“He’s gorgeous! And sexy. And he’s so smart about tequila.”
“Yes, yes, those are all things I noticed too.”
Carrie laughed and linked her arm through Hayden’s. “So he was good, huh?”
“Oh yeah. I can’t even…it was like some kind of chemical reaction. He just made me feel…all kinds of feelings. It was amazing.”
“Well, I didn’t expect this when I made these plans, but I think it’s awesome that you did something so spontaneous.”
“I don’t know. It makes me feel very uneasy.”
“It’s fine, Hayden. I mean…wait, you used protection, right?”
“Yes!”
“Okay, then, what’s the harm? I mean, I know nothing is ever a hundred percent foolproof, but you’re not likely pregnant, and not likely to get an STD, and you weren’t struck by lightning for having sex out of wedlock, so what’s the problem?”
Hayden sighed. “Your points have merit.”
“Thank you.”
“What about you and those guys? I couldn’t tell if you liked one more than the other.”
“They’re both nice.” Carrie shrugged. “There was no explosion of chemistry and spontaneous fucking, as with you and Beck, though.”
Hayden choked on a laugh.
“Who knows,” Carrie continued. “I might go out with one of them. Or both of them.”
Carrie spent the night on Hayden’s couch since she didn’t want to drive home after drinking all that tequila, which was totally fine and not the first time that had ever happened. In the morning, she downed a fast cup of coffee, then headed home.
“Thanks for coming to the bar with me last night,” she said as they lingered at Hayden’s door. “It was fun, right?”
“Right.” Whoa baby, yes.
“I’ll figure something else out for us to do next weekend.”
Hayden shook her head, smiling. “Okay, sure.”
Hayden spent the rest of the day reviewing all the information she needed for the presentation she was making tomorrow at the National Health Institute. While they were making progress with their research—enough that they’d been able to attract the attention of various corporations, government research councils, and charitable foundations—they had to continue to work on raising the funds they needed to operate.
Her usual focus was fractured, however. When it came to work she was single-minded and conscientious, but she couldn’t seem to stop her brain from replaying what had happened last night at Conquistadors. Over and over.
And not just her brain—she also couldn’t get her body to stop reliving it. She’d never experienced sensations like that…the adrenaline rush of taking a risk, of doing something so spontaneous and sensual and…erotic. The unbelievable pleasure Beck had so generously given her. She’d lived in a world of intellect for so long, not a world of physical, carnal pleasure. She was cautious, not reckless. Sensible, not senseless.
Finally, she gave up. Maybe if she just closed her eyes and went through it all from start to finish, that would get it out of her head.
Like the sweetest dream, she drifted, remembering…you want me to pour that tequila over you and lick it off…God! She pictured that—golden tequila trickling between her breasts and Beck’s dark head right there to lap it up…when he’d sucked on her nipples she’d thought she was going to implode, melting right into a puddle in his hands.
Give yourself over to the sensuality of it…tasting that tequila, letting the warmth spread through her body, pooling at her core…then tasting the cinnamon and caramel on Beck’s lips. His hungry, demanding kisses, his tongue in her mouth.
Damn. Now she was almost as aroused as she’d been last night, and since that had been highly arousing, she was pretty damn wet and aching. She bit her lip and looked around her home office. She was alone…why not?
She slid lower into her chair, spread her legs, and slipped her hand beneath her shorts and into her panties.
You want me to fuck you, gorgeous?
She couldn’t even believe she’d asked for that. She’d wanted it more than anything in that moment, which was scary because she had big goals and dreams she’d been working on for so long, and that had all disappeared in a heartbeat. All she could think of was assuaging the fierce ache between her legs…and Beck.
“Yes,” she moaned aloud, fingers finding slick heat. Her tongue swiped over her bottom lip, eyes still closed. “Yes, please fuck me.”
She relived the feel of Beck’s beard on her inner thighs and the sensitive skin of her pussy. Even now she felt the residual effects of that…her flesh lightly abraded, her thighs sore. She found her clit and circled one fingertip over it…oh God, yes, that felt so good…