Stripped Read Online Free Page A

stiffened.
    Curves?
    Did he really have to go there?
    Emily swallowed hard, unsure if the curves comment was a jab or not.  The man had so much confidence in himself, he didn’t care if he hurt Emily’s feelings. 
    With another drumstick count-off, the next band began. 
    The roar of distorted guitars and bass had Emily’s body rumbling.  Her heart pounded but that had already happened thanks to the stranger.
    He came at her with speed, his lips back to her ear. 
    “Come with me, right now.”
    He stood up, his hand clamping around Emily’s wrist.  He tugged and Emily resisted.  She looked up at him, a towering man of sensual desire.  She worried that if she stood, her knees would give out.  Looking around the club, Emily’s eyes focused on the door she had come through, after Ann sent her away from the backstage indulgence of drugs and sex. 
    Isn’t that what Ann wanted?
    What was the harm of a little fun?
    There wasn’t anything the man could really do... they were in a club, right?
    “Now,” he called out, his voice rising above the music.
    Emily looked up at the man.  Her eyes drew a mental line along his perfect jaw.  Her tongue ached, wanting to move along that jaw.
    She stood up and she didn’t fall. 
    The man turned and began to walk, Emily right behind him.  They worked their way along the side of the stage, reaching the metal gates separating the crowd from the band area.  A bouncer rushed over and put a hand to the man’s shoulder.  He quickly twisted the bouncer’s wrist and pulled him down.  Again, with something whispered, the bouncer nodded and backed away, allowing them through.
    Emily saw the door she had come through again, but the man kept moving beyond that, to a set of steps.  Three steps down was a landing, followed by another set of steps.  Emily didn’t count those steps, there were too many.  But at the bottom was another landing, this one much bigger.  That’s where he stopped, quickly pulling Emily and putting her in the corner.  A small light hung overhead and the area smelled of wet stone.
    “What is this?” Emily asked.
    “This... well, down there is the basement.  You don’t want to go down there.”
    “Monsters?” Emily bit her lip.  She couldn’t believe how flirty she felt.
    “There’s monsters everywhere,” the man said.  “But we’re not here to talk about monsters, or the basement, are we?”
    “I don’t know.  You brought me here.”
    The music was mostly silent, the stone walls thick enough to absorb most of the sound.
    “You’re right,” the man said.  “I did bring you down here, didn’t I?”
    “Can I ask why?”
    “You just did.”
    “Are you going to answer me then?”
    “I prefer... a little action...”
    He reached down and took Emily’s left wrist.  He lifted her hand over her head, forcing her arm flat against the wall.  His fingers ran against her arm, making her shiver and wiggle, somewhere stuck between being tickled and being pleasured.  Of course, the pleasure came manifested in her mind, wondering just how far this sexy man would go and what he had to offer.
    “Leave your arm up,” he commanded.
    Emily listened.
    He grasped her right wrist and repeated the move. 
    Both of Emily’s hands were above her head.  It wasn’t much of a submissive move but the closest to any submission Emily could remember in a long time. 
    “Now,” he whispered, coming towards her, “I’m going to tell you my name.  And I want you to tell me how it feels.”
    His lips touched Emily’s for a second.
    “Bryce,” he whispered. 
    “Bryce,” Emily repeated, her lips touching his as she said it.
    “That’s right.”
    Both of Bryce’s hands touched Emily’s hips. 
    Emily felt her arms starting to bend, wanting to grab him and demand to know why he  touched her.  She resisted the self conscious urge to do so, and instead, bent her knees and sighed.
    “Your curves are perfect, Emily,” he said.  “Your name is