“Jury’s still out,” she hedged, working off another bite sized portion. As with the first piece, she took her time, savoring it as long as possible. Shane remained unnaturally still, watching her with such intensity she could feel her skin warming beneath her loose cotton shirt, waiting for her to pay his skills proper homage.
She continued to work her way through, one small bite at a time, refusing to be rushed. By the time the last piece was gone, she was sure Shane was going to ignite. She handed the plate back to him, daintily wiping her lips with the decorative paper napkin. She had to work very hard to contain her grin when she further ignored him and sipped her coffee. Shane continued to stand before her, arms now crossed, the hint of a smirk across those talented male lips, and one perfect brow arched above eyes that caused her heart to stutter.
“Okay,” she breathed finally. “That was by far the best waffle I’ve ever had in my life.” Shane’s smirk widened into a full-fledged grin. “I could easily become addicted to these.”
“Told you.” His eyes sparkled like living sapphires.
“Yes, you did.” She licked her lips. “Can I have another one?”
His gaze darkened, his voice lowered until it was purely sensual. “The first one was free. The next one’s going to cost you.”
Lacie held back the whimper that threatened to escape and tightened her inner thigh muscles. “Mmm. What’s your price?”
He leaned in closer, placing one arm on either side of her hips, daring her. “A kiss.”
“I can do that.” She reached back, dipping her finger in the remains of the syrup and coating his lips. Then she proceeded to very slowly, very methodically, remove it. By the time she finished, his eyes were glowing, his muscles tight and straining.
“How’s that?” she whispered.
“That’ll do,” he rasped.
Good Lord the man knew how to kiss! Any further thoughts of breakfast were lost as Lacie wrapped her arms around his neck and pulled him closer, spreading her knees and scooching forward. She needed to feel him against her, against one specific place in particular. His hands went to her waist, stroking back and down with sizzling electricity as he found her bottom and assisted her. A moan sounded deep in his throat; she echoed that sentiment with one of her own as she felt the hard proof of his interest exactly where she needed it. To know that he was feeling it, too, filled her with a sense of feminine power.
Shane’s hands lazily explored the curves of her back and waist, stroking along her thighs several times but staying maddeningly away from where she ached. Lacie impatiently tried to work at the buttons of his shirt blindly; she needed to put her hands on the bare flesh of the warm, living marble that had so teased her aching breasts. Frustrated with the length of time it was taking and her fingers’ seeming inability to correctly unfasten a button, she simply grasped the shirt along the open edges and pulled, sending several buttons popping and bouncing along the floor.
*
Shane laughed softly into her mouth, more than a little turned on by her boldness.
His large hands skimmed along her waist, reveling in the contraction of muscles beneath impossibly soft skin with each caress. They moved upward slowly, teasingly, until his thumbs brushed the curve of her breasts. Even through the material of her lightweight bra, the heat of her skin nearly burned him. Lacie moaned audibly then, her back arching into his touch, needing it, wanting it, begging for it.
Shane obliged, cupping her breasts, loving the way they filled his hands. He kneaded them gently, stroking his thumb across her nipples, awed by their very pronounced response to his ministrations. Shane’s hard length throbbed with the newly discovered knowledge that his gentle, soft-spoken school teacher had been hiding a fierce, fiery passion, one that thrilled him beyond his wildest dreams.
“Shane,” she moaned, eyes closed, head back. Hearing Lacie murmur his name with such need was like a hard pull on his cock. He fought for the self-control that was proving so elusive. He’d never had to fight so hard before, but then, his mind rationalized, he’d never been held by his croie before, either.
The need to mark, to claim, to possess was almost impossible to ignore. At the rate they were going – and the way she was responding – he would not be able to resist much longer.
A loud knock sounded at the door, breaking into their private world. Shane’s hands, filled with Lacie’s breasts, paused. Lacie didn’t seem to have heard the knock, protesting Shane’s sudden lack of movement by pushing into his hands with purpose, tugging at the base of his skull with the pads of her fingers, kissing the shadow along his jawline. He growled in approval, a low deep sound in his throat.
The knock was repeated, along with a spoken warning. “Open up, Lacie. I know you’re in there.”