What did come after that?
I turned away, facing the bar and my untouched glass of white wine.
“How are you, Heather?”
I looked up and smiled at Kitty. She had dark circles under her eyes, but there was a little spark in her eyes that could never really be extinguished. I touched her upper arm.
“You okay, Kitty?”
She nodded, accepting the tumbler of scotch the bartender set in front of her. “To hell with him,” she said softly. “If a man can’t be faithful, then he doesn’t deserve loyalty.”
“That’s right.”
She winked at me. “Never let a man use you, Heather. It’s not worth it.”
“I won’t.”
“And, if you do, make sure you use him right back.”
I blushed a little because those words made me think of Peter Clark and all the things my imagination wanted to use him for. He was watching me again when I glanced back over to the dartboard fiasco, as if he knew exactly what I was thinking.
What would it hurt …?
Kitty traced my line of vision and smiled brightly.
“Our temp is pretty hot, isn’t he?” She leaned into my shoulder a little as she studied him. “Blond hair and blue eyes. So classic. And that ass … hmmm …”
“Kitty!”
She laughed. “Don’t sound so shocked. I may be a scorned woman, but I’m not a dead woman.”
I shook my head, but I was giggling, too.
And she was right. He had classic features, a strong jaw that was just square enough to be masculine without being rigid. He had a straight, patrician nose—and those eyes seemed to see right through me. Broad shoulders, a slender build that was perfect for the suit he was wearing.
A part of me wanted him to take off his jacket so that I could see if his shoulders were really as broad as they appeared, to see if his chest was as well-defined as I imagined it was. My palms almost ached with a need to touch him, to feel the heat of his skin under my flesh. These thoughts … it wasn’t like me to have these sorts of thoughts. I wasn’t a good girl, but I wasn’t a bad girl either.
Kitty nudged my shoulder before walking off to join the guys. She immediately cheered the current dart thrower on, cozying up to Peter as she did. He smiled down at her, but then his gaze moved in my direction. I turned away, not wanting to be caught watching. But it was only a moment before he sidled up behind me.
“Sitting all alone?”
I bit my lip, trying to hide the pleased smile that wanted to burst out.
He gestured to the bartender, accepting the drink she set in front of him. He even winked at her, making her hesitate before walking away.
“You’re a flirt,” I said.
“No. I’m a charmer.”
I shook my head. “I hate to disagree, but that was flirting.”
He turned into me, his face less than an inch or two from mine. “It’s been a while. I guess I don’t recognize it even when I do it.”
“Did you just end a relationship?”
He pulled back a little, the expression on his face speaking of a deep sense of discomfort. I was curious about what had caused it, but didn’t want to know too much about this man. I felt as if I was standing on the edge of a precipice and even the littlest bit of information would make me fall over. I didn’t want to fall for this man; I didn’t want the complications of an emotional connection. But physical … that was a whole different animal.
“Never mind,” I said, brushing the back of my fingers over his wrist. “I really don’t want to know.”
“Why not?”
I shrugged. “For the same reason you don’t want to know everything about me.”
“What makes you think I don’t want to know?”
I looked into the depths of those blue eyes and bit my lip again. There was just something about the intensity of his gaze that made my lower belly quiver.
“You have to stop looking at me like that.”
He touched my chin and tugged at my bottom lip. “And you have to stop doing that.”
“Why?”
“Because it makes me want to taste that lovely lip.”
I slid my tongue over my bottom lip, and he groaned, “Please, stop.”
My heart skipped a beat. I’d never felt so empowered by turning a man on before. I could see it in his eyes, in the way his breathing had changed palpably. I glanced over his shoulder, more aware than ever that we weren’t alone, but no one was watching. No one seemed to care. It made me feel like we were in a bubble and we could do anything we wanted in that bubble.
But these were my coworkers, and he was a temp. This was so not appropriate.
“I should go,” I said, even as I ran my finger along the back of his hand, brushing my fingertip under the cuff of his shirt. “We all have to be at work early in the morning.”
“Yes, boss.” He glanced over his shoulder, chuckling softly at the chaos happening by the dartboard. “Good thing your business isn’t centered on sports abilities.”
“Yeah. I don’t know why they do that. They know they can’t throw worth a damn.”
“I can’t blame them for trying though. Shouldn’t give up on something just because you aren’t very good at it.” He studied my face for a long second. “If we all did that, none of us would get out of bed in the morning.”
“Or get into it.”
His eyebrows rose. “I don’t think it’s possible to be bad in bed.”
“Yeah? That’s good to know.”
He licked his lips, his tongue moving so slowly over his flesh. I watched, mesmerized.
“I’m not sure I’m ready to let you leave. But if you’ll let me drive you home …”
“Not a good idea.”
“Why not?”
I glanced over his shoulder again. “The last thing I need is to be the subject of Miss Johnson’s gossip mill.”
“Then slip out the door in front of me and we’ll meet up in the parking lot.”
“Very covert.”
“Does that excite you?”
The honest truth? Everything about him excited me.
“I don’t do this kind of thing,” I said, so close to him that he wouldn’t even have to move to kiss me. “I’m not the one-night stand kind of girl.”
“Who said it would be just one night?”
Oh, my loving God!
I didn’t know what to say or what to do. My hand was resting on top of his, and we were so close together, all anyone would have to do was glance in our direction to know what was going on. I’d worked too hard to keep my private life private to allow this one man to change all that. But when I looked in his eyes …
I slipped my phone out of my bag and typed my address into a blank text box.
“What’s your number?”
He smiled as he took the phone out of my hand and sent the text to himself. A second later his phone vibrated in one of his jacket pockets.
“Give me an hour.”
His eyebrows rose again, but he nodded.
I didn’t know what the hell I was doing, but walking out of that bar, knowing that man was watching me with need radiating from his eyes, was enough to send me floating out the door on a stack of clouds.
All I could hope was that I wasn’t getting myself in deeper than I could handle.
Chapter 4
Peter
She opened the door with nothing more than a silky robe wrapped just below her shoulders, her full breasts pushed up by her arms, her thigh peeking out as the robe threatened to fall open just below her hips.
“I was beginning to think you’d gotten lost.”
Words had no meaning to me as I stared at her. All I could process was this incredible need to make that robe disappear.
There had been plenty of women in my life. I’d even been in love once, to a beautiful, intelligent woman I went to college with. I had all these dreams of marriage and children. She thought we were just having a good time. After that … ther
e were lots of dates, lots of second and third dates, but not much beyond that. And since I’d come back from my captivity in California? Lots of one-night stands, but not much more.
This … it felt different. And that scared me a little.
I pushed her back, needing to get out of the open. The apartment was small, one of those with barely enough space for two people to coexist without driving each other crazy. There was a small living room where the front door opened, with an even smaller dining room tucked in the back next to the galley kitchen.
I pushed Heather until her ass hit the edge of her round dining table, forcing her back until she was had to catch herself on her hands. With her hands gone, her robe fell open and revealed the intensely feminine body she’d hidden all day under that modest pencil skirt and pink blouse.
I studied her as she blushed from scalp to toe, my eyes moving slowly over her shapely legs, her carefully waxed inner thighs, her silky, swollen cunt lips. Her belly was quivering visibly as my eyes moved slowly over her navel—an outie—and up along her ribs to those perfectly round breasts.
Her areolas were red, her nipples thick and hard as my eyes drank them in, my tongue sliding over my lips in anticipation of their taste. And then that delicate throat and her perfect features. I could have stood there all night and drunk her in, memorizing every curve and every swollen bit of flesh. But my body had other plans.
I tugged at the clip that still tried in vain to control her wavy hair, tugging it free before wrapping my fingers around her long, wavy tresses, pulling her to me. But I didn’t kiss her right away. I brushed my lips against Heather’s, moving to kiss the tip of her nose and the center of her forehead. Then I buried my mouth against her throat, breathing in the scent of her like I’d never truly appreciated the scent of a woman before. She smelled of flowers and lavender, of stale beer and tart white wine. And she tasted like everything warm and buttery Ms. Murphy had ever baked for us as children.
She threw her head back, pushing up her breasts as I moved down her throat to find those perfect nipples. One, then the other, rolling them against the back of my teeth. And then the hot line I drew with my tongue down the center of her belly. She moaned and that was like tossing gasoline on an already raging fire.
I nibbled at her silky, taut skin, forcing her to catch her breath quite unsteadily. And then her hips, her thighs … there was nothing better than enjoying the taste, the feel, of a woman’s flesh.
There was a tattoo on her lower hip, just below the bone. I ran my finger over it, curious about what was so important to her that she would tattoo this date and name on her otherwise flawless skin. She sat up a little, brushing my hand from it. I caught her eye and saw the darkness that had risen from deep in her soul to darken her eyes. A secret. I’d found a turned-down edge to her secret diary, a memory she visited often.
I moved on, content to let her keep her secrets for now. We all had secrets, right?
Her inner thigh quivered as I progressed downward, pausing at her ankle before moving to the other side, pressing my body between her legs as I slowly—painfully slowly, if her increasing moans were any indication—made my way upward. I ran my fingers along her outer cunt lips as I continued to kiss her inner thighs, feeling the moisture that spoke of a need my balls knew too well. My balls were so tight, so thick with need, that it was almost painful. My cock was pressed against the confines of my briefs so hard that I was almost convinced that it was on the verge of busting the zipper on my slacks. I didn’t think I’d ever been quite this hard before.
I nibbled at her chubby outer lips, making her move her hips in new and delicious ways. And then my tongue touched things that made her hips come up off the table. I stood, smiling down at her, as I took off my jacket and tie, finally shedding the trappings of a past life that were both a comfort and a noose around my neck.
Her eyes were greedy as she watched me unbutton my shirt. She pushed herself up to a sitting position, her hands slipping over my bare chest as I untucked the shirt and slipped it from my body. I wanted to kiss her then; I wanted to taste her lips, as she stared at me as if I was a hot fudge sundae. Was this what it felt like to be truly wanted? Or was this just a momentary thing that would disappear the moment satisfaction filled those pale blue eyes?
I pushed her almost roughly back down against the table. Her head smacked with a resounding thud, but that didn’t stop her from responding as I ran my hand over her cunt, cupping it in my palm for a long moment, applying just the right amount of pressure to the spot under those swollen lips where her clit hid.
I fell to my knees, thinking this was probably the most vulnerable, the most submissive, a man could ever be in front of a woman. I ran my tongue over those puffy lips, finding the opening quite easily. She groaned as the tip of my tongue brushed against her clit. That groan died and became something more intense, when I drew her clit into my mouth and teased it against my teeth.
She tasted like milk and honey, like all the good things about life. This was one thing I could never grow tired of, one taste that would never be too familiar to enjoy. She moved her hips and encouraged me to touch her in all the right places. There was nothing better than a woman who knew exactly what she wanted. Believe it or not, I’d been with women who gave no indication of what felt good, what didn’t, or what they wanted. Heather was clearly not one of those.
It couldn’t get any better than this.
In moments, she was breathing hard, her legs resting over my shoulders, her knees behind my ears, drawing me ever closer. And then she cried out, the sound reverberating around the tiny, silent apartment.
I was losing control. My cock ached desperately, my mind wrapped around one and only one thought. I stood, once again bathing my eyes in the beautiful sight of her bare body spread out in front of me, flushed from the pleasure of my touch. I unbuckled my belt, reaching inside my slacks for my pulsing cock when she suddenly bolted upright.
“Not here,” she said, moving around me and rushing down the short hallway to the bedroom door.
I followed, too far gone to do anything else. She was digging through a nightstand drawer when I came through the door, tripping over my slacks as I tried to kick them off over my dress shoes. I managed to get the shoes off, the pants and briefs, as I stumbled to the bed. And then she was there, her tiny hands on my cock.
I closed my eyes, afraid for the first time since my youth that I would lose control and cum before I’d gotten what I so desperately wanted: the tightness of her cunt wrapped around my hardness. But then she was on top of me, guiding my swollen member inside of her. I cried out as the satin folds opened and welcomed me inside, my hands wrapping themselves around her hips, stealing a little control of her movements.
She settled on top of me, my cock buried deep inside of her. I opened my eyes after a moment and found her watching me, her hands moving slowly over her own breasts, that same shy smile she’d shone on me upon our meeting on her lips. It was breathtaking, this image of this incredible woman.
I sat up and wrapped my arms around her, tugging her hips that much closer to mine. Our lips finally met, sliding together as if we’d done this a million times before. She sighed against my mouth, her arms wrapping themselves around my head. Again, she tasted like milk and honey, like sugar and spice, like Christmas and Thanksgiving all wrapped up together.
If I wasn’t careful, I might grow addicted to her taste.
She began to move her hips against mine and … hell! I was going to lose it!
We moved together, my hands on her ass encouraging her to move slower, harder, against me. It was the hottest thing I’d ever felt, the most sensuous moment of my life. I felt her orgasm before she did; I felt her body tense and her thighs quiver.
And then the gasp that rushed through her body … it was more than I could take. I cried out as I lost control, holding her almost violently against me. And when it was done, I fell back, pulling her with me, our bodies falling in a heap against her pillows.
And she began to laugh.
“That bad?” I asked.
She shook her head. “That amazing.”
I rolled her onto her back, smoothing the hair from her face as I stared into her eyes. “You are fucking amazing.”
She tried to shake her head, but I wouldn’t let her. I stole her lips again.
We kissed for a long time, like I hadn’t done since I was fifteen. It was the most carefree I’d felt in a very long time.
***
I woke before Heather the next morning. I watched her for a moment, smiling at the little snoring sounds she made with almost every breath. I brushed a piece of hair out of her face, once again admiring the curves of her face. She was a beautiful woman, even now, her mascara smeared under her eyes and her hair knotted around her face. In fact, I thought she was more beautiful in that moment than she’d been when I first set eyes on her.
I moved carefully and slipped out of bed to use the bathroom. The bathroom was small, furnished with just the basics: sink, commode, narrow bathtub-shower combo. I used the facilities, then studied the contents of her medicine cabinet as I washed my hands. Who could resist searching through a stranger’s medicine cabinet when given the opportunity? I found it amusing that she used the same toothpaste and deodorant as my down-to-earth sister.
I picked up her dial pack of birth control pills. She’d insisted on condoms last night, making me chase her into the bedroom so she could dig through her private collection of Trojans. Yet she had birth control pills in her medicine cabinet. Careful woman.
It was slightly disappointing. Logically, I knew it shouldn’t be. I should have been relieved. But I think a small part of me was kind of hoping for an accident, like the one that led to the birth of my son-nephew. I was so ready to be a father and have a child I could raise myself that my head was going to highly illogical places.
What would Heather think if I asked her to be a surrogate mother to my child? If she knew who I really was, she might not be as unwilling as she would be if Peter Clark asked.
I could move her to Houston, pay for all her medical and living expenses until the child came. Maybe even until the child was old enough to be weaned from the breast. I’d read that breast milk was the best way to go with a newborn. She might not be willing to stick around that long, but I’d also read that there were milk banks where I could buy breast milk for my child.
DRAGON SECURITY: Volume 2: The Complete 6 Books Series Page 3