by Elle James
For the next hour, Ariana led them from one pose to another, holding the poses for what felt like an excruciating time before releasing them.
The older women in front of him tried on occasion to help him get the poses right, but he shook his head, pressed his finger to his lips and pointed to the instructor.
The ladies nodded and went back to posing, which they did much better than Dillon. He told himself they’d had many years of practice. That this was his first time, and he wasn’t sure if he’d do it again. By the time they finished up, he was certain he’d pulled a muscle in his calf and another in his gluteus maximus…hell…in his ass. He carried his mat to the corner, limping slightly.
“Congratulations,” a voice said from behind him. “You made it through your first yoga class.”
He turned to find Ariana standing behind him, looking like she hadn’t broken a sweat, whereas he needed another shower. “Thanks. I have a new appreciation for the art.” He rubbed his hand over his right butt cheek.
“It looks easy, just a bunch of poses, but when you hold them for so long, it exerts pressure on the muscles, strengthens them and helps tremendously with balance. It also improves flexibility and helps to prevent back pain. As well, yoga inspires mental calmness.”
“I feel calm already.”
When the last client exited the studio, leaving the two of them alone, Dillon pulled Ariana into his arms and tipped up her chin. “I haven’t stopped thinking about this since I left you at the coffee shop yesterday.” He captured her lips in a gentle kiss that grew more insistent.
She wrapped her arms around his waist, pressed her hips to his, her breasts to his chest and melted against him with a smothered sigh.
They stood locked in each other’s embrace until the need to breathe forced them to lift their heads.
Dillon stared down into Ariana’s eyes. “I could do this all day, but we have shopping to do.”
She nodded. “I’d suggest we stay here and continue what we were doing, but I don’t have food or a kitchen here.” She cupped his cheek. “I thought we could buy the ingredients to make apple pie and pizzas rather than ordering out.”
“Your place or mine?” he asked. “I have a gourmet kitchen I never use.”
“Yours, but we can stop by mine. I have a pizza stone and pie plates.” She tilted her head. “Do you have either of those?”
He shook his head. “I think I have a grill and a fry pan.”
“In a gourmet kitchen...” She shook her head. “Why do you have a chef’s kitchen if you’re not using it?”
“I bought the place from a chef who moved to New York City. I liked the location and the view. The kitchen was a bonus. Well, if I would actually use it.”
She brushed her lips across his briefly. “Come on. I can’t wait to see this kitchen.”
And he couldn’t wait to have her in his condo. He wasn’t sure what would happen there, but he hoped she’d stay for more than pizza and apple pie.
Chapter 10
Ariana and Dillon spent the next hour shopping for the groceries they’d need for the pizzas and pies. Then they swung by her place for mixing bowls, pie plates, the pizza stone and utensils they’d need to make it all happen.
When they arrived at Dillon’s condo building, Ariana stared up at the high rise. “This is a building of condos?”
“No, it’s an office building. I own the only condo located in the penthouse suite at the top.” He pointed to the very top of the building, where glass windows reflected the sunlight and clouds.
“How much of the top floor do you own?” she asked.
His mouth twisted. “All of it.”
She blinked, her heartbeat fluttering in her chest. “Your condo is the entire top floor?”
He nodded, hooked her arm and led her into the building, past a guard at the front desk and to an elevator that required a special key card to allow them access to the penthouse.
Ariana had been to some nice places in her life, but she’d never been in a penthouse like the one she stepped into from the elevator.
The foyer floor was covered in shiny white marble tiles that lead into a living area with floor-to-ceiling windows. The room itself was stunning with white leather furniture, dark accent tables and immaculate artwork adorning what walls there were.
But it was the view that commanded her attention. She walked straight across the floor to the windows and stared out at the city of Austin spread out before her. “Wow.”
Dillon came up behind her. “That’s how I felt when I walked into the suite. Nothing else seemed to matter.”
“I see why you like it,” she said, her voice quiet, feeling awestruck. “It’s stunning.”
“It’s even more impressive at night.”
“I can imagine.”
“Wait and see.” He carried the bags of groceries through the living area to a massive kitchen with a six-burner gas stove, double ovens and a commercial-sized refrigerator.
“You weren’t kidding when you said it was a gourmet kitchen,” Ariana said. “Was it all like this when you bought it?”
“No, I gutted most of it, except the kitchen. The chef who owned it spent all his money there. The rest of the place needed updating and upgrading.”
“You did an amazing job,” she said. “And what a difference from your home on the ranch.”
“I make my living constructing and renovating beautiful buildings.”
She smiled. “You did tell me you were in construction. Business must be good.”
He unloaded the contents of a grocery bag. “It is. Now, are we making pizza? Or what?”
They spent the next hour and a half rolling out dough and cutting up vegetables and fruit for pizza and apple pie.
At one point, they got into a flour fight, dusting each other with a fine layer of white powder.
Ariana couldn’t remember when she’d laughed so hard. Or kissed so deeply. Every step of the way, they touched, nibbled on each other and tasted. Cooking with Dillon was a kind of sensual dance. Foreplay.
By the time the pizza was cooked, she wasn’t hungry for food. She was hungry for him.
Ariana set the pizza on the white quartz countertop to cool then ran the pizza cutter over it, making eight equal slices. She checked the status of the pie she’d just put in the oven and looked over at Dillon.
His gaze captured hers. “Hungry?” he asked, his voice more of a low growl.
“Yes,” she said, her eyes narrowing a she stalked toward him.
“Want some pizza?”
“No.” She took his hand in hers. “We have an hour of baking time before the apple pie is finished.”
His brow wrinkled. “You want to wait for the apple pie to be done before eating dinner?”
She shook her head. “No, I want you to show me the rest of your place.”
He slipped his arm around her and pulled her up against him to nuzzle her neck. “Did I tell you there’s a hot tub in the master bedroom?”
“No, you didn’t.” She looked up into his face as she reached for the hem of her tank top and pulled it up over her head. “Show me.”
“It would be my pleasure.” He scooped her up in his arms and carried her through the living room to a set of double doors that opened into the master suite.
A king-sized bed was centered against one wall and there was a sitting area with a couch, a chaise lounge and a gas fireplace in the corner. Again, windows stretched floor-to-ceiling with another glorious view of the city below. On the other side of the room was another set of double doors leading into a bathroom that was bigger than Ariana’s house. On one side was a sunken hot tub surrounded by white marble tile and more windows.
Dillon set Ariana on her feet and turned on the jets in the hot tub.
Ariana reached for the hem of his shirt and dragged it up as high as she could reach. He took over from there and pulled it over his head, tossing it to the floor. Then he hooked his thumbs in the elastic waistband of her yoga pan
ts and panties and slid them down her hips and thighs, dropping down on one knee to take them to her ankles.
She shivered as cool air hit her naked skin. Her nipples puckered, not from the chill in the air, but in anticipation of what would come next.
Dillon stood, his hands trailing up her calves and thighs as he came to his feet.
Ariana slid her hands into the waistband of his shorts, pushed them over his hips and down his legs. His cock sprang free, hard and straight as she dropped the shorts to the floor, and he stepped out of them.
They stood before each other, completely naked.
“You are a beautiful woman, Ariana,” he said.
“You’re a beautiful man, Dillon.”
“What are we waiting for?” With a grin, he lifted her up and deposited her into the hot tub.
The heated water enveloped Ariana as she sank down until she was in up to her shoulders.
Dillon reached into a nearby drawer and extracted an accordion of foil packets, dropping them on the surface surrounding the hot tub. He joined her in the water and pulled her into his arms.
“I’ve never done it in a hot tub,” she admitted.
“We don’t have to do anything but enjoy the water,” he said.
She laid her hands on his shoulders and straddled his lap. “It’s been a long time for me.”
“We’ll take it slowly,” he said. “If this is what you want.”
“I want,” she said and reached for one of the little packets. She tore it open and stared down at the bubbling water. “Please don’t let me make a disaster of this like I did with the fishing.”
“Let me.” He smiled, kissed her lightly, took the condom from her and rolled it over his engorged shaft.
She let go of the breath she’d been holding and lowered herself over him until his sheathed cock nudged her entrance.
His brow dipped. “Don’t you want to take it slow? Maybe indulge in a little foreplay?”
“Cooking with you was all the foreplay I could stand and not take you inside me. Please,” she whispered.
His hands resting on her hips pushed downward as he thrust upward, sliding into her.
She drew in a ragged breath, liking the way he filled her and made her feel a part of him. She pressed her heels against the bottom of the tub and rose up, letting him slide back out of her all the way to the tip of his shaft. Then she sank down again with the pressure of his hands bringing her back to him.
Dillon took control, guiding her up and down as he thrust in and out of her. As the pace increased, the jets pummeled their bodies and the water splashed over the rim.
Ariana rode Dillon, her body tensing as she climbed that slope to the very top.
When he thrust once more and buried himself deep inside her, she shot over the edge, her channel throbbing around him, the tingling electrical sensations rippling from her core outward to the very tips of her fingers and toes. “Oh, Dillon. Sweet Jesus, yes!”
He laughed and plunged once more into her, holding her down on him until he’d spent himself, his cock jerking with each spasm.
When they both came back to earth, they sank deeper into the tub and touched each other all over, exploring the other’s body until their skin shriveled and the alarm on the stove in the kitchen alerted them to check the pie in the oven.
“I’ll get it,” Ariana said, climbing out of the tub.
“I’ll help.” Dillon got out behind her, snagged a towel from a rack and wrapped it around her. He grabbed one for himself, hitched it around his hips and hurried after her to the kitchen.
Ariana pulled the apple pie from the oven and set it on the stovetop to cool.
“Are you ready to eat?” she asked. “The pizza is cold.”
“Mmm. I don’t give a damn about the pizza.” He turned her around to face him, and then lifted her up to sit her on the counter. “I didn’t get to taste the appetizer.” He parted her legs, slipped the towel from around her body and stepped between her knees.
“You left the protection in the bathroom,” she reminded him.
He shook his head. “Won’t need it for what I have in mind.” He captured her mouth with his and kissed her long and hard, sliding his tongue over hers. Leaving her lips, he trailed his mouth over her jaw and down the long line of her throat to where the pulse beat fast at the base. He didn’t linger there but moved lower to capture a nipple between his teeth, rolling it until it hardened into a tight little bead.
Ariana’s back arched, pressing her breast deeper into his mouth.
He sucked it in, pulling hard.
She gasped and clung to him as he flicked the tip and nibbled. Then he moved to the other breast, applying the same technique there before he left to explore her torso, traveling across each rib and lower still to the hair covering her sex.
He dropped to a knee and parted her folds with this thumbs.
Ariana’s breath caught and held in her throat as he flicked her clit with the tip of his tongue.
A rush of air left her lungs, and she threaded her fingers through his hair, dragging him closer.
He flicked that highly sensitive nubbin of flesh again setting off an eruption of sensations so powerful they made Ariana shake with the intensity.
Dillon increased his offensive, taking her with his mouth, conquering her with an orgasm that shook her to her very center.
She leaned back on her hands, her head thrown back, her body quivering with her release.
When she came back to her senses, Dillon stood there, a smile on his face and a slice of pizza in his hand. “Hungry?”
“Starving,” she said and took the slice from him. A sun-dried tomato slipped out of the cheese and fell onto her left breast. When she started to scoop it off with her finger, he grabbed her wrist.
“That’s mine,” he growled and bent to suck it off, licking the tomato sauce from her skin. “Now, if anyone asks me what you taste like, I can honestly say pizza.” He grinned and turned her hand to take a bite of her pizza.
For the rest of the afternoon, they ate, slipped back into the hot tub, showered, napped in the king-sized bed and explored every inch of each other’s bodies.
When night fell, they cocooned themselves in a sheet and sat on the floor by the window, staring out at the blanket of lights below that made up the city of Austin.
Ariana sighed, leaning into his naked body. “You must love it here.”
“It was just another place to sleep, until someone covered me in flour, showed me how to make pizza on a stone and added raisins to my apple pie. Who would have thought those things would make this mausoleum of a condo come alive?”
“You really do love the ranch, don’t you?” she said, snuggling into the crook of his arm.
“It’s my home. I feel more myself there. Making the money I do, I can afford all this, and it’s convenient when I’m working in town, but my heart belongs on the ranch. I’m really just a country boy who likes getting his fingers dirty.”
“I like that about you. I would never have guessed you lived in a place like this. It’s beautiful, and I see why you love it,” she waved toward the view, “but it’s not you.”
He leaned his cheek against the top of her head. “I’m working on it. I have a house plan designed. I just needed the motivation to start the work.”
“And you have it now?”
He nodded. “I have site managers on all my projects. I need to trust them to do their jobs, so I don’t have to be so hands-on.”
She nodded. “And then you’ll be less stressed and able to enjoy what you’ve accomplished.” Ariana turned and brushed her lips across his. “I should be going back to my place.”
“You could stay here,” he suggested.
As much as she wanted to… “It’s too soon. I’ve loved spending the day with you, but you have your project to check on in the morning, and I have to open my studio bright and early.” The thought of leaving made her wish she could cancel classes for the next day and stay with Di
llon. But then, he had a job as well. They both needed to focus on life outside the amazing bedroom with the hot tub they’d made love in twice.
Dressing became a game of on and off, tickling and kissing until they fell into the bed naked and made love one last time.
Exhausted, and knowing the morning would feel like it came too soon, Ariana finally managed to get all her clothes on and helped Dillon button his shirt. “I had an amazing weekend.”
“Me, too,” he said looping his arm around her waist as they headed for the elevator.
The trip back to her house didn’t take nearly long enough. Ariana hated having to say goodbye. The weekend had been magical. She had no idea whether or not he would call her again. If he didn’t, she’d be incredibly sad. But they’d gone into the weekend with no expectations of a future relationship. That didn’t stop her from wanting one.
Dillon got out of his truck and came around the front hood to open her door. When she turned to climb down, he gripped her around the waist and helped her to the ground, his hands still holding onto her.
She couldn’t stop herself from asking. “Will I see you soon?”
Dillon stared down into her eyes. “I have to work late hours this week in order to get my project back on track. Can I call you?”
She smiled and nodded. “I understand.”
Dillon was a busy man. He didn’t make the kind of money he made without sacrificing his time.
Ariana refused to be one of those women who demanded he call and spend every evening with her. If he wanted to, he’d call. If he wanted her, he’d make the effort to see her when he could.
“Goodnight, Dillon,” she said and rose up on her toes to press a kiss to his lips. When she started down to stand flat on her feet, she was stopped by the arm encircling her middle tightening. Her lips curled in a smile. He still wanted her.
“You call that a kiss?” he asked, raising an eyebrow.
“It was a start,” she said. “If a man’s interested, he’ll take it home.”
“Oh, I’m interested.” He crushed her to him and plundered her mouth.
When he finally broke for a breath, he stared down into her eyes. “Thank you.”
