The breeze was cool and she shivered against me, making me feel crappy since I didn’t have a jacket to offer her.
Thank God I didn’t live too far away. But it still took me longer than I wanted it to since I drove easy. By the time I pulled down my alley, she was an ice cube, her teeth chattering and arms quivering from trembling so bad.
“Don’t worry,” I assured her, waiting for her to slip on her shoes before helping her slide off behind me. “We’ll get you warm soon.”
Then I took her hand again as I led her to the dark opening of my place. My stairwell and her shoes concerned me, but I kept close and led her down each step. “Last one,” I breathed, growing nervous as she stepped into my apartment.
But fuck. I shouldn’t have brought her here. I kept remembering how the last person who’d been in my place was Sticks and how I’d assured him I’d stay away from this very woman.
I was breaking that promise all to hell, probably even breaking our friendship in the process. But even as I worried about his reaction, I swiped a blanket off my bed and brought it to Elisa so I could wrap it around her shoulders.
She gazed up at me and just like that, I was swept under again.
Damn it, I wasn’t usually this easy. I knew how to say no, and I’d done it a lot lately. But all those months of no sex, of not being able to thrust into a hot willing *, of needing to be touched...it wore on me. And besides, this was her, the very girl who’d caused me to jerk off more than usual lately, ever since I’d first seen her in my shower. Naked. The chemistry I experienced around her was off the charts.
I had to get her naked again.
A rattling from above us caused her to whirl around and look up at Mozart, who was trying to free a stuck peanut that had become wedged in the wires of his cage.
“Oh...yeah.” I flushed, wondering what she’d think of me having a pet squirrel, hoping it didn’t freak her out. “That’s Mozart.”
Instead of shying away in horror, though, she grinned affectionately and reached up.
“No, wait!” I leapt forward to stop her so she didn’t get scratched to hell, but she merely reached for the peanut, causing Mozart to race away and then stop and watch as she shimmied the nut free. Then he twitched his tail, tempted when she eased the peanut through the wires, offering it to him.
I knew exactly how he felt.
He inched forward and stopped. I held my breath, curious if the squirrel would actually take the nut straight from her fingers. I wanted to warn her to be careful, but from the cautious way she moved, she already knew.
When Mozart snagged the peanut and took off, I gasped, “Holy shit. He really took it from you. Straight from your hand.”
Elisa spun to me, beaming and proud. Her smile stole my breath and before I could stop myself, I was cupping her face and kissing her.
“I love that smile,” I admitted. “I want to steal it all for myself so you’ll never be able to smile at anyone else the way you’re smiling at me right now.”
Her gaze softened and eyes glittered as if filling with emotion. Then she touched my cheeks gently and pressed a soft kiss to my mouth.
Afterward, she pulled away and tugged at my long-sleeved shirt. Realizing she wanted to peel it off me, I lifted my arms and let her remove it. As soon as I was bare, she sucked in a breath, her gaze darting crazily around my chest before she reached with tentative fingers and began to touch me, touch me as if this were her one and only chance and she wanted to absorb every moment of the experience.
I caught a piece of her hair and watched her face, the awe and the thrill controlling her expression. She looked up at me again, grinning that grin I was going to steal. So I kissed her and picked her up, then carried her to my bed.
Laying her gently on the mattress, I took a second to stand over her and simply enjoy the view of her on my sheets. But she sat up, kicked off her heels and scooted to the edge so she could reach for the zipper of my jeans. This time, she was more successful, and I stepped out of them when she pushed them down my hips until I was in nothing but my boxers.
She reached for my cock, tenting out the front of my shorts, but I caught her wrist.
“Not yet.”
Instead, I coaxed her to lift her arms so I could slip her dress up and over her head. Then I helped her out of her bra and grinned as she flung aside the scrap of material at her waist that had once been her panties.
Panties I’d destroyed.
Then I nudged her to lie back as I climbed over her. Her brown eyes swirled with yearning as she watched me settle on top of her. When she grinned, I had to grin back.
“Hi,” I whispered, to which she whispered back, “Hola.”
Noticing the necklace she wore when gold glinted from the base of her throat, I paused, taking in the familiar pendant. “Guadalupe,” I murmured, remembering the name of the saint in the image.