Light Switch

by Lauren Gallagher

  The music was loud with a pulsing tempo, a hypnotic heartbeat, and like charmed snakes, people moved and writhed together in a dressed rehearsal of what they would no doubt be doing later tonight. Hands ran over barely covered waists and hips. Lips met necks or whispered secrets in ears. Secrets that disappeared into the blaring music, but were betrayed by startled gasps and bitten lips. Couples had eyes only for each other, while those on the prowl were unmistakably searching for one thing and one thing only.

  The air here was charged with sex, and I couldn’t decide if that meant it was a huge mistake or a damned good idea for us to come here together.

  Only one way to find out.

  We went to the bar and shouted our drink orders over the music. With bottles in hand, we found a booth near the dance floor. Neither of us spoke. It wasn’t the awkwardness that muted us now, but the music. How the hell was I supposed to break the ice when he’d barely be able to hear a word I said?

  Watching the other people on the dance floor, I rolled my beer around in my mouth for a moment, trying to decide if I should ask him. Well, if actions speak louder than words, maybe that’s how I can get him to hear me over this music.

  I turned to him and shouted, “Want to dance?”

  Matt shook his head and put a hand up. “Not much of a dancer. But, if you want to…” He gestured at the dance floor and winked. “Be my guest.”

  I laughed. “You just prefer to watch?” The words were out before I’d realized what I was saying.

  His eyes widened with a hint of panic. He gulped, then nodded. “Yeah, I just like to watch.”

  I took another sip of beer. “You sure you don’t want to join me?”

  Both hands went up this time. “No, no, dancing and I don’t get along.”

  I shrugged. “Suit yourself.” With most guys, I might have been annoyed or even offended at the suggestion of dancing alone, but the idea of dancing while Matt watched seemed like a natural—and incredibly sexy—extension of what we’d already done.

  So I drained my beer, rose, and went out to the floor. I hadn’t danced like this in years, but in no time flat, my body remembered.

  Hands appeared on my waist, followed a second later by someone’s body pressed against mine. I glanced over my shoulder. I had no idea who he was, but I danced with him anyway. He held my body close to his, every movement letting me know he was more than a little turned on. That didn’t surprise me. Every man on the dance floor was probably hard; if they weren’t aroused by the women they were dancing with, then they likely were by the women dancing nearby. There was too little clothing and too much heat for any other response.

  From across the floor, I met Matt’s eyes. His lips were parted, and he shifted in his seat before going for his beer. Even as he took a drink, his eyes never left mine, as if I mesmerized him as much as he did me. When he set the bottle down and absently licked his lips, my nipples hardened, and the brush of fabric over them every time I moved threatened to send me out of my mind.

  The songs changed and so did my dance partners. Sometimes I faced them, sometimes my back was to them. I danced with men, I danced with women, I danced alone, and all the while, Matt watched. Out in the open, with no shadows to hide him from me, he watched. The veil was lifted, the façade was gone, and we held each other’s gazes. Neither of us shied away from this silent confession of what we’d done, of what we both knew. There were no more secrets. Just as we’d done for weeks, I danced and Matt watched.

  As more and more people crammed onto the floor, my heart raced, and it wasn’t just arousal. A crowded dance floor and a claustrophobic don’t mix well, and as the breathing room around me shrank inside this thickening crowd, panic tried to work itself into my already rapid pulse.

  I took a few deep breaths. The edge of the dance floor was only a few feet away. If I needed to, I could get away from this. All I’d have to do is shoulder my way through a thin wall of people, and I’d be home free. There was no need to panic.

  Deep breath. I’m okay. As long as I knew I could get out, I’d be fine. Another deep breath. With a glance, I double-checked that I still had an easy escape if I needed it. I did, and the panic slowly receded.

  Another song ended, another unseen dance partner released me, melting away into the crowd. In seconds, hands materialized on my waist again. The music guided us into a smooth rhythm, his body molding against mine as we dipped and twisted and undulated together. Hot breath cooled the sheen of perspiration on my neck. His hands rested on my hips, and his thumbs made slow arcs on my lower back, moving in time with the music.

  And just like the last few men with whom I’d danced, he was definitely aroused. His erection brushed over my ass, and I closed my eyes, shivering at the cool electricity meandering up the length of my spine. My dance partners weren’t the only ones on this floor who were this turned on. Someone was touching me, someone was watching me, and by this point, my panties must have been soaked through.

  I opened my eyes, searching through the crowd for my unabashed voyeur. When I finally found our table, though, he was gone.

  Lips brushed the side of my neck. “You are sexy as hell when you dance, you know that?” Matt’s voice raised goose bumps over every inch of my skin.

  I turned around in his arms. He grinned and pulled me closer, pressing his erection against me as our bodies moved together.

  “I thought—” My mouth was suddenly dry. I swallowed hard. “I thought you just liked to watch.”

  “Sometimes I do.” He lowered his voice and the words were nearly lost in the music when he added, “But sometimes I get tired of watching and want to play too.”

  My breath caught. If my pussy wasn’t wet before, it was now.

  I slid my arms around his neck, and we danced. I pressed against him again, electricity coursing through my body with each rhythmic movement we made together. He pushed back, and I barely stifled a soft gasp. There was no denying he was turned on, and judging by the hand on the small of my back, keeping our bodies close together, he wasn’t interested in denying it.

  He leaned forward. I thought he was going to kiss me, but he just said, “Turn around.” When I did, he pulled me against him again, one hand on my hip, one across my stomach. It was the same way I’d danced with countless others all night, but it was different now. This wasn’t a stranger, this was Matt. Matt’s body against mine. An alleyway of distance reduced to a sliver of heat and clothing.

  We moved in total unison now, crossing line after platonic line with every sensuous motion of hips and torsos. Even more than his erection against my ass, his hot, sharp breaths against my neck let me know just how turned on he was, just how turned on I was, just how much I wanted nothing but a layer of latex between us. I didn’t even know if we were moving with the music anymore or if we’d found some tempo that belonged only to us.

  Like cold water rushing over me, Scott’s order echoed through my mind. I should have known tonight would make that order impossible to obey. Guilt tugged at my gut; I didn’t want to disobey my Master, but if this night continued in the direction I thought it was going, I only hoped he’d understand. There’d be consequences, but consequences be damned, I wanted Matt.

  Matt’s face was beside mine, his clean-shaven jaw just coarse enough against my cheek to send a shiver through me. I raised my arm and slid it around to the back of his neck as I rested my head on his shoulder.

  His lips touched my neck. I shivered again, and he laughed, the hiss of breath brushing across my skin. He kissed his way up my neck. Then along my jaw. Then my cheek.

  I turned my head toward him. When our eyes met, our bodies stopped moving. My breath stopped moving. Everything else disappeared. We didn’t bother dancing anymore, and I couldn’t feel the heat of bodies moving around us, couldn’t hear the music over the thundering of his heartbeat behind my shoulder. All that existed were the places we made contact and the places we had yet to make contact.

  Holding my gaze, he turned me back arou
nd, sliding an arm around my waist as his other hand touched my face. I put my arms around his neck and raised my chin as he tilted his head and leaned closer. His gaze flicked back and forth between my eyes and my lips, and he swallowed hard.

  Our eyes met again, and uncertainty pulled his eyebrows together. He opened his mouth as if to speak, but hesitated. We both leaned in closer, fingers snaking through each other’s hair as his lips neared mine.

  He paused and drew back slightly. His fingers twitched in my hair, neither pushing me away nor letting me get closer. A ragged breath escaped his lips and whispered across mine, driving me to the brink of madness.

  “Matt, I—”

  He kissed me.

  Full on, no holding back, from unsure to desperate in the space of milliseconds, he kissed me. His fingers alternately ran through and tightly grasped my hair. Legs that had, dance after dance, refused to fail me suddenly turned to liquid, and my entire body melted against his. Even breathing wasn’t a good enough excuse to break this kiss, and when I inhaled deeply through my nose, a suggestion of musky cologne taunted my senses.

  Whatever shyness or reluctance we’d brought into the club evaporated. We’d held back far too long, and there would be no more holding back. This was the kind of demanding, unrelenting kiss that promised nothing less than a night of naked, sweaty skin between tangled sheets.

  Someone bumped into me, nearly knocking both of us off balance, but we caught ourselves.

  “Maybe we should take this someplace else,” Matt said.

  Struggling to catch my breath, I said, “I hope ‘someplace else’ involves a cab and a house key.”

  He exhaled hard. “It does now.” Without another word, he took my hand and led me off the dance floor. We wove a quick path through the crowd to the coat check, stopping just long enough to get our jackets and my purse before hurrying outside.

  The first breath of fresh air was a shock after the thick mugginess of the club, but I was far from cold. If anything, it was just enough to cool me down and keep me from bursting into flames before Matt and I could get someplace private.

  A group of college-aged girls had just pulled up in a taxi, so Matt quickly hailed the driver before they’d even gotten out. Once they were gone, he held the door for me just as he had earlier, but there was no shy tentativeness this time, especially not when he squeezed my ass as I got in. I shot him a startled look and he winked just before he closed the door. A second later, he slid in on the other side of the backseat.

  He wrapped his arm around my shoulders and gave the driver the address of his apartment building. With all the logistical crap taken care of and the cab aimed toward home, he pulled me to him and kissed me again.

  After a moment, he broke the kiss and looked at me. “You have,” he said in a hoarse whisper, pausing to run the tip of his tongue across the inside of his lip. “You have the sexiest kiss.” He didn’t give me a chance to respond before his mouth was over mine again.

  His hand rested on my knee for a moment, then began a slow path up the inside of my thigh. As his fingers drifted under my short, short skirt, he murmured against my lips, “I’ve been dying to touch you, Kristen.”

  How he was still capable of speaking, I didn’t know. Between his kiss and his touch, I was lucky I could breathe.

  His fingertip teased me through my panties.

  “Jesus,” he breathed, pushing the thin fabric aside, “your pussy is soaked.”

  All I could do was moan. Glancing up, I caught the driver’s eye in the rearview, but he quickly returned his attention to the road. Let him see. Let the whole damned world see.

  Matt’s fingers slipped easily inside me. When his palm pressed against my clit, even that light contact was so intense, I jumped. Had he not been kissing me just then, I probably would have yelped in surprise.

  “You okay?” he asked, gently rubbing both my clit and G-spot.

  I nodded.

  “I’ll bet I can make you come before we get to my place,” he whispered. “What do you think?”

  His brazenness made me tremble as much as his hand did. From shy to… to this. What other surprises do you have in store for me tonight, Mr. Sommers?

  “I don’t think it’ll take much, will it?” He spoke so softly I barely heard him. “You’re already so wet, and I know you’re as turned on as I am. All I have to do is…” His fingers beckoned against my G-spot. “And maybe this…” His palm circled my clit, turning the edges of my vision white and blurring the rest of it with tears.

  “Jesus, Matt…” My voice was even quieter than his. It wasn’t for the driver’s benefit or out of a need for discretion. It was simply the most I could manage as Matt teased the earliest tremors of an orgasm out of my pussy. My fingers dug into his shoulders. “Oh God…”

  “We’re almost there, baby,” he whispered in my ear, “but I want you to get there first.”

  And as soon as the words rolled off his tongue, I was there.

  Chapter 14

  I came back down to earth seconds before the cab slowed to a stop in front of Matt’s apartment. We quickly got out, the pavement shifting under my wobbly legs.

  With an arm around my waist to keep me steady, Matt handed the driver a few bills. “Keep the change.”

  “Thanks, man, have a good night.”

  “Will do,” he threw over his shoulder as he led me toward the front door.

  I was vaguely aware of the cab’s tires squealing behind us. I thought there was a cool breeze when we left the club, but I didn’t notice anything now, not over the heat of my still waning orgasm or Matt’s body beside me.

  There may have been people milling around on the sidewalk or in the lobby as we made a beeline for the elevator. The place could have been deserted or Times-Square-on-New-Year’s crowded. I didn’t notice. Every one of my senses was focused entirely on Matt.

  It wasn’t until we got into the elevator that I became aware of whether or not there were people around us. Specifically, as the doors slid slowly shut, I realized we were alone.

  As soon as we were sealed inside the tiny box, Matt’s mouth was against mine.. His shirt bunched in my hands and he pushed me up against the wall, pressing his hard-on against my hip as we kissed like this was our one and only chance to ever do so. Hands blindly searched fabric for skin, tasting each other’s bodies the way our mouths tasted each other’s kiss.

  The elevator stopped, the doors opened and only then did we come up for air. We separated, but not for long. We each had time for a few rapid, gulps of air before we pulled each other into another kiss. My God, I wanted to get into his apartment and get him behind closed doors where we could get these clothes off, but I couldn’t get enough of his kiss. I wanted another orgasm like the one he’d given me in the cab, I wanted to drag him down to the floor and fuck him, I wanted—

  He suddenly pulled away and grabbed one of the closing doors.

  He took my hand. “Let’s get out of here.”

  Calling on my last few fraying strands of self-control, I resisted the temptation to pull him down to the floor. Instead, I followed him out of the elevator. On the way down the hall to his apartment, I realized another button or two of my blouse had come open. Whether he’d unbuttoned them or I had, I had no idea. Not that it mattered. I was a couple of buttons closer to being naked, so I wasn’t going to complain.

  “Finally,” he muttered when we made it to his apartment. He shoved me up against his door, his hard cock digging into my hip as he kissed me frantically, furiously, just as he’d done in the elevator.

  “I can’t promise,” he whispered breathlessly against my lips, “that we’ll make it into the bedroom before I—”

  “I don’t care.” I grasped his hair and kissed him. Keys jingled. One of us moaned. Then the door opened, and we nearly tumbled into his apartment. Somehow, probably owing to judicious use of walls and furniture, we kept each other upright.

  He kicked the door shut. My purse hit the carpet. His jacket foll
owed. My bracelets slipped off and clanged on the floor. We stumbled down the hall, shedding clothes with every shuffling step. He kissed my neck and panted against my skin. I clawed at his shirt, desperate for his skin against my fingers. A low growl emerged from the back of his throat and vibrated against my neck.

  Then he grabbed my hair, raised his head, and kissed me as he forced me backwards. My hip hit something solid. Before the dull impact even registered, Matt spun me around and bent me over his dining room table. One hand stayed on my lower back, forbidding me from moving. His belt buckle jingled, and I tried in vain to dig my fingers into the table’s smooth surface, searching for something to hold on to.

  At the sound of his zipper, I bit my lower lip, struggling to stay in control. He’s going to. Oh God, yes, he’s going to. When he pushed my skirt up over my hips, my bones turned to liquid.

  “Christ, I just can’t wait.” His voice was unsteady, the words slurred.

  Foil tore. Blood thundered in my ears. I closed my eyes and bit my lip as he pulled my panties aside.

  “I don’t usually rush like this,” he said, “but I… fuck… I…”

  “Fuck me,” I pleaded. “Please, Matt—”

  With one hard thrust, he was all the way inside me, and he fucked me. Dear God, he fucked me. From the very first stroke, he gave me everything he had, slamming his cock deep inside me. A string of profanity rolled off my tongue, but I couldn’t hear my own voice or his over the table’s creaks and protests. More than once, I thought it would buckle beneath us. If it had, we probably wouldn’t have missed a beat, and he would have just kept fucking me right on top of the rubble.

  One hand left my hip, and a second later, he grabbed my hair again, tightening his fist and pulling back hard enough to make me whimper.

  “You like that, don’t you?” he said, panting.

  “Yes,” I moaned. “Yes, I love it.”

  He gripped my hair tighter and fucked me so hard the pain was almost more than I could take. The edge of the table bit into my hips, but I just didn’t care, not while he sent me careening toward another orgasm.