Forty-Nine Shades Are Close Enough Read online

  Published by Evernight Publishing ® at Smashwords

  www.evernightpublishing.com

  Copyright© 2014 Berengaria Brown

  ISBN: 978-1-77233-168-4

  Cover Artist: Jay Aheer

  Editor: Lisa Petrocelli

  ALL RIGHTS RESERVED

  WARNING: The unauthorized reproduction or distribution of this copyrighted work is illegal. No part of this book may be used or reproduced electronically or in print without written permission, except in the case of brief quotations embodied in reviews.

  This is a work of fiction. All names, characters, and places are fictitious. Any resemblance to actual events, locales, organizations, or persons, living or dead, is entirely coincidental.

  DEDICATION

  To readers of erotic romance everywhere.

  ACKNOWLEDGEMENTS

  Excerpts are from the erotic romance novels of Berengaria Brown.

  FORTY-NINE SHADES

  ARE CLOSE ENOUGH

  Berengaria Brown

  Copyright © 2014

  Chapter One

  Dammit, what’s wrong with me? Was Joe right? Am I just a useless frigid bitch?

  No, that can’t be true. I have lots of orgasms at home in my bed.

  Yeah, alone!

  Shut up!

  Deliberately, Audrey relaxed her tense muscles, running her fingers through Yanni’s soft black curls. Damn, I’d kill for hair like that!

  She stroked her palms down lower, over the ripped muscles of his back as his mouth worked on her nipples. He was rolling them so much better than she could touch them herself, with just the perfect amount of suction from his mouth to stretch and tease them. So why aren’t I wet? I should be flooded with moisture by now, he’s so damn good at this.

  Audrey felt her body grow tense again and tears filled her eyes.

  What’s wrong with me? The best-looking man at work, the man I’ve lusted over for months, takes me to bed, and nothing’s happening downstairs. He’s perfect and I’m useless. I’m a failure!

  Tears fell in earnest down her face now, and Audrey panicked. She pushed Yanni’s head off her breasts and scrambled clumsily from the bed.

  Yanni sat back on his heels and looked up at her, confusion and hurt mingled on his face. His huge, liquid-brown eyes, eyes she had likened to the finest chocolate, stared at her in dismay. “Audrey? Precious? Am I doing something wrong? I thought—”

  Audrey threw her skirt and sweater on, shoved her underwear into her purse, and thrust her bare feet into her pumps. “No, no, it’s me. You’re perfect and wonderful. I—” Her voice broke as she realized exactly how stupid and ungrateful she must appear to the man who’d been an ideal companion all evening.

  “I’m sorry, so very sorry.” Blinded by tears, she ran from the room, down the hallway, and out of his apartment, almost falling down the stairs in her unseeing rush. She drove home, her face tear-stained and the occasional sob breaking forth despite her determined efforts to control her feelings.

  She arrived at her place and slammed her door, ran to her bedroom, and fell flat on the bed. Shattering sobs broke loose as she gripped the bedding and thought of the hurt on Yanni’s face and her own inability to be aroused when the kindest, sweetest, most delicious man she knew wanted to fuck her.

  Joe’s cruel words ran through her mind over and over again—“You’re a useless, frigid bitch, Audrey. No man will ever want a cold, worthless cunt like you.”

  ****

  “Thank God it’s Saturday,” Audrey murmured, seeing her red, puffy eyes in the mirror the next morning. Her eyelashes were clumped together unbecomingly, her nose was redder than Rudolph’s, her hair was a rat’s nest, and there was no way she could have faced Yanni again today.

  Audrey turned the shower water to hot and stood under the stream letting the heat soak the kinks out of her body. The steam soothed her mind.

  Why? Why didn’t I get wet when Yanni sucked my breasts? He was doing everything right, he’s a hot hunk, and any other woman at work would have willingly changed places with me.

  Was Joe right? In the clear light of day she remembered he was a manipulative jerk, but she’d never been able to come from his cock. Oh sure, she’d faked it sometimes. And when she’d thought about scenes from her favorite erotic romance novels, she did get wet and turned on. But an orgasm? Nah. That’s what she had after he’d rolled off her and started snoring. She would think of scenes from her favorite books as her fingers went to work in her pussy.

  And Joe hadn’t stayed around long. Their romance—if it had ever been a romance—was over almost before it began.

  These days she had a battery-operated boyfriend and could lie in bed reading erotic romances while her plastic pal did the work. Sometimes she’d read her favorite scenes out aloud and come over and over again. But she did always come—no need to fake it by herself.

  So, what did this mean?

  I’m not useless and frigid, I just haven’t met the right man yet. What about Yanni? He’s damn near perfect. Hell, he is perfect.

  Okay, that was the clincher. She’d been so happy when Yanni had invited her out. He really was a luscious, totally desirable man. And she definitely desired him. But when they’d gotten into bed—nothing. Why?

  ****

  Fergus came up to Yanni and punched him lightly on the upper arm. “Hey, man, what’s bugging you? You look like you won the lottery and lost the winning ticket.”

  “I reckon that’s exactly what happened.” Yanni gulped half his glass of whisky down in one swig.

  “Hey, slow down there, or I’ll be pouring you into a taxi and sending you home in half an hour.”

  Fergus looked more closely at his good friend. Yanni appeared to have dressed in whatever was laying on his floor from the night before. Usually his clothes were impeccable, crisp, clean, and color-coordinated. Today he looked rumpled. His eyes, usually sparkling and full of mischief, were dull and flat. Obviously, this was not a minor glitch in Yanni’s life. Something was seriously stuffed up.

  Fergus pulled out a chair and sat at the little table beside Yanni. He waved an arm for the server, ordered coffee for them both and a plate of munchies. One good thing about being the manager of the club was that he got instant service, and no one would dare tell him to get back to work no matter how long he sat here. He waited until the coffee arrived, then wrapped Yanni’s hand around a mug. “Drink,” he ordered.

  Yanni blinked, then picked up the cup and swallowed. The coffee was only half finished when the server was back with a big bowl of piping hot nachos. “Eat.” He pushed the bowl in front of Yanni.

  “Can you speak more than one word at a time?” asked Yanni with a flash of his usual humor.

  “Possibly. But I think you need to talk. What’s eating you? You don’t usually act like this.”

  “Nothing’s eating me. Everything’s fine.”

  “Uh-huh. You always wear one blue sock and one brown sock.”

  “What?” Yanni bent over and checked his socks. “They’re both black.”

  “But you didn’t know that until you looked. You, who’re always neatly dressed in matching colors. Now come clean. What’s wrong? I can’t help you if I don’t know what the problem is.”

  Yanni sighed, grabbed some nachos, chewed, swallowed, and sighed again. “There’s this chick at work. Really sweet kid. I like her a lot and she seems to like me. We’ve had lunch together a few times and stuff.”

  “And?”

  “I invited her out to dinner. We got on really well. Went back to my place and…”

  “And what?” Jeez, getting the story out of Yanni was harder than getting a refund on his tax from the IRS.


  “And nothing. Nothing happened.”

  “Yanni, surely you know by now that not every woman will fuck on the first date? Didn’t your poppa tell you anything?”

  “Sure he did, and he told me to wear condoms and all that, back when I was a teenager. But we were naked in the bedroom, then she bursts into tears and runs away.”

  “Really? That is weird. Did you say or do anything to scare her off? Bring out handcuffs or a paddle or a toy that frightened her?”

  “Nothing like that. I was sucking her tits. They’re beautiful—big round globes, a perfect handful, with cute little berry-brown nipples. God, I’m getting hard just thinking about them.”

  “And she left while you were sucking her? That’s seriously weird. I’ve never known that to happen to anyone before. Did you accidently bite her?”

  “No. I’m telling you, I did nothing. It was all good, everything was looking set for a hot night and then— zap! She was out the door.”

  “Oookay. I have to agree, any chance of a relationship with her is likely toast. Better find yourself another woman.”

  “But I want her. She’s beautiful and sweet and smart, everything I want in a woman.” Yanni’s face fell and for a moment Fergus was worried that the man might even cry. He quickly pushed the nachos across the table to distract his friend.

  “In that case, what you need is a plan to woo her and win her. Wine, dine, dance, and hold off on the bedding until you’re certain she’s ready for it. Bring her here one night and I’ll make sure the chef cooks her up a perfect meal. We can even get the band to serenade her. Find out her favorite song, favorite flowers, favorite meal, the whole nine yards,” Fergus suggested enthusiastically.

  He was relieved to see Yanni’s face brighten again, and they bent their heads together to perfect a plan.

  ****

  Audrey stayed in her office all day on Monday. She stayed at her desk for lunch, eating a sandwich and drinking the bottle of water she’d brought in with her, instead of venturing into the lunchroom for a cup of coffee. She didn’t want to risk meeting Yanni there. At five thirty she congratulated herself on surviving the day and slung her purse over her shoulder, getting ready to leave. As she turned to the door, she saw Yanni there, looking a little tentative but smiling at her nonetheless. “Want to go for a coffee instead of heading straight home?” he asked.

  Damn, he looked yummy. A crisp white shirt highlighted his curly black hair and olive skin. Those dark chocolate eyes gazed into hers full of hope and desire. Yet, just a few days ago she’d run from his apartment instead of melting into his arms. Could he really want to spend time with her again? Was that even possible? What was wrong with her? He was so totally desirable, everything any woman could want. Even now her heart was beating fast at the thought of having coffee with him. But her panties weren’t damp.

  “I don’t know. I…”

  “Please, Audrey. Just coffee. You can choose the place.”

  Oh hell. How can I resist? The hottest man in the office wants to give me a second chance. “Yes, thank you. I’d like that.”

  A huge grin split Yanni’s face from side to side. His eyes sparkled and glittered with happiness. Audrey’s heart hammered against her chest and for a brief moment her belly clenched in pleasure. Then fear rushed through her.

  What if he wants to go to bed? What if I can’t do it? What if… Just say no. Coffee. Just coffee. Once I can relax with him over coffee then I can think about other stuff.

  But I was relaxed on Friday. I was happy all the way to the bed. I really thought I was about to have awesome sex. Instead—

  Shut up! Just shut up. Coffee. Nothing more.

  Yanni hurried ahead and pressed the elevator button for them, then rested his hand very gently on the small of her back as he ushered her in first. His hand felt big and warm and reassuring.

  As they waited for their coffee, he reached out and rested his hand over hers while she was fiddling with her spoon. Again it felt so nice. Warm and soothing and—right. Yes, right. The more they talked and laughed, the more right it seemed.

  They were enjoying each other’s company so much that they ended up ordering soup and salads for a light meal. Finally, Yanni walked her to her car in the parking lot, his arm resting lightly over her shoulders. Instinctively, she cuddled in to him. Damn, the man was hot and caring and everything she could possibly want in a companion.

  “Can we try dinner again tomorrow? Only dinner. Nothing more, unless you want more,” Yanni asked as they reached her car.

  “I—” Oh God. Am I about to make a total idiot of myself again? He’s so perfect and I’m so useless. I can’t do it again. I can’t risk— “Yes, okay.” Where did that come from?

  “Awesome. We’ll only do what you want, what you’re comfortable with. Just dinner will be wonderful. I’ll book us a table at Fergus’ Bar, all right?”

  Yanni looked so excited and happy, she couldn’t change her mind now. She’d just have to make sure she didn’t let him down. “Thank you. That sounds great.”

  ****

  The aftershocks from her orgasm flared higher and higher, and Xonra was stunned to know she would come again. Everything inside her was so sensitized, Glenn’s thick, long cock was filling her, powering into her, pressing deeper than any man had ever been before. He raised her hips another inch and slammed into her, pinching her clit between his fingers as he did.

  Xonra dragged her mouth away from Morgan’s and screamed as her third orgasm of the evening burst through her like an earthquake, shattering her nerves into a million pieces. Black spots and golden stars danced behind her eyelids as every muscle clenched and heaved while she came and came and came as Glenn spurted his hot seed into the condom, burning her through the latex.

  Morgan was whispering sweet words into her ear but Xonra was beyond responding. She shook and shuddered as her body finally calmed down and her heart rate slowed toward normal.

  Audrey’s fingers tugged on her clit and she came right along with Xonra as she reread one of her favorite passages from Triple Treat. Audrey gasped and panted, sweat slicking her body too, but the man she pictured was Yanni, not Glenn or Morgan.

  “Hmm, two men. Would I try that? Yes, I reckon I would, but one of them would have to be Yanni. I can’t imagine anyone yummier than him,” she said out loud. She often read her books out loud to herself. That seemed even more arousing somehow, than just reading them in her head. “It’s just as well I’m home alone and no one can hear what I’m reading. Most people prefer their sex to be private.” Audrey giggled.

  She lay back on her bed thinking, worrying about tomorrow’s dinner date. “Why ever did I say yes? What if he wants to go to bed and nothing happens again? What will I do? Thinking about the stories didn’t work so well with Joe. Besides, I can hardly ask Yanni to wait while I pull a book out of my purse and start reading it. But what if— What if he just talks dirty to me, like Morgan did to Xonra. Likely that’d work.”

  Relaxed, relieved, her plan in place, Audrey rolled over and fell asleep.

  Chapter Two

  “Oh God, Fergus, what if I stuff up again? What if this doesn’t work and she cries and runs away from me like last time?”

  “Jeez, take a chill pill, man. You didn’t force her. She agreed to come herself, right?”

  “Check.”

  “You’ve got her favorite flowers and her favorite wine?”

  “Check.”

  “Well, all you have to do is keep your cock in your pants and romance her. Chicks like romance.”

  “Check—I think. It’s all very well for you to tell me to romance her, but dude, I’m a man, and she’s a woman. And I want her so bad.”

  “So work on all that relationship shit that the self-help columns are always on about. Tell her you think she’s wonderful and see what happens. If you really want her, she’s worth fighting for, right?”

  “Check.” Yanni sighed. He wanted her so much it hurt. And not just in his cock
and balls either, although he was pretty sure his balls would be turning blue by the end of the evening if he couldn’t sink his cock deep inside her this time. At least the boys in the band had been really sympathetic and had agreed to play a couple of brackets of romance movie theme songs. He wasn’t sure he’d recognize any of them himself, he was more an action movie kinda guy. But hell, he needed all the help he could get, and hopefully this time she’d be more relaxed and happy with him.

  It wasn’t even just getting her into bed, although he really, really wanted her under him, hot, naked, sweaty, and his cock pounding into her. But he wanted all that relationship and romantic shit too. He genuinely enjoyed talking to her. They’d had quite a few decent conversations that had begun with politics and ranged through dozens of other topics. I want that. I want a woman I can talk to as well as fuck. Well, we’re doing good on the talking. Let’s hope we get to the fucking soon.

  Yanni checked the time again. Still ten minutes before she was due at Fergus’ Bar. A beer might settle his nerves, but he didn’t want to be drinking when she arrived. He jumped up from his seat. “I think I’ll wait for her out front,” he told Fergus, and headed to the door.

  Out on the sidewalk he paced up and down, scanning the street in every direction, and watching for her car in the parking lot. Of course, most women are late. It could be another half hour, he warned himself.

  But no, she was early. Here she was now, in a cute denim skirt that hit just above her knees, and a multicolored top of blues, reds, greens, and golds that did awesome things to her shiny brown hair, hazel eyes, and creamy skin. She glowed with health and vitality, and his cock damn near self-destructed on his zipper trying to get out and wave at her.