It was just before seven o’clock when Adam shifted Olivia off his chest and propped himself up on an elbow to look at her.
Her
eyes were heavy lidded with satisfaction, and her perfectly smooth hair
all mussed up. She met his gaze head on, not hiding anything, and
something tightened in his chest. He’d been right to be afraid, the
woman was dangerously close to perfect.
“You hungry?” he asked.
Plump lips tilted up at the corners, and her eyes sparkled. “For food?”
He laughed. “Yes, for food. For now, anyway.”
“Yes, you did promise me dinner, didn’t you?” she said as she rolled from the bed behind him and went in search of her clothes.
“I did,” he said as he pulled on his jeans, zipping them, but not buckling his belt.
Naked,
curvy, and all woman, she walked confidently around his place, picking
up her blouse then her skirt. He waited until she’d gathered all her
clothes and had pulled on her bra and panties before tossing his T-shirt
at her. “Just wear this for now.”
He
didn’t need it, and it looked way better on her anyway. The
satisfaction he felt at seeing her wearing something of his was new to
him. Usually he was happy to usher a bedmate out of his space once they
left the mattress behind. Right then, all he could think of was how
right she looked in his space, wearing his shirt.
“Any
dietary needs I should know about?” he asked as he headed for the
kitchen. “If you’ve got an allergy or something, I need to know. But if
you tell me you’re a vegetarian or something, we might have a problem.”
“Nope,”
she said with a light laugh as she slid onto one of the kitchen
stools. “No allergies, and not a vegetarian. I’ll eat pretty much
anything, at least once anyway.”
He smiled at her. “Adventurous, hmm?”
“In many ways.”
“And not always a lady, I noticed. I’m liking that about you.”
She chuckled, a pretty pink blush creeping up her cheeks. Christ, she was beautiful.
He
stopped gathering food from the fridge and went to lean on the counter
in front of her. Close enough he could see the flecks of gold in her
green eyes, he smiled. “Have you ever shared yourself like that before?”
Her head moved back and forth slowly. “Not like that, no.”
Strangely,
he knew exactly what she meant. He’d gone very easy on her dominance
wise, yet he felt they’d had a deeper connection, a better sharing than
he’d experienced before. With her, it hadn’t just been controlling and
taking what she offered, he’d given of himself too.
“I’m
not going to ask if you liked it, because I know you did. But I do want
to know how you feel about going deeper into it with me.”
Her brow puckered, and her head tilted. “Into what?”
“Into a relationship. A Dominant-submissive relationship.”
Why
it surprised her she didn’t know. It really shouldn’t have, all the
signs had been there. His whole caveman energy, the wanting complete
control over her sexually. She knew that’s what being Dominant was for
some; being in control. She’d even thought of what she was doing as
submitting when she’d reached for the buttons on her shirt, but somehow
it hadn’t really hit her that it was a real and permanent thing for
him.
Her brain kicked in and she looked at Adam patiently waiting for her answer.
She
licked her lips, suddenly nervous. She’d been thinking they were having
a one-night stand, but it sounded like he wanted more. Did she?
Heart pounding in her chest she met his gaze. “I want to say yes, but before I do, I want to know more.”
He smiled with something like pride. “You are a smart one, aren’t you?”
She breathed easy. “I like to think so.”
He
went back to shuffling plates and food around on the side counter by
the fridge. “Ask me anything,” he said with a smile. “I’ll answer as
honest as I can.”
Surprisingly, the first question that popped into her head wasn’t about sex. “How old are you?”
“Thirty-six.”
“Wow,” she said.
“What?”
“You’ve turned me into a cougar!”
He laughed. “Age is just a number, babe. It doesn’t mean anything.”
“I’m forty-four, you know.”
He shrugged. “Just a number.”
He
was right, people said it all the time. She even said it. She rarely
felt her age, only on days when she was really stressed or sad about
some of the way things have changed since she was younger. For some
reason, his lack of concern about their age difference felt like
everything else about him—right.
A
short time later, Samair came out of the ladies room in time to see
Valentine Ward climbing the stairs to the second floor. Unable to deny
the impulse, she followed him.
It
was getting late, close to the end of the night and the stairs were
empty. Almost everyone was either on the dance floor or cozying up to
another warm body in a dark corner. She was on the bottom step just as
he reached the top, and she got a quick view of fine cotton tightening
over the perfect shape of his butt. How could a man’s ass look that
good in dress pants? Normally only tight denim or bare naked looked so
yummy to her.
Sure, her blood had been running hot all night, but that sight made her breath catch and her fingers itch.
She
climbed the stairs, her eyes tracking him as he crossed the floor. He
waved at a blond guy with tattoos who sat at the bar in the small VIP
section, but didn’t slow his pace. He nodded at the bouncer watching
over the sectioned off space, then turn left and disappeared down a
corridor she hadn’t noticed earlier.
Throwing
her shoulders back, she sauntered behind him, flashing the bouncer a
small smile. When she entered the corridor, there was an open door at
the end of it.
“Enjoying yourself tonight?” he asked when she entered the room.
He
stood behind a large wooden desk, his head bent as he slid something
into a drawer. She’d been silent, but he’d known she was there.
Impressive.
“Yes, I am,” Samair replied, stepping more fully into the office and looking around. “Are you?”
The
room was very clean and modern, though not large. An overstuffed
leather couch along one wall, some bookshelves, a closed door to the
right of her and a floor-to-ceiling wall of windows on her left. It
looked normal, yet the air in the room seemed to vibrate with an
extraordinary energy. When the drawer of his desk snapped closed, she
stopped fighting it and let her gaze focus on him.
Midnight
dark hair slicked back in a small ponytail only emphasized the strength
of his features. Dark eyebrows over even darker eyes, and shadows of
stubble along his jaw gave him an edgy, dangerous look. His stark
handsomeness was completely masculine, except for the softness of full
sensuous lips that lifted at the corner before he spoke. “I’m about to
enjoy it more.”
He looked like a wolf in sheep’s clothing, and the gleam in his eye told her she was the lamb he wanted.
