“I can see you staring,” I said, wiping my mouth and praying that I didn’t have any sauce on my face.
“I’m not the only one.” True fact. “And you can’t blame me. You’re fascinating to look at.” This time his fingers brushed my shoulder, tracing one of the many literary quotes I had on my body.
“Do my tattoos bother you?” It was a silly question, given the circumstances, but I wanted to know how he’d respond. There were plenty of people who wrote me off because of my ink. Declan didn’t seem like one of those people, but I really wanted to know how he felt about that part of me.
“Bother? No, that is not the word I would use. They enthrall me. They’re beautiful.” His finger moved to the picture of Alice and then lower, to another quote.
“Drake asked about them.”
“I know. He told me.”
“Some people wouldn’t let me around their children because of these. I might be a bad influence.”
His eyes burned into me.
“Some people need to mind their own business and not judge others.” Couldn’t have said it better myself. I wanted to give him a round of applause.
“Thank you,” I said instead, sinking into the feeling of his finger on my skin.
“You don’t need to thank me. It’s how I feel.” His finger left my skin and he sighed.
“What?”
“Nothing.” I sat up.
“No, what is it?” I asked.
His eyes locked on mine again.
“I wish I could see all of your tattoos.” Oh, I wanted him to. If this parking lot weren’t full of other people, I’d drag him into the backseat and he’d get the whole show. But I didn’t think this was the time or the place for that kind of thing. And I’d never had sex on the first date before. Not that there was anything wrong with that, it just wasn’t something I’d done. Probably because I’d never been this damn attracted to someone so quickly.
“Well, play your cards right and we’ll see where this goes.” I didn’t want to lead him on, but there was definitely something between us. Thick and heavy and sweet. I could breathe it in the air.
The corner of his mouth turned up in a smile and I wondered what he’d had in mind when he’d brought me on this date.
“So, here’s a question for you.”
“Ask me,” he said. I was going to ask him if he’d already had this date planned for someone else, and he needed a backup, or if he’d really been that eager to go out with me. But I changed my mind.
“Are we going to order dessert?”
We both ordered hot fudge sundaes and ate them as the rest of the humans in the movie were decimated by the zombies.
“Happy?” he asked me when I finished my sundae and tilted the seat back, my stomach so full I was liable to burst.
“Very. Best first date ever. You win.”
He finished his own sundae and set it on the tray.
“Well, the night’s not over. The movie might be, but this doesn’t have to end.” He propped his arm behind his head. He’d taken off his jacket and rolled his sleeves up, exposing his creamy skin. It almost glowed in the moonlight and the light from the movie screen.
“But it’s Monday night. I have work tomorrow, and I’m guessing you do as well.”
“You’re right,” he said, putting his seat upright and turning the car on.
“No, no! I didn’t mean we had to leave. I just was pointing out that we both have work, but I didn’t mean that this had to end. I can function on not that much sleep. I’m a pro at it, actually.” He had no idea.
“Well, then. Buckle your seatbelt.” I did so and we pulled out of the drive-in and headed further down the road. Where we were going, I didn’t know and didn’t really care. I was just happy to be with him.
But then I had a thought. Maybe he thought I wanted to have sex now. That probably happened on most of his dates. Sure, I had lusty feelings for him, and condoms in my purse, but I didn’t think I was ready for that. I still didn’t really know what he did for work. I mean, I did, but I hadn’t asked him about it, so I didn’t really know, know.
“So, Declan, what do you do at work anyway?”
“I’m a financial advisor, but I’m also getting my MBA.” I whistled as if I was impressed. I had been when I’d read it on the dossier, but he could never, ever find out about that.
“Wow, you must be really smart. I bet you know, like, math and stuff,” I said as he pulled off the main road onto a more deserted road. Smooth. Real smooth.
“You could say that.”
“Do you like your job?”
“Yes, believe it or not. I enjoy helping people invest their money. And I’m a bit of an addict when it comes to university. I don’t want to leave. I have this nightmare that if I ever graduate my mind will stop working and I’ll become a vegetable.” Now that was funny as hell. I hadn’t been able to learn that from the dossier.
“Yeah, I know what you mean. Sometimes I flirt with the idea of going back.” The road was bumpy and full of potholes, but the car had excellent shocks and the impact wasn’t as bad as it would have been in my car.
“What would you go back for?”
“English,” I said without thinking. I only had my bachelor’s in English and I had these fantasies of getting my master’s. “My interests are pretty narrow. Books and talking about books and organizing books.” I caught myself before I said “writing books.”
“What’s stopping you?” He abruptly pulled off the road and started driving through a field.
“Um, it would be a waste of money. I don’t need the degree to do my job. Are you supposed to be driving here?” We bounced around on the uneven terrain that would have been easier to navigate in a Jeep or other off-road vehicle.
We finally came to a rest in the middle of the field, the grass so high it scraped the window and reached to my hand when I stuck my arm out and let the dry tufts brush my palm.
“Probably not. But it seemed like a good idea at the time. Look up.” I did and was greeted by a panorama of stars, undiluted by streetlights.
“Wow,” I said, pushing the button that made my seat go back.
“I have a better idea,” Declan said, unbuckling his seatbelt and grabbing something from the backseat.
He went around to the hood of the car and spread a blanket out on the shiny surface before coming over to open my door.
The grass rasped against my legs as I picked my way to the front of the car.
He lifted me up onto the hood, not even grunting with the effort.
“I hope I don’t dent the hood,” I said, suddenly self-conscious.
“I am sure my hood will survive.” He hopped up next to me and lay back, crossing his hands behind his head and staring up at the stars. He was really going for the World Record Most Perfect Date Ever.
I lay back, mirroring his pose and hoping my deodorant was strong enough.
“So why would getting your master’s degree be a waste of money?”
“Look, I’m not saying that learning is a waste of money. Not at all. It just seems like an indulgence. And I’m busy.” Writing smut, I didn’t say.
“So what do you do when you’re not at the library?” he asked, as if he’d read my mind.
“Um, not a whole lot. I spend a lot of time with my roommate Raine. She’s also my best friend.” He shifted a little bit next to me, trying to get comfortable.
“Will I get to meet her?” I also shifted closer to him, and our legs almost brushed against one another.
“Yeah, sure. She’s, um, busy tonight, but maybe. If there’s a second date.” There was no doubt in my mind, but I didn’t know where Declan’s head was at.
“There will be a second date,” he said, his voice firm. “That is, if you’d like one.”
“Absolutely.” I definitely wanted to see more of him. “Oh!” I said, gasping.
“What is it?”
“Shooting star.”
“Did you make a wish?” I clo
sed my eyes and tried to think of a wish to make. I should wish that Raine and I would finish our book, but instead I wished for more time with Declan. Silly, but that was what I wanted.
“Yeah, cheesy as it may be. We’re a total first date cliché right now.”
“No, we’re not,” he said, reaching for my hand. I let him thread his fingers through mine. “Now we are.”
Well, if that wasn’t sweet, I didn’t know what was.
“You might want to kiss me though, to make it official,” he said, turning his head toward me.
I did the same and found him scrutinizing my face. “Oh, is that right?”
“Indeed.”
“Well, I definitely think we should be a cliché. Also, you’ve earned your points and then some. So.” Our faces inched together, and he moved a lock of hair from where it had fallen from my updo. With one finger, he brushed my cheek and then outlined my lips, smearing my lipstick a bit, but I didn’t mind. Not at all.
Holding my face with one hand, he appeared to be going for it, but then his eyes snapped shut and he pulled back.
“What?” Oh God, did I have bad breath? Was he suddenly not attracted to me?
“I don’t want to kiss you like this,” he said, his eyes opening.
“Like what? On top of your car? I don’t care. You can kiss me, I swear. This date has been so special already.” My lips ached to touch his, and I wasn’t above begging for it at this point.
“No, not that. I know if I kiss you now, I won’t stop. I won’t be able to.” Oh, well now.
“Who says you have to?” I said, before thinking. So I’d been on the fence about the sex thing, but I’d definitely come out in favor of sex. Mostly because it had been a long damn time and I wanted to see what he could do with that body and that mouth. I shivered just thinking about it and the burn in my body intensified until I was afraid it might kill me if we didn’t do something about it.
“I don’t want you to think that one night is all I want. That I’ll bed you and never ring you back. That’s not what I want,” he said.
“You’re in luck because I didn’t think that at all. The kinds of guys who want that don’t take women on award-winning first dates, or pull off into fields and stare at the stars.”
Some of his hair fell across his forehead and I couldn’t stand not touching him, so I brushed it back and he closed his eyes as if relishing my touch.
“Oh, Blair.” He could make me come just by saying my name. True story. “Are you sure?”
“Fuck yes, I’m sure. Sorry. But I am.” Or, I was now. It was either be with Declan, or go home and spend all night with my vibrator fantasizing about him, which wasn’t even close to the same thing and much less satisfying.
“Beautiful girl,” he said, stroking my face before he got up off the hood and then gave me his hand to help me down. Pushing me up against the car, he made his intention clear by the hardness in his pants.
“Last chance to back out,” he said, pressing harder against me. When I breathed, I inhaled his scent. Declan smelled like a combination of mint and something citrusy. Lemons? With a hint of clean laundry behind it and sweat and pheromones. The combination made my mouth water.
“Not backing out,” I said, my voice stuttering. I had to close my eyes for a moment. His eyes were so blue and he was so there, and it was almost too much to take.
“I feel like I’m burning alive,” I said, unable to control the words coming out of my mouth. I had to have a release somehow. A verbal orgasm.
“Agreed,” he said, his voice tight as his hands drifted down the sides of my face to my neck and then my shoulders. Holy fuck, we hadn’t even kissed yet.
“I almost want to take you right here.” I’d let him, if he wanted to. I was completely at his mercy. My hands went around his waist, pulling him closer and gasping as he moved his hardness right where I burned the hottest.
“Oh my Goooooddddd,” I moaned as he kept grinding his hips into me. I was going to come just from this.
“Christ, love,” he growled, ducking his head into my neck.
Did he just call me “love”? Oh fuck to the tenth power. I was going to come. And then he shoved himself away from me, panting.
“No, not here. You at least deserve a bed.”
“I can go without a bed.” I briefly considered tackling him in the field, but worries about ticks and spiders and potential snakes stopped me from that course of action.
“I’m afraid I can’t take you back to my place, because my son is there.” Well, obviously. And we couldn’t go back to my place because Raine was there.
“A hotel. We can go to a hotel,” I said. Or a motel. I didn’t care. Anyplace that had a bed that we could use. Or a shower, or even a couch. Any of those were options.
“Yes, yes, a hotel.” He backed away from me as if I was a bomb he was wary of setting off if he moved too close. “There should be one near here.” He pulled his phone out of his back pocket and started typing something in. A robotic voice told us the nearest hotel was fifteen miles away.
“Let’s go,” I said, wrenching the door of the car open and sitting in my seat. He dashed around the front, grabbing the blanket on the way before he slammed into his own seat and buckled his seatbelt.
“It’s like we’re in a race against time,” I said, trying to make a joke. I had to keep shifting in my seat to get comfortable, and I wasn’t the only one. He reversed the car, turned and threw it into Drive and we blazed out of the field, leaving dust and ruined plants in our wake. I should feel bad about the damage, but I couldn’t think about much other than getting Declan naked.
The ride to the hotel was agonizing, even though Declan broke the speed limit the whole time. It was also silent. I could sense Declan struggling to focus enough to drive. Poor guy. Men only seemed to have enough blood to run their brain or their dick and he was running both at the moment.
The hotel turned out to be on the outskirts of a city. Declan pulled up to the front, got out, tossed the valet the keys, opened my door and dragged me to the front desk.
The concierge didn’t bat an eye at us as she handed over a key after Declan produced a credit card from his wallet. We walked as fast as we could without drawing attention to ourselves as we got in the elevator. I almost jumped on him then, but there were other people present and that might get us kicked out of the hotel before even entering into our room and that would be a huge disappointment.
Finally we arrived at our floor and walked briskly down the hallway, Declan shoving the key into the door and pushing it open. The second the door slammed shut, he was on me and I was on him and I realized this was happening. Raine was going to be so thrilled.
Declan’s hands were aggressive and sure as he held me and brought his mouth down to mine for our first kiss. I opened my mouth, trying to breathe him in, and he took that as an invitation, plunging his tongue inside. Searching, seeking, caressing.
Hot damn, that man could kiss. Was it a British thing? Did they have secret kissing academies over there? Declan bit down lightly on my lower lip¸ dragging it through his teeth before renewing his assault on my mouth. My red lipstick was everywhere, staining his lips. I’d marked him. The red was vibrant on his pale skin.
“Bed,” I said when I’d gotten a moment to breathe, and he backed me up until my legs hit the edge of the bed and I fell backward, Declan coming with me.
“Are you all right?” he asked, his voice so proper, even under these circumstances. I wanted him to say dirty things to me in that voice. I wanted him to say the filthiest things imaginable in that posh accent. I was getting even more turned on just thinking of it.
“I’m fine. Just kiss me.” The lights were off in the room, since we hadn’t gotten around to turning them on. Declan rose from the bed and walked around the room, turning every light on, and then closing the drapes.
“Didn’t want anyone to watch?” I said, as my eyes followed his movements.
“No. I want to be the only o
ne to see you. I’m a bit selfish that way,” he said, getting down on his knees and getting to work on my shoes.
“You could leave them on,” I said. “But then I’d be afraid I would impale you. So yeah, shoes off.” He chuckled as he pulled them slowly off my feet and then ran his hands up my legs, stopping just at the hem of my dress before he went to work on his own shoes. He must be terribly uncomfortable, but he was taking his time.
He put his hands on the outside of his hips and leaned forward, meeting my lips again.
“I’ve been dying to touch you all night. To run my hands over your skin,” he said as he ran his hands up my shoulders and started to work on the tie of my dress. For a moment, he hesitated, but then pulled the bow undone and pulled the ties down, exposing my nude strapless bra, and some more of my tattoos.
Kissing down my neck, he suckled for a minute at my pulse point and I half-hoped he’d leave a hickey. Working his way down to my collarbone, he kissed my clavicle, just above where my breasts started. Peeling the dress lower, he exposed more of my body. I had one brief moment of wondering if he wished I was thinner. But then he looked up at me.
“You’re breathtaking, love.”
“Say it again,” I said as he pulled my dress lower, over my hips and letting it puddle on the floor.
“You’re breathtaking, love,” he said, slow as he loosened his tie.
“Let me do that,” I said, taking it from his hands. He ran them up and down my thighs as I pulled the tie over his head and then started working on the buttons of his shirt. I wished I were the kind of girl who could rip the shirt open, buttons scattering everywhere, like in the movies.
I gave a little grunt of satisfaction as I got the last button undone and pushed the shirt down his shoulders. He had a white tank top on underneath, and I immediately pulled at the hem of it, getting it over his head in record time.
He glowed. As if he’d swallowed moonlight and it had dissolved into his skin. I ran my hands over his chest, relishing the peaks and valleys and muscle. He had it where it counted. Either he was naturally gifted with perfect muscles and a flat stomach, or he worked out.