by Haley Travis
Cupping my face again, his thumb teased my bottom lip until I could barely hold back a whimper. I’d never needed to kiss a man so badly in my life, and he was going to make me snap if he didn’t do it soon.
“Has this gorgeous little treasure needed some affection?”
I nodded again. Oh god, he smelled woodsy and fresh. So masculine. So right. His firm hand slid up my spine to nestle in the back of my hair. He spun so that he leaned against the wall, pulling me to him.
“If you want something, sweetheart, I think it would do you a world of good to just take it.”
Somehow, that statement was like a bucket of cold water. Terrifying for a split second, then invigorating. Why shouldn’t I kiss him first? He obviously wanted me to. Then I realized that if I started it, he didn’t have to feel guilty about taking advantage of a tipsy girl.
Before I could overthink everything in the entire world to pieces any more, I stretched up, pressing my lips firmly to his. His arms tightened, pulling me close as we both seemed to fall into another dimension.
There were now two realms of existence. Reality, and kissing this man. His mouth was so warm, soft. My lips parted slightly, and his followed. I felt the touch of his tongue and wasn’t even embarrassed by my audible moan. Flames were licking up the backs of my thighs, and my hips shamelessly pressed to his.
I didn’t want to ever leave this new world, opening myself completely as our bodies dissolved into each other. The spark I felt everywhere he touched me was almost dangerous, and I would have done anything for more. Anything.
I felt like a new person. His kisses were energizing. Powerful. I could have cried in relief at finding this new existence where everything was soft and warm and he held me so close.
In this deafening, fast-moving place, we were nearly perfectly still. He was so gentle, slowly moving his lips against mine as he nudged our bodies together. My nipples tightened against the heat of his shirt, and I felt him stirring between our hips.
I had no idea how long we slowly kissed while people bounced around us. It was a strange dreamworld. Then some rude person grabbed my arm, shaking me.
Starting to glare, I saw that it was Kelly, holding another shot for me. The man released me, but I liked the way he kept a hand on my hip, almost possessively.
Slamming the shot in a split second, I handed her back the glass as she leaned in to tell me, “I’m so fucking proud of you right now! Go for it.” Then she pranced away to meet back up with the bearded guy over by the bar.
The hand on my hip guided me to the back of the room, away from the lights to a darker corner with couches. It was still busy, but it was easier to hear.
“I’m Eric,” he murmured against my ear. The way his lips brushed against my skin was so seductive.
“Eden.”
His deep eyes crinkled slightly as he grinned. “Yes, being with you is paradise, but what’s your name?”
Laughing, I teasingly slapped his shoulder, then my hand ran down his chest. Cheese and crackers, this dude worked out.
But instead of kissing me again, he just wrapped his arms around me. “I’m sorry, I shouldn’t be kissing you,” he murmured. “That whole total strangers thing.” Then he chuckled. “Even though your friend is… what did she say? So fucking proud of you?”
I shook my head, giggling. Then he gently cupped my chin, turning my head up to look at him. “Tell me why she’s so fucking proud,” he said.
It felt like a command, and I was confused as to why it sent yet another wave of raw lust through me.
“Um, I’m usually really shy around men. So, she’s so… darn proud of me for dancing with someone, I guess.”
His dark eyes blazed. “Say the word ‘fuck’ for me.”
“No.”
Eric howled with laughter, but it wasn’t mean spirited in the slightest. “What do you say when you stub your toe?”
“Son of a pirate. Or maybe, sassafras.”
“Are you a nun?”
I giggled, my body pulling to his a bit more. “My grandmother taught me that ladies don’t curse. Then I was a babysitter for a while when I was seventeen, and the kids had completely foul mouths. I taught them to make up funnier curses, because making people laugh is always better than being crass. Also, I’m studying English, and writing, so I should have a varied vocabulary.”
He looked at me in wonder. “You’re absolutely adorable.”
We were swaying slightly to the awful music, and I felt a wild adrenaline rush brewing in the pit of my stomach. Or, more likely, it was the third shot. I usually stopped at two, but this extra kick was helping me speak openly to him.
“Tell me to stop kissing you,” Eric whispered into my ear. Then he kissed down the side of my neck.
“No, don’t stop.”
His hands gripped my back tighter, one of them slipping a little too low, almost cupping my rear. “Tell me to stop fondling you,” he murmured.
“No.”
There was electricity flowing back and forth between the two of us. I actually wondered if it was visible if anyone happened to have one of those electric field special cameras that photographed plant auras.
I was falling for him too hard, too fast. Everything about him turned me on. Then he finally brought his mouth to mine again, slow and soft as a whisper.
Eric walked us backward to a couch and we sprawled on it, our lips never parting. We were obviously in a place where we couldn’t go any further, which made secret little touches even more sensual. His hand brushed along the bottom curve of my breast, making me moan into his mouth. He pulled me to sit in his lap. I unfastened two buttons on his shirt to loosen it so that I could reach in and run my hands over those shoulders.
My thigh was pressing against his crotch, and I couldn’t resist moving back and forth, teasing him. His eyes blazed again, then he groaned against me. “You’re so sexy. You’re making me think very impure thoughts.”
“Good,” I whispered, pressing my breasts against his chest and swaying slightly. “Like what?”
His dark voice in my ear made my blood surge. “Like pulling down your dress and wriggling your hot, curvy body right onto my cock so that we could fuck right here.”
I laughed, but his eyes were so serious. He grabbed my behind, arranging me so that I was straddling him. He pulled me down so that my legs were spread, panties brushing against… oh my god… I could feel his hot, hard length through his pants.
A deep shudder ran through me, and he immediately murmured into my ear, “Just think about it for a second. Would you do that? Would you fuck a stranger in a club?”
I shook my head, then grinned as I moved my lips against his ear. “A stranger? Never. But you… maybe.”
~ Chapter 2 ~ Eric ~
* Tell Me *
I never truly believed in heaven until this moment. Every single detail of this experience was going to be burned into my mind forever. The way her fingers gripped my shoulders. The way her body rocked against mine so sweetly. Especially the way her lips glided against mine, making me hotter than I’d ever been in my life.
I’d had a few crass bimbos throw themselves at me over the years, and I rarely had the time or energy.
But I’d never been close to a girl so precious. She was somehow demure. Refined. Something about the way she held herself was elegant. I could somehow tell that she had never gone to a bar to pick up a man before. This wasn’t like her at all, and I wasn’t sure how I could sense it.
She was outside of herself, trying on a new personality. It was adorable watching her try so hard, and push herself. I couldn’t begin to wonder what I had done to deserve a beautiful girl like this accidentally ending up in my arms. Now that she was here, I was never going to let her go.
She kissed me as if she was afraid to know what would happen if we ever stopped. We were in a magical bubble outside of the world.
Yet in this incredible moment of perfection, I knew that the bar was going to be cleared any minute. Th
ere was absolutely no way I could trust her to get home by herself. I knew she wasn’t really drunk, but still, every overprotective urge I’d ever had in my life was nothing compared to what I was feeling for her.
If I sent Eden home in a cab and anything happened to her, I would never, ever forgive myself. I was forced to overstep every polite boundary, and simply take her to my place.
“Come on, gorgeous,” I murmured into her perfect lips, puffy from at least half an hour of kissing.
“No,” she breathed, “Please… I don’t want this to ever end.”
My heart skipped a couple of beats, then began to race. She felt it too. “We’re going to get you some more water,” I said gently, “Then we have to leave.”
As she looked up at me, her eyes were a bit hazy. But I knew it wasn’t from the booze. We were completely high on each other.
I sat us up, then checked us both to make sure that we had our phones, keys, anything important. Her fingers wound into the back of my hair, pulling my mouth to hers again.
“Sweetie, you are dangerously delicious. Did you know that?”
She shook her head, looking at me with such an innocent glance that I felt heat rush up my spine. I’d never wanted a woman this much in my life.
Taking her hand, I stood up and walked her down the hall toward the back door. I knew there was always a line of cabs in front of a smaller club around the corner.
“We can’t go out there,” she murmured, looking a bit worried.
Wrapping an arm around her, I held her against me again. “Why not?”
“We can’t let this ever stop,” she moaned, wrapping her arms around my shoulders and crushing her lips to mine.
This was beyond a makeout. This felt like soul fusion. Some sort of feverish bonding that would leave us both completely changed.
Without even thinking, I backed her against the wall, lifting her hips so that I could grind us together. Her shaky moan caused that strange possessive energy to burn inside me again. Her legs wrapped around my waist. My hand slid into her dress to caress the perfect silky soft skin of her breast.
The way she was writhing against me, shamelessly rocking us together, I knew that I could have done absolutely anything with her that I wanted. There were almost too many thoughts running through my mind to make sense of it all. Then she looked up at me with the sweetest smile.
“Tell me you feel this,” she whispered, her voice wavering slightly. “Tell me I’m not crazy.”
“You are crazy. We both are. Yes, I feel this,” I murmured as I kissed along the side of her neck to nibble her ear. She quivered, tightening her legs around my hips.
In that split-second, I knew precisely what I needed to do.
~ Chapter 3 ~ Eden ~
* Morning Light *
The light was too bright. Too yellow. Snuggling deeper into the pillow and blanket, I had no idea what time it was, but figured I could rest a bit more. My pillow was extra soft, and I was so tired that it felt fluffier. Stretching out my legs, I realized that I must have gone to bed with my dress still on.
The realization that I was not in my own bed rolled over me like a wave. Opening my eyes, I saw that I was in a very nice, large bedroom. Rolling over very slowly, I bumped into a pillow.
There was a line of cushions and pillows down the center of the huge bed. Sitting up, I could see a man snoring gently on the other side. I could only see the side of his face and his shoulder, but he had a t-shirt on.
Lying flat on my back, I closed my eyes and silently thanked the universe for apparently stopping me from doing what I had so desperately wanted to last night.
Sitting up slowly, I saw there was a huge glass of water on the table beside me, and I quickly drank half of it. There was also a bottle of painkillers and a small plate of crackers. My heart lurched in joy. This was definitely the handiwork of a nice man. Someone thoughtful. Or maybe someone used to taking home drunk chicks.
Thank goodness I was not hungover, just a bit tired. Thank goodness I stopped after only a few drinks. I think that small amount of liquor actually made me hyper instead of drunk.
Memories crept around the back of my mind, shooting out little wriggling tentacles of recollection one at a time. We had been kissing in the bar. We had really, seriously been kissing in a hallway. I didn’t quite remember how we got here. There was a back alley where we laughed at some purple graffiti. Oh god – we were grinding up against a wall. A cheesy eighties song played in the cab and we sang along.
Looking around the room more carefully, I was impressed. Everything had that minimalist, incredibly posh look to it, like a fancy hotel. Wait – was this a hotel? No, there was a framed photo of a group of people with a dog, and some knick-knacks. Wherever we were, somebody had a very expensive bedroom.
I looked over to see his eyes flutter open, then he rolled to face me.
“Good morning, gorgeous,” he murmured.
“Good morning,” I smiled. Gesturing to the pillow wall, I laughed, “I guess you think girls have cooties?”
His deep, rumbling laugh was so sexy. “Making out with a tipsy chick is one thing. Especially since you said it was important. No – therapeutic. That was it.” His grin was completely disarming. “But I wasn’t going to go farther than that. It was so late that I couldn’t send you home alone. So I brought you here, and made this pillow fortress so I couldn’t reach for you in the night.” He chuckled. “I would have taken the couch, but the last time I fell asleep there I really wrenched my neck.”
I stared as his line of vision trailed over me. “Yeah,” he said softly, “It was very hard not to cuddle you last night.”
Sitting up, I tried to give my head a shake as he looked at me. Then I noticed that he was still staring. “What?”
“Holy shit,” he breathed. “You should see how devastatingly sexy you look right now.”
I laughed, then leaned over, stretching out to look in his dresser mirror. My hair was messy and huge. My eyeliner was smudged in a smoky, sensual way. Maybe it was from only being awake for two minutes, or it could have been the lack of overall sleep. I was a bit paler, making my kiss-bruised lips look dark and full. I looked like I’d just had the wildest sex of my life.
“You look like a rock video vixen,” he breathed. “Or the perfect woman vision in a movie.”
A tremor ran through me as I turned to see him looking at me with absolute hunger. The muscles of his thick arms tensed as he crawled slowly toward me.
Reaching over the pillow wall, he murmured, “Are you sober enough to allow me to breach the fortress and kiss the princess?” My hand flew to my mouth, knowing that my breath was likely less than fresh. “Don’t care,” he growled.
In a blink, I was in his arms, his mouth on mine. Feeling his body over me was so seductive that I felt my hips begin to move up against him.
Then just as suddenly, he pulled back. “Sorry,” he muttered. “I know we need water and coffee and proper names and all that, but damn…” His eyes raked over me again. “You’re so hot I need to eat you alive.”
I had no idea what to say to that. I just knew that I needed him to keep touching me, any way he liked.
I’d never felt this urge to totally surrender to a guy before, and I loved it. There was something primal and raw about wanting him to just take me. The tiny whimper that came from my throat was a complete accident, but I felt him shudder.
Then he stopped, pulling back to lock his dark eyes on mine. “I’m going to attempt to be a good host now, and make sure that you’re wide awake before making any rash decisions.”
“But–”
He jumped up, pulling track pants over his shorts while I snuck a look at those toned thighs and tight ass.
As he passed me on the way to the door, he grabbed my foot through the blanket, giving it a shake. “You drink coffee?”
“Yes.”
“Then you know that I should be serving you coffee instead of jumping you when you’re hungover. Take your
time getting ready. Help yourself to anything in the closet.”
Good grief.
This man was incredibly frustrating, but I shouldn’t be upset at him for behaving like a gentleman. It wasn’t his fault that my libido had apparently completely awoken for the first time last night. Well, it was his fault, but not something I could blame him for.
Hearing him puttering around in the kitchen, I went to his gigantic washroom to scrub my face, run my fingers through my hair, and use his mouthwash. My dress wasn't that inappropriate, so I thought it would probably do for breakfast.