He stared down at her. “And I appreciate it when you’re candid with me.”
Bayli nodded. She’d keep that in mind.
Christian continued to stand close to her. So close. Too close. He seemed to permeate every nook and cranny of her, seep through her veins. Bayli wanted to step away, but that seemed cowardly.
And she wasn’t a coward. She was a woman determined to stand her ground with him—and, eventually, Rory St. James.
This moment could be deemed her actual starting point—to hell with what had happened in Rory’s kitchen, right?
Christian was interested in meeting with her again, beyond this evening. That was a positive affirmation for her, professionally. But there was no doubt that more hovered on the horizon at this very moment.
She couldn’t misconstrue the look he gave her if she tried. And she really didn’t want to misconstrue it. She wanted him to be gazing at her the way he did. With heat in his blue eyes, need rimming the mesmerizing irises.
Bayli had no delusions they were about to cross a line. She also had no ability to stop it … because it was what she wanted as well.
Christian’s head dipped and his warm mouth grazed hers. A whisper of a kiss that sent ripples of anticipation through her.
He murmured against her lips, “You want me to touch you, don’t you?”
A soft moan escaped her. Completely unbidden and filled with lust. One corner of his mouth lifted in response. Not too cocky, but the man had no doubt what he did to her.
His fingertips grazed along her neck and then lightly across her collarbone, leaving a burning sensation in their wake.
“Not just here, right?” he said, his tone still low and evocative.
He rotated his wrist and his knuckles brushed over the top of her breast, exposed because of the cut of her tee’s neckline.
His free hand rested in the curve of her waist and he gave a gentle squeeze as his mouth sealed with hers, his tongue sweeping over hers, twisting and tangling. Drawing her into a deep, dark kiss filled with erotic promises.
Her fingers curled around his biceps and she held on tight. Let him take her someplace far beyond medical bills that beleaguered her mind, a job in his restaurant that still seemed out of her reach, a career she wasn’t sure she’d ever excel at, a tiny apartment she’d been embarrassed to show this man.
All of it fell by the wayside as his kiss intensified and her knees threatened to buckle as shock waves rippled down her legs, making them tremble.
The spell couldn’t even be broken when his mouth pulled away
just enough for him to mutter, “Here?”
He palmed her breast and massaged with a hint of roughness that caused a flash of excitement to burst against her clit. He captured her moan in his mouth this time. His thumb whisked over her puckered nipple, making it impossibly hard as he stroked her through the thin material. She hadn’t bothered with a bra or panties when she’d changed. The crotch of her shorts was already damp. Would be soaked in a matter of seconds if she didn’t stop him.
Not that she had the slightest inclination of stopping him. Oh, hell, no.
His kiss alone could transport her to some beautiful, ethereal place where her worries and troubles faded into oblivion and the only thing that registered was how hot his mouth felt on hers, how expertly his tongue led her in a sexy dance. How hard his muscles were as her fingers coiled tighter around them. How badly her body begged for more of his skilled touch, the pebbled nipple not currently receiving his affection aching for it.
And it wasn’t just his hands Bayli wanted to feel on her tingly, sizzling skin. She wanted his lips and tongue on every inch of her. Every single inch of her. Driving her wild, pushing her higher. Until she lost all control for him.
He kept up his hungry devouring of her mouth as his hand on her breast slid downward. Slowly. So fucking slowly. She itched to cover his hand with hers and hasten his pace to the destination she knew he sought. But the titillation of his teasing was so captivating, she let herself revel in the anticipation that rapidly mounted and blazed through her.
When his fingers glided over the apex of her legs, she ripped her mouth from his and gasped as the fire ignited deep within her, erupting in her core.
“Definitely here,” he whispered smugly. Two fingers glided along her folds, the drenched material providing no barrier against his touch, his heat.
He targeted her clit, setting off all kinds of wicked sparks.
Christian’s arm slipped around her waist in a semi-embrace and he pulled her closer to him as he rubbed the knot of nerves between her legs while she burned brighter.
“Have you been wet for me all night?” he asked, his lips brushing her temple as he spoke.
“Yes.”