Matthew presses a soft, lingering kiss to the back of my hand before releasing it and exiting the car.His movements are sharp with a tightly leashed energy as he rounds the car to open my door.He offers his hand, and when my trembling fingers meet his, his grip is firm, pulling me gently to my feet.He leads me up the short walkway, drawing me forward in a silent, inexorable pull toward his front door.
The sound of the lock disengaging is deafening in the quiet night.
Matthew’s hand is a warm pressure at the small of my back, guiding me over the threshold.The door swings shut behind us, swallowing the outside world and plunging us into near darkness.
The latch catches with a soft, final click.
That single sound is the only signal we need.
The dam breaks.
His hands find my waist, pulling me hard against him.His mouth crashes down on mine with a savage hunger that I meet with equal force.
My purse drops to the floor.
My hands fly up, tangling in his hair, pulling his face closer, deepening the kiss.
His mouth is an answered prayer.A consuming fire.
He groans, a low, guttural sound that vibrates through my lips.One of his hands slides from my waist, up my bare back, fingers splaying wide to press me even tighter against him.Just when I think I might actually combust, he tears his mouth away, leaving me gasping, chasing his lips.
He drops his forehead to mine, our ragged breaths mingling.A fine tremor runs through the arms holding me; his entire body is a tightly coiled spring of pure, restrained energy.
“Bedroom,” he murmurs, the word a mere exhalation against my skin.
He doesn’t pull away.Instead, his lips find the sensitive curve of my neck, tasting, nipping.A helpless shiver racks my body.His hand on my back shifts, a silent, urgent command.
Our bodies stay melded from hip to chest as we move in a clumsy, desperate shuffle toward the staircase.He finds the first step with his heel, moving backward and pulling me up with him.Our mouths crash together again on the narrow tread.A deep, searching kiss.
My fingers clench in his hair.
I stumble in my stilettos and swiftly kick them off.His arm is an iron band around my waist, holding me steady.My free hand finds the banister for balance, the other still an anchor in the softness of his hair as our dizzying ascent continues.
Each step is a negotiation.
A stolen kiss.
Halfway up, he presses me back against the stairwell wall, his body a delicious, demanding weight.A gasp tears from me as his fingers slide beneath the hem of my dress, his palm pressing flat against the bare skin of my thigh.His open mouth maps a path along my jaw, moving higher.
I arch against him, my hips instinctively seeking his.
His hands are everywhere, reigniting every inch of my skin.
A torturous, exquisite exploration.
Every breath, every kiss on this staircase is a tightening coil of anticipation.By the time we reach the landing, I’m trembling, every nerve singing, my hunger an aching void only he can fill.
Matthew pulls me with him down the short hallway and into his bedroom, a space bathed in the silver-blue shimmer of moonlight.His mouth finds mine again, a deep, seeking kiss.
His leather jacket is a thick, maddening barrier.I break our kiss with a frustrated groan, my hands fumbling for the zipper.
“This…” I gasp against his lips, “has to go.”
A low chuckle rumbles in his chest.
He doesn’t help.He just lets me wrestle with the heavy pull of the zipper, his eyes dark and hooded, watching my fumbling efforts with an intensity that makes my fingers tremble.
Finally, it gives.
