That’s how it was supposed to be. The competition pushed us forward even if I, personally, was knocked back.
After about half a dozen questions, the organizer smoothly stood and called the presentation to close. The last query for me about the effect of AI on humankind was clearly enough for the poor man. Security hustled me back into the small room, pressing a fresh and cold bottle of water into my hand.
The organizer shook my hand and patted me on the back, all smiles. The others in the room were all happy as well so I must have done a halfway decent job out there.
I felt a hand on my arm and looked down to see Ashlyn standing next to me, a smile on her face.
“You did great. Amazing. Awesome. And all of those other cool adjectives.”
I’d done my job today and now I wanted nothing more than to spend some time with her. I leaned down to whisper in her ear.
“What do you say we get out of here?”
CHAPTER TWENTY
Ashlyn
Kyle had arranged time in the spa for me the next day while he worked. It was absolutely decadent but so relaxing to be massaged, exfoliated, and moisturized within an inch of my life. After all of that pampering it wasn’t over, however. I had my hair styled and my makeup done all while getting a mani-pedi.
I felt like a freakin’ princess.
But I’d better not get too used to it. I doubted my sparkly eyeshadow would go with my normal everyday jeans and t-shirts. Or maybe they would. It was worth a try.
As I was packing up to leave the spa, I was handed a large box by the hairdresser. She was wearing a huge grin so I knew it was something good.
A dress. A sapphire blue cocktail dress, sleeveless and beaded around the neckline and hem. Rather modest in the front but definitely sexy with its scandalously low back. I didn’t know what he had planned but I couldn’t wait. Carefully, I slipped it on, not wanting to mess up my hair and makeup. Pulling up the side zip, I glanced in the mirror and the woman staring back at me was glowing and happy, practically vibrating with excitement. She was in love. It was that obvious and I couldn’t help but wonder if he could see it. I’d barely begun to admit it to myself but there was no way to deny my own eyes.
I could pretend it wasn’t true, but it wouldn’t change the reality.
Ashlyn loved Kyle. If we were schoolkids someone would have written it on the face of my locker – true love 4 ever.
Slipping on the shoes that had been included in the package, I gathered up my discarded clothing and headed up to our suite. My heart raced with excitement and my steps were quicker than normal despite the precariously high heels. By the time I reached the door to our room, I was breathless. My shaking fingers could barely unlock the door, but Kyle must have heard me on the other side. He pulled it open and stood in the entry looking like the most handsome man I’d ever seen in my life.
Wearing a black tuxedo. Bare feet. I must have caught him when he was dressing.
We were both just staring at each other. Somebody had to say something or I’d be standing in the hallway all evening.
It took a minute, but I found my voice. “Hi.”
“Hi. You are so beautiful.”
He said wonderful things like that quite a bit but tonight was a little different. There was something in his gaze, a catch in his voice when he said it.
“Thank you. So are you.”
That made him chuckle and then he must have realized we were standing in the doorway because he stepped back and bowed low as I entered.
“My lady, welcome to what I hope will be a romantic evening.”
We weren’t really the type for stuff like this. I was a sweatpants and t-shirt kind of gal and Kyle loved pizza and beer, so it meant everything that he’d gone all out like this in an attempt to make tonight special.
Didn’t he know that all the time I spent with him was special? I didn’t need these candles and the soft music playing in the background. I didn’t need the elaborately set table with its white linen tablecloth and napkins, and shiny silver forks and spoons. Even the china gleamed in the flickering candlelight. It was perfect and over the top and my throat clogged with emotion as I imagined him making plans days ago to surprise me.
“This is incredible.” He wore a smug grin. “How long have you been planning this?”
“Since you said you would come with me. I wanted to do something really special.”
“You succeeded. I didn’t expect…this.”
He lifted the champagne bottle from the ice bucket. “How about some champagne?”
Not waiting for me to answer, he popped the cap and foam bubbled from the top and into the glass as he poured the golden liquid. It tasted sharp on my tongue and the sparkling bubbles tickled my nose.
“Ashlyn,” he began, his gaze trained on his bare feet. “There’s so much I want to say–”
He broke off but I stayed quiet, letting him gather his thoughts. My heart slammed into my ribs and I held my breath. It was that kind of moment.
He finally looked up and his eyes were shiny with moisture. “You’ve changed so much for me. The last few weeks have been the best of my life.”
“For me, too.”
The words came out high and squeaky, but I was lucky to be able to say anything at all. I swear I was beginning to sweat right through this fancy dress. If he didn’t hurry I was going to collapse on the expensive tile, and they’d have to call an ambulance.
Please say it.
“I’ve waited a long time to meet a woman like you and I feel so lucky that I have.” He took a ragged breath and then placed our glasses on the table next to us before pulling me into his arms. This close he had to know that I was literally shaking like a leaf. I clung to his shoulders, sure I was going to faint at any moment. “What I’m trying to say – and badly – is that I’ve fallen in love with you, Ashlyn. I hope that’s okay.”
This wasn’t the first time a man had told me he loved me, but it was certainly the most important. Mostly because I loved him back. A lot. More than I ever had. That’s when it hit me that I hadn’t said it out loud yet and he was probably wondering if I was going to speak.
“I love you, too.”
It came out all gravelly and barely audible, but he heard me and understood. His eyes crinkled when he smiled. I hadn’t noticed before, but it made him even more attractive and his happiness even more sincere.
I was in so deep with him, at the point of no return.
There was hot food under silver domes, but my appetite wasn’t for food. Reaching up, I plucked at the end of his bowtie so the two ends hung loose. One of his eyebrows quirked and that evil smile played on his lips. He called me the devil, but he was the dangerous one.
“Is that a hint?”
I ran my hands up under his jacket so I could push it off his shoulders. I could feel the warmth from his body even through the fabric of his shirt. I wanted to be skin to skin with him as soon as possible.
“Do you need me to be a little more clear?”
He shrugged off the jacket and laid it across the back of a chair. “I’m getting the message loud and clear. I only have one question.”
“And that is?”
“Bedroom or dining table?”
He was such a kinky bastard. I knew what he wanted.
“Is there chocolate on any of these trays?”
“There is. Strawberries and dipping chocolate. I also ordered some whipped cream.”
“The dining table it is then.”
He’d planned it all in advance. He really was a genius.
* * *
Ashlyn
Clothes ended up tossed around the room and my beautiful blue cocktail dress had been draped over the arm of a chair. Disgraceful for an item so beautiful and expensive but I’d worry about it later. Right now, I was concentrating on the man between my thighs as I lounged on the dining room table. Kyle was kissing a damp path from my ankles to my thighs and then going back and starting all over again. The heat tha
t had started in my belly was spreading through my veins like melted butter.
He gave me a wicked grin. “I’m glad you left your shoes on.”
I hadn’t on purpose, only now realizing it when he pointed it out. It was rather kinky and decadent though to see myself naked as the day I was born except for my high heels.
Kissing a trail up my inner thigh and onto my quivering abdomen, Kyle dipped his tongue into my bellybutton, causing my body to bow and my hands to grab onto his biceps to keep the room from spinning out of control. My eyelids were heavy but I forced them to stay open, determined to enjoy looking at my very sexy and incredibly handsome boyfriend. In the buff.
He was muscular but not overly so. He had more of a swimmer’s body or perhaps a baseball player. I let my gaze linger on his wide shoulders before allowing it to wander down his chest, over his flat stomach, and then pausing at his hard cock – thick and long and practically crying out for my mouth. I began to sit up but his hands gently pressed me back down onto the table, the shiny oak cool under my feverish skin.
“Easy, honey. I have a hell of a lot of plans for you tonight. We can get to me later.”
Who was I to argue?
Leaning over me, he lapped at my nipples until they were hard as diamonds and sending arrows of arousal straight to my clit. I moved restlessly under him but he held me easily in place, using his lips and teeth to drive me slowly out of my mind. Within minutes he had me panting and gasping, clutching the back of his head. I couldn’t decide if I wanted him to stop or continue and my brain was beginning to get that sex-fogged feeling where all logical thinking ceased and I functioned purely on emotion.
I was floating on a cloud of dreamy pleasure when his mouth abandoned my breasts and was instead replaced with a warmer liquid. The delicious aroma of chocolate hit my nostrils and I inhaled deeply, the scent a potent aphrodisiac. Blood flew through my veins as if it had golden wings, making a roaring sound in my ears that blocked out the real world. It would be time to go back eventually, but I was happy to stay here where nothing more was asked of me than to enjoy and feel.
I hadn’t been paying attention and at some point, Kyle had lifted the silver dome on the chafing dish of warm chocolate. He also unveiled a tray of strawberries and bite-sized cake pieces arranged artfully on an oval tray, and then plucked a juicy red berry, dipping it into the melted goodness.
His smile was delightfully evil and I watched entranced as he ran the chocolate covered strawberry in a circle around a painfully hard nipple and then popped the fruit into his mouth. A trickle of juice ran from the corner of his lips and I lifted up and ran my tongue over it. Sweet and tart, just like the kiss I’d received right after along with a groan of…desire? Frustration? I wasn’t sure, but it was sexy as hell.
He repeated his action but this time he placed the ripe fruit at my lips. I bit down into the juicy flesh and the decadent flavor burst on my tongue.
My eyes fluttered closed as he dipped a finger into the chocolate, painting a pattern on my abdomen and then licking it off. Slowly. Deliberately. Taking his own sweet time. His tongue made magic on my sensitive skin and he had me wriggling and giggling underneath him as he tickled at my ribs.
“Hmmm…where should I paint this next?”
His voice rumbled against my hip, sending tremors to my clit. He was only teasing, of course. We both knew where that chocolate was going… I shivered with anticipation, but he wasn’t in any hurry, letting a few drops of chocolate fall on my thighs and below my bellybutton.
The hotel room had to be about two hundred degrees or had my flesh gone up in flames? The tip of Kyle’s tongue danced playfully along my inner thigh, but he studiously avoided the one place I desperately needed him to go.
I waited, holding my breath for that moment. Electricity zipped up and down my veins, my entire body quivering until I had to reach out and grab the sides of the table to hold myself down. My eyes were squeezed shut and Kyle had gone quiet, not saying a word.
And then the wait was over.
Sticky, warm chocolate dripped onto my clit. Not hot enough to burn but enough that I cried out at the overwhelming sensations that rocketed through me. His tongue was right there licking it off and I immediately went over the edge, calling out his name as he pressed his face between my thighs. Later I would swear that I saw actual honest-to-god fireworks explode behind my lids.
My back arched up off the table as Kyle’s strong hands grasped my hips and pulled me toward him, his hard cock pressing at my entrance. I was so ready for him he slid in embarrassingly easy, all the way to the hilt. So full of him it was like he was inside me and all around me at the same time. His body hovered above, his rock-solid arms planted on either side of me, all the while his cock thrust lazily in and out as if we had all the time in the world and I wasn’t on fire from the inside out.
Wrapping my legs around his waist, I dug the high heels of my shoes into his firm backside trying to urge him on. “Harder. Faster.”
Somehow, I’d managed to get the words out in between panting breaths. Kyle chuckled softly and increased the tempo of his strokes just enough to push me closer to a second orgasm but not enough to get me there.
The bastard.
“Easy, babe. We’ve got all night.”
Clearly, he was speaking for himself.
I reached and wrapped my arms around his neck, twining my fingers into his springy hair and pulling him down for a wet, hot kiss. Blood roared in my ears and I could feel it thundering through my arms and legs, all the way to my toes. The arousal had built in my lower belly and it would go off any minute. If only Kyle would speed the hell up.
“I need you now,” I said, my voice hoarse and trembly. “Fuck me harder. I’m so close.”
Those must have been the magic words because he did begin to thrust harder and faster, his teeth gritted together and his jaw tight. His fingers tightened on my hips and I would probably have marks there tomorrow, but I didn’t care. I was getting exactly what I wanted right now.
Him. All he could give me.
I fought to keep my eyes open this time, wanting to see him go over as well. Our bodies were covered in a sheen of sweat and the sounds we made were slightly obscene with our grunting and the sound of flesh meeting flesh. I was hovering on the edge, in that shimmery place where the rest of the world melts away and we were the only two people on the planet.
His cock kept running over that sweet spot inside of me and his next stroke was the one that sent me over. The room whirled and spun, blurring in front of my eyes. I couldn’t make out Kyle’s features clearly, but I knew the exact moment he climaxed by the sexy growl that burst from his lips along with my name. A few seconds later he collapsed on top of me, our damp, sticky bodies pressed together.
Running my fingers through his hair, I didn’t say anything. There weren’t any words for a moment like this. We’d said them before and then our lovemaking had placed an exclamation point on the end. We’d had sex before but tonight it felt different. Closer and more intimate. I could be myself with him and not worry that he might think I was too bold or slutty. I was accepted and loved, a feeling I’d never had until this man.
I never wanted to let it go.
Eventually he looked up at me, a playful grin on his face. “I think we missed dinner.”
I was as wanton as the next woman but even I couldn’t eat dinner on this table after our romp. I just couldn’t.
“We could order a pizza.”
“You get the shower going and I’ll call it in.”
That was a deal I could get on board with.
CHAPTER TWENTY-ONE
Ashlyn
All good things had to come to an end. Four days on a warm beach was utterly fantastic but we both had responsibilities. We couldn’t spend the rest of our lives sipping rum drinks and getting a tan.
No matter how much we wanted to.
We both fell asleep on the flight home and I continued that trend while Kyle drove us fr
om the airport to Arborville. When the car stopped, I woke and yawned sleepily, stretching my arms over my head and looking around. My condo looked the same as did the snow-covered yard. The only differences were the dark green sedan in my driveway and all the lights on inside. I’d left one lamp on a timer in the front window.
That’s not right.
Rubbing the sleep out of my eyes, I shook my head trying to take in the scene before me. It was dark out so maybe Kyle had driven me to the wrong house.
“How long were we in Florida?” I asked.
“Four days, I swear.” He popped the trunk where the luggage was. “Why don’t you give me your keys and let me go inside? You stay here.”
“Dude, there is no way I’m going to let you walk in there by yourself. Maybe I should call 911?”
Now that I was shaking off the fog of sleep my mind was beginning to actually function. The car wasn’t familiar, but this scenario was giving me serious deja vu. This wasn’t the first time I’d come home and found all my lights on.
Oh crap.
“I think I know who is in my house.”
“One of your friends?”
“Nope, my grandmother.”
There was a tiny pause before he responded.
“Your grandmother the United States senator?”
“That very one. I think the car is a rental.”
“Then we shouldn’t keep her waiting. I’ll get the bags.”
I hadn’t even thought about introducing Kyle to Gran this early in our relationship, but fate had taken a hand and here we were.
Just one big happy family.
* * *
Kyle
Tease Him (ManTrap Book 2) Page 13