Chapter Twenty-Two #7
The pressure built inside again and Audrey surrendered to its currents, gasping and panting as the wave grew and crested into an even larger swell than before, curling and tumbling when she barreled over and crashed into the shore.
She went blind with pleasure and buried her face in the side of Theo’s neck, digging her nails and teeth into his skin, biting hard while she tried to stifle her cries with her last remaining speck of consciousness.
He grunted, growling deep in his throat as he thrust into her again, once, twice, a third time, his entire body stiff and straining while she clenched and fluttered around him, milking his own orgasm from him and pulling him deep into her core where he belonged, where he’d always been, where she wanted him most, always and forever inside her where she could hold him dear and keep him safe.
Theo slumped against the wall over her, barely able to stay upright.
Their chests heaved, and as he bent forward and pressed his lips softly to hers once more, stroking her neck tenderly with one straining, trembling hand, sweat tumbled down Audrey’s brow, the droplet mingling with and matching Theo’s own.
They stood there, foreheads pressed together while they panted, their breaths still in sync with each other as they tried to catch hold of reality again now that they’d come back down to earth.
Even though Theo held her tightly against him, it was a miracle he was even still standing, and he was leaning heavily against the wall when he finally opened his eyes and his mouth split into the beginnings of a crooked smile.
But before he could say anything, the golden light spilling over the floor near them from the hallway darkened—and this time, the shadow didn’t pass.
Theo’s smile faded, and they looked at each other in wide-eyed horror. Theo was still inside her, pants unzipped and pulled down just enough to allow him access, and he pressed forward, practically smothering her against the wall in an attempt to shield her from whoever might open that door.
They held their breaths, waiting for the errant jiggle of a door handle or the sound of footsteps thudding across the carpet.
Theo shifted and pulled them both slowly along the wall, maneuvering them deeper into a dark corner of the meeting room and away from where the angled light had spilled.
Audrey hardly dared look in the direction of the door—her heart was thudding so loudly in her ears, she was certain whoever was on the other side could hear it pounding from there.
But nothing happened. No one entered the room, and after a few seconds that seemed to stretch into eternity, the shadow left, letting the light spill inside once more.
They exhaled and let their shoulders slump in relief.
And then, when they looked at each other—and down at Theo’s pants—they both snorted and started to laugh at the same time.
“Oh my god,” Audrey finally wheezed, hugging him tightly and burying her fingers in his hair.
Between the wax he’d styled it with and the way she’d been grabbing it, it was the messiest she’d ever seen it.
He looked thoroughly debauched, like a man shipwrecked and only recently liberated from his wilderness exile. “What did we do?”
With her breasts still freed from the bonds of her gown and the rest of it hiked up around her waist, she was sure she didn’t look any better.
“I look that put-together, huh?” The crooked smile was back, doubly dimpled, thoroughly roguish, and not at all remorseful. He smoothed some of the hair away from her face, tucking her once-artful waves more or less back where they should go before tugging up the fabric of her gown to cover her.
“How are we going to get out of here like this? Is my makeup completely trashed?” She blinked at him and tilted her head toward the light, hoping he might be able to see.
“You’re the most beautiful thing I’ve ever seen—just as you are.
” Theo leaned forward and pressed a kiss to her nose before pulling out and setting her carefully back on the ground.
He took out his handkerchief and used it to clean her up, wadding it into a ball and stuffing it hurriedly back into his pocket.
Both of her shoes had fallen off somewhere and her legs felt like Jell-O, so she clung to him while she steadied herself and tried to remember how to walk properly again and not wobble like a baby deer on a ship at sea.
“Though I might have kissed away all your lipstick. Pretty sure that’s long gone.
” He ran a hand along his mouth and shrugged sheepishly.
So much for Violet’s bulletproof date-night lip color. “Uh-huh. Sure. And now you want to go back out there?” She grimaced as she bent and slipped her shoes back on. Truthfully, she wasn’t sure she had it in her to go back to the ballroom where everyone might stare at them, and at Theo’s scar—
And his suspiciously wrinkled shirt and jacket.
“Actually, no.” He tucked himself back into his pants and tried to straighten his jacket, smoothing his shirt somewhat before patting curiously at his hair.
He only managed to tame it slightly when he ran a hand through it.
“Want to go beg for some more crème br?lée from the kitchen and then call Wesley to pick us up out back once we get your coat? I’m ready to go home. ”
“Are you regretting giving your dessert to me now?”
“Yes,” he said, bending forward and stealing another kiss.
“I paid enough money for that table. I want the cherry on top of my night after all.” He raised an eyebrow and leaned down to whisper in her ear.
“But you’re still the best thing I’ve ever tasted, sweetheart.
Nothing can top you.” He kissed her, low and slow this time.
“And I can’t wait for you to come home with me—for good. ”
When she swatted at him and headbutted him playfully, he only smiled wider and folded her into his arms. Once he tucked her into his side, they glanced out into the hallway and walked out as if nothing at all noteworthy had ever happened to either of them.
No, nothing noteworthy at all.
And somehow, that second caramelized custard—nicked from the kitchen and eaten barefoot against a wall in the service hallway of the Plaza Hotel—tasted even sweeter than the first.