playmate. It felt strange in her hand. She flicked it on to the lowest setting and watched as it rippled to life.

  Annie had never used a vibrator before. Hesitantly, she trailed it gently across one breast, instantly shivering. She ran it in slow circles around her breast, the circles getting smaller and smaller until she reached her nipple. As she ran the vibe back and forth between her eager nipples, she could feel the wetness between her legs increasing.

  She closed her eyes and instantly pictured Ryan. She imagined him in bed with her, sucking and licking her nipples, twisting them between his callused fingers, making her squirm all over the bed. She flicked the speed up on the vibrator and pressed it against one nipple as she pinched the other. A soft moan escaped her, and her pussy began to pulsate, begging for attention. Ryan’s attention.

  She trailed the vibrator across the soft skin of her belly and down toward her mound. Her hips arched up slightly off the bed in anticipation. As she swept it delicately down between her thighs, the toy slid across her slick lips, causing her clit to ache and swell.

  Widening her thighs, she imagined Ryan with his beautiful face between her legs. She pressed the vibrator down hard, opening her lips slightly and grazing her wanting clit. In her imagination, Ryan’s tongue pressed up hard against her, moving back and forth.

  She moaned loudly, and her eyes flew open. God, had she been too loud? Could Ryan hear her through the wall? She should stop, but she didn’t want to. She wanted to come, and she wanted to imagine it was Ryan making her do it.

  She slid the rippling vibe down the inside of one thigh and then the other, purposely avoiding her pussy, wanting to make the ache last a little longer. The whole time, she allowed her other hand free reign to squeeze her nipples. Being a little rough. The way a man on the edge of his control would be.
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br />   She ran the vibrator up along her core again, making sure to get it wet, then she brought it back to her nipples. She used her own arousal to dampen the aching points. Her hips bucked with want.

  She pictured Ryan bracing himself above her with his biceps and his hard, naked chest glistening with sweat. She pushed the vibrator up against her slick opening and slowly dragged it to her clit. She whimpered, and the more she allowed it to vibrate against her sensitive bud, the more her toes curled at the intensity of the sensations building inside her.

  She continued to run the vibrator up and down, each time bringing herself closer to the edge. It was agony, but the sweetest, most seductive kind. Instinctively, as she continued to torture herself, she said Ryan’s name. Once. Twice. Again.

  She kept repeating it as her thighs tensed and her body arched, begging for release. Her clit throbbed intensely now, and she flicked the toy up to its highest setting.

  “Ryan,” she moaned, and she pushed the toy inside her. She moaned his name even louder as she moved the toy in and out, bucking her hips off the bed to meet it.

  She felt the waves of her orgasm building. She wanted to scream, but some part of her conscious brain was still working. It warned her that Ryan was next door. That screaming would give her away. She turned her head to the side and gripped the plush pillow between her teeth. She continued to pump the toy inside her as the waves of her climax swept through her body. Everything inside her tingled and clenched, squeezing around the vibrator, flooding her with pleasure.

  When it was over, she kept the vibrator inside her. She massaged her breasts gently with one hand, waiting for her clit to become less sensitive. She imagined Ryan gently suckling on her nipples while he slowly stroked her, allowing her to cool off before starting up again to achieve his own release.

  When her body finally stopped shaking, she removed the toy from between her legs, switched it off, and set it on the bedside table. Curling on her side, she sighed, not with satisfaction but sadness.

  Her toy had been a poor substitute for what she really wanted.