The Next Move

by Lauren Gallagher

  On his way back to the table, an epiphany hit him so hard he almost stopped dead in his tracks.

  She was obviously waiting for him to ask, so why didn’t he? I’m single, for God’s sake.

  Why was he so worried about Kat seeing him dance with another woman? It wasn’t as if she was any more likely to return his feelings if she knew she was the only woman in his life.

  What am I doing?

  He glanced over his shoulder. Tina was still at the bar. Maybe he hadn’t missed his chance after all.

  Setting the drinks and change on the table, he said, "You guys sort out the change, I’ll be back." Before he could meet Kat’s eyes and let his conscience talk him out of it, he went back into the crowd and headed back to the bar.

  She was gone.

  Damn it. He looked around, realizing just how futile it was to find someone of Tina’s height in a crowd that thick. His heart sank. Had your chance, dipshit, and you—

  There she was.

  Across the room, sipping a martini and chatting with three other women, there she was. Blood pounded in his ears, drowning out the deafening music as he worked his way towards her. He didn’t dare take his eyes off of her; in a place like that, it only took a second for someone to slip away and disappear into the crowd.

  Just before he reached her, she glanced at him and did a double take, then smiled.

  "Hey," he said. "Sorry, earlier, I—" He gestured at the bar. "I had to get some drinks to my friends."

  "No problem." She grinned. I knew you’d come find me, the twinkle in her eyes said.

  He nodded towards the dance floor. "Care for a dance?"

  "Of course," she said, setting her drink on the table. To her friends, she said something he couldn’t understand, and then followed him, wobbling a little on her stiletto heels. He offered her his elbow and she took it. She stumbled a bit on the way, but he kept her upright. It never ceased to amaze him that women didn’t snap their ankles on a daily basis in such precarious footwear. His perfectly comfortable dress shoes almost made him feel guilty with the things women inflicted on their own feet.

  Safely on the dance floor, he put her arms around her. As they danced, she wobbled again, this time nearly toppling against him. At first he’d thought it was her stiletto heels, which still only brought her up to about his chest, but when he pulled her closer to keep her steady, he caught a scent that definitely wasn’t perfume. A combination of disappointment and annoyance sank in his gut.

  He didn’t mind a woman who drank, but when she drank so much he could smell it on her and she couldn’t stand on her own two feet, that was where he drew the line. He’d dance with her, but he definitely wouldn’t leave with her, and it would be a cold day in hell before he slept with her.

  Over her shoulder, he cast a glance at the table where his friends still hung out. They were all lost in conversation and drinks.

  All except for Kat.

  When their eyes met, her cheeks colored. She inhaled sharply and went for her drink. For a moment, she tried to immerse herself in everything going on around her, but he was still watching when her eyes flicked towards him again.

  As he and Tina turned on the floor and he no longer faced the table, he couldn’t get Kat’s puzzling expression out of his mind.

  She couldn’t possibly be jealous. They had both danced with other people since they’d made this arrangement. They’d agreed they could even sleep with other people. Though he hadn’t been with another woman since he started sleeping with Kat, there was nothing to stop her from sleeping with other men.

  A sudden pang of jealousy tightened his chest and he gritted his teeth. Then he swallowed hard, reminding himself of the rules.

  But what about that look? Was she jealous?

  Of course she wasn’t.

  If she was, that would mean she…

  No, she doesn’t Wishful thinking, nothing more.

  Whatever it was, one thing was for certain. He wasn’t sleeping with Tina tonight. Jealousy, wishful thinking, or just shameless pining for Kat notwithstanding, Tina was way too drunk for his taste.

  Leaning in to speak to her, moving closer just so she could hear him over the music, he was caught off guard when the hands on the back of his neck pulled him down into a kiss. Just as she did, she lost her balance, and he held her close to him to keep her upright even as she assaulted his mouth with a vodka-marinated tongue. He quickly righted her, made sure she was more or less on her own two feet and broke the kiss, smiling at her but silently sending up a prayer of thanks for the height difference between them. Another kiss like that and he’d be too drunk to drive home.

  He looked towards the table again, and his eyes were immediately drawn to Kat’s chair.

  Kat’s empty chair.

  That’s not a good sign.

  As the song wound down, he gently separated himself from Tina, then guided her back to her table. Once he was sure she was safely back with her friends – and her martini – he made a polite escape back into the crowd.

  He didn’t go back to the table. He didn’t need to ask anyone where Kat had gone. Assuming she hadn’t left the club there was only one place she’d go if she needed to avoid the sight of him with another woman.

  His heart in his throat, he headed for the stairwell and took the steps two at a time, praying she was still there.

  Thirty Four

  The terrace was mostly empty, given that it was a somewhat drizzly night, but the air thrummed with the conversations of a few scattered groups and couples. Footsteps and clinking glasses punctuated the dull hum, but for the most part, it all blended together like background music, something Kat was aware of only in the sense that she would have noticed if it suddenly stopped.

  A particular set of footsteps worked its way into her consciousness, the sharp, staccato click separating itself from the rest like a percussionist playing out of time.

  "You disappeared." Chris’s voice should have startled her, but she knew before he spoke that he was there.

  "Just needed to get away from the noise for a bit." She smiled.

  "I’ve heard that before."

  "You’ve said it before."

  "But I get the feeling that’s not why you’re out here."

  "No more than it was why you were out here that night."

  "Touché." He put his hands in his pockets. "You okay?"

  Now that you’re here. She nodded. "Yeah, I’m okay."

  He touched her arm. "Seriously?" His eyebrow lifted. "So your disappearance, out into the rain, no less, had nothing to do with that gorgeous Philipino girl I was dancing with?"

  "Nothing at all."

  "Not even a hint of jealousy?"

  A hint doesn’t even begin to describe it. "Okay, maybe a little."

  He smirked. "Now, Kat, you know I’m—"

  "You’re assuming I was jealous of her."

  He laughed. "You know I’d share."

  "Something that hot, you’d damn well better share." She laughed. "Chris, really, I’m fine. It’s just…" She shrugged, trailing off.

  He squeezed her arm. "Kat, tell me. If there’s something wrong…"

  "It’s not…" She cut herself off, looking away from him as she made a frustrated gesture. "I mean, I know we’re not exclusive, we’re not in a relationship per se, but…"

  "But what?"

  "I guess it’s a bit weird when we’re…" She paused, swallowing hard. "You know, when it’s…" She ran a hand through her hair, the cool mist that had settled onto it collecting in tiny pools between her fingers. "I don’t know how to describe it without sounding possessive or territorial, because I’m not. You’re not mine, I don’t own you, I’m fine with how we’re doing things—"

  "But it’s hard to watch me with someone else." It was neither a question nor an accusation. If anything, she swore the words relieved some tension in him that she hadn’t noticed before.

  "Yeah." She paused. "Yeah, that’s exactly it."

  He pursed his lip
s and nodded, looking at the ground between them. "I know what you mean. I know exactly what you mean." They were both quiet for a moment. As they stood in silence, dark spots appeared on his shirt and icy drops landed on her shoulders while others worked their way into her hair. The dull cacophony of human interaction fell silent as everyone sought refuge indoors, but the air around them came alive with the steady, electric drumbeat of raindrops on the terrace.

  Chris looked up, a raindrop landing on his face and sliding down his cheek. "We should go inside before the rain gets much worse."

  Kat didn’t want to go in yet, not until they were on the same page. If they were alone on the terrace, all the better. She shrugged. "It’s just a little rain."

  "You’ll get wet," he said.

  I need to know that you won’t push me away. "Chris,

  you’re here." I need to know that I haven’t pushed you away. She grinned, putting a hand on his hip to test the water. "It’s much too late for that."

  His eyes widened in momentary disbelief as he glanced at her hand, at the dark spots that expanded and multiplied on his shirt. She kept what she hoped was a seductive smile on her face, hoping he couldn’t see the uncertainty that coiled just below the surface.

  He slipped an arm around her waist. "Well," he said. "When you put it like that…" He pulled her into a deep kiss, his hands hot against her rain-cooled skin.

  After a long moment, he broke the kiss and they looked at each other. Finally, he broke the silence. "Look, if it’s going to cause jealousy—"

  Something sank in her gut. Here it comes. But then, why would he still kiss me? Why isn’t he pulling away?

  "Maybe we should just keep our other pursuits out of each other’s sight."

  She tried not to let him see or feel just how relieved she was, but she was certain he noticed the sudden release of tension in her body and her mouth. "I think that’s a good idea."

  His fingertip raced a single drop down the front of her neck, catching it just before it dipped beneath her shirt. "Doesn’t mean we can’t, or shouldn’t, see other people, but doing it right in front of each other…"

  She nodded. "I agree."

  "But the one thing I don’t want," he whispered, his voice barely audible above her pounding heart and the driving rain as he leaned in to kiss her neck. "Is to stop this."

  The gasp and shudder were as much from the touch of his lips to her skin as from relief, knowing that he was still there. I’m here, his hands reminded every inch of her skin. I’m not going anywhere, his lips told the hollow of her throat.

  His hand drifted down her hip and she moaned as it disappeared beneath her skirt. His skin was damp from the rain, his touch a startling contradiction of hot and cold as he trailed his fingertips up her inner thigh.

  "Chris…" She gasped, her legs parting at the insistence of his fingers in spite of her mind’s hesitance. His soaked shirt bunched in her hands as his finger drifted lightly across thin fabric, touching but not touching her pussy. "We can’t…not here…"

  "Why not?"

  "Because…" She stopped, closing her eyes and exhaling as a single finger hooked under her panties.

  "Because why, Kat?" he whispered, kissing beneath her jaw. "Tell me why you don’t want me to do this." His fingertips slipped between her pussy lips, not entering, just teasing. "Tell me you don’t want me to do this."

  "I…" The reasons she thought they shouldn’t faded into irrelevance as one, then two fingers slipped inside her. When his palm covered her clit, she only vaguely remembered protesting, couldn’t remember why she would ever think of telling him to stop.

  Her knees shook, threatening to buckle, and he shifted his weight, leaning her against the railing. The rough, cold masonry barely registered, her senses offering the coarse surface little more than a passing acknowledgement, her every nerve ending completely enslaved by the two fingers that moved almost imperceptibly inside her.

  Even his lips against her neck nearly escaped her notice, probably would have had he not murmured, "I can’t go anywhere until I feel you come." His voice thrummed across her wet skin, the vibration rippling down her spine to her pussy, to his fingertips, right into her G-spot.

  Her hips, moving of their own accord, pushed against his hand, the pressure of his palm against her clit driving a whimper out of her. His fingertips crooked against her G-spot, beckoning her closer to the edge. Swallowing hard, she looked at him.

  Water rolled from his slicked hair down the sides of his face like sweat, like tears, like the liquid desperation gleaming in his eyes.

  "Chris, I…"

  "Come for me, Kat." His voice was strained. Choked. "Come for…"

  "I can’t."

  His fingers slowed, but didn’t stop, keeping just the slightest movement alive against her G-spot. "You—what?"

  "Not here." Trying to stay coherent—sane—in spite of what he did to her pussy, she tightened her grasp on his

  shirt and looked him in the eye.

  His lips tightened, an expression that told her he wasn’t sure whether to be amused or alarmed. "Why not?" His fingers slowly withdrew, their sudden absence from her G-spot making her shudder. "If you want me to stop, I…"

  "I don’t want you to stop."

  Amusement and alarm turned into confusion. His fingers stopped, neither withdrawing nor pushing deeper. "Kat, tell me what you want me to do."

  Through chattering teeth, she said, "I want you to, but not here. Not…we can’t…I can’t…"

  "Why not? There’s no one here. No one will see."

  "It isn’t that." She licked her lips, not caring that they were already plenty wet.

  "Then, what?"

  A violent shudder went up her spine, nearly knocking her knees out from under her. Releasing his shirt, she put her arms around his neck. "If I come, I’m not going to be able to stop."

  The words seemed to take a moment to register. Then, he moved closer to her, his fingers returning to their deliciously torturous place over her G-spot. "Are you suggesting," he whispered against the water trickling down her neck. "That if I make you come…" His palm circled her clit. "You’ll want me to fuck you?"

  "I will need you to fuck me," she moaned.

  He raised his head, kissing her. "Then tell me, Kat," he said. "Tell me if you want me to stop."

  "I don’t want you to stop," she breathed. "But I don’t know if I can."

  His fingers trembled inside her, against her G-spot, and his voice was unsteady with desperation. "Give me the word, Kat." He sounded almost on the verge of tears. "Give me the word, and I will fuck you right here, right now."

  There was no word to give, because the instant he said that, she was gone. She moaned something, maybe screamed it, but her voice was lost in the rhythmic percussion of the rain and the unsteady whisper of, "Oh my God, Kat, I want to be inside you…"

  Through the delirium of her orgasm, she was vaguely aware of a sudden chill, a cool void over her shoulders where his arm had been. Something rustled. A second later, he turned his head away from her neck, and the sound of ripping foil made her pussy tighten around his still beckoning fingers.

  Slowly, his fingers withdrew, allowing her to breathe at last. His belt jingled and the rain, which was falling faster and harder by the second, muffled the sound of his zipper.

  Still leaning on the railing for balance, she slid her panties off as he put the condom on. Neither spoke, their eyes locked as his hand moved under her skirt and pushed it up her hip. She hooked her leg around his waist, pulling him closer, not sure who was shaking more as his cock touched the outer lips of her pussy.

  He was inside her. She was instantly aware of him, of the sensation of being completely filled up, but it took her mind a few seconds to comprehend it.

  "Oh fuck," she moaned, closing her eyes and throwing her head back.

  "My God, you feel good." He pushed himself deeper. "Jesus, I could…"

  "Chris? Kat? Are you guys out here?" Natalie’s voice pi
erced the thrumming of the rain, and they both froze.

  "Shit," Kat said.

  A male voice said, "Why the fuck would they be out here? It’s pouring down rain."

  Kat looked at Chris in horror as she realized David had come out onto the terrace with Natalie. They were still somewhat hidden from view as long as David and Natalie didn’t stray more than a few feet from the door.

  "Go out and see if they’re around the side," Natalie said.

  "Why me?"

  "Because I don’t want to get this outfit wet."

  "I don’t want to get wet either."

  Their voices lowered as they argued. Chris laughed softly, shaking his head.

  "Come on, we should go." She gently nudged his shoulders but gasped when, instead of pulling out, he pushed deeper. "Chris…"

  "Let them find us," he growled against the side of her neck as he withdrew slowly, then slid back in. "Because…oh

  God…"

  Clinging to his arms, she glanced over his shoulder, watching the empty terrace, expecting at any moment for their arguing friends to finally step out far enough to see them. "Chris…"

  "Kat," he whispered. "Look at me."

  She did, then her eyes flicked towards the rest of the terrace again.

  "Look at me."

  The words were somewhere between a growled command and a desperate plea, and the need to see him overrode her paranoia about being caught.

  "Haven’t you ever fucked where you could get caught?" His voice was barely audible over the rain as he took long, slow strokes inside her. "Don’t you know the thrill of—

  She closed her eyes, moaning as his cock slid against her G-spot. She held on tighter, rocking her hips to draw him deeper.

  "David, just go look!" Natalie said, her voice shrill with anger now. It was only a matter of time before he gave in.

  Chris glanced over his shoulder, his body tensing slightly. "We only have so much time," he whispered, moving just a little faster inside her. "Now or never, Kat, it’s your choice. Stop or risk it?" He thrust harder, letting her know exactly which choice he preferred.

  "Natalie, it’s pouring down rain, do you really think Kat would be out here getting soaked to the bone?"