“Come with me,” he says, low and certain, his eyes dark and hungry.
“Ethan, we can’t?—”
“We already are.”
Before I can argue, he threads his fingers through mine and leads me off the dance floor. My heels click against the marble as he cuts through the crowd, down a dim hallway that leads to the coatroom. The music fades, replaced by the sound of my heartbeat hammering in my ears.
When he stops in front of a heavy door and looks back at me, I already know I’ve lost.
He opens it, steps inside, then turns—waiting.
One more second of hesitation, of pretending I have control left.
Then I follow him in, the door clicking shut behind us.
10
ETHAN
The door clicks shut behind her, muffling the sound of laughter and music from the ballroom. For a moment, neither of us moves. The air is thick enough to choke on, scented with her perfume and the faint trace of champagne.
Barbara stands a few steps away, chest rising and falling, lips kiss-swollen and trembling. God, she’s so fucking beautiful it hurts. I can still taste her on my tongue.
She should run. She knows it. I can see the battle in her eyes—the part of her that’s smart enough to walk away, and the part that wants me to pin her against the wall and make her forget her own name.
I take a step closer. She doesn’t back away.
“Say it,” I murmur, voice rough. “Say no, and I’ll walk out right now.”
Her throat works as she swallows, eyes flicking to my mouth before she whispers, “You won’t.”
She’s right. I won’t.
Two steps, and I’ve got her caged between my body and the wall, her breath mingling with mine, her pulse a frantic drumbeat beneath my fingers.
“You’ve been driving me insane for months,” I growl, my thumb tracing her jaw. “Every look, every word… You have no idea what you do to me.”
Her hand finds my chest, but she doesn’t push me away. She presses closer instead, voice shaking when she answers, “Then show me.”
That’s all it takes to break the leash I’ve been holding onto since the first time I saw her.
I slam my mouth over hers, coaxing it open, invading it with my tongue. I can’t help the low moan that builds in my chest. Finally. Fucking finally.
I pull back just enough to speak against her lips. “I’m going to make you come so hard over my cock they’ll hear you over the musicians,” I promise.
Barbara gasps when I trail my mouth to her neck, and I bite down hard enough to leave an impression of my teeth. She squirms against me, whimpering, her fingers clutching my suit jacket like she can’t decide if she wants to push me away or pull me in closer.
I take her nipples into my mouth through the thin fabric of her rose-gold bridesmaid’s dress, sucking and nibbling, feeling it grow damp from my saliva.
“Ethan!” she shouts when I bite down again, her hips shooting forward to bump against mine. God, this woman makes me want her so bad I get aggressive.
I drop to my knees and pick up her skirt, bunching it in my hands. “Hold this, baby.”
She grabs hold with shaking hands, revealing white lace panties. The wet spot in the center ruins the innocence of their appearance in a way that makes my dick twitch in my pants, and I groan like a starving man faced with freshly baked bread.
I taste her through the lace, the scent of her honey mixing with that of clean laundry and sugar from her beauty products, my new favorite meal.
“You taste so fucking good, firecracker,” I moan. “Better than I could ever imagine. And I thought about it so much, you have no idea.”
