Batteries Not Required Read online

  Wanted: One fling, orgasmic satisfaction guaranteed.

  In Dana Appleby’s experience, really bad, boring sex and long-term relationships seem to go hand-in-hand. Enough is enough. She’s now on a mission and her main objective is finding excitement in the bedroom. And she knows just who she wants to give it to her: Reese Cooper.

  Short-term relationships are Reese’s specialty—and so is sex. Dana’s proposal to have a little fling is right up his alley, but things go awry when he starts to realize short-term isn’t all it’s cracked up to be. And suddenly the idea of Dana moving onto someone else doesn’t appeal one bit.

  So, what’s a guy to do? The only thing he can do. Set out to show Dana that long-term doesn’t necessarily mean boring. Not with relationships—and definitely not with sex.

  Warning: This book contains graphic sex, a scorching office quickie and the teensiest bit of newbie handcuff play. Please note: Batteries not included with this book. But don’t worry, you won’t need any.

  eBooks are not transferable.

  They cannot be sold, shared or given away as it is an infringement on the copyright of this work.

  This book is a work of fiction. The names, characters, places, and incidents are products of the writer’s imagination or have been used fictitiously and are not to be construed as real. Any resemblance to persons, living or dead, actual events, locale or organizations is entirely coincidental.

  Samhain Publishing, Ltd.

  577 Mulberry Street, Suite 1520

  Macon GA 31201

  Batteries Not Required

  Copyright © 2009 by Anara Bella

  ISBN: 978-1-60504-622-8

  Edited by Heidi Moore

  Cover by Natalie Winters

  All Rights Are Reserved. No part of this book may be used or reproduced in any manner whatsoever without written permission, except in the case of brief quotations embodied in critical articles and reviews.

  First Samhain Publishing, Ltd. electronic publication: July 2009

  www.samhainpublishing.com

  Batteries Not Required

  Anara Bella

  Dedication

  To my family, for tolerating the endless hours I spend pounding away at a computer keyboard in pursuit of my dream.

  To my good friend and critique partner, Cat, for her constant support and help.

  To my editor, Heidi, for loving this story and patiently working with me to make it shine.

  Chapter One

  This was it. She’d made up her mind. Nothing could stop her now.

  It all started on the count of three.

  Dana looked towards her target and took a deep, fortifying breath before starting the nerve-racking countdown.

  One.

  Butterflies fluttered ruthlessly in her throat, threatening to choke her. She swallowed hard.

  Two.

  Her palms started to sweat. She swiped them on her hips.

  Two and a half.

  Breathing would be good about now. Hey, were those stars?

  Two and three quarters.

  Get a grip girl. Hike up your backbone and go for it.

  Three!

  By some complete miracle Dana’s legs started to move in the direction she wanted to go. Well, that wasn’t quite true. If they went in the direction the chicken side of her wanted to go she’d be headed in the opposite direction, straight out the door. But no, she was definitely headed towards Reese.

  Who knew she possessed this much nerve? Not her. Not anyone. She wasn’t a wimp, but in all truth, she was anything but a risk-taker. Nor was she the attention-grabbing type.

  If anything, with her plain brown hair and boring brown eyes, she tended to blend into the background. She was the one everyone said had her feet planted firmly on the ground. A straight-forward, no-nonsense kind of girl, that was her. In point of fact, she was the last person anyone would ever expect to do anything the least bit daring or “out there”. Especially with regards to men. And not with a man she’d only seen around the office and never met. She was the very antithesis of a femme fatale.

  But tonight was different. Tonight marked the coming of the New Year and the new her. Tonight she was going after what she wanted. And what she wanted most was Reese Cooper.

  No more lying in bed all alone, fantasizing about what she would like to do to his super sexy body. Fantasizing about what she wished he would do to hers. Fantasizing about what they could do to each other. No sirree. She’d made her New Year’s resolution and that resolution meant she was going to start this year with a bang.

  Or more precisely, with a kiss. The kiss to end all kisses. Or maybe just the kiss that would bring an end to her fantasies about Reese. Because if things didn’t go the way she wanted, at least she’d finally know. And maybe, just maybe, she could move on and find a man who would give her what she wanted—a taste of what great sex was all about.

  She really had nothing to lose. At the very least she’d find out what it was like to kiss Reese Cooper and that alone was a thrilling prospect. Heck, it already had her tingling down to her toes.

  Besides, what else was New Year’s for? It was a time for change. For adventure. For new beginnings. All the things she was determined to kick off right now.

  After pushing her way through the crush of people, she reached her quarry and stopped just behind him. All six-foot-three-scrumptious inches of him. The place was so packed it was a wonder she was able to get this close to him, but at least the crowd and noise had helped in her quest. She was certain Reese hadn’t noticed her approach.

  She looked around and quickly sized up her options. Now that she was in position, it was going to take a bit of maneuvering to accomplish what she’d come here to do. Because a man like Reese was too good looking and sought after to come to a party by himself.

  His present arm candy was even now primping herself in expectation of getting his New Year’s kiss, and the countdown was about to begin. But Dana knew something the blow-up blonde didn’t—she was doomed to disappointment. Because, date or no date, in about ten seconds Reese was going to be kissing her, Dana Appleby. Not blissfully unaware, destined-to-fail, Cosmo girl.

  All Dana had to do was get the timing right.

  At that moment the music stopped and the host of the party called for everyone’s attention, announcing the countdown was about to commence.

  This is it. The moment of truth. The moment she’d been waiting for. She shored up her nerve and got into position.

  “Ten…nine…eight…”

  Steady. I can do this.

  “Seven…six…five…”

  Now.

  Pretending she’d tripped, Dana very neatly fell into Reese’s very strong, very yummy arms.

  I did it.

  “Four…three…”

  She looked into his surprised grey eyes and almost melted. She’d never seen them up close like this before and their impact was staggering. She could happily drown in those eyes. “I’m so sorry. I’m such a klutz.”

  “Two…one…”

  He steadied her with his hands but didn’t remove them from around her. She took that as a good sign. Now if she could just get rid of the damn blush making her complexion a bright, fire-engine red. It was hard to look sexy when you looked as if your head was going to catch fire at any second.

  “You okay?” He seemed genuinely concerned. How sweet.

  A chorus of “Happy New Year” being shouted from every corner of the room effectively interrupted her answer.

  As the surrounding crowd whooped it up and kissed the one they loved, or whoever was convenient, Reese looked around, obviously trying to sort out his current dilemma. His gaze flitted between blow-up Barbie—who was frantically trying to shove Da
na out of the way—to his armful of Dana.

  Dana, however, didn’t have any such dilemma on her hands. She knew exactly what she was going to do. She ignored the bimbo, disregarded Reese’s shock when she grabbed his lapels, and tossed off what she hoped was an impishly sexy grin. Red face and all. Then she proceeded to kiss the living daylights out of him.

  At least she hoped that’s what she was doing.

  For an instant, he went perfectly still, no doubt taken aback and not quite sure what to do with her, and a feeling of panic fluttered in her stomach. Oh no, what if he pushed her away? Before that thought could fully take root, he relaxed and took the kiss over with an eagerness Dana would never have dared hope for.

  Oh God, it was a million times better than she’d ever imagined. This was the stuff fantasies were made of. This was what a kiss was supposed to be. This was what it was like to be swept off your feet, and then some.

  This was what she’d been looking for.

  Now all she had to do was hang onto it.

  ***

  Reese’s head was spinning. And it wasn’t from the champagne he’d been drinking.

  What the hell had happened? One moment he was wondering if he really wanted to kiss Bambi and the next he was kissing Dana.

  Blown away by the unexpectedness of it, he had an unprecedented urge to pinch himself to make sure this was really happening.

  How she’d gone from being clear across the room to being in his arms and kissing him to within an inch of his life he didn’t know. But he was glad she had. It was almost as if she’d known he’d secretly wanted to kiss her for the past few weeks.

  That was impossible, of course, because if there was one thing he knew he excelled at, it was his ability to keep his feelings to himself. When he wanted to be unreadable, no one knew what he was thinking. Even those close to him.

  Surprised or not, he wasn’t one to waste an opportunity. So he took full advantage of having Dana in his arms, letting his hands roam down her back, dipping dangerously close to her tempting and oh-so-sexy ass. He itched to feel those wondrous globes in his hands, but didn’t dare give in to the urge. Instead, he concentrated on tasting her luscious mouth.

  She was even more delectable than he’d imagined. Soft, full lips that were as warm and enticing as a man could ever want. And he’d wanted plenty.

  He felt her delicate tongue tentatively touch his lips. That was all the invitation he needed. He found her tongue with his and tasted her with relish, thoroughly and with complete absorption. He couldn’t seem to get enough, as he swept his tongue inside, learning her distinctive textures, discovering the sweet essence that was uniquely Dana.

  Damn, but she was intoxicating.

  The only question on his mind was why he hadn’t done this sooner. And then he remembered why. Women like Dana were off-limits. He could spot their type a mile away. They wanted more than he was willing to give. They wanted a relationship. Something he wasn’t at all in the market for.

  Although, that hadn’t stopped him from thinking about kissing her. In fact, he’d been thinking about it pretty regularly since the office Christmas party a couple of weeks ago.

  That night he’d seen a side to Dana he’d never known existed. And been knocked sideways by it. He’d never dreamt she possessed that kind of high-voltage va-va-voom factor, never mind knew how to flaunt it.

  Sure, he’d always thought she was attractive in a quiet sort of way whenever he’d seen her around the office, but he liked his women a bit more flashy. And overtly sexy. That night, at the party, she’d been all that and more wearing a body-hugging red dress and gold, fuck-me stilettos that had every guy at the party drooling. Including him.

  That was the night he’d found out her name and as much as he could about her. Unfortunately, he hadn’t been able to stop thinking about her ever since, despite common sense telling him he should. And spotting her at the party tonight wearing this slinky black number hadn’t helped cool him off any.

  This kiss, however, was the perfect scenario for him since he hadn’t instigated it. She’d sought him out. And in a far superior way to anything he would have come up with.

  So now he had her right where he wanted her. Well, almost. Where he really wanted her was in his bed. Soft and naked, writhing with need, hot with lust.

  Regrettably, that couldn’t happen. Not tonight. Not ever. She was a complication he was determined to do without. Which was a real shame since Bambi had turned out to be a major disappointment. There was no doubt she was drop-dead sexy, but there was nothing going on upstairs and he’d been bored beyond words with her in less than half an hour.

  He couldn’t believe he was even thinking this, but maybe he was getting too old for her kind of all-bod, no-brains type. Still, he couldn’t just dump her and take off with another woman. And he definitely couldn’t take up with Dana.

  With great reluctance, he broke off the kiss and pulled back, taking in Dana’s delightfully flushed face and bemused expression. Her molten brown eyes all but burned, pulling him in, begging him to damn the consequences and give in to his baser needs.

  Damn, this woman was like kryptonite. He knew she wasn’t for him but he couldn’t stop the wayward thoughts of sex and sin from bombarding his libido anyway.

  She blinked her gorgeous sherry-colored eyes twice before her lips parted on a barely there “wow”.

  He couldn’t help the self-satisfied grin he knew flashed across his face. “‘Wow’ about covers it. Not that I’m complaining, but what brought that on?”

  Dana blushed an even deeper red, flitting her gaze away in embarrassment before looking him straight in the eye with what could only be called determination. “It seemed like the thing to do, what with everyone else kissing all around us.”

  He paused while he took in that whopper. “Okay, sure. Why not?” He wasn’t buying it, of course. He’d seen her purposeful stride in his direction out of the corner of his eye. How could he not since he hadn’t been able to stop looking at her once he’d spotted her at the party. He also couldn’t misread the way she’d pretty much pushed Bambi out of the way. He had no doubt that she’d planned to trip into his arms and kiss him. The question was why. It seemed totally out of character for someone as reserved as she’d always appeared to be, but he wasn’t about to call her on it.

  She blushed again but didn’t say anything.

  He pulled his eyes away from Dana and looked around to see where Bambi had gotten to. He spied her a short distance away kissing some other guy with an enthusiasm that bordered on fanatical. When she finally came up for air, she speared Reese with a smug expression that told him better than a text message she’d done it strictly for effect. No doubt hoping to make him jealous.

  He grinned at her obvious and futile tactics. The answering scowl she shot his way confirmed his suspicions. She hadn’t liked his attention wavering from her. Not that he blamed her. It was extremely rude and not like him at all, but then he hadn’t instigated the kiss. Dana had.

  Regardless, he should go to Bambi and try to smooth things over.

  He’d barely had the thought when Bambi grabbed her newest conquest’s arm and huffed away with a hauteur that rivaled a queen.

  So much for his date.

  On the bright side, he still had Dana with him. She was a luscious armful for sure, and he’d really liked how she’d felt all up close and personal in his arms.

  Too bad she was the absolute worst kind of news for a guy like him.

  Chapter Two

  Oh God. Oh God. Oh God. Oh God.

  The litany raced around Dana’s brain as Reese hustled her along. She couldn’t believe this was happening. Reese’s date had abandoned him and now he wanted to talk to her. In private.

  She hoped he wasn’t too angry about the kiss pissing off his date. Although if the stern expression on his face was any indication, he wasn’t particularly happy with her. How could he be? It was her fault his date had dumped him. In public.

  Not go
od.

  Maybe she should kiss him again. He seemed to enjoy it the first time and God knows she’d sure as hell enjoyed it. Her entire body was still humming with worked-up sexual tension. And bonus, it might put him in a better mood.

  Then again, it might make things worse. A chance she couldn’t take since she needed him in an agreeable frame of mind. She’d have trouble talking him into anything if he was predisposed to disagree with her.

  Trailing after Reese, she noted that he seemed to know his way around their host’s mansion pretty well. Not surprising since he’d probably been here several times before. The CEO of Weyburne Industries always threw a New Year’s bash for top executives and friends which, of course, included Reese. She was only here because she’d wangled an invitation through a friend of a friend.

  At long last, he opened a door and glanced in. “This’ll do.”

  He flicked on the light and without preamble ushered her through the doorway into a tastefully decorated room with comfy-looking chairs situated in front of a fireplace. She might have taken it for a reading room but for the desk in the corner with the latest computer sitting on top. It had to be the family’s office.

  As soon as Reese closed the door the raucous party noises decreased to a more tolerable din. At least they could talk in here, and she might as well jump right in with her plan. No point in giving herself a chance to chicken out, because her plan didn’t have any possibility of happening unless she took this next step.

  She took a deep breath and turned to face Reese. “I’m sorry about your date.”

  His mouth kicked up on one side and just like that the stern expression he’d been sporting changed to one of shrewd amusement. “No you’re not. But then, neither am I.”

  She couldn’t hide her surprise. “You’re kidding?”

  He shrugged. “Turns out she’s not my type after all.”

  “You’re kidding.”

  “Nope. All body, no brains. I think she set a record for boring me to death.”