She finished her second glass of red wine and the waiter immediately came around asking if she’d like a refill. “No, thank you.” She covered the top of the glass with her hand.
“Tipsy?” he asked.
She smiled. “Pleasantly buzzed.”
He, on the other hand, was perfectly sober and driving them home, but he could freely admit to being high on her alone. There’d never been a lull in the conversation. Everything she talked about, from her plans for the bakery, which she hoped to have the keys to next week, to stories of how she’d managed to raise big money for Tyler’s mother’s campaign for borough president, both charmed and interested him.
“Enough about me. What makes Sam Marsden tick?” she asked.
“Right now, you’re making me tick,” he said, leaning in close and nuzzling his nose into the crook of her neck. He wanted to get inside her skin.
“Flatterer.”
His hand slid to her thigh and a blush rose to her cheeks as she squirmed beside him. “We’re in public.”
He glanced around the darkened corner of the restaurant. “Umm, no we aren’t. And nobody can see.” Inch by inch, he slid the material of her long skirt up her legs, until his palm touched the bare skin of her thigh.
Leaning in, he whispered, “Relax.” Then he licked at the small patch of skin behind her ear.
She rewarded him with a full body shudder and her nipples tightened into buds visible beneath her top.
“You’re a bad boy, Sam,” she said, her voice husky and raw.
“It’s only bad if we get caught. If we don’t, it’s all good.”
She looked up at him through eyes half open. “Why?”
“Because you were stressed and need some relief.” And because he desired her and he couldn’t wait until they got home.
She studied his face, making him wonder not only what she was looking for, but if she’d find it. Then to his surprise, she relaxed, the muscles in her legs gave way, and she opened for him. The trust inherent in that one move humbled him—and truly frightened the young man inside him who’d had his heart and his own trust ripped to shreds one October morning.
The only way he could ignore his rapidly beating heart was to focus on Nicole’s pleasure. Around them, he heard the sounds of a busy night at a restaurant. Busboys loading trays, waiters checking in at tables, conversations between patrons.
He’d paid and tipped for privacy, and until he asked for a check, they’d be alone. He kept asking himself why he was putting in the extra effort to wine, dine, and seduce her, and all he could come up with was Nicole. She’d been afraid he was in it for sex only, and he wanted to take her out in public and reassure her. Treat her like the lady she was.
He told himself it didn’t have anything to do with her fancy ex-fiancé, but he wasn’t so sure. A part of him figured this was his way of competing. Not that she’d made him feel like Tyler was in the running, but she deserved to be wined and dined.
Pleasured.
Beneath the tablecloth, he drew her skirt up over her thighs and cupped her completely, her damp heat pulsating against his palm. Her breath caught and her eyes opened wide, but she didn’t stop him as he pushed aside her flimsy underwear and slid his finger along her slick folds.
Her lips parted and she sighed.
“Shh,” he said, brushing her hair off her cheek. With his hidden hand, he shifted positions until his fingertip touched her clit. Her hips jerked in response and he turned her head toward him, sealing his lips over hers.
He kissed her while he stroked the tiny bud, all the while aware of her increasing wetness and building desire, the hushed moans he devoured with his mouth, and the way her smaller hands gripped his sides. He kept up the pressure, her feminine juices coating his finger. His dick wanted inside her so badly he could barely breathe, but that meant he had to get her home. So first she had to come.
He stroked her harder, more insistently. Circled his finger over and over her clit until he silenced her cries with his mouth, thrusting his tongue inside her in the same rhythm he used to control her orgasm with his finger.
Soon he gentled the kiss as she came down.
He touched his forehead to hers. “Okay?” he asked her.
“Sublime.”
He tilted his head back and met her hazy gaze. “Beautiful.”
Her cheeks were pink, her lips swollen. “Mortified.”