When her friends pulled her away again, I finished my beer as last call was announced. I signaled the waiter that I was done. I wasn’t shitfaced—still coherent—but I was feeling the effects and didn’t want to push it further.
When she came back to the table, she leaned against it with a grin—her cheeks were slightly flushed, and I knew she was a little tipsy as well. “My friend just left. I think I’m going to head out, too. Just wanted to say thank you for the drinks. And I apologize that we kept getting interrupted and didn’t get to really talktalkand catch up.”
“No worries.” I tilted my head. “You’re not planning on driving, are you? You definitely shouldn’t drive.”
“No, no,” she said, shaking her head with a chuckle. “I’m just going to walk.”
My brow arched. “Walk?”
“My place is only a couple of blocks from here.”
I nodded. “Well…it’s late. You shouldn’t be walking alone late at night, especially in your state.”
“Mystate?” she questioned with an amused giggle.
I gave her a look. “I’m tipsy and I’mtwiceyour size. So, I know you’ve got to be feeling something.”
Her smile shifted into a smirk as she looked me up and down. “Yeah…you could say I’m feelingsomething.”
I held her stare, not missing the double entendre of her words. “Let me at least walk you.”
She only hesitated for a moment before nodding with a smile. “Okay.”
Ten minutes later, we were stumbling through the front door of her townhouse, her lips on mine, my tongue sweeping into her mouth as the door swung shut behind me. Her hands were already pushing up the hem of my T-shirt while mine fumbled with the waistband of her jeans.
We lost our shoes, and she hit the wall with a laugh as I pressed her against it. The remnants of mint from her last mojito still lingered on her tongue, and the scent of her—something floral with a hint of vanilla—filled my senses before she turned, pulling me with her to stagger down a hallway.
This wasn’t typically something I’d do. I couldn’t say what exactly came over me. When I offered to walk with her, this hadn’t been my intention—I simply didn’t like the idea of her walking home alone this time of night. But when we stopped outside of her door, she looked up at me with a heated look in her eyes I couldn’t seem to ignore. Then she leaned up on her tiptoes and kissed me…and I kissed her back.
Maybe it was the relief she offered. The past couple of hours, my mind—usually loud and crowded—had gone silent. The alcohol helped. Still, I couldn’t tell if I was escaping or chasing something.
It was impulsive and reckless, but everything blurred into a heated haze of desire and need.
When we stumbled through the doorway of her bedroom, her hip clipped the doorframe, and she chuckled against my lips, earning a tipsy grin from me in return as I pulled away to tug my shirt over my head. I felt her hands smooth against my abs before they dropped down to the waistband of my jeans. My fingers tangled in her hair as her lips began to trail down my chest while she worked to free me before she sank to her knees.
My heart thumped—not from nerves but sheer arousal. It’d beenmonthssince I’d last been with someone. Not since?—
“Fuck,” I hissed, my breath quickening when I felt her lips wrap around my dick. It was pitch black in the room, save for a sliver of moonlight coming in through a window on the other side. All I could make out was the shadowy figure of her on her damn knees with my hand still in her hair, and I groaned as she sucked. “You keep doingthat…” I trailed off with another gravelly moan when she took me to the back of her throat before I guided her mouth off and pulled her to her feet. “…and this is going to be over before it starts.”
I peeled her shirt off and brought my hand to her chin, my thumb dragging against her plump bottom lip before my lips crushed against hers again as I walked her back to the bed, shedding the rest of her clothes. We fell back on the plush mattress, her legs spread against my thighs as I braced myself above her. I reached between our bodies, stroking a finger against her core, and a groan rumbled from my throat when I felt how wet she was.
She broke the kiss with a moan, arching against my hand. My lips shifted to her neck, drawing a ragged breath from her. “Are you sure about this?”
“Why wouldn’t I be?” I murmured against her skin.
“I don’t know.” She chuckled, threading her fingers through my hair and giving it a gentle tug. “I just don’t want it to be weird for you.”
Because it was a one-night stand with a stranger? That was my assumption of what she meant. “Not weird at all.”
She reached over, yanking open the drawer of her nightstand. “Condom.”
I didn’t hesitate, reaching in to grab the box and pulling outa foil package. Rising to my knees, I tore it open with my teeth and rolled it on.
The moonlight cast just enough light that I could see her eyes roaming over me. “See something you like?”
“You look like you could absolutely ruin me.”
A deep laugh rumbled out of me at her blunt words as I braced myself above her again. “Don’t worry. I’ll be gentle.”
