Marie Harte - Enjoying the Show

After a moment, he shrugged. “Sorry I brought death up at dinner. I’m not really a conversationalist. Or so my brothers tell me.”

Death at dinner. He sounded as socially inept as she felt. The thought made her smile. “Tell me about your family.”

“Uh, wouldn’t you rather tell me about yours?”

“My mom died four years ago, my father left when I was seven, and I have no other family. Now, how about yours?”

He rolled his eyes. “Fine. You asked for it. My dad’s gone. My mother and older brother Dylan are psychiatrists, and spend too much time analyzing the rest of us.

Derrick, my other older brother—and did I mention he and Dylan are twins—and I work together in construction.”

“That’s nice to be so near your family. I used to wish for a twin sister, but then I thought we’d fight over each other’s clothes.”

“And boyfriends?”

She smiled and shook her head. “I’m not a very social person, Gage. I don’t date much.”

“Why not?” He looked puzzled, and as his stare slowly traveled over her face and breasts, she felt the temperature in the room rise. “I have a hard time believing you lack for men.”

“Oh?” She couldn’t help sounding frosty.

He sighed. “What, I offended you for hinting at your beauty? Sue me. Remember, I’m the one who felt like meat.”

“A walking, prancing hamburger,” she muttered and tucked into the food the waiter brought.

Gage laughed loudly. “Come on, Hailey. Admit it. You wanted me doused in ketchup, with you being the bun. Or maybe the pickle?”

“Shut up,” she said, trying not to smile at his joke.

“Or maybe mustard? You’re blonde, and you seem more spicy than sweet. Yeah, mustard. I like mustard.”

“Anyone ever tell you you talk too much?”

He frowned and looked like he wanted to say more, when suddenly he lifted his fork and began eating. Silently, stoically.

Taken aback, she paused. “I was just kidding. I like mustard too,” she said softly.

He glanced up, studying her for a moment, then smiled, his grin putting her at ease.

“Good. Because I changed my mind. One dinner’s not going to cover my feeling like a walking hamburger. I want desert too, at my place. Nothing more,” he said quickly, forestalling a possible rejection. “Your friend’s across the quad, and if you like, we can eat it in full view of her place.”

Hailey thought about Faith looking in on her private, intimate time with Gage and quickly quashed the notion. “No, that’s okay. I suppose I should trust you, considering you could have turned me in before now.”

He grinned, the sensual twist on his lips making her shift in her chair. Had to be his cologne or something. Around Gage, she felt in perpetual heat—and that was so not like her. “Come on, Hailey. Do you really think a guy would admit to a bunch of cops, let alone his cousin, that a bunch of women were watching him walk around his place halfnaked?”

“Um, I guess not.” She wanted to correct him, to remind him that he’d walked around completely naked, waving that impressive penis like a magic wand, and casting a spell over her. Instead she forced a grin and continued to talk with him about a variety of subjects throughout the dinner, constantly amazed at how easily the conversation flowed.

Arriving at his home, each having driven their own cars, they walked together, close but not holding hands, up the stairs. Whereas before, their evening had been filled with wry laughter and interesting conversation, now Hailey felt a sexual tension that refused to let her go. Sure, she’d been drawn to him from the first. But she felt downright edgy, aching for him in the most carnal of ways.

The hot stares he kept giving her when he thought she wasn’t looking didn’t help, especially since she’d been staring at him, and none too subtly, since they’d arrived at the apartment complex.

He opened the door and followed her inside, his breath hot on her neck as he trailed her through the foyer. She couldn’t help a shiver, nonplussed when he noticed.

“Cold?” he asked quietly, his eyes burning.

“A little,” she lied, embarrassed to be so reactive to his presence. Good lord, but he made her as jumpy as a cat.

“Then I guess hot fudge sundaes are out of the question.” He looked disappointed, like a small boy told he couldn’t have a favorite treat, and she smiled.

“Well, I guess I could make an exception for chocolate and ice cream. I’m not a monster, you know.”

“I know,” he murmured, staring at her. He shook his head and turned into the kitchen. “Sit at the counter and prepare to be amazed.”

Unable to eat more than half her bowl, Hailey sighed and leaned back, staring woefully at her uneaten chocolate sundae.

“That’s a waste.” Gage echoed her feelings, his bowl licked clean.

“Sorry. But I honestly don’t know where you put it all.” She couldn’t help staring at his lean torso, still in awe of his perfect body. He was all tendon and muscle, whereas she still had an extra five pounds spread between her ample thighs. And she didn’t want to think about her butt.

“I could say the same about you,” he murmured, his gaze riveted to her face, wandering from her eyes to her lips.

Her nerves tingled and she felt her nipples bead into stiff points of arousal. Damn.

And she’d been doing so well. She’d spent a good twenty minutes with him without thinking about sex…much.

“Hailey, about the other day,” he began, and she immediately pictured him in nothing more than boxer-briefs.

Her heart thumped wildly. Hailey had never wanted anyone so much, and it scared her to feel so intensely about a man she barely knew. She quickly stood and placed some distance between them. “Look Gage, this was fun. But I need to head back.”

“Hailey, what’s wrong?” he asked quietly. He traced her face with his eyes, and his gaze roamed further down, resting over her taut breasts with what looked like satisfaction. Then he glanced at her face again and frowned in thought.

His quiet did little to ease her tension, and in fact irritated her that he felt so damned calm around her.

“Look. We had our dinner and our dessert. It’s been fun, but I have to go.” Before I jump you, acting like one of the desperate sleazebags I work with. He leaned closer and she took another whiff of his cologne. Angered at her faltering control, she snapped.

“This is really your fault anyway.”

“Oh?” he asked coolly, his eyes flashing. Good. Not so calm now, are you? “How so?”

“If you didn’t want to be watched, you really should have closed your curtains,” she said primly, aware she was acting like a complete idiot. But how was she supposed to act when her blood wouldn’t stop rushing to her breasts, to her loins? She throbbed as she watched him, wondering how to handle her reactions, let alone this man. “Just like a man to blame a woman for something that’s his fault.” Come on, Gage, get angry. Tell me to leave before I jump you like a starving woman.

She took a hasty step back when he pushed off the kitchen stool and approached her slowly, carefully, like a predator stalking prey.

“Now, honey, who said I didn’t want to be watched?”

Her eyes widened, and she gasped when he caught her in a tight embrace.

“I knew you were looking at me, Hailey. And I could only imagine those honeybrown eyes wide with desire, those full, cherry-red lips slick and open, just waiting to be filled by my tongue, or even better, my cock.”

Before she could protest, he ravaged her mouth with enough heat to make her melt, while stealing her very breath. He tasted like chocolate, and his lips felt like velvet.

Gently prodding, he entered her mouth with his tongue, sweeping the moist cavern with delicious licks that set her heart hammering for more. She could feel her womb pooling with want, her clit pulsing from just the touch of his carnal mouthon hers.

“Mmm, better than I’d imagined.” He chuckled throatily. He increased the pressure of his kiss, taking and plundering, making her knees weak and her head spin. The feel of her breasts pushing against his unyielding chest thrilled her. And when his large, callused hands moved from the small of her back to her ass, she almost sobbed his name as he pulled her tight against that most impressive part of him.

Heavens, but he was large, much larger than what she thought she’d seen watching him from a distance. Granted, the sight of his penis had definitely hinted at male strength, but nothing so grand as the feel of the steely rod pressing hot and hard against her belly.

She couldn’t stop wiggling against him, needing to feel his reactive tension.

“Yeah, baby, that’s it,” he crooned and ran his lips over her throat. He began thrusting against her, and her traitor of a body immediately responded to his seduction.

She wanted to drown in him.

As if he could read her mind, he snaked a hand down her belly and below her dress, running his hands up her thighs toward her pelvis. Before her mind could wrap around the thought, his hand slipped beneath her panties.

“Christ, you’re wet.” He groaned and nipped at the pulse at her throat. “Hailey, you’re killing me.”

Thrusting a finger between her folds, he sighed her name and stared into her eyes.

“This is it, baby. This is the part where you either hightail it out of here, or you spread those thighs wide. Because if you stay, I’m going to fuck you ’til you can’t walk.”

His gravelly voice raked over her, dampening her further. He added another finger and began priming her, stretching her.

Her breath coming fast, she had a hard time hearing what he was saying.

“Damn it, Hailey. Yes or no?”

Much as she wanted to run out of the room, astonished at her own promiscuity, something within her refused to back down. For once, Hailey wanted to ignore her unlucky history with men and enjoy herself, and who better to share such an experience than with the man of her dreams? A man who, even after catching her peeping, left the choice to have sex in her hands, in spite of the iron erection straining his pants.

“Yes,” she sighed into his mouth as he swept her away on another kiss.

Time suspended as clothing flew everywhere. She could only focus on his mouth and the hands that sought out and touched every sensitive spot on her body. The feel of his satiny erection sliding over her skin aroused her to no end, like a heady aphrodisiac affecting her with abandon.

“Oh man.” He groaned and shoved her against a wall, not hard enough to hurt, but enough to make her excitement palpable. “I love your tits. They’re so big, so full.”

She couldn’t think to blush, for his mouth stole her embarrassment. He pushed her breasts together and began feasting, latching onto her nipples as he sucked and nipped from one to the other, fueling her rise toward orgasm.

“Gage,” she moaned. “That’s so good.”

“And you know my name,” he teased. “So we’re nearly even. But not quite yet.”

Kneading her breasts, he fused his mouth to hers. The chemistry between them was combustible, and she felt so sensitive she expected to fly apart at any moment. He swelled against her belly, and the more she squirmed, the harder he pressed his thick shaft against her.

“You on anything, Hailey?” he breathed into her ear.

“What?” She could barely think.

“Birth control,” he rasped. “You taking anything?”

She nodded. “Pills, every day.”

“Thank God.”

Without warning, he lifted her off her feet and brought her over his penis, her back still to the wall. Instinctively wrapping her ankles around his waist, she gasped when he suddenly shoved hard up into her.

“You’re so thick,” she groaned, closing her eyes at his intrusion. She felt stretched, full, and incredibly aroused at his hardness.

“And you’re so tight, so hot and wet.” He cursed and began pushing, thrusting deeper and deeper into her. “Shit, I can’t wait. Not the first time.”

Reaching between them, his slick fingers pressed hard, rubbing her clit while he pounded her against the wall. Animalistic need surged within her, as Hailey fought to seek the release just out of reach.

“Gage,” she cried, coming closer. She gripped his head and plastered her mouth to his, becoming the aggressor in their battle of wills.

He moaned and fucked her harder, his penis swelling impossibly large. She felt his balls slapping against her ass and thought it the most erotic thing. She, Hailey Jennison, was having sex standing up, with a man any woman in her right mind would want.