“Wait,” she managed, tearing her lips from his. “It’s not supposed to be like this.” When he gave her a knowing look, she added, “I mean, it is supposed to be like this—passionate and intense—but not like this.”
She pulled away from him and took his hands in hers, leading him toward the sofa. “Your table is ready and waiting. I’ll be your server tonight.” She urged him into a chair. “Have a look and I’ll be right back to take your order.”
Holly left Josh to go over the menu while she retreated into the kitchen. She drew a deep breath. Her nipples pressed tight against her blouse. The material rubbed the ripe tips and a gasp burst past her lips. The intense reaction startled her. She’d never responded so fiercely to a man before. Then again, it was that fact that had prompted her to proposition him in the first place.
He was hot. Sensual. Stimulating.
And ready to order.
The sound of the bell echoed in her ear and sent a bolt of adrenaline through her. She stiffened and tried to calm her suddenly pounding heart. As quickly as she could, she stripped down her to her bra and panties. Her fingers stalled just an inch shy of her bra closure and doubt bolted through her. A crazy sensation. She’d already made up her mind to follow the menu. Besides, as nervous as the thought of parading naked in front of Josh McGraw made her, it made her equally excited.
She forced her fingers into action until she’d shed her clothes and donned the uniform worn by the women of the Farraday Inn. Then she drew a deep breath and pushed through the kitchen door.
JOSH DREW IN a deep breath and tried to slow the fierce pounding of his heart. He had to get a grip if he intended to make even one of the menu selections without coming in his pants.
A definite possibility, he realized as he read the suggestive offerings. Each conjured an image that made it harder to breathe. Hard, period.He wanted to slide into her warm, luscious body over and over again until he stopped thinking about her.
She had him by the short hairs, hot and panting like some wet-behind-the-ears kid. But that was going to change. Before it was all said and done, Josh intended to get his fill of Holly Farraday. Then she would become just another woman in his past. Nobody special. Nobody who could keep him up all night with just the memory of her soft lips and hot tongue.
Josh McGraw didn’t do special. He liked all women, and they liked him. He was plainspoken, highly sensual and only interested in one thing when it came to women. He knew it sounded cold, unfeeling, even. But the truth of the matter was Josh felt too much. Lust was a powerful thing and often misinterpreted for something deeper. But not by him. He wasn’t continuing the grand McGraw tradition of lying and cheating on his partner.
He pushed away the strange sense of melancholy that crept through him and focused on the frantic beat of his heart. This wasn’t about commitment. Not by a long shot. It was sex, pure and simple and uncomplicated, just the way Josh liked it.
“Pretty interesting, huh?” The soft sweet voice came from behind.
Josh turned to see Holly approach the table. His heart jammed into his throat and his stomach went hollow.
She wore nothing but a filmy black apron tied around her small waist and a matching bra. Her nipples were dark, inviting shadows beneath the lace. Her breasts were plumped and full and so close to spilling over the cups.
She looked soft and rounded in all the right places and the urge to grip her waist and pull her into his lap and onto his throbbing cock was damned near too much for him to handle.
He gripped the edge of the menu and forced his gaze back to the tantalizing list. “I first heard about this menu when I was a kid. It was more like a tall tale back then. Like the tooth fairy. Some believed it existed. Some didn’t. But no one really knew. Then when I was in the ninth grade, this guy on the basketball team got his hands on one his father had swiped on a visit. It was the hot topic in the boys’ locker room from then on.”
“I didn’t think boys gossiped.”
He grinned. “We don’t. We talk. Speculate.” His gaze locked with hers and his expression went serious. “Fantasize.”
The word seemed to dangle between them for several long seconds. The air that surrounded them grew thick and hot. Her gaze darkened and she licked her lips, and he knew she wanted him as much as he wanted her.
Not that he’d had any doubts. She’d propositioned him. Obviously she felt the same fierce need, even if she did seem to be doing a fine job of controlling herself.
“So how do you want to do this?” he finally asked.
Another swipe at her bottom lip and she drew a deep breath. The action pushed her breasts up and out and need twisted his gut. “It seems the most practical to start at the top and work our way through one item at a time. At least, that’s what I was thinking. The appeteasers are smaller items and don’t require as much time, so we can do two at a time.”
“Why not go for broke and do all four tonight?”
“We don’t have enough time. I only scheduled two hours for this. I still have some things to do in my kitchen.”
“I thought you took Saturday nights off.”
“That was back in Houston. But since none of my shipments have come on time, I’m behind. I’ll be working this weekend to try to catch up. Which means I have to be in my kitchen in two hours to prepare tomorrow’s work schedule.”
If there was one thing Josh had learned about Holly in the few short days she’d been in town, it was that she prided herself on following her coveted schedule.
He couldn’t help but wonder as she turned to lead him upstairs what it would be like to see her off her schedule, acting on raw impulse rather than a step-by-step plan. He had the sudden impulse to yank her around, press her up against the nearest wall and take her right then and there the way he’d wanted to when she’d first opened the door to him a half hour ago.
But as much as he wanted to shake up Holly’s world, he knew pushing her too far, too fast would likely get him booted out the front door. He’d meant what he’d said about the menu. Like every other freshman boy who’d seen the notorious menu up close and personal in the locker room that time, he’d done his fair share of fantasizing about the various sexual delicacies, and he wasn’t about to miss his chance to sample each one for himself.
Josh gathered his control, gripped the banister and followed her up the stairs.
HOLLY TOSSED the cinnamon sticks into the hot, steaming bathtub before turning to light the candles spread throughout the large Tease Please room, first room at the top of the stairs which still contained the large claw-foot tub used to serve up Rose’s infamous Stirring Cinnamon Dip—a warm, fragrant bath scented with cinnamon and cloves. Guaranteed to relax and revive. Her gaze slid over her shoulder to the man who stood framed in the doorway, watching her.
Not that Josh McGraw needed to revive. Soft denim strained over his growing bulge. He was revved and ready.She knew the feeling.
The spicy scent teased her nostrils and made her heart drum faster. She turned toward the small round table that held a jar of honey and a bottle of aged liquor for items two and three on the list—Sweet Honey Nips and Brandy Kisses. Her mouth watered and her nipples strained against the skimpy bra. With each of her movements, the lace rubbed and chafed and sent prickles of awareness up and down her arms. Heat pulsed between her legs and a steady ache gnawed at her belly. Her gaze caught and held his and she licked her lips, tasting him and suddenly wishing she hadn’t stopped things earlier with the silly menu.
But she meant to learn from the experience, and fast and furious was not conducive to her plan. It was all about taking things slow and thorough and proving beyond a doubt that the menu worked for both parties. It was about doing and documenting.
It wasn’t about feeling.
She knew that, at the same time, she couldn’t not feel. The drumming of her heart inside her chest. The moist steam from the tub bathing her face. The perspiration tickling its way down her neck.
Holly had been so focused on the grand
finale and what it would feel like to climax with him that she hadn’t anticipated the intensity of each small detail along the way, or how delicious the simple act of breathing could be, how exciting with Josh McGraw watching her.
“Dinner is served,” she said, motioning to the tub.
She watched as he bent down and tugged off one boot then the other. His socks followed. He peeled his white T-shirt up and over his head. Her breath caught and held as he reached for the waistband of his jeans.
Strong, purposeful fingers slid the button free before tackling the zipper. The teeth parted. She glimpsed crisp white cotton briefs before he hooked his thumbs in the waistband and pushed the jeans and underwear down with one swift motion. Denim puddled around his ankles before he stepped free and kicked the clothing to the side.
She’d never been visual when it came to getting aroused. She’d never subscribed to a nude magazine or rented a porn flick. To Holly, words had always been her weakness. A good romance novel or an erotic short story never failed to put her into a sexy mindset. But the sight of Josh McGraw completely naked and fully erect made her rethink her position. Even the most explicit book had never made her mouth go dry or her hands shake. As for the intensity of the heat sweeping her from head to toe… Playgirl, here I come.
Her gaze traveled over him slowly, following the outline of his shoulders, his sinewy chest and narrow waist. A tattoo circled one muscled bicep. He looked fierce and rugged and very hungry as he stared back at her, his gaze dark and disturbing and…impatient. Yet he made no move forward and she realized that, despite the whirlwind of lust evident in his expression, he wasn’t going to let it rage out of control.
Not yet.
She moved to the side and watched as he walked past her. He stepped into the tub and sank down into the steaming water. She walked to the cabinet and picked up her kitchen timer.
“What’s that for?” he asked as she set the timer for two hours.
“To make sure we don’t go over our scheduled time.” She left the timer ticking away and walked back to the tub. She knelt by the edge and reached for the soap. Rolling the fragrant bar between her palms, she watched the lather build before she touched him.
Her breath hitched at the first feel of his warm skin beneath her hand. Desire knifed through her and she clamped her legs together, determined to calm the sudden ache that was pleasure and pain all rolled into the same package. She found herself wondering if the women who’d knelt in this spot countless times before her had felt the same intense arousal.
Maybe.
Probably.
While the inn had catered to a man’s pleasure, Rose had made it clear in her records that her girls had enjoyed the delicacies just as much as the customers. That’s why they’d all stayed with her for so long. They became addicted to the pleasure as much as the men who’d visited them time and time again.
Holly trailed her hands over his hard muscles and hair-roughened skin and felt her own hunger grow. She drew a deep, steady breath and concentrated on spreading the lather across his skin. She feathered her fingertips over his collarbone, swirled the soap around his nipples. The nubs grew hard beneath her touch and his breathing became more raspy.
Moving south, she traced the edge of his rib cage, palming her way down over his six-pack abs and stopping just shy of dipping beneath the water. The head of his erection bobbed just above the surface of the water. She touched the ripe purple head and his breathing seemed to stop. His body went taut and his gaze burned into her as if he waited to see what she would do next.
She touched him again, tracing the ridge before dipping her hand beneath the water and sliding her way down his shaft. She stroked him, up and down, twisting her fingers around and around. He seemed to grow harder in her hands, pulsing beneath her rhythmic touch. The heat from his shaft seeped into her palms. She felt his hand press between her shoulder blades and she glanced up into his smoldering gaze. Everything she felt whirling deep inside her—desire and need and excitement—reflected in his gaze. His fingertips burned into her skin and her own breath caught. Her lips parted as she tried to draw more air, but she couldn’t seem to get enough to fill her lungs.
She licked her lips and forced her attention back to his erection. Before she could stroke him again, he caught her with his other hand. “Stop.”
“It’s part of the appeteaser. It works you up.”
“I’m about as worked up as I’m going to get, cupcake.”
When he let go of her hand, she almost squeezed him again, just to hear his deep, throaty growl of pure pleasure. She’d never been so eager to please a man before. The realization might have startled her if the circumstances had been different—if this had been a real date with a viable relationship prospect.
But her eagerness to please had nothing to do with the man himself and everything to do with the main event. It wasn’t that she wanted to please him. She wanted to experience the ultimate orgasm, and working up Josh McGraw was just a necessary means to an end.
An end that wasn’t going to come tonight. The appetizers were just that—teasers. Sexual delights to build anticipation so that the climax to come would not only be good, but out of this world.
She avoided his penis and dipped her hands beneath the water to cup his testicles. She rolled them, massaged and kneaded. She was just about to trace the inside of his thigh when he bent his leg and forced her upright.
“Enough. Let’s move on to the next one.”
“Sweet Honey Nips,” she murmured as she retrieved the sticky sweetness and dribbled it onto his collarbone. Leaning down, she lapped at the golden river before trailing her tongue across his Adam’s apple and up the side of his neck. She nibbled and licked at the sweet path before leaning back to drip-drop more onto his chest. She flicked her tongue over his nipple and he slid his arms around her, hauling her into his lap.
“My turn,” he said, reaching for the honey. He dribbled it onto her breasts, watching as the liquid slid down her throat, over her breasts until a golden drop gathered on the tip of her ripe nipple. He lapped at the sweetness with his tongue, a hot fleck that brought a strangled moan from her throat.
“But I think I’m supposed to do this to you.”
“I’m the customer and I want it served up my way.”
She wanted to tell him that he was no such thing—they were equal partners in the agreement—but then he drew her deep into his mouth and suckled, and the words stalled in her throat. A sharp sensation tugged between her legs. She closed her eyes as the sensation built. He sucked harder and deeper and pushed her closer. This was it. She was going to go over the edge….
The realization sent a bolt of anxiety through her because she didn’t want it like this—with nothing more than his mouth at her breast. She wanted the ultimate orgasm. The kind Rose had given her customers for nearly fifty years. The kind sure to win her the confidence and friendship of the Juliets.
“Wait,” she gasped. “Not yet. Not like this.”
“Kiss me,” he told her, angling her head as he pulled her close.
“But I haven’t drunk the brandy.” She reached for the bottle, but he took it from her and took a long swig himself. “You shouldn’t do that. Alcohol puts a damper on the male libido.”
“I need all the help I can get, otherwise, we’re not making it out of this bathroom by ten.” And then he pulled her close and kissed her.
He tasted of warm brandy and hot man and the combination took her breath away. Where she’d meant to put the brakes on, the insistent thrust of his tongue only pushed her that much closer.
She lost herself for the next few moments. She slid her arms around his neck and plunged her tongue into his mouth to tangle with his. It wasn’t until she felt his hand on her thigh that reason jumped to attention.
“I… We have to stop,” she managed as she tore her mouth from his. “It’ll be better if we wait.”
“If it gets any better than this, you’re going to be flat on your back
and I’m going to be inside of you before you can spell the word menu.”
His statement pleased her a lot more than it should have considering she didn’t really care what Josh McGraw thought. She didn’t care, period.
This was business. Pure and simple. And he was temporary.
And delicious.
So very delicious, she decided as he plunged his tongue deep and took her breath away. He loved her with his mouth for what seemed an eternity, until she forgot all about the menu and gave herself over to the need clawing in her belly. She slid her arms around his neck and angled her head as the kiss deepened. His fingers slid up her thigh, trailing along the inside until he was so close to touching her. She shimmied, begging him the last few inches until he reached his destination. His fingertips slid over her damp flesh and… There. Right there—
Rrring…
The timer exploded and reality caved in on Holly. She went rigid, instantly aware of his hands and the fact that the appeteasers had made no mention of his hands down there, in there.
“I—” She swallowed. “It’s over. We’re finished.”
“Cupcake, we’re barely getting started.” He pressed damp lips to the hollow of her throat and warmth unfolded in her chest.
The feeling was enough to galvanize her into action, because it had nothing to do with sex and everything to do with the fact that no man had ever kissed her quite so tenderly, with such conviction, and it touched her.
She pushed his hand away, wiggled from his grasp and scrambled from the tub. Distance would help. And not looking, she added as her gaze snagged on his strong, tanned body which overwhelmed the old-fashioned tub.
She forced her gaze away and busied herself retrieving a towel from the cupboard. Water sloshed and splashed behind her as Josh stood and stepped from the tub.
She was about to wrap the towel around her when he reached her.
“What the hell?” His voice sounded just before she felt his hand on her hip. She half turned as he pushed the edge of the towel up and stared at the grapefruit-size bruise marring her pale skin. “What happened?”
Texas Fever Page 7