by Kira Archer
He grabbed her and hauled her against him, crushing her to him. “We can’t do this right now,” he said, even as his lips trailed over her neck, his palms cupping her breasts.
“We’re alone.”
“What?” He looked around. She was right. The other few groups had trickled out, leaving Nash and Iris nearly invisible in the back row. All alone. In the dark. With an incredible star show projecting all around them.
“The guy running the computer is probably some college kid who is asleep or zoned out on his phone,” she said, kissing his neck. “And everyone else is gone.” She trailed her lips up to his ear. “We have the whole place to ourselves.”
Nash sucked in a ragged breath. “Get over here.”
Chapter Eleven
Iris didn’t think Nash would agree. He was definitely more straightlaced than she was. But he seemed more than up for it, pun totally intended. Excitement flooded her system, making her head swim and her belly tighten with anticipation. She wanted him so badly she almost cried.
She’d never expected someone like Nash Wallace to walk into her life. She hadn’t expected him to be anything more than an interesting diversion for the night. But she already knew, even if nothing else happened between them, she’d never forget him.
Then he kissed her, and all thoughts disappeared in a haze of desire and heat that made her tremble in his arms. The short stubble from earlier in the day had grown and rubbed against her face. She’d never kissed a man with even a hint of facial hair before. The thought of how that friction might feel a little farther south had her body begging for his in zero seconds flat.
She managed to get his plaid shirt unbuttoned and pulled it off his shoulders, her lips not leaving his until he was down to his T-shirt and her hands had found their way to the solid abs beneath it. Her fingers skimmed across his stomach, reveling in the muscles that bunched beneath her touch. She dragged her hands upward, bringing his shirt with them, and caught a tantalizing glimpse of the rock-hard paradise that had laid hidden.
It was a damn crime that the man had to wear clothing, that’s all there was to it. He should walk around naked all day, every day, so she could do nothing but feast on the delicious perfection of his body. She leaned over and trailed her lips across his bare chest, her tongue flicking his nipples until he stopped her with a groan.
“You keep doing that, darlin’, and this will be over before it even gets started.”
“Can’t blame a girl for wanting to get her hands on you.”
He laughed, the sound low, deep, and male.
The armrest between their chairs needed to go. She wrapped her arms around his neck, her lips moving against his as she tried to maneuver over it to climb into his lap. One leg got hooked up on the armrest, her other knee landed perilously close to the hard ridge that strained against his jeans.
He grunted and jerked back enough to say, “Careful, Cookie. We’re going to need that later.” And then his lips found her neck, his hands slipping beneath the two layers of shirts she still wore, to skim against her stomach.
Her muscles clenched at the featherlight touch, and she tried to press closer to him. But, with one leg still in her own seat, her balance was precarious. It did put her in a rather interesting position though, leaving her wide open for his roving hands. Something he seemed to realize the same time she did.
“Hmm,” he said against her throat. The vibrations carried straight to her core. “I think I like you like this. Open and waiting for me.”
His hand skimmed up her inner thigh, his nails pressing just hard enough that she could feel them through her jeans. She strained closer to him, but with her leg hung up she couldn’t move.
“Is this what you want?” he murmured, his fingers tracing the waistband of her jeans.
She moaned. “Ah! Yes.”
She lunged at him, her lips consuming his with frustrated intensity. He dragged her against him, holding her close as he slipped to the floor. While she’d been lost in the sensations he’d been sparking throughout her body, he’d dropped their coats on the floor, creating a soft bed of sorts.
She’d lost her ugly Christmas sweater at some point, and she yanked off the tiny princess thermal, leaving only the thin T-shirt she’d started with. He pushed her shirt up and tugged her bra down, freeing her breasts to his gaze.
“God, you are so beautiful,” he murmured, leaning over her to suck one hard nipple. He rolled his tongue over it, drawing it deeper into the searing depths of his mouth until she whimpered, desire curling hot and low in her belly.
She tugged at his shirt, desperate to see more of him. He wasn’t very helpful, though.
“As much as I’d love to see every gorgeous inch of you,” he said, kissing his way down her taut belly, “someone might come in here. We should keep some clothing on, in case we need to make a quick getaway.”
She swore, totally forgetting where they were.
“Well then, we’ll just have to make sure we come before they do,” she said.
It was crazy, probably stupid, certainly not ethical, if not illegal. And she absolutely loved it. It wasn’t a gorgeous hotel room. But a bed of their clothes, with the incredible star show going on over their heads, wasn’t so bad. It would be almost as good as really being outside. Minus the possibility of being arrested for indecent exposure or public fornication or whatever they’d get charged with. Well, those might actually still stick. If they got caught. And damn, but didn’t that hint of danger make it even hotter.
His hands found the button of her jeans and, before she could prepare herself, he had them open and dragged them down. He sucked in a breath, his fingers lightly stroking her thighs.
“There it is,” he said.
She squinted at him, confused until he ran his finger over the tattoo that sat low on the right side of her abdomen, just a few inches above her pubic bone. He traced the lines of the staff, snakes, and wings that made up the nursing symbol, with the letters R and N on either side of the staff.
“I wondered where you were hiding this baby.” He continued to stroke it, his fingers trailing lower with every pass. His eyes focused on her, capturing every reaction she had to his touch.
She shivered under the faint caress. He leaned over and lightly scraped his teeth across her tattoo. The unexpected sensation made her buck beneath him, her breath catching in her throat. If he repeated that move a few inches in the other direction, she’d be in paradise.
“God help me, but I don’t care if we get arrested. I want to see all of you,” he said, tugging at her boots so he could work her pants completely off her. He froze for a moment, drinking in the sight of her, and then Iris couldn’t take it anymore.
She sat up, pushing his shirt out of the way so she could lick a trail across his stomach, her tongue tracing the hard ridges and planes of his body. Her fingers worked feverishly to get his jeans undone and, when she finally succeeded, freeing the full, hard length of him, she didn’t hesitate before closing her mouth over him, sucking him down into the hot recesses of her mouth.
He groaned, his hands threading through her hair, not guiding her but just holding on. She took him as deeply as she could, her tongue rolling over him as she moved up. His breathing grew ragged, his hands tightening in her hair, and the rush running through her at the power she held over him was like a live current through her system. Before she could go too far, he pulled away with a growl, hauling her up to kiss her, long and deep, his tongue stroking the inside of her mouth.
His fingers found her opening and slipped inside. “God, you’re so wet,” he groaned against her.
She was beyond speech, moving against his fingers in a frantic effort to find some relief from the burning pleasure that his fingers wrung from her.
“Nash,” she begged, wanting him to fill her, needing him inside her.
He laid her back down…and then froze. “We can’t,” he said, his voice strained. “I don’t have…”
Iris frowned for a sec
ond and then realized what he was talking about. “Sloane, in the front zipper pocket.”
He didn’t hesitate, grabbing the bag and delving inside, chuckling when he retrieved a handful of condoms. “Where did you get these?” He grabbed one and dropped the rest back in her bag.
She gave him a wicked little grin, her body trembling with anticipation as she watched him roll it on. “The club. They had a bowl of them in the ladies’ room. After what happened in the hallway, I wanted to be prepared.”
He hovered over her and nudged at her entrance, safely gloved and more than ready for her. “Hmm, was I that much of a sure thing?” he asked, driving himself in to the hilt.
She gasped, pulling her legs up to take him deeper. “Yes. No…I mean…ah, God!”
He slowly retreated before driving back in, and whatever powers of speech she possessed disappeared on the endless rising tide of pleasure that built with each stroke. She wished they could take their time, make love slowly, over and over again. But the pressure building to a crescendo within her begged for release. She clawed at his back, grateful his shirt protected his skin because she couldn’t control the frenzy gripping her.
She wrapped her legs around his waist, her hips rising to meet his thrust for thrust. He dipped down to recapture her mouth, their tongues mimicking their bodies, mouths fused together to mute the sounds she couldn’t contain. He plunged inside her, again and again, until her orgasm exploded around him with such intensity she swore she saw stars. Then she realized she really was seeing stars. Thousands of them, larger than life, projected on the domed screen above them. Her inner walls still clenched around him, stroking him as he tensed and pulsed inside her with his own release.
He lowered himself on shaking arms to give her a long, thorough kiss before rolling to the side, bringing her with him. She snuggled in to his chest, electric aftershocks still shooting through her body every time she moved.
“You made me see stars,” she murmured.
He gave a low chuckle. “I think the show might have had something more to do with that than me.”
Iris shook her head. “No way. The show has nothing on you.”
He leaned over to kiss her again, and she wiggled against him, already hungry for more.
Nash sighed and leaned his forehead against her. “I would love to lie here all night and keep up the repeat performances until we run out of condoms but…”
“I know,” she said, echoing his regretful sigh. “We need to get dressed before someone comes.”
The realization that they had just made love on the floor of the planetarium had Iris nearly laughing out loud with gleeful pleasure before she frantically fumbled for her clothes. The naughty escapade had been thrilling, to say the least, but she really didn’t want whoever was running the midnight show to walk in on them.
She dug a pack of tissues out of Sloane and handed them to Nash to wrap up the knotted condom, and they both yanked their clothes on as fast as they could. Within five minutes they were back in their seats, proper and presentable, though still cuddled as close to each other as they could get. Nash pressed several kisses to her temple and Iris laid her head on his shoulder, a sigh of utter contentment leaving her lips as the stars rotated above them in the fake sky.
…
Nash pulled Iris closer to him, nuzzling her neck. She sighed sleepily and blinked up at him.
“Hi there,” he said.
“Hi,” she said, smiling up at him. She glanced around. “Did we fall asleep?”
“Yeah, for a bit.” It was a slight lie. She’d slept. He’d been wide awake, holding her, wondering how he was going to walk away from her in just a few short hours.
The smile she gave him would be worth anything that happened. Even jail time for indecent exposure. The woman had no idea how stunningly beautiful she was. That smile would be ingrained in his heart for the rest of his life, even if he never saw her again after tonight.
He shied away from that thought and focused on the amazing woman who was looking at him like he owned the world. Seeing himself through her eyes, for the first time in his life he almost felt like he did.
“Wow,” she said. “What time is it?”
Nash pulled out his phone and looked. “Almost three in the morning. We still have several hours to kill.” The show had stopped at some point, and the room was dim, running lights along the walls casting the only glow in the room. No one had come to kick them out, and Nash wondered if the technician had fallen asleep, as well.
“Hmm,” she said, snuggling into him, “I can think of a few amazing ways to spend those hours.”
He chuckled. “Oh, you can, can you?”
“Definitely.” She pulled him down for a kiss.
Their lips had barely met when the doors opened and a security guard came in, his flashlight sweeping the room.
Nash made sure they were both put together, then muttered, “Now what?”
Iris winked at him and then popped up so the guard could see her.
“What the…” the guard said.
“Oh, thank goodness!” Iris exclaimed. “We thought we’d be stuck in here all night! I can’t believe you guys locked us in here.”
“What?” The poor guard was totally taken by surprise but seemed determined to regain the upper hand. “Look here, ma’am, you can’t be in here. I’m going to have to call the cops.”
“Good, you do that! I’d have called them myself if my stupid phone hadn’t died. I mean, my husband and I come in here to have a romantic night and watch the show and okay, yes, we may have fallen asleep. But when we woke up the place was empty, and the show was still playing so we didn’t know what was going on. But then we tried the doors and they were closed and I was terrified. I mean, I don’t know what your hours are. What if you weren’t open tomorrow? Then what would we have done? Aren’t you guys supposed to check and make sure the place is empty before you leave? I can’t believe you just locked us in here.”
The guard stared at her, stunned. Nash had to bite his lip to keep from laughing his ass off. Wow, the woman had a set of big brass balls that would terrify the biggest steer on his ranch. And better yet, she was actually getting away with it.
“Well…sorry, ma’am. We didn’t realize anyone was still in here. The doors weren’t locked, though. Why didn’t you just leave?”
Iris folded her arms and huffed. “Don’t you think we tried the doors? If they weren’t locked then they need to be oiled or something, because they didn’t budge when we pulled on them. Now, if you’ll excuse us, we’ve got to get to the airport. We’ve got a plane to catch. Come on, honey.”
Oh. Honey. That’s me. Nash jumped to his feet and quickly gathered their coats. A few condoms lay on the ground under the seat, and he quickly snagged them and shoved them in his pocket. Damn things must have fallen out when he’d been fumbling around earlier. He glanced up, but the security guard hadn’t noticed anything. Nash grabbed Clyde and the Sloane Ranger and hurried after Iris who had already huffed her way out the door. He nodded to the guard on the way out.
He waited until they were safely out of the building and back in the freezing night before saying anything. They stopped on the stairs leading up to the main doors to pull on their coats.
“You’re amazing.”
“Thanks,” Iris beamed up at him. “You’re not so bad yourself.”
He shook his head, amused. “No, I mean with that guard. Well, actually, yes. That, too.” He pulled her to him for a quick but thorough kiss that just made him want to take her back inside for a repeat performance. But since that wasn’t a possibility, they went back to layering before they froze their asses off.
She laughed. “People who are guilty of something always go on the defensive. Even if you haven’t done anything wrong, if you immediately start offering up excuses and apologies, you sound guilty of something. Go on the offensive and suddenly you look like the injured party.”
“Hmm, interesting.” He sat down on the bench
to readjust Clyde and the Sloane Ranger and make sure everything was secure. “Do this kind of thing often, do you?”
Iris leaned over him, only a fraction taller than him while he was sitting. She stroked her hands through his hair and wrapped her arms around his neck, leaning closer so he had to look up at her.
“I might have some prior experience sneaking into places I don’t belong,” she said, a humorous gleam in her eye. “But the rest?” She shook her head. “That was a first for me. And a last. As crazy as I may seem, I’m not all that crazy. Except when it comes to you, apparently. Sorry about that.” She didn’t sound sorry at all.
And neither was he. He pulled her down to his lap so he could kiss her good and proper.
“Don’t apologize. I love your crazy.”
She laughed. “Oh, you do, huh? That’s good to know.”
He kissed her again and then set her on her feet, giving her ass a quick slap. “Let’s get out of here before they watch the security tape.”
Iris froze, shocked. “You think there’s a security tape?”
Nash shrugged. “Probably not. But I’d rather not hang around to find out.”
“Good point. Let’s go, Hazel!” She took off down the pathway as fast as the slippery pavement would allow.
Nash chuckled and followed along behind her. God, he’d follow this woman anywhere.
It took a few minutes, until they were safely ensconced in a cab and on their way back toward the park, before he realized he really meant it.
Well, damn. When had that happened? And what the hell was he going to do about it? Because, regardless of his feelings at the moment, there wasn’t much he could do. He couldn’t leave his ranch. Didn’t want to, no matter what hormone-induced delusions were currently floating through his head.
But for the first time, he was really going to regret it. Watching her walk away in a few hours might be one of the most painful things he’d ever have to do.
Chapter Twelve
After Googling must-see locations in Chicago, Iris asked the driver to take them to Navy Pier. Everything was closed down, of course, seeing as how it was three in the morning. And it had been snowing all day. The weather seemed like it was going to stay clear, but as the snow had been falling steadily, there was still quite a bit laying around. But the famous Ferris wheel was all lit up. And moving.