HazardsDare Read online

  “You remember Timothy?”

  “Sure I do. The guy had a boner for your father, not in a sexual way, of course, but like he wanted to walk in your daddy’s footsteps.”

  “He does. Timothy is an attorney with a future in politics. Someday, he might make it to the statehouse, maybe even be a senator. Who knows? I don’t care anymore.”

  Squeezing her hand in sympathy, Hazard was tempted to break Timothy’s nose for hurting Avery. According to Alex, his sister was the consummate good girl, always trying to please her family, always doing for everyone else but herself.

  In which case, he didn’t blame her for wanting to get away from it all and let her hair down. Not that he intended to be the one to mess up her hair, which he’d noticed was different.

  Instead of the tight knot, her hair fell in a straight glossy curtain to her shoulder blades, the natural blonde color accented with white-blonde highlights and streaks of light brown. She was uncommonly pretty, with smooth skin the color of pale honey, high cheekbones, a straight nose and a firm chin.

  She wore traces of makeup, smoky eye shadow, blush and red lipstick the same color as her velvet dress. The V of the dress let him appreciate the soft slope of her bare shoulders and gave a tantalizing glimpse of firm breasts he was itching to fondle.

  She didn’t have the kind of exotic features that made models look good on magazine covers. But her baby-blue eyes were huge and there was an undeniable sweetness in the bad girl image she’d projected in her seductive scarlet dress.

  He’d not noticed before. Avery Grant had a mouth made for fucking. Refusing to let himself imagine what it’d feel like to watch his cock disappear between those full red lips, he snatched up the bottle of tequila and filled their glasses.

  It was going to be a long night.

  Might as well get shitfaced drunk and wake up dreading the idea of facing sunlight rather than cave and tear that dress off Avery, take her down to the floor and sink into her scorching-hot, soaking-wet pussy.

  “Glad you got out of a bad relationship, Avery,” he said once they finished off another round. Thankfully, he was in great shape and a couple of shots wouldn’t level him.

  “Me too, Hazard, me too.”

  “It wouldn’t be right to see a pretty woman like you get hurt or broken by a guy like Timothy. He’d never love you right.”

  “How do you think I should be loved?” Avery’s boldness had to be a result of the tequila.

  Hazard told himself his answer came from the bottle. “Often, madly, deeply, in the shower, in bed, the floor, against the wall, in every conceivable position known in the Kama Sutra and some we’d invent ourselves.”

  Avery’s eyes widened like sapphires in a doll’s face. At one time, he’d mistakenly thought this woman was as emotionless and stiff as a porcelain doll. He’d been wrong.

  He still didn’t know her well. But he sure as hell wanted to know every inch of her delectable body.

  “I’d like that, you know?” she said in a whisper that no one else needed to hear.

  “Like what, baby?”

  “To fuck, like you described. I’ve never known that kind of sex. I’m thinking one night with you would spoil me for men for a year.”

  A year, one fucking year…that’s all he was good for? “Make no mistake, Avery. If I fucked you, it wouldn’t be for a night and you’d never forget me.”

  “My hotel is across the street from here. Come back with me and make me forget every man but you,” she dared in a voice that suddenly turned sultry.

  Hazard’s fingers trembled as he splashed tequila into their shot glasses. Ignoring the dare that might taunt him for the next millennium, he let go of his glass long enough to grab Avery’s free hand, bring it to him and wet her skin with his tongue before sprinkling salt on top, then leaning in to suck it off.

  Despite her granular salt-laden skin, she tasted like ambrosia. But Avery didn’t sit there waiting to participate. She copied his actions by taking his hand.

  And what do you know? Her soft full lips tickled his skin briefly, her tongue dampening the spot she’d salt.

  Caught up in her eyes, he let the moment play out to its conclusion. When they had their fill of salt, they let each other go long enough to pick up their glasses and drink in perfect unison.

  “Never let me make margaritas with anything less than Patrón from now on,” Avery said playfully.

  “Good call on that.”

  “Are you a tequila expert?”

  “I’m an expert in a lot of things, tequila among them. But I’m also a connoisseur of fine wines, scotch and rarely pass up a cold beer unless it’s football season.”

  “It’s still football season.” Avery played with her empty glass, keeping her eyes on him. “Congratulations are in order. I mean, the Griffins made the playoffs! I watched your last game and was on my feet cheering for you.”

  “Thanks. We’d gotten there last year but got knocked out in the first round. This year we’re first in our division.”

  “Shouldn’t you be with the team? I’d think practices are essential.”

  “Our playoff game doesn’t happen for two weeks. Coach gave us a week to rest up before practice resumes.”

  “Does that mean you have seven days in Dare?”

  “Six, I flew in yesterday and met up with Jax and the house band to prepare for my set tonight.”

  “Jaxon is more than a bartender?”

  “He’s part owner of this place and a huge reason why three other investors agreed to buy up a ghost town and turn it into a mini-mecca for those who want anonymity.”

  “He’s gorgeous and charismatic. At a guess, I’d say there’s a reason he hides here.”

  Hazard could put perceptive on Avery’s list of qualities. Not that he was counting them or anything.

  “Other than my teammates and your brother, there’s no one I trust more than Jaxon Wynter. We grew up together. Giving up his secrets isn’t something I’m likely to share with anyone. He and a handful of others are the only ones who call me Trevor.”

  Avery smiled sweetly. “I like that, proves you’re a loyal friend. Don’t worry. I’m not going to pry into the inner workings of Jaxon’s mind. He does have a wicked cool tattoo, though. It glows.”

  “Showed you the vamp fangs already, did he?” Rocking back a little in his big seat, he found himself propping his right foot on the two-person-wide cushioned chair that Avery sat on. “Jax must like you.”

  “I like him.”

  “Do you?” he asked, shifting his leg enough to brush her shapely thigh with his calf. “You hardly know him yet.”

  “He didn’t get mad when I nailed him in the back with an unwanted business card. In fact, he looked out for me. It was sweet and he welcomed me with no questions asked as to what I was doing here alone.”

  “That dress is a good indication of your intentions.”

  “This dress was pretty. Yes, it makes me feel sexy. There’s nothing wrong in wanting to look good.”

  “That’s true. I take it the business card came from the bozo hounding you at the bar?”

  “Yeah, he’d had the nerve to put his room number on the back.”

  “Hmm, thought you came here looking for that exact thing.”

  “Not with him,” Avery stated.

  “You knew no one when you walked in. What did you expect to find?”

  “Destiny, perhaps,” she answered, taking the time to pour their next round. “Something beyond my understanding brought me to the Truth or Dare Club. Now that I’m here, I think I’ve found the one to vacation with.”

  “If you’re planning on fucking Jax, be advised that the two of you would likely not be alone. Get what I’m saying?”

  “Jaxon radiates sex appeal. It wouldn’t surprise me to learn that he’d enjoy taking on two women at once.”

  Hazard looked across the table at Avery, refusing to let her look away. “What if the scenario involved another man?”

  “Two m
en?” Avery murmured, her eyes widening like they’d had a few minutes ago, the flush stealing across her pretty face warning that she might actually want to be fucked by two men. “As tempting as that’d be, the only way I’d do that is if you were there taking the lead.”

  What the hell? He didn’t share women anymore. He couldn’t say that when he’d first joined the pros. After his rookie season and a disastrous marriage that made him swear off committed relationships since, he’d gone wild and fucked more women than he cared to admit.

  Sometimes there were more women in bed with him than he could count on two hands.

  Matured as he was now, he wished he could change the past. Because he couldn’t, he could be a better man than he’d been.

  Starting with Avery, who kept looking at him like she wanted to eat him up.

  Fuck, he’d love it if she did. She would too.

  Then what? Six nights of fucking and they were done? With Avery, he sensed they could have something stronger than a stolen week. But he didn’t want long term, not with anyone.

  He’d tried fidelity. He’d been good at it in high school and college. He’d tried marriage and had not once strayed. But their love for each other died shortly after they put rings on their fingers.

  Their heated arguments, the long road trips early in his career and her affairs had crushed something beautiful. What was the saying, once bitten, twice shy?

  “Hazard, are you still with me?” Avery asked, squeezing his fingers to let him know that somewhere in the last few minutes she’d retaken his right hand.

  “Yeah, baby.”

  “Is it all right to call you by your middle name?”

  “Yes. I like it.”

  “Can I ask you something then?”

  “Sure,” he said with a shrug, trying for casual when all he could think of right then was the way the overhead lamp sent a ray of light down on her.

  The light would have been harsh on anyone else. All he could see was Avery.

  “You keep calling me baby,” she pointed out. “It’s kind of nice. In fact, I can’t recall any man calling me anything but Avery or Senator Grant’s daughter or Alexander Grant’s sister.”

  “Ouch.” Comparing her to Alex earlier must have stung.

  “It’s okay. I’m proud to be part of my family. It’s just that while I’m here, I want to be the woman who’s always longed to be daring, but never had the chance. I’d like you to be the man to make that happen.”

  “You don’t know what you’re saying,” he said, trying for a matter-of-fact tone that he hoped made sense.

  “Why, because we’ve had a few drinks?”

  “Not really.” Staring her down, he prepared to speak his mind. “If I fuck you, you need to know up front that I’m not looking for long term.”

  Avery’s smile widened, showing off flawless white teeth and a cute little dimple to the left of her mouth. He was going to lick and nibble that dimple, he vowed.

  That is, if he chose to take her up on this scheme.

  “I’m not looking for more either,” Avery told him, now the one in control of their stare down. “I recently got out of a loveless relationship to a man who couldn’t keep his dick in his pants around any woman except me and is so homophobic that I thought he’d have a cow when he learned my brother was marrying a man!”

  “I’ve no problem with Alex being gay,” Hazard stated. “But I honestly prefer women.”

  “You’re straight, I get that.”

  “Yep,” he said, thinking now would be a good time to tell her about the multiple partners he’d been with or down another shot.

  Those few and far between orgies had been just that, orgies, where anything was permitted and kept between the people involved.

  “My point is, now that I’m free of Timothy, getting tied down again so soon is the last thing I want with you or anyone. What I want is a no-strings-attached affair. No promises, no tears when we’re done, even if it’s only one night or one week.”

  “Be careful, Avery Grant, sounds like you’re asking me to be your fuck buddy.”

  “Would it be so disdainful to you?” she asked, suddenly looking vulnerable. “I realize I’m not like the women you’ve known before. Maybe you can teach me what it’s like to have fun in bed or how to have sex with the lights on and not feel ashamed for wanting to give you a blowjob.”

  “Fuck, is that what Timothy did to you?”

  Tears threatened to spill down her soft cheek and Hazard came close to crushing his shot glass.

  “Sex with him was always the same, passionless. We’d dated for so long, I guess it’s fair to say I stayed because I was afraid of being alone. To spice things up, I’d suggest we try new things in bed, but he’d get angry and accuse me of behaving like a slut.”

  “Did he hit you when he was mad?” If she said Timothy struck her, Hazard was going to take issue with the fucker and shove a cleat up his tight ass.

  “He came close once. His temper and infidelities were something few knew about. He’d gone so far as setting up an apartment he’d intended to use for his mistresses.”

  “Stop! I’ve half a mind to tear the guy a new asshole. I’d rather stay with you. If you want to be with me, you have to say it, baby.”

  She blinked a little, her confusion evident. “I’ve made it clear what I want.”

  “Is it me that you really want or do I flag Jax over and let him in on your plan?”

  “You make it sound so seedy. If I was one of your teammates or a friend looking to score, would you object?”

  “Probably not, but it’s different with you. I care about you. If you go through with this, you could get hurt.”

  That little confession had her smiling again. “Show me a good time, Hazard. You’ll look after me. I know it.”

  “It’s crazy, you hear me? Crazy for the two of us to consider being fuck buddies. Not even sure I like that term coming out of your fuckable mouth,” he confessed in a rush.

  “My mouth is fuckable?” she asked in total awe, her fingers, complete with French manicured nails, covering her parted lips.

  “Yes, dammit, yes.”

  “Then why are we still drinking when we could be fucking?”

  Good question and not one he wanted to contemplate for long.

  “No strings, no promises other than six nights. Whatever goes down between us remains in Dare,” he offered.

  “Think we covered that,” she said in a way that sounded a little like her brother, but there was no way in hell he was bringing his agent into this.

  “You understand that what I say goes, but I’m not averse to giving you the reins if you ask nicely.”

  “Can I tie you up and ride you like a horse?” she inquired curiously, licking away some salt from her upper lip and tempting him to fill up her fuckable mouth with his cock.

  “I’m game…if you let me teach you safe knots that are easy to undo if something goes wrong.”

  Avery’s tongue disappeared in her mouth. “What could go wrong?”

  “Unsafe bondage can cause damage to nerves, blood circulation or cut into the skin.”

  “Oh, I’ve never tried, so I don’t know. Is that a yes?”

  Wanting to take one more drink for courage and a little ass-kicking by morning when they woke up in bed together, Hazard’s decision was made.

  “One more round. Use it to think about what you want. By the time that tequila hits your gut, if you still want to be with me, we’ll go to my apartment.”

  “No, my hotel room,” she amended. “Let’s take it one night at a time. Maybe we’ll get to your place later this week.”

  “Deal,” he said, letting her hand go to fill their glasses one more time.

  By the time they downed the shots, he knew by the look in her eyes that she wasn’t going to her hotel room alone.

  Fuck, he was so fucked. But it was too late. His offer was made, her red dress challenge accepted.

  “What’s it to be, Avery?” he asked
anyway.

  Boldly, she stood up, came around and leaned in nice and close as a pretense to grabbing the purse she’d set on the table. She smelled like limes and tropical flowers.

  “Be my lover for the reminder of our time here, Hazard. I don’t want anyone else.”

  “You don’t need to beg. I’m yours for the duration.”

  Taking her hand in his, he stood up with her, desperately wanting to sweep her up into his arms and carry her off to her room. But if he touched her beyond hand-holding, she’d be lucky to remain clothed by the time they reached the exit.

  “Don’t we have to pay our tab?” she asked.

  “Tab’s covered by one of the owners of the Truth or Dare Club.”

  “You?”

  “That’d be correct.”

  “Wow, must be nice to be Trevor Hazard Osbourne, linebacker extraordinaire, bachelor and sexiest man on the planet.”

  “In that case, how about I take the sexiest woman on the planet to her room and show her how extraordinary sex can be?”

  Hooking her hand at his elbow, she tossed her head, looking happier, freer and prettier than ever. “I thought you’d never ask.”

  Escorting Avery across the crowded club, he promised himself to let her explore all the place had to offer while she was in Dare. But he’d never felt so proud to be with a woman as he saw the envious faces of the men watching them leave.

  Chapter Two

  Avery was nervous.

  Thankfully, the chill of winter forced her to bundle up inside the red coat she’d worn to the club and explained her slight trembles. It’d been nice of him to stop at the coat check, grab her coat and set it around her shoulders before retrieving his own, but the enormity of what was about to happen couldn’t be ignored.

  She truly hoped Hazard didn’t detect her nervousness and change his mind.

  If she changed her mind, she felt confident that he wouldn’t press the issue. If anything, he’d likely be relieved of the burden she’d placed on him. But she wasn’t going to back out.

  Crossing the street to the lovely, privately owned hotel and spa adjacent to the Truth or Dare Club and Casino, Morgan appreciated the way Hazard had placed his hand at the small of her back in order to draw her into the warmth of his body.