Chapter 21
Twenty-one
Jal was going to come out of her skin if the car in front of them didn’t get the hell out of their way. Under her fingers, Ciaran's hand clenched around the shifter tight enough to send a fine tremor coursing through him and into her. The air in the car nearly vibrated with it.
She didn’t dare move a muscle, just sat with her back pressed into the soft leather and stared at the flashing red lights in front of them. Without moving her head, she risked a glance to her left.
Another flare of brake lights struck his angular features, throwing his deep-set eyes into shadow.
The muscles of his neck and jaw stood out, his nose scrunching up and blowing air like a bull every time the car braked at a small gap between parked cars or whatever the heck they were doing that didn’t involve getting out of their way.
As if the driver heard her thoughts, they stopped short and put their reverse lights on. Ciaran swore and jumped on the brake and clutch at the same time. Jal tensed, throwing a hand toward the dashboard, but the seatbelt caught and pulled her back.
“Sorry,” he muttered. He waited for a moment to see if the driver would start backing up.
When they just put their signal on, he muttered another curse and spun the wheel, accelerating around the car, narrowly missing their bumper as it chose that moment to swing their way.
She had no idea what he said, but the tone was something along the lines of “the hell with this.”
Jal chuckled and braced with her legs to keep from getting thrown into the door, swallowing a gasp when her thighs squeezed together, making her very aware of just how the energy in the car had affected her.
At least she thought she’d smothered it, until Ciaran glanced over at her with a heated gaze. The corner of his mouth twitched. “We’re almost there.”
The brightly lit arch in Washington Square Park came into view ahead of them, but he cranked the wheel a couple of blocks before it onto a narrow one-way street that cut between two rows of brownstone townhouses barely visible in the illumination cast by the streetlights they passed.
Halfway down the block, he slid the car neatly into a parking space and cut the engine.
The hand beneath hers disappeared as he threw the door open, and circled around to open her door before she could even reach the handle.
He offered down a hand and drew her to her feet, raising her arm up over his shoulder so her body collided with his, evidence that he was just as worked up as she was pressed against her belly. She tipped her chin up just in time for his lips to crash down on hers.
He wrapped his arms around her, and she giggled against his lips as they stumbled through a little dance, so he had room to close the door that ended with her pressed against the car with him standing between her knees.
The door handle dug into the back of her hip, but it was a price she was willing to pay to have his tongue exploring her mouth, and his body molded around hers, the hardness of him trapped between them.
A few moments later she broke the kiss and grabbed his hand. She made it a few steps up the street before she stopped. “Um, which way?”
Ciaran laughed and spun her in the opposite direction. Jal clutched the ends of her wrap together and scrambled to keep up. A few doors down, he mounted the stairs and led her through two sets of doors and up another flight of stairs. He stopped in front of the lone door and fumbled with his keys.
Jal bounced on her toes, a split second from pushing him against the door and dropping to her knees when he found the right key and opened the door.
He had barely managed to turn on the lights before she slid her hands up his chest and over his shoulders, sending both of his coats to the floor. Their eyes locked, both breathing hard, both waiting for the other to make the next move.
A low growl in his throat a moment later was the only warning she had before he pulled the wrap from her shoulders and stepped into her, his arms wrapping around her waist as his mouth claimed hers. He sent her stumbling back a step, then two, somehow managing to keep from rolling an ankle.
She broke the kiss and bent over in the circle of his arms to slip her shoes off, sending them clattering to the floor. She straightened and reached up to remove his tie, tossing it behind him before starting in on his vest buttons.
He released her one arm at a time to let the garment drop as he continued to herd her backwards across what she assumed was his living room.
There was warm light, and cream-colored walls, a scattering of decorations on the walls, but Jal’s focus was on more important things than whether or not Ciaran was a good interior decorator.
She soon had his shirt unbuttoned. Ciaran released her to remove his cufflinks one by one and tossed his shirt aside. The cufflinks clattered onto a table as he stalked toward her, eyes locked on her breasts as they rose and fell with her breathing.
The toned muscles of his chest had just the slightest dusting of hair. The muscles of his abdomen, which were well defined but not starkly chiseled, were bare to his navel where a trail of hair disappeared into the waistband of his pants.
He gave her a moment to study him, a pleased look coming into his eyes when she couldn’t help licking her lips in appreciation. Then, she let out a whoop of surprise as he wrapped his arms low around her waist and lifted her off her feet.
Jal tried to wrap her legs around him, but the long skirt got in the way. She kicked feebly to get free of it, but the material was trapped between them. She growled, then laughed as her feet swung helplessly in the air. “Let me down.”
Ciaran laughed as he set her down. She took his hand and turned, finding the doorway to his bedroom only a few feet away. A frantic heartbeat later, he stepped up behind her, one hand splaying across her stomach, and matched her step for step through the doorway, all the while nuzzling at her neck.
He found the sensitive spot beneath her ear that made her moan just as they passed into the shadows of his room.
He latched onto that spot, sucking gently, then licked away the delicious sting with his tongue until she was panting against him, knees trembling.
It would likely leave a mark, and she found that she didn’t care.
He slapped for the light switch, managing to find it on the third try. A lamp on the nightstand came to life, illuminating a room with pale blue walls, a scattering of dark wood furniture, and a large bed, neatly made with a dark gray duvet.
Ciaran’s hands slid down over her hips and bunched up the fabric of her dress, dragging the hem up her legs handful by handful.
It passed her knees, and then his hands were on the bare skin of her thighs, then her ass, and then it was gone, leaving Jal wearing only a lacy copper-colored thong.
The cool air of the room hit the already heated skin of her breasts and belly, tightening her nipples and sending a shiver through her.
She turned slowly, and forced her hands to remain at her sides. Though he had already seen her breasts, there was something different this time, knowing where things were heading.
Ciaran swallowed. “You’re the most beautiful thing I’ve ever seen.” His voice was deep, almost a growl, as his hands slid up her sides and cupped her breasts, his thumbs brushing slow circles around the tight peaks.
Jal’s head fell back, a moan escaping her lips as he pinched one nipple then bent to kiss away the hurt, using his tongue to torture her. He sucked at her nipple and her knees gave out. This time, when he scooped her off her feet, Jal wrapped her legs around his waist.
“Please,” was all she could murmur as she buried her hands in his hair. He moved to the other breast as he walked to the bed, carrying her as if she weighed very little with one hand under her rear, the other buried in her hair.
Just when she thought he was going to lower her to the bed and climb on top, he turned and sat on the edge with her straddling his lap.
He released her nipple with a pop that made her laugh, the sound low and sultry.
His eyes flared at the promise in it and kissed her again.
There was nothing gentle about this kiss, and Jal found that gentle was the last thing she wanted, anyway.
The night had been building to this since the moment he’d met her eyes as he crossed the restaurant. There would be time for gentle later.
For now, she wanted to feel all of him, every inch of skin she could touch. She broke the kiss and put two hands on his chest, and eased him slowly onto his back. She leaned over him just enough for her breasts to brush across his chest.
He tried to sit up to kiss her again, but she pushed him down, with a little more force this time, and sat up. “Stay put, please.”
He crooked an eyebrow at her, but then just tucked an arm behind his head and waited to see what she had in mind.
The muscle of his bicep flexed in a way that made her mouth water.
In the dim pool of light from the room outside, shadows pooled in the valleys of his muscles and the angular planes of his face.
Jal slid her hands down the length of his abdomen, the bumps of muscle tensing under her touch. She got the impression that her touch had only done so much and like with his bicep, he was flexing a little for her. “Really?” She asked with mock disbelief.
“What’s a man to do when he has a beautiful woman on top of him doing wicked things?”
Wicked, eh?
Her hands went to the buckle of his pants while she bent and pressed a kiss over his heart, then slowly worked her way down.
She spent a moment teasing each nipple before moving across his abdomen, running her tongue across the grooves between muscles.
The belt parted with a rattle of metal, and she went to work on the fastenings of his pants to spread them open.