“Him? You were thinking about dating Carter? But he’s your boss,” Allen said, a bit shocked, but then what did he know about most of the real world? He’d spent the years between eighteen and twenty-four in the military. He’d spent the last two in school trying to figure out his life. Women had been few and far between, especially the ones in the last two years since most thought he was nuts for wanting to design clothes for a living.
“I married my boss once and got ten wonderful years of marriage and two great kids out of it. It worked out pretty well for me. Seth Carter is a kind and caring guy. I figured any woman dumb enough to trade up on him ought to have some competition. Of course, that was before I saw you today,” Talia said firmly, watching Allen dip his head and grin. “Now I’m wondering how the girlfriend ever left you for him. What’s your side of the soap opera?”
Allen laughed at the soap opera comment, but he guessed it was fairly close to being the truth about the situation.
“Jenna Ranger was in love with Seth Carter even when I was dating her,” Allen admitted with a shrug. “Hell, on some level I think I knew it. But she was beautiful and pretty convincing about being over Seth. It took me awhile to see she was just lying to herself. And for the record, I broke it off with her, not the other way around. Don’t let her or Carter tell you differently.”
Talia snorted, her sense of humor sharpened by the beer and pleasant male company.
“I believe you, but mostly because I can’t imagine you losing a woman to Seth. I mean Seth is nice and caring, but you’re—well, maybe we should discuss my theory about your appeal some other time,” Talia said, laughing at herself and her loose tongue. She hadn’t had beer in ages either. She’d bought it for her father when he came to visit.
“Honestly, I never got to know Jenna that well. I work for both Jenna’s mother and step-father. I had to be very honorable where she was concerned. Fortunately, I hadn’t used my best moves on her yet, so there was no permanent damage done by our brief stint of mostly platonic dating,” Allen said, grinning at Talia’s snorts and laughter.
“Really? Platonic dating, eh? Well, lucky her then. I’m sure she was saved from a sordid life of sexual guilt for not getting to see your best moves,” Talia said, rolling her eyes. “How old are you again? You brag like a teenage boy.”
Allen certainly knew a challenge when he heard one. He leaned forward and put his still half full beer on the coffee table. Then he leaned back on the couch and put one arm up along the back of it.
Allen slowly turned his massive body to face Talia’s where she was curled up on the other end of her couch, feet tucked under her.
“Want to see one of the moves that I never used on Seth’s girlfriend? It might be risky though. You’re older and have already admitted you don’t date often. If you’re worried about what might happen to your self-control, I totally respect that. We can try it some other time,” Allen said sincerely, finding it difficult to keep his composure and not to give in to his amusement when he was flirting with Talia.
Talia just laughed at Allen’s warning. “I think you’re very attractive, but I can’t imagine anything you could do that would make me lose my self-control. My dear boy, you are practically a stranger. I just met you.”
Allen laughed. “Boy? You’re only eight years older than me. That doesn’t make you an old lady or me a boy. And I can already tell you’re interested in me physically from the way you’ve been checking me out. We aren’t going to stay strangers, Ms. Martin. I’m just a little apprehensive about changing the situation between us tonight. As you said, we just met today.”
Talia did burst out laughing then. “How you do love to brag. Fine, Mr. Stedman. Show me this amazing move of yours. Give me your best shot. I’ve lived a very full and interesting life. I spent most of the eight years difference in our ages having sex with some very interesting men before the one I married, who was quite proficient in that area. I must warn you that I’ve seen a lot of very good moves.”
“Okay,” Allen said softly, shrugging his massive shoulders as elegantly as someone his size could. “Don’t say I didn’t warn you. Here it is.”
Hooking one large hand over both her feet, Allen pulled Talia down the couch, threw one of her legs off the front of it, and moved his massive body over hers landing his growing interest squarely in her crotch. He could only be grateful that his tactic had worked as well as it had. Of course, he’d been mentally rehearsing it and other potential moves for the better part of an hour as they talked.
“Hey,” Talia said, surprised at Allen’s aggressiveness which was a tad out of character with his niceness.
“So are you ready to see the move now?” Allen asked politely, whispering the question in her ear and feeling her laughter even as the heat of her called to him. Allen instinctively knew he would find the woman wet and willing if he checked. Lord, how he wanted to check, but he didn’t dare. It had been too long and she was too, too intoxicating.
“Sure,” Talia said, laughing at his playful teasing, but reluctantly admitting he did have some good moves. “Bring it. Show me this irresistible move of yours.” She stared up into Allen’s eyes as he stared down into hers.
For all her brave talk, Talia felt her heart beating rapidly in excitement and her body going up in flames with Allen’s massive form hovering over her. He smelled like spicy men’s cologne and hot aroused male. What they were doing was a dangerous game to play with a man she had only met a few hours ago. But now Talia wanted badly to know what it was that Allen thought he did that was so extraordinary.
Allen bent to her mouth so slowly that Talia wondered if the man was going to kiss her or not. Then just millimeters above her mouth, Allen started to whisper endearments in French as he licked the seam of her partially opened lips. Her surprise at his reserved actions was quickly snuffed out by a sigh from her that echoed in the mostly quiet living room.
Talia closed her eyes and let herself enjoy what he was doing. It had been so long—so very, very long since she had been kissed so thoroughly and with such attention to detail.
Allen felt her surrender, but fought the urge to take what he knew he could. All the while he whispered, nipped, and nibbled, he also continuously pressed down between Talia’s legs little by little more until he was deftly stroking the hard evidence of his own desire against her. Once full contact was made, he bit and sucked Talia’s bottom lip, absorbing the moan of building arousal that erupted from her throat. He laughed and stroked even harder as both her legs lifted along his sides.
Then Allen felt her heels digging into his flexing glutes and knew beyond doubt he had gone a lot farther in arousing her than he had intended. He was going to stop until Talia’s hips shifted to show him just the place she needed attention most.
Suddenly, the game they were playing took Allen to a serious place he hadn’t been expecting to visit so soon. It had been quite some time since he’d known this level of arousal himself. And he’d never known a woman who had handed over the key to her pleasure quite so willingly.
There was a time to be noble, Allen decided, and a time to take a gift when it was being offered. His body was informing him with every surge of her hips that the woman beneath him was a gift for him. That’s when he realized what he wanted to do with Talia Martin and what he was going to do were the same thing. The realization sent the rest of the blood in his brain rushing to another more useful area.
Against Talia’s mouth, Allen whispered succinctly in French that he understood what she needed, even as he used one hand to rub her thigh and knee in approval as it bracketed his hips. A couple minutes later he had to cover her mouth totally with his so neither of them would call out and wake the children as they sweetly, thoroughly rubbed and climaxed together on her couch. His bluff had been called in a major way and Talia’s vibrations under him were both torture and reward. He hadn’t done this much lovemaking with clothes on since high school, but didn’t regret a second of it.
If Talia
had asked him, he would have started all over and done it again.
When their breathing finally returned to something almost normal, Talia brought a trembling hand to Allen’s face even though her eyes were too heavy yet to open. Still, she could feel Allen hovering over her, supporting his weight on his arms, not resting his body on hers completely. She finally forced herself to open her eyes and look at the man who had given her physical happiness for the first time in a long while.
“Thank God you never used that move on Seth’s girlfriend,” Talia whispered hoarsely. “You were right. It was assolutely irresistible. Best move I ever had used on me.”
Allen laughed at the awestruck sincerity in her voice, even as his heart beat frantically in his chest at her teasing. He kissed her hard because he simply had to. He liked this woman. Lord, he really, really liked this woman.
And he wanted to do this with her again. He wanted to do it better. He wanted to do it over and over until he found her limits, until she begged him to stop.
“It’s going to be even better when I show you without the clothes,” Allen said finally, touching his forehead to hers.
“Lie down on me,” Talia commanded, closing her eyes again. “I just want to feel your full weight. I need to after we—after you—hell, just do it. Okay?”
Allen eased himself down until he rested his full weight on her. Talia wrapped her arms around him in pleasure. She whispered sexy praise in French in his ear as she stroked his back and ran hands through his hair.
He shivered at the touch of her hands, fighting the urge to press down harder on her. Allen knew he was probably crushing her with his weight, despite her healthy size. Jenna had been the smallest woman he’d ever dated, and he hadn’t gotten nearly this far with her, for which he was now incredibly thankful. Carter would never have felt beholden and he wouldn’t now be lounging, relaxed and content between Talia Martin’s wonderful legs.
Allen shifted in Talia’s arms and rolled them to their sides until they were nose-to-nose on the couch. She looked at him with nothing but adoration.
“Is there any other woman in your life that I have to worry about?” Talia asked finally in English.
“No. But one look at you and I would have forgotten about her anyway,” Allen told her honestly, running strands of her silky hair through his fingers.
Talia sighed as she toyed with the collar of his T-shirt. They hadn’t even touched skin yet. She barely knew the man and yet they had already made love once. But his jaw was relaxed and his eyes were kind as they studied her in the growing dark of her new living room. She didn’t feel a shred of regret. All she felt was grateful.
“You’re in big trouble for admitting that to me,” Talia said, tracing fingertips up to his mouth, and over his careful, but not too careful lips. “I have a few moves of my own. Since I speak many languages, I can make a man think he’s with a different woman every time.”
Allen groaned. He felt himself twitching and getting hard again, wanting her again. “Are you going to date me? Say yes, please.”
Talia nodded as she embraced him. “I’m going to do a whole lot more than that, but sure—let’s start with dating. Some of what I have in mind isn’t as tame as what we did tonight. I like a lot of variety too.”
Allen groaned again. “On second thought, let’s skip the preliminaries. Just marry me so I can be with you every night,” he said, tucking his head between her neck and shoulder. “I’ll carry boxes for you and teach Mason to be as strong as me. I’ll do anything you want.”
“Mr. Stedman, we hardly know each other. I am an excellent wife, but still—some decorum must be maintained in every courtship. What if I can’t keep up with you? What if you get bored with me? There is our age difference to consider.” Talia started giggling as Allen shook his head against her shoulder. “Well, it could happen. We are still strangers, you know.”
“Just remember six months from now when you finally say yes that I asked you to marry me the first day I knew you,” Allen told her. “The only downside is that Carter is never going to let me forget that he found the perfect woman for me.”
“You? I signed a bloody contract with the man. I’m supposed to be making him two million dollars. Now that I’m shagging you, no telling what the man is going to expect,” Talia teased. “Once you accept an incentive from an employer, there’s really no turning back.”
“I think I like being your incentive. Are you English?” Allen asked, laughing at the words she used. “I’ve never shagged before. I like the way it sounds though.”
“Looking like you do? Like hell,” Talia said, laughing. “You know too much for me to ever believe you haven’t had your fair share of sex. And yes, I’m from England, but haven’t been there in ages. I only sound like it now and again. Really I’m a mutt. I lived in Boston most of my life. My parents live in London and Boston. I guess I keep the language because of them.”
“Talia,” Allen said, leaning up on one elbow. “I like you. I really would like to date you. I like your children also.”
“I like you, too, Allen Stedman,” Talia said. “Come back Friday night and we’ll order in Chinese food. Then when the kids go to bed I can practice my dialects on you. I have to make some phone calls to China next week.”
“Okay. Maybe I can correct your diction,” Allen suggested, teasing again.
“You speak Chinese?” Talia asked, surprised.
“No, I only speak French. My mother taught it to me. It’s almost solely responsible for my shagging experience,” Allen joked, raising up and kissing her lips once more. “I was talking about something else, trying to tease you. Now I need to go quickly before I forget that we’re still strangers.”
“Oh. Diction. Yes, come back and correct me anytime,” Talia sighed as he climbed over her and off the couch. “Why do I feel like I’ve always known you? Is that just good sex? I had no idea how much I had missed it.”
Allen stopped as he stood, shocked. “I’m sorry for whatever happened to you in your life that kept a lovely, loving woman like you from having all the sex she wants and needs.”
“See—that niceness of yours. It makes me doubly-glad about what happened tonight. I should be ashamed of what I did with someone practically a stranger. Instead, I’m already thinking it’s too many days until Friday,” Talia told him honestly.
Allen reached down a hand and helped her to stand up. “Come. Lock the door behind me.”
Talia weaved on weakened legs, but laughed again when Allen steadied her.
“I’m fine. Totally normal now, except for the brilliant bliss going on all over me,” Talia said, padding softly behind him to the door.
Allen opened the door, but turned back to her before he left. “I assolutely can’t wait until Friday. I know there is supposed to be some decorum about all this, but—“
Talia’s hot mouth on his shut down the rest of what he was going to say. All he could think about was coming back to her the first chance he got.
“Hell, woman. I need to go before I drag you back to the couch to try my move without clothes. Take care of yourself,” Allen said roughly, leaning in to kiss her one last time.
“Assolutely,” Talia assured him, letting his tongue invade her mouth, shivering as one of his hands cupped her breast as he kissed her. That was another thing they hadn’t done.
Allen practically ran down the sidewalk to his car in order to escape his urge to stay forever with the bewitching, sexy-as-hell Talia Martin.
Chapter 16
On Thursday, Alexa walked from her office briskly heading to the marketing conference room before she left for her lunch with Casey. When she got to the desk in the front, she put on the brakes and stopped in front of Allen, who was typing a letter for her.
“Allen? You look very different this week. Why is that?” Alexa asked, narrowing her gaze as she studied the pink climbing his neck to his face.
“I got a haircut,” Allen said easily, trying to distract her.
&nb
sp; “No, that’s not it,” Alexa said, laughing. “You’re relaxed and smiling—every day. Who’s the woman?”
“What—what woman?” he asked, lifting his chin and staring at Alexa. Could she really tell from just looking at him?
When the door to the office opened, Allen almost sighed in relief at the reprieve the visitor offered from Alexa’s scrutiny. It lasted about two seconds until the tall, light brown woman walked through the door and smiled at him in pleasure. Talia Martin was dressed in a suit that fit her well and made her look like a more worldly version of business Barbie. Allen stood and stared, his gaze taking in all of her, and his heart leaping out of his chest at the way she was looking at him.
Alexa laughed as her gaze took in both of them smiling at each other like they’d won the lottery.
“Allen? Was there a lunch appointment on my calendar that I forgot today?” she asked coyly.
Allen finally tore his gaze away from Talia back to Alexa. “No. Alexa, this is my friend, Talia Martin. Talia, this is my employer—Alexa Ranger.”
“Pleasure to meet you, Ms. Martin. Allen and I were just discussing you,” Alexa jokingly informed the smiling woman, her gaze now unabashedly taking her in. “You are amazingly beautiful. Have you ever done any modeling?”
“Modeling?” Talia said, laughing at the gorgeous older woman, hoping she looked as good when she aged. “As in clothes? No, not me. I’m a mother of two. I don’t have the body for it, but thank you for the lovely compliment.”
“Like hell you don’t,” Allen said firmly, then blushed when both women swung their gazes in his direction. “I mean. You have obviously kept yourself in shape, Talia.”
Talia smiled at him for the compliment and dipped her head, fighting a blush. She had come to try to talk Allen into lunch because she couldn’t wait one more day to see him. It was an unexpected treat to hear what he thought about her body.
Dating A Metro Man Page 17