As pink as she was, Lyra recovered quickly. “Oh, thank you so much. It was meant to be a gag gift. But perhaps I’ll get something else.”
Lies. I could see it in the shift of her eyes. The slight press of her mouth. And all it made me want to do was show her exactly what to do with that vibrator.
Well, well, she didn’t know how to lie. Excellent that she wasn’t great at it, but at least she knew how to pull something out of her ass if necessary.
“Well, I’ll just be going.”
I stopped her. “What about dinner though?”
“I thought you were busy?”
I flashed her a grin. “Lyra Wilkinson, are you jealous? Do you want us to be something more than friends?”
“You know what? Never mind. You have a good night, friend.”
“Right, friends. Except… Maybe you don’t want to be friends?”
She gave me a light chuckle and then struggled with her keys in the lock. “I don’t know what you’re talking about.”
I followed her to her flat. Mrs. Washington winked at me before she closed her door.
“Lyra, wait up.”
She sighed. “Marcus, it’s been a long day. I need to grab these press gift packs that were sent here instead of the office and head back out.”
She looked tired, the strain evident around her mouth, and I wondered what was going on. “Look, I had some things going on this morning that meant I couldn’t hang out or talk. But I would like to take you out again.”
“Didn’t we have this conversation? We’re friends. And I believe you just turned me down for dinner.”
“Right. Don’t you go places with your friends?”
She frowned at that. “But see, we’re not just friends, we’re also neighbors.”
“Okay, neighbors. But maybe neighbors who go out sometimes?”
Her lips twitched as if she was going to laugh, but she held it together.
“You’re impossible.”
“So you’ve told me.” There was something in her dark eyes. A wariness maybe.
When she took a deep breath, I thought she was going to remind me that her life was complicated. But she surprised me.
“Look, I was going to ask you this morning. I have tickets to the What is Love couples exhibit at The Venice in the City Bacchanal this coming weekend. Do you want to go with me?”
Fuck me.
I’d planned on asking someone anonymous to be my date. But she was standing in front of me asking me to do the one thing I really wanted to do, which was to be near her.
I hesitated a moment too long, and she said, “It’s okay. You don’t have to. I think I read this wrong.” She turned to go.
I knew better, knew that this was going to be a bad idea, but I couldn’t stop myself. “Wait, Lyra. I’d love to go with you.”
She swallowed, hard. “Honestly, it’s okay. You don’t have—”
Danger, danger.
I knew having one taste wasn’t going to be enough, but I did it anyway. I interrupted her with a kiss. By now our tongues had learned a shorthand. The slow slide, the teasing licks, and then the deep dive, losing ourselves in the taste, the smell, and the feel of each other.
I knew enough to wait for that whimper before fully pulling her in. That little acquiescence of her letting me know this was something she wanted more than anything.
Before I knew it, that sound came, and I dragged her to me, my hands cupping her ass. Pulling her straight up against me, I turned her body and angled her in the door frame. I didn’t give a fuck who saw. Whether Mrs. Washington or any of the other neighbors were watching from their door, I didn’t care. I couldn’t not taste her. I couldn’t not have her.
This was what I’d wanted to do that morning, drag her body against mine and relive that kiss that had been interrupted.
I poured everything I had into kissing her. Bending my knees slightly so I could angle her better. My hands fisted in her hair that she’d pulled back into a low bun. Gently, I tugged the pins that held it in place and set her locks free. I ran my fingers through it, knowing I was probably making it a mess, but I didn’t give a fuck.
Her hands slid up my chest, her delicate fingers sliding then depressing as if trying to pull at my shirt to get to my skin. And then her hands came up to my face and gently rubbed over the stubble before sliding into my hair at the nape of my neck. When her nails scored over the skin on my scalp, I growled.
Hands digging into her ass, I picked her up just a little. So enough that she could feel just how much I wanted her, how much I needed her. And then the buzzing was skipping up my spine and I couldn’t think. Like my brain had been taken over by some kind of feral animal, and all I wanted to do was take and plunder and—
There was more buzzing along the length of my dick, and I barked out a cough.
Bollocks. I dragged my lips off of hers as I realized that the buzzing wasn’t an impending orgasm, though one of those had been chasing me down too. It was her phone in her pocket.
I set her down gently and made myself take a deliberate step back. “I’m sorry.”
She stood there shaking her head for a moment and slowly dragged her eyes open, her dark chocolate gaze meeting mine. “You should be sorry. All this time, you could have been kissing me like that.”
I grinned at her. “You probably need to get that.”
“W-what?”
“Your phone. It’s ringing.”
Her eyes went wide. “Oh shit.” She grabbed for her phone, and then answered it. “Yep, I’ll be right there. I just needed something from my apartment.” When she hung
