Chapter Twenty-Two
Jase
I didn’t remember getting home. Hardly remembered locking up the restaurant after walking Dani to her car and saying good night. Aubrey had been gone by the time I got back. The rest of the night was a blur, faded to the backdrop of that kiss.
It was all I could think about as I lay in bed the following morning, early light drifting through my windows, a part of me wondering if it had all been a dream.
It hadn’t been. I knew because I could recall exactly how smooth Dani’s cheek had been against mine. Could still feel the give of her breasts against my chest, how her arms had tightened around my neck. Could still taste the moan on her lips.
Her fucking lips.
Just the memory was enough to make me hard, my cock throbbing as I recalled those lips on mine. I wrapped my hand around the base of my shaft and squeezed, a groan catching in my throat. I heard the tiny inhale she’d taken the second before my lips had touched hers, and the memory of her taste flooded my mind.
I gave myself a slow stroke. Fuck.
It was like that kiss had unlocked something inside me, shifted something fundamental, only I had no idea what.
Whatever it was burned through me, coaxing my hand to move faster, my hips thrusting up to meet my strokes.
Fantasies of Dani I’d been suppressing for months bombarded me, heightened by the truth I now possessed of the way her tongue moved against mine, the silkiness of her hair between my fingers, the openness in her gaze when I’d pulled away. I imagined that gaze on me now, staring up at me as her hand squeezed my cock, jerking me off at a frantic pace.
I came. So hard I couldn’t breathe.
An hour later, I was at the restaurant, changing out of my street clothes. It was earlier than I usually got in, but I’d wanted to make sure I got here before her. To eliminate any shred of doubt in her mind that I might have regretted one moment of last night.
I’d just closed my locker when I heard her on the stairs. A moment later, she was there, standing in the open doorway in a caramel-colored dress that accentuated her soft curves and ended just above her fingertips. Her luscious hair framed her face in chestnut waves, and a rosy color was high on her cheeks.
Our eyes locked, and everything in me stilled. The rest of the world was silenced by the blue-green of her stare.
Then we were kissing.
We moved as one, her arms around my neck, mine low across her back, our lips connecting like they’d never been apart. It wasn’t hurried or frantic, just inevitable. Necessary. Like two magnets finally coming together, a missing piece snapping into place. As satisfying and dizzying as it had been last night and better than every one of my fantasies to date.
I pressed her against the lockers, pinning her body with mine to deepen the kiss. She curved against me, tightening her arms around my neck, lifting on her toes to get closer.
My cock stiffened, the urge to wrap her legs around my waist and grind into her enough to make me lose my mind. I wanted to trail my hand up her thigh and push my fingers inside her. Lay her across the bench behind me, bury my head between her legs, and worship her with my mouth.
Not yet, though. First, I wanted to talk.
I dragged my mouth from hers, skating kisses along her jaw as she caught her breath, drinking in her sweet floral scent. My lips brushed her ear. “Let me cook for you,” I said in a low voice.
Her chest heaved against mine. “Now?”
The corners of my mouth lifted. I’d do that too if she wanted. “This weekend. My place.” I could take her out to eat, but I selfishly wanted to be the one to feed her, to be the only one to draw moans from her lips.
Her eyes met mine, and my chest swelled at the excitement shimmering in her gaze. “Like a date?” she asked. Her kiss-swollen lips tipped up.
I claimed them again, dipping my tongue inside her mouth for another taste.
“Yeah,” I said when I pulled away. “Like a date.”
Her body swayed into me, head tipping back against the locker. “What should I bring?”
My first thought was nothing. I wanted to spoil her completely. But I liked that she wanted to contribute, for this to be something we did together.
“How about a board game?” I murmured, trailing kisses along the side of her neck.
She tilted her head to the side and sighed, the sound a caress to my cock.
“Is that a yes?” I asked against her collarbone, my hands roaming the swell of her ass before brushing along the edge of her skirt.
Her grip tightened on the collar of my chef jacket. “Yes,” she breathed. “ God , yes.”
The low, throaty words sent my heart racing as I slid one hand under her dress, the desire to touch her a physical strain that pulled my muscles taut. I skimmed my fingers up the inside of her thigh and watched her eyelids flutter shut as I reached the edge of her panties. She licked her lips, and my knuckles brushed her core, the fabric already damp.
“This okay?” I whispered.
Her eyes blinked open, heavy with arousal. “Don’t stop.”
Holding her gaze, I slipped two fingers under the elastic and trailed them through her slick heat to circle her clit. Her eyes fell closed, breaths coming harder as her hips started to move.
My attention slid to the open door. No one else was scheduled to be here for another hour, but I kept an ear out for a creak on the stairs. We’d already been interrupted once.
Shifting my thumb to her clit, I eased one finger inside her. She clenched around me and whimpered, one hand burying into my hair, grasping at the short strands. “Jase.”
My name on her lips was my new favorite thing. Right along with the little moans she was making and the flush rising in her cheeks, the way her whole body responded to my touch, setting my blood on fire.
With my free hand, I hooked her knee around my waist, then added a second finger, curling them both against her inner wall. She squeezed her leg around me, rocking her hips to meet my hand’s seeking motion, my thumb still working her clit.
“ Jase ,” she said again.
I brought my lips to her ear. “You want more?” My other hand moved from her leg up to her breast, finding her nipple through her dress and teasing it with soft tugs.
A moan rolled up her throat as she arched her back, pressing her breast into my hand. Her hips were eager, driving my fingers deeper, her breaths heaving, eyes squeezed shut like the pleasure was too much. “Please?—”
I pulled the top of her dress aside and closed my mouth over her nipple, circling the tight peak with my tongue before giving it a suck. Her muscles clamped around my fingers as I sucked harder, keeping steady pressure on her clit. Her mouth fell open on a silent cry, back arching, muscles locking as the rhythmic pulses continued, helpless moans falling from her lips.
My cock was steel in my pants, every nerve searing as I watched her come apart so openly, her pleasure mine alone to witness. I wanted to stand in that moment forever, make her come again and again, and see the same bliss painted on her face.
I eased the movement of my fingers as she clenched around them a few more times, pressing kisses along her jaw, her cheeks, her forehead, and finally to her lips. Her eyes fluttered open, blue-green jewels beneath dark lashes that trapped my breath in my lungs.
“You’re so fucking beautiful,” I whispered.
A smile broke over her face like sunlight bursting over the horizon. Our hands roamed each other, savoring the intimate touch for one more moment. She dipped her fingers beneath my shirt to graze the skin above my waistband, and my abs flexed almost painfully, goose bumps breaking out along my body. My cock throbbed, the loose fabric of my pants doing nothing to hide my erection as her hands teased lower.
She leaned in and pressed her lips to mine, slow and deep, driving my body higher with a need we didn’t have the time or space to satisfy right now.
I pulled away with a groan, dropping my forehead to hers. “We should get to work.”
She chuckled, making my own smile rise. “You’re probably right.”
I took one more inhale of her sweet scent, then pressed a final kiss to her lips. “See you later.”
I forced my hands to drop, forced my feet to step back, forced my body into the hallway and down the stairs to the kitchen.
Forced myself not to focus on anything but the warmth in my chest and the rightness of the moment we’d just shared.
I didn’t know what would come of this, but I did know—more than ever—I wanted to find out.