Commanding Her Seal (Plus Bonus Novella)(17)

She nipped at his lower lip with her teeth, and his thighs tensed under the pressure, hips circling involuntarily as heat flushed across his skin.

“Come for me, baby,” she purred. “Right now. Give it to me. I want to feel all of it gushing against my skin.”

And that was it. Sparks flew across his vision as he exploded in a burst of sensation and then emptied himself into her hand with a hoarse groan. She drew it out, squeezing until he was wrung dry. He let his head fall back against the booth.

“That was just to take the edge off,” she informed him as she used a napkin to clean up. “Ready to order? I’m starving.”





Charlie excused himself, and Audra gladly let him go. The wine was delicious, the view was amazing, and she had all night to get her hands on that gorgeous man once again.

She’d gotten him good and messy and would do it again in a heartbeat.

The beleaguered waiter hovered into view again but didn’t even bother to stay when he saw the empty seat.

Charlie rounded the edge of the booth in four minutes flat, surprising her. With the lissome grace she’d come to expect, he slid onto the seat, scooted up next to her and took her hand, holding it to his lips for a long kiss that bobbled her pulse.

“I thought you were going back to your room to change,” she said a touch breathlessly because oh, my God the man got her motor humming. And they’d only scratched the surface of the things she wanted to do to him and have him do to her and the ways they could enjoy each other.

“I did,” he murmured. “Took the stairs. Both ways.”

“Um, aren’t you on the top floor?” Last time she checked, the resort had eighteen stories.

He grinned. “I was motivated.”

God, how sexy was that? Not only a strong swimmer, which was totally her crack in the first place, but a champion stair climber too? He wasn’t even winded, with not one spiky blond hair out of place. “I’ll bet.”

Any guy who got a hand job at dinner would be. Maybe he planned to return the favor.

If he did, he’d find out that she wasn’t wearing underwear beneath her dress. The look on his face as she’d stroked him under the table—heavy lidded with pleasure—had gotten her very hot indeed.

“I’ve been looking forward to this part all day. I like being with you.” And then he surprised her again by kissing her on the cheek and opening the menu. But he didn’t release her hand and held it in his beneath the table. Not in a pervy way, like he was about to shove it against his crotch. Sweetly. “Talk to me. I want to know things. Like the names of your stuffed animals growing up, what you want to do after you get your doctorate. Do you have any other brothers?”

Things? She didn’t generally get into conversations about “things” with guys. On purpose.

Men in her life had a habit of taking off, and this one was no different. He’d even told her he’d disappear in two weeks—which she’d been banking on. Treating this fling like anything other than what it was sounded like a recipe for trouble, and she avoided that like the plague.

“Oh, is that what we’re doing here?” she mused nonchalantly. “Personal stuff?”

He shrugged, never missing a beat. “Sure. Whatever you’d like to tell me. I just want some context to the woman I’m about to tangle up in my sheets.”

“That’s a little precious coming from you, Charlie with no last name.” Giving him no room to squirm, she stared him down. “This is one situation where you can’t have your cake and eat it too. Either we’re strangers who want a hot, anonymous fling or we’re not.”

Flings over things. That was the only way to fly, and she had no reason to veer from that.

His gaze narrowed a touch, crinkling the corners of his eyes, but he didn’t flinch, bless him. Rock solid. It was a bigger turn-on than it should be. And then she was the one squirming.

Why? Because he was sexy? That was the whole point here. As long as he backed up that orgasm on the beach with several more, was she really going to stumble over what about him got her hot and bothered?

“I’d like to think we’re somewhere in the middle,” he said quietly. “But we’re not because I threw up those walls first. It was the wrong thing to do. I’m sorry. I didn’t mean to hurt you.”

Oh, God. Wordlessly, she absorbed his sincerity as it clutched at her heart with little razor teeth. She hadn’t meant to fling that down as a gauntlet, like she was daring him to change the rules in the middle of the game. “You didn’t. It’s okay. I’m fine with no last names. The need to keep stuff separate is not just on your side.”