Some of the apprehension cleared from her pretty face, and her expressive sapphire eyes filled with relief. “Clever.”
She held on to the phone, though, as she followed me into the massive hallway, our footsteps echoing off the walls as we made our way to the elevator.
“How do you know about this place?” she asked.
“My company owns it. We just bought it, actually. I was here a few days ago, but nobody in town will see us. They all think the place is haunted.”
“I can’t see why,” she said with an eye roll.
She followed me into the lift and waited as it groaned to life. After a long pause, we began our slow ascent. I looked at her from the corner of my eye.
She really was gorgeous. In fact, she was likely the hottest woman I’d been out with in ages but totally different at the same time. She didn’t have the same cool, almost chilly exterior I was used to, and despite her even features, wide eyes, full lips, and ridiculous curves, she seemed wholly unaware of the package she created. She was comfortable in her skin, I could tell that much, but she wasn’t cocky about her looks either. I was guessing she wasn’t at all interested in Botoxing and manicuring herself to the last degree. Somehow I liked that.
The elevator stalled and then yawned open, the grated doors sliding apart. Above us, the warm spring day was cooling into night and the clear, blue sky was fading into violet and maroon.
“You brought me to the roof,” she said, but then she turned around to face me. “How does a place like this have this kind of roof?”
I offered her half a smile. I’d known that it would impress her. If it hadn’t, I never would have brought her here to begin with.
Since when did you feel the need to impress a one-night stand? a little voice piped in. But I quieted it with a mental smackdown. All that mattered was that we had all the makings of a hot night in front of us.
The cement tile of the roof had been converted into an urban garden, complete with flower beds and a twinkle-lit grotto with cushy casual seating and a fire pit. Vines climbed up every wall, and the curved opening to the grotto invited us with a soft gust of wind.
Walking toward it, I pressed a button to light the fireplace and then flicked on the sea of miniature lights, watching as Piper’s eyes widened in surprise.
“We’re converting the factory into high-end apartments. This will be a community area. We wanted the whole place to be green and organic to fit a certain type of buyer. The interior designer needed to do it first so the plants had time to grow and flourish here. What do you think?”
“I think…this place is incredible.” She settled onto the plush red sofa beneath the concave glass ceiling of the grotto, the twinkling lights shining in her eyes.
“The soft light suits you. It brings out the color in your eyes,” I said.
Her smile faltered for a moment as my gaze met hers, and that familiar, curious glow overtook her cheeks.
“What’s on your mind?” I asked.
She blushed a deeper crimson. “Nothing.”
I took a seat beside her, leaned close, and cupped her chin, forcing her to meet my gaze. “Come on, tell me.”
Her eyes blazed with something unreadable, and then she wet her lips. “Well, we’re in private now. So I was thinking of what you said before…about how you were going to tell me what you want.”
Her words hit me straight below the belt, and my cock went instantly stiff. Brushing a loose strand of hair behind her ear, I moved closer still, my warm breath against the shell of her ear. “First, I want to kiss you.”
And then I did. Just a brush of lips over those full trembling lips of hers. She shivered at my touch, and I cupped the nape of her neck, holding her closer to me. “Then I want to watch you undress for me.”
“But…” Her voice was nothing more than a whisper.
“No buts,” I murmured. “I want to see you. All of you.”
Again there was another flicker of hesitation, so long this time that I wondered if she might duck out altogether. Instead, though, she slid away from me and stood just beside the fire, the light flickering on her creamy skin.
Slowly, carefully, she reached behind her and unfastened the buttons of her dress. Then, gripping the hem of the fabric, she pulled it over her head and allowed her hair to brush down against her naked collarbone.
Beneath the dress, she wore nothing but sheer white panties and a matching bra that highlighted the long, smooth plane of her stomach and the curve of her full breasts. She shifted slightly as I drank in her toned, shapely legs. My throat was dry as fuck now, but I managed to grit out another command.
“Everything,” I muttered, pointing to the scrap of lace covering her. “Off. I want to see you.”
“And what about you?” she asked, though it didn’t stop her from unfastening the clasp of her bra.
“In time. But I’ve been imagining what you look like under that dress all night.”
She let the bra fall to the floor, and my gaze raked over her tight, pink nipples. They were straining peaks waiting for me to suck and tease, and if it hadn’t been for the fact that she was already reaching for her panties, I might have closed the distance between us and forgotten my earlier demands.
As it was, though, she stepped from her underwear and showed me the trimmed patch of hair leading to the spot I wanted to lap with my tongue and tease until my name on her lips was the only sound filling the night air.
Blood rushed to my ears as I held back a groan, suddenly feeling every single second of the past couple of celibate weeks in full force.
“Now get on that sofa, spread your legs, and touch yourself.”
“But you—” she started.
“I’m used to getting what I want,” I finished for her.
She closed her mouth and followed my command, her fingers drifting gently to her folds and teasing the space there in rhythmic little circles.
Goddamn, that was sexy. Watching her, I loosened my tie and slid it off, and then started on the buttons of my shirt.
As I went, I watched her, and her gaze never left mine.
“You want to know what I want?” I said. “I want to watch you play with yourself until you’re nice and wet for me. Then, when you’re so ready for me you want to scream, I’m going to get on my knees in front of you and lick that pretty pink space between your legs until you come with my name on your lips.”
Her breath hitched, and I tossed aside my shirt, making way for my pants.
“Then, when you’ve come so hard you’re not sure you can ever come again, I’m going to show you what it’s really like to have a man inside you. I’m going to make you claw my back and beg for release.”
“And then what?” Her voice was needy, breathy, and she moved her hand faster with every word, delicate little strokes that made my blood hot and my hands quake with the need to touch her.
“Then maybe I’ll let you come while I’m inside you. Maybe.” I stepped from my pants and pulled off my socks. Then, in nothing but my boxers, I took another step toward her. “Now tell me, do you want me to kiss you, Piper?”
She gave me a quick, needy nod, and I sank to my knees in front of her, kissing my way up her thigh until I found the place where her fingers still lingered. Then, taking each finger in turn, I kissed the tips and pushed them aside to see her slick pink clit.
“Fuck,” I growled, feeling almost light-headed with the weight of my need for her.
“I’m close,” she warned with a stunned little laugh. “Like, so close.”
“I know,” I said, and then I circled the tight bundle of nerves with the tip of my tongue before dipping lower, laving her slick folds and teasing her sweet pink center. Delicious. Hot silk drenched in honey. All rational thought collapsed as I delved deeper, stroking now, faster…harder.
“Jackson,” she hummed, her fingers driving into my hair, anchoring me closer.