Popping another savory morsel of poultry into his mouth, she looked him square in the eye, her own twinkling with a devilment that put him on high alert. “Put your hand on my leg.”
He returned her stare for a long moment, attempting to decipher if this was part of her cover or something else. Something that’d ultimately prove a far tougher test to his control.
“Don’t make me punish you for your disobedience, Jer.”
The mock sternness in her tone did funny things to his gut. Or maybe the sudden stiffening of his cock had something to do with the lazy swirl of her fingertip along his abdomen. Hard to tell.
Extra emphasis on hard.
If he was smart, he would have called an end to their training right there and packed it in for the night, but apparently his intelligence had migrated south for the winter. “What punishment are you intending to dish out?”
“Well…” She set aside the forgotten plate of salad and straddled his lap. Her fingers drifted along the delicate swells of her hips, the soft scritch of her nails raking the supple leather providing an erotic soundtrack. “If you won’t touch me, maybe I should make you watch me do it.”
Surely she didn’t mean that the way it sounded. “Avi—”
She pressed a fingertip to his mouth. “No, you had your chance. Now you’re going to pay the price.”
Oh, he held no doubt of that. Particularly when her hands ghosted upward, tracing her rib cage and higher still to the fullness of her breasts. She rolled the pads of her fingers over her nipples, mimicking the motions he’d used earlier in the bathroom. His lungs suddenly felt equally as constricted as his damn briefs.
She licked her lips, the sultry haze of desire in her eyes nearly doing him in. “Did you like touching me? Do you wish you could do it right now? Would you caress my breasts, or maybe slide your hand up under my skirt and find out how wet I am?”
Sweet goddess. He hissed a breath between his teeth. “Don’t play this dangerous game with me.”
“Why? Worried I’ll crack through that legendary control of yours?” One palm swept lower and hovered temptingly near her mound.
Sweat broke out on his forehead. He’d never been more grateful for the hindrance of a skirt. Ironic, considering he usually cursed them to hell and back for slowing his seduction progress.
The heated glimmer in her eyes making him infinitely nervous and aroused, Avi lifted onto her knees and tiptoed her fingers along the creamy-smooth expanse of her thighs. Hypnotized, he watched the slow crawl of her hemline ascending toward her hips. The black lace triangle of her panties popped into view, and his shaky exhalation snuck loose before he could rope it into submission. Damn. He was a fucking sucker for sexy underthings.
Then again, he was a fucking sucker when it came to Avi. Period.
“Do you like what you see?” She leaned forward until her lips grazed his earlobe. “Or should I give you something even better to watch?”
His brain screamed one answer while his cock piped in with an entirely different response. Not trusting the words that might jog loose of his mouth, he swallowed hard. This close, he could smell the sweet heat of her. Beneath the luscious floral essence, he easily detected the feminine musk of her arousal. It was driving him out of his mind. He longed to hike her up into his arms and bury his head between her legs, fill his nose with the heady intoxication of her pussy, right before he filled her with his tongue.
She leaned back, awarding him some room to enjoy the show. He knew he was in some serious trouble the instant she hesitantly stroked over the fabric covering her crotch. She was soaked. The slick, succulent sound taunting him verified it. No need for him to see or feel her wet, velvety flesh firsthand.
But he wanted to.
Dear gods, how he wanted to.
She teased him with her naughty, flirty fingers. Sliding them all up and down the drenched lace without actually delving inside. He tensed with the need to tuck that damnable bit of fabric aside and insist she rub herself properly. Or better yet, give in to her command to get her off. Worried he was seconds away from doing precisely that whether she wanted him to or not, he clenched his fists at his sides.
“What’s the matter, Jer? You’re suddenly all awkward and stiff.”
Sonofafairy. Her devilish little grin was gonna be the death of him. Hell, everything about her was an annihilating force to his equilibrium. Devastating as she’d been all those years ago as the innocent virgin who’d lured him with impossible temptation, it was nothing compared to the wicked seductress she’d become. He lifted his hand, but before he could reach his intended destination, she smacked him away from her panties.
“No touching, remember?”
“You’re being a goddamned cocktease.” And he fucking loved it. If that didn’t confirm what a twisted mess he was, nothing would. If he possessed a lick of sense, he’d scoop her out of his lap and hustle his ass from her apartment, pronto. He damn well knew where this was headed. The warning sirens were blasting relentlessly in his brain. But his fierce desire for her outshouted all else.
One look at the sparkle in her eyes verified she was plenty aware that she had him by the short hairs. “Mmm. So hypothetically speaking…say I did let your fingers do the walking, where would you want them? Here?” She caressed herself through the lace. “Or maybe here?” Her fingers slipped down the front of her panties.
He unglued his tongue from the roof of his mouth. “Yeah, definitely there.”
“Would you just keep them here, not doing anything?”
“No, move them around like you were— Fuck yes, exactly like that.” His cock thickened a good inch or two behind his fly while her fingers got busy beneath the tantalizing concealment of the lace. Her soft moan kicked up his internal thermostat by several thousand degrees.
Eyes drifting shut, she snared her bottom lip between her teeth and undulated in tempo with her slow stroking. When she arched her back, pressing into her own questing fingers, the micro-fine filament of his restraint snapped. Gripping her by the wrist, he tugged her hand from between her legs and sucked her fingers into his mouth with a ragged groan. Her musky essence melted on his tongue like the sweetest honey.
A shaky breath lodged in her throat. “Jer.”
The sound of his name on her lips was the final devastating blow to his control. Releasing her wrist, he tangled his fingers in her hair and hauled her in for a hungry, consuming kiss.
Chapter Nine
Head spinning, Avily clutched Jerrick tight, the ferocity of his kisses dissolving her into a boneless puddle of goo in his lap. She’d waited a lifetime to experience this level of abandon with him. In the back of her mind, she’d prayed that bold bit of naughtiness would crack his defenses, but this? It was more than she’d dared dream.
Hooking her legs around his waist, he pushed up from the couch and carried her to the bedroom. Lowering her onto the quilt, he stretched over her, his mouth hot and insatiable upon hers. He dipped lower, his lips nuzzling her neck while his gliding caresses along her upper thighs contributed to the constant shivers of pleasure purling through her. She’d primed herself beyond the point of no return with her little stroke session in the living room. His slightest touch threatened to topple her over the edge.
“Do you have any idea how insane you drove me out there?” His warm breath peppered her skin, a precursor to the erotic rasp of his beard scruff over the hills of her breasts. He kissed his way to the deep V of her cleavage, and she twined her fingers in his hair.