Magic at Midnight

MAGIC AT MIDNIGHT MARTEEKA KARLAND

www.beautifultroublepublishing.com

Magic at Midnight Marteeka Karland Copyright © 2011 by Marteeka Karland All Rights Reserved. No part of this book may be reproduced or shared in any form, including but not limited to: printing, photocopying, faxing, recording, electronic transmission, or by any information storage or retrieval system without prior written permission from the authors or holders of the copyright. This book is a work of fiction. References may be made to locations and historical events; however, names, characters, places and incidents are the products of the author’s imagination and/or used fictitiously. Any resemblance to actual persons (living or dead), businesses, events or locales is either used fictitiously or coincidental. All trademarks, service marks, registered trademarks, and registered service marks are the property of their respective owners and are used herein for identification purposes only. Published by Beautiful Trouble Publishing, LLC PO Box 61 Colfax, NC 27235 www.beautifultroublepublishing.com Cover Art: Marteeka Karland http://www.marteekakarland.com/ Editor: Cindy Davis, http://www.fiction-doctor.com/ Proofreader: Novellette Whyte http://authorgurunovellette.blogspot.com/ Formatter: Savannah J. Frierson, http://sjfbooks.com/editing/ E-book Conversion: Jim & Zetta, http://www.jimandzetta.com/ ISBN: (e-book) 978-1-61788-180-0

Happy New Year—Marteeka

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CAVEAT This work of erotica contains adult language and sexually explicit scenes, which are smoking hot. This book is intended only for adults, as it is defined by the laws of the country in which the purchase is made. Keep this book out of the hands of under-aged readers.

Magic at Midnight Jeannette scowled at her friends mingling in the festive living room. Lori with her new husband Damien, and their daughter Jessica, had everyone's attention. The little girl was simply too cute for words. The couple looked as proud as two people could be. Two more of Jeannette's colleagues, twins Caleb and Connor Jackson, coo-ed and baby-talked to the newborn. The pair looked impossibly funny, big as they were, obviously wrapped around the little girl's finger. Li and Nikki Zhu stood near the bar. The couple watched the byplay with obvious interest and amusement. The exotic-looking man had his arm around Nikki’s waist. All of them looked happier than anyone had a right to be. It was exactly what Christmas was all about. And it was damned depressing. Oh, she was happy for her friends. Their men loved them to pieces. Without reservation. Hell, Lori'd had another man’s child! Damien still wooed her, won her trust, and guarded her like a prized treasure. It was also obvious he couldn’t love baby Jessica more had she been his own flesh and blood daughter. They were all good men for her girlfriends. Jeannette

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wanted that for herself. She had promised herself a long time ago that she would never settle for “good enough.” She wanted the fairy tale. She wanted a man who sent her heart pounding with a mere look. She wanted to be inspired to go with him to the movie wearing her favorite knee-length leather coat...and nothing else. She wanted a man who possessed her and loved her as fiercely as she loved him. So far, nothing had even come close. While watching her friends made her painfully aware she’d be spending another New Year’s Eve alone, it also gave her hope. The four men were living proof that good, decent men still existed in the world. Leaning against the doorframe, Jeannette was so absorbed in the shared camaraderie, she was unaware of a man’s presence behind her…until his arm snaked around her waist, his body pressed tight against her back. “Don’t look so sad, cher.” The deep, rumbling Cajun accent wrapped around her middle like warm honey. Just like the man himself. Jacques Benoit was not the man she’d had in mind. While she could imagine all the kinky sex she could handle—and Lord, she wanted to participate in that with him—he was too much of a ladies man. He was nothing more than a walking, talking heartbreak-waiting-to-happen. Why in the world she’d come to this party—his party, in his

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domain was beyond her. She should have stayed at home where it was safe. Then again, what fun would that have been? “I’m not sad. I was just thinking how wonderful it would be to have,” she gestured toward the group, “that.” She’d known Jacques for years. They’d gone to college together, shared an apartment with three other people during med school, and pulled more all-night study sessions than she cared to think about. “Hmmm...” Jacques rested his chin on her shoulder, apparently mulling over her comments. “I can see where that would be very pleasant indeed.” His warm breath fanned her ear, creating havoc with her insides. Heat pooled low in her belly and her skin erupted in chill bumps. This was decidedly uncomfortable. And naughty. Instead of joining his colleagues in the festivities, Jacques seemed to be content to stay where he was, which only made Jeannette squirm more. “Don’t you have someplace else to be?” He nuzzled her neck, seeming to mull over the question. “Mmmm...not that I can think of.” “It’s almost midnight.” Was that her sounding so breathless? She absolutely could not show weakness in front of Jacques. If he smelled blood in the water, she was a goner. He’d take her, seduce her, and, well...

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take her. And she’d never be the same while he’d simply put another notch on his bedpost. “Sure is.” He adjusted his hold on her, nestling into the curve of her much smaller body. Jeannette tried to wiggle away but he didn’t seem to notice. His hold never loosened. “Jacques.” The protest forming on her lips died when everyone in the room started the traditional countdown to the new year. “Ten! Nine! Eight!” Jacques held her close, not moving. Not letting her pull away. Jeannette's heart pounded. Something wasn’t right. She could feel forces shifting, moving against her, driving her toward Jacques no matter how hard she wanted to fight it. Okay, so that wasn’t exactly true. She didn’t want to fight her attraction for him exactly. She just didn’t want to wake up to an empty bed the next morning. “Seven! Six! Five!” He turned her. Gently but firmly until she faced him, his big, muscular body pinning her against the doorframe. Jeannette was sure her heart was going to explode. Omigod! Was he really going to kiss her? She could handle one little New Year’s Eve kiss. Couldn’t she? Her gaze fell to his perfect, lush mouth. She

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couldn’t stop her tongue as it darted out to moisten her lips nervously. “Four! Three! Two!” Sweet Jesus, if he didn’t kiss her, she’d be completely mortified! Jeannette’s body clenched; sweat dotted her upper lip. She’d not been this nervous since final exams in med school. It was only a kiss, for heaven’s sake! She’d been kissed before. “One! Happy New Year!” The crowd cheered joyously, but before they could start a rousing chorus of “Auld Lang Syne,” Jacques did indeed kiss her. Well, kiss was too poor a term for what the man did to her. He fused his mouth with hers and took possession of her every sense. All Jeanette could do was cling to him and hope to hell he hadn’t already captured her heart just as easily. Happy celebratory noise wafted around them, but to Jeannette, it was merely a dull roar. Jacques consumed her. His strong hands molded her softer curves as if he had every right to touch her. Somewhere in her mind, she knew she should protest, but deep in her soul, she knew it was futile. Jacques was only claiming what had been his for a very long time. His tongue danced with hers, coaxing her to explore as he did. Her fingers found the silky curls of his hair and tangled there as if they had a life of their

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own. Pulling back wasn’t an option. The feel of his lips, possessing hers, was too much to resist. Jeannette wasn’t certain she wanted to resist. Had she not dreamt of this for a very long time? Would it really hurt? Just one little kiss? Perhaps if it had been “just one little kiss” she’d have been able to walk away, but she very much doubted it. In any case, when Jacques finally lifted his head from hers, he didn’t let her go. Those clear, green eyes captured hers, seeming to speak without words. Lust and need seemed to make his eyes shine. Jeannette recognized the determination in his face from their med school days. There was something he wanted and Jacques never stopped until he’d reached his goal. He pulled her to him, a tight embrace. Was it her imagination, or was his heart pounding just as hard as hers? He rested his chin on the top of her head. Jeannette was glad because she used that time to try to get herself together. She had to walk away. Now. “Don’t even think ‘bout runnin’ from me, cher.” She barely heard him over the din of laughter and song. “It’s past time we did this.” She didn’t know what to say. Wasn’t sure she could speak even if she did. All she could do was cling to his shirt and try not to let her rubbery knees collapse her in a heap at his feet. There was no way she could resist if he pushed her into his bed. She simply

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didn’t have it in her to resist the hard perfection of his body or the deep, sexy Cajun drawl. Combine that with the kind of man she knew him to be and she was nothing more than putty in his hands. She’d go to his bed, willingly, and damn the consequences. With no further preamble, Jacques scooped her up and slipped into the hallway. “Wait,” Jeannette pushed ineffectively at his chest. “You can’t leave everyone here by themselves. It’s your party.” “Exactly. And I’ll do exactly as I please. Right now, it pleases me to get you into my bed where you belong.” His words sent another little streak of electricity straight to her damp sex. This was all like some twisted, erotic dream. The one man she’d dreamt about as long as she’d known him. The one man who could break her heart without a second thought. As if she weighed nothing, he hurried up the stairs and down the hall to the master bedroom, kicking the door shut behind him as they entered. Jeannette barely had a chance to register the deep forest green and burgundy dominant in the room before he tossed her on the bed and followed her down. He whipped off his shirt as he sank on to the bed, covering her body with his. Jeannette was a petite woman, but the nature of her job meant she was a take-charge kind of woman. Jacques was the only

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person she’d ever met who made her actually feel tiny. He was a good foot taller and had at least a hundred pounds—if not more—on her. Now, with him enclosing her body in those strong arms, she felt the difference in their sizes. It only served to fuel her lust even more. Again, he kissed her, took her breath away with his possession. This was exactly how she’d imagined him taking her. Taking her. He wouldn’t leave room to protest. He’d swept her along in a sea of such passion and pleasure there was no way she could fight it, or him. She raked her nails along that wonderfully muscular, broad back, needing to mark him as hers. He might well leave her after this was over, but she’d brand him as much as he branded her. Finding the waistband of his jeans, she dug one hand beneath them, beneath the waist of his underwear to find the firm flesh of his ass. God, she needed this! Needed this man. Jacques pulled away from her to raise her sweater over her head. He didn’t wait to take off her bra, but groaned and found one nipple through the lace. “So beautiful,” he murmured. “So...mine.” Jeannette couldn’t help the way her body reacted to those two little words. She wanted to be his but didn’t dare believe in it more than in that moment.

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After it was over, she’d go back to being Jeannette. His friend. His colleague. Not his lover. Oh, hell no! Jeannette pushed with all her might and rolled, flipping them so she was on top of him. She rubbed her body over him like a cat before sitting up and unfastening her bra. His eyes were immediately glued to their toffee-colored fullness cupped so lovingly by her bra. They were small, but firm and full, rising almost perfectly from her chest without a hint of sag. She had never been more thankful in her life she’d kept herself in shape than she was in that moment when she saw the heat in those lovely green eyes. He raised his hands to cup their weight almost reverently, brushing his thumbs over the dark nipples. She shuddered, the peaks tightening under his touch. His chest was dusted liberally with dark hair, muscles playing across it and down his abdomen. Suddenly, she couldn’t wait another second to see the rest of him. She slid off the bed, unbuttoning her jeans as she went. When he followed her, she reached for the waist of his jeans, fumbling impatiently with the button and zipper. That deep, rumbling chuckle tickled her insides again. “Impatient, cher?” “I’ve waited for this moment since the day I met you, Jacques,” she practically panted. Dammit, she had to have this night. There was magic at midnight

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on New Year’s Eve and she was willing to lose herself in it. “I’m not waiting a second longer.” They must have broken every record for shedding clothing because before she knew it, she was back in his bed with Jacques kissing his way down her body. Her thighs trembled when he spread them and kissed her belly right above her pubic bone. She never been so glad in her life she kept her body free of hair, because his tongue on all that bare flesh was seriously starting a fire she wasn’t sure either of them would survive. Jacques wasn’t a man to waste words. He simply growled and dove right in. His tongue speared her opening before taking one long, slow lick from pussy to clit with the flat of his tongue. Jeannette couldn’t stop her scream if she’d tried. Quite frankly, she didn’t particularly care to try. She didn’t care if he knew how bad she wanted him. He’d started this, dammit. She intended to finish it. If he didn’t kill her with pleasure first. Several times as he tongued her, Jeannette was certain she would come, but each time, Jacques pulled back. Finally, after the third time, she screeched and yanked him up by his hair. He laughed and covered her body with his much bigger one. She tasted herself on him when he kissed her, and, oh my God, what a turn on! It was a primitive, possessive thing on her

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part, but she loved that he tasted like her. He delved his tongue into her mouth over and over, mimicking the act she craved so much. She tilted her pelvis at him, inviting him inside her, but he merely let his cock slide against the wetness of her folds. And, Lord, was she wet! She’d never been this turned on in her life! “If you don’t fuck me soon, Jacques, I swear I won’t be responsible for my actions.” Again, he chuckled. Lord, how she loved that sound! It was the sexiest thing, next to that delicious drawl, she’d ever heard. “Well, I’ve never been one to disappoint a lady.” And he slid home. There were so many things Jeannette knew she needed to consider—important things. But for the life of her, none of it would come to her. The only thing that mattered was the man above her, gliding into her so smoothly. He filled her completely. Stretched her almost to the point of pain, but she reveled in it. Pleasure consumed her she wrapped her legs around him, linking them behind his back. In the distance, she heard little mewling cries. It was hard to make them out for the roaring in her ears as the pressure built inside her to a boiling point. It took her a moment to realize, she was making the noise. She should have been ashamed at how needy she sounded, but Jacques seemed to love it.

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“That’s it, cher. Tell me how good it feels.” His whisper was husky in her ear, sounding almost as needy as she did. “Take what you need. Come for me, bebe, come for me.” Just like that, as if all she’d been waiting for was his soft command, Jeannette exploded. Lights danced behind her eyelids and she screamed her pleasure for all she was worth. Her body seized and clenched with her release, needing more, though Jeannette wasn’t sure she could stand much more. Not all at once anyway. Jacques ragged breathing signaled his own release and before she could protest—not that she would have—he emptied himself deep inside her. His warm seed bathed her insides and she welcomed his possession. In that moment, she was well and truly his. They lay there a moment before Jacques rolled them over, pulling up the thick comforter to cover them both. He pulled her snugly against his body, wrapping his arms tightly around her. Once the orgasmic high wore off, the reality of what she’d done sank in. It would be so much easier if she left now rather than have to face him in the morning. “Let me up, Jacques.” “No,” he said simply, not easing his hold in her.

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“I need to go.” She tried to protest, she really did. She didn’t want to leave, but there didn’t really seem like an alternative. They were in his house. His bed. Hell, everyone downstairs had probably heard her screaming and knew exactly what was going on. Better she leave now while everyone could witness her leaving than to have them speculating about the rest of her weekend in the arms of Dr. Jacques Benoit. “No, you don’t.” He shifted so her head laid back on his arm rather than on his chest so he could tilt her chin and force her to look at him. “In fact, once we get your things from your apartment, you’ll never be leaving again. Not for any length of time, anyway.” Had he lost his mind? Had she? Her heart gave a little lurch. Dare she hope? “I— This is your home, Jacques. Not mine.” He gave her a boyish, lopsided grin that made her insides melt all over again. “It will be. It’s after midnight, cher. The magic of midnight on New Years Eve dictates that, whatever you’re doing at that precise moment, you’ll do all year long.” Coming from anyone else, Jeannette would have dismissed it as so much bullshit, but she knew Jacques. He never said or did anything he didn’t mean. Every woman he’d ever dated knew exactly where she stood with him, and none of them had been

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surprised when he kissed them goodbye for the last time. She couldn’t resist a little teasing. “So, I’ve managed to tame the playboy then?” “Well, my mama was a voodoo queen, so I happen to believe in magic.” “Your mama was no such thing and she’d whip your ass for even suggesting it.” He laughed and pulled her close. “You can rat me out at our wedding if you want. I don’t think she’d mind, given the result.” And wouldn’t you know, she didn’t.

**MARTEEKA**

MARTEEKA KARLAND Erotic romance author by night, emergency room tech/clerk by day, Marteeka Karland works really hard to drive everyone in her life completely and totally nuts. She has been creating stories from her warped imagination since she was in the third grade. Her love of writing blossomed throughout her teenage years until it developed into the totally unorthodox and irreverent style her English teachers tried so hard to rid her of. Want to see what’s up with Marteeka? Check out her website at www.marteekakarland.com or join her Yahoo! group at [email protected]. Marteeka always welcomes e-mail from her readers. You can reach her at [email protected].