Chapter Two
HOLY SHIT. HOLY shit. Holy shit. Kat hurried away from the lounge and ducked into the first ladies’ room she saw.
One look in the mirror confirmed what her body, still vibrating from head to toe, was telling her—that was fucking incredible.
She was still catching her breath as she pulled her comb from her purse to try to tame her well-fucked look.
She pressed a palm to the counter, needing the stability while her legs regained their strength.
What was she thinking? She’d gone a year without amazing sex, and now?
Now it was like she’d had a taste of fine chocolate and she had to walk away from it.
Walk away! She’d never been good at leaving sweets behind.
Even when she hid a bag of M&M’s from herself she knew she might as well put a spring on her ass, because every time she sat down, she popped back up for more. And now…she wanted more.
She lifted her eyes to the mirror again.
Her face was flushed, her lips swollen from the intensity of their wicked kisses, and down below?
She didn’t think she’d ever stop humming down there.
Lordy, Lordy that man was hung like no other, and damn did he know how to use all those gloriously hard inches.
She snagged paper towels from the dispenser and cleaned herself up while she tried to calm her racing heart. Her body was still trembling ten minutes later, as his words rolled through her mind. Come for me, darlin’. Come on my hand, then my mouth, then my cock.
Check. Check. Double check.
How had she gone so long without feeling the temptation of a real man? Who was she kidding? She’d never felt anything like the power behind Eric…Eric? Ohmygod. She didn’t even know his last name.
That was reckless.
Irresponsible.
I’m a hookup in an airport bathroom.
She couldn’t suppress the smile on her lips.
He was so worth it! She dug out her cell phone, in need of a little pep talk from Bree, and realized she’d missed several texts from her.
Kat scrolled through them, smiling and finally calming down as she read three identical texts, each repeating their secret pep talk, a line from The Help.
You is kind. You is smart. You is important.
You is kind. You is smart. You is important.
You is kind. You is smart. You is important.
The last text read, 1, 2, 3, click your heels and forget. Poof! Your conscience is clear again. Love you!
“No doubt about it, Brianna, you are the very best friend in the world,” Kat said aloud before sending Bree a thank-you text.
She left the bathroom feeling edgy and a little dazed, her body still reeling from their encounter.
An hour later she was finally seated on a flight to Colorado.
The man beside her smelled like cigarettes and looked like he’d slept in his clothes.
She closed her eyes and rested her head back, thinking of Eric.
She could still feel his fingers pressing into her ass, the coarse hair at the base of his cock against her sensitive skin, and the way his eyes bored through her.
Her cheeks heated as his naughty words came back to her again.
As the plane lifted into the air, she reveled in the weightless feeling, but it was the slow burn in her belly as she revisited the feel of Eric’s tongue taking her to the edge of ecstasy that had her squirming in her seat.
God, she must be losing her mind. She could smell his cologne all around her.
A heavy hand landed on her thigh, and her eyes flew open as she pushed it away—and her chest constricted at the devilish grin smiling back at her. Eric.
“Hey there, darlin’.”
“Eric? What are you doing here?” Her heart was beating a mile a minute. Could he tell that she’d been fantasizing about them? That the mere sight of him had her twitching in places that had no business twitching?
“I offered the kind gentleman who was sitting here a little something to exchange seats with me.”
“You paid him off so you could sit here? But—” Ohmygod. How would she forget about him now?
“Don’t you worry yourself over him. I’m sure he’s happy as a clam sitting in first class.”
“First class?” You gave up first class to sit with me?
“Some say it’s the only way to travel.” His eyes rolled over her, lingering on her mouth before dropping to her breasts, making her body go ten types of crazy. “I think they’ve got it all wrong. I’ve got the best seat on the plane.”
Her mind was spinning. “You’re going to Denver?”
“Weston, actually, but Denver’s the closest airport.”
“Weston?” No way! That was where she was going.
“Yes. I’ve got business there. Where are you headed?”
“Weston.” Her stomach dipped, but her engine was revving again with the possibilities of what this could mean.
No. No. No.
She needed to nip these thoughts in the bud. No good could come from a guy who’d banged her in an airport bathroom.
“Vacation, work, or family?” he asked.
She shook her head, unable to clear her thoughts enough to answer.
She didn’t want to talk about her plans.
She needed him to know exactly where she stood.
The sooner he returned to first class and sent the smelly guy back to his rightful seat, the sooner she could forget what she’d done.
Although, she had a feeling that forgetting Eric was not going to be easy. If it was even possible.
“Eric, I’m not sure what you’re thinking, but”—she lowered her voice to a whisper—“I’m not looking for another hookup. I shouldn’t have done what we did. I’m really not that person anymore.”
“Anymore?” He arched a brow and lowered his voice. “We can visit that later. For now, I think I got the message pretty clearly when you said you intended to forget what happened between us.” He placed a possessive hand on her thigh and said, “But I don’t intend to let you.”
She was too shocked to respond, and embarrassingly, totally turned on by his aggressive behavior.
“You see, Kat, I like you. I like the fire in your eyes, the strength in your convictions.” He pressed his lips to her ear and said in a gravelly voice that made her insides melt, “I love the taste of you and the way you look when you lose control.”
Heat stroked over her. He lifted one shoulder in a casual shrug, his lips curving up in a sinful smile that made her wish his hand would inch up her thigh again.
Holy fuck. Those eyes of his must be hypnotizing her.
How on earth would she make it through a long flight sitting beside him?
She glanced at his hand, currently possessing her thigh, and placed her hand over his, trying to lift it from her leg.
He laced their fingers together, still smiling, but with a clear challenge in his eyes as he said, “Tell me to leave and I’ll go back to my seat.”
She could barely think past the blood rushing through her ears and the fire heating up her veins at his audacity, which should have turned her off but was totally turning her on.
He was controlling, but thoughtfully so, giving her an easy out with every step.
Allowing her to be in control of her decisions.
Sort of. Was there a woman alive who could resist his charms?
She didn’t even know his last name, and she found herself relaxing her hand as he turned his so they were palm to palm, and laced their fingers again.
“What’s your last name?” she asked.
“James. Eric James. You?” His gaze never wavered as he waited for her answer.
“Martin.”
“Kat Martin,” he said under his breath, as if he were memorizing it or weighing the feel of it on his tongue. He raised their joined hands and pressed a kiss to the back of hers. “Tell me, Kat, what turns you on besides dirty talk and a hard cock?”
She bristled.
“I struck a nerve. So dirty talk is only okay in quiet conversations or intimate moments. Duly noted. My deepest apologies.”
Kat was seriously considering getting up and walking away, when he leaned in closer and said, “That tells me what you said is true. You’re not a typical hookup girl.”
“I think I made that clear,” she said sternly.
“Verbally. Yet you’re still here, holding my hand, and that flush on your cheeks isn’t caused by the altitude.
I know it’s caused by me, because a girl who was interested in hooking up with any willing and able man wouldn’t have flinched at what I said.
” His piercing gaze made her pulse ratchet up another notch—or ten.
“You have a strange way of getting to the heart of matters,” she said, taking her hand back from his, and—confusingly—she missed his touch.
“I think I’m pretty direct. Besides, there’s nothing more beautiful than the spark of confidence in your eyes right now.
” He lowered his voice again. “And knowing that while your eyes are holding my gaze, you’re asking yourself, what do I want?
Should I walk away? Do I want to hold his hand again? Does he want to hold mine?”
Her mouth went dry at his uncanny ability to rattle and excite her at once.
“You’re intrigued, turned on, and maybe a little scared.
But not by me, because I’m hardly someone who’s dangerous in that way, but rather, you’re scared by the feelings I evoke in you.
Should you walk away? Only if you want to truly forget what you felt back there.
I know I don’t want to forget one second of it.
I was more alive when I was touching you, tasting you, fucking you, than I’ve ever been. ”
She’d never been spoken to in such vulgar terms, and she might go straight to hell for this, but she loved every single word he said.
When she finally responded, her voice was shaky but audible. “I wondered what other talents your mouth was capable of.”