Intent to Seduce & A Glimpse of Fire(76)
Had she? Certainly when she was younger, just out of college, she’d done her share of flaunting her independence. She’d ended up paying for her own graduate studies as a result. Anyway, she’d backed off since then. The construction job didn’t count. That had nothing to do with rebellion. It was good, honest work, and she needed the money.
Her conscience whispered otherwise, and she shifted positions as if the maneuver would ease her emotional discomfort.
Eric obviously misunderstood and pulled her closer. She smelled the cognac lingering on his breath, the musky masculine scent that was all his. “Okay if we go back to my place?” he whispered into her hair and then rubbed his clean-shaven chin there.
She hesitated, unsure what kind of company she’d make. And then he tilted her chin up and kissed her, and she knew she’d be a lot more miserable at home, fret ting over what she was missing.
CHAPTER SIXTEEN
ERIC HAD A PROBLEM. HE CLOSED HIS apartment door be hind him and watched Dallas sink into the couch and kick off her shoes. She was in a strange mood. Even before she’d splattered the pie on the hardwood dining room floor. The memory brought an involuntary grin to his face, which he promptly stifled.
The thing was, he needed to give Horn an answer on Monday, but Eric didn’t think now was the right time. Maybe later, after she’d relaxed. After they’d made love.
Maybe he could even talk her into spending the night. Then over breakfast he’d lay it all out. God, he couldn’t even recall the last time he’d let a woman spend the night.
He tossed his keys on the kitchen counter. “How about something to drink?”
She groaned. “I think I’ve probably had enough.”
“You only had two glasses, but I have orange juice, or I can make coffee.”
Dallas shook her head and smiled. “I’m good.”
“Yes, you are,” he said with a suggestive grin, moving in beside her and sliding an arm around her. “Very good, in fact.”
She didn’t hesitate to snuggle up to him and lay her cheek against his chest. “Tell me something.”
He picked up a lock of her honey-colored hair and let the silken strands fall between his fingers. “Any thing.”
“Tell me about your family.”
“Like what?”
“I know you have two brothers and you’re the middle one. But that’s all.”
The subject was bound to come up. He still didn’t like it. But he wouldn’t lie. Not that he would volunteer more than her curiosity demanded, either. “Well, I think I told you I grew up in Pittsburgh. All of my family is still there. My parents still live in the same house where I grew up.”
“Sounds like my family.”
“Nope, my family is nothing like yours.”
She flinched and moved away, and he knew she’d taken it wrong.
“My family is strictly blue-collar,” he quickly clarified. “Our dinner conversation tended to center around who the Steelers were going to cream that weekend.”
“That’s football, right?”
“See what I mean? That question alone would be considered sacrilege where I come from.”
She grinned. “What happens when the Steelers lose?”
“Two days of lamenting what a bum the quarterback is and how the coach has no business coaching in the pros. And then they start getting pumped for the next weekend’s game.”
“They? You didn’t participate?”
Smiling, he ran a hand down her thigh. “You caught me.”
She shifted closer again. “Then you went to college?”
“Only one in the family.”
“Go back to visit often?”
“Mostly just on holidays. I’ve got a bunch of nieces and nephews I like to see. And of course, my parents.”
“And your bothers?”
“Sometimes there’s tension. They think I’m uppity.”
“Are you?”
“What do you think?”
She stared down at his fly and gave her head a sorrowful shake. “You’re not uppity.”
He barked out a laugh.
“But I can take care of that,” she said, sliding her hand across his thigh.
That’s all it took, and he started getting pretty damn uppity. She undid his belt buckle, and he relaxed his head back against the cushions, his arms stretched out along the back of the couch, and he watched her.
She took her time, unzipping an inch, kissing him through the fabric, unzipping some more. She was making him crazy, just as he was sure she intended. When he lifted his ass so she could pull down his waistband, she ignored him and pushed the front of his slacks aside. She found the opening in his boxers and freed his cock. He sprung up hard and ready.
She touched her tongue to the tip, and he shuddered. She glanced up, took another lick and smiled. “Did you say something?”
“Help.”
She laughed. “Don’t you worry. A little CPR should take care of the problem.” She lowered her head, but fool that he was, he stopped her, and she blinked up in surprise.
“Stay the night.”
A small frown drew her brows together. “I don’t know.”
“We’ll get up early, have breakfast and then you can do whatever.”
A slow smile curved her lips just as she ran her tongue around the head. “You stopped me for that?”
He groaned and closed his eyes. How could he think straight when she was doing that?
She took him into her mouth, and he forgot about anything besides her warm breath and talented tongue. She went from gentle swirls to assault mode and back again, keeping him off balance, taking him to the brink and then reeling him back in.
Until he couldn’t take it anymore. He tried to get up, intent on reciprocating, but she gave it all she had, and the explosion started before he had another coherent thought.
DALLAS AWOKE AROUND DAWN. Bits of dusky light seeped through the blinds. She tried to roll over to see the alarm clock, but Eric had curled around her, his chest pressed to her back, the stubble from his chin tickling her shoulder. Not even her moving around woke him. He snuggled closer, his semihard penis nudging her backside.
Smiling, she thought about waking him. She’d give him two minutes tops to get hard enough to get inside her. The boy certainly had stamina. Last night alone had proved that fact. They’d made love twice before they’d even gotten to bed and then once more sometime between one and three. She’d nodded off after that.
On the nightstand was her watch, and she slowly reached for it. She yawned and blinked at the blurry face until it cleared. Nine-thirty! It couldn’t be that late. She blinked a couple more times. Still nine-thirty. That gave her less than two hours to shower, dress and make it home before Nancy and Yvette got there.
Slowly she pushed back the covers and inched away from Eric. His arm came around her waist and he pulled her back against him.
“Morning,” he murmured into her hair and then planted a kiss on the back of her neck.
“Go back to sleep,” she whispered, knowing that wouldn’t happen. Knowing she wasn’t going to make it out of bed anytime soon. And not really caring.
“Right.” He kissed her again, her neck, each shoulder, then started down her spine.
“Eric, I have to go.”
“What time is it?”
“Nine-thirty.”
“No kidding.” He cupped her breast and teased the already tightened nipple.
She closed her eyes. “Eric…”
“Hmm.”
“You promised.”
He lightly bit the side of her neck and then rolled onto his back and sighed. “I was a fool, but you’re right. I did.”
Dallas turned over and laid a hand on his chest. His hair was sticking up on one side and his chin was dark with stubble. He looked adorable. “Of course, I could spare about twenty minutes.”
A roguish smile started at the corners of his mouth, but then he frowned, pushed a frustrated hand through his hair and said, “Tell you what, I’ll go make coffee while you take a shower.”
“Sure.” She shrugged a shoulder and turned to get up, but her disappointment must have shown because he caught her arm and pulled her close again.
“I’d like nothing better than to stay in bed with you all day, but you have things to do, and I have something I’d like to discuss with you before you leave.”
She didn’t like the serious sound of that. “Like what?”
“Nothing bad. Relax.”
“Well, let’s talk now.”
“You sure you don’t want to be ready to go.”
“Why? Am I going to want to run screaming from the apartment?”
He grinned. “You have quite an imagination.”
“It’s getting worse by the second.”
“Okay.” He sat up, letting the sheet bunch at his waist, and she kept her attention on his face, not wanting to be distracted by his yummy chest. Apparently he didn’t have the same compunction. His gaze went directly to her breasts. He noisily cleared his throat. “On second thought, I think we’d better get dressed.”
She grunted in exasperation, her curiosity about to burst. “I want to know now or I will hurt you.”
He smiled. “Sounds promising.”
“Damn it, Eric.”
“Remember Lawrence Horn?”
“Of course.”
“He came to my office on Thursday. He wants you to be his spokesperson.”