by Kenyon, Toni
Tamsen vacillated between angelic, virginal schoolgirl and sultry temptress. Matt had trouble keeping up, although parts of him seemed to be in no doubt as to where the evening was heading.
"I told you, I'm having you across a table," he said. "How does this one look, or would you prefer the one inside?"
"Oh, I get a choice. That's kind."
"I always aim to please." He pushed the platter of chicken and prawns toward her, "Now, you’d better get some of these down you - you're going to need all the help you can get to keep up with me later."
Eyeing him with a suspicious look, Tamsen picked up a couple of prawns and some chicken. "Is that so?"
He turned his attention to the salad. It really was a work of art and Matt had a pang of guilt at the prospect of destroying the display by dropping some of it on his plate.
He said, "You'd best explain to me what it is I'm eating. I had no idea there was anything even remotely edible in my garden."
"You've got plenty." Tamsen dug into the salad herself, small petals falling onto her plate like confetti. "The purple petals are heartsease - those small violas that you've got growing under the roses at the front door. The orange skinny ones are calendula petals. They're often referred to as pot marigold. There're nasturtium petals - they were growing on the bank down the driveway, the orange and yellow petals - and if you look there's some baby nasturtium leaves too. They're the little hexagonal ones."
He was impressed. "What’s this one?" He was holding a small, five-petaled cream flower.
"Try it."
"You do know you have to marry me before you can pick up the life insurance?" He must be relaxed - he never joked about marriage, with anyone.
"It won't kill you." She urged him on, "Promise."
"It's a potent aphrodisiac, right?"
She laughed. "I don't know, I'd have to check my book at home for its constituents."
"It tastes like peanut butter." He was amazed. "What is it?"
"It's rocket. There're leaves here too from the packet greens you had in the fridge, but you've got flowers down the driveway."
"I never thought I'd be eating flowers from my own garden." He wondered what other interesting surprises she had lined up for him.
Matt's astonishing receptiveness to new experiences added to the man's enigma. Other men in her past - not that there'd been many – had run a mile whenever she suggested anything new. She wondered, not for the first time, what drove this man.
His home wasn't at all what she'd expected. It had been clear the moment she set foot down the driveway that extreme garden renovations were underway, and she’d had to clamber over piles of bark, mulch and topsoil to get to the flowers she'd collected for the salad.
She hoped he wasn't too upset over the mess in the kitchen; she just got so involved in creating, she was completely oblivious to the disorder around her.
It was lovely having someone to share her knowledge about the plants with too; he seemed to have a genuine interest, although she couldn't at this stage discount that as mere lip-service to his undisguised attempts to get her undressed.
Watching him eat, his sensual lips covered with a fine oily sheen from the chicken, she imagined them traversing the length of her body. He slowly licked his lips, aware she was inspecting him. Teasing.
Warmth flooded her body and her nipples reacted in an instant, anticipating his tongue. He was gorgeous and she wanted him. Tamsen sat there, torn between her lustful desire to experience him and the conventional school-ma'am voice lecturing her in her head.
"It's beautiful watching the dusk turn to night from here, don't you think?" Matthew leaned back in his chair, surveying the rapid descent of night.
Tamsen had to agree. It had been magical watching the sunset colors cross the horizon as they ate their meal. The sky ran now like watercolors, from deep black down through dark blue, with the lighter sky blue merging into pale grey as the last sliver of red danced on the horizon behind the black silhouette where trees met sky.
She sighed, feeling replete and satisfied with life. "I wouldn't want to be anywhere else."
"That makes two of us." He stood, collecting up dirty plates and cutlery and made movements toward the kitchen with the crockery and the remainder of the food.
"Here, let me help you." She picked up the fish platter and his two empty beer bottles.
"No need, really, I'm an expert. I was a waiter in former life."
"Cool, a Catholic who believes in reincarnation."
He laughed. "I meant when I was a struggling law student."
"A man of many talents."
"We've had this discussion before." The look in his eye spoke of pleasures yet to be unearthed. Did she have the courage to dig, she wondered?
"You keep threatening. I'm beginning to think you're all mouth and trousers." What a thing to say, she could have slapped herself. Maybe it was time to just call it a night and head home.
His desire registered in his eyes and her world came to a grinding halt. All thought of walking out the door left her head. His pupils dilated and she felt something inside of her ping. Her brain screamed a warning, but her soul held her rooted to the spot, caught in his gaze.
"Mouth and trousers, hmm?" He moved toward her, invading her aura, close enough she could feel his breath on her face. He didn't touch her, but still his energy infiltrated its way into her every cell. Her temperature rose. Her heart beat erratically. She had an acute awareness of the lack of distance between them – she was hypersensitive to him, warmed by a passion that flared within him.
He reached out to touch her face, running the back of his hand from the top of her cheekbone down, the tips of his fingers lingering at the base of her throat.
An erotic touch that sparked a response inside her. She held her breath, not daring to move, waiting to see what he would do next.
An immediate desire to reach out and touch him consumed her and she ran her hand up his bare arm, the hairs tickling her palm. She trembled, the tension building between them.
His eyes never left hers, unblinking pools of dark brown, the pupils - smaller pools of black. Matt let his fingers slide under her chin, tracing the outline of her jaw, all the way to her silver earring, then swinging on the metal hoop. The intimate action sparked a sudden flush of vulnerability and Tamsen swallowed involuntarily.
"Am I disturbing you?" His voice was thick with desire.
"You've been disturbing me from the moment I first set eyes on you." It was the truth, though she'd been afraid to admit it even to herself. It seemed strange vocalizing it for him.
"Do you want me to stop?" The gleam in his eye spoke of wicked things to come.
"No."
Tamsen moved closer to him, reaching out and mirroring his actions with her hand. His skin was warm, and she decided he must have shaved before she arrived - there was absolutely no hint of regrowth. She was touched that he'd made such an effort for her.
He dragged his finger along her cheek, down to her mouth, pausing just below her bottom lip. She reflected the action and he smiled. She stroked her finger across his bottom lip, waiting to see if he would pick up on her lead. He did. She suckled his finger, drawing it deep into her mouth. Tasting him, enjoying the intimate contact, allowing him to explore her mouth, rubbing her tongue up and down and around him.
She teased his mouth with her index finger, not quite allowing him to suckle hers, toying with his lips, making him reach out with his tongue, the tip hunting for the tip of her finger, letting him lick her, then spreading his own spittle around his lips, coating them, rubbing her finger along his teeth, feeling the hard sharpness, permitting him to clamp tenderly on her while his tongue flicked up and over her manicured nail.
A powerful need to kiss him overtook her, to taste with her own the lips she was so enjoying. The anticipation of his flavor crippling her, she trembled in the most exquisite way.
He moved closer to her, slipped his arm around her slim waist and pulled her
toward him. Parted her legs with his thigh so that she leaned astride him, the weight of her body sitting on her pubic bone, further inflaming the heat and need his nearness was creating.
She could smell him now, his scent hot and vibrant, a touch of musk hidden under layers of cinnamon and deep citrus. His body was solid when she ran her hands over his chest, the silk of his shirt smooth and seductive.
She lingered over his erect nipples, rubbing them with the open palms of her hands through the sheer material. Her desire was building and still she had yet to taste him.
"Do you have any idea what you're doing to me?" The words were spoken quietly.
He'd leaned forward, was rimming the outside of her ear with his tongue, his breath coming in ragged, shallow gasps, hot on her neck like the humid air of a balmy summer's night. She tipped her head to the side, giving him full access to the length of her neck; she wanted to feel his tongue and his teeth on that most sensitive part of her body.
He was bringing her ever so slowly to the boil and she, in no rush, was enjoying the sensations, all the while sedately riding his upper thigh.
She slid her hands through his hair, massaging his scalp with her fingertips and fingernails, and he moaned in response. The sound struck at her core, ran musically down her spine and she felt the beginnings of wetness. Her knees went weak and she leaned more heavily into him. He found his way past her neck, stringing butterfly kisses across her cheek until his lips rested tenderly against hers.
A bubble of emotion escaped her heart, some sort of physical recognition she couldn't begin to describe. She was incredibly turned on and aroused by this man, but here was a moment of tenderness and purity she didn't understand that evoked deeply buried emotional responses beyond anything she'd sensed before.
For a moment she breathed his breath, touched by his soul, a potpourri of emotions somersaulting through her body. Then she relaxed and allowed him to bring his lips to hers in a joining that was like coming home.
Everything felt incredibly right - his touch, his lips, his probing tongue. He tasted clean and special and real. As he held her tighter she wrapped her arms around the back of his neck. His hands cupped her buttocks and tiny explosions went off inside her head. She felt alive and vibrant, moved by powerful energy and emotion.
Feverishly she began exploring his body and mouth with her own, unwilling to disengage from the contact and touch, such feelings he was evoking. She wanted the kiss to go on forever. Wanted to bask in the heat of their desire, be scorched by the flames of passion, to hold onto this moment forever, it felt so vital and right.
He pulled away, breaking the spell, gasping for air, his cheeks flushed, his neck clammy, his scent strong. Softly he whispered, "That was some kiss."
She rested her forehead on his. "It was, wasn't it?”
Neither was willing to give up complete connection, rubbing noses slowly backwards and forwards, claiming the intimacy of the moment.
Matthew wanted her. Wanted her desperately and with a passion born of a desire he'd seldom experienced before. He'd planned to seduce her slowly, build a scalding passion, bring her to the edge and not let her fall. Leave her longing, leave her in need of him. But things hadn't gone as he planned.
Gazing into her green eyes, their foreheads touching, he stroked down the muscles of her back to those beautiful buttocks. She was still rubbing herself gently against his upper thigh; it was driving him insane with lust and desire.
He didn't want to move from the kitchen, so anxious to ensure they didn't defile the moment. The immediate emotion of the kiss had evaporated, but it was replaced with a burning hunger for her that felt insatiable.
He wanted her. He wanted her now, and he wasn't prepared to risk losing momentum. She disengaged herself from his forehead, started running gentle kisses - interspersed with nips of her teeth - down his neck.
His instant response was in his groin. The pressure in his jeans intense, he needed some relief and release. He reached down and unbuttoned the first three buttons, groaning as she continued to nibble his neck. Her hand followed down his arm, pushing his aside and cupping him through the silk of his boxers. Another shot to his groin and his cock pulsed under the warmth of her touch.
"Excited?" Her voice was husky and all he could do was moan in response.
"Would you like me to lick you - take you in my mouth like I did with your finger?" She continued mercilessly licking behind his ear.
He was mad with desire. She was a vixen, yet she'd masqueraded as some sort of innocent. His mind was confused. He should be resisting her, taking the lead, taking control, but his body was betraying him, reacting to her every touch. He was completely powerless in her hands.
Licking then kissing the hollow in his throat, she started to unbutton his shirt, blazing a trail down his chest, a lick then a kiss where each button sat. He had a white-knuckled grip on the granite bench as she undid the last of the buttons and knelt between his legs.
She looked up, hovering seductively over the ache beneath his boxers, threatening to release him into her warm and inviting mouth. She licked her lips, that carnal mouth making promises he couldn't possibly resist. "You haven't answered me."
She rubbed her chin up his aching shaft, the sensation through the silk excruciating, and he let out a sharp gasp. "Yes."
"Yes what?" Her thumb raked over the tip of his cock, milking him through the blue silk.
"Yes, please. You're killing me."
She smiled. "Look how wet I'm making you and I haven't even started yet."
His grip on the granite tightened.
Deftly she released the other buttons on his jeans, slipped the blue denim together with his boxers down his legs, then prodded his thighs, as you would a horse, inviting him to step out of the clothing. When she kissed her way back up the insides of his thighs his excitement continued to mount.
"I'm so glad you don't wear shoes – it’s so un-erotic removing shoes and socks, don't you think?"
Matt was unable to think. She was hovering menacingly over his genitals again and he was desperate for her to take him in her mouth.
"Suck me, please." The words were almost a growl.
Reaching up his body, she dragged her long manicured fingernails the length of his torso, drawing all sensation down to the concentrated area of his groin, bringing his focus to the center of himself. His cock bobbed and dribbled in front of her lips. She blew softly across his tip and he shuddered in response. Gripping him with her hands, she ever so slowly lowered that carnal mouth over him. The sensation was electric, the heat of her mouth heaven. He threw his head back and closed his eyes, moaning long and loud.
"Take me all the way in, as deep as you can." The words were dredged from someone else. He felt whiny and needy but he didn't care; all he cared about were the superb sensations of her suckling.
She mouthed him in slow and luxurious strokes. He was out of his mind with desire; the sensations were incredible. He held her head, ran his fingers through her hair, allowed her beautiful lips and tongue to milk him, caress him. She cupped his balls with one hand, the other grasping his cock, creating a funnel to the warm, sweet, wetness of her mouth. Over and over she took him, long, steady stroking. He wanted to come in her mouth, wanted her to feel the full force of him, wanted her to devour him.
A small voice of reason struggled through the pleasurable cloud. He also wanted this to last, wanted to give her pleasure, show her what he could do for her - make her come.
He reached down again, interrupted Tamsen and lifted her up toward him. Her mouth was red and puffy, her lips savaged from her savaging of him. He kissed her - hungrily, powerfully and desperately. Her tongue danced with his, delving into his mouth; she tasted salty, and her heat aroused him even more.
He found the zipper at the back of her neck, tugging at the material, frustrated when it wouldn't co-operate. He quickly turned her around so he could look at what he was doing. The sea of green material parted for him, exposing the p
ale plane of her back. Leveling a kiss in the middle of her shoulder blades, he disposed of the fastening of her bra, pushing the straps down in the sweep of her dress.
Flesh dancing in front of his eyes, her hair cascading down her shoulders, he pulled her to him, snuggling her bare back to his chest, luscious skin on skin contact.
Cupping her full, heavy breasts in his palms, the rosebud nipples begging for the attention of his mouth, he squeezed each hard and she shuddered against him, a small moan escaping her lips.
"Nice?"
She nodded. "Squeeze harder - I like it when it hurts."
More than happy to oblige, he felt a throbbing sensation shoot to his cock. The thought of her appreciation of a little pain turned him on more than he cared to admit.
"Oh, God, that's so good." She arched back against him, grinding her backside into his rock-hard cock. "Lick inside my ear - it turns me on."
He was grateful for instructions. As he ran his tongue inside her ear an urgent moan was rapidly followed by a gyrating backside. His immediate thought was to get some space between his cock and her backside or he was going to explode all over her and the kitchen.
CHAPTER SIX
Matt released his grip on Tamsen's tortured nipples and turned her round to face him, taking in the canvas of her body. Her face was flushed with passion and her eyes glazed with desire and yearning; he'd almost overlooked how beautiful she was, with her curves in all the right places.
"You're gorgeous," he moaned.
Matt hooked his thumbs in the minuscule green G-string she wore, removing it in a single downward motion. Tamsen held his shoulders and stepped gingerly out of the scrap of material. He made no attempt to remove her shoes, liking the naughtiness of her wearing nothing but high heels.
He turned around and pushed her up against the bench-top he'd vacated. Capturing one of her nipples in his hungry mouth, he allowed his hands the luxury of exploring the uncharted territory of her stomach and thighs. He could smell the heat of her body, the hot sweet scent emanating from her pores, as he continued suckling and caressing, alternating from nipple to nipple, her hands running through his hair, then raking his back in long, agonizingly slow strokes.