“I’ll—I’ll think on it,” she murmured.
“Are you good at what you do?”
She didn’t hesitate. “I’m the best. Are you good at what you do?”
“Taking care of people?”
“Yes.”
“I—” He was about to downplay his accomplishments but instead took a cue from her easy confidence. “I am. Though sometimes I can’t take care of everyone.”
“No one can.”
“You’re right. I’m learning to prioritize.”
“You should prioritize yourself first.”
His smile was genuine. “I don’t think you’re wrong.”
“Well.” Livvy picked up the cherry from her glass by the stem and took a bite of the fruit, holding the stem between her white, even teeth. “What are two competent people like us supposed to do with their time?”
He smiled, though he didn’t feel like smiling. His body was so hard it hurt, watching her slowly make love to that cherry. “I’ve got a room upstairs.”
She put down the stem. “I’d have been disappointed if you didn’t.”
They didn’t speak as they made their way upstairs to the room he’d reserved. This wasn’t a comfortable silence, but the kind of silence that camefrom two people who didn’t know each other that well.
Feeding the fantasy.
As the elevator rose, he slid his hand from the small of her back up to her shoulder, then down over her arm, scraping his callouses over the vine, until he could clasp their hands together. “The things I want to do to you,” he murmured.
The look she cast him was sizzling. “What do you want to do to me?”
He took one step, then another, crowding her smaller body. He raised their joined hands and placed them against the wall of the elevator. “Strip you. Lick you. Fuck you.”
Her legs fell open, giving him room to press against her. He couldn’t stop himself from grinding his cock in the warm, wet space between her legs.
“That all sounds good,” she breathed.
The elevator dinged, and he’d never been so grateful when the doors opened to reveal an empty hallway. If she hadn’t easily matched his eager pace, he would have been dragging her. He inserted his keycard wrong at first, and he cursed impatiently when it flashed red, giving her a dark look when she laughed.
Finally they were inside. He didn’t wait, pressing her up against the door, as he had in the elevator. With great care, he pushed her hair over her shoulders and looked down into her eyes. “I want you to tell me what you like.”
“You know what I like.”
“How, when we’ve never met before?”
Her lips quivered, but she didn’t contradict him. Her small breasts pillowed over the neckline of her dress. He lowered his head and kissed the flesh, not breaking eye contact with her. “I need you to tell me. Is this okay?”
Her eyes darkened. “Yes.”
He reached around her and found the zipper, pulling it down so he could properly trace her spine down to the dimples at her waist. He wanted to lick those dimples. He eased back and paused before lowering the dress. “Can I strip you naked?”
“Yes,” she whispered.
With a shove, he had the dress on the floor. He took a second to admire her braless breasts, then dropped his hand to her panties. It was a scrap of fabric, tied at each hip with a tiny bow. He gave the strings a gentle tug. “Please, can I get these panties off you?”
She nodded. Two tugs at each bow, and the lace was on the floor, her body completely naked in front of him. He took a second to admire her smooth skin, decorated with ink. He knew this body so well, and yet at the same time he didn’t know it at all. “Will you get on the bed?”
