"That wasn't a clear answer but let me just say I wouldn't want to be the only one naked. That seems boring and weird," she said. "And I like when you tell me what you're thinking. Even if it knocks me on my ass."
"Don't you know by now?" I laced my fingers with hers. "I won't let you fall. I'll catch you."
She smiled, pointed to the scrape on her chin. "Your maneuvers are a little rough, my friend."
I shrugged. "Never said anything about gentle."
Stella pressed her lips together but she couldn't hold back her dimples. "Five minutes?" I nodded. Staring at our joined hands, she drew in a breath, held it for a beat, and then blew it all out with a tiny shake of her head. "Let's go."
I led her from the restaurant to the sidewalk. It wasn't so much walking as very aggressively striding out of the restaurant and onto the street. My grip moved from her palm to her forearm, then her elbow. I held her like that, like she was my prisoner, all the way through the Common and down Charles Street. She layered her hand over mine as if she was agreeing to this hostage situation.
We didn't speak. I didn't think it was possible. The tension between us was boiling over, a low hissing that required urgent attention. But not until we reached my building. If I forced words from my lips right now, they'd be the wrong ones. I'd ask if she minded ducking down an alley and me sliding my hand into her panties. If I could kneel at her feet and press my face between her legs. If I could take her against my front door, hard and loud enough for the entire building to know she was mine tonight. If she'd stay. Stay and never leave.
No, I didn't say a word on the seemingly endless journey to my apartment. I didn't do anything but place my hand over hers, both of us securing my hold on her.
I lived in an old brownstone, a tall, skinny building that once stood as a single residence but was now chunked into three apartments, one on each level. My problem-child trauma surgeon Stremmel lived on the third floor and Alex lived on the second with her fiancé. For the first time in all the years I'd lived here, I loved my first floor apartment with its street noise and the parade of people past my door. I loved it because it was two steps from the building's vestibule and one more step to be alone with Stella.
Once inside, I curled my hand around her raincoat's belt and backed her against the door. I stared at her while I flipped the locks.
"That was a long, long five minutes," she said.
"It's been a hundred years since we left the restaurant."
She nodded, a smile pulling at her lips. "I saw you eyeing those alleys. I'm beginning to think you're something of an exhibitionist."
A snarl rattled in my throat. "Not nearly, not when it comes to you." Her name was meant to be groaned, growled. I did just that as I bent to taste her lips. "Stella."
"Tell me how you're going to belong to me," she whispered against my neck, her lips moving just enough to trigger a shudder. "I want to know, Cal."
No lights. No need for them.
My teeth closed around the collar of her raincoat because it was the only thing I could do to repress a primal roar. I brought my hands to her ass, squeezing and boosting her up until I could rock against her and find a small shred of relief. I didn't get it but I kept searching, wanting it, wanting her. "I just—I want—I need you, Stella."
"No, no, no," she said. "Don't play shy with me now."
"I want you in my bed," I said, "and I want you to want to be in my bed."
Her lips captured mine, and there was perhaps two or three minutes until I came in my trousers and I made things even more awkward. My hold on her ass tightened and I rocked into her again, harder. I kneaded her backside. God, I wanted to bite it. Sink my teeth right into that supple flesh and then lick away the sting.
I wanted it. I was going to have it.
I leaned back, taking hold of her belt once more. "This thing is evil," I said, scraping a gaze over her. "Just evil. Get rid of it."
Stella had something to say about that—she always did—but I didn't wait to hear it, instead spinning her to face the door. I dropped to my knees and waited while she unknotted the trench. I was both pleased and annoyed to find a dress underneath.
With my hands coasting up the backs of her thighs, I asked, "Is there a reason you kept this coat on all night?"
"Torment, mostly," she replied over her shoulder.
My hands moved up, up, under her dress until her backside came into view. I pushed her panties aside, exposing one cheek. It was luscious. Better than I'd ever imagined and I'd spent a fair time imagining.
"Evil," I repeated. I edged closer, my gaze still devouring the sight of her. My eyes fluttered shut as I dragged my lips over the sweet swell of her ass. It was the trade-off I had to make. I couldn't have all my senses and an erection of this magnitude.
"If all you wanted to do was kiss my ass, I would've taken you up on the offer months ago," Stella said.
I filled my lungs with the scent of her, the one I couldn't place or describe but already knew asStella, and then I did it. I bit her, just enough to leave a mark but not break the skin. Her body pulled tight against the pain but a breathy sigh followed and—and she canted her hips back, toward me. Asking for more. As quick as that, I was addicted and delirious and done for.
A red welt bloomed around the mark I'd made and that sight filled me with a heady blend of contradictions. Never in my life had I considered biting a woman. I wasn't certain I wanted to be in league with men who made a habit of biting women. But I didn't know how I'd draw another breath if I didn't feel her skin between my teeth again, if I didn't hear her sigh or see her wiggling her backside in my face.
