The Husband Game

But it’s hard to keep that distance when his hands have been all over me for half the night. And when they’re about to be doing the same thing all over again now.

At least, so I think. But when we reach the ground floor of the elevator, Charlie doesn’t head for the front door, or the valet stand where we left his car. Instead he grabs my hand and leads me toward a side door, tugging me along after him as I laugh and try to catch my breath.

“Now where are we going?” I protest.

He just flashes me that trademark grin over his shoulder. “You’ll like it, I promise.”

If the rooftop date is anything to go by, he’s right. But I bite my lip, trying not to let on how exactly he has me and my preferences pegged. “I wouldn’t mind going back to yours,” I point out, but that sly smile of his only widens.

“Don’t worry. I don’t plan on leaving you thirsty for long.” He winks, and I swear, that one move alone makes every muscle in my body go taut with anticipation.

We step through a side entrance of the hotel and into a little garden hidden in the center courtyard of the building. Out here, our view of the sky above seems even brighter, unimpeded by the windows or the lights like there were up on the rooftop itself. I glance up just in time to catch another of those shooting stars blaze past overhead.

Closer to hand, the garden is cute, secluded. There’s a little fountain, currently decorated with an ice sculpture in the shape of a swan. Next to that, there’s a bench tucked into a little nook beside another warming fire pit, this one bigger and putting off a lot more heat than the one up on the rooftop.

“This is beautiful,” I murmur, as Charlie leads me deeper into the garden, until we hover beside the fire pit.

He grins down at me. “I know,” he says, but his gaze isn’t fixed on our surroundings at all. It’s laser-sharp, focused straight on me.

I bite my lower lip, and I’m rewarded almost instantly by the way his gaze tracks the movement, his eyes flicking down to follow the indent of my teeth where they sink into my lower lip. He reaches up with one finger and gently brushes it along that lip, until I’m forced to release it, and the pad of his thumb traces over the spot, as if he’s smoothing away the self-inflicted bite.

“You don’t know how hard it was to resist you all night,” he murmurs.

I arch one eyebrow, coy. “Didn’t seem like you did too good a job of that.”

“But I didn’t get to touch you the way I wanted. The way I haven’t been able to stop thinking about doing again, since the minute you left my place this morning.” With his free arm, he reaches up, and pins me against the stone wall beside the firepit. It’s warm from the flames, or maybe just from the fire Charlie’s putting off right now, I can’t tell. Whichever it is, my whole body feels white hot, warmer than if it were a summer day out here.

His face tilts closer to mine, and I mirror him, arching my back, my neck, up toward his mouth like a flower seeking sunlight.

But he stops with his lips inches from mine, to grin at me. “Of course, if you want this to be a really traditional courtship…”

I let out a low, frustrated groan. “Stop teasing me already.”

He chuckles. “Your wish is my command.” Then his lips collide with mine, and I can finally, finally stop overthinking and just let my body run with what I want.

I snake my hands up and over his chest to drape them over his shoulders. In response, his encircle my waist, pinning me up against the wall. One of his hands travels lower, sliding down to grip my ass tightly, which makes me arch my hips up off the wall to grind against his waist.

Fuck. I can already feel the hard press of his cock against my belly, thick and as eager for me as I am wet for him. “Charlie…” I whisper, before we get too far gone, before we lose our heads.

He just tilts his head to peer down at me, anticipating my response. “There’s nobody here but us.”

“But what if…” My breath hitches. My voice fails as he tilts his head to nibble down the side of my neck. Damn him, it’s like that sexy mouth of his knows exactly where to bite, to lick, to suck, to draw the response out of me that he wants. My knees go so weak it’s a miracle I’m still standing upright. I sink back against the stone, and he pulls the collar of my coat aside to keep going, his teeth grazing my collarbone lightly, though the sensation alone makes me gasp.