"Well I'm not sure my boobs survived that trip up the stairs," Bailey quipped.
His eyes drifted down to her chest and one hand moved to cup a breast encased in the fabric of the dress. A thumb rolled over a hardened nipple and Bay arched into his touch. "They feel perfect to me, but I'll have to inspect them more closely to be sure there's no damage," he said.
True to his word, Everett bent to suckle a nipple through the fabric while a hand explored the other breast. He worked his hand underneath the dress and groaned as he finally touched bare skin. Bailey's cool skin heated at his touch, and she shifted against him as her arousal grew. She wasn't a patient woman; she needed to feel him skin on skin, and she urged him on with her hands.
"How do you get this damn thing off?" Everett asked, frustrated after struggling with her dress. He yanked at the halter top, trying to reach his goal of freeing Bailey's breasts to his view and his touch.
"Don't," she complained. "You're going to rip it."
"I don't care about the damn dress," he growled.
Bay rolled her eyes and shoved him off her before standing beside the bed. Slowly and teasingly, she lifted the dress over her head and tossed it to the floor. She put her hands on her hips and stood there in only panties and heels, proudly displaying herself for him.
Everett let his eyes roam over her nearly naked body in approval. She climbed onto the bed and crawled over to him, pushing him back and straddling his waist. "My turn," she said. Bailey explored his neck with her mouth, moving down to his chest and unbuttoning his dress shirt as she went.
As her tongue teased his belly button, she reached for his belt. Everett grabbed her hand to stop her. "Oh no," he said then flipped them so she was under him again. "Now it's my turn."
He mimicked her actions, trailing his lips down the arch of her neck and over the curves of her breasts. He kneeled between her legs and blew a hot breath of air against her panty-covered center. Bay grasped his hair and pulled his face against her, desperate for more.
"Begging now, are we?" he teased her.
"I don't have to beg," she stated. Bay wrapped a strong leg around his back and flipped them again. She shimmied down his body and jerked at his belt buckle with her hands. "I take what I want," she added.
Everett groaned as her warm hand grasped his erection. "Is that what you want, Bay?"
She shook her head, her mussed curls flying around her shoulders. "This is what I want." Bending down, she took him fully into her mouth in one smooth movement. Everett arched up at the suddenness of the movement and grasped her head in his hands.
"Slow down," he managed through clenched teeth. She mumbled something, the vibrations sending a cascade of sensations through him. "Jesus," he hissed.
He yanked her up and rolled, pinning her with his weight. "Always gotta get your way, don't you?" he asked.
Bay smiled sweetly. "Always."
"Not tonight." Keeping her upper body trapped, he lifted his hips so he could tug down her panties. She laughed when they got stuck around her knees, and Everett cursed. "You and your damn clothes."
"You should have just let me do it."
"And let you have your way? I don't think so." Everett pulled her to a sitting position and slammed his mouth to hers, stopping all other protests. One hand tangled in her hair, and he reached the other behind him to finish divesting her of the nuisance panties.
When he pulled away from her mouth, he held her panties up in view and smirked. "See? My way works just fine."
"Then why are your clothes still on?" she taunted.
"Because I intend to enjoy you first." Everett laid her back down on the bed and once again kneeled between her legs. His tongue and fingers proceeded to find every pleasure spot on her body until she trembled against him.
"Everett, dammit, if you don't hurry up and fuck me … "
He stopped and grinned up at her. "Begging, princess?"
"Oh hell no." Bay scrambled away from him before he knew what was happening and stood beside the bed with her hands on her hips. "I told you I don't beg. I'm not above a little coercion though." Everett raised an eyebrow in question. "I could just call this whole night off right now." She reached for her dress in threat.
"You wouldn't," Everett growled.
She gave him her best wide-eyed innocent look. "Wouldn't I?"
He slid to the edge of the bed, stood, and walked to his luggage. After rummaging around for a few seconds, he lay back on the bed and held up a condom wrapper. "You want it? Come and get it," he challenged.
Bailey sauntered over to him and snatched the condom from him as she leaned in and kissed him. "See?" she whispered. "I always get my way."
Chapter 13
‡
Bailey shifted the sports car into a higher gear and reveled in the responsiveness of the wheel under her hand. After their liaison, she'd found Everett much easier to deal with. She wondered if it was she who had changed or he. He'd even offered to let her drive them back to Chicago. She'd been dying to see what the little car could do.
The night had closed in on them as they approached the city, the darkness cocooning them, keeping reality away for a few minutes more. Blue lights in the rearview mirror caught Bay's attention, and she glanced down at her speed. "Well, crap," she said.
A cop approached her open window after she pulled to the side of the interstate. The beam of his flashlight illuminated her face, blinding her momentarily. "Ma'am, I need to see your license and proof of insurance."
The voice she heard behind the flashlight jerked her back to reality. It was familiar, very familiar. "Mark?" she questioned.
The cop leaned down to her window to get a better look at her face. "Bay? Is that you?" He scanned what he could see of her body with the light, from her knit sweater that molded to her chest to the knee-length skirt that had somehow-thanks to Everett's roaming hands-managed to slip up to her mid-thigh. "Damn! I didn't even recognize you. You look … delectable." The suggestion in his voice couldn't be missed.
Bailey blushed and forced herself not to glance at Everett in the passenger's seat. She didn't want to see the expression on his face. Anyone with half a brain would be able to tell from Mark's voice that they'd slept together. Would Everett judge her for that? Or would he be jealous? She wasn't sure she wanted to know, either way.
"Where've you been?" Mark continued. "I thought you were trying to avoid going out to dinner with me again."
"Out of town on business," Bay answered simply, refusing to give him more.
"You know you were speeding, right?"
"No, I didn't realize that. I'm sorry." She ran her palms over the car's steering wheel. "This baby is so smooth you could take flight without knowing it."
Mark eyed the car. "I bet." He lowered his voice and leaned into her suggestively. "Maybe I should arrest you. Just so you don't endanger anyone else."
Blood rushed to Bay's face, and her pulse pounded in her ear. She wanted to sink into the car seat and disappear. She could feel the heat from both men's eyes as they settled onto her. She felt like a bug under a microscope.
A throat cleared, and Bay realized it was Everett. Mark took his eyes off her to glance to the passenger seat. Everett leaned slightly forward, allowing his face to become illuminated by the glow of a nearby streetlight for the first time.
Mark's posture tensed, and he instantly turned professional. "Oh, I'm sorry. You must be with a client."
Everett interrupted before Mark could finish. "Everett Parker." He held out a hand for Mark to shake.
Mark stopped mid-shake. "The Everett Parker?"
"One and the same."
Releasing Everett's hand, Mark turned back to Bay with eyebrows raised. But there was nothing she could tell him. She gave a tiny shake of her head.
"How do you know Bay?" Everett asked Mark. She noticed the slight emphasis on her shortened name. Mark had used it, and obviously Everett wanted him to know he too was familiar enough with her to use her nickname.
"We live in the same building," Bailey interjected. She glared at Everett. How dare he exclude her from the conversation? This was not bull-rutting season, and she was not about to put up with a pissing contest. She was tired from the trip and the drive, and all she wanted to do was crawl in her comfy bed and sleep for a week. Attempting to sleep a few feet away from the magnificent Everett had been complete and utter torture. Then all the energy they'd expended during the previous thirty-six hours was enough to put anyone into a coma.