New Orleans, Louisiana, May 2009

A naughty grin curved Myles Pane’s lips in anticipation of celebration sex in his office, and not even his troubles could take it away. Strolling by the Garden District’s Victorian mansions and chic boutiques, and sucking on a luscious Hershey’s Kiss, he had to admit that today topped the list of good days in his life.

He had just slaughtered an opposing legal team and triumphed in winning one of the biggest cases of his law career. If that wasn’t mind-blowing enough, his girlfriend and secretary, Roxanne, promised to perform his every erotic fantasy, anywhere and any time he wished if he claimed victory. But the excitement didn’t end there. On this beautiful, sun-drenched day, Myles turned thirty-six. For that alone he counted his blessings. He wasn’t supposed to be here. He was supposed to have been murdered.    

Leisurely, Myles walked beside his law partner, David Richardson. Each man gripped his briefcase with the contentment of his conquest. Still, Myles stood out, drawing obvious as well as sneaky looks from women they passed. His charcoal gray suit fit with dangerous attractiveness on a powerfully built frame, which towered well over six feet. Setting off his good looks were seductive facial features crowned with dark, short, wavy hair and smooth, golden-brown skin.     

When they reached a storefront law firm nestled in the midst of the pristine street, Myles twisted the doorknob. Wind chimes Roxanne had placed overhead at the entrance tinkled. They walked inside a reception area, misted up with cigar smoke. Refined wood furnishings set on dark green crushing-thick carpet. The walls were livened up with degrees, awards, and honors, all accomplishments of the three men who owned the successful southern law firm. Overall, The Law Offices of Pane, Danville and Richardson had the ambience of a traditional legal setting.

Puffing on a cigar, Stan Danville strolled out of an office to shoot the breeze with his partners. Of medium height and weight, his premature bald spot glistened among the warm glow emitted by the lamps in the room. “So you hotshots kicked butt?” he greeted them.

 Myles’s dark eyes twinkled with delight. “Bronson sure surprised the hell out of me. Maybe the old judge has a heart after all.”

“He has something all right,” Stan said smirking. “I heard he has this new honey all over him every night. The old dog has been getting his freak on big time.”

David found that so hilarious his freckled face reddened. “Bronson?”

“Bronson,” Stan confirmed, squashing his cigar in an ashtray. “I heard about him and this hot little number getting busy in the back of some restaurant the other night. I heard about some interesting things on a pool table, too. They said that he looked ready to tear into her.”

David swayed back laughing. “Bronson, the romantic devil. Now that’s funny.”

“Funny as hell,” Myles added, laughing with him. “And a little nauseating too if you picture him that way. But since when did you start gossiping about people’s love lives?” He directed his question to Stan.

Stan shrugged his sloped shoulders. “Hey, I’m a bald guy who is not getting any. What else can I do? Shucks, I’m so horny these days it gives me a buzz just to talk about someone else getting busy.”

His partners laughed harder and Stan even laughed at himself. A thump behind Myles’s office door is all that simmered them down.

Stan leaned toward Myles and whispered, “Speaking of hot, little numbers. I think one has your birthday present waiting in your office.”

Myles’s expression became playfully mischievous as he visualized Roxanne naked as she had been on other occasions when they explored steamy fun during the workday. A surge of need gripped his body and he hurried toward his office door.       

“A burning hot present awaits you,” Stan joked as Myles strode away.  

Myles frowned over his shoulder at him because he spoke so loudly that Roxanne could have heard. He caught Stan and David grinning like roguish boys. Unable to help smiling himself, he shook his head at them, walked in his office, and closed the door. 

Roxanne played hide and seek at first. Silently Myles moved through the sizable room, not missing the traces of her lavender perfume, its sweet, mild fragrance the most understated thing about her. Parking his briefcase on the desk, and then slipping his arms out of his jacket, he toyed with her. Myles pretended that he planned to work. 

The tap from behind sent a wave of excitement through him. A smoldering look in his eyes, Myles turned. Roxanne Vale, an auburn-haired sexpot whose wild, shoulder-skimming curls, and tight, short, red outfit, showed that she loved to flaunt her seductiveness, emerged from the closet. She thrust her tongue in Myles’s mouth.

Moaning as she turned his body to stone, Myles enjoyed her kiss only for a few seconds. At that point, Roxanne backed up to reward him with a striptease. Flirtatiously, she curled her red-glossed lips and her large, hazel eyes radiated a hypnotic stare. Shimmying out of her dress, she soon treated Myles to the view of her in a black bra, thong, and spike heels.

Myles swallowed the rush in his throat as she came to him, his hands aching to rip off the remaining garments she wore.

“Congratulations, birthday boy,” she said, unloosening his tie. “Congratulations, congratulations, congratulations.”

Myles’s eyes dropped lazily down her body, and he opened his arms to give her the freedom to do what she wished. “Why don’t you congratulate the hell out of me?”

“That’s what I plan to do.” Roxanne tossed the tie aside and pressed her chest against him.

Feeling her soft breasts drugged him with another surge of desire. Roxanne reached behind her back and unhooked her bra. Large breasts protruded in front of him as the brassiere straps slid off her arms. Lust slammed his heart against his chest and his erection strained against his pants.

Myles slipped his arms around Roxanne, drawing her close, and sliding his hands from the small of her back to the bottom of her buttocks. “Do you see what you do to me?” he moaned into her ear. “Do you want that, baby?”

“Yes, I want it. I want it so badly I’ll do anything for it.”

Looking up at him, Roxanne eased back just enough to tug her thong down her toned legs and fling it aside. Myles’s gaze feasted on her until his ragged breaths and aching hunger warned him he couldn’t stand any more of her sweet torture. Taking her face within his hands, Myles kissed her with long, deep, butterfly motions of his tongue that crazed him with need. Craving more, his lips lowered, worshipping her neck, breasts, and all else. His hands joined in the sensual play.

Roxanne’s hands worshipped too, every inch of him, stirring up his fire, and snatching every stitch from his skin. Soon as naked as she was, Myles backed Roxanne down on a leather couch. Stroking her bare legs, he positioned himself

between her thighs. His fingers played in her moist loving until she begged to feel him.

Obliging her, Myles opened her legs wide, and eased his rigid arousal inside her bit by bit. Roxanne moaned with every thrust deeper and clung to his broad back as if she couldn’t let go. As her warm, moist walls tightened around him, he groaned, “Jesus.” Red heat set his blood aflame.  

Together they moved their hips to an erotic rhythm that was all their own. Myles’s senses exploded with pleasure. His heart thundered, shaking his entire body. Flicking his tongue on Roxanne’s taut nipples, he couldn’t taste enough. Burying his nose into her skin, he couldn’t smell enough of her sweet scent. Myles raised his lips to her mouth again. Swirling his tongue around hers, he simulated the motions of his hips, before altering his moves, adding wickedly hot pelvic gyrations. They made Roxanne scream to the top of her lungs.

Perspiration dripped from his face onto her as she moved wildly beneath him. Pumping her hard, Myles pinned her down by the arms. But the strain of holding onto the exquisite rapture became too much to bear. Swept over that cliff of unutterable ecstasy, their muscles contracted violently. Each collapsed, spent, and breathless. 

Moments later, Myles held Roxanne’s warm body against him. Gently stroking each other, they lied with tangled legs on the sofa. A cotton blanket Roxanne kept in Myles’s closet for their office rendezvous’ draped over them. Myles felt so comfortable that he cursed when he glimpsed the clock. The late afternoon had crept upon them. He had an important conference call in fifteen minutes and needed to prepare. Forcing himself out of his relaxed state, he stood. Dragging herself up, Roxanne did the same.

After they dressed, Roxanne brushed a kiss on his lips and pranced toward the door. Watching her sexy strut, Myles couldn’t resist admiring the body that just drove him wild. He didn’t know what turned him on more, her firm legs, juicy buttocks, or centerfold breasts. Deciding he could bite every delicious inch of her, his mouth curved in a devilish grin.

“What are you smiling about?” Roxanne asked. 

“That hot body of course. Whooh! You sure put the moves on me.”

 She flashed him a saucy grin. “And I’m going to put them on you again later. But first, meet me at the Blues Palace around 9:00 tonight for dinner.”

“I’ll be anywhere you are.”

Roxanne winked on her way out. Myles picked up a pen and pad to jot down notes for his conference call. The mental replay of the amorous scene in the office distracted him. His smile reappeared. He could never say coming to work was a drag. 

Roxanne and he had dated for almost three years. She flirted outrageously with him on the day he hired her. Three days later, she rode him to heaven in his bed. Myles found her to be fun, intelligent, and so sexually adventurous that she never bored him.

He dated often before meeting Roxanne. None of those women made him laugh as much Roxanne did. Myles’s obsession with working wasn’t even an issue with her. After all, if he burned the midnight oil, she volunteered to work with him. Disagreements did erupt however. Half of them stemmed from Roxanne’s jealousy of other women. The malicious things she ranted would make him question if he really knew this woman.

The Blues Palace Supper Club, a favorite haunt of Roxanne’s made its home on one of the quieter streets in the French Quarter. Taking his time as he walked to the popular nightspot, Myles enjoyed the simple wonders of the sultry evening. There was the aroma of cheesecake floating from the bakery he passed. There was the group of giddy tourists posing for pictures. There were the latest model sports coupes weaving through traffic, making Myles debate whether to get a new ride or invest in more real estate. There was also something that made him stop in the midst of the sidewalk.

A chill fluttered over Myles, bringing with it the strangest feeling. It urged him to look behind, ahead, and all around. It was as if someone watched him. He had never had such a feeling before. Was he losing his mind?

Or were the reoccurring dreams he had lately somehow affecting him? Or perhaps it had to do with his other problem. Whatever it was, Myles quickly decided it wouldn’t prevent him from enjoying some smoking blues and spicy gumbo with Roxanne. He intended to make the night as magnificent as the day. Shaking off the odd sensation, he continued to the supper club. 

Treading among the blue velvet wallpapered walls that welcomed one into the Blues Palace, Myles was stunned that no security guard manned the entrance hall. Neither did a ticket person sit behind the counter. The lack of music and the usual good time sounds of partygoers whooping it up stumped Myles, too. 

Wandering cautiously into the dance area, his bewilderment grew. Throughout the pitch-blackness, he smelled the usual concoction typical of a nightspot: cigarette smoke, liquor scents, whiffs of perfume, and food aromas. However, Myles couldn’t perceive anyone or recognize a sound. Whirling around to leave, he bumped into something. Realizing it was a person, he sprung back.

“What the hell is going on?” 

In response, the lights flipped on. Gleeful guests emerged from their hiding places. “Surprise!” everyone yelled. 

Suddenly, the supper club became bright and alive with people circling Myles and bestowing him birthday greetings. A band played a dance tune with an irresistible blues beat. Folks hurried on the floor and commenced to shake what God gave them. Stan, David, and David’s wife, Bonnie surrounded Myles, laughing, talking, and wishing him the best. Then, showing off her figure in a clinging, hot pink, halter dress, Roxanne ran to Myles. She looped her arms around his neck and granted him a big kiss.

 “I had no idea what you were up to,” he said, laughter sprinkling his words. “You’re so sneaky.” He tapped the tip of her little nose.

Roxanne flashed a vibrant smile. “Don’t you know by now that I would do anything for you? You have no idea what I’d do.”

“Is that right?” Bowled over that she went to such trouble, Myles couldn’t resist sliding his hands along her bare back. “You’re something else.” 

“So are you. Now, come on.” Grasping his hand, Roxanne led him to the dance floor. There she initiated dirty dancing that commanded everyone’s attention. Giving his woman what she wanted, Myles moved dirtily right with her. All enjoyed the show.

Hours passed with the party getting livelier. Taking a swig of champagne at the bar, Myles looked around, pleased that everyone had a fantastic time. He was especially entertained watching Roxanne mingle and thrive as a social butterfly. Though, when she pranced to the center of the floor, he braced himself for what surprise awaited next. She cued the band to halt the music and geared up to make an announcement. Everyone hushed, granting Roxanne their full attention.

“I have another surprise for the birthday boy.” Smiling at Myles, Roxanne beckoned him to stand beside her.  

Puzzled and unable to imagine what could top the party, Myles strode to the center of the dance floor and joined her. He couldn’t help frowning when Roxanne’s thin lips began to quiver and her hazel eyes became watery. Shocking all, she knelt down and reached in her dress’s pocket. Myles’s scowl deepened before he inwardly gasped. Roxanne handed him a man’s white gold three-stone diamond ring.  

“Myles, I’ve never loved a man as much as I love you. You have given me nearly three years that I wish I could hold forever. And it would be my dream come true if you marry me. Will you marry me, honey?” 

Gasps, whispers, and then a rumble of applause took up the space where his euphoric response should have been.

Myles, taking much too long to answer, forced a shaky smile and tried not to look as uncomfortable he felt. “Rox, let’s go somewhere private and talk.”

Astonished, Roxanne didn’t respond. Her jaw dropped and she gawked at Myles with such disbelief, he reached for her hand to soothe her. They needed to be alone. He wanted to pull her close to him, and then escort her off the dance floor. A desperate need overcame him to tell her how much he cared. But backing away, Roxanne shook her head and fled out the club.