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“Good.” He grinned at her, wanting to lighten the mood after two serious back-to-back conversations. “So, Just Elle, I owe you a shoe. Are you ready to go and get it?”
She arched a brow at him, amusement dancing in her eyes. “Dare I ask where it is?”
“My place.”
She bit her bottom lip, and he could almost see her weighing the pros and cons of going back to his apartment. “Maybe you should bring it by my office next week.”
“No.” He wasn’t letting her off that easy, nor was he going to allow her to go back to avoiding him. “You left it at my place, so it’s only fair that’s where you pick it up. Unless you’re afraid of being alone with me?” Yeah, he made sure it sounded like a challenge, a dare he wanted her to accept.
It worked like a charm. A stubborn glint flashed in her eyes, and she lifted her chin a few inches—a little bit sassy and a whole lot sexy, even if she didn’t realize it. “Mr. Wilder, I’m not afraid of you in any way, shape, or form,” she said, her tone impudent. “So, your place it is.”
He let a slow, seductive smile tip up the corners of his mouth as he leaned toward her and skimmed his lips along her jaw, inhaling the floral scent lingering on her skin and feeling her slight shiver as he reached the shell of her ear.
“Maybe you should be afraid, Elle,” he murmured huskily. “My motives might not be pure.”
Her breath quickened, the desire between them undeniable as she whispered her own confession. “Maybe I don’t want them to be.”
Chapter 11
What am I doing?
That was a question she asked herself on the quiet drive back to Hunter’s place. Picking up the shoe she’d left behind was the easy, simple justification. But if she was being completely honest with herself, her body, and even pieces of her heart that he’d managed to touch in such a short span of time, wanted this man.
She’d meant what she’d said back at the restaurant about not wanting his motives to be pure, and while she wasn’t in a position to fall headlong into a committed relationship, she was selfish enough to give in to her desires and indulge in one more amazing night with him. Especially after everything they’d shared with each other at dinner that had given them each a deeper and more intimate view into their lives that neither one of them would normally open up about with just anyone.
Both of their pasts had been tough and difficult in different ways, and Elle was still trying to navigate her turbulent present. And while she refused to drag Hunter into her drama with her stepmother and the financial issues she was battling, she was willing to let him take her mind off of her troubles for a few hours.
When they arrived at his place, Hunter told her he’d be right back and disappeared into the other room, and Elle gravitated toward the floor-to-ceiling windows in the living area. She was instantly besieged by memories . . . of standing in front of the privacy glass with Hunter just a few weeks ago, his hands all over her naked body, caressing her breasts and his fingers pushing deep inside her as she came for him.
The erotic recollection made her shiver and her skin flush hot in excitement of what might happen tonight. Because if there was one thing she’d learned about Hunter that evening a few weeks ago, he was not a conventional lover, and his dominant methods had triggered shameless, wanton desires she only wanted to experience with him.
Hearing him enter the room, she turned around as he strolled leisurely toward her, his expression a combination of playful teasing and undisguised persuasion, which wasn’t necessary since she’d already decided she was all in with him tonight.
“So, I’m going to have to demand one more thing before handing over the shoe,” he said, dangling the sparkling crystal heel from his fingertips, his grin so devastatingly sexy it should have been illegal.
“And what’s that?” she asked huskily as he stopped a few feet away from her . . . too far away, in her estimation.
“A kiss.” He didn’t move, leaving whatever happened next up to her.
Without hesitation, she closed the distance between them and boldly took the kiss from Hunter. Her hands gripped his shirt as she fastened her mouth to his and he tossed the shoe onto the sofa behind them. His lips parted against hers, giving her only a handful of seconds to revel in having the upper hand before he cupped the back of her head and took control. She moaned in delight as he swept his tongue into her mouth, slow and deep and tempting when she’d expected something harder, faster, wilder.
This kiss was a hot, deliberate tease designed to make her wet and weak-kneed, and between the rush of arousal dampening her panties and how unstable her legs felt, he was accomplishing his goal. Her senses felt scorched as he nipped at her bottom lip, tugging on it with his teeth until she groaned and leaned more fully into him to seek a deeper connection again. He obliged, licking his way back inside her mouth and caressing his tongue along the length of hers as he slid his free arm around her waist to bring her body flush against his.
Need coiled low and tight inside of her, and s
he brazenly rubbed her aching breasts against his chest while his sinful mouth continued to seduce hers. His hand skimmed down her back and grabbed her ass, pulling her hips tighter to his so she could feel the hard, thick length of his erection beneath the fly of his pants.
She whimpered against his lips, the sound filled with an impatience and frustration that didn’t seem to faze him as he centered all his attention on her mouth. She’d never had a man kiss her so thoroughly, so endlessly, so carnally that the fusing of their lips, the erotic tangle of their tongues felt as intimate as sex itself. Everything in her softened and yielded to the irresistible lure of this man, and by the time he ended the kiss and lifted his head, she felt dazed and achingly aroused.
She tipped her head back to meet his heavy-lidded gaze, and the way he was looking down at her made her heart skip a beat. She’d expected the lust and hunger gleaming in his dark gaze, but it was the tenderness she glimpsed that stole her breath, because it spoke to something deeper between them than physical pleasure . . . and that realization scared the hell out of her.
Swallowing hard against the emotion rising in her throat, she forced herself to concentrate on the latter, because that, at least, was something they could acknowledge and appease—even if she wished differently.
“You make me so hot,” she said, speaking the truth. “So restless. So needy.” For so many things.
He gently stroked his fingers along her cheek, an inviting smile kicking up the corner of his mouth. “I’ve definitely got a cure for all that.”
She smiled at the arrogant tone of his voice. “Yes, you do give the best orgasms.”
