No Strings__ - By Janelle Denison Page 0,29

the adventure he’d selected for her. “Pick up a stemmed Maraschino cherry with your lips. Feed the cherry to your partner using only your mouth, then tie the cherry stem using only your tongue. No hands allowed.”

“No problem,” she said, prepared to dazzle Aiden with her skills in tying a cherry stem with her tongue. Who would have thought that a silly talent she’d perfected as a teenager would come in handy one day?

He motioned to their waiter and asked for a few stemmed cherries. While the other man headed off in the direction of the bar, Chloe glanced around at all the other nearby tables. Everyone was having fun playing the truth-or-dare game. The groups of singles were laughing and cheering their teammates on, and the couples who sat alone like her and Aiden were either engrossed in a truthful conversation, or doing equally intimate dares with their partners.

The waiter returned and set a small plate with three Maraschino cherries in the middle of the table, and at the same time delivered their desserts—a slice of cheesecake drizzled with a rich-looking caramel sauce. Chloe was tempted to take a bite, but not until she finished executing her dare.

Folding her hands securely in her lap, she glanced from the dish, to Aiden. “Since I can’t use my hands, you’ll have to feed me one of the cherries to get me started.”

More than happy to accommodate her, he picked up a cherry by the stem and dropped it into her waiting mouth. First, she had to transfer the actual cherry to Aiden, and in order to do so she needed his lips on hers.

Tucking the piece of fruit against the inside of her cheek, she crooked a beckoning finger at him. “Come closer,” she cajoled sweetly, and when he did as she asked, she framed his face in her hands and brought his mouth to hers. “The cherry is for you, but first, you’ll have to find it.”

She could have kept things chaste and pushed the cherry immediately into his mouth, but this evening wasn’t about playing it safe. Not any longer. She kissed him, her lips parting to invite him inside. His tongue glided along hers as they played hide-and-seek with the piece of fruit and she let him chase the treat until she was ready to end the playfully hot kiss. Finally, his tongue curled around the cherry and he drew it into his mouth. She clamped down on the end of the stem between her teeth, allowing him to bite off the Maraschino to enjoy.

While she went to work on the second part of her task, he chewed and swallowed the cherry, then grinned like a rogue. “Not quite as good as eating a peach,” he said meaningfully.

Oh, he was so bad. A slow burn blossomed in her belly, and spread lower...to the exact part of her he associated with a ripe, juicy peach. With seductive eyes, he continued watching her as she manipulated the stem with her teeth, lips and tongue. Less than a minute later, she presented him with the cherry stem, now with a tight knot in the middle.

“Voila!” she said, proud of her accomplishment.

Amusement etched his gorgeous features. “Very impressive.”

She laughed huskily and gave him something else to consider and mentally fantasize about. “My tongue is quite talented and can do all kinds of neat tricks.”

“I’ll just bet it can,” he murmured, and rolled the die she’d nudged toward him since it was his turn, which landed on another Dare.

Feeling bolder and more brazen with each scene they completed, she went straight for a wild adventure. Anticipation spread throughout her entire body as she read his challenge. “Suck on your partner’s finger for one full minute.”

With a slow, shameless smile that ramped up her awareness of what he was about to do, he gently grabbed her wrist and pulled her hand toward him...and unexpectedly dragged the tip of her finger through the sticky caramel sauce on his dessert plate. The impulsive move startled her, but not as much as the wet heat of his mouth as he gradually pulled her index finger all...the...way...in.

Her breath hitched in her throat, then released in a low, sensual moan as he leisurely sucked the caramel off her finger, his gaze so dark and smoldering she knew what it was like to melt from the inside out. His tongue was as soft as velvet along her skin, and the scrape of his teeth added a sharp, erotic edge of