Fantasy for Hire - Erika Wilde Page 0,18
said abruptly, and reached for her purse. “And I need to get up early in the morning.”
“So do I.” He stood, and while he waited for her to follow suit, he folded her check and put it into the front pocket of his pants. He still wasn’t sure what to do with the money, but he’d already decided that Saturday night was going to be his treat. It would be his pleasure to be Teddy’s lover. “I’ll walk you to your car.”
They left the bar together with the stares of the patrons following them out the etched-glass door. Outside, the air was December chilled, and the parking lot was barely illuminated by two streetlights. He followed her to a surprisingly sedate white Honda Accord, parked in a shadowed area of the lot.
Standing by the driver’s side, she turned to face him. “I guess I’ll see you Saturday night.” She thrust out her hand. “Thanks again.”
She was so polite, and so determined to keep their agreement on a business level. He had other ideas. Slipping his hand into hers, he tugged her closer. The unexpected movement caused her to waver off balance. She put her hand out to catch herself, and her palm landed on his chest. She gasped, a sexy little intake of breath that warmed his blood and told him her attempt at formality had just slipped a serious notch.
Her luminous brown eyes were wide and searching. “Austin?”
Her voice trembled, not with protest, but with the thrum of desire. Slipping his fingers around her wrist, he stroked his thumb over the wild pulse beating at the base of her palm. Her skin was soft and warm, and when he took a deep breath, he inhaled a subtle, floral fragrance that awakened something hot and primitive within him: The need to make her his.
“You know,” he murmured, his tone vibrating with low, husky nuances. “Since we’ll be pretending to be lovers, there’s something we should get out of the way before Saturday.”
“What’s that?” she asked, her voice a whisper of anticipation.
“Our first kiss.” He lowered his head, and experienced a heady rush of excitement when she automatically tipped hers up to meet him halfway. Inches away from claiming her mouth, he hesitated, drawing out the moment to marvel at her acquiescence. He hadn’t even touched his lips to hers, but they were parted and ready. Her breathing was eager and expectant, turning him on and making him think of the needy, purring sounds she’d make if he ever had the pleasure of being deep inside of her.
She didn’t play coy, didn’t shy away from the blatant sexual energy between them. She didn’t try to suppress something as basic and natural as desire and he liked that about her. The awareness had been building all evening, in subtle ways, and both of them were ready for the culmination of all that smoldering tension.
Closing the breath of space separating them, he dropped his mouth over hers, and didn’t even have to cajole his way past her incredibly soft lips. His tongue glided deeply, sought and found hers, and tangled playfully. The kiss was slow and silky, soulful and honey-sweet. He took his time exploring, tasting and seducing, until leisurely sweeps of his tongue were no longer enough to satisfy the deep, vital hunger gripping him.
He needed…more.
She gave a soft, frustrated moan that echoed his own growing impatience, and the hand on his chest curled into a tight fist. Heat coiled low in his belly and spread outward, ruthlessly reminding him just how long he’d gone without the softness of a woman’s body to ease his more baser needs.
He didn’t want any woman but Teddy. Teddy with her soft, sexy sighs and incredibly generous mouth…
In a flash he was hard and hungry and feeling more than a little wild. And reckless enough to take their encounter one level higher.
Keeping his mouth slanted across hers, he maneuvered her a step back so she was crushed between her car and his body. A gasp caught in her throat, then rolled into a seductive moan when he released her wrist and gripped her hips in his hands, pulling her intimately closer, if that was at all possible considering their bodies were fitted as tightly as a man and woman could get…from breast, to belly, to thighs.
Blood pounded in his ears and rushed along his nerve endings. Her hands slid up his chest and around his neck, then her fingers delved into his thick hair, urging him