Mardi Gras Page 2

  “Quite a sacrifice,” Jack quipped.

  Ty flashed a light smirk. “Believe it or not, the lack of substance gets a little old.” This time, Jack let out a hearty laugh. “You’re so full of shit. You forget, I was exactly where you are until a year ago. Findin’ the right woman is the greatest thing on earth, but either way, you can’t tell me hot sex gets old.”

  “Maybe I’m just reaching a point you never reached,” Ty suggested. He shook his head, half laughing at himself along with Jack, but still trying to figure out what he was attempting to convey. “I’m just…kinda bored lately, I guess. I mean, it’s same old, same old after a while. Different girl, same experience.”

  “What exactly is it you’re not gettin’ that you want so bad?” Ty lowered his feet back to the old hardwood floors beneath him and cocked a slight smile toward his friend. Given the direction the conversation had taken, he was glad Mia had stepped out for a few minutes so he could speak freely. “Have you ever been…tied up by a woman?”

  Another chuckle echoed toward the ceiling, an easy grin gracing Jack’s face. “Sure.

  Liz and I play around with that sorta thing sometimes. We play around with everything.”

  “Does it get you off?”

  Jack flashed an are-you-serious? look. “It’s Liz. Everything Liz does gets me off.”

  “What if it were somebody else?”

  “Who knows. Can’t say.”

  13

  Lacey Alexander

  Ty leaned back in his chair once more. “I guess I’ve just been thinking about that kind of stuff. Believe it or not, I’ve never been with a woman who was into the bondage thing, and I suppose I’m looking for something new to keep sex interesting.” Jack sat up a little straighter in his chair. “Well, you know, there are bars you can go to, places to meet women who are into that.”

  He nodded uncertainly. “I know. But I’m not sure I’m into the whole gagging, nipple-clamping thing. Nothing hardcore. I just wanna…you know…experiment a little.”

  “Sounds like you need a wife, ami,” Jack said on a chuckle.

  “What?”

  “Get yourself a wife and you can experiment with anything you want.” But Ty shook his head. “No, get myself a wife like Liz and I could do that. But I don’t think all wives are that accommodating.” And the truth was, Ty had been dating strictly naughty, sexy girls for so long—he didn’t even know what he would look for if he were able to switch his attentions to sweet girls. That perfect combination Jack had found in Liz…well, he figured that was once in a lifetime, that she was one of a kind.

  And besides, sweet girls and him? It just didn’t add up.

  Take Mia, for instance. She was about as sweet as they came, and he loved hanging out with her, working with her, bumping into her at a bar or a party, but when it came time for intimacy, well…he was just too accustomed to hot, wild sex to want to give it up, and any good girl worth her salt would probably faint if he said he wanted her to tie him up and fuck his brains out.

  “Speaking of Liz,” Jack said, “that sort of leads to why I stopped by.” His voice drew Ty back to the conversation. “Oh?”

  “My lovely wife and I are throwin’ a party Saturday night to kick off Mardi Gras.

  Eight o’clock. The usual suspects, plus some people from Liz’s office.” 14

  Mardi Gras

  “Did you invite Mia?”

  Jack nodded. “Of course. Why?”

  He shrugged. “She’s fun to hang out with.”

  Jack gave his head a speculative tilt, and Ty could almost read his thoughts before he spoke them aloud. “Now that’s who you oughta ask out. Mia’s a sweetheart.” Ty simply laughed. “Are you deaf, Jack? I just told you, sweet girls and me are like oill and water. It would never work. And besides, she’s Tim’s little sister. I’ve known her since she was a little girl. It wouldn’t feel right if we got anywhere even close to sex. Not to mention that she’s a great employee and I wouldn’t want to risk fucking up our working relationship.”

  Jack sighed. “Well then, maybe you’ll get lucky and hook up with somebody else at our little fete.”

  “Does Liz have any hot girlfriends who like to play with whips and chains?” Jack grinned. “You’ll have to find that out for yourself, my bon ami.”

  * * * * *

  Mia stood frozen in place at her desk. When she’d returned to the office for her purse, Ty and Jack had been laughing about something and hadn’t heard her come in.

  They very clearly hadn’t heard her.

  Because they were talking about fucking, and being tied up. Her entire body had sizzled with shock…and arousal.

  The conversation she’d overheard had certainly confirmed one thing. Ty had no interest in her whatsoever as a lover. As she’d suspected, he just didn’t think of her that way—apparently couldn’t think of her that way.

  The part that really caught her attention, though, was when he’d told Jack he wanted to be tied up. Her blood ran hot just envisioning Ty, naked and bound, at her mercy. Until this moment, she hadn’t been aware that she wanted to experiment with bondage, either, but the heavy pulsing of her pussy said she did.

  15

  Lacey Alexander

  As she stood there, quiet, purse in hand, not quite sure what to do next—or how to sneak back out without them hearing the door—an idea flashed in her mind. A really naughty idea.

  Could she, the infamously sweet Mia, ever pull off such a thing?

  If she wanted to try, it would take some work.

  First, she’d have to hit her favorite craft store down on Royal—they stocked tons of great glitter and feathers this time of year. And as luck would have it, her latest craft project was making Mardi Gras masks. It had started as a way to help her fifth-grade niece with an art assignment for school, but now she suddenly realized the craft could have a much more personal—and satisfying—benefit. She’d have to do some other shopping, too, of course, but if she was seriously considering this, maybe she should start by making a special mask and letting that be her guide.

  To her shock, the longer she stood there, the more concrete the idea became.

  Turning into something she would definitely do, something she had to do, in fact.

  Because Ty had confirmed her suspicions. He thought women were either nice girls or naughty ones, with no in between. It was a shame, but not a surprise. She was crazy about Ty, but he was sometimes a very typical guy’s guy. Clearly Jack had been enlightened by Liz, but Ty remained in the dark.

  She knew now that Ty would never see her as anything but a good girl. And the truth was—given how long they’d known each other, and that he still kept in touch with her brother in New York, and that he seemed to like and even value her sweetness—she just didn’t think she could ever bear to disillusion him and risk his high opinion of her.

  But now that she understood all that—and knew that, sadly, nothing romantic would ever take place between her and the object of her affection—she was going to give herself a really big gift this Mardi Gras season.

  She was going to have Ty, once and for all.

  He just wouldn’t quite realize it.

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  Mardi Gras

  She felt a wicked little grin unfurl across her face, anticipating her plan.

  “Well, I’d better get back to work. My cases aren’t gonna solve themselves,” Jack said, giving Mia just enough time to duck down behind her desk as he exited Ty’s office.

  “Hey, you making your world-famous jambalaya Saturday?” Ty called behind him.

  “Wouldn’t be a party without it, ami,” Jack said. “See ya then.”

  “Okay, dude. Later.”

  Trying her best to think fast as Jack pushed through the door, admitting a whoosh of chilly air and the vague sounds of traffic and a honking horn somewhere in the distance, Mia popped up from behind the desk, let out a sigh, then slammed a desk drawer.

  A few seconds later, Ty leaned through the doorway. �
��Mia? When did you get back?”

  “Just now. Passed Jack on the way in—he held the door for me.” Which is why you only heard it open once. “Forgot my purse,” she added, holding it up. “See?” He looked puzzled. “I…didn’t hear you say anything to Jack.” She blinked. “We…exchanged nods.”

  “Exchanged nods?” He was looking at her as if she might belong in a mental ward.

  “Yeah,” she said, dropping her gaze to her purse and the two small packages in her arms. “Gotta go. Don’t want these to be late,” she said, then rushed past him and out the door onto Bourbon, where she finally breathed a sigh of relief. Sheesh, that had been close.

  But she couldn’t be sorry it had happened.

  Because of what she’d just overheard, she was going to make her dreams come true.

  Well, not all of her dreams—there wouldn’t be a wedding, or a honeymoon, or two-point-five children and a dog with Ty. But she was going to make her sexual dreams come true, and in the process, she was going to give Ty a night he’d never forget.

  17

  Lacey Alexander

  Chapter Two

  Mia’s skin prickled as she stood before the floor-length mirror in her bedroom.

  Her plan had worked even better than she’d hoped or imagined. If she didn’t know she was looking at her own reflection, she’d never have recognized herself.

  She’d hidden her pale brown hair beneath an auburn wig of long curling locks, and she’d disguised her blue eyes behind contact lenses of forest green. She’d applied her makeup much heavier than usual, highlighting her eyes with lots of liner and mascara, and accentuating her lips with a warm shade of red.

  She didn’t think Ty would recognize her from the neck down, either. She might not have owned any sexy, see-through clothing before, but one daring shopping trip had changed that. As in her fantasy the other day, she donned a lacy black bra under a transparent black blouse. Below, her black mini possessed every element from the fantasy except the sexy slit. And under that… She felt positively sinful in the black lace thong and matching garter belt that attached to black, lace-edged stockings.

  Reaching to the dresser beside her, she snatched up two long strands of onyx beads and slipped them over her head. She doubled them, pulling down until one loop chokered her neck and the other draped her breasts.

  To top things off, she added the pièce de résistance—sliding a lush, sexy mask of black and silver on, so that only the vibrant green of her eyes shone through. Two thick, downy feathers jutted provocatively from one side of the glittery black mask, its edges lined in sparkling silver cord. Three silver sequins highlighted the outer point of each eye.

  “You are a sex kitten, baby,” she said to her reflection in the slightly lower voice she’d been practicing, making sure to enunciate her words more than usual. “And Ty will never know it’s you.”

  18

  Mardi Gras

  * * * * *

  As Mia strolled up the old sidewalk at what was usually the quiet end of Bourbon Street, music and voices drowned out the click of her high heels. Clearly, Jack and Liz weren’t the only people throwing a party tonight, as the scents of spicy food and hot grills filled the air. Rock, jazz, and Zydeco vied for sound supremacy, along with the notes of a lone saxophone being played somewhere in the distance.

  She passed two young boys with taps attached to the bottoms of their tennis shoes, dancing for tips, and a court jester on stilts walked along as if he were any other person headed out for a night of debauchery on Bourbon. Her gaze was drawn to the opposite sidewalk, where two girls were lifting their tank tops, flashing their breasts for beads.

  The group of guys surrounding them whistled, adding comments like, “Nice, baby,” as they surrendered the shiny necklaces. Judging from how heavily laden the girls’ necks were, they’d already been very busy tonight.

  Mia’s pussy swelled a little more with each step she took. Not only due to the sensual sights around her, but because beneath her sexy clothes, her lace lingerie hugged her tight, and her garters rubbed against her thighs and ass with every move.

  And despite all the color and people and breasts to behold on the street, more than one set of male eyes had perused her, as well, adding to how sexy she felt.

  “Want some beads, darlin’?” a man in a cowboy hat asked as she approached him on the sidewalk. He stared hungrily at her chest, but she didn’t mind—he was handsome, in his mid-thirties, and she was so on fire that the suggestion only added fuel to her flames.

  “No, but thank you,” she said with a smile in her new lower, more sophisticated voice.

  Every balcony along the historic street was strung with streamers or beads of purple, gold, and green, and most were filled with partiers. Every balcony she noticed, looking up, except one. The sight brought a sinful smile to her face.

  19

  Lacey Alexander

  The quiet, dark, wrought iron balcony she spied was less than a block from Jack’s place, and the apartment attached to it belonged to her Aunt Sophie. Her aunt—the sort of chic, refined woman she hoped to be by the time she reached her fifties—was a jewelry collector and the proprietor of a pricey store on St. Peter, which she made a habit of closing during the few weeks preceding Mardi Gras. It was too loud and crazy for her taste, both at work and at home, she always said, so she used the time to head to the Caribbean with her longtime lover, Morris, every year.

  And she always invited Mia to use the apartment while she was gone, given its prime location on Bourbon, but since Mia’s own apartment was only a couple of blocks away on St. Phillip, she’d never taken her up on the offer—until now.

  Get ready, Ty, because here I come.

  Straightening her shoulders and pushing out her chest, she walked tall and proud up the street and through the archway that led to Jack’s apartment. Disguised as she was, she thought she should have been nervous, but instead, she felt more confident—

  and more sexy—than ever before. It was as if the mask and the wig gave her some sort of permission to do all the things she wanted with Ty, without any worries. No worries about it changing his opinion of her. No worries of it messing up their relationship or her job. The only thing worrying her at the moment was wondering how she’d stand the wait until she could get his clothes off and have her way with him.

  She’d waited until after ten to arrive, and as she’d hoped, the party appeared to be in full swing. As she climbed the outdoor stairs to Jack and Liz’s place, she found partiers—some masked, some not—who had stepped outside to smoke. Jaunty Cajun music came from inside the door that stood wide open. Leave it to the Cajuns, she thought, to make the accordion sound sexy.

  She couldn’t have been more pleased to step casually through the door to find a large crowd in a low-lit room. Some people were decked out in Mardi Gras regalia of the obligatory purple, gold, and green, while others chose regular everyday clothing.

  She blended in perfectly, without even trying.

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  Mardi Gras

  Much of the crowd stood back around the edges of the room, forming a circle around Jack and Liz, who performed a sexy version of the two-step. Mia had never seen Jack look at any woman the way he always looked at Liz—like she lit up his life.

  Some of the guests moved to the music themselves, but it was clear this dance belonged to the host and hostess. Liz smiled into her husband’s eyes, and Mia could see the sparkle in her gaze, even through the red mask she wore. She wasn’t sure she’d ever seen two people more into each other.

  God, I want that with Ty.

  She flinched when she realized what she’d just allowed herself to think.

  Because she couldn’t have that with Ty. What she could have with Ty was hot sex.

  And friendship. Independent of one another. And that was all.

  When the sizzling Cajun song came to an end, the crowd gave a smattering of applause, and Ty suddenly appeared, stepping up to slap Jack lightly on the back. “You
almost make him look like a good dancer,” he said to Liz with a laugh.

  “Whoa there, ami, I’m the one who’s been doin’ the teachin’ here.” When Ty raised his eyebrows, Liz replied, “It’s true. Jack’s been taking me out to a place on the bayou for barbeque and two-stepping every Friday night for the past couple of months.”

  “Gotta get some Cajun in her soul,” Jack added with a grin.

  “I’ll just take some Cajun in my arms instead,” his wife said, pulling him into a steamy embrace Mia envied.

  But stop envying Liz and Jack. In fact, stop thinking. And start getting into your game.

  Fortunately, watching Ty from across the room made that easy. Since spotting him, everything inside her had tightened with excitement, and with the knowledge that tonight she would finally have him. Her cunt went wet remembering what she’d come here to do.

  It was high time she slake her lust with this man, once and for all.

  21

  Lacey Alexander

  * * * * *

  Ty checked his watch for the fifth time in the last hour. Where was Mia?

  Not that it really mattered, but she’d said she’d be here, and she was usually punctual, and it worried him if she didn’t show up someplace she was supposed to.

  He’d known her for so long, he just kind of liked to look out for her when he could. As a favor to Tim, and because she was a friend, he told himself. That was all.

  As Liz passed by, a few empty plates in her grasp, he lowered a hand to her arm.

  “Have you seen Mia?”

  She shook her head. “Now that you mention it, no. But Jack said she was coming.” He gave a slight nod, then let Liz go on her way.

  Yet he couldn’t stop a wayward pang of envy for his best friend. Liz had it all. In fact, he’d gotten the opportunity to get a taste of Liz in bed back when she and Jack had first met—they’d wanted to experiment with a threesome, and who was he to stand in the way? Fortunately, things had never been awkward after that. He’d understood it was a one-time experience and from that point on, he’d been happy to get to know Liz as a friend and Jack’s future wife. But as he’d implied to Jack earlier in the week, he often found himself wondering how Jack had gotten so lucky to have his soulmate walk right into his life when he wasn’t even looking for anything like that.