Chapter Three #2
“By three minutes. I’m a chef. Three minutes matters.”
“I’ll try to recover.”
He stepped aside, but as I passed him his fingers brushed lightly over my back.
The contact lasted less than a second, but my nipples tightened under my tank anyway.
I kept walking. This was going to be a problem.
Dinner required more concentration than breakfast, which was fortunate.
I salted the steak early, made a bright herb sauce with parsley, garlic, vinegar, and olive oil, and put peppers and tomatoes over enough heat to char the edges without turning them soft. Dane handled the grill pan after I showed him what I wanted and followed my directions without fuss.
It shouldn’t have been sexy.
Apparently it was.
“You’re smiling,” he said.
“I’m thinking you take instruction well.”
He turned the steak. “Depends who’s giving it.”
Nothing dramatic happened. Nothing spilled, nobody tripped, and the steak didn’t burst into flames, but the memory of last night’s kiss changed the air between us.
I turned back to the cutting board.
“Five minutes before you slice that.”
“Yes, Chef.”
The rough edge in his voice sent warmth low through me.
I pointed the knife at him.
“Don’t start.”
“Start what?”
“You know exactly what.”
His smile told me he did.
We ate dinner before either of us did anything stupid.
That felt like an accomplishment.
Afterward, Dane put the leftover steak away while I scraped the remaining herb sauce into a container. We loaded the dishwasher, wiped down the counters, and left the island clear except for two glasses of water.
There was nothing I could reasonably claim required my professional attention.
Dane stood on the other side of it.
“You’re very serious about cleanup.”
“I’m serious about not waking up tomorrow to dried chimichurri welded to stone.”
Dane smiled. “Good thing I already have your number for emergencies.”
I set the towel beside the sink. “That was smooth.”
“I wasn’t trying to be.”
“That’s probably why it worked.”
He came around the island slowly enough that I could’ve stepped away, but I didn’t.
Dane stopped close to me. “I’ve been thinking about kissing you since breakfast.”
“That’s a lot of restraint.”
“I had help. You kept handing me knives.”
I laughed, and then he kissed me.
The humor disappeared fast.
I gripped his shirt in both hands and pulled him closer. His arm circled my waist while the other settled at my hip, and the firm length of his body against mine made the last few hours of pretending I was merely cooking dinner feel ridiculous.
I opened for him, and his tongue slid against mine.
I inhaled sharply.
Dane backed me toward the cleared island, then stopped before my hips touched it.
“Tell me what you want.”
I looked at him.
“I want you.”
His expression sharpened.
“Tell me more.”
The directness of it sent another rush of warmth between my thighs.
“Keep kissing me. Take your clothes off. And I don’t want tonight to stop there.”
His thumb moved once against my hip.
“That’s what I was hoping you’d say.”
I reached for the hem of his henley.
Dane caught my wrist gently.
“Before this goes further, we should talk.”
I nodded, suddenly grateful that one of us still had enough functioning brain cells to remember adulthood.
“I have an IUD,” I said. “I was tested recently, and I haven’t been with anyone since.”
“Same. I got tested after the season. Nothing since.”
I held his gaze. “I don’t want to use a condom if you’re comfortable with that.”
“I am if you are.”
“I’m comfortable with it.”
He released my wrist.
“And you’re sure about this?”
I hooked my fingers into his shirt again.
“I’m very sure.”
The smile he gave me was brief and dangerous.
“Then take my shirt off.”
I did.
His henley landed on the back of a chair, followed by my tank. The first drag of his gaze over my bare breasts made my skin prickle, but he didn’t just stand there admiring his work.
Dane bent and kissed me again.
His mouth moved down my neck, then lower. When his lips closed over one nipple, I gasped and gripped his shoulders.
“Yes. That feels good.”
He gave the other breast the same attention until I was breathing too hard to pretend I had a useful answer to anything.
Then he dropped to his knees.
I stared down at him.
“Oh.”
His hands settled at my waist. “Still okay?”
“I’m more than okay.”
He opened my shorts and pulled them down with my underwear.
I stepped out of both.
Dane’s gaze dropped between my legs, and the heat in his expression should’ve embarrassed me.
Instead, wetness gathered faster.
“You’re already soaked.”
His voice had gone rough.
“You’ve been walking around looking like that all day. Take some responsibility.”
That made him grin.
Then he lifted one of my legs over his shoulder and put his mouth on me.
Every clever thought disappeared.
His tongue stroked through my pussy, slow at first, then firmer when I pushed closer. I grabbed the edge of the island behind me and spread my legs as much as the position allowed.
“I need more.”
He did.
Dane found my clit and stayed there, licking until my hips started moving against him. The pleasure tightened quickly until I stopped trying to control the sounds coming out of me.
“That’s it,” he said against me. “Let me hear you.”
I looked down.