Whetted Appetites Read online

  His mother was the happiest she had been in a very long time. Not having to worry about where her next meal was going to come from or if she would be able to make rent were things of the past. He wanted it to be only a distant memory for her. She wouldn’t ever forget where she came from. She told him one day that those hard times helped her build character and were mere stepping stones to get to something much better.

  And, as always, his mom was right. Her life had developed her into a very wise and patient woman.

  Now she could enjoy the life of leisure she was entitled to. Lord knows she’d worked triple what a normal person would have. He was proud to have her as his mother. Money may make some things easier but it couldn’t buy true happiness or a wonderful parent. It certainly couldn’t buy love and his mom was rich in that. He had something that money could never buy: a mother’s unconditional love.

  Dalton had been adamant about sending her on a much needed cruise. It was time for her to take it easy and have all the fun she could handle.

  “You deserve a vacation, too, Son. You do know that you’ve worked very hard and at a younger age than your peers?”

  “Yes, ma’am. But, it’s your time, Mom. You’ve done enough to last three lifetimes. I don’t know of any one else that is more worthy than you.” He knew as well as his mother that he was a sentimental kind of guy. “And you went on trying to make a living for yourself and to put food on the table. We wouldn’t be here is it wasn’t for you,” he finished, his voice thick with emotion.

  His mom sniffed. “Oh, honey. That’s just what a mother loves to hear from her children.”

  “Mom, I didn’t mean to make you cry. You’re on vacation. You’re supposed to be laughing, smiling…….flirting with dashing old men,” he quipped.

  “’Old men’?!” His mother tried to sound appalled but he heard a smile in her voice. “I’m looking for a young buck now. Actually, he’s just about five years younger.”

  “What!” Dalton shot up in his seat. He heard a faint chuckle. “So, you’ve already found a nice young man, huh?”

  “Yes. I believe I have. He’s very much a gentleman. He took me out to eat at a very classy restaurant. We had coconut crusted prawns with a hint of lime, a salad almost too pretty to eat and an assortment of cheeses and gorgeous tropical fruits for dessert. It was so delicious that if I kept on eating, I would’ve had to go up a dress size.”

  Dalton laughed. “That does sound good. I’m truly happy for you, mom.”

  “I’m happy, too, Dalton. I didn’t think I would ever find a man I felt strongly about after your father died. Of course, no one will ever replace your father. I’ll always love him. But, I know he would want me to live my life and find happiness again.”

  Dalton felt a lump in his throat. “He would want that for you. I’m glad you found someone to make you smile.” His stomach growled. “I think talking about those prawns made me hungry for some seafood.”

  “Have you been eating well, Dalton?” It was a concerned question his mother asked on more than one occasion. It’s an old habit that she just couldn’t shake even though he was now financially secure. Not that he could blame her. It was practically imprinted in her DNA now.

  “I’m eating plenty,” he assured her. “Believe me. Three squares and a couple of snacks to boot.” He hoped his assurance relieved her anxiety about keeping food in the fridge.

  He heard his mother sigh gratefully.

  “I’ll eat, watch a little television, shower and go to bed. I’ve got a meeting tomorrow. Among other things,” he elucidated.

  “’Other things’…….like a date?” His mom was very perceptive and usually hit a bulls’ eye every time when it came to her children.

  “I’m having a conference with my shipping crew. A couple of shipments weren’t on time and her business requires good organization and timing. After that, I’m going over to her bakery to let her know. She’s a caterer and she invited me to check out her store and sample some of her creations.”

  “Well,” his mother said cheerfully. “Who is the lucky girl?”

  “Victoria Bradley.”

  His mother was quiet for a moment before she said, “Bradley…Bradley. Hmmmm, now where have I heard that name before?”

  “She’s the owner of a new bakery, ‘The SweetTooth’.” Dalton supplied.

  “No…..no……I’ve heard that name somewhere else….” His mother sighed, obviously a little frustrated at not being able to place the name.

  “It’ll come to you, mom. It usually happens when you stop thinking about it. It works that way for me. But, right now, you’re supposed to be having the time of your life,” he reminded her.

  “I am, Sweetie.”

  “Good. Now go and get back to your young suitor,” Dalton urged lightly.

  His mother giggled. Dalton’s eyes widened. That giggle meant she was happy. Very, very happy.

  “He’s taking me dancing tonight,” she told him.

  “Well, you better hurry and get ready for the ball, Cinderella. I’m sure Prince Charming’s waiting for you,” he teased.

  “Oh, you. All right then. I’ll say good-bye for now. I love you, son.”

  “I love you, too, Mom.” Dalton grinned as he placed the phone back into its cradle.

  He got up and went into the kitchen. He peered into the refrigerator, contemplating what he wanted for dinner.

  Too bad Victoria wasn’t on the menu. He wouldn’t mind feasting on her luscious body for a few hours.

  Recalling what his mom told him she had for dinner, Dalton decided to fry a catfish fillet. To go along with that, he made some slaw and hushpuppies then sat down to eat.

  As he chewed thoughtfully, his mind drifted to sexy brown eyes and soft black tresses. Full, sweet lips that he ached to taste. He wanted to see if Victoria’s lips were as sweet as they looked.

  She had a ripe, fit body he wanted to bury himself in. Deeply and hungrily.

  He wondered how she moaned and cried out when she was being touched, teased and petted.

  Would she purr like a kitten or would she growl like a tigress?

  Given the way she was today—all fire and palpable sexuality—he’d bet on the latter.

  He wanted the enticing Victoria Bradley. Seeing the way she looked at him, throw in some apt innuendoes and he knew she wanted him just as much as he did.

  Would it be so terrible to, just once, give in to his desires? He was responsible. They were both consenting adults. They wouldn’t be hurting any one.

  Was Max right? Had he been carrying the world on his shoulders? He smiled. Why not put her legs there instead?

  He had no problems fantasizing about how her coltish legs wrapped around his shoulders as he plundered her. He could see the way her full breasts would bounce to the rhythm of his trusts, her eyes clouded over in lust and satisfaction.

  Dalton realized he was trying to justify having a casual fling with Victoria and, yet, he couldn’t find anything wrong with it.

  Dalton felt the beginnings of a powerful hard on in his pants. He was throbbing and in much need of release. It’s what he needed. But, what he really needed was to be inside Victoria.

  At the thought of her soft, pliable body, his erection jerked in response. It was straining against his fly.

  Right now, he’d have to settle with a long, hot shower. He went to the bathroom and stripped off his clothes and stepped into the steaming spray.

  The hot water felt good and only enhanced the fever in his groin.

  He rubbed his chest with soap, letting the tiny bubbles slide down his stomach. He had the perfect mental picture of Victoria rubbing his chest and abs clean. She would flick her tongue across his nipples, nip his earlobes then kiss him passionately. She would go down and wrap her hot little mouth around his aching shaft and suck him hard and deep.

  He closed his own hand around his penis and stroked. Slowly at first, savoring the feel of the water against his skin, making it slippery and hot. He m
oved his hand back and forth, visualizing Victoria’s breasts pressed against his chest, her nipples in his face, begging to be licked and sucked and massaged.

  His hand was moving faster. Seeing in his fantasy of being buried deep inside Victoria brought on a ragged groan from his lips.

  His body was tense, ready for release. A few more hard and vigorous strokes, he let out a guttural cry and felt himself release.

  He leaned his head back against the tile of the shower, breathing rapidly.

  After he finished washing, he stepped out of the shower and looked at his reflection in the mirror.

  Oh, man. He had to have Victoria. And soon.

  Chapter Four

  “Do you understand me, Mr. Donegan?” Dalton looked his shipping clerk squarely in the eyed, claiming respect. He got it.

  Paul Donegan shifted uneasily under the glare of his boss. “Yes, Mr. Hughes. I’m sorry. I’ll make sure it’ll never happen again. I swear it,” he vowed firmly.

  Dalton eased up on his hard stare. “See that it doesn’t. Miss Bradley has always pain her bills on time and she deserves to have her shipments delivered on time as well.”

  Paul nodded eagerly, not wanting to upset his boss anymore than he already was. Dalton Hughes was a fair employer, but if someone messed up one too many times and did not correct the mistake, they might as well look for another job. Besides, this was one job Paul loved to do and did it well. He was going to have to watch his crew to find out who was trying to goof off on his clock. Since he was the manager of the shipping crew, the responsibility lay solely on his shoulders.

  Paul meant what he said. The mistake would not happen again.

  “You go advise your employees to take heed of my warning. Any more mishaps and I will personally terminate their position at my company.” Dalton stated firmly.

  “Yes sir,” Paul said quickly as he left Dalton’s office.

  Dalton fell back in his chair. Man, how he hated to have to fire someone. He couldn’t sit behind his desk and say, “You’re fired” as easily as discussing lunch.

  But when it came down to it, he would if need be. Any one slacking on their duties didn’t make for good business. He would soon lose business, customers and earn an unfavorable reputation.

  Dalton flat-out refused to lose a position he worked too hard for. He worked hard all his life for this. He sure wasn’t giving up now.

  He glanced at the clock. It was almost lunchtime. He decided to go and grab a bite to eat then drive over to Victoria’s bakery. He would inform her that the shipping situation was taken care of. He would try some of the sweets she had offered him and hopefully he would be able to sample her in the near future.

  That is if he could find his tongue and if it worked when he found out it was still in his mouth. He could find better reasons to use it and they all required Victoria’s naked body.

  Victoria handed a customer a box of coffee flavored truffles. “Thank you and have a nice day.”

  The lady smiled happily. More like split her face in two, holding her chocolates. This woman was a regular and a chocoholic at that. She always came in with a desperate look on her face and the minute Victoria handed her the box, her eyes glazed over as if in euphoria. Chocolate did have that effect on most women; including yours truly. She understood the need for a chocolate fix every now and again.

  She’d read somewhere that chocolate contained some kind of chemical that when eaten, it hit the part of the brain that controls pleasure. It was supposed to be the near equivalent of being in love. Victoria would agree with those findings. But how much chocolate were you supposed to eat if you weren’t getting any in the bedroom for a while? If she used chocolate as a replacement for sex, she would eventually become the size of a beached whale. She surely wouldn’t be getting it then.

  Now that Dalton played into the picture that might all just change. As good as he looked; he could be her equivalent to her chocolate fantasy. She had no qualms about licking his body clean of chocolate syrup.

  Victoria walked from behind the counter to the front entrance and locked up for lunch. Chef salad for her; Alfredo for Melissa. Victoria grabbed two bottles of water from the refrigerator and handed one to Melissa. She sat down and began eating.

  “So. What’s with all this mystery, Victoria?” Melissa wanted to know.

  Victoria took a sip of water. She gave Melissa her best innocent look. “What are you talking about?”

  “All day, you’ve been looking like the cat that ate the canary. You’ve also been avoiding any talk about Dalton when just yesterday he was the main subject of our discussion.” Melissa looked at her suspiciously while twirling her Alfredo on her fork. She couldn’t help but smile. “Come on, Victoria. You know patience is not my strong point.”

  Victoria contemplated about what to say to her. “Nothing’s going on. Really,” she said when Melissa gave her a doubtful look.

  Victoria speared a bite of greenery and chewed thoughtfully. She swallowed before saying, “Just wait a little while longer. Please? I’m not entirely sure about it so it’s best I not say anything.”

  Melissa sighed. “Okay.” She smiled mischievously. “It has to be a good one if you’re holding out on me.”

  Victoria just smiled and continued eating. As she told Melissa, she didn’t want to tell her yet because she didn’t even know for certain if Dalton was going to drop by at all. She hoped that he would, though.

  Around one o’clock—lunch eaten—Victoria opened the bakery doors.

  Ten minutes before closing, she helped a woman decide between a blueberry and strawberry cheesecake.

  “I don’t know.” She shook her head. “I love them both but the good Lord knows I don’t need them both.”

  “Well, how about I give you half of each?” Victoria suggested.

  “Oh, that’s very sweet of you, my dear,” she smiled as she opened her purse to fish out her wallet.

  “It’s no problem at all, ma’am.” Victoria cut into thick and decadent cheesecakes and placed the halves in a gold pastry box. She rang up the total and they lady thanked her and practically skipped out of the door.

  “Oh, thank you, young man,” the patron grinned as she headed for her car.

  Victoria looked up from the cash register to see Dalton thoughtfully holding the door open for the lady.

  “My pleasure, ma’am,” Dalton responded.

  Victoria was not the nervous kind of woman but the way his body moved she found butterflies fluttering in the pit of her stomach. She hid that peculiar feeling with a brilliant smile. She watched him as he sauntered up to the counter.

  What a walk. His body moved with such a fluid motion and there was confidence in that gait. Victoria could see it a mile away. She didn’t miss the determination in his bright eyes either.

  Dalton walked up to Victoria. The first thing he noticed was her. As he breathed in an excited breath, he noticed the aroma of the store.

  Fresh breads, pies of all flavors, cakes and cookies by the dozens and candies he didn’t recognize. But all of it smelled mouth-watering.

  Looking at Victoria was enough to make his mouth water; confections be damned.

  She looked positively delectable in her baker’s uniform. He noticed a smudge of chocolate near the breast of her apron.

  His body tightened at the thought of licking it off for her.

  “Hello there, Mr. Hughes.” Victoria let her gaze sweep up and down his body openly. She was just glad there were no other customers right now. “Welcome to ‘The SweetTooth’.”

  “Thank you.” Dalton sniffed the air appreciatively. He caught a wisp of what he was sure was Victoria’s perfume. Vanilla. He could have sworn she was wearing vanilla-scented perfume. That combined with her lithe figure was almost too intoxicating.

  He found her eyeing him once again. He cleared his throat. “It smells marvelous in here. And, please, call me Dalton.”

  Victoria grinned and nodded. “As long as you call me Victoria…….
Dalton.” His name rolling off her sweet lips sounded more like a purr or a moan. It did things to his insides as well as a specific thing outside.

  “Very well. Victoria.”

  She had to keep from sighing at the way her name sounded coming from Dalton’s mouth. She was glad she was behind the counter or else he would have seen her legs quiver just slightly.

  They stood in silence, entranced by each other, looking as if they could gobble the other in a matter of minutes. If the store was closed and if there was no one else around, they might have done just that.

  The way Dalton’s suit hugged his body made Victoria’s breath catch and her mouth go dry. The dark blue color was made for him. Sexy. Very sexy.

  “Victoria, where are----“Melissa stopped dead in her tracks.

  Victoria quickly regained her composure. Not very professional, Bradley, she berated herself.

  “Melissa, this is……” Oh, hell. His perusing blue eyes made her forget what she was supposed to say. This was a new one on her.

  Melissa stepped in to save her struggling best friend. “Let me guess.” She reached her hand out. “You must be Mr. Dalton Hughes.”

  “Yes. And you are…?” He grabbed her hand.

  “Melissa Trenton. Nice to meet you, Mr. Hughes.”

  “Nice to meet you, Miss Trenton.” Though he smiled, he couldn’t hide the perplexed look on his face. “And how do you know who I am, Melissa Trenton?”

  “That’s easy,” Melissa shrugged. “Victoria said you looked like the guy who plays ‘Damon Salvatore’.”

  “Oh, she did, did she?” Dalton let his gaze wander to Victoria, expecting to see her flustered, but she was just as composed as before. Did nothing embarrass this enigmatic wonder?

  “Of course, Dalton,” Victoria admitted simply. “I think Ian is absolutely sexy.”

  “I second that,” Melissa put in.

  Dalton flushed slightly at the comparison of the actor and himself. He had no idea he looked anything like him. Apparently, he did resemble him somewhat, given the look of admiration on both women’s faces.