Chapter Eighteen
D eirdre stared into gunmetal gray eyes that burned into her. Contingency logistics and overanalyzing the fun out of any given task were her superpowers, but for once in her life, she simply wanted to experience her feelings. Not be in charge of what-ifs and plans A, B, and C. She didn’t want to dissect her emotions until nothing of substance remained.
She knew Calvin. She trusted Calvin. Being with him would change everything. Was she ready for that?
Yes. She wrapped her arms around his neck and kissed him until her head spun.
He pushed up from the couch, gripping her hips as he walked toward the bedroom, carrying her. A thrill zipped through her nerve endings, leaving delicious tingles in its wake. When was the last time she had felt like this? She locked her ankles behind his back and pressed her lips against the hammering pulse on his neck.
Never. She had never felt quite like this, and on some level, it scared her.
On some level it freed her.
Deirdre reveled in the flex of his back and neck muscles under her hands as he held her securely and strode to the bedroom.
What about her past? Her future?
She focused on the man she had known for so many years but who seemed brand new.
It was time to attend to the present.
He bumped his knees against the bed and deposited her on the mattress with a gentle stomach-flipping drop. “Last chance to bail before I lick every inch of your body.” His words might have sounded light, but his direct gaze was intense, and his shoulders were tense. He was dead serious.
Deirdre desperately wanted to feel something again. Something good. Something for herself.
She wanted more than a fake relationship. She wanted to push past fear, doubt, and the regrets of time.
She wanted Calvin.
Everything would change.
It already had changed when they kissed a week ago.
“Who says you’re the one doing the licking?” She sat up and untucked the shirt from his waistband.
His eyes darkened. “I don’t want to rush this, Deirdre. We’ve got all night. I intend to use my time wisely.”
“Who’s rushing? Get naked.”
“As an administrator, you might be used to ordering people around, but I’ve taken AIDET training. I’m now an expert in customer experience.” His chuckle rumbled through her ribs.
His presence was so attractive, she literally could feel her nipples tightening. So sexy. She stopped moving. Wait, what? “You actually watched and remembered the staff training modules about patient communication?”
He pulled off his shirt, revealing a lean torso with a light dusting of dark hair that arrowed downward. The view turned the inside of her mouth to sand.
“Communication and satisfaction is important, is it not?” he asked with a grin.
Finally, she unstuck her tongue. “I can’t believe we are talking about AIDET, now. Here.” She gasped as he trailed his fingers over her shoulders and down her arms to rest on her hands. The light connection made her crave more of her body touching his.
A wicked glint in his eye as he lifted his chin preceded his challenge. “You know what? Let’s see if the boss can recite the five AIDET steps to the student.”
“Huh. Easy.” She took a breath.
“Not yet. Do it while I’m kissing you.” He unclasped her bra and pulled it away, then knelt over her, his breath warming her skin.
Never in a million years would she have used a customer service tool as foreplay, but here she was, trying to remember the steps that all staff had to learn… as Calvin drew tantalizing, feather-light patterns over her neck and upper chest.
“AIDET? You sure?” she asked.
He shot her a wolfish grin. “How else can we confirm that I paid attention?”
“I think you’re paying lots of attention right now.”
“Mmm.” He nipped the skin over her collarbone until she shivered.
“AIDET. A. Acknowledge.”
“Ah.” He traced the underside of her breasts with his finger. “Good evening, Ms. Steen.”
“This is strange, Calvin.”
He stopped. “No. This is kind of fun, for once in our lives.” He kept his palms on the fullness of her breasts and lightly stroked both nipples with his thumbs until she squirmed. “Continue. There may be incentives if you pass the module.”
“Ha.” Her shaky laugh slid into a sigh as her tips tightened under his touch. An ache formed deep in her pelvis. She cleared her throat. “AIDET. Acknowledge. Next one is I. Introduce.”
“Introduce. Correct. Ahem.” His expression became professionally pleasant. “Hello, my name is Calvin, and I will be doing my best to make your toes curl this evening.” He licked both thumbs and rubbed them over her nipples. Then he blew across her damp skin.
Her heated insides warring with the cool, wet skin made her legs shift restlessly, arching toward him for more. He paused his movements when she couldn’t form words. “Go on. What’s the next one?”
“D. Duration of service.”
“Duration?” He pursed his lips and pressed a kiss to the underside of one breast, then the other. “It is going to take a long time to slowly get you worked up and hot for me. Multiple times. I’m providing this information so you may plan for your evening.”
She gritted out words. “This whole situation is an EEO complaint waiting to happen.”
His teeth gleamed white in the lower light. “That’s funny.” He dipped his head and sucked one nipple into his mouth, brushing the tip with his tongue. All the while he eased his other hand lower down her abdomen. When he reached her waistband, he slid his fingers underneath and lower, stopping right above her throbbing core.
“Calvin?” She gasped, bucking beneath him, trying to bring her heated flesh into contact with his hand, but he kept his fingers an inch away from relief.
“Continue,” he said, eyes dark.
“Oh my gosh, you’re terrible.”
He grazed the hood of her clitoris with one finger, and she moaned.
“AIDET,” she burst out. “Fine. E is Explanation.”
Releasing one breast with a final lick that made her shudder, he peered up at her with an owlish expression. “Explanation. Ms. Steen, I intend to completely satisfy you. To accomplish this, I will use my mouth and fingers and… so much more.”
He grazed her sensitive clitoris with a fingertip, and she hissed and arched toward his hand. Waiting until he received her nodded assent, he slid off her leggings and underwear.
His pants brushed against her legs, the friction of rough fabric against soft skin sparking along her nerve endings. “Oh, Calvin.”
Kissing the skin over her hipbone and upper thigh, he growled and lightly nipped. Palming her thighs, he pressed her legs apart.
Then he paused, his breath fanning sensitive flesh. “You’re not finished yet,” he said.
Drolly, she replied. “You have no idea.”
Shaking his head, he smiled. “With the last part of AIDET, you get a reward.”
“Pizza party? Points toward a corporate-branded satchel?”
“Way better.” He dropped a kiss right on the juncture of her thigh and abdomen, inches from where she burned for his touch.
She tried to lift her hips toward him, but he held her in place and kissed her again, a tiny bit closer to heaven. But he didn’t move his mouth from that spot.
Heart pounding, she forced herself to think. Her brain wouldn’t cooperate. When he paused, she groaned in frustration.
“AIDET,” she blurted out. “T. Thanking. Last one is thanking the customer.”
Without warning, he swept his mouth over her labia, and she made a high-pitched keening sound. Then he pressed the flat of his tongue against the sensitive seam.
Lifting his head once again, he said, “Ms. Steen, thank you for this amazing opportunity to serve you today. You may receive a phone call regarding your care. I hope you will be able to rank my service with a high satisfaction score.”
The laugh that bubbled up from deep inside morphed into a guttural sigh as he returned to his work, licking and nipping at her heated flesh. He gripped under her hips and raised her toward him, making satisfied growls as he drove her need higher and higher.
She was flying. “Calvin, I want you—” She reached toward him.
He planted her hand on the comforter and patted it to stay there. “Not yet. Soon.” He panted, his breath hot against her already heated skin. Nudging her legs farther apart, he lifted his head, first looking down at her, then met her eyes. “My God, this is amazing.”
“I’ll say.”
He grinned again, this time tracing a finger between her folds.
A gurgle and a hip wiggle was all she could manage.
He eased his finger into her. “You’re so wet.”
No shame. This was Calvin. This was Calvin in a whole new light. Actually, it was the same light, only now she acted on her feelings. “How could I not be wet, given everything you’re doing to me? This is because of you.”
He started to stroke inside of her, eventually adding another finger. “It’s you, Deirdre. You’re amazing.”
The delicious stretch primed her desire, like a heavy snowpack hanging at the top of the steep mountain. “Please.” She gasped.
“I’ve got you.” Dipping his head, he flicked his tongue over her clitoris as he curled his fingers with each thrust.
Tension spiraled, chasing completion. “I’m… oh God, Calvin.” When he gently sucked on her nub and pressed his fingers deeply, the avalanche of sensations broke free in a quivering, shaking full-body response that seemed to roll on and on.
He continued to move his hand and drew out the orgasm through several delicious aftershocks until she finally came to rest in his arms.
His half-mast gaze met hers, and he growled contentedly.
Boneless, she lifted her head, peering at him where he lay with his cheek against her open thigh. “Time for some customer service feedback.”