“If that’s how you want to look at it. Or you could just say I want to see you on Friday. Your call.”
What did she want it to be? Oh, who was she trying to fool? After that kiss and its aftermath, there was no question. She wanted to spend more time with this man. And it had nothing to do with any bet. “Yes, I’d like to see you next Friday. It would give me something to look forward to after the week from Christmas Hell.”
He winced. “I see I still have work to do on the whole holiday spirit thing, don’t I?”
“As much as I’m enjoying the efforts you’re making to change my mind—and believe me, I am—the dark side is still there every day at work, I’m afraid.”
He grinned at her. “I love a challenge. And I never give up.”
“Right. Persistence is your most annoying habit.”
“You remember. Excellent. See you Friday.”
Maybe it was the anticipation of seeing David again, or the shivers she got wondering if he meant what he’d intimated about “next time.” Perhaps it was the enthusiasm of her staff when they discussed details of the SafePlace party they were planning. Maybe people were behaving better than usual when they shopped. Whatever it was, the week before Christmas wasn’t nearly as stressful as she’d anticipated. In fact, by Wednesday she had to admit, to herself at least, that she was actually enjoying work, even if she was putting in long hours to pick up the slack for her ailing assistant manager. It wasn’t an easy week, but it wasn’t the week from hell she’d anticipated. Maybe David’s enthusiasm was rubbing off on her after all.
Chapter 6
“You look beautiful. As always.” David leaned in and dropped a quick kiss on her forehead. He wasn’t much of an expert on women’s clothing, but the navy dress she wore with brown boots and a wide belt that matched looked perfect on her. “Did you design this?” He indicated what she was wearing with a wave of his hand. “It’s great.”
“Yes, I did. Thanks. It’s my take on the old standby shirtwaist dress. I wasn’t sure what we were doing tonight, so I didn’t know what to wear. But I figured this would work okay for everything, except maybe climbing a rock wall.”
“I promise, if I ever decide to take you to a rock wall gym, I’ll give you advance notice so you can dress for it.”
She grabbed a coat from the hook on the wall by the door. He started to take it from her to help her put it on, but something behind her diverted his attention. “It looks like you’re creating in there. Are you making some of your designs?”
Hannah turned. “Oh, you mean my sewing mess. I’ve been making doll clothes.”
“Samples of your designs?”
“No, but that’s a good idea. I might do that someday.” She walked to the living room and picked up a finished dress. It was a halter-neck gown with a full, sweeping skirt in a blue and white chevron pattern. “It’s for Hannah, too.”
“Hannah, too?”
“My secret Santa girl from SafePlace. When I introduced myself as Hannah, she said she was ‘Hannah, too,’ so that’s how I think of her. She asked for a doll. So I got her an American Girl doll, and I’m designing and making clothes for it. And I’m making one outfit for the doll’s owner so they match.”
“She’ll be in heaven.” He hesitated for a moment. “I’m not sure I should say this, but it seems to me you’ve caught a bad case of Christmas spirit.” He shook his head, then kissed her gently to ward off a remark about his assumption.
“Hardly. This is my way of relaxing when I come home from work. And she deserves to have a nice present, don’t you think?”
Both Hannahs deserved a good Christmas in his opinion, but he wasn’t about to say that. So he merely commented, “From the looks of what you’re doing, she’ll have the best present ever. Although you are a little messy when you’re creative. You obviously have a patient housemate.”
“It drives her crazy when I do this, but she’s in Seattle for a long weekend with her family, so I’m free to make a mess.” She dropped her eyes and fussed with the collar of the coat she was holding. “So, back to tonight. What’re we doing if we’re not rock climbing?”
If he’d known she had an empty house for the weekend, he wouldn’t have spent two hours trying to get his apartment into some sort of decent shape in the hopes of convincing her to go there after their date. However, from the almost embarrassed expression on her face, he thought it best not to let her know how happy it made him that she was thinking about what an empty house might mean for the end to their evening.
So he let her change the subject. He held up her coat, and she put it on. “If I told you the color you’re wearing is perfect for what we’re doing tonight, would it give you a clue?”
“There’s a color theme?”
“Not a theme, exactly. But blue is an associated color, shall we say.”
Her face scrunched up for a moment then broke into a smile. “Oh, Hanukkah. The color for Hanukkah is blue, isn’t it?”
“Yup. We’re going to a latke party, to eat way too many fried potato pancakes, play a silly game that becomes cutthroat in the circles I run in, and watch a bunch of candles burn down to nothing. Let’s get going—they’ll be waiting for us to get the party started.”
The host and hostess for the latke party were college friends of David’s, as were at least one of the partners in each of the other four couples. They’d been getting together for latkes one night of Hanukkah every year since college, and over time the group had grown to include spouses and eventually children. By now the group numbered six couples, four of them married, two who usually brought dates, and eight kids among them—totaling twenty people.
On the way to the event, David explained to Hannah they’d probably find everyone in the kitchen when they arrived—frying latkes, dishing up applesauce and sour cream, munching on cheese and crackers or vegetables and dip, pouring wine, or nagging about when the chocolate gelt would be parceled out for the dreidel tournament. Then, as soon as the final batch of latkes was ready, the candles in the menorah would be lit and the blessing given, after which the gorging on fried potato pancakes would take place.
It was all as David described it, down to the two after-dinner dreidel games. The children’s game was noisy but well behaved. The adult version was, as advertised, cutthroat. There were accusations of cheating, threats of stealing the winnings of those who were ahead, and even one or two attempts at bribery. David was amused to see how competitive Hannah was and how quickly she fell into the banter and mock corruption of his friends.
The party broke up about eleven. Everyone urged Hannah to return the next year, with or without David, so they could win back the gelt she’d “stolen” from them because of her beginner’s luck.
Every time he looked over at her as he drove her home, she was grinning. He was, too. It had been a great evening. She fit in with his friends. She was fun and funny, and he was falling for her so fast he knew he was in big trouble.
Finally he said, “I hope you had a good time.”
“Of course I did. You have an amazing group of friends,” she said. “You go a ways back with them, don’t you?”
“First year of college. Eight of us in a comparative religion class decided to share holiday traditions with each other. Hanukkah fell early that year, so we made the latkes in the dorm on an illegal hotplate. They were terrible. I have no idea why anyone wanted to continue the tradition after that, but we did. Fortunately, we got better at making latkes. We rotate the venue from place to place each year, but everyone helps cook and clean up wherever we are.”
He glanced over at her. “It was a good evening. And I’m not ready to end it yet. Are you?”
She scrunched over closer to him and put her hand on his leg. It was damned distracting. The feel of her hand, her vanilla scent that filled the car, and the sound of her soft laugh were building his anticipation about what might come next.
“I’m not ready to end it either. Are we going to my house or yours?” she as
ked, making the distraction even greater.
“Where would you rather go?”
“Weeelll,” she said, deliberately dragging out her response, “I’m not sure. I guess it depends on what you have in mind.”
He yanked on the steering wheel and pulled over to the curb. Without saying anything, he turned off the engine, unclipped his seatbelt, and slid toward her. He wrapped his arms around her and claimed her in a kiss he hoped would answer her question.
When he had thoroughly explored her mouth with his lips, tongue, and teeth, he eased off—but didn’t release her. Instead he began kissing along her jawline until he reached her ear. “What I have in mind is to start like that,” he whispered, “then, if it’s okay with you, I’ll unwrap you with all the attention I’d give to the best present I ever got.”
He pulled back. “I’d start with this.” Matching his actions to his words, he began opening the front of her coat, pushing it to the side so the front of her dress was exposed. “After I take care of those buttons, you’ll take me to your bedroom and I’ll work on these.” He slipped his fingers behind the V at the neckline of her dress and undid the top button. His index finger strayed under the cup of a lacy-feeling bra to the soft breast underneath.
“When I’ve gotten your dress undone, I’ll be able to see this lacy thing you’re wearing. Doubt that I’ll look at it too long, though. It would have to go.” He brushed the palm of his hand over one breast and felt her nipple begin to pucker and harden. “Because I definitely want to kiss what’s behind it.”
He stopped playing with her clothes and drew her close again. Beginning at the swell of her breasts, now exposed, he kissed and licked his way up to the notch between her collarbones. “Then, after I get both our heart rates going, I’ll find out if what else you wear under this dress is as lacy as your bra.” His hand slid up her thigh to the edge of her panty leg. “Oh, good. I won’t have to worry about getting you out of tights.”
He could feel his own arousal increase as he continued to explore her hip, her belly, and the smooth bit of something silky that covered her sex. It was getting tougher to focus on seducing her with words when all he really wanted to do was get her into a bed someplace and finish the seduction with his body.
He heard her swallow—gulp, really—after she licked her lips a few times to moisten her mouth. “Go on,” she said, “What else?”
“Then, I’ll finish undressing you. It might be challenging to get all your clothes off because I imagine it’ll be difficult to keep from kissing up your neck and finding your mouth again. Just like it is now.”
She moaned as he demonstrated with a kiss what he meant. He wanted her so badly that he had a hard time keeping the kiss under control.
“After you’re all undressed, I’ll lay you down on your bed where I can see how beautiful you are. And I’ll watch you while I take off what I’m wearing. Then I’ll lay down beside you.” He brushed his thumb over her mouth. “Do you like what I’ve got planned so far?” he asked.
After a shuddery intake of breath, she said, “Oh, yes. Very much.” She ran her hands up his arms and circled his neck. “Keep going. What’s next?”
“Well, now that we’re both naked and lying in bed, it shouldn’t be too difficult to imagine what’s next, should it?”
“So we just let nature take its course.”
“In a manner of speaking, I guess.”
“Are you prepared?”
“Prepared?” He wasn’t quite sure where she was headed with that question. Then he understood. “Oh, you mean do I have protection? Yes, I do.”
“So, I was pretty much a sure thing for tonight?”
“You, sweetheart, are never a sure thing. But I’m an optimist.”
“I think I like knowing that.” She caressed his face. “So, all we have to do is decide where all this will be happening, is that right? Your place or mine?”
“Yours is closer.”
It took longer to wipe off the steamed-up windshield than it did to drive to her house.
• • •
Hannah had never been seduced so effectively by words. David’s kisses were potent—she’d been dreaming about them since the first time he kissed her—but his words were even more powerful. Oh, my God, his words. He had her wet and wanting with his description of what he wanted to do. If he could do that while they were fully dressed in his car, what would it be like when they were naked in her bed?
She was about to find out because they were at her house. She steadied herself with a few deep breaths before getting out of the car and walking up the steps to the door. Once there, however, her hand was so shaky she fumbled with the key, unable to get it into the lock until David covered her hand with his and guided her.
Inside the house, without saying anything more, he did exactly what he had described in the car—kissed her, took off her coat, then followed her into her bedroom, where he undressed them both, silently. The only sounds were their ragged breathing and the occasional involuntary gasp as his fingers brushed over her skin, already hypersensitive from the words he’d said.
Then they were lying side-by-side in her bed, facing each other, his hand caressing her body from her shoulder, down her arm, to her hip. The anticipation of what was next had ramped up her heartbeat and made breathing something she had to think about doing.
He finally broke the silence. “I’ve been dreaming about this for a week,” he said. “I want to feel your skin, touch your breasts, kiss you right here.” He dipped his head and made good on his words, his lips in the valley between her breasts. “You taste even better than I imagined. So sweet, so beautiful,” he said when he raised his head.
She caressed the shoulder she’d wanted to touch since the first day she’d met him. “You’re the one who’s beautiful.” She didn’t think she’d ever seen such a toned and muscled body. He may have worked behind a desk, but he did something to keep himself in such good shape. Right now she didn’t care what it was, only that he did it and she got to enjoy it.
He insinuated one leg between hers. “Hannah.” Her name came out in a rush of breath, a whisper of desire. She ran a finger along his cheekbone and down his jawline, loving the scratchy feel of his day’s worth of whiskers. He grabbed the finger and brought it to his lips, licking it, kissing it, then taking it into his mouth and sucking on it.
She felt the pull from her finger all the way down her body to her sex. It may have been the most erotic thing anyone had ever done to her. “Oh, God, David, you’re killing me.”
“You’ve been killing me all evening. All I could think about was this.” He slid one hand into her hair and pulled her head toward him. His mouth was hot, hard, desperate for her. He dipped his tongue into her mouth, mating it with hers as she responded with equal passion.
Her body arched toward him. She could feel the hard length of his erection pressing against her belly, proof he wanted her just as much as she wanted him. But he seemed determined to take his time. Shifting on the bed, gently turning her on her back, he caressed one breast while he used his mouth and tongue to bring the nipple on the other to a pebbly point. Just when she thought she couldn’t bear the intensity any longer, he switched and began his delightful torture on the other breast.
“Please,” she pleaded. “I need ... I want … ”
“Tell me what you need, sweetheart. I’ll do whatever you want me to.”
“I need you. I want you.”
“Like this?” He slid his hand down her torso and found the spot hidden in her sex where all the heat, all the moisture, all the want had pooled. As he massaged her clitoris with his thumb, he entered her—first with one finger, then two, finding another spot to caress. In what seemed like only seconds, the waves of an orgasm crashed over her, and the world contracted to just what David was doing to her. To the glorious way her body was responding to him.
“I love how ready you were for me. Love how beautiful you are when you come,” he whispered as he held her, cush
ioning her descent from the heavenly feel of her climax. He waited until her breathing became more regular before moving between her legs. “I could touch and kiss you all night. I don’t think I could ever get enough of you.”
Her eyes locked on his. “But I want more than kissing and touching,” she said.
He smiled. “Me, too.” He reached under the pillow next to her where, she realized, he’d stashed a condom. “Help me put this on.”
She wasn’t sure who ripped open the packet. Maybe she did. Maybe he did. All she knew was it was opened, the condom pulled out, and he had been sheathed.
She needed him inside her. All of him. Inside. Now.
He was back between her legs, guiding himself into her, slowly, letting her adjust to the feel of him. She locked one leg around him, pressing her hips into his, eager to have him fill her. When he did, she stilled, wanting to savor the sensation. But her need for him wouldn’t let her stay still for long. Restless to have him move inside her, she brought her other leg over his back and began to rock her hips.
Slowly at first, he moved in and out in a rhythm he matched with his tongue in her mouth. She could feel his rapid heartbeat against her own, the muscles in his shoulders and back tensing as he moved over her. Their bodies slid against each other on a slick of sweat as he drove into her harder, faster, deeper. They were flying together high over the city, where the air was cool and the oxygen rare. Where only a lucky few ever get to go.
Where he was taking her until she cried out his name, her body clenched around him, and they both found release.
• • •
Hannah was dancing to the music in her head as she ground beans and filled her coffee maker with water. Never in her thirty-two years had she felt so good the morning after a night spent with a man. Not that she had a huge cadre of men to compare him to, but David was an amazing lover. He seemed to care more about what she wanted than his own pleasure, although she was pretty sure from the two times they’d had sex the night before that he was as happy with their lovemaking as she was. As soon as the coffee was brewed, she was headed back to bed. Maybe they could make it three times.
Tidings of Love Page 37
