by Aurora Rey
Lia pulled herself away long enough to look into Alex’s eyes. “Take me to bed.”
“I thought you’d never ask.”
Chapter Twenty-eight
At first, Lia was hesitant to make plans for Valentine’s Day. Doing so seemed to imply a relationship status that she was still very much trying to avoid. Alex asked though, so it wasn’t like she was going to refuse. In the end, she suggested they stay in, and offered to make dinner. She decided it would be a nice break from the showy celebrations—more about status than romance—she was used to with Dani.
She spent a fair amount of the afternoon on preparations, then indulged in a long bath. Since she was spending so many nights at Alex’s place, she’d had significantly less time for them. Really, it was a small price to pay.
After the bath, she slathered lotion on her damp skin. She did her hair and makeup leisurely, relishing the pampering. There was a unique thrill in getting all dressed up for someone else’s pleasure as much as her own. She put on the new lingerie she’d ordered, enjoying the satin and lace against her skin. She was a firm believer in the power of sexy underwear, even if no one else knew she was wearing it. Thinking about Alex’s eyes and hands and mouth on her, however, really did heighten the effect. She was aroused already.
She slipped on a dress she’d bought a couple of years ago, but had never been brave enough to wear. The neckline plunged to reveal an amount of cleavage that had always seemed like too much. She smiled to herself. No time like the present.
Lia headed downstairs, fussing where no fussing was needed. The crab cakes would go under the broiler for a few minutes. The spicy remoulade sauce was made, as was the dressing for the salad assembled and waiting to be tossed. The bread pudding for dessert was fresh out of the oven and the bourbon sauce for it just needed to be warmed before serving.
Feeling very impressed with herself, Lia went around the kitchen and living room lighting candles. When her phone pinged, she figured it was Alex saying she and Murphy were en route. When she picked it up, however, it was Dani’s name that appeared on the screen.
Miss you. Would like to talk/see you. Call me.
Lia scowled at her phone. She hadn’t heard from Dani since the phone call almost three weeks prior. Lia’s first instinct was to worry that something was seriously wrong. She started typing a concerned reply when she caught herself. It was Valentine’s Day. She read the text again. It didn’t allude to any type of emergency. Miss you. When she heard the knock on the door, Lia hastily silenced her phone and threw it into her purse. She’d deal with it tomorrow.
She opened the door to find Alex and Murphy waiting on the other side. Alex was wearing a pale gray sweater over a white shirt and striped tie, with dark gray pants. She looked effortlessly sexy, as always. She was holding a bouquet of bright red tulips. Murphy held a matching red and white polka-dot gift bag in his teeth.
A wave of warmth, part desire and part something else, washed over her. She decided thinking about Dani at all classified her as bat-shit crazy. She bent down to Murphy. “For me?”
As if on cue, he released the bag into her hands. Alex said, “He’s hoping you’ll be his Valentine, too.”
Lia peeked in the bag and saw a box of sea salt caramel truffles. She gave Murphy a kiss on the top of his nose. “You’re my favorite boy. Y’all come inside out of the cold.”
Once they were in, Lia took the tulips and beamed at Alex. “How did you know they’re my favorite?”
She shrugged. “I have my ways.”
“Well, they’re gorgeous, and they make me hopeful about spring. Take off your coat and stay a while. I was about to open wine.”
Lia took the flowers into the kitchen and put them in a vase. She ran a fingertip along the curve of one of the petals. She loved that Alex handed them to her instead of sending them through some overpriced delivery service. It made her feel special. She mooned over them for just a moment, then took a bottle of dry rosé out of the fridge. Lia handed Alex the bottle and opener, then went back to finishing dinner.
When the wine was poured, Alex picked up the glasses and handed one to Lia. She lifted hers in a toast. “To Valentine’s Day.”
Lia clinked her glass against Alex’s. “To Valentine’s Day.”
Alex put a hand on the small of her back and pulled her close. The kiss was light at first, sweet. It still managed to send ripples of desire from her center to the tips of her fingers and toes. She leaned into it, loving the way Alex’s tongue teased hers.
As the kiss deepened, Alex wrapped both arms around her. The heat and firmness of Alex’s body made Lia ache for bare skin. She grabbed Alex’s ass, pulling her even closer.
“God, you make me want you.” Alex whispered the words against her ear.
“Yes. I mean, me too.” Lia found it difficult to string a sentence together. She started tugging at the back of Alex’s shirt, anxious to get her fingers under the fabric. Alex’s skin was warm and promising. Rather than satisfying her, it made Lia want more.
Without warning, Alex pulled away.
There was a look of concern and confusion on Alex’s face that made Lia worry. “What is it? What’s wrong?”
Alex sniffed the air, made a face. “Is something burning?”
As if on cue, the smoke detector began emitting a high, shrill beep. Lia turned to see traces of smoke coming from the oven.
“Shit.” She raced over, opened the oven door, and was greeted by a much larger cloud of smoke. “Shit. Shit. Shit.”
She yanked out the pan. Her perfect crab cakes were perfectly black. One of them was on fire. After blowing out the small flame, she set the pan on the top of the stove and turned off the oven. She turned her attention to the smoke alarm and found Alex standing beneath it, waving a dish towel.
It showed no signs of stopping, so she went to the door and started opening and closing it in rapid succession. Bursts of frigid air swept into the room. Murphy got up from his makeshift bed and looked at her like she’d lost her mind. When the noise didn’t stop, she dragged a chair over and climbed onto it. She twisted the contraption off the wall, then pried open the back. Only when she popped out the nine-volt battery did the noise stop. Alex stopped flailing and looked at her.
Mortified. She was completely mortified.
“So, dinner’s ready?”
With that one question, Alex made the entire fiasco ridiculous. Lia bit her tongue, weighed her options, then broke into laughter. After helping her down, Alex slung the dishtowel over her shoulder, walked over to the stove, and regarded the pan. “What is it?”
“Don’t you mean ‘what was it?’”
“I would never.”
Lia shook her head. “Crab cakes. They only need—needed—a couple of minutes under the broiler.”
“So, really, it’s my fault. I distracted you.”
“No, I should have set a timer. I’m horrible at setting timers. I think, it’s only a few minutes, I’ll keep my eye on it.”
“Who doesn’t set a timer?”
“Idiots. Idiots don’t set timers and I am an idiot.”
Alex looked at her earnestly. “You’re not an idiot.”
“Says the professional chef.”
“Babe, I’ve been there. Trust me.”
Lia did her best not to look dejected. “There’s salad, still, and dessert.”
Alex looked her up and down slowly. “Will the salad keep?”
“Yeah, it’s in the fridge.”
“And dessert?”
“Yes. I managed to make it without burning the house down.”
Alex shrugged. “I’ll be honest, I’m not all that hungry.”
Lia sighed. “You’re just saying that to make me feel better.”
The next thing she knew, Alex’s arms were around her, hands cupping her ass. “You have a way of whetting an entirely different appetite.”
Lia smiled slowly. Never before had she felt so desired, never had she felt such a sense of power in her
own sexuality. She suddenly couldn’t care less about her charred crab cakes. “In that case…”
She walked around the room blowing out each of the candles she’d lit. Murphy eyed her, as though he knew what she had in mind and was resigned to the antics of his humans. Once they were extinguished, she took Alex’s hand and led her up the stairs.
Alex followed without a word, happy to go wherever Lia beckoned. Lia had clearly readied the room before she arrived. The covers were turned down and tea lights were set on the dresser and nightstand. After lighting the candles, Lia went to the stereo and slow, sensuous jazz filled the room. Alex reached for her, anxious to peel away her dress and find the warm skin beneath.
“See, this is far better than dinner.”
Lia took her wrists and pulled her hands away. “Patience.”
Alex swallowed and wondered what exactly Lia had in mind. She didn’t have to wait long to find out. Lia pulled Alex’s sweater over her head, tossing it on a chair in the corner. She undid the tie, sliding it slowly from her neck. Her shirt followed, then pants and socks and everything else she had on. When Alex was completely naked, Lia nudged her so that she sat on the edge of the bed.
“Sit back, get comfortable.”
Alex did as she was told.
“Let’s see if I can get something right this evening.”
Lia walked to the center of the room. As if on cue, the music went silent for a moment. When it started again, Lia locked eyes with Alex, and she offered a quick wink. Then, she began to move.
Alex watched Lia’s hips dip and twist in time with the music. She licked her lips as Lia’s hands moved over her body, up her sides and across her breasts exactly where Alex wanted so desperately to put her own hands. Lia turned around and glanced at Alex over her shoulder as she unzipped her dress, sliding it first from one shoulder and then the other.
Alex shifted slightly on the bed and realized how insanely turned on she’d already become. Lia turned again, this time to face Alex. She slid her arms from the dress, then raised them over her head. The motion, combined with a little hip shimmy, caused the dress to slither down Lia’s body and fall in a silky pile at her feet. Lia was left wearing a deeply plunging bra and a pair of low-rise panties in navy blue and cream.
It had been only two or three weeks ago that she and Lia had been talking about lingerie. Alex jokingly complained that it was always red and black, black and red. “What’s wrong with blue?” she’d protested.
That Lia remembered that conversation was one thing. That she’d gone out of her way to find what Alex decided was hands down the sexiest set of lingerie she’d ever seen was another. To have Lia, the woman she was, for all intents and purposes, nuts about, turn it into a sensual strip tease was almost more than her system could handle. She made to get up and Lia lifted a finger, stopping Alex in her tracks.
Lia milked the last few seconds of the song, making her way to the bed with deliberate slowness. The music switched back to an insistent bass and a pleading trumpet. Lia knelt on the bed and crawled toward Alex. She made her way up Alex’s body until she was on Alex’s lap, straddling her thighs.
Alex lifted her hands and brought them to hover an inch above Lia’s breasts. She could see Lia’s breath hitch in anticipation. Rather than touching, however, Alex held them there. She waited until Lia looked her in the eyes.
“May I?”
By way of answer, Lia leaned forward, pressing her breasts into Alex’s waiting hands. It was her first real attempt at a seduction and she felt triumphant. In a flash, however, the tables were turned. Alex shifted so quickly that Lia didn’t even process what was happening until she was pinned beneath her.
“That was exquisite, but also excruciating. I’m going to show you just how crazy you make me.”
Lia opened her mouth to protest, but Alex didn’t give her the chance. She swallowed Lia’s words, coaxed Lia’s tongue with her own, pulling her into a kiss that was both a demand and a challenge. Grasping Lia’s wrists, she pinned Lia’s arms over her head. Lia didn’t struggle, but she did writhe, trying to test Alex’s will to remain in control. Her efforts proved fruitless.
Over the course of the next hour, Alex mounted a calculated assault on Lia’s senses. She teased and tortured, with tongue and teeth. She sucked Lia’s erect nipples, gently bit the insides of her thighs. With hands and mouth, she drove Lia to the edge, again and again. Alex had a way of filling her and stroking her simultaneously that drove her mad. Each time Lia orgasmed, Alex merely shifted positions, never allowing her to come down. Each time Lia tried to catch her breath, to switch places, Alex laughed softly in her ear.
“Not yet. One more.”
After the fourth orgasm, Lia lifted her hands feebly with the plea, “No more, please. You win. I mean, I won, but you win.”
Alex chuckled and rolled to her side. As much as her own desire burned, she felt sated. Having Lia so completely and thoroughly give herself to her was more satisfying than Alex thought possible. In that moment, she would have been completely content to pull Lia into her arms and drift off to sleep.
Lia, however, seemed to have other things on her mind. She propped herself up on her elbow and looked at Alex. “That was not fair.”
Alex grinned. “Given your performance earlier, I’m not really sure how else it could have gone.”
“Really? You have no idea?”
Lia kissed her, then proceeded to kiss her way down Alex’s torso. The contentment Alex felt evaporated, leaving in its place a pulsing urgency. When Lia pressed her tongue against her clit, Alex exploded. It was instantaneous and left flashes of light dancing behind her closed eyelids. She felt Lia slide up her body, her breath against her neck. Alex wrapped her arms around her, wanting to pull her close for the rest of the night. She could feel Lia’s mouth curve into a smile.
“Not yet,” she said. “One more.”
Chapter Twenty-nine
Alex looked around and spied a T-shirt and pair of sweatpants tossed over a chair in the corner of the room. They smelled faintly of Lia’s perfume, which made her smile. She pulled them on and headed downstairs.
In the kitchen, she opened cabinets at random until she found a bag of coffee beans and filters. She prepped the pot, then switched it on. While the coffee brewed, she went to the fridge to see what there was. She expected to find the leftovers from dinner, possibly a bottle of wine and some half-and-half. She was pleasantly surprised to find an array of fruits and vegetables, herbs, cheese, eggs, and more. She pulled out the eggs and a block of Gouda, a shallot, and a few spears of asparagus. She cracked and whisked half a dozen eggs, then started on the vegetables. She poured herself a cup of coffee and resumed chopping.
The frittata was in the oven and Alex was slicing bread—multi-grain from the bakery, she noted with pleasure—when Lia came padding down the stairs. Her hair was a mess and she’d put on Alex’s shirt from the night before.
“Good morning, my little sex kitten. Coffee?”
Lia nodded. She was blushing. It seemed impossible that the woman who’d fulfilled her sexual fantasies a few hours before could be blushing now, but there it was. Alex felt a swelling in her chest that she tried to ignore.
She poured Lia a cup of coffee, added cream. “Breakfast will be ready in a few minutes.”
Lia sipped. “You didn’t have to make breakfast. It’s your morning off.”
Alex topped off her own cup and smiled. “I love to make breakfast, especially for two instead of two hundred. Besides, I was awake.”
“Well, you’re very sweet. You’re also adorable in my clothes.”
“You like?”
Lia watched as Alex struck a pose, then sashayed around the kitchen. The Tulane T-shirt was just a little bit snug and the sweatpants a bit loose. She found the combination oddly sexy. Part of her wanted to forget breakfast and drag Alex back to bed. For better or worse, her thoughts were interrupted by the kitchen timer. Alex maintained her exaggerated walk over to the oven. She
made a display of bending over to remove the pan.
“I’d come over there and grab your ass if I wasn’t afraid you’d burn yourself.”
“I promise there will be plenty of time for ass grabbing later.”
Alex put the bread on the oven rack to toast while she peeled a couple of clementine oranges and served the frittata. When the toast was done and buttered, she carried the plates over to the table and set them down with a flourish.
“Show off.”
“It’s all about the timer, baby.”
“That’s mean.”
“I’m sorry. I shouldn’t make fun, especially since you were much more delicious than any meal.”
Lia felt her belly tighten. After last night, it seemed impossible that she could still be consumed with want. Yet, in an instant, Alex had that power over her. She swallowed and tried not to think about what that might mean. “The feeling is mutual.”
Alex put her elbows on the table and leaned forward. “Well, then, if you aren’t sick of me yet, I’d love to spend the day with you.”
She really shouldn’t be surprised by such a thing, but hearing Alex say it sent a little flutter of excitement through her. “Yeah?”
“Oh, absolutely. The question is, what do we do?”
Lia smiled. “I put myself entirely in your hands.”
Alex eyed her suggestively. “God, I love when you say that.”
“I’ll have to remember to say it more often.”
“Promises, promises. The way I see it, we can do one of two things.”
“Do tell.”
“One is that we can stay in, pretend to watch movies, and make love all day.”
More flutters. What had gotten into her? “Oh, that sounds awfully tempting.”
“The other is that we can have an adventure.”
Lia set down her fork. “I hate to seem unadventurous.”
“True. It’s a very tough decision.”
“Well…” Lia loved how playful Alex could be. It was a trait that Dani didn’t seem to possess, even when having fun. “Could we have a mini adventure and then come home and make love all afternoon?”