Chapter 22 #3
His head tilted in consideration, and she took the opening to press a hot kiss to his jugular. “We’re above ground level,” he conceded. His voice had turned thick with need, and it made her throb between her legs. “I’m not sure that qualifies as high up, but I’ll allow it.”
His grip on her hip tightened, then he pulled her zipper down the rest of the way.
Cool night air brushed across her belly, seeped through the satin fabric of her panties to tickle her overheated skin.
He wasted no time delving his hand under the waistband, fingers tunneling through the curls of her pubic hair and lower to cup his palm over her clit.
He didn’t push her pants down at all, the tight denim confines of her jeans offering little in the way of movement space.
His shoulder flexed with controlled motion as he pressed the ball of his thumb against her clit, the pad of his middle finger sliding between her desire-wet lips to trace her opening.
She couldn’t tell if he was trying to be gentle and considerate, or deliberately teasing her, but either way it was unsatisfying. “Des, come on,” she breathed. Her hand slid down the length of his arm to grip his elbow, urging him on.
“You’re ready that fast, huh?” he prompted, sounding far too amused. “Was it the motorcycle ride? Did it get your engine revving?”
She wanted to roll her eyes, but his middle finger dipped into her—only up to his first knuckle, but enough to set her nerve endings alight with pleasure. She moaned instead. Her eyes fluttered shut. “Maybe it’s just you.”
Under her touch at his elbow, his muscles and ligaments shifted as he withdrew his finger then delved back in, this time as far as he could manage in the limited space available.
With fireworks exploding on the backs of her eyelids, she couldn’t see his expression, but there was something thready and gratified in his voice when he hummed a response. Then he set to work in earnest.
The space in her jeans was too limited, the angle was all wrong, but somehow it was still just right.
Her hips rocked with his motions. His mouth skimmed up the length of her throat, and the hand that had been on her hip slid all the way around her back to hold her forward so he could coax her body into the reactions he sought.
His fingers stroked along her inner walls as he ground his palm against her clit in rough, barely-recognizable circle.
Before long her breath was coming in frantic pants that broke the air of the Santa Monica nighttime more rhythmically than the engines of the passing cars.
She came, and the world stuttered to a stop around her for the long, blissful moments it took for the waves of orgasm to recede.
His motions calmed, but didn’t cease until she gently nudged his arm away, his hand withdrawing from her panties.
With her eyes still closed as she waited for her breathing to even out, he rebuttoned and zipped her pants up.
When she did open her eyes, she found him thoughtfully sucking her orgasm from his fingertips.
She cursed softly, one hand reaching out to brush over the bulging fly of his pants. “You sure you don’t want to come in?”
“I’m sure.” He leaned down to kiss her softly through his smile. “But I do want to thank you for tonight.” He kissed her again, just as gently, this time on the corner of her mouth. “You were great with my family.”
“They seem like nice people.”
“They are. Just...pushy. But—” He drew back enough to put some space between them so she could look up into his eyes, which the night made almost black.
A serious expression came over his face, washing away the remnants of satisfaction and tamped-down arousal.
Her stomach clenched, part anxiety and part anticipation.
“I guess what I’m saying,” he continued, “is that tonight meant something to me. And you do too.”
Whatever part of her had been holding back the tide of her feelings, and frantically clinging to the idea that she could get away with keeping this friendly, crumbled under the weight of the sincerity in his eyes. She inhaled a shaky breath, her mouth gone dry with emotion.
“Des—”
“I just wanted to put that out there.” He took a small step backward, adding some space and air between them and allowing their hands to fall away from each other.
“There are some things we’d need to talk about first, but I’d be.
.. Well, I’d be up for renegotiating the terms of our arrangement if that were something you were interested in. ”
He’d put the space between them deliberately, but when his words sank in, she launched herself at him, bouncing up onto the tips of her toes to kiss him on the mouth.
His hands found hers and gave her a warm squeeze as she settled to her regular height.
One side of his mouth twitched into a half-smile, his eyes downcast, and she thought he might have been blushing.
“I’d like that,” she said.
“Another time, then.” He pressed a chaste kiss to her cheek. Then he descended the steel staircase that led to the parking lot. When he reached the bottom, he looked back up, gave a little salute, then disappeared around the corner.
She fell into bed that night feeling lighter than she’d ever felt. Her heart was buoyant.