by Katee Robert
The question made his smile widen. Oh, he had some ideas. “A dance?” He laid his palm lightly on the tightly cinched waist of her leather corset. “Perhaps somewhere more private?”
Instead of falling into his arms, she made a strangled noise and stumbled away. But then she glanced back at him and said, “Follow me.” Her lips moved, caressing the words he felt in his soul. Then she disappeared into the crowd, her bushy red fur tail vanishing so quickly that he didn’t have time to figure out where she’d gone. There were too many people crammed into the sprawling living room, and she moved fast.
So did he, except she’d had a running—okay, rushing—start.
He searched the entire first floor. She had to be somewhere. He hadn’t imagined her whispered directive and he definitely hadn’t fabricated that instant of connection between them.
God, he hoped he hadn’t.
At a loss, he ascended the stairs to the second floor, reaching the top in time to glimpse a swish of brown-and-red hair disappearing into the library. What the hell? No one was partying in this section of the house. He’d only mistakenly gone in there earlier while looking for the bathroom.
Landon followed, about to call out when he realized how dark the room was. The wind wailed outside. No, not outside. The breeze reached him where he stood just over the threshold. He glanced around, realizing why an instant later. His mystery woman had opened the doors to the balcony, and she stood outside, her dark hair streaming out behind her from the cold gusts. He wouldn’t have been surprised to see her lift her hands to try to channel the energy swirling in the sky from the approaching storm.
“Hello?”
After a moment’s hesitation, she turned and beckoned him forward with a wiggle of her fingers. Okay, then. He shut the door gently behind him, expecting her to come into the room and possibly conduct a conversation with him. He didn’t mind keeping things on a more physical plane, but some confirmation she actually wanted that, too, would be awesome. It had been a little while since he’d participated in this particular dance and his moves were rusty. Sometimes feelings changed on a dime—did they ever—and he refused to take anything for granted.
Rather than join him in the room, she turned back to grip the rail in front of her and leaned forward, far enough that his heart leaped into his throat before he could cross the distance between them. She looked over her shoulder at the echo of his footsteps on the hardwood floor. “You found me,” she said in a throaty rasp.
“Did you think you’d escape so easily?”
“No. I didn’t want to.”
With five whispered words, she gave him the permission he’d been seeking. The shiver that snuck through her lithe body as he hauled her back from the railing both aroused and encouraged him. She was into this game of cat and mouse, except this pretty fox was his prey instead of the other way around. “I never give up without a fight.”
The noise she made sounded more like a snort than a sigh, but he wasn’t about to quibble. He dragged his hand up her curvy thigh, waiting for her to either go limp in his hold or tell him to go to hell. She didn’t do either. Instead she swayed into his movements, her head tilting to show him a slice of her golden neck through all that wild, wavy brown-and-red hair.
She didn’t speak, even when he dug his fingers into her soft flesh through the clingy tights she wore. Testing them both, he let his fingers drift under that fluttery skirt that barely qualified as actual clothing. “Do you want this?” he gritted out at her soft, muffled moan.
Her physical reactions indicated her interest, but he had to hear the words. He needed to look into her eyes and make sure.
He released her leg and gripped her chin, turning her face toward his for a fraction of an instant before she jerked away. Lightning flashed, still nothing more than a distant storm over the shadowy peaks of Whiteface Mountain. In that single instant of light he glimpsed unnaturally bright green eyes and a coy flutter of dark, thick lashes tipped with silver.
Then she was whirling toward him, changing their roles. She pushed his bandanna off his head and drove her hand through his hair while her other hand unerringly sought her target below his waist. One hard squeeze and his question was answered. They must be on the same dirty page.
He didn’t know her name, couldn’t see her face. Out here it was dark except for the intermittent flashes of lightning, and those were spaced far enough apart as to be useless. The wind gusted, making conversation nearly impossible. Not that he had any interest in talking—and neither did she, since she’d just pressed her mouth to the base of his throat through the open collar of his shirt.
One firm draw of her lips on his skin in concert with the rhythmic way she was working him through his pants and he didn’t give a damn who she was. She’d salvaged his evening and managed to help him forget for a little while. He’d be sure to return the favor.
She smelled like peaches from her drink and that clean, airy fragrance that reminded him of a day at the shore. The wind only seemed to intensify the scent, until every breath he took made his head swim. He couldn’t drag in air that wasn’t full of her. Didn’t want to.
When her fingers seized his belt, he stayed her wrist and jerked up her face with his other hand. He had to wrest back control of this situation. Somehow she’d taken over, with her agile touch and her warm, wet lips, and he wasn’t about to be led.
Again she didn’t seem to like it when he touched her face, twisting away as if his fingers burned. So he went with it, knotting his hand in her hair and turning her toward the railing. “Is this what you want?” he breathed in her ear, noting how her brief struggles immediately stopped when he spoke. “From behind, totally anonymous? Do you want me to take you like this?”
She shuddered, arching as he reached down and cupped between her legs. There were too many frilly layers to her skirt, so he flipped it up and delved beneath, only to exhale upon discovering she was bare. The tights ended high on her thighs and she wore no panties, further inflaming his primal urgency to get inside her. To give her exactly what she needed and take the same in return.
“Yes,” she hissed, her nails sinking into his wrist to command him to go further than just those teasing skims of his fingers over her swollen folds. She was so wet, so hot, the clinging suction of her body was erotic was enough to make him groan. He pressed deeper, his fingers sinking into her snug, slick passage. Goddammit. She couldn’t be that close yet, but somehow she was, rocking into him, imploring him to demand more from her all-too-willing flesh.
The wind kicked up again and she shivered, reminding him of the temperature. Despite the heat consuming him from the inside out, Warner in late October wasn’t the ideal setting for an outdoor seduction, and he didn’t want her catching pneumonia. Hardly the sort of memory he wanted her to have of tonight.
“Come.” He tugged on her arm, leading her back inside the library. Books filled the walls of shelves on either side of him and he glimpsed the flicker of an electric fireplace out of the corner of his eye. Maybe he could coax her down in front of the fire, spread her out and look his fill. Sensually torment and tease her until they were both shaky with need.
But before he could shut the balcony door, she was on him again, her nails scoring the back of his neck as she clamped her lips on his. The taste of her drink and her exploded in his head, overwhelming him with the blinding desire to possess. If only in the here and now.
He almost asked her name. She could be anyone. One of their most trusted clients, a friend of one of the lawyers. Propriety dictated he know, just in case.
His longing to have her insisted he didn’t.
He pushed her against the unforgiving glass, his hands scraping up the backs of her thighs and under her skirt to grip the firm swells of her ass. He hauled her up so their mouths were even and he plunged his tongue between her lips again, exploring her with all of the longing and none of the thoroughness he usually employed with a woman. But this wasn’t a usual situation. She was too uninhibit
ed, too driven to meet him kiss for kiss. It was as if they were in a race to see who could make the other go off first. He’d be damned if she won.
As her legs wound around his waist, he adjusted his hold on her ass and drew back to rub his finger over her lower lip, letting her taste herself on her skin. Then he leaned in again, moaning softly at her flavor. He sank his teeth into her lower lip while he shifted her again, angling until the tips of his fingers could brush her heated cleft. “Tell me what you want.”
She pressed her head against the glass, revealing more of her throat. Her eyes shuttered and the muscles in her neck stood out in sharp relief from her impatient efforts to get his hand where she longed for it. He dropped kisses along her generous mouth, wishing he could see more of her reactions than just the occasional glimpse as lightning flashed. Not that he needed to. Her body told the story all on its own, her chest rising and falling with her urgent breaths, her tight nipples driving into his chest every time he jockeyed her in his arms to taunt her more. She yanked on a handful of his hair and let out a frustrated sound, making him chuckle.
“Want it, baby?” Her cleavage swelled over the top of her corset, and he ached to see her pretty breasts. Ached to see all of her, completely bare for his eyes only. “You know what to do.”
She nodded silently, her agony clear on her face. Her lack of verbal response would’ve frustrated him if she weren’t so responsive physically. He bent her a little, finally managing to get his thumb on her clit, and she let out a pained gasp, her abundant wetness clinging silkily to him as he circled the tight nub.
“Like that?” He nibbled a sensitive spot under her jaw, earning another of those strangled gasping moans that drove him insane. She was a powder keg, fuse lit and burning. He’d be damned if she came without him inside her.
Fuck. He had to have her now.
He set her down on her boots and she grabbed hold of his shoulder to stop him from leaving. Like hell. “Hang on, sweetheart. Let me take care of this.” He drew out his wallet and flipped it open, her grip relaxing when he yanked out a condom.
He must’ve fought with the foil packet just an instant too long, because she seized his forearm. Her nails raked his already-sensitized skin and he practically saw stars. “Fuck me,” she breathed, her voice a silky puff against his cheek. “And make me scream.”
That sounded damn good to him.
Without hesitation, he unzipped his pants and sheathed his erection, wincing as she immediately seized him and started stroking, her caress the most exquisite pain he’d ever experienced. What was it about this woman? He probably couldn’t have picked her out of a lineup due to the mask and the elaborate fox makeup that obscured her face, but she’d ignited in him an all-consuming hunger. Yeah, it had been a while since he’d had sex, but not that long. It was almost as if—
She reached between his legs and cupped his balls, her hotly sweet mouth crushing onto his again. His thoughts dissolved, crystallizing into one objective.
“Let me in you,” he commanded, dragging her up the glass door until her thighs opened to accommodate his hips. She wound around him, arms, legs, tongue. Locking him down. Making him hers.
With one thrust, he embedded himself deep. She clasped him in her snug, moist heat, and God, her body’s acquiescence to his demands was nearly enough to make him come.
A groan ripped from his throat. Finally.
Chapter Two
Landon was inside her. Finally.
Steff screwed her eyes shut and willed her heart not to rocket through her ribs. She didn’t consider herself an overly passionate person under normal circumstances, but this costume, this party, this man had turned her into someone else. She’d become the wanton, carefree woman she’d always hoped lurked under her practical, dependable facade, though she’d never searched too hard in case she was wrong. Her two best friends were the adventurous ones, and she was the one who drove the getaway van. Always looking in from the outside on their escapades.
And wishing that just once, she could be the one who lived for the moment and indulged her desires without fear of the consequences.
With Landon sucking on her throat, his big hands gripping her legs, and his cock stretching and stroking her in ways she’d never forget, she could proclaim her certainty that she had a wild side. He’d unlocked it, and she never intended to close that door again.
“Oh, baby,” he whispered, swiveling his hips so that he rubbed her just right to flash sparks behind her eyelids. Or maybe that was still the intermittent lightning, though the wind had quieted in direct contrast to the roar inside her ears. The storm outside had backed off, retreating into the mountains as they often did, but her own personal tempest was just beginning.
She reached up to cup his face, the scrape of stubble against her palms jolting her before their lips collided. She’d never seen him anything but clean-shaven, so maybe this was a new thing. It had been a couple of months since she’d smelled his familiar cologne, that woodsmoke-and-spice scent that brought to mind summer campfires, roasted marshmallows, and good times with friends.
Now it would remind her of something else altogether. His hips pounding into hers, the brand of his lips. The words he breathed into her ear, coaxing her higher while he unraveled her completely.
“Squeeze me hard. Rub that clit against me. You’re so swollen for me, aren’t you? All hot and tight and ready to come.” He dragged his teeth down her throat as she fought to offer him more of her neck, of any part of her he wanted. She opened more for him, flaring her thighs to give him more room to work his magic. Still it wasn’t enough. He spread his hands, anchoring his fingers around her legs so that he could torment the folds that cradled his cock, pressing inward to build the friction even more. He grunted his approval. “That’s it. Let me feel every bit of your sweet pussy.”
That word, illicit and arousing, made her cry out, though she clamped her teeth on her lower lip to smother the sound. But he licked his way into her mouth again, invading her so that she felt filled by him in every possible way. He’d become her everything.
“I feel how close you are, sweetheart. Come with me.”
She shook her head, eyes tightly shut to forestall the inevitable. Looking at him now when they were intimately joined would push her over, and she wasn’t ready for this to end. Her system disagreed. She was shaking too hard to stop, and a fine sheen of sweat coated her skin as she fought to hold on to his cheeks. To keep their mouths locked. His whispers against her lips wrecked her, the vibrations of his husky voice prodding her closer to the edge. She fought it, even tried to shove him back to slow the inevitable grind of his length into her pliable body. But she’d melted in his arms, and when he pushed back, resisting her movements, she sighed and gave in to the gathering pressure in her lower belly. In her heart.
Arching into his strokes, she bit his lip, savoring his tormented groan as she came undone. He didn’t stop, somehow knowing the exact angle to drive into her to prolong her spasms. She never opened her eyes, riding his cock for all she was worth. Tightening around him, pulling him so deep he’d never want to be free of her again. Reveling in the shout he muffled against her cheek as he found his own release.
He buried his face in her hair, breathing heavily, the aftermath of his clearly incredible climax somehow offering her a pardon for her crimes. She’d done that to him, given him that much pleasure. Lying to him about who she was wouldn’t matter anymore, once he understood how much she lo—
“Where have you been all my life?”
She heard the smile in his voice as he asked the question, and hated that her eyes pricked with tears. She’d been right at his side all along, and he’d never seen her that way. Starting from the campus horror fest when Lan and Craig had spent the night tossing popcorn in her hair, she’d been slotted firmly in the friend zone. Fun to tease and hang with, but not the kind of girl who warranted crazy wall-fucking at a party. Or crazy anything.
His zest for life had pushed her ou
tside her comfort zone more than once, and he regularly made her laugh so hard that her sides hurt. And now he was making her cry, because she’d just done something so huge she didn’t know if he’d ever be able to forgive her. If he didn’t, he would never see how perfect they were for each other. What if she’d ruined her only chance with him?
The words she’d planned to say lingered on her tongue yet she clamped her lips shut. It had all seemed so simple when she’d come up with her plan. But how could she have known it would be…like this? Having him inside her overwhelmed her to the point she couldn’t even speak.
Fear vised around her throat. Just say it.
“Tell me your name,” he murmured, looking up and straight into her eyes. She’d made the mistake of stealing a glance at him while he recovered, and now he’d caught her staring. A flicker in his dark green eyes caused an answering tug between her breasts, and the panic that he could see into her head made her wedge her hands between their chests to separate them.
She couldn’t risk revealing all right now, not when she was so tender and bruised inside and out from the best lovemaking of her life. The explanation she’d come up with before seemed trite and inadequate. She needed to rethink her speech. At home, where she was safe from his questions, his probing looks, and the crushing guilt provoked by his sexy smile.
Later. Not tonight. She had to strengthen her resolve—and her heart—first.
Coward.
Before the seeking expression on his handsome face could shatter the rest of her defenses, she unwrapped her legs from his waist, gasping at the sensation of his softening length sliding free of her. She hated that feeling. More than anything, she wished they could cuddle up together and hold each other. She missed his laughter and the way he flipped her bangs out of her eyes so much. Just missed him, period.
Tears threatened and she held them off, knowing they would fall the instant she was alone. They’d had the reunion she’d dreamed of, but he didn’t know.
