“You forgot your shoes,” he pointed out.
She turned. “You want to go back?”
He shook his head, stepping forward, tugging the loose end of his bow tie and tossing it on a chair. His tux jacket followed as he moved toward her. He was about to make the biggest mistake of his life, but he couldn’t bring himself to care. He was too raw with emotional pain, too tired of fighting his feelings for Jenny. He didn’t have it in him to be strong. Reality would to have to wait for tomorrow.
He reached out to touch her face, stroking his rough fingertips along the smooth satin of her cheek. “How is it possible for you to be so beautiful?”
Her smile widened, green eyes glowing jade.
He cupped her ear, the back of her neck, bending and drawing her close. His lips touched hers, and his eyes closed shut in response to her sweet taste, the moist heat of her mouth.
He wrapped an arm around her waist, drawing her close and feeling her lithe curves mold against him. She fit so perfectly. Though he fought for control, and he strained to take this slow, raw desire throbbed its way insistently into his system. His kisses grew harder, longer, deeper. His skin caught fire, and his muscles turned to tempered steel.
She met his tongue, and he bent her backward, his hand roaming from her neck, to her shoulder, along the side of her breast, whispering over the thin silk that covered her body. From the second he saw her in this dress, he’d longed to feel her heat through the gossamer fabric.
His palm rounded her buttocks, pressing her against his taut thighs. He groaned as the soft curve of her belly came up against him.
She clung to his shoulders, while he kissed her temple, her ear, her neck, skipping over the jeweled trim of her dress to press his hot lips against the smooth honey-tone of her shoulder.
Her lips touched his chest, kissing him through the pressed fabric of his shirt. For some reason, the gesture seemed intensely erotic, and he threw back his head to savor the sensation. Her fingers fumbled with his buttons then. She kissed his bare chest, and lust ricocheted from his brain to his toes and all points in between.
He scooped her into his arms, capturing her swollen mouth with his own, kissing her hard while she cradled his head, curling her body against him. He strode for the bedroom, ignoring the light switch, navigating by the dim glow of the city lights that filtered through the gauzy curtains.
He lowered himself to the bed, falling backward onto the thick quilt, pulling her down on top of him and running his hands up the back of her thighs, finding the lace of her tiny panties, then drawing her softness more solidly against him.
Between hot kisses, she pushed off his shirt. He pulled down the zipper at the back of her dress. But she drew back and shook her head, catching her bottom lip with her white teeth. Her hair had come loose from the braids, and her eyes simmered with deep desire.
He forced his hands to still. He’d be as patient as she needed, even though it might kill him. To his surprise, she rolled the lace panties down the length of her legs, tossing them aside. Then she pulled upright, sitting astride him.
“Is this what you pictured?” she asked in a throaty voice. “Was this your fantasy?”
The dress had fallen off one shoulder, and her messy strawberry blond hair framed her face in the fragile light.
“It’s better than the fantasy,” he whispered. “You’re better than the fantasy.” He traced his thumbs along the inside of her thighs. Her dress whispered out of the way, and his thumbs met in the middle, sliding slick while her eyes fluttered closed and her head tipped back.
The strap of the dress slipped farther down her arm, the fabric sliding over one breast, revealing her pert pink nipple.
“Much better,” he rasped, drawing her down to take the nipple into his mouth.
He was rewarded with her gasp. She rocked forward, bracing herself with her hands in his hair, kneading his scalp while her thighs twitched under his hands.
The dress fell to her waist, and her writhing movements brought him close to the edge of control. He swiftly unfastened his pants, shoving them out of the way after retrieving a condom from his pocket.
He shifted to move on top, but she pinned down his shoulders, thighs bracing his.
“Remember,” she whispered, bending to kiss him, her breasts brushing the bare skin of his chest. “You told me how this goes when you described your fantasy.”
She sat up straight, trapping his gaze with her own, lowering herself onto him, smooth and slow, until his hips bucked to meet her. His hands twisted in the quilt in a desperate attempt to keep hold of control. But there was no turning back. She was too sexy, too sweet, too passionately perfect.
He grasped her hips, holding her firm, matching her movements, and nearly dislodging them from the bed with the force of his thrusts.
She leaned forward to kiss him, and he flipped them both over, adjusting his angle and covering her with kisses, while she curled herself around him.
His brain roared for release, but he held on to paradise just as long as he could. When her cries found his ears, and her body arched high, he let the world melt around them in waves.
She was heat and sweat and scent in his arms. Her breathing was raspy, and her heart pounded hard against his own.
He smoothed back her hair, kissing her temple, then her cheek, then her hot, moist lips. He smoothed her hair again, pulling back to gaze at her exquisite face. Her eyes were closed, cheeks flushed, lips abraded in a way that made him twinge with guilt.
He wanted to say something. There had to be the perfect words for this perfect moment. But he couldn’t come up with anything that didn’t sound trite.
He settled on, “You’re beautiful,” and kissed her again.
She blinked open her eyes, her voice sleepy. “You’re not so bad yourself.”
“Thank you.” He couldn’t help but smile. “I was really hoping for ‘not so bad.’”
She cocked her head, and her smile turned impish. “Do you need me to tell you you’re the best I ever had?”
“Only if it’s true.”
“You’re the best I ever had.”
He searched her expression, hoping against hope that it wasn’t a joke. He’d rather be the only one she’d ever had. But he knew that was ridiculous.
“I lost my virginity in college.”
“So did everybody else.”
“It really wasn’t that great.”
“It never is.”
She smirked. “My point is, you didn’t have much competition.”
He paused, her words filling him with some unnamed emotion. “Just the one guy in college?”
She nodded.
“And it wasn’t very good?” He felt a smile of pride grow on his face.
“It was terrible. Quit laughing.”
“I’m not laughing.”
“You’re insufferable.”
He hugged her close, savoring the feel of her naked body, the curl of her limbs, the softness of her breasts. “You’re a treasure.”
“Can you put that on my next performance evaluation?”
“Absolutely. You want me to include the rationale?”
She playfully smacked him on the arm. “I want you to approve a raise.”
“You need money?” He found himself ready to step in if she did.
“I’ve developed expensive taste in clothes. And you just ruined a three thousand dollar dress.”
He reached to where the dress was bunched at her waist and ran the filmy fabric through his fingers. “It was
