I crash my mouth against hers, and any thought of taking it slow evaporates. Her lips are just as soft as I imagined, but there’s nothing passive about the kiss.
Her tongue meets mine with equal fervor, her hands coming up to fist in my hair, pulling just hard enough to send a sharp, pleasant jolt of pain through my scalp.
I groan into her mouth, my hands sliding down her sides, settling on the curve of her hips. She arches into me, a desperate sound escaping her throat as I grind against her, the hard ridge of my erection pressing into her stomach.
The elevator dings.
We break apart, both of us breathing heavily. Her lipstick is smudged, and her pupils are blown wide. She looks thoroughly, beautifully ruined already. I grab her hand, lacing my fingers through hers, and pull her down the hallway.
I fumble with the key card, and Avery lets out a throaty laugh. “Eager, Nova?”
The sound of that name on her lips, now husky with desire, almost makes me drop the damn card. I finally get the green light and shove the door open. “You have no idea.” She only laughs as I drag her into the room behind me.
The suite is dark, and I don’t bother with the lights. The ambient glow is enough.
The door clicks shut, and the second we’re in private, the dynamic shifts again. The frantic energy from the elevator crystallizes into something more intense.
“Come here,” I say, my voice rough.
She pushes off the door and walks toward me with a sway in her hips. She stops just inches away, her eyes roaming over my face and down my chest.
“Take off your shirt,” she says.
It’s not a request. It’s an order. And fuck me, I’ve never been so instantly, completely hard in my life. I’m used to being the one in control, the one calling the shots.
Without breaking eye contact, I grab the hem of my shirt and pull it over my head, letting it drop to the floor.
Her gaze sweeps over my chest and abs with appreciative eyes. “Nice,” she murmurs, but it sounds like a clinical observation. Then her eyes lock back on mine. “Now, tell me what you want to do to me.”
I blink. “What?”
“You heard me.” She takes a step closer, her finger tracing a line from my sternum to the waistband of my jeans. “All that talk downstairs about what I taste like. I want to hear it. Now. In detail.”
Holy shit. I’m a dirty talker. It’s part of the game. But this is next level. She wants the filth, the fantasy, spelled out before we even begin.
I lean down, my lips brushing her ear. “I want to lay you down on that bed,” I growl. “I want to peel that little black dress off you, inch by inch. I want to find out if you’re as wet as I think you are. And then I want to taste you. I want to make you come with my mouth until you forget your own name.”
Her breath hitches. A shiver runs through her.“Good,” she whispers. “But you’re going to wait.”
“Wait?”
She pushes me back, just enough to create space, and turns around. “Unzip me.”
My fingers are clumsy as I find the small zipper at the back of her dress. I pull it down slowly, revealing the smooth, pale skin of her back and the delicate line of her spine.
The dress slips from her shoulders and pools at her feet. She steps out of it, standing before me in nothing but a pair of black lace panties and those deadly heels.
She turns back to face me, completely unselfconscious. Her body is a masterpiece. Lean and strong, with curves everywhere. But it’s the look in her eyes that undoes me. Pure, unadulterated hunger.
“You talk a good game, Nova,” she says, walking backward toward the bed, pulling me with her gaze. “Now let’s see if you can deliver.”
That’s the final spark. I close the distance between us, capturing her mouth in another searing kiss as we tumble onto the king-sized bed. The world narrows to the feel of her skin against mine, the scent of her arousal, and the sound of her sharp intake of breath as I roll on top of her.
I kiss my way down her neck, her collarbone, taking my time. I’m trying to be patient, to savor this, but Avery has other ideas.
Her hands are everywhere. In my hair, scraping down my back, gripping my ass. “Don’t be gentle,” she breathes into my ear, her voice a raw command. “I don’t break.”
Fuck. This woman.
