Red Velvet Read online

  She took her clit between her middle finger and her thumb, pulling it up from the slick flesh that enfolded it.

  “Want me to suck that?”

  “No,” she whispered. “I don’t want to come yet.” But she did want to turn him on even more. She rolled it, even pinched it, and heard him draw in a ragged breath. He was staring hard at her pussy. He watched her masturbate for a little while longer, then took her hand and sucked her hot juice off her fingers.

  “Get up,” he said hoarsely. He picked up the red velvet shoes from the floor. “And put these back on and do that strip you promised me.”

  “Mmm,” was all she said. Ruth sat up, feeling deliciously woozy, and bent over to strap on the shoes, standing with unsteady grace. He grabbed her skirt and pulled it down, flopping back into the sofa cushions.

  “Oh, yeah. I can see your pussy from here. Go, girl.”

  Her long, dark hair was mussed and half-hiding her face as she reached around behind and unzipped the skirt. With a seductiveness that amazed her, Ruth slid the micromini down over her hips and stepped out of it. Then she slipped her unbuttoned top down around the tops of her arms, using it to squeeze her breasts higher out of her bra.

  She turned around, letting him look at her ass. Nick didn’t grab, just reached for it. His hands were big enough to clasp each cheek. He spread them while she stood there. She knew he was looking at that tight little hole in between. Ruth let the top slide off her arms to the floor and arched backward, letting him support her with his hands on her spread cheeks, and unhooking her bra.

  Naked, feeling sexed up, she just stood there, teetering on those red velvet platforms. Then she twisted her hips and tried to turn around, but he wouldn’t let her.

  Okay, she thought. Have it your way. Ruth bent over at the waist, sliding her fingers into her dripping wet pussy again, knowing he could see exactly what she was doing.

  “Get back on the sofa and do that,” Nick moaned. “Face to the wall, ass to me.” She obeyed, amused by how fast he moved to get behind her again.

  She got comfortable on her knees, working her fingers into her pussy again, making him crazy with watching. Then she reached completely around and inserted one slick finger into her asshole. Just the tip. Working nice and slow, penetrating the tight ring of puckered flesh.

  He gasped. “Oh, no. I’m about to come in my pants.” She heard him unzip but she didn’t turn around, just pulled her finger out of her ass with a soft pop. He shucked his jeans and everything else.

  Nick rested his hands on her bare ass, placing his legs to either side of hers the way he’d done before. “Reach back, Ruthie. Touch my cock. I’m too big to go in your ass. But thanks for the show.”

  She did. The shaft that bobbed between her legs was long and heavy, and smooth as silk. She curled over a little to give him long strokes from base to the head, catching the first hot drop of cum by accident in her palm.

  Rocked by lust, he grabbed her ass for support. “Condom,” he muttered. “Scuse me.” He let go, looking somewhere for the necessary article while she waited, being wickedly patient and swaying her bare ass, aware that she had excited him to the max.

  Ruth wanted to shove that huge cock inside her, and get her pussy pounded by an Italian stallion in the worst way. She rested her face on her crossed arms, listening the foil packet being ripped open, and the quick, soft sound of a stiff penis being sheathed with practiced skill.

  He came back to her. Nick positioned the plum-size head right at her labia, grabbing her buttocks again, prepared to thrust.

  But Ruth beat him to it. She pushed hard against the wall back at him, taking him into her so deeply the pleasure made her cry out. She banged her ass against his taut groin again and again, and it took all his strength to hang on.

  And all his willpower not to come first. But when Ruth curled over and began to rub her pussy with wild abandon, he could feel her fingertips just brushing his big balls.

  With each touch of her hand, his scrotum tightened. Her flesh, his flesh, hot and slick, hard and soft, moved with turbocharged speed, until he held her hips motionless, his fingers digging into her, and cried out in a strong orgasm. And a second afterward, so did she.

  2

  Three weeks later…

  Nicky ushered her into the Palm Hall at the Auguste Hotel, his hand gently resting between her shoulder blades. The sensation of his touch went right to…the tiny crystal decoration on her panties. Ruth considered them lucky. Sofia had had to agree.

  For this date, the cousins had gone shopping and maxed out Ruth’s plastic. They’d returned from Loehmann’s with bags full of drop-dead outfits guaranteed to thrill Nicky Del Bianco and have him eating out of Ruth’s newly manicured hand.

  She gazed up at the high ceilings of the Palm Hall for a second and said a silent wow. The paneled room had tall potted palms that offered strategic hiding places for men in expensive suits and their generally younger dates with uniformly blond highlights. Every single one of the women eyed Nicky, and then shot Ruth a jealous look.

  She looked back, cool and calm. He’s mine. She stood a little straighter and Nicky’s hand stayed right where it was. On the back of the cream-colored bolero jacket that covered her black velvet afternoon cocktail dress. With long black velvet gloves to match. Hoo-hah, Sofia had said when she found them on a sale table. The perfect touch.

  Ruth had added a pair of elegant black patent leather stilettos, suitable for kicking off and playing footsie under a damask tablecloth or in a deluxe hotel bed.

  “Can you afford this place on a detective’s salary?” she whispered to him.

  “For you, yeah.” He brushed a kiss over her cheekbone and the other women’s eyes flashed Godzilla sparks. Yeah. Pure envy. Ruth was sure of it. She parted her red, red lips in a smile as she turned toward the approaching maitre d’.

  The men shook hands and Nicky slapped him on the shoulder, light and friendly. “Hey, Henry. Two for lunch.” Obviously they knew each other. Nicky had said that he knew the assistant manager too, Eduardo Fernandez, a Dominican he called Mr. Teeth.

  Who was also coming over, unless she missed her guess. Mr. Teeth was an older guy, tall, with silver hair and bronzed skin. She spotted the discreet badge on his dark suit before he got to them. He shook Nick’s hand next and bowed just a little to her. Aww. Ruth was a sucker for Latin charm. So long as she didn’t have to get her hand kissed.

  “Henry, Eduardo—this is Ruth Pirelli.”

  “So. This why you been missing our poker games. Now I understand,” Eduardo said, favoring her with a devastatingly sexy smile. She understood the nickname.

  “Hi, guys,” she said shyly.

  The maitre d’ exchanged a few murmured words with Nick, then led the way to a table for two, away from the others. “Okay with you?” Nick said.

  “Yeah, sure,” she answered nervously. The maitre d’ pulled out her chair. Oh, hell. How did this work again? With her luck, she’d end up on her butt. She took a deep breath and went for it, sliding into the chair as Henry pushed it forward. Perfect. She hadn’t flubbed it. Maybe she even looked like she belonged here.

  Ruth put her handbag on the white damask tablecloth and took off her gloves, wiggling her fingertips to cool them off. The gloves were very Breakfast at Tiffany’s but this was lunch at the Auguste, which seemed to be a pretty sedate place.

  She inspected her flashy fingernails, feeling a little self-conscious. Maybe they were too flashy, she thought nervously. Sofia had talked her into the French tips. She quickly hid her hands in her lap. Nicky sat down across from her and looked into her eyes.

  “You’re gorgeous, you know that? You make every other woman in this room look like nothing.”

  She blushed and picked up her napkin, spreading it across her lap. Prim and proper. His open admiration turned her on. He made no secret of wanting her, but since their first date and what happened after he hadn’t put the pressure on so much that she was nervous.

  Wh
at he had done was come around. Lots of times. He always called first and he called often. Sofia was right: when a guy was interested, he put you on his speed dial. And it gave her a chance to get out of her sweats and sneaks and into something nice, so he could fuck her silly in it.

  Nick liked to stay in touch through the day, not to keep tabs on her but to make her laugh and blow off steam himself, telling her about the crazy crap that went on at the precinct, so long as it didn’t involve an active investigation. The ugly side of being an NYPD detective he left out. For which she was grateful. Ruth read the Post; she didn’t need to know. She’d seen his name printed in it once, something to do with a long-unsolved mob murder that was finally going to trial, and felt a flash of pride.

  Nick unfolded his napkin too, and a waiter came by with two huge leather-bound menus ornamented with tassels, which he presented with a flourish.

  “Thanks. Give us a couple of minutes, okay?”

  The waiter nodded and withdrew. Ruth picked something that sounded safe and familiar, and Nicky decided on the same thing. They chatted, ate, chatted some more over coffee and dessert…until he reached for the cell phone vibrating in his inside jacket pocket. He looked at the number and shook his head.

  “Do you have to go? I can catch the D train home—the subway stop’s just a few blocks away. I can say hello to the carriage horses on Central Park South on my way there.” Might as well make the best of it, she thought a little unhappily.

  “Yeah, they love the crudités. Especially the carrot sticks.” He didn’t seem eager to leave and he was eying her in a way that made her feel hot all over. “Actually, I think I can safely ignore that call. It’s Ralphie the rookie. Let someone else check his homework.”

  “Oh. Okay then. So what happens next?”

  “I was wondering—if you wanted to spend the night here.”

  In the middle of taking a sip of coffee, she almost choked on it, thinking irrationally that he meant here. As in under the potted palms.

  “I got us a suite. For tonight. Eduardo pulled a few strings. View of the park, room service, the whole nine. Up to you.”

  Ruth looked at him with surprise. “A suite at the Auguste costs thousands of dollars a night. You don’t have the money for that.”

  “No, I don’t,” he said easily.

  She thought it over for a good five seconds. No doubt there was a reasonable explanation and she was about to hear it. She would have to be crazy to say no. Ruth made a mental note to call Sofia and ask her to take Tuff for the night.

  “We broke a jewel-theft ring here a few years back,” he said at last. “The management of the Auguste still appreciates it. When there’s an empty suite that can’t be booked for the night, all Eduardo has to do is ask them and tell us. There’s a few perks to this job.”

  “I read about that case. What was it, like ten million dollars in diamonds that went missing? I didn’t know you handled that one.”

  He grinned. “So. Want to go up?”

  Ruth put down her handbag and black velvet gloves on a foyer table and looked around. “Oh, Nicky. This is awesome. I’ve never been in a four-star hotel room—I mean suite.” She slipped off her jacket and hung it up.

  He gave her a wolfish smile. “And we didn’t even have to put up with suspicious looks from the desk clerk. Eduardo took care of that.”

  She kicked off her stilettos. The carpet underfoot was seriously thick and soft—she padded around on it, then looked up to see him smiling at her. “Nice. Cushy. Lucky you. All these friends in a swanky hotel.”

  Nicky was flopped down on the sofa, legs apart but not so he looked like he was pretending to be a player or anything. Just getting comfortable. “You look fuckin’ fantastic in that black dress. My undercover angel.” He stretched his arms out along the back of the sofa. “You know, you really would be good at that.”

  “Yeah, right,” she snorted. “I don’t do dangerous. I walk my dog, I live my life.”

  “I was just saying, that’s all. We had this discussion. I wouldn’t put you in danger. I like you too much.” He gave her a lazy, sensual look that took her in from head to toe. “But I think you could use some excitement. C’mon over here when you get done testing the carpet.”

  Ruth froze. His big hand rested on one sprawled thigh. She glanced at it and then at his crotch. He definitely had an erection already. A big one.

  “Not interested?” He seemed amused.

  “No—I mean, yeah. I am. But—”

  “Intimidated by your surroundings?”

  She wriggled her toes in the carpet. “A little. I’m not used to this. But I can fake it.”

  “You don’t fake anything. But I had to find that out for myself.” He gave her a look she couldn’t quite read. “Did I tell you I even asked a couple of the guys what you were all about? Nice to know you didn’t get with anyone from our neighborhood.”

  “And just how the hell do you know that?”

  He laughed but in a nice way. “No info on the grapevine. And no one would confess to anything.”

  “Well, I never dated anyone you would know. I don’t think,” she added hastily.

  Okay, so she hadn’t done a whole hell of a lot of dating in the last five years. Sofia hadn’t been too far off the mark with that you-have-a-complex remark. Dating just seemed like a waste of time, and sex—well, Ruth didn’t see any reason to hop into bed with someone who wasn’t interesting enough to talk to.

  But Nick had changed all that. Just sitting on the sofa, he radiated an ultra-male sexuality that made her pussy throb. She knew if she took one more step in his direction she would be clinging to him like Little Miss Magnet to Mr. Fridge. She took the step.

  “Keep going, beautiful. I don’t bite.” He beckoned her with one finger. Ruth almost tripped over her own feet and landed in his lap. He caught her and settled her bottom between his thighs.

  She could feel his big cock getting instantly bigger. Wow. All right. She didn’t even try to pull her rumpled-up dress down. Nick bent his head for a peek. “Oh yeah. Those panties. Unforgettable.”

  Ruth smiled when he brushed his lips along the side of her neck, and made one of her earrings jingle. “Want me to take them off?”

  “No,” he murmured. “I think women look sexier when they keep a few things on. Earrings. Panties. Shoes.” His roving hand slipped up under her dress and found the elastic waist of her pantyhose. “But you could lose these for a start.”

  Ruth arched in his lap, helping him pull off the pantyhose. She folded her bare legs up to get them off her feet and handed them to him. He stuffed them into his pants pocket. “Taking a souvenir? I’m not walking out of this hotel looking like the big bad wolf ate my new clothes. Everyone will know what we were doing.”

  “I’ll give them back, I promise. Just didn’t want to lose them.” He rummaged in his other pocket and pulled out a clean handkerchief. “Here. Get the lipstick off. I don’t want to look like a clown after I kiss you.”

  She rubbed it off with swift strokes and put the handkerchief on a side table. He slid his hand into the lightly boned bodice of her dress, fondling her breasts. Ruth let him capture her soft moan of pleasure with his mouth, on hers again, kissing her for all he was worth.

  His tongue was sweet and soft, tasting faintly of chocolate cake and coffee. The man was better than dessert, better than anything. He stroked her hair, pushing it away from her face so he could hold her chin and make the kiss more intense.

  She opened to his exploring tongue, let him nip her wet lower lip, and kissed him back. Her hand moved from his shoulder, caressing his bicep, and then over to his chest. She flicked open the buttons of his shirt with her long fingernails. One by one.

  “Oo. Hello, pecs.” She stroked the golden skin of his bare chest, playing with the dark, springy hair between his tight nipples, tracing a French-tipped fingernail over one.

  “I like those nails,” he said softly. “Sexy. When you were holding that menu I was thinking ab
out you touching yourself with those beautiful hands.” He patted the front of her panties. “Right here. Under that little thing.” He took the crystal decoration between finger and thumb, tugging gently on the thin ribbon until he pulled her panties down a little in front. “Do it. I want to watch.”

  Ruth hesitated for a fraction of a second…then slid her fingers into the springy curls. She heard him draw in a ragged breath. “Oh, yeah.” She wriggled in his lap and spread her legs wider, leaning back into the strong arm that curved around her. He pulled her panties down a little bit more.

  She stroked between her labia, surprised by how wet she was already. God, who wouldn’t be in Nicky Del Bianco’s arms, about to get naked and thoroughly fucked? His green gaze was fixed on her crotch, watching her finger slide in and out. In and out. Her clit was throbbing and she touched it gently.

  “Afternoon delight. Here we go,” Nick said softly. He shifted so he could see everything she was doing, easing her back onto the pillows that lay against the sofa arm. She reached out to touch his cock, still trapped in his pants, but he captured her hand and put it back on her pussy.

  “No…not yet. Just keep touching yourself…” He didn’t finish the sentence as he yanked her panties farther down, bringing her knees together. Her hand was caught between her legs by the sudden motion. “Yeah. Leave it there.”

  Nick scrambled out from underneath and stood up, breathing heavily. He pulled out her pantyhose from his pocket and grabbed her ankles, tying them together as she fell back into the soft seat cushions of the sofa. He kneeled next to her, gently folding her legs so her knees were up by her shoulders. Her pussy was fully exposed to him, swollen and squeezed by the position she was in. Nick stroked her hand, then licked the fingers that were on her pussy and clit.

  She rocked on her back, extremely aroused by the suddenness of his taking charge and instinctively aware of how excited he was.