“Gone.”
Before I could say anything else, a security guard grabbed my elbow. “Miss Robichaud, there’s an urgent call for you. Please come with me,” he said, to my and Tracina’s astonishment.
The guard guided me out of the ballroom, across the marble lobby and into a waiting limo, eyes on me the whole time. My head was spinning. What a night. The entire community had seen me being picked, chosen, desired. It was all so heady and so lovely. But to enjoy it fully, I had to push thoughts of Will out of my head.
In the limo, I found a chilled glass of champagne in the armrest. I took a sip and sank back into the leather seat as the driver took us down a private ramp where a cluster of security guards appeared. Before I could even blink, Pierre pushed through them, secretly ducking into the limo with me. It was all so swiftly executed, it seemed second nature to everyone except me.
“We’ll exit from the back, out the parking garage,” he instructed.
The driver nodded and then closed the window between the front and back of the limo.
“Hello,” Pierre said, facing me now, grinning and a little flushed. “That went well, I think.”
“I … yes, it did,” I stammered,
while playing with the folds of my dress. It truly was the prettiest piece of clothing I’d ever worn, let alone seen.
“So. Do you accept the Step?”
I was still wrapping my mind around the fact that the Bayou Billionaire was a participant in S.E.C.R.E.T. I flashed back to the opening night of Halo, the time I saw him chatting with Kay Ladoucer in the lobby. I reddened slightly, remembering that distinguished British man and the things he did with his hands. Was Pierre participating in a fantasy that night too?
“Cassie, the rules say this is the last time I get to ask: do you accept the Step?”
I waited a beat, then nodded.
His kiss came at me so quickly, it took me several seconds to catch up. When I did, I had no problem matching his ardor. He pulled me on top of him, kissing my clavicle, my shoulders, my neck, his arms completely wrapped around me. Then through the limo window, I caught the briefest glimpse of Tracina holding hands with the D.A. What? No!
“Is that Carruthers Johnstone?” I asked Pierre, breathless.
Pierre turned just as the giant man scooped Tracina up and placed her on the trunk of a car, kissing her deeply.
“Yes. Bit of a ladies’ man, I’m afraid.”
“Oh, poor Will,” I muttered.
“Cassie.” Pierre cupped my chin, making me stare directly into the greenest, most mischievous eyes I’d ever seen. “I’m right here. We have to get you out of this dress. Right now.”
I couldn’t, wouldn’t think about Will right now. Not while I was in the back of a limo with one of the sexiest men in the city.
“What about the driver?”
“One-way glass. We can see him, but he can’t see us. No one can.”
With that, he reached around me and I felt the delicate zipper of my dress snake down my back, the bodice peeling away from me, leaving me surrounded by pink crinoline and sateen, a cupcake melting in his lap. He began to sort through the folds, grabbing a lush handful of fabric and lifting the whole garment over my head. My tiara caught in the folds, ripping my chignon loose, so by the time he got the dress fully off and tossed it to the other side of the limo, I was a flushed mess, wearing only a lacy strapless bra, a silk thong and my sparkling heels, my hair cascading down around my bare shoulders.
“Unbelievable,” he said, pressing me back into the seat opposite him. “I want to see all of you. Take the rest off, Cassie.”
I was emboldened by the auction, the dance, the champagne, the privacy of this fast-moving limo, and his obvious attraction, and so I did. I slowly unfastened my bra and let it drop to the floor. Then, I hooked one finger under the band of my thong and eased it down to my ankles, and flicked it off with a toss of my foot. Then I pushed back into the plush seat and opened my legs to him, heels still on. What had become of the shy Cassie who couldn’t leave her bedroom wearing a bathrobe? I was jelly in that seat, my legs weakened and shaking. Our eyes looked so deeply into each other that I didn’t think it would be possible to break the gaze.
“Amazing,” he said, waiting a beat before springing forward to bury his face in my breasts, his hand isolating a nipple and sucking and licking it, slowly then urgently. It was, he was, so sexy. He slowly slid a finger inside me. My hands drove through his soft hair, his kisses trailing back and forth between my breasts, until his mouth moved down over my fluttering belly. My God, this was all too much! I was quaking with every kiss.
“I’m going to make you scream, Cassie,” he said, before dipping down into me, his tongue landing on that exquisite spot.
“Oh God.” It was all I could say as I fell back on my elbows and gave myself up to the sensations. He kissed down my thighs, teasing me, then his warm mouth closed down around me, pulling me fast into that magic place. I couldn’t stop the pounding waves of pleasure, nor did I want to. I fully submitted, my legs splayed, my body melting into the seat.
And then I passed that point, that white-hot turning point that his mouth brought me to so easily. I could hear his voice, the catch of his breath. I let the sweet tornado build inside me, knowing he was just beginning.
As I lay there panting, he ripped his clothes off as though they were burning his skin. He sheathed himself with a free hand, while I reached out and grabbed for the muscle of his arms, holding on as he entered me.