Free Ready for Him by Tanith Davenport Page A

pressed her lips to her fingers and waved them at her as Shaundra sidled out of the booth. On the table in front of her, her cell phone vibrated and she picked it up, pulling an exaggerated disappointed face as she read the screen.
    “Oh, damn it. Darren wants me to come up too.”
    “Go right ahead,” Piper commented airily. “Us girls can have fun without you.”
    Leonie flipped her off as she shimmied out of the booth and ran to catch up with Shaundra, who had already reached the door to the reception area. As Jade watched, Leonie staggered on her heels and lurched forward, blonde hair and short skirt flying wildly.
    “The queen of grace and ladylike behaviour,” Piper drawled.
    Jade laughed. “Bless her.”
    Piper picked up the bottle of champagne, refilled both their glasses, then sat back in the corner of the booth and looked hard at Jade.
    “So who were you looking at really ?”
    Jade’s eyes were automatically drawn back towards the blond man. She snapped her gaze back to the table, but Piper had already noticed, her own eyes narrowing teasingly.
    “Oh, him ! Well, try not to break him.”
    “He wouldn’t touch me with a barge pole.”
    Piper cocked her head appraisingly, still looking at the blond man. “I don’t think he’s anywhere near a barge pole. Maybe a baguette.”
    “Fuck off.”
    Piper responded by raising her glass in a toast, and Jade mentally began to count down to the moment when her friend would be too drunk to carry on. It wouldn’t take much more. Piper liked a drink, but was something of a lightweight, especially with champagne.
    Half an hour later, her predictions came true.
    “I need to go upstairs. You coming?”
    “Nah. I’ll have another before I go up.”
    Jade stood to let Piper out of the booth, hiding a grin as her friend wobbled on her heels. Piper turned and laid a hand on her shoulder, looking at her with slightly drunken concern.
    “I don’t like leaving you down here on your own.”
    “Relax, Piper. I’m not going to die.”
    Piper leant down to hug her, whispering in her ear as she did so. “Make sure you fuck him.”
    Oh, Piper. Jade shook her head indulgently as Piper stumbled away from the table. Always looking out for my welfare—or my sex life.
    Instinctively she glanced across the bar to where the blond man had been standing. He had disappeared. All that remained was an empty wine glass on the counter.
    Oh, well. That’s that then.
    There was still some champagne left in the bottle. Jade refilled her glass and let her mind wander, picturing the man in her head.
    Tall. Firm-bodied. A trail of blond curls leading to a hard, jutting cock. Holding her wrists, holding her down—instinctively knowing what she would want, never doubting, but never pushing her too far. Nudging her thighs apart, thrusting inside her, pinning her arms as she moaned and writhed, and she knew, she knew he would release her if she asked, but would hold her and tie her and restrain her and finally—
    It was impossible. No man could be trusted that far. Jade tipped her head back and swallowed the last drops of champagne, blinking as the room swirled.
    Okay, that was enough. Any more to drink and she would collapse. She slid out of the booth and made her way towards the far door. She had seen earlier that it opened into a corridor that, after leading past the bathrooms, turned a corner and came out in front of the elevator, which saved having to stagger drunkenly across reception.
    As she reached the doorway, she heard noises in the corridor. Voices. The language was Spanish, but the accent was too heavy for her to pick out more than a few words. It sounded…angry.
    And then she saw it.
    Halfway down the corridor were two men, one with his back to her, pinning the other to the wall. His hand was held to the other man’s throat. Jade recognised the tell-tale glint of a knife.
    She also recognised his victim. It was the blond man from the bar.
    As silently as she could, she moved