By Reading This, You Are Stating That You Are 18 Years Of Age. If You Are Under The Age Of 18, It Is Necessary To Exit This Site.

 

 

WITH A TWIST

 

BY

 

HEATHER

 

PETERS

 

EXCERPT

   ''Another Caribbean Cosmo with a twist for the birthday girl, and keep them coming.''
 Shane Sullivan's gaze turned towards the owner of that whiskey tinged voice as he sat in the shadows of the bar, mesmerized by the stunning brunette who sat on a nearby bar stool with her legs crossed. Those fuck me stilettos made him hard as a brick.
Her sexy body reminded him of his celibate state. Great, just great. Ava Denotti was just as gorgeous today as she was the first time he met her, two years ago.
Shane took a long pull from the bottle of cold beer; his eyes took in every facet of her from her dark brown waves. That crimson dress left nothing to the imagination and outlined a full figured body made for pleasuring a man. Her impossibly high heels were black as midnight, and visions of those legs wrapped around him while he fucked her all night shot steamy signals to his groin.
His eyes moved upward and settled on rounded breasts that would fit his hands, and then some. Her mouth was pouty and perfect for kissing and sucking, he mused. Her nose small and perfect for that heart shaped face. Her ring less left hand holding the delicate martini glass seemed slim and soft. He imagined what it would feel like when, not if, those lovely polished fingers gripped him inside her heat in the midst of some mind blowing sex.  
Her right hand was shaking slightly where she held the martini glass, and she looked weary. She appeared slightly drunk and that was okay. God, he hoped she remembered him. 
His eyes continued their journey, slowly sliding from those erotic heels to her shapely calves and up to the tiny opening of her bodice, showing just the hint of flesh.  He would love to show her how to have more than just fun.
How would she react when he tunneled his fingers through that length of thick hair?   What would he feel when she wrapped those trim, strong legs around his waist, that smoky voice screaming with pleasure, begging him to pleasure her?
He was getting way ahead of himself.
In the meantime, he secretly willed her to look his way, and as if she'd read his mind, slowly she turned, settling those gorgeous smoky gray eyes on him, causing a punch of desire shooting straight through to his stomach.
He'd inquired about Ava to the pretty bartender a while ago. Yes, it was, indeed Ava Denotti's birthday. The bartender asked Shane to buy her boss a drink for her birthday. Shane readily agreed. He couldn’t believe his good luck. Maybe he'd finally be able to touch Ava now that she was divorced. He didn’t dare approach her two years before, while she was still married to the son of a bitch who ran away with Shane's ex-fiancée, Brittany.
Placing the empty bottle on the table, he rose and headed toward her.
Let the games begin.

                    *****

The birthday girl patiently waited while Elena, her bartender and good friend made magic with a bottle of Malibu rum, cranberry juice and Triple Sec. She mixed the ingredients in a shaker, added shaved ice and blended Ava's favorite drink.
After pouring the completed concoction into a martini glass, Elena added a splash of lime, a twist of lemon and slid the drink in front of Ava.
''Here you go boss, happy fortieth."
"Shit, don’t remind me," Ava muttered. She saluted Elena with the glass and took a generous sip, savoring the delicious blend fruit and liquor. With any luck at all, a few more of these babies and she wouldn’t remember what day it was.
Ah, too late. How could she forget that today, she officially became a cliché?  Forty, the big 4-0, she mused. Perched on a corner bar stool, she wondered why on earth she'd dressed up as if she wanted to celebrate this momentous occasion. True, it was a stunning black lace number that did little to hide her generous curves. Maybe she'd worn it because her ex-husband, William, or Dick the Prick, as she now called him, pointed out she had no business wearing it because of the extra weight she'd packed on since the divorce.
Screw the cheating sack of shit.
She struggled to fight the ugly memory of her asshole of a husband. Her thoughts combined with the thirty pounds she’d added on since the divorce. Swallowing another sip, she hoped that with any luck at all, she’d be too drunk by the end of the evening to care about much of anything.
Ava allowed the drink to do its job, closed her eyes and waited. Ah, here it comes, she thought with a smile and welcomed the sensation. The alcohol induced buzz she’d hoped for finally made its appearance. She attempted to forget the humiliation that lingered from Dick's infidelity. The extra weight continued to haunt her, even after that prick had run away with his assistant, the ever-blond, busty, bimbo Brittany. Ava scoffed at the ridiculous alliteration. The twenty something assistant having the illicit affair with the forty-something married boss.
And the wife is the last to know.
Swallowing a deep sigh, Ava spun around to face the crowd of the bar she owned with her younger brother, A.J. She sipped at her drink and smiled, savoring the laughter and conversation that took place in their small, yet thriving establishment. With a Twist enjoyed a steady and faithful clientele. They not only served alcohol, but A.J. always managed to cook up appetizers that were so innovative and tasty, patrons came in just to sample his original fare. Her baby brother also hired local bands to play on the weekends to attract the college crowd,
Several ceiling fans whirred lazily while the jukebox in the corner played Black Eyed Peas. All ten tables were still full at this late hour, and Ava could hardly hear herself think from the noise, but she loved it. She'd grown used to the sounds of people gathering at this place for a long time. Thankfully, With a Twist was the one thing that Dick hadn’t been able to take from her.
When their parents retired to Florida, it was A.J. who’d taken charge of the business, telling Ava that together, they would continue to make the bar a success. Besides being a great brother and clever businessman, A.J. was a charmer with the ladies. Tall and handsome with a boyish smile and warm personality, it was no wonder some of the women that came to the bar were attracted to him like bees to honey.
 Elena was more like a sister than an employee. She tended bar while A.J. managed the workings of With a Twist, making appetizers, dips and salsas for the evening crowd. Glasses clinked and laughter filled the air as Ava observed the flow and mix of humanity much as an audience member enjoyed an interesting play. For instance, the young newlywed couple, Rich and Kelly, huddled at the other end of the bar, shared kisses and whispers, never seemed to tire of one another. Or the young woman who stood forlorn and looking so alone at the front entrance, probably waiting for a date that would never appear. Her friends, Jay and Chad, looking well groomed and handsome as always, discretely held hands under their table. Others sat alone, nursed their drinks, as though trying to forget their troubles.
Ava took a last sip and placed her glass on the mahogany horseshoe surface. She dreaded  walking the short distance upstairs to the tiny apartment above the bar, where she’d been living since the divorce. She'd since purchased a small condo nearby, and would be moving into it soon. Alone. Yeah, forty, divorced, overweight and drunk was definitely not the way to remember this milestone. After all, forty was the new thirty, so she was told.
The new thirty was vastly overrated.
Some of the Saturday night crowd began to thin out, to head toward the exit, some bound for greener pastures. A.J. had already called cabs for some of the more inebriated customers. Others went their separate ways. Some would get lucky tonight; others would go home alone and wake up with a bitch of a hangover.
Time to call it a night, or a decade, Ava thought. She'd made her appearance, downed a few and now it was time to end the pity party.  Maybe she could sneak away before Elena targeted her with the 'you poor thing’ look.
No such luck.
"Did you ever see a dream walking?”
Ava’s silent thoughts dimmed when she followed Elena's wide-eyed stare to the young man who walked toward them.
Man wasn’t the right word. God, deity or idol was more like it. A God with bad boy written all over him.
An Adonis in his late twenties he approached with the confident gait of a man secure in his own skin. And boy, she’d bet the farm that skin was sizzling with white hot testosterone. Ink black hair touched his collar and framed a face that housed warm summer blue eyes, a full lower lip and a nose that had been broken at least once. Yet that small detail did not detract from the fact that every set of female eyes in the bar turned toward him. His overworked jeans hugged long legs and apparently housed the body of an athlete. Her breath hitched and her tummy did somersaults when his crooked smile took aim and pierced her like an arrow.
Breathe, you ninny, in and out. That’s it.
He looked vaguely familiar, but his identity eluded her. Where had she seen those eyes? A customer?
No, if he'd been here before, you'd remember him, she mused. Ava prided herself on the fact that once a person entered her bar, she never forgot their name or face.
Who are you, gorgeous, blue-eyed man?
Elena's soft purr brought her out of her silent musings. “He’s a hottie, Ava. If you wish hard enough, he could be your birthday present. I'll bet the farm he has a nice long birthday candle for you to blow, um, out.”
Ava shook her head, and couldn’t help a soft chuckle. “You have a very vivid imagination. He probably wants to know if I have a daughter.” Yet she found herself hoping her lipstick wasn’t smeared, and her hair was not mussed.
“He probably wants to rip that incredibly sexy dress from your body with his teeth, and devour you like cotton candy.”
Ava frowned. Dream on, she mused with a frown. “You need to stop reading those romance novels, sweetie. They're frying your brain." She shook her head. "Anyway, he’s too young for me and I’m too fat for him.”
Elena placed her palms down on the bar and leaned into Ava. “Why don’t you simply take him upstairs and fuck his brains out? After all, it is your birthday.”
"And why don’t you put the moves on him?" Ava asked "He seems to be your speed. Young, handsome. You're not dating anyone at the moment. You're young and gorgeous and make a mean Cosmo. Why don’t you take some of your own advice and kidnap him?"
Elena stopped what she was doing and frowned. "Ah, because, I, ah…."
"Speechless, huh? Yeah, I thought so," Ava scoffed. Elena didn’t have to answer, because Ave knew who Elena really was attracted to.
Elena thought nobody knew her secret. That she was in love with Ava's little brother, A.J. When on earth were the two of them going to stop behaving like children and go out on a damn date?
Ava decided to change the subject for now and glared at her friend. "It's after midnight, so technically, my birthday is over. And why are you so hell bent on getting me laid?”
Ellie’s eyebrows wriggled. She took Ava’s empty glass. “Because no woman should turn forty and not have a young stud fuck her brains out. It’s an unwritten law, Ava.”
There’s a law I’d like to break.
Ava swallowed. “I wish.”
The young bartender tilted her head and wiggled her eyebrows again. “I’ve heard that some birthday wishes do come true.”
Ava swallowed hard as Mr. Hottie approached. He flashed a smile that nearly knocked her from the stool. Was that an earring in his right ear?
Close up, Ava held her breath as his smile took her breath. A wet dream wrapped around an orgasm waiting to happen, that mouth could no doubt charm the devil from the depths of hell. His body so close that the warmth of his jeans seemed to seep through her dress and burn. She caught a scent of spice and something else.
Sin.
It almost hurt to stare. But stare back, she did. Whatever you do, don't drool on him.
“Hi Ava.” Somehow the sound of her name dripping from that gorgeous mouth forced a moan from her closed lips. Say something else, please.
Her frown brought another bone melting smile that curved his perfect lips. “You don’t remember me, do you?”
Refresh my memory, I beg you.
Gosh, is this what happens when you turn forty? Your brain turns to mush? Other parts of her body responded in kind. Her nipples puckered in response, and a tiny throb began at the center of her pussy.
His voice was as smooth as rich warm syrup. Did she detect a hint of Ireland in his voice?  Ava had an ear for accents. Owning a bar, she always paid close attention to her customers. And in this town, which was a melting pot of cultures and nationalities, she knew a brogue when she heard one. “You seem to know me, but --I’m sorry,” she managed to croak, “Have we met before?”
"You don’t remember me? I'm wounded." His voice was playful and charming.
He held out a large hand and his arm exploded with color from a large, colorful forearm tattoo. From elbow to wrist, the vision of a fearsome dragon, surrounded by lightning bolts wrapped around his bare muscular arm. Visions of those tight arms caressing her while he kissed her senseless bombarded her nerve endings, combined with erotic visions of large hands palming her breasts and sucking her nipples into oblivion. Elena was right.
I need to get laid.
His voice became playful. “Okay, here’s a hint. Two years ago I attended a company Christmas party at your home. I was with my fiancée, Brittany Smith.”
At the mention of the woman who'd had an affair with her husband Ava sobered up, but fast and all but fell off the bar stool as realization dawned. She covered her mouth with fingers that trembled. The light bulb finally illuminated. “Shane?"
He took her hand and cradled it inside his own, and Ava experienced instant warmth. “That's me. Shane Sullivan, Britney’s former fiancé, and now very happy single man. It’s good to see you again, Ava.”  
Ava found it interesting that he’d made it a point to inform her of his availability. But what would he want with her? A forty-year old divorcee with a weight problem. What’s wrong with this picture? What the hell? It wouldn’t hurt to flirt a little with this gorgeous guy, would it?
Ava stared at the black t-shirt tucked into jeans worn white with age and wear. He embraced her hand a little longer than appropriate, yet she didn’t mind.
What would it feel like to have those hands caress and touch her breasts, to have those fingers buried inside her pussy until she exploded into shards of ecstasy?
“It’s good to see you again, too, Shane." Her voice came out in a croak. "What are you drinking?”
He smelled like soap and sex. “It's the man that usually treats the lady.”
Yes, definitely touches of the Irish in that smooth voice. “This so happens to be my bar, so, in honor seeing you again, the drinks are on me.”
His eyebrows rose, and he smiled. “In that case I’ll have a double scotch, rocks if you please.”
Elena tilted her head and gave Ava a mischievous grin. “Another Carib Cosmo, for you, boss?”
“I’m done Elena, but Shane will have a double scotch, ok?”
Elena winked at Shane. “The man knows what he wants.”
Shane answered the bartender, but his eyes never left Ava’s. “I do indeed.”
 “I couldn’t help overhearing you telling the bartender that it’s your birthday.”
“Yes it is,” she answered, her voice sounding a tiny bit slurred.
“I hope you don’t mind that I’ve enjoyed the view all night. I couldn’t help but overhear. If you don't mind me asking, what are you doing all alone on your birthday?”
“I’m not alone,” she laughed, waving her hand to encompass the remaining customers. Play it cool, and don’t make an ass of yourself.
He smiled and a flash of white teeth assailed her senses. “Well, not anymore,” he saluted her with the glass Elena placed before him.
“I own this place, and it’s my choice whether or not I want to be alone. I’m enjoying the atmosphere. I don’t need a date to have fun.”
Shut up, Ava, you’re rambling.
“Good for you.” He threw back his head and downed the shot in one swallow.
Even his Adam's apple is sexy, she mused.
Summer blue eyes tore into hers, freezing her to the spot. “Ever since I saw you at that party two years ago, I haven’t been able to get you out of my mind." At her suspicious look, he continued. "No bullshit, Ava." He shrugged. "But I was engaged at the time and you were married. I can't explain why, that’s just the way it is.”
Ava’s heart fluttered. Oh he was good, very good. Elena re-filled his glass, but it was Ava who took it, and lifted it high to toast him, then took a sip. Her throat burned as the liquor burned its way down her throat and added to the fire in her pussy. She faced him once again.
“You’re hitting on me, aren’t you?”
“Yes, I am. And guess what?” She shook her head and he placed that muscled arm on her thigh. The warmth of his flesh penetrated the fabric of her dress and Ava hoped he hadn’t seen her shiver. Her nipples began to ache and the place between her legs felt moist.
“All I could think of all night, sitting alone, watching you, is what would it be like to have your legs wrapped around me, while I fuck you. I’m a man who says what he means. I want you, darlin' Ava. Now, here, anywhere, you name it.”
Ava flushed heat. Did he just say he wanted to fuck her? Yes, he did. So now what should she do?
Am I so desperate that I'm going to fuck a virtual stranger? Have I lost my mind?
“You just come right out and say what you mean, don’t you?”
Shane nodded. “Yeah, I’m funny that way.”

_______________________________

Red Sage Publishing, Inc. © 2011 All Rights Reserved