Janelle Denison - Pure Indulgence

"I brought along a few Caramel Caresses, since you haven't tried them yet," she said, and moved the chocolates closer to him, hoping the sight of the candies' sensual shape would entice him.

He groaned, low and rough and sexy as hell. "You can't keep feeding me your candies," he said playfully, and trailed a finger along her bare shoulder. "You know what they do to me."

"Yeah, I do," she admitted out loud. That was the whole point of him eating them, she thought wryly.

Plucking a Caramel Caress from the box, she lifted it to his mouth and rolled the peaked tip against his bottom lip. "Open up and say ahhh," she teased.

He rolled his eyes, but did as she asked, and Kayla slid the chocolate into his mouth. Finally. He chewed, taking in the flavor and texture, and his brows rose in surprise.

"I was expecting just a caramel filling, but there's something else…" His voice trailed off as he attempted to figure out what the added taste was.

"It's a layer of creamy praline," she told him, and urged him to take another. "Do you like it?"

"Like everything else you've made, it's fantastic." He picked up a second piece of candy and bit it in half, then used his tongue to lick out the creamy, gooey center in a very provocative way.

Oh, God. Her insides quivered and she squirmed in her seat. She knew if they didn't get out of the car now she'd end up attacking him right then and there in the parking lot, the art event forgotten.

She ate one of the candies herself, put the lid back on the box, and set it on the center console for later. She'd given Jack more than enough of the aphrodisiac to spur a liberal amount of lust. Now it was just a matter of waiting for the right opportunity to present itself, so they could enjoy its effects.

They entered the Seaside Gallery and were greeted by Audrey. With her was Louis, the new artist whose paintings were being showcased for the special event. The place was filled with guests milling about, taking in the artwork on the walls, discussing the diverse sculptures on glass-topped tables, and viewing the featured artist's seascapes and marine life paintings. Kayla wasn't an art person, but was fascinated by the vibrant colors of the ocean and sunsets depicted on canvas. Jack seemed to be also.

She checked on the dessert table to make sure that everything looked as it should, and smiled as she overheard compliments from the guests on the petits fours and fondue sauces. She was thrilled when the employee serving the confections mentioned that the desserts had been supplied by Pure Indulgence.

"Champagne?" a young man asked as he held out a tray of drinks toward her and Jack.

"Umm, yes, please." Kayla took a flute of the bubbly liquid for herself, and passed one to Jack, too.

As they sipped their champagne, they strolled from room to room, discussing the artwork among themselves and with other guests. Jack remained by her side with his hand on the small of her spine, his touch possessive and arousing, as was the heat simmering in his eyes whenever their gazes met.

Every so often his palm would stroke lower, skimming provocatively over her bottom before returning to her back again. His illicit caresses made her breasts swell and her nipples peak, and intensified the desire pulsing between her thighs. She ached to touch him more intimately, too, to make him feel just as restless as she was, but they were surrounded by people and she was forced to behave herself. The necessity to practice restraint only served to elevate the hunger and need coiling tighter and tighter within her.

She finished off her champagne and set it on a passing tray just as they came across a sweeping staircase leading to a second level of the gallery. The entrance was roped off by a velvet cord, but that didn't stop Kayla from wanting to follow through on a mischievous idea that popped into her mind.

"Let's go see what's upstairs," she suggested in a whisper, excited by the prospect of being alone with Jack.

She expected a token protest from Jack, but he surprised her by agreeing, and like two naughty kids, they unlatched the velvet cord and quickly and silently made their way up to the second level.

It was quiet upstairs, and blessedly vacant. Hand in hand, they walked through the various rooms, taking in artwork that was more exotic and titillating than what was displayed below. Abstracts of nudes adorned the walls, along with real-life sketches and paintings that ranged from subtly sensual to more blatantly erotic.

"Take a look at these," Jack said in a low, astonished tone of voice.

He tugged her into a small room that was dimly lit, with marbled columns displaying a collection of bronze sculptures of nude couples in various sexual positions-from the standard missionary pose, to a man taking a woman from behind, to a woman sitting on top of a man. Fascinated and feeling like a voyeur in the midst of an orgy, Kayla stepped closer to a different pair of sculptures and was shocked to discover that each one depicted a couple being pleasured orally.

The first one portrayed a woman on her knees in front of a man, taking his shaft into her mouth while he twined his fingers through her long hair. His head was thrown back in the throes of ecstasy, his muscled body taut and straining, his face reflecting a passion so strong Kayla felt it to the very core of her being.

And then there was another of a woman lying on her back, her naked body arched and her hands caressing her own breasts as the man between her spread legs pleasured her with his tongue.

Jack came up behind her, rested his hands on her bare shoulders, and skimmed his lips close to her ear.

"That's exactly what I want to do to you."

His soft, seductive voice curled through her belly and sent shivers skittering across her skin. There was no denying the dampness gathering between her thighs at the thought of him pleasuring her so intimately, so erotically. Her sex felt heavy and swollen, her entire body strung tight with an urgent, demanding need she could no longer suppress.

She turned around and searched his dark, masculine features, taking in the desire that was for her alone. The fire she saw in his eyes made her weak in the knees and eager to experience anything and everything he was willing to offer tonight-even something as forbidden as an illicit tryst among erotic sculptures.

"Yes," she murmured. Curling her hand around his neck, she brought his mouth down to hers for a kiss that was deep and hot and wild.

With a low growl that reverberated in his chest, he pressed her up against the nearest wall and aligned his body to hers. His hands slipped down her sides, past her bottom and thighs, his touch urgent and wondrously aggressive, spurring her to a greater level of anticipation.

Grasping the hem of her dress, he shoved it up to her waist, exposing her lower body to the cool air in the room. She barely had time to catch her breath before he hooked his fingers behind one knee and lifted her leg up to his hip so that he could press his groin to hers. She felt every single hard inch of him.

She whimpered against his lips and shamelessly rubbed the hottest, neediest part of her against his thick shaft. Just as she'd shed all of her inhibitions, she wanted the flimsy barrier of her panties gone, too.

Jack seemed to know exactly what she needed, what she desperately craved. He sank to the carpeted floor in front of her and rasped, "Hold your dress up for me."

Caught up in the moment, she did as he asked. She gripped the silky fabric in tight fists, her thighs quivering as he dragged her underwear down and off, shoved them into his coat pocket, then smoothed his palms upward. He eased her legs further apart so he could touch her slick flesh with his long, warm fingers and could look his fill of her, which he did without an ounce of concern for her own modesty.

Kayla's heart slammed in her chest, and she couldn't move, couldn't seem to breathe as she waited for the decadent pleasure he'd promised her. Everywhere she looked she was surrounded by carnal images, and in her mind those sculptures became her and Jack, entwined in hedonistic positions, doing deliciously wicked things to one another…

"God, you're so, so beautiful," he said in an ardent whisper that touched her heart in unexpected ways, despite the sexual intensity of the moment.

She loved his tenderly spoken words, loved the way he made her feel beautiful and sexy when she was with him. He stroked along her cleft in a slow, maddening rhythm, and her hips moved helplessly against the glide of his fingers, his touch teasing instead of fulfilling the way she needed them to. "Jack… please."

He rubbed his cheek against her thigh, his lips warm and damp on her skin. "Shhh… I'll give you what you need, sweetheart."

His thumbs skimmed her swollen lips, opening her to him so that he could kiss her, deeply and intimately. His hot breath, the suctioning swirl of his tongue, all combined to make her come in a blinding, gut-wrenching rush of sensation completely beyond anything she'd ever experienced before. A low, sobbing cry escaped her throat, and her trembling legs threatened to give out on her.

He stood up, pinning her against the wall with the strength of his hard, aroused body. His lips claimed hers in a slow, lazy kiss that gave her time to come down from the exquisite high of her climax.

He drew back minutes later, when she could finally think and breath normally again, and gently touched her face. "You're amazing, you know that?"

She smiled drowsily, physically sated for the moment.

"I think you get all the credit for what just happened here, but I'd like to think that I can do amazing things to you, too." She smoothed her hand down his chest and cupped his erection in her palm.

He groaned like a dying man and grasped her wrist to stop her purposeful strokes. "Not here," he said huskily. "I want to take this somewhere private. Let's say goodbye to the host and get the hell out of here."

Kayla wasn't about to argue.

As soon as they walked into Kayla's house and the door was closed behind them, she was all over Jack, in an aggressive, demanding way that initially caught him off guard.

This time, she had him pressed up against the nearest wall, her mouth wild and greedy on his as she pushed his coat from his shoulders and nearly ripped open the buttons on his shirt in her haste to get it off him. She flattened her palms on his chest, over his rigid nipples, then dragged her cool fingers all the way down to the waistband of his slacks. She slanted her mouth beneath his, taking the kiss to a deeper, more erotic level as her shaking hands worked to loosen his belt, then fumbled to unbutton his slacks.

Her movements were anxious and eager, with a frantic edge that went beyond passion and touched on a desperation that made him wonder at its source. She was attacking him as if she feared he'd change his mind about them. As if this was the last time they'd ever make love.

Neither worries were even a distinct possibility, and he sought to ease her reckless, frenzied actions because he intended for this night to last longer than the time it took for a quick release. And that's exactly where things were heading if they didn't take tonight at a more leisurely pace.

He gently captured her face in his hands and pulled her head back a few inches, so he could look into her eyes. The entryway was dark and shadowed, but there was no mistaking the flush on her cheeks and the barely concealed glimmer of emotion in her gaze. "Slow down, Kayla, sweetheart. I'm not going anywhere."

She gave her head a quick shake in what seemed too much like a denial. "I need you inside me."

"That's exactly where I want to be, too," he said, and slid his thumbs along her jawline in a tender, calming caress. "We'll get there, I promise."

Their last two sexual encounters had been frenzied and quick, with their clothes barely shoved out of the way. Tonight was too important to him and to their relationship to rush. This time he wanted them both naked, wanted to feel her skin against his, wanted to see and watch the way her body responded to the touch of his hands, the stroke of his mouth.

And mostly, he wanted to make love to her on a soft mattress, face-to-face, heartbeat to heartbeat. "Take me to your bedroom."

She hesitated, just long enough for him to decide to take matters into his own hands. Lacing his fingers through hers, he moved down the darkened hallway, past what appeared to be an office she'd set up at home, until he found her bedroom. He pulled her inside, then moved to turn on the lamp on the nightstand.