Steamy Days, Sensual Nights--Caprice Read online

  Contents

  Cover

  Caprice — A Glamorous Erotic Series

  The Author

  Main Characters

  Title

  Copyright

  Steamy Days, Sensual Nights

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  Caprice — A Glamorous Erotic Series

  Caprice is an erotic series that follows best friends Maren and Caprice — two journalists at Germany’s biggest tabloid magazine FLASH. Reporting on events around the world, they jet-set to meet celebrities, aristocracy, and members of high society. Maren and Caprice research their stories with hard-hitting dedication and even physically involved …

  Each episode is unique: sometimes gentle and other times a little rough. Different writers ensure each story’s individual flair. Since each author maintains her own writing style, Caprice is a completely new erotic experience from one glamorous event to the next.

  The Author

  Inka Loreen Minden, who also writes under her pseudonyms Lucy Palmer (erotic fiction) and Loreen Ravenscroft (Romantasy), is a well-known German author of erotic literature, whose books regularly appear on bestseller lists.

  Main Characters

  Caprice LaCroix is spontaneous, domineering, and strong-willed. She’s a confident diva who’s part French and doesn’t hesitate to let everyone know, mon chéri. Having grown up just outside Paris, she learned to fight her way through life. It’s her fight that makes her relish sticky situations. Caprice noticed early on that she could hold men in her spell. Her tenacity got her the job at FLASH. Her reporter’s intuition not only leads her to exclusive and scandalous stories, but also into situations where she can live out her fantasies. Much more exciting than searching for one lone partner for life! Besides, her body is far too special to be admired by one man alone …

  Maren Janson is the yin to Caprice’s yang. She’s just a “naïve country girl.” Or at least that’s her act. The boys, with whom Maren grew up, in a small German village, experienced that first hand. After she was drawn to the big city, she landed at Germany’s biggest tabloid magazine, FLASH, in Hamburg. Maren knows that her girly, naïve ways incite mens’ protective instinct, and she takes advantage of this to serve her own needs. Still, one day she hopes to meet Mr. Right. But until she finds him, she likes to have her fun with the city boys …

  Steamy Days, Sensual Nights

  By Inka Loreen Minden

  Translated by Anna Matussek

  BASTEI ENTERTAINMENT

  Digital original edition

  Bastei Entertainment is an imprint of Bastei Lübbe AG

  Copyright © 2014 by Bastei Lübbe AG, Schanzenstraße 6-20, 51063 Cologne, Germany

  Written by Inka Loreen Minden

  Translated by Anna Matussek

  Edited by Emma Wallis

  Project management: Lori Herber

  Cover illustration: © shutterstock: Andreas Gradin

  Cover design: Jeannine Schmelzer

  E-book production: Urban SatzKonzept, Düsseldorf

  ISBN 978-3-8387-5981-4

  www.bastei-entertainment.com

  Caprice was so furious, she could feel her pulse violently pounding at her temples. “Your informant tipped off another magazine, as well!” she yelled into her cellphone and then resolutely snapped it shut.

  “I can’t believe it!” she muttered.

  Walter Stein, Editor in Chief of FLASH, had gotten a hot tip two days ago: They’d get some bombastic news about the scandalous rapper Mac Teek if they came to Saint Tropez this weekend. Stein thought they could kill two birds with one stone and report on the opening of an art exhibit that was taking place there at the same time. He had put Caprice and John Feyn on the next flight to France. And who happened to cross her path at this art museum in Saint-Tropez? None other than her biggest competitor: Philipp Bergman, reporter at the X-PRESS.

  “That raven haired devil,” she murmured, her eyes throwing daggers in his direction, as he grinned back at her nonchalantly. This wouldn’t be the first time Phil had snatched a headline from under her nose.

  “Hey, sweetheart, calm down! Your face is turning the same shade of red as your sassy locks!” John ran his hand through his blonde hair. Dimples formed on his cheeks as he smiled. The photographer golden boy always seemed to be in a good mood, and thankfully it was contagious.

  Caprice took a deep breath and savored the cool air on her hot skin. At times of stress she craved a cigarette, but smoking was strictly forbidden in the museum. She and her colleague had been strolling through the bright, high-ceilinged rooms of the museum- a former chapel, whose walls were covered with numerous art works, for the best part of an hour. The French painter Mondaine was exhibiting his most recent pieces, entitled ‘Shadows of Memory,’ at the Musée de l’Annonciade. They were dark paintings, which matched Caprice’s mood perfectly.

  The guest list was star studded: several famous actors, singers, politicians and everyone who was anyone had turned up. John was snapping photographs and flirting with the ladies, while Caprice attempted to snatch up on as much gossip as possible.

  Unfortunately, her competitor Philipp was eagerly doing the same and dazzling the female celebrities with his charm and good looks. He looked more like an actor himself in his stylish dark suit; with that sexy five o’clock shadow, he looked like a cross between Hugh Jackman and Charles Mesure.

  But whatever he could do, she could do better. Caprice was wearing an emerald green dress that matched her red curly locks shamelessly emphasizing her opulent breasts. The whole outfit was finished off nicely with black stiletto heels. She attracted the attention of men like a magnet and garnered many envious looks from the women.

  Everyone was waiting for the rapper Mac Teek to make an appearance but he was running late as always. The Berlin-based musician had agreed to be a benefactor to one of the artists and to donate a large sum of money to a good cause.

  A murmur went through the crowd, as he stepped into the chapel along with his bodyguard. His wife, the actress Raffaela Cielo, hadn’t accompanied him. The rumors about the divorce seemed to have some truth to them.

  The tall, slim singer was wearing baggy pants and a sleeveless shirt, exposing his tattoos. His Armenian roots made his skin a shade darker than the average Central European and gave him a certain Latin flair. The rapper with the bedroom eyes was in his mid-thirties, the prime of his life in fact, and Caprice for one, wouldn’t have kicked him out of bed. As he stepped into the exhibition space, he limped slightly since he had gotten into a fight the week before.

  “You’re drooling,” John whispered in her ear. She rolled her eyes and shoved her elbow slyly into his side. Her colleague bent over from feigned pain and stepped away.

  Had Mac Teek volunteered to be a benefactor just to enhance his image? His homophobic song lyrics had made him some enemies. Homophobia wasn’t uncommon in the rap scene and many rappers used the word ‘gay’ as an insult. Nevertheless, the label almost dropped him, because Teek had taken his lyrics a little too far. Furthermore, rumors were circulating that he owned an arsenal of illegal guns.

  John carefully leaned over to her and held his arms protectively to his chest. “All eyes are on Mac Teek, just not Bergmann’s — those are on your ass.”

  Once more, her cheeks became flushed and hot with anger. She found the guy attractive, too, and wouldn’t mind an erotic interlude, if only there wasn’t this deep animosity. This guy would sell his own mother for a good story.

  If only I could get one over on him!

  Suddenly a name popped into her head: Meggie.

  Of course, Meg was here in Saint Tropez! The owner of a floating luxury brothel had sent her a text
message the previous month that she would love to see Caprice again if her travels ever brought her back to the Côte d’Azure … Caprice grinned triumphantly and pulled her cellphone from her handbag. She already had a very good idea how she could get back at pretty boy Bergmann. Maybe Meg would do her a favor, seeing that Caprice had once freed her sister from the clutches of Eastern European sex traffickers. Thanks to her curiosity and with the help of a sexy policeman, Caprice had managed to bust the human trafficking ring wide open. And Meggie had promised to return the favor.

  ***

  Three hours later and her feet were in pain. She wanted to go back to the hotel, put her feet up and work out a plan with John. But first, she needed the fish to bite. Caprice had actually managed to exchange a few words with Mac Teek as most celebrities and journalists had already left the museum. Although she hadn’t found out anything interesting, Philipp had been watching her the whole time. Very good, maybe he’d take the bait. This sly dog of an informant had told her that the rapper would come to the “Estelle” tomorrow night, a nightclub where celebrities were able to move freely.

  She was sure Philipp wouldn’t miss the opportunity to get more information about this guy. There was a strong possibility that Teek would be meeting his new flame. Caprice had to make sure that Philipp wouldn’t turn up at the club as well — at all costs. She wanted the story exclusively.

  Caprice indulged in a secret cigarette in the ladies’ toilet as she scribbled down the dock number where Meg’s yacht was docked on a little piece of paper. Then she looked for John in the hustle and bustle of the crowd. Unfortunately, her colleague and best friend Maren hadn’t been able to come with them to the Côte d’Azure. She had to stay behind in rainy Hamburg bed ridden with a nasty viral flu. Plotting their revenge would have been twice as much fun together with her, but John was a good replacement — in every single way.

  As she looked over to him — deep in conversation with Mia Farrelli- she apologized to the actress and quickly pulled him along with her. This maneuver had captured Phil’s attention. He stared in her direction with great interest, while he kept talking to the artist.

  Damn, amidst plotting her revenge, she had completely forgotten to interview Mondaine! How unprofessional!

  That thought only made her more pissed off. Philipp’s presence alone had managed to mess with her job. She couldn’t let that happen.

  “Hey, what was that?” John wasn’t very happy. “Mia was just telling me about her new movie.”

  “Boring,” Caprice said, “You just wanted to get her into bed anyway.”

  His brow furrowed. “And I stood a damned good chance!”

  “Just play along and I’ll give you the luxury all-around-treatment.” Caprice whispered.

  “You’ve convinced me,” he said and his face visibly relaxed.

  She grinned. Men were simple creatures really … ”Is Philipp nearby?”

  John nodded, without taking his eyes off of Caprice. “About three meters behind you. He’s grabbed a champagne glass and is pretending to be looking at a painting. He wouldn’t make a very good actor though.”

  A mean thought shot through her head: Maybe his talent sufficed for a porn star.

  She raised her voice. “Just imagine, Mac Teek gave me a secret meeting place where we can talk tomorrow lunchtime without worrying about anyone else interrupting!”

  “What?!” He pulled Caprice along with him and hissed: “Stop shouting like that.”

  “What’s Phil doing?” she asked quietly.

  “Coming closer and checking out the picture behind you.”

  Very good, it was all going according to plan. “Teek wants to grant me an interview. An exclusive interview to me alone!” She winked at John, and he then finally understood that she was putting on a show.

  His face lit up. “Amazing how you always manage to pull this off!”

  “Well, a woman’s weaponry … that’s all I’ll say about that.”

  John laughed. “Teek apparently likes handling lethal weapons.”

  She conspicuously waved the piece of paper in front of his nose. “I’ve got the time and the exact place of the meeting right here. Now we can relax and get the top story tomorrow.” She opened her handbag, let the paper purposefully drop next to it, and then immediately rushed out of the museum with John.

  ***

  The only thing Caprice hated about Saint Tropez was the traffic. Good thing they had left early and it was only lunchtime, because later on, this small port city’s main street would be completely impenetrable.

  John was sitting in the passenger seat of their rental convertible, his smartphone in his hand and was guiding her through the traffic with the help of a GPS app. “You have to take a left at the next intersection. We’ll be there in a minute.”

  “It’s about time,” she grumbled, drumming on the steering wheel with her fingers.

  The sun relentlessly burned into their rental car, but the head wind made the heat bearable and a mess of Caprice’s copper red mane of curls. Since she wasn’t wearing any underwear and only a short summer dress, John kept shifting his gaze between her legs each time a gust of wind lifted the fabric. His hand reached for her knee and worked its way between her thighs. When his fingertips grazed her pubis, Caprice laughed out loud, because it tickled. She had just gotten a full Brazilian wax yesterday, so any touch was an intense one.

  John lifted her dress, grabbed the digital camera that had been lying on his lap and took a photo.

  “You asshole!” Caprice slapped his hand, despite the pleasant tingling sensation in her crotch. “I have to concentrate on driving.”

  His eyes sparkled, and the bulge in his pants could no longer be ignored. “Let’s get it on a little later, yeah?”

  She grinned in agreement. Just yesterday, they’d had a quickie in the hotel sauna, which John had demanded as down payment for his services. “Alright. First work, then play.”

  John didn’t waste an opportunity to get it on, and neither did Caprice. They’d experienced one or two sexy adventures when working as a team on assignment before. Her colleague looked heavenly with his bronzed skin, blonde hair, and Adonis-like body. In bed, he wasn’t exactly a killjoy either.

  Once they’d reached the waterfront that was teeming with life, Caprice took her foot off the gas. To their right lay the marina and to their left, a row of simple, traditional houses reached into the blue sky. Side by side, were hotels, restaurants, and small shops, with their shutters down and the water so close that it looked like the yachts were parked right outside the street cafés.

  When she noticed that John was still staring at her thighs, Caprice said, “You should be looking out for celebrities, Don Juan.”

  Her keen fashion sense meant that her heart skipped a beat at the sight of all these boutiques. She would’ve loved to stroll through the quiet side streets to leisurely browse around the quaint little shops. The prices in there were affordable, too. But first she had to teach that smooth operator a lesson — if he turned up. But knowing Philipp, he was already there waiting.

  Thankfully, there was a huge parking lot at the marina. John directed her to the entrance, but then her mood dropped. Of course the best spots were already taken. Grinding her teeth, Caprice drove through the rows of parked cars and pushed the gas pedal to the ground as she spotted a parking space.

  “Merde!” she screamed and slammed the car horn. A blue BMW had stolen her parking space from right under her nose.

  John chuckled. “I see you can’t wait to make your revenge plan a reality.”

  She chastised him with a stern glance and drove the car into a parking space that the driver of a Citroën had actually chosen for himself. Caprice ignored the older man’s cursing tirade and pretended that she didn’t understand a word of French, even though she could’ve easily gotten into it with him.

  Her mood had dropped to its lowest point, which wasn’t just down to the traffic but also, more generally, down to France … Capr
ice was never in a very good mood when she spent time in the country of her birth. She had grown up in a very poor Parisian suburb and had fled to Hamburg as a young woman. After university, she’d gotten a job at FLASH and had been living the life that she’d always dreamed of ever since. Well, almost. If only there weren’t always all these people that wanted to make her life more difficult. People like Philipp Bergmann.

  “Hurry up, John!” she snapped up her handbag, hastily locked the car and stalked over the glowing hot asphalt.

  The heat was more bearable at the shore. The smell of the boats’ diesel fuel reached her nose. Small yachts and all sort of watercrafts were lined up next to one another at the landing docks. Caprice’s high heels clacked across the boardwalk, as she made her way around the tourists. She continued to look around to see whether Philipp was in hot pursuit or not.

  “Where is Meggie’s boat?” John asked, while taking photos.

  “Towards the end of the dock. It’s that enormous yacht.”

  He whistled through his teeth. “Wow, if that’s not a cruiser, I don’t know what is.”

  The floating establishment had three decks, was over eighty feet long, but looked more like a private cruise ship than a sports boat. But Caprice wasn’t able to appreciate it right now. She had to remain watchful.

  Again, she looked over her shoulder. “I see him!” Her heart almost skipped a beat as she spotted the man in black cargo pants and a short-sleeved button up shirt walking down the waterfront. The asshole looked good — mysterious and dangerous. A little like a pirate, which was probably down to his stubbly beard. It really brought out the brightness of his light grey eyes, as well as his black hair which the wind was artfully disheveling.

  Caprice pushed her colleague behind the ice cream stand and hissed: “He’s walking in our direction. We have to hurry!”

  “How did you imagine this going down anyway?” John asked, while being pulled along by Caprice.