“Hi, there.”
“H-hi.”
“Wanna make out?”
She very much did. She’d predicted Hudson would be a stand-up guy, but the boyish charm was a surprise, and it melted her jaded heart. She couldn’t resist him, especially because he wasn’t pushing her straight to the bedroom. The hungry look in his eyes told her he wanted her, but he didn’t pressure her. His attitude was refreshing.
Elizabeth looped one arm around his neck, drawing him closer. He exuded warmth and an electric tension that her body responded to. Her skin prickled with heightened awareness, her chest tightened and she felt hot between her legs, hot and tickly, as if she was being brushed with rose petals. All from him touching her shoulder.
They took their time getting to that next kiss. She looked into his eyes, wishing she could dive right inside him, his delicious warmth enveloping her like a safe blanket. She parted her lips slightly, needing more oxygen. They shared the same air for several heartbeats before he finally closed that small gap between them and claimed her mouth with his.
He tasted like citrus, and she realized it must be the Mountain Dew. But the electric tingle of his mouth, the firm brush of lips on lips, tongue on tongue sizzled through her body. She would never be able to think about that beverage again without associating it with Hudson.
He shifted her onto his lap. His erection pressed against her thigh, and he adjusted her slightly so it nudged between her legs. His groan was more like a growl of pleasure.
They kissed for a long time. She learned everything there was to know about his mouth and what it could do to her, unable to stop herself from imagining how it would feel to have his talented tongue employed elsewhere on her body. She wanted him to lick her from head to toe like a giant Popsicle, and then she wanted to do the same to him.
He smelled good, like soap and leather, citrus and sunshine. His skin tasted incredible. She ran her tongue along his jawline, exploring the slightly sandpapery texture. He teased her ear with his tongue, which caused her to go very still so she could concentrate on every sensation. When he nipped her earlobe with his teeth she was sure she would spontaneously combust.
He hadn’t even touched her breasts, but she was ready to skip over the rest of the foreplay and get him inside her. She was afraid she would climax before they were joined, and while that wouldn’t be all bad, their first time she wanted them to come together.
Their first time. The thought set her back on her heels. As if there would be more. She knew how impossible that was, but she was already fantasizing about seeing him again.
“Condoms?” she asked between kisses, because that was the only word her sex-fogged brain could manage.
“Bedroom.”
She clamored off his lap and grabbed his hand, pulling him off the sofa. Like eager children, they raced toward the back of the house.
He didn’t turn on any lights, so she received only a few fleeting impressions of his bedroom—bigger than expected, with a king-size bed on a platform. Some kind of dresser or chest in the corner. A ceiling fan overhead; that would be nice in the summer.
The bed was made, another unbachelorlike detail she filed away. Unless he’d planned to make a conquest at the wedding and had cleaned up in anticipation, she could conclude that Hudson was a good housekeeper, and that he didn’t need a lot of stuff around him to make him happy.
Hudson yanked back the covers, raising the faint scent of vanilla.
He didn’t press her onto the mattress immediately; instead he took her in his arms and kissed her again, deftly lowering the zipper at the back of her dress. He smoothed the silky fabric off her shoulders and it slithered down her body and pooled at her feet.
Feeling uncharacteristically shy, she was glad to be in semidarkness. She didn’t fixate on her body like some of her friends. She was lucky to be naturally slender, so she didn’t fight her weight, but she didn’t spend hours at the gym or taking Pilates classes. She wasn’t ripped and toned. In fact, she might be considered too thin, and the push-up bra she’d bought to help her A-cups fill out the dress was a bit of false advertising. When he unhooked and removed it, she had to resist the urge to cover her breasts with her arms.
He inhaled sharply. “I’m going to turn on the light.”
“No.” The single word sounded abrupt, so she softened it by caressing his arm and reaching for the buttons on his shirt. He’d taken his tie off in the car. Though he’d worn his lightweight suit well, she bet he looked unbelievable in a pair of faded jeans.
“No?”
“I like the dark. Moonlight is...romantic.”
“Whatever you say.” He slid two fingers of each hand inside the elastic of her panties and slowly slid them down her legs. She shivered, though she was anything but cold: her entire body burned from blushing.
She wasn’t like this. She’d always been careful in relationships, careful about sex, watching for hints that a man was becoming too obsessed with her. She’d been the object of one man’s obsession, and that was enough to cure her.
But this...encounter didn’t feel dangerous or sleazy to her. It felt just right. Even if they never saw each other again after tonight—and, fantasies aside, they couldn’t—she wouldn’t feel bad about this. They’d come together with no pretensions, no false promises or cajoling on either of their parts. Only the rather peculiar circumstances that had brought them together stopped her from enjoying herself without hesitation, and she’d managed to stuff those reservations to the back of her mind.
Hudson peeled off his clothes with a grace and economy of motion that was a turn-on all by itself. What little light that came into the room from a sliding glass door played over the curves and angles of his body, revealing the hint of a muscled biceps here, a rippled abdomen there.
And the evidence of his desire, jutting forward without apology. Elizabeth’s mouth went dry.
He came at her like a big, lazy tomcat with anticipation in his gaze, eyeing a mouse. Her own anticipation was about to leap out of her body, a tangible thing. Touch me. Touch me.
He put his hands at her waist and tried to span her in his grasp. “You’re tiny,” he said with a sense of wonder.
She’d never thought of herself as tiny. Skinny, maybe. But her height had sometimes made her feel like a giant. Now that she’d shucked her shoes, Hudson stood at least a few inches taller.
“You’re just big,” she countered, and they both knew she wasn’t just talking about his muscular shoulders.
He grinned, proving no man was immune to a woman praising his equipment. “I’m glad you approve.”
“Let’s see if I approve of how you use it.” Elizabeth wasn’t normally one for saucy quips, especially during sex, but something about him brought out her playfulness. She slowly sank onto the bed, pulling him with her.
He kissed her in earnest now, wrapping her in his arms and rolling on his back so she lay atop him. His erection pressed against her abdomen, and the heat between her legs threatened combustion. Her womb ached for him to complete her.
She spread her legs and straddled him, rubbing herself against his erection.
He growled again. “Oh, man. You’re making me crazy, you know.”
Enough foreplay. They could fondle and tease and seduce later, perhaps during round two. She could only hope she would be lucky enough to get to round two. Right now, she needed to finish this or she was going to implode.
Hudson reached for a drawer in the nightstand and fumbled a bit in the dark. She heard the rustle of plastic. Once he got the condom out of its wrapper she took it from him.
“Turn around while you put that on me,” he said.
“Excuse me?”
“I