Into the Night (6 page)

“Do you like your job?” he asked.

“At the moment I’m a little frustrated,” she admitted, playing it cool and casual. “I mean, come on, it doesn’t take a genius to write an article on speed dating.”

He chuckled, and before he could keep up his line of inquiry, she spun the spotlight back on him. “Speaking of which, what were some of the more amusing questions you were asked tonight?”

“Let me think.” He turned thoughtful as he considered his night of dating more than a dozen women. “One woman asked me, ‘If aliens landed on earth and selected you to visit their home planet, would you go with them?’”

She burst out laughing. “Oh, that’s just plain scary,” she said, then shared one of her own. “After a few minutes in one of my sessions, I had a guy ask if he was cute enough for me, or did I need more to drink? Talk about a cheesy pickup line.”

Nathan groaned. “It’s guys like him that give us all a bad reputation when it comes to dating women.”

“Just so you know, you passed our speed-dating round with flying colors.”

After submerging a small cheesecake square into the melted sauce, she popped the tidbit into her mouth and moaned at the rich, sweet flavors sliding across her taste buds. The delicious combination melted on her tongue, and she closed her eyes and groaned again, certain she’d died and gone to dessert heaven. This creation was by far her favorite.

“That good, huh?” Nathan asked, interrupting her near-orgasmic experience.

Her lashes fluttered open as she swallowed the last of the treat, immediately noticing that his eyes had grown dark from watching her. “Oh, yeah,” she murmured in a low purr of sheer satisfaction. She speared another cube of cheesecake and drenched it in the fondue. “Here, try it for yourself.”

Just as she lifted the cheesecake toward him, dripping with the scrumptious sauce, it slid off the end of the fork and fell to her plate. Without really thinking her actions through, she picked up the morsel and hand-fed it to him.

And that’s when everything changed, from light and fun, to a mood that unleashed the underlying desire simmering between them from the beginning. Undoubtedly, it was a sensual experience just slipping the soft, gooey cheesecake past his lips, and it was more than enough to give her pulse a nice little jolt of awareness. But then he did the unexpected, and when she would have pulled her hand back, he grasped her wrist and held it captive.

“Hold on a sec,” he said in a deep and sexy tone. “I’m feeling cheated. All the good stuff is still on your fingers.”

The challenge in his heated gaze was undeniable. The wicked grin on his lips was just as daring. Would she or wouldn’t she let him lick all that caramel chocolate off her?

She wasn’t in a position to say no. And didn’t want to. He brought her hand back to his lips and flicked his tongue across the tips of her fingers, wringing a groan from deep inside her. He licked and sucked and nibbled the chocolate sauce off her skin, and took his sweet time doing so, setting off a whole different kind of hunger between them and sending a wave of lustful heat rushing through her veins. It was all she could do to keep from straddling his lap and kissing him senseless.

“Mmmm, good,” he said huskily, and gave her index finger one last slow lick she felt all the way down between her thighs.

Completely aroused, she squirmed on the leather seat beside him, and knew she was breathing harder and faster than normal.

Done turning her inside out with wanting him, he dipped a clean linen napkin into his water glass and used the damp cloth to clean the rest of the stickiness from her hand and fingers. All the while she couldn’t stop thinking about pressing her lips to his and tasting all that male heat—deeply, thoroughly.

All alone in their private booth, the aching need grew, until it could no longer be ignored and the bold and brazen words were tumbling from her lips before she could stop them. “Nathan … I want to kiss you. Can I?”

A slow smile spread across his gorgeous face. “Yeah, I’d like that.”

He rested his arm along the back of the seat and remained where he was, waiting for her to make the first move and doing nothing to meet her halfway. Yes, she’d been the one to ask for the kiss, and he was definitely going to make her work for it. A delightful, exciting surprise, considering most guys would have been all over her by now.

The truth was, she liked being the one setting the pace and calling the shots when it came to anything sexual. It was a control thing for her, a way of keeping physical pleasure separated from any emotional involvement—an arrangement that worked well for her.

Placing her hand on his chest, she leaned in closer, tipped her head to the side, and settled her lips against his with a sensual sigh. His mouth was soft and warm and oh-so-inviting, and—unable to resist the temptation—she slipped her tongue past the seam of his lips and was greeted with the heady taste of chocolate, caramel, and the kind of pure male heat that could threaten to consume her if she let it.

While he had allowed her to initiate the kiss, once she delved deeper, turning the chaste caress of lips to more provocative play, Nathan didn’t hesitate to join in, exploring with equal leisure. His tongue stroked inside her mouth, so seductive, so coaxing, and her entire body hummed with intense pleasure.

Her hand slid around his neck, her fingers tangling in the rich, dark strands of hair curling over the collar of his shirt. It was clear Nathan was a man who appreciated the fine art of foreplay, enjoyed every nuance, and loved the chase as much as the capture. The slow sweep of his tongue was as luxurious as it was arousing, and his mouth promised to pleasure her in every way imaginable.

She nearly whimpered at the thought, but somehow managed to pull back and end the kiss. They were both breathing rapidly, and his gaze glittered with a passion and a fire that matched her own. A passion that had the potential of filling the aching emptiness within her, if she dared.

Oh, God, she wanted that. Wanted
him
. It had been so long since she’d felt so alive, so wildly attracted to a man. She’d already told him she wasn’t looking for anything complicated or long-term, and he’d admitted the same. There was nothing wrong with them enjoying the rest of the evening together and what had the potential to be some incredibly hot sex. It was what her body needed. It was what she craved.

One night only, no strings attached.

“This is going to sound very forward, but I know if I don’t ask I’ll regret it later.” She inhaled deeply and let it out real slow, grasping the fortitude to finish her question despite the warmth suddenly suffusing her face. “How do you feel about going somewhere quiet and private so we can be alone, just the two of us?”

There was no mistaking what she meant. “Are you sure about that?” he asked as he gently pushed a tousled curl from her cheek.

It was that tender touch that sealed the deal for her. “Absolutely, one hundred percent positive.”

A devastatingly sexy grin curved his mouth. “Your place or mine?”

The anticipation making its way through her system was very, very sweet. “Yours.”

Chapter Four

Even though Nathan was anxious to be alone with Nicole, he drove just under the speed limit and kept the sight of her car in his rearview mirror at all times as she followed him to his house. He’d recently moved from a small apartment in the city to a neighborhood on the outskirts of Vegas, and Nicole was the first woman he’d ever brought to his new home. But somehow it felt right, and he didn’t regret offering his place as an option.

When he’d agreed to be part of the speed-dating event, he never would have anticipated that this was how the evening would end. It was a pleasant surprise, and while the Ramsey assignment was definitely in the back of his mind, there wasn’t anything he could do about the case tonight.

He intended to enjoy a few hours with Nicole—a mutual satisfying night of hot sex—and in the morning, they’d go their separate ways. They’d already established she wasn’t interested in anything serious, and neither was he. It was the perfect arrangement. They were two adults attracted to each other, and they were taking advantage of the chemistry between them. It was a straightforward, cut-and-dried situation, and exactly what he needed before he immersed himself in Preston Sloane’s sordid world.

Arriving at his house at the end of a cul-de-sac, he pulled his silver Audi Coupe into the garage and she parked in the driveway behind him. He got out of his car, noticed she was in her vehicle and on her cell phone, and waited for her to finish the call. Most likely, she was letting someone know where she was, just in case. Smart girl.

Less than a minute later she was walking toward him with a sultry smile on her lips—just for him. He held his hand out to her, and she placed her fingers against his palm and let him lead her inside the house, through the kitchen, and into the adjoining living room. He flipped a switch, and a lamp next to the leather sofa illuminated the area in a soft glow.

She looked around, taking in his basic furnishings, making him see the interior of the house through her eyes. “Sorry the place is so empty and sparse. I used to live in a small studio apartment and I’ve only had this house a few months. I haven’t had time to buy more furniture.” And he honestly didn’t need much.

Smiling, she set her purse on the long table situated in the entryway where he’d left his keys, then started back toward him, a playful glint in her eyes, along with a whole lot of heat. “All that matters is that there’s a bed somewhere.”

He liked the way she thought. “There is. I have a really nice four-poster king-sized bed with a pillow-top mattress.” A completely new mahogany bedroom set had been his only indulgence when he’d moved in, and now he was glad he’d splurged.

“I can’t wait to see it,” she said, but it was obvious by the single-minded way she tugged his shirt from his pants and pushed it up and over his head, right then and there, that she wasn’t in any big hurry to rush off to the bedroom.

Neither was he. They’d get there, in time.

He tossed the shirt aside and sucked in a sharp breath when she splayed her cool hands low on his abdomen, then slowly skimmed her palms upward, using her fingers to familiarize herself with the hard planes of his chest. Her soft hands felt amazing on his skin, and when her thumbs grazed his taut nipples, he couldn’t contain the groan that ripped from his throat.

His response seemed to set her off, too. She went in for a kiss, nipping at his bottom lip as her hands slid back down to the waistband of his trousers and started unbuckling his belt, her movements quick and impatient, as if she couldn’t wait to get to the main event. She was back to being the aggressive one, and at the rate she was going he knew that once she had his aching shaft in her hands this encounter was going to spiral into a hot, fast, no-frills coupling that would be over in minutes.

Normally, he wouldn’t complain, but there was so much about this woman he wanted to savor—with his hands, his mouth, and eventually, his entire body. For him, there was no rush. They had all night, and he planned to make the most of those hours together—and that meant taking charge of the situation before he was too far gone to think straight.

Grasping her wrists, he pulled her hands away from his belt and drew his head back, breaking the contact of her lips on his. She looked up at him in confusion, and he took advantage of her momentary bewilderment to guide her back a few steps, until he had her pressed up against the nearest wall and his thighs bracketed hers.

Her eyes widened in surprise, and he smiled at her as he straightened her arms back to her sides, then flattened her palms against the cool surface behind her. “Keep your hands against the wall, and no touching.”

She arched a brow, though her blue eyes had gone all dark and smoky at his command. “That hardly seems fair,” she murmured, but didn’t appear too upset at the role reversal.

He shrugged unapologetically. “My house, my rules,” he said as he trailed his fingers along the gentle swell of her hips and the indentation of her waist, tracing the lean lines of her figure through her dress. He couldn’t wait until she was naked and he could touch her bare skin and explore her sensual curves.

She blinked her lashes lazily, though the rise and fall of her breasts told him just how aroused she was. “And if I break them?”

Leaning into her, he brushed his lips against the shell of her ear. “There are consequences, of course.”

She shivered in excitement. “Ummm, that just might be worth being bad.”

He chuckled, amused by her feisty attitude. Lifting his hands, he threaded his fingers through the soft curls at the side of her face and met her velvet blue gaze. “Back at the restaurant, I let you have the first kiss. This one’s mine. And remember,
no touching
.”

He dipped his head and took her mouth in a soft, chaste kiss. She groaned in frustration, clearly wanting more, and he made her suffer a bit longer, because it was so much fun to do so. He licked her bottom lip, teasing her, and gently nibbled the soft bit of flesh with his teeth.

She whimpered, her lips automatically parting, tempting him to take what she was offering, and it was more than he could resist. With his hands entwined in the silky strands of her hair, he angled her head to the side, aligning their mouths for maximum pleasure, and deepened the contact. His tongue sank into the sweet, hot depths of her mouth, and he finally kissed her like he’d been dying to. In an instant, lust and need collided in a combustible combination of liquid heat and uncontrollable passion.