“You need to apologize to her,” Calder says tersely, glancing at me.
“It’s fine.” I quickly wave the guy and girl off, then try to swipe the dampness from his uniform. “We should get a towel to soak this up so it doesn’t stain.”
Clasping my hand, Calder tugs me off the dance floor, past the mass of people at the bar.
When we pass through a swinging kitchen door, a couple of fairies are standing on opposite ends of the massive island, giggling drunkenly. Hands aloft, golden crystals trickling from their clenched fists, the girls freeze in the middle of their glitter sugar fight and turn guilty looks our way.
“It’s time to leave, ladies,” Calder says in a commanding tone as he removes his hat and sets it on the corner of the island.
Instead of focusing on the girls, my attention briefly snags on Calder, specifically the two sharp points of ink on his skin just above his collar. What is his tattoo?
The girl with curly blonde hair closest to us let’s out an annoyed grunt, drawing my gaze back to them.
“Fine, be a killjoy.” Once her friend with a black pixie cut comes around the island to stand by her side, they exchange devilish looks, then toss their handfuls of glittery sugar toward us like wedding rice, giggling uncontrollably.
“What the hell…” Calder snaps as the golden cloud scatters all around us, but we all pause when the kitchen lights go out and the music suddenly stops. Someone yells through the silence about the DJ having a generator, and the second the music starts pumping once more, the girls squeal their excitement and head back to the party through the swinging door.
Grunting his annoyance, Calder walks over to the door and turns a latch at the top, then glances my way. “At least they won’t be able to return with reinforcements.”
I’m thankful for the dim light coming from the flashes of lightning outside. I can still see him without being tempted to stare at him. My stomach dropped when he first tugged his hat off and I saw his whole face and light brown hair. The man’s sinfully good-looking. With enough champagne in me to be dangerous, I panic. My skin feels all warm and tingly now that we’re alone. Needing a distraction from my thoughts, I start opening drawers in the island. Grabbing a hand towel from the second drawer, I wave him over. “See what happens to killjoys,” I say lightly, snickering while I attempt to wipe away the glitter stuck to the splatter pattern on his shoulder.
Calder grimaces as he taps the bill of his hat on the island’s charcoal gray marble surface to shake off the glitter. “At least I wore an old hat tonight.”
Scanning my gaze over the gold glinting in the darkness across his light brown hair, I sweep the cloth over his other shoulder, keeping my movements brisk while brushing the loose glitter away. “It looks good on you. Kind of gives you an ethereal glow.”
Calder captures my wrist and pulls the cloth from my fingers. “Trust me, there’s nothing otherworldly about me.”
My heart races when he lifts my hand to his lips and presses a warm kiss to my palm.
“I’m just a man; all flesh and blood,” he says in a low rasp before moving his lips along my hand. Kissing my fingertips, he murmurs, “This is what real feels like,” and then wraps his lips fully around my index finger.
I exhale sharply at the hot warmth of his mouth and tongue sliding from the base of my finger all the way to the tip. The pleased rumble in his throat as he licks the glitter off and rasps, “I knew you’d be an interesting mixture of sugar and spice,” tightens my belly and lower muscles. This isn’t a good idea. My emotions are all over the place with this guy.
I try to tug free, but his hold on my wrist just tightens, his warm fingers folding around me. “You smell so good, all I can think about is tasting every part of you,” he says before sucking on the heel of my palm. His action sends electric pulses shooting through me; I’m immobilized by the heat of his mouth and arousing words. Tensing, I know I need to move out of his hold, but before I get a chance to pull away, he puts his other hand on the countertop behind me, blocking me in.
“You’re going to give us a chance,” he says gruffly as he folds my hand across his neck.
“I am?” My attempt to muster sarcasm fails. I just sound breathless instead. Damn this man.
He grips my waist and leans close, his masculine smell enveloping me, stealing my ability to think. “I made the mistake of letting you walk away from me earlier,” he says while inhaling along my throat. Following the same path with his mouth, his searing heat jacks my heart rate even higher. “I won’t let you go this time.”
“Let me?” I chuckle at his dominant arrogance even as my fingers tighten on his neck, pulling him closer. “It’s called free will, Navy. You don’t own me.”
A low laugh rumbles from his chest, vibrating against mine as he slides his lips along my jawline. “When I’m done with you, the only place you’ll want to be is in my bed the rest of the night. You will most definitely be owned.”
I press my other hand to his chest, enjoying the feel of his hard muscles under his uniform. “You’re pretty sure of yourself. And just how do you plan to do that?”
He kisses my nose and then licks the corner of my lips. It takes everything inside me not to respond to his seductive worshiping of my face, but I manage to remain still as he presses a tender kiss in the same intimate spot before he lifts his head and meets my gaze.
Running the pad of his thumb along my bottom lip, he follows the path with a hungry gaze. “I can’t wait to taste your mouth.”
“What’s stopping you?” I ask, my chest tightening. I want to feel his mouth on mine. To know if he kisses as aggressively as he talks.
He shakes his head slowly, his gaze never leaving my lips. “I won’t until I hear you begging me to let you come.”
My eyebrow hikes. “And how do you plan to do that? Molten stare me into a frenzied state?”
The corner of his mouth lifts in amusement for a split second before his heated gaze snaps to mine. “I’m going to devour your pussy first. You won’t be able to hold anything back while you’re writhing and begging me to let you come. I want all of you. And when I’m done lapping up all the pleasure I’ve given …” He leans closer, and just when I think he’s going to kiss me anyway, he clamps his teeth on my bottom lip with enough bite to flood my core with throbbing want. Sliding free, he holds my gaze. “Then I’ll taste your sassy mouth, Celeste.”
“Don’t call me that,” I snap before I stop myself. I’m shaking inside by the things he makes me feel. All the feelings he evokes—want, desire, arousal—only make me more anxious. Not only am I not the person he thinks I am, I’m the biggest fraud on the planet. I talk a big game, but I’m sexually dead inside. No matter how hard he tries, he won’t be able to get me there. And knowing this makes me feel physically ill, because…this man…I want him to.
Talia might technically still be a virgin, but at least her battery-operated-boyfriend can make her come. Even though I tease her about getting laid, she has no clue that I’ve never climaxed. Apparently I’m the best actress to every man I’ve been with. None of them know that I faked every orgasm. Every. Single. One.
Calder’s chuckle pulls me out of my worried thoughts. Lifting my hand, he presses his lips against the cuff on the inside of my wrist, his voice low, intense. “If you want to be someone else tonight…Yvette doesn’t suit you.”
Be someone else. As soon as he says it, the answer comes to me…the perfect name. Hearing that name won’t make me tense. She’s brave…far braver than I’ve ever been. She would’ve been there for me if she had known. I think about the raven I had inked on the inside of my wrist a couple years ago. It stands proudly on the gorgeous tree branch the tattoo artist expertly drew over the scars, incorporating them into the bark. Calder can’t see the tattoo hidden under my cuff, but it’s like he subconsciously knows where to point me with just a simple statement.
Tonight, I’ll be her. A girl full of sunshine. A girl afraid of nothing. Not even death.
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I fold my fingers around his and meet his gaze. “Call me Raven.”
A pleased smile flashes. “Ah, a name that implies cunning and shadowy stealth to go with your intriguing sex appeal. I fully approve. Raven is perfect.” Releasing my wrist, he skims his gaze over my hair as he runs his thumb along the edge of my black mask. “The gold shimmers in your dark hair like your eyes do when you’re amused.”
His comment makes my stomach flutter, but I shake my head. “Brown eyes are so bland.”
“Not yours. They shine.” Leaning close, he rests his left hand on my shoulder, then slides his thumb along the front of my throat and under my choker, commanding in my ear, “Put your hands on my waist and hold still while I take care of something I’ve should’ve done the moment you walked into the party.”
“What if I don’t want to stay still?” Despite my question, I lower my hands to his hips and try to ignore the chill bumps rising on my skin as he runs his nose down my throat.
“I might hurt you,” he husks right before warm lips sear the skin just above my choker.
“Intentionally?” I whisper, my fingers gripping his white jacket as his other hand slides down my ass.
Warm breath bathes the curve of my shoulder, and at the same time his thumb dips into the hollow of my throat, he releases a pleased groan. “You smell so fucking good, I could devour every bit of you.”
I gasp when he sinks his teeth into the soft spot between my shoulder and my neck. It’s so unexpected, so purely primal, my sex floods with heat. As my knees wobble, my instinct is to flee. Not out of fear, but because I’m so incredibly turned on. I want to know just how far he’ll go, how raw he can get. Clamping his teeth on my shoulder is an act of dominance, not meant to break skin, but applied with careful and measured force. He’s marking his territory, laying a claim. On me. No…on Celeste. The tantalizing sensation of his body against mine, his tight hold on me, makes it hard to remember that I’m not the woman he wants. He makes me want to forget who I am completely and let him have free rein.
While my brain fights every instinct for me to lean into him, he grips my ass tight and kisses the side of my throat once more, the pressure of his lips bone-meltingly intimate.
Thunder rumbles and lightning flares in time to the rising bass of the rave music in the other room. The ramping sound goes straight to my rapidly beating heart and vaults my pulse even higher.
With every short breath I take, his amazing smell draws me in deeper. I remind myself this won’t end well. I’m guaranteed to disappoint Calder. In so many ways.
As I slide my hands to his chest, intending to push him back, he captures my chin and nips my jawline near my ear lightly, his voice a low, mesmerizing hum against my heated skin. “No flying away, Raven mine. I’m nowhere near done claiming every part of you.”
My heart jerks when he clasps my waist and lifts me up onto the counter. Eyes wide, I stutter, “Wait, you’re going to…here?”
“Where better to savor you than in the kitchen?”
I bite my lip, excitement racing through me at the idea of him going down on me in a near public setting. Reaching up, I run my finger along the two dark points of ink peeking a quarter inch above his jacket’s stand up collar.
“This could be anything: the point of a star…a letter. Some say that tattoos are scars worn on the outside. I think of them as the most intimate part of a person.”
“Most intimate part?” He folds his fingers around my forearm, unknowingly touching my other tattoo underneath my shirt’s sleeve. Pulling me closer, his hooded gaze darkens with sexual hunger. “I’ll show you mine, if you show me yours.”
I exhale of slow breath, my lips twitching. “Do you really think I have one?” I deftly avoid confirming his assumption as I pull free to reach for the first gilt gold button.
He captures my wrist, stopping me from unbuttoning his collar. “I’d lay money on it.”
I arch an eyebrow. “You’re not going to let me see yours?”
“You’ll see all of me soon enough.” A grin, full of sensual promises, flickers. Stepping between my legs, he rests his warm hands on my thighs, skin to skin. “For now I want to hear you beg me for it.”
He’s so freaking arrogant. “Good luck with that.” I pick up his hat and set it on my head, then salute him. It’s sad how honest that statement is, but I might as well enjoy the build up.
“Smartass,” he mutters, tugging on the bill to bring my face close to his.
His mouth is a breath away from mine as he flattens his palms along the marble on either side of my hips. His nearness fills the air with an electric charge that runs all the way to my toes. How did the fun banter shift to something much more intense so quickly? I need to keep this light, a bit of raunchy fun. “Strategizing, Mr. Navy?”
A dark smile crooks. “Always,” he says right before he clasps the insides of my thighs. “Lay back.”
I gasp at the cold transferred from the marble to his hands, but the chill on my skin only ramps the heat between us. Exhaling a calming breath, I lower myself down to the cool marble surface. I need some space from his heady magnetism. But my anticipation only rachets higher as he slowly slides me on the slick, glitter-covered surface until the back of my knees hit the island’s edge.
As he grasps my thighs, his gaze slides leisurely over me. Lust flickers in their depths and his firm grip loosens. “I’m discovering a whole new appreciation for glitter.”
I bite my lip while he begins to rub the golden flecks from his palms along the insides of my thighs, his movements methodic and sensual. When he reaches my short skirt and flips it out of the way, the thin red ribbons holding my silky black underwear together at each hipbone draw his attention. Pausing, his gaze flicks to mine, full of carnal heat. “This just keeps getting better and better.”
“Only if you use that cocky mouth of yours for more than just talking.” Exhaling a sigh, I raise my arms above my head and stretch, undulating my hips in a move that I know drives guys crazy. “Do your best to solve me, Mr. Navy. That is…if you’re up to the challenge.”
His lips twist as he leans over me. “There’s something you should know about a good strategist.”
“And what is that?” I say, my words coming out in a breathy whoosh when he plants a kiss on my belly button.
He lifts his hooded gaze my way. “We study every angle, learn every possible move that can be made for the very best outcome, and then we implement a solution.”
I slide my fingers in his hair and gold flecks shower down on my belly. Trailing my fingers along his hairline, I halt at his temple. “And what’s your success rate?”
He grips my hips in a firm hold and runs the flat of his tongue along my stomach. Licking up every bit of glitter sugar, he rumbles against my suddenly prickled skin, “One-hundred-percent.”
His attentiveness makes me so wet, I almost hate that I’m going to ruin his record. Even though he’ll never know he didn’t succeed, I feel it’s only fair to warn him. “I’m not so easy to solve.”
He slides his hands to my ass and chuckles as he nips at my hipbone. “Complicated, are you?”
When I mumble, “I’m a double-sided, 3D puzzle,” he glances up at me once more, his gaze suddenly serious.
“Every puzzle has a solution, Raven. I’m yours.”
Before I can rib him about his overconfidence, he lifts my right thigh and kisses a searing path toward my sex, rendering my brain useless.
The closer he gets, the hotter my body radiates against the cool marble. Chill bumps layer over flushed skin. The combination is so stimulating, I rock my hips, encouraging him as I let out a breathy sigh. “I’m enjoying your strategic moves.”
Biting lightly on my inner thigh, he shifts to my left leg, lifting it up to press a kiss along the inside of my knee. As he trails his tongue in a swirling pattern down my leg, his warm breath bathes my skin while he slowly makes his way to the edge of my underwear.
I’m surprised when he
turns and presses his nose against my sex. Inhaling deeply, he groans. “You’re soaked and fucking hell you smell like dessert.”
His teeth nip the edge of my underwear, and I jump, gasping.
Just when I start to reach for the ties holding my panties together, he grunts and glares at me. Stay still.
I sigh and move my hand to his hair, heart hammering while he slides his teeth along my underwear until he reaches the bow. Clamping his lips around the end of the ribbon, he pulls it free of its loop, then does the same to the other side.
I bite my lip as he dips his head and presses a soft kiss to one side of my sex and then the other. When he continues pressing his mouth tenderly along my sensitive lips—just light pecks, not full on contact—I furrow my brow in confusion. This is his idea of great oral? I’m thinking he exaggerated that one-hundred-percent satisfaction rate.
I dig my fingers into his scalp and hope he gets the hint, but he only moves lower to plant a chaste kiss right against my damp opening.
What the hell? My whole body is tightening, waiting for him to proceed. “What—what are you doing?” I say as I start to sit up.
He flattens his hand on my belly, his action entirely dominant while he patiently answers against my body, “I’m getting to know you.”
I point to my head. “My brain is up here. You can get to know it later.”
He glances up and smirks. “This part of you has a brain too, angel. Trust me.”
“Angel?” I snort. “At the moment, the devil on my shoulder disagrees. This,” I tug lightly on his hair, “ is pure physiology. No thinking going on.”
He pulls my hand from his hair and places it on my belly before he moves to drop a kiss on the bit of dark hair covering my mound. His movements unhurried, he murmurs against the hair, “This is perfect. Just enough.”
“Just enough for wha—”
I arch off the counter and swallow a shocked gasp when he bites down on my mound with enough force to instantly wake every nerve ending in my body. I throb everywhere with intense, jaw-grinding want.
Gold Shimmer Page 4
