Chapter 20 #2
Jal put a hand to her mouth, that bottom lip curling between her teeth, color burning high on her cheeks. How was it possible for the look in her eyes to both admonish him and promise more?
Ciaran swallowed hard and put a hand on Jal’s back as they followed her friend inside.
After some jostling around with a few other patrons, Ciaran found himself standing in a corner with Jal in front of him.
The door had almost closed when one last person slipped through the gap in the golden doors, causing a ripple effect as those inside scrambled back that ended with Jal and her perfect arse pressed tightly against him, not that he minded in the least. His hands came to rest on her hips and her scent filled his nose once more.
She stiffened at his touch for a moment so brief he wondered if he’d imagined it before she melted against him.
His cock twitched and he forced himself to breathe and think of unpleasant things, like the incessant screech of his old auntie’s endless complaining and the revolting smell of pickled herring on her breath while she did it, anything to keep from giving in to the urge to nuzzle her neck, or do any of the other more enjoyable things his mind was concocting that weren’t appropriate to do in public.
The elevator descended rapidly enough for Ciaran’s ears to pop every few floors, the numbers over the doors dropping so quickly they were almost a blur of red.
Though he could see it coming, the car drew to a lurching stop at the lobby with enough force that he heard several gasps and the clatter of high heels.
Jal stumbled, her head bumped against his chest, barely missing his chin.
Her arms flung out, reaching for the walls of the elevator on either side of his hips to catch her balance, the consequence of which was her arse pressing even tighter against his groin.
He hissed a muffled “Christ” through his teeth.
There was a quiet snigger of laughter from directly in front of him, barely audible over the echoing din in the lobby. Ciaran risked making a scene as everyone filed out when he ducked his head and nipped her earlobe. “Like that, is it?” He murmured low enough that only she could hear.
She shivered from his breath blowing on her ear. “I don’t know what you’re talking about,” she replied coyly, or at least she tried, though her voice still wrapped around him like smoke.
He laughed softly. “Oh, I ken fine that you do.”
She shivered again. He placed a hand on her lower back and followed close behind as they exited the elevator so he didn’t lose her in the throng that nearly packed the lobby.
He quickly lost sight of Jal’s friends as the boarding passengers flowed around them like a parting sea of humanity.
They passed between a queue of people waiting for the elevator, and another that led to a smoky glass doorway with a red velvet rope and two imposing guards granting or refusing entrance to the speakeasy night club in the basement.
In the middle, lay a milling mass of people overflowing the bar area that took up about a quarter of the large open space.
When they reached the exit, Ciaran found himself stepping into the same wedge of the revolving door, and bent close to her ear. “All you need to do is say the word.”
She looked up at him as they emerged onto the street and her eyes flared. The simmering embers burning there told him that she understood his meaning.
Her friends had formed a circle to one side of the entrance. Elena looked over at them. “We’re going to head to Darcy’s for a nightcap, you wanna join us?”
Jal shook her head. “No, I think I’m going to turn in.”
She hadn’t glanced his way, but he noticed that she had drawn a corner of her lower lip between her teeth. Ciaran could tell that Elena had seen too, though she was doing an admirable job of not showing it. Much.
“I can take her home,” Ciaran offered. “My car is just up the street.”
A little sparkle came into Elena’s eyes and a corner of her mouth turned up. She looked back and forth between them. “Works for me,” she replied. “I’ll call you tomorrow.”
Lexi threw her goodbyes over her shoulder as Elena herded them up the street.
They had only gone a few feet before they erupted in giggles, clutching at each other to stay on their high heels.
Maks just shook his head and kept walking beside them, his hands casually in the pockets of a black pea coat.
“Those two are about as subtle as a hydrogen bomb.”
Ciaran turned to find Jal standing at his shoulder staring after her friends. He smiled. “I think the bomb would be less noticeable.”
Jal looked up at him and the broad smile on her face froze, then became something softer, as their gazes locked.
Her lower lip disappeared behind her teeth again and the expression in her eyes, those lovely emerald eyes, seemed to darken as they shifted down to his mouth.
The look punched him low in the gut. Lower.
Quick as a snake, she rose up on her tiptoes, threw her arms around his neck, and devoured him.
Unlike their kiss on the roof, which had been a gentle sealing of a bargain between them, this time their bodies and lips collided. The world fell away in an explosion of light behind his closed eyelids that had nothing to do with passing headlights or the glittering marquee across the street.
He dragged her flush against him, his hands sliding under her wrap to the bare silken expanse of her back.
Their tongues battled, his advancing into her mouth then beating a hasty retreat, twisting and turning around each other as if wrestling for dominance, though if this night was heading where he hoped it was, neither would truly lose.
In true New York fashion, a hail of catcalls and whistles sounded from around them from the queue of people who hadn’t yet made it inside. Unphased, Jal eased back only far enough so she could whisper, “where did you say your car was?”
Ciaran took her hand and spun around, heading in the opposite direction her friends had gone.
Jal’s free arm swung out to keep her balance then gripped his wrist as she scrambled to keep up with his longer-legged pace.
He forced himself to slow and she caught up, one hand slipping through his elbow, as they rounded the corner.
His blue two-door coupe waited a half-block up. It wasn’t anything fancy, or all that new, but it got him where he needed to go when public transportation didn’t, or would take too long, and it was the perfect size to fit into tight city parking places.
Jal surveyed the clearance around the car where it was wedged between a massive SUV and a pickup truck. She put a hand to her mouth and giggled. “Looks like we’re not going anywhere.”
He leveled her with a look and opened the passenger door. “Oh, ye of little faith,” he chided, helping her in. “I’ll have you know that I once got my mate’s Mini Cooper out of a spot much tighter than this.” He closed the door and raced around to climb in behind the wheel.
Despite having parked between the same two vehicles before dinner, Ciaran sent up a quick prayer that he wouldn’t embarrass himself before putting the car in reverse and executing the first of many zig zags, each one smooth and controlled, without making any contact with either of the expensive-looking vehicles.
After one more small adjustment backward, he popped out into traffic, cutting in front of a taxi who rode his bumper and blared the horn, its driver making none too friendly gestures out the window.
Jal smothered a laugh with her hand and then patted his on the gearshift. “I should never have doubted you.”