Pseudo-big-brother to the rescue! She shrieked and threw her arms around his neck in a quick hug, which he accepted with a grimace and a swift pat of her shoulder. “You’re the best!”
“I know. Now go forth and have sex.” Jake pronounced it like a benediction, but she was already out of her chair and stalking across the room to claim her man.
Erik straightened from the cake table and watched her approach with hooded blue eyes. When she reached him, she hooked a finger through a belt loop on his beautiful suit.
“Let’s get out of here.”
As she was hoping, he dropped the cake server and followed her out the door without a single word.
Twenty-One
Erik was well on his way to being hard as fucking iron by the time he slotted his key into the back door of the bakery. Josie’s body was nothing but curves, and every one of them had been pressed against him from the moment they’d left the reception hall and climbed into the waiting Lyft.
He pushed open the door and waited for her to step inside so he could lose himself in her at last, but she paused in the alley, uncharacteristic hesitation crossing her face.
“Is, uh, is Gina here?”
Like he’d bring her back to his place if they weren’t going to have privacy for all the things he had planned. He rested his hands loosely on her waist but restrained himself from slinging her over his shoulder and carrying her to his bedroom. She needed to be the one to make this decision. “Nope. We’re all alone.” He’d explain about the sublet later, after they finally did this thing.
“In that case,” she murmured, turning to smooth her hands along his shoulders, “take me inside. As amazing as you look in this suit, I can’t wait to get it the hell off you.” She slipped her hand underneath his collar and grazed her nails over the back of his neck.
Had the damn suit felt tight before? Because he was ready to burst out of the expensive material, Hulk-style, so he could absorb every touch she was willing to give him. He swung her into his arms, stepped over the threshold, and kicked the door shut, then took the stairs two at a time. He wasn’t able to focus on any details beyond the weight of her in his arms and her good, clean citrusy scent tickling his nose.
He stalked across the room and settled them both on the couch, pulling her onto his lap to straddle him. His sofa screeched in protest, but he was already too busy kissing her to worry about anything else.
She was positioned exactly where he wanted her, and he devoured her mouth, telling her with his actions that he’d be happy to do nothing but this all night long. And then she told him without words that she wanted more, pushing down to grind against his cock. Her gasp of approval at finding him hard and ready acted like a starter’s pistol for him, and he dragged his hands down her sides until they tangled in the frothy material of her skirt. The dress was frivolous and feminine and maddening—exactly like Josie herself, and he couldn’t get enough.
She broke the kiss and leaned forward to reach for his shirt, and he half expected sparks to trail in the wake of her fingers. Instead, she worked her way down the buttons and untucked the fabric from his suit pants, exposing his chest to her avid eyes.
“Goddamn, Erik, you look good.” She reached out to touch where her eyes had just been, but he grabbed her hand and held it immobile a few inches from his skin.
“Me first.” Because if she got anywhere near the vicinity of his belt buckle, he’d be inside her in a matter of seconds, and he needed this to last for her, needed her to remember it. So he swung her around to sit on the couch back, which allowed her to lean against the wall while he knelt between her legs. She reached to unzip her dress, but again he stopped her.
“Leave it on.” His voice was rough with need. “I’ve pictured you like this so many times.”
Her head lolled against the wall, and she looked down at him with lust-clouded eyes. “Oh yeah? What did you imagine?” She skimmed a hand over the blue of her skirt as her legs drifted wider to give him better access.
“This.” He reached up and tugged her neckline down to expose her breasts. Then he tilted his head to look his fill, his chest heaving at the effort it took to draw enough breath into his lungs at the sight. Everything. She was everything he wanted. Flushed and flustered and his to touch.
“Erik,” she breathed, leaning forward to smooth her fingers along his hair, gripping the knot at the back of his head where he’d secured it for the evening. A small little smile ghosted across her face, and he had a pretty good idea of what had just popped into her mind.
“Say it.” He surged upward to growl the command into her ear, pressing his chest against hers and reveling in the soft fullness of her breasts and the drag of her hard nipples across his skin. She shifted to quirk a smile at him, as if daring him to guess what was on the tip of her tongue.
“What?” she asked innocently.
“You know,” he growled.
“Oh do I, Man Bun?” Her breathy sass ended in a gasp when he bit her ear.
“You should know by now,” he said darkly, moving down to capture her exposed nipple with his teeth, “I don’t do nicknames.”
“I can tell—” She gave a squeak as he bit down gently before moving to her other breast. “T-tell how much you hate it.”
“Hate it,” he repeated, pausing to lick and tease each of her gorgeous tits before moving down her body. “So much.” He knelt between her legs, loving that she was still wearing her fancy shoes, and inched up the blue material of her skirt to reveal ivory lace underwear. Before he touched her again, he glanced up to check that she was still with him.
She was. Her big brown eyes were locked on his hands where they wrapped around the tops of her thighs, her lower lip caught between her teeth. Then one corner of her mouth lifted and she braced her weight on her heels, pushing herself up so he could pull the lace down. He freed one leg, but the material tangled with the buckle on her other shoe. He didn’t give a single fuck though, not when the heart of her was exposed for him.
“Please…” She shifted fractionally closer to him.
