He was damned the moment his lips touched her throat. This was exactly where they’d been headed since the first time he’d laid eyes on her at that party months earlier.
Her fingers sifted through his hair and then she yanked, demanding. Groaning, he managed to get his beer on the table before taking her mouth.
PJ swung a leg up and straddled his lap to face him and he hissed at the heat of her as she undulated, rolling her hips.
He nipped her bottom lip, holding her close as he sucked her tongue and then backed off, licking slow until she’d melted against him. Then he nipped her lip again and kissed his way down to her chin and up her jaw to her left ear.
She made a sound.
A low moan. Needy.
“Shhh. Trust me to get you there. Now that I know you like this…” He licked the hollow beneath her ear again to underline his point. “Well, now that I know it makes you give me that sound? I’ll be sure to do it again and again.”
She wrapped her arms around his neck. “Promise?”
He laughed. “Oh yes.”
“All right then. Get to it. But not too hard because the delivery guy will be here soon.”
Well, that sucked.
Since he was already violating his rules, he might as well enjoy it. He needed to remember he had a lot more experience than this silly flailing indicated.
“All right. Let’s see just what we can get up to before anyone knocks on your door.” He cupped one of her breasts through her blouse and she arched into his touch.
Just right. Everything was just right. The right size. The way she reacted was right. The weight of her on his lap, the way she smelled, her taste, everything.
Not willing to let go of her breast, he used his free hand at her waist to hold her in place. “I’m wondering how long it takes to make you come, PJ.”
“You’re already past the surface streets and on the freeway,” she said in his ear before she sucked the lobe into her mouth.
He shivered. “Good to know.”
She did that thing again, undulating so she ground herself against him, and the power between them shifted as she began to own her allure. She was confident and certainly not hesitant about demanding what she wanted, but this was new.
He dug it.
Warm flesh greeted his caress when the hand he’d had at her waist slid beneath her shirt and across her back.
“Do you have ink back here?” he asked, stroking fingertips over her skin.
“I’ll show you if you like.”
He certainly did like.
The doorbell rang twice and he groaned, standing and holding her like she weighed nothing.
“Food’s here.”
Hormones made her slightly woozy for a moment as she worked to get herself back in order.
“I’ll handle it.” He put her down carefully, and they both headed back into the apartment.
He walked like he was in pain, which she supposed if she had a penis she’d understand. “Why don’t you relax a little? Drink your beer,” PJ said.
He gave her a look that approached an eye roll as he continued toward the door. But she let it pass because he was hotter than the sun and she’d finally gotten him nearly to her bed. Also, she realized Asa was a handful. Like the other alpha males she knew, he’d have to be managed without realizing he was being managed.
He opened the door with a smile so intense the woman on the other side carrying a tote of takeout seemed to black out for a moment as she tried to process over six feet of hot, clearly sex-disheveled man standing in front of her.
PJ let him take the bags and then inserted herself so she could sign the credit card receipt.
“How much do we owe you?” Asa asked.
“I’ve got it, Asa. Can you please take that to the kitchen?”
The delivery driver looked back and forth between them and shoved the receipt into the space. PJ grabbed it before Asa could. “I already paid when I called it in.”
He made a sound she knew meant he’d be giving her his opinion on this turn of events when they were alone. Whatever.
She signed the receipt after adding the tip and closed the door, locking up when she finished.
“I asked you to dinner. I should pay.”
“Huh.” It wasn’t a question. She needed him to understand she wasn’t some silly woman who needed taking care of. “Next time you can pay.”
He frowned and she got all hot for him again.
“I’m wondering if I should tell you how hot you are when you glower at me. Will it make your ego worse?” She put the bags down and moved to him. He excited her. Made her feel bold and strong. And yet, also precious.
He fought a smile but she saw it and he knew that too, so he encircled her waist and pulled her in close.
“I don’t glower.”
She rubbed her cheek along his beard. “Oh, you totally glower. Grrr. I’m glowering. Fear my testosterone.”
He snorted a laugh. “But you don’t. Do you?”
She shook her head. “I don’t fear it. I like it. It’s sexy. But.” She paused to tiptoe up to kiss him quickly. “I do push back if necessary.”
He took two handfuls of her ass and pulled her totally snug against him. “I’m wondering if I should tell you how hot you are when you set me straight,” he echoed back at her, teasing.
“You definitely should.” Not that she thought he’d back off in any case. This was a man who did what he wanted.
She wasn’t hungry at all. Not for the food on the counter.
A low hum of pleasure seemed to vibrate along her spine as he drew his fingertips along it.
He took up so much space in the room. So confident in his skin, the way he moved, like a man who was 100 percent cool with what he had going on. That confidence of his was so totally sexy.
“It’s very hot. One of the most appealing things about you, as it happens.”
He kissed her and she sank into it, let herself fall into the feel of his beard tickling her face, of the firmness of his lips, the sharp nip of teeth, and his tongue – oh god his tongue – sensuous, licking, tasting her.
His cock, hard against her belly, drove her crazy as she restlessly moved from side to side, brushing herself against him.
Asa groaned into her mouth. “Cold takeout. After.”
She took his hand and led him back to her bedroom, totally glad she’d changed her sheets just the day before and the place wasn’t a total mess.
“You keep surprising me.” He stood in her doorway, looking around.
“That doesn’t sound like you know if it’s a compliment or not.”
PJ loved her bedroom. In shades of cool blues, deep purple, and a tiny bit of saffron, she’d made a place that was her sanctuary. Fluffy bedding, comfortable enough to read in all day on a Sunday. Heavy curtains covered the windows because she liked to sleep in total darkness, but when she pulled those back, sunlight streamed in. A chair she’d reupholstered during a community college class she’d taken with Audra the year before sat in a corner with a small side table and lamp.
It was a calming place she sank into every night.
“It’s beautiful. Feminine.” He walked in and looked around. She liked having him in her intimate space. Made her want to rub on him, mark him like a cat. “You’re most certainly those things.”
“My layers surprise you? Did you expect cinder-block shelves and a mattress on the floor? Ah, because I’m young.”
He didn’t deny it, though he sort of tried to be really hot and make her forget.
“I didn’t say that. I figured you’d have style. Clearly you have good taste in cars and men.”
She snorted and then popped open two buttons on her blouse.
“But my being younger bothers you?” Her fingertip hovered at the next button, the one that would totally expose her bra.
“It’s not that.”
She slid the third button free, delighting in the look on his face.
Greed.