“Are you withholding sexual favors until I comply?” Her smile returned, and this time it was the real deal.
Some of the ache in his chest eased as he hoped he’d chosen his strategy well.
“I might.” He turned in his chair and clenched her waist with his hands, smoothing over the hot-pink satin. “I’m doing it for altruistic reasons, though, so you can’t hold it against me.”
She leaned forward to plant a kiss on his cheek. Then, she dragged her lower lip up to his temple, her breath warm and chamomile-scented.
“You have no reason to be jealous of the guy I dated,” she whispered against his skin. “If not for him, I might not have realized how much I needed you. Only you.”
Possessiveness stirred inside, the need to be with her so strong he didn’t stand a chance of fighting it. Tomorrow, he’d move into full-on protector mode. Tonight, safe in a place no enemy would find her, he could afford to touch her. Take her. Make her his.
“I need you, too.” He skimmed a touch up her side and found the zipper to her dress hidden under one arm. Knowing that the shades were drawn and the doors were locked, he tugged the tab down until the dress fell in a pool of satin at her feet.
Her eyes found his in the dim light from the pendant lamps over the counter. He wanted to kiss her until she was weak-kneed and pliant against him, but her newly unveiled body called to him like a siren’s song. Pearl-gray lace cupped her breasts and spanned her hips, tantalizing him with glimpses through the delicate fabric. She stepped out of her high heels and arched up on her toes as if she would make herself at home in his lap.
But he was past the point of measured touches designed to bring her pleasure. He needed more. Sliding off the bar chair, he stepped over her discarded dress. Next, he lifted her the same way he had when they’d been dancing. He plucked her off her feet and set her back down where he wanted her—against a bare wall in the hallway that led to the den.
“Tell me if anything makes you uncomfortable,” he said to her even though he was already licking his way down her collarbone to the swell of her breast.
Her fingers threaded through his hair, guiding him where he wanted to go.
“I don’t want to be comfortable.” She arched her back, lifting her right breast so that his mouth hovered just above the lace over her nipple. “I want to be wildly aroused. And I want you to take me there.”
When he drew on the mound through the fabric, she clawed down the lace cup, exposing herself to his kiss. There was a new edge to her response, a sexual confidence that hadn’t been there before.
He increased the pressure, licking and sucking until she lifted her other breast in a demand for equal attention. Gladly, he accommodated her, peeling away the last fastening on her bra until it fell to the floor. He massaged the soft weight of the pale globes, circling the tips with his thumbs until she pulled his hips to hers and swayed against the erection she found there.
Then, things got out of control in a hurry. She tugged his tie loose and then yanked it off. He worked the buttons of his shirt. Her fingers struggled with the belt buckle while he undid his fly. He remembered a condom from his pocket before his pants fell to the floor. Somehow, they got enough off to free him, until only her panties stood in the way.
He reached for the lacy garment, more than ready to sink inside her. But she surprised him by pulling the foil packet from his hand and sinking to her knees in front of him. He couldn’t have looked away if he tried. The sight of her soft hands and pink fingernails tentatively sliding down the length of his shaft almost cost him the last shred of his control. Gripping the wall with both hands, he steeled himself for the feel of her lips around him. Her tongue darted out to circle the head and slalom a path down the length of him....
With his release poised and ready, he reached for her and hauled her to her feet, stealing the prophylactic back.
“I’ve got this,” he muttered. “Can’t wait. Can’t...” He rolled the condom on, his speech disconnected from his thoughts so he made no sense. He just needed to be inside her.
He captured her mouth in a hard kiss at the same moment he lifted her thigh over one arm and buried himself deep. She was so hot and wet, her body so slick and ready for him that it made his pulse throb in his temple, his erection throb with the need to give her everything.
Delaying the inevitable, he focused on the kiss and her hungry response. He thought about her soft skin under his fingers, the taut muscle beneath. He tried thinking about her breasts and the soft weight crushed between them as he found a rhythm between her legs.
But then, the sweet sensation was too much. His release surged through him so hard his thighs strained with it.