I scoffed. "No, we met at a party long before he became one. My roommate was dating his friend. He didn't become a professor until after I graduated, and it was at a different university."
"Right. How long did you date before you got married?"
"Does it matter? We're divorced now."
"Indulge me?"
"Almost two years."
"The divorce was finalized when?"
"Almost six months ago, in early March."
"And you think I helped with that?"
"Helped who?" I chuckled.
"Yeah, I was pretty forward, but I'm not sorry," he admitted. "From the moment I saw you throwing back that wine with your nerves on edge, I wanted to kiss you."
"Really? Do you pick other women up like that?"
"I've never picked a woman up in my life. What I did was totally out of character. I have no idea what came over me. I guess it was your story, and how you found the courage to continue sitting in that wine bar. I saw you were hurting, and he didn't do the decent thing and leave, the little shit. It chewed me up inside to think he'd treat the woman he'd sworn to love, like that."
"Thank you. At the time, I was obviously not in my right mind. I freaked myself out because nothing like that had ever happened to me, and at the same time I felt so desperate for anyone to tell me I was still worthy."
"Worthy of what?"
"I don't know. Worth their time, I guess."
"Fuck. He did a number on you, huh?"
"He did. But at the time I didn't know any better, and I don't feel like that now, not anymore. Since the divorce, I've felt stronger."
"Good. What about that Italian Stallion you were with?"
"Vince? No, that was nothing. It was a blind date that didn't go anywhere after that night."
"Because of me?"
"You think?" I chuckled, but it was the truth.
"It was me you went to the diner with."
"I can't deny that," I reflected and blushed a little.
"Then we met again at the right time."
"What makes you say that?"
With one hand still entwined with mine, his other reached over and cupped my cheek. A slow smile curved his beautiful full lips.
"Don't you think this feels natural, us sitting here like this? What are you feeling?"
I pondered his question for a moment and knew the more I heard the more I liked him. He was open and honest about his family, telling me things that should have been hard for him to air, but there appeared to be no barriers in our conversation. By sharing a little of his past, Sawyer helped me understand his outlook on life. I could see he had more maturity at his age than Logan ever had.
"Better. I feel much better." Seeing his broad smile set a small colony of butterflies fluttering around in my belly. He'd awoken feelings I hadn't felt for a long time, not since I'd married Logan. I figured no matter what might happen in the future when I was with him, Sawyer had the right words that made me feel desired.
He stood and stepped back from the table, pulling me with him toward the bar. "Okay, since we're taking this slow, I need to know things about you. What's your favorite drink?"
"Vodka, grenadine, and ice."
"Nice. I was planning on making a list for Kate, the housekeeper, but I can make that right now." He opened the small freezer in the outside fridge and pulled out a frosted bottle of vodka, took a clean highball glass from above his head, and steadily poured a generous measure from the bottle.
Next, he turned and looked at the liquors on the small bar behind him and lifted the distinctively long grenadine bottle with a measuring cap already in place. He poured the drink until the glass was half full. "For the ice—cubed or crushed?"
"Crushed," I replied, marveling at how effortless our date appeared to be for him.
"Now," he continued, placing a paper straw in my drink. "You're going need to know mine." He slid my drink over to me. Reaching up, he chose a wide tumbler for his drink. "Bourbon. One large pour, two fingers," he stated, filling half the glass. "Two cubes of ice. No more," he said in a serious tone, but a smile played on his lips. "I call it the Two by Two, cause it's two of everything and two of these smooth out the creases of my day." His comment made me chuckle and I was rewarded with a grin before he slid his poker face back on.
"Wine, usually with meals. White mainly, because have you seen these pearly whites? People pay to have a smile like mine. They're not all blessed with great genes like I am," he said, tongue in cheek. " I'm not ruining them by staining them with red. Besides it smells like a combination of piss from a dehydrated camel, white vinegar, stems of ginger, and a dash of molasses."
"That's a very precise recipe. It sounds like you've been experimenting."
He chuckled. "If you've tasted red wine, you can imagine all those things tossed together in a bottle and left to breathe at room temperature for however long it takes for someone to drink it. Anyhow, forget that. Do you think you can remember how to make me my drink for the moments you'll be pampering me?"
I chuckled at how undemanding he was as he swirled his drink in his hand, the ice clinking melodically in his glass as he wandered around to my side of the bar. Standing close to me, he held up his tumbler. "Let's have a toast," he suggested, his studious eyes narrowing in on mine. "To being ageless and fucking the world. Not literally, of course. What I mean is our lives are our lives and it's how we feel that counts." Drawing a deep breath, I looked at the slushy ice in my glass and held it up to his.
"Got it. I'm still scared, but you know what? Now? I'm not so scared that I don't want to know you better."
The small clink our glasses made when they met in the middle made my heart flutter nervously inside my chest, but before I could take a sip of my drink, Sawyer leaned in and pressed a chaste kiss to my lips.
Leaning back, he threw the bourbon down in one gulp and slammed the glass on the wooden bar. "Damn, even better with your taste on my lips," he joked, as I took a draw of my drink from the long paper straw he'd added to mine.
"Mmm," I hummed, licking my lips when I dropped the straw back in my drink. The instant I did, Sawyer's long fingers encircled my hand and gently took my glass from me.
"I think I need a better kiss than the one I stole from you a minute ago," he mumbled, his voice an octave lower as his hand tenderly sifted through my long curly hair and he caught it in his fist.
He cupped the back of my head and leaned closer with a hungry look in his eyes. I had almost felt overwhelmed again, but when I smelled the spicy scent of alcohol on his breath, I knew I needed to know how it tasted on his tongue.
"Relax. I get this must feel so strange for you, dating after all this time, so just do what feels right. I'm not going to push you into something you're not ready for. This is your call. We can stop at doing anything you're not comfortable with. Just say the word. But you need to consider the pressure is on me to make sure you never want to stop," he whispered. His low, seductive tone sent shivers down my spine. Oh, Good God.
I wasn't unprepared for the strong delightful tremor that flooded my body as he tugged on my hair, tilted my head back, and drew his nose seductively up my neck. After a few long moments, he slowly lifted his head and met my gaze.
My core ached at how intensely he stared, his hazel eyes darker, lust drunk and heavy with need. His tender seduction had me captivated in a heartbeat, when I saw them and before another beat had passed, he closed the space between us and he pressed his lips on mine.
The very instant our mouths smashed together, Sawyer commanded control of my body. His hot demanding tongue requested immediate access inside my mouth. It skimmed the seam of my mouth and slid inside.
The sweet, welcome invasion scorched my blood as it flowed with blistering heat through my veins. Every cell within me burned with renewed desire from the inside out, while his expert kiss made me dizzy and frustrated for more.
Excitement ripped through me when his warm hand left my hair and his thumb traced lig
htly down my back. His hand splayed my ass and grabbed it firmly, pressing my front roughly to him.
"Mmm," he moaned, as he ground his stiff arousal against me. I gasped for air, momentarily breaking the kiss when another overwhelming feeling I couldn't decipher gripped me.
Fortunately, he didn't give me time to think and reconnected our kiss like he needed me to breathe. When he deepened the kiss, tiny explosions of electricity detonated at random all over my body. These minute bombs of delight connected with all the erogenous zones I already knew existed within me and countless more I'd had no idea I possessed.
My heart pounded and my breath stuttered in my lungs from the havoc Sawyer wreaked with his expert kiss and his grasp of how to make me forget everything else, but him.
My confidence grew from feeling desired and I slid my hands inside his baggy old T-shirt and my heart skipped another beat the moment I felt the heat from his taut warm body radiate from his skin onto mine. When my fingertips continued to trace the hard lines of his abs and pecs, my exploration earned me a small twitch of pleasure as I swallowed the long slow growl he made into my mouth at precisely the same time.
My fingers and palms continued to skate over the goosebumps on his torso, as I explored his tight erect nipples until I felt desperate to see what he looked like underneath the fabric and grabbed the hem of his T-shirt.
When I pulled it up his body Sawyer broke the kiss, panting roughly and dragged the soft cotton garment over his head. "So fucking hot," he muttered, bunching it roughly between his hands and tossing it away to one side, as his hands immediately reconnected with the sides of my face and sifted back into my hair. Tilting my head up again, he murmured, "Where were we?" before he kissed me as I'd never been kissed before.
"Fuck, sorry," he mumbled, breaking the kiss again when he tried to pull my top from my pants and couldn't drag it free. Forgetting my top when his eyes met mine, his hands slid to my ass instead and he flashed me a sexy smile. Giving the globes a tight squeeze he pressed me closer and ground himself against me again. "Sweet Billie, you're driving me mad. Can you feel how much I want you?" All I knew was I'd forgotten how to think when he kissed me.
The way he held and kissed me lit me up inside. I'm not sure when I forgot all of my hang-ups about us, but it was when I forgot to think at all that I gave myself up to the sensations he stoked within me. Sawyer's touch felt desperate and needy, heightening my needs, until I almost lost control.
As my desires took over, I scored my nails down his back, clawing deliberately in one long even stroke. He let out a long low hiss of pleasure and pain in reaction.
"Damn, Billie," he cussed through a ragged breath. "I want you so badly," he confessed, and any concerns I'd had about being played were dispelled by the sheer desperation and sense of urgency in his tone. My empty core ached in anticipation as he continued his frantic, heated exploration of my body over my clothing. His patience began to frustrate me and drove me to the edge of distraction.
What started as a slow deliberate kiss on Sawyer's part quickly became a dissatisfied craving, until kissing and innocent second base touching were no longer enough. Breaking the kiss, Sawyer gently moved his hands to my hips and walked me slowly back across the deck, his feet on the outside of mine. Our gaze was deep and connected as his lust-filled eyes searched my soul. It was a look that touched me on an entirely different emotional level.
Backing me into the large open planned room, he didn't stop moving until my calves hit the velvety soft cushions on his couch. Instead of pushing me down, he spun me until I was facing the couch, sat down, and pulled me onto him, straddling his lap. I hadn't been in a position with any man in years.
Landing on the center of his lap, I felt his thick hard bulge straining right under my seam and he adjusted me when his eyes went wide. "You feel so good in my arms," he mumbled and began peppering small kisses up my neck until the only thought in my mind was of him.
The loose jeans he wore did nothing to detract from the size and the girth I could feel down below, and I never felt one ounce of shame when I wriggled involuntarily above it. Sawyer immediately groaned and stopped necking with me. He chuckled before we both stared at one another again with equal intensity.
"Damn, you make me so hard," he cussed, adjusting me over his lap by tilting his butt upward. His move created greater contact where we had both needed it. His eyes fell to my ample D-cup cleavage and he stroked my cheek with his hand before he slid it slowly down my neck.
As if he knew his move had left me uncertain, he gave me a slow sensual smile and I gave him my trust in return. "I never want to hurt you, Billie," he whispered sincerely, as his hand continued its path to my breasts. With his eyes firmly on me, he gently cupped my left one and scored his thumb across it.
"Did you know this nipple has been teasing the fuck out of me the whole time we were sat outside?" His playful question made me smile as his wandering thumb strummed back and forth, teasing the obvious stud it had formed beneath the thin bikini top and tight cotton top I had on.
The lust in Sawyer's darkened irises sparked my desires, and I ground my hips in a tiny circle over his cock.
"Fuck, darlin', you're killing me," he muttered. His hand cupped my head and he pulled me back down toward him. He planted tiny kisses in several places across my mouth. "Can you feel how much I want you?" he asked in a husky voice, his hand leaving my breast and finally tugging my top free from my capris.
Hearing the honesty in his confession made me feel desired and desperate to have him inside me. The instant his fingertips skimmed my bare skin, it erupted in goosebumps. They spread like wildfire when he freed my top from my body. Seconds later his touch became less careful as he hurriedly pulled my bikini top off.
Immediately my top half was bare, and I dropped to my knees on the floor and flipped open the button above his zipper.
As rapidly as we'd been losing control, Sawyer reluctantly took it back. "Whoa," he said a little raggedly as he dragged his fingers through his messy hair and eased past me and up off the couch. Shame threatened to rear its ugly head within me, but before it has taken hold, he pulled me to my feet and lifted me into his arms. "Usually I'm an anytime, anywhere kind of guy, but this? Us?" he asked seriously. " If we're going do this, the first time has to be right."
He studied my face for signs of uncertainty, and I guess he must have found some, because his smile slipped from his face and he frowned with concern instead.
"This is going to happen, right? Don't answer that. It's happening, stop overthinking, Billie … apart from condoms … we need to think about those," he said, sniggering. Spinning me around in his arms, much like a firefighter rescuing a child, he carefully adjusted my weight and carried me toward the stairs.
Chapter Ten
"How am I doing? Are you having a good time?" he joked, removing the tension of my anticipation as he eagerly carried me upstairs. His lust-filled eyes darted between the top of the steps down to my bare chest.
His question made me laugh and tamped down some of my embarrassment, lack of confidence, and apprehension that arose from knowing I'd been about to have sex with a man who looked perfect and knew I wasn't.
My mature body wasn't that of a tight-bodied twenty-something woman anymore, and it had been over twelve years since any man, other than my ex-husband, had seen it or had sex with me.
On the top floor of the house, there was a second huge panoramic window that mirrored the one downstairs, and in the center of the room, on the back wall, facing the windows was a massive, custom-made bed and two cleverly designed nightstands.
I was surprised when I saw a beautifully elegant chaise lounge to one side and a large, expensive-looking telescope on the other.
The wide room was decorated in shades of gray. The floor was made of a mix of wooden boards in gray tones, the walls were painted silver, and his plush, inviting bedding was black and white.
The décor and the design were all quite luxurious, and although t
he color palette would have been too oppressing in most bedrooms, in Sawyer's room it had looked just right. My eyes were still scanning the room, but my mind was jolted back into focus when Sawyer threw me down on his bed.
With a break in our foreplay, I'd expected some kind of a reset to happen between us, a rewarming if you will. Sawyer surprised me when he dropped to his knees before me, reached for the button of my capris, and smiled wickedly up my body at me.
Leaning forward, he pressed small kisses on my lower abdomen, unzipped my pants and placed sweet kisses along each inch of bare skin he exposed.
A slight hesitation told me he was considering my needs when he glanced up my body to check my reaction. I gave him a soft slow smile. From then on nothing in the world could have prevented me from finding out how my red-hot rock star could rock my world.
As Sawyer curved his fingers around the waistband of my pants, my heartbeat raced so fast I felt it pulse deep in my throat. Blood roared in my ears, almost deafening me with the lopsided smile he gave me.
"Relax, Billie. Trust me. I'm going to take good care of you. I'm going to worship you the way you deserve to be," he murmured, as he ran his hands lightly over my abdomen again. "Trust me. Just relax," he coaxed again, and I realized how tense I'd become. My reaction was mostly due to anticipation of what was to come, but a small part of my nerves came from being aware my abdomen wasn't exactly flat nor toned, anymore.
"Take a breath, beautiful," he ordered. I immediately inhaled deeply. "Good girl," he said in a slow, encouraging tone. "How do you feel now?" he asked, seductively distracting me from my thoughts and his actions, as he tilted my butt and continued to peel my pants down my legs.
"So far, so good," I chuckled shyly, "Maybe a little self-conscious. Or hugely self-conscious," I corrected, then slapped my hand over my face.
"You're fucking adorable, Billie'. You may have been married for a long while, but you've still got an innocence about you that makes you stand out," he informed me, laughing softly as he discarded my pants to the floor. "Now, where were we?" he asked, as he rose to his feet and finished the job I'd started of getting him out of his jeans.
DARE You, Dare Duet, Part One: Billie and Sawyer: Unchained Attraction Series Page 10
