Curving his arm around her waist, Cormac hauled her closer, letting her feel what he meant. “You know exactly what I mean. Don’t torture me. Either you’re in or you’re out.”
“Isn’t this the part of my teen dream where I crash to reality when I remember guys say whatever they have to in order to get in your pants?” she asked, running her fingers over his arms and luxuriating in his muscles.
He ran his lips over her neck, making her shiver with anticipation. “You don’t have pants on. And I’m crushed. Do you really think I would say ‘I love you’ to just get you into bed? Have you no soul?”
Her head fell back on her shoulders as she laughed. “That’s what I wanted to hear. Tonight could just be your lucky night.”
He growled playfully at her, swirling her around the dance floor as everyone joined them. Music played, the girls and their husbands danced, and Vadim and Viktor did the limbo. Carl asked one of her staff members to dance; Darnell did the outdated but hysterical robot. Toni and her fiancé Prince Iver ruled the chicken dance, and Arch did an amazing twist, outlasting every one of them on the floor.
It was a night full of magic, full of promise, full of all the people and animals she loved most.
Several hours and some weenies in a blanket later, back at Cormac’s apartment, he pulled her into his bedroom, where he’d lit dozens of candles and had a bottle of wine chilling in a bucket.
The room, swathed in a soft, flickering glow, was enchanting, leaving her breathless at the care he’d taken to make tonight perfect. He’d made up his big bed with soft pillows and a thick comforter and placed a pink, fuzzy bathrobe on the chair in the corner.
“As if you hadn’t already outdone yourself,” she whispered, tears forming at the corners of her eyes.
Cormac popped the cork on the wine and poured her a glass, handing it to her with a hot kiss that made her toes curl.
Teddy reached up and loosened his bowtie as she took a sip, before she set it down and grabbed the lapels of his jacket, pushing it from his wide shoulders. Her hands ached to touch his flesh, experience him in his entirety, the way she’d fantasized each time he took his shirt off when he was working on a project at Sanctuary or when he wore a pair of jeans that made his already outstanding butt look even more outstanding.
With fingers she couldn’t believe were capable of unbuttoning his ruffled shirt, as shaky as they were, Teddy swiftly worked her way down the length of it until her hands were smoothing over his chest, palming his hot flesh.
He groaned, gripping her wrists and slinging them around his neck as he pulled her close and unzipped her dress.
She stepped out of it, left with nothing but her heels and a pair of pale pink panties; she tried not to shy away from his deep gaze.
Cormac groaned his appreciation, his eyes darkening, devouring her as he unbuckled his belt and kicked off his blue trousers, leaving him in only his black boxer-briefs.
He was as beautiful as she’d imagined; all thick ripples of muscle, tight abs, and that delicious carved-out hipbone she wanted to run her tongue over.
His legs were thick and lightly sprinkled with crisp dark hair, bulging thighs that tapered to well-muscled calves. He took a step toward her just as she did the same and their skin touched for the first time.
Teddy hissed her pleasure, clutching at Cormac’s shoulders just as he moaned against her mouth, kissing her deeply, driving his tongue against her, rasping the silky instrument along the outline of her mouth.
Hands explored flesh, skimming, discovering, relishing the freedom their fingers were finally allowed.
Cormac’s index fingers slipped inside the leg of her panties on both sides, whispering over her skin, teasing her until her back arched and he pulled her to the bed.
Setting her on the soft comforter, he gazed down at her, pulling his boxer-briefs off then removing her panties.
He hissed appreciatively again when she was in nothing but her heels, falling to his knees on the bed to part her thighs and settle between them. Teddy’s hands went to his thick hair, clutching strands of it and bucking when his breath grazed her most sensitive flesh, sighing as his beard scratched over her legs.
His kiss was slow, gentle, his chest rumbling on an approving groan when his tongue flicked out to taste her, making Teddy clench her eyes shut in anticipation for what was to come. Cormac took his time, parting her flesh in slow increments, stroking, licking, pulling her closer to his mouth until he slid his hands beneath her ass and she was flush against his tongue.
Her legs rose of their own accord, wrapping around his shoulders, her back arching into his delicious thrusts. When he slipped his finger inside her, Teddy saw stars, flashes of color behind her eyelids before she whimpered her pleasure, bucking against him.