Lovers in law (24 page)

“Wear red tonight,” I said,
pulling against me for one last kiss. “Red dress.
Hig
h red shoes. Red lace panties that I
can tear off as soon as we’re back here.”

“Perhaps I don’t want to sleep with
you,” she teased.

I shrugged.
“Who’s talking about sleep?”

I was on edge all day.
Hovering somewhere between excitement at seeing Allie again,
anticipation at
all the wicked things I
wanted to do to her body and the most colossal arousal.

This was where relationships
scored over casual sex, I decided. A night out on the town, nine
times out of ten, ended
with sex of some
sort – enough to keep me satisfied for another few days. But being
on a promise from six o’clock that morning had ramped up the
excitement levels beyond bearable. I’d even made a couple of
schoolboy errors in my hearing that morning and had had to think on
my feet to recover the situation.

Thank heaven the long
court gown hid a multitude of sins I had yet to
commit.

Rather than keep Allie
waiting, I arrived early
at the
restaurant and ordered a bottle of champagne. I kept my eyes fixed
on the door, ready for the first glimpse of her, feeling as nervous
as a schoolboy on his first date. But when she finally appeared,
every fear, every thought, drained from me and the world fell
away.

Walking towards me was
the
most beautiful, provocative, sensual
woman I had ever laid eyes on. Allie’s red dress was slashed low
between her full breasts and pulled in tight around her ribs. The
soft skirt swished around her long legs, skimming her knees and I
immediately thought how easy it would be to slide my hand up inside
its folds during dinner.

Her
delicate stilettos were the kind that were designed to be
worn by a naked woman in a horny man’s bedroom – high, pointed and
hot, shiny red – and I wanted their imprint on my chest before the
night was out.

My cock stiffened before my
imagination had even had chance to consider her
underwear
.

Every erotic fantasy I’d ever
had
immediately came to life and I let
out a long, slow breath as I tried to bring my heart rate under
control.

When she reached me,
Allie stood on tiptoes and pressed herself
against me to kiss my cheek. “Close your mouth, Radford,” she
whispered. “It’s rude to stare.”

But I wasn’t the only one
staring.
A dozen men had watched her walk
across the restaurant and, when she climbed onto the bar stool
beside me, I felt all my Christmas had come a month
early.

“I’m suddenly not very hungry,” I
admitted, pouring Allie a glass of champagne. I spilled it – too
busy looking at the ruby pendant nestling in her cleavage. “Why
don’t we just get out of here now.”

Allie’s sensual lips curved
into a smile so full of promise I thought she was about to agree.
“This is foreplay, Radford. You’re being seduced. And when I’ve
bought you dinner, I’ll expect something in return.”

Her hand rested on my knee,
her nails the same slutty red she’d worn that first day in
chambers
. They’d look so sexy scratching
down my chest later.

“Did you complete Aiden’s deal,” I
asked in an attempt to lower the sexual tension.

“Finally.” She rolled her eyes. “He
disappeared yesterday afternoon and we couldn’t reach him to
clarify some last points. When we did, he was half way up a hill in
Yorkshire.”

“Yorkshire?” Aiden hadn’t mentioned
anything to me about heading north.

“Don’t ask. He was very
secretive. I was praying we’d sort it all out so I could get away
early to go lingerie shopping.”

“And did you?”

“I did.”

“What did you buy?”
I needed graphic details – colours, textures,
ease of removal.

“I bought several things
actually. All of which
will appear on the
menu over the weekend.”

“What do I get for an
appetiser?”

“Red. That’s all I’m saying
for now.”

It was more than
enough.
Testosterone came to the boil
somewhere in the lower half of my body.

Luckily
Allie had booked a table in a private booth because the
pre-Christmas parties drowned out much of our conversation. It gave
me the perfect excuse to lean in close to her, using any pretext to
touch her. A stray strand of hair that needed tucking behind her
ear. A finger down her thigh to find out whether she was wearing
suspenders or hold-up stockings. [The former, in case you’re
interested]. An arm around her as we looked at the wine list
together.

I gave her all my best lines;
flirting outrageously, making her laugh and throwing her a
c
ompliment every other sentence. In
return, she went out of her way to drive me mad with lust. A
careless hand resting on my thigh, a finger slipped in between
shirt buttons, a filthy suggestion whispered to me behind the menu.
The banter was fast and hot, and I was as turned on by her mind as
I was by the whisper of her stockings against my calf.

But half way through the
evening, I
realised I was trying too hard
to impress her. The battle was already won. Why else would Allie be
sitting beside me looking so beautiful? If we were going to build
on that night, and turn it into any kind of relationship, it was
time we both lifted the lid and went down deeper than we’d ever
allowed anyone to go before.

It was time to be honest and I
licked my lips nervously.

“Until now, dating’s always
felt like appearing in court,” I admitted, my defences crumbling to
lay my innermost emotions bare. “I turn up, say the lines and, when
I win, I get my reward.”

“Sex,” Allie guessed,
although there was no condemnation in her voice. “You make it sound
like a bad thing.”

“Pretending to be someone else is
always a bad thing.”

“Then tell me who are you
Radford? Who am I getting involved with?”

Her green eyes pierced my
soul, seeing past the front put up by Radford Byrne
– successful barrister, terrifying opponent and
ruthless womaniser – leaving me exposed and uncertain and stupidly
desperate for her approval.

“I’m thirty-five years old,”
I began. “My client list reads like a Who’s Who of the world’s
construction industry
. I own a penthouse
overlooking the Thames and I have the latest Aston Martin on order.
My opposite numbers fear me in court because I’m a ferocious
advocate. My hourly rate would make your eyes water but my clients
know they can’t afford to use anyone else because I’m a winner. A
wealthy, renowned winner.”

“So that’s who’s been sharing
my table for the last two hours.
I
wondered who he was.” Allie entwined her fingers with mine before
leaning in to kiss me lightly on the cheek. But she sighed heavily,
ominously, and a sense of foreboding crept in between us.. “The man
you’ve just described is perfect. He’s handsome, sexy, confident,
successful. Women have been giving him covert glances all night.
He’s told me jokes, made me feel beautiful and, at the end of the
evening, he’s hopefully going to take me back to his penthouse for
some mind-blowing sex.”

“Now you’re making it sound
like a bad thing.” I’d heard enough
witness testimony to know there was one, huge but
coming.

“But…if that’s the kind of
man you really are, I know already that you’re not someone I’m
looking for long term.”

“What!”

“If that’s all you’re
offering, Radford, I’m not interested. I’ve been dating swaggering,
egotistical, handsome men for a decade and I’m exhausted by
them.”

Her
brutal honesty hit hard. A cold surge washed over me and
the hairs on my arm stood on end. After coming so far – feeling so
sure of myself – was I about to lose her after all? Of all the
women I’d set out to impress, I couldn’t bear the thought of
failing with Allie.

“What do you want then?” I
asked, not sure I wanted to hear.

“Perhaps more than you can
give.”

“Then why go through this
elaborate pretence if you had no intention of taking it any
further?”

Allie’s grip tightened on my
hand and I clung on. “What I’m really looking for is someone who
turns up late at my office with pizzas because he knows what it’s
like to work under that much pressure,” she said, a smile dancing
around the corners of her full, red lips that I wanted to kiss
away. “A man who can’t bear to see me shivering and wraps me in his
scarf. A proud brother who brags about his sister. A good friend
who adores his goddaughter. Someone who’s prepared to get himself
arrested to protect my honour – even though it’s a long-lost
cause.”

Relief surged through
me
. “I could be that guy,” I offered.
That and a lot more besides. “I’ve only ever had myself to think
about but I’ve loved doing things for you this week.”

“It’s been wonderful to be taken
care of.”

“You bring out the best in
me, Allie. Whenever I’m with you, I want to hold you in my arms and
fight off the world.”

She paused to let the idea
sink in deeper and the smile came again, this time wistful
and
content. “There’s every danger I
might fall in love with a man like that.”

“Then fall,” I told her for
the second time in as many weeks. “Because I’ve already begun
falling in love with you and it would be wonderful to share the
journey.”

I’d have kissed Allie there
and then – crowded restaurant or not – but the waiter appeared at
our table to clear our plates.

“Would you like to see the
dessert menu?” he asked
.

I glanced at Allie
but saw she had the reply ready on her unkissed
lips.

“No, thank you. I’ll just take the
bill.”

But then she added the magic
words.

“With a portion of tiramisu –
to go.”

Radford was such a
pushover.
From the minute I’d walked into
the restaurant he’d been thinking from the waist down and the
mention of tiramisu tipped him right over the edge.

“What’s the matter,
Radford?”
I asked innocently. “Don’t you
like tiramisu any more.”

His smouldering look lit
the
first flames of a fire that would
burn out of control before the night was much older. “You know I
love it,” he growled. “And I love the thought of licking it off
your pussy right before I fuck you.”

He didn’t need to draw me a
diagram
. We got our coats.

As soon as we were
out
side, Radford pulled me roughly
against him and ground his mouth down onto mine. His tongue invaded
me, stealing my breath; fierce, unyielding and possessive. I
shivered against him – half from cold and half from desire – but he
held me more tightly until the shaking stopped, and warmed me with
his hot breath across my cheeks.

“I’ve wanted to do that all
night,” he said against my lips, his mouth reluctant to relinquish
its power over mine.
“I want to brand my
kiss on every inch of your body until your skin burns for
me.”

“Then
take me home,” I breathed, anticipation rising. “We’ve
waited so long already. Don’t let’s waste another
minute.”

We crossed the Millennium
Bridge that joined the South Bank with St Paul’s, the wind
raw as it came off the Thames and Radford’s arm
tight around me to keep me warm. Christmas lights shone along each
bank while the surface of the black river beneath us glinted with a
thousand broken rainbows. Ahead, the huge, floodlit dome of St
Paul’s loomed, guiding us back to Radford’s flat as we laughed and
kissed our way over the bridge towards it.

Our coats
hit the hall floor before Radford’s front door had slammed
behind us and we reached for one another. I’d never felt such
hunger for a man, nor such desire to be devoured by one either, and
let go of every thought except for the touch and taste of
Radford.

H
e
kissed me so hard my lips bruised and I winced, but my passion for
him was just as violent, taking us both by storm. I shrugged his
jacket from his shoulders and tore his shirt from his trousers. Too
impatient to unbutton it, I pulled it off over his head so my
greedy mouth could feast on the hot skin of his hairy chest a
second sooner.

Radford
lost control and pushed me back up against the wall. His
lips took possession of mine while his body held me prisoner,
leaving his hands free to pull my dress up roughly around my
waist.

This was no longer seduction.
It was rough, urgent sex. Radford’s body was on fire for me,
burning out of control but I matched his ferocity with my own. I
clawed at him. Biting and scratching. Venting six months of sexual
longing on his hard body.

Subtlety dissolved and Radford
unleashed his potent desire.