Mark visibly swallowed when I braced my heels on the bumper of the Mustang. I wiggled on the hood, making a show of tugging at the frayed hem of my impossibly short skirt that I wouldn’t wear outside this garage. Normally, Mark would have gone nuts at the possibility of me scratching his precious paint job, but he didn’t so much as grunt a protest. I actually believe he might have forgotten about the car altogether. I bit my lip seductively and smiled. Chalk one up for feminine wiles and a neglected libido.
‘Do you think this skirt is too short?’
Mark’s gaze was riveted between my legs. He stared as if all the answers of the universe were contained in that shadowy space. ‘Too short? Um, I guess it depends on what you’re looking for.’
‘I’m looking for a little attention,’ I said, running a finger along my bare thigh.
At that, Mark puffed out his chest like a rooster, all gruff, masculine possessiveness. ‘From who?’
I lowered my eyelashes. ‘Hmm. Well, not you. You’re too busy for me lately.’
‘I see,’ Mark said. ‘This is a ploy to get me away from the car.’
‘Do you think that’s even possible?’ I crossed my legs, rotated my ankle and swung my red pump back and forth in front of him. ‘Can I distract you from your precious Mustang for a little while?’
‘I think I can spare a few minutes.’
Mark started toward me, his gaze fixed on the hem of my skirt and the sweetness it hid, but I wagged a discouraging finger at him. ‘Hold it one minute there, big boy. I don’t want a few minutes of your time.’
‘Huh?’
I tried not to roll my eyes. ‘Focus, baby.’
He finally glanced up at my face. ‘What’s up, Cat?’
‘You’ve been distant,’ I said, trying to keep the levity in my voice and still convey how concerned I was. ‘I miss you.’
Despite my tone, his expression closed down. ‘Sorry, I just need to get this car running –’
‘It’s not going to bring him back,’ I said gently.
He jerked like I’d slapped him. ‘That’s not why –’
‘Yeah, it is, honey. You miss him, I know you do. And you love this car almost as much as you loved him.’ I stretched out my hand to rub my thumb across the grease spot on his bicep. ‘I know that.’
He sighed, covering my hand with his own. ‘I can’t get rid of the car, Cat.’
‘I never want you to. But maybe it’s time to consider getting another car, huh?’ I shifted on the hood, the skirt sliding up another inch. ‘Take a break from the constant maintenance so we can enjoy the weekends together?’
He nodded. ‘Yeah, maybe it’s time.’
‘I miss you, baby,’ I said, putting all my longing and lust into the words. I was already wet, creaming at just the thought of him being inside me.
‘Your legs look a mile long in that skirt.’
And just like that, we shifted from serious conversation to full-on seduction. I was more than ready for it, and for him. But that didn’t mean I wasn’t planning on making him work for it.
I lay back on the hood of the car, braced myself on my elbows and placed my foot in the centre of his chest. ‘You’re not getting anywhere near me until you promise me some time.’
‘How much time do you want?’
Tugging at my skirt – up rather than down – I revealed a tiny, lacy navy-blue thong. ‘How much time have you got?’
I didn’t give him a chance to respond. He opened his mouth to say something and I hooked two fingers in my thong and pulled it aside. I watched his expression turn from amusement to lust. Bam. Just like that. Amazing what a glimpse of pussy will do to a man.
‘Damn. When did you do that?’ he asked, referring to my fresh Brazilian wax.
I teased him by running my fingers over my bare skin. ‘Two days ago. You might have noticed if you’d come to bed last night instead of staying out here with your car until I was asleep.’
I might as well have been speaking Latin. He could not take his eyes off my hand playing between my legs. Slowly, so he wouldn’t miss a thing, I slid one finger between the lips of my bare pussy. The purpose of this little exhibitionistic show was to get Mark hot and bothered, but I was so hot and wet I forgot about him for a moment and focused on pleasuring myself.
Dragging some of my moisture up over my clit, I gasped. ‘I’ve been doing this three or four times every weekend because you’re too busy lately. See what you miss when you’re working on your car?’
‘I’m seeing that.’ Mark wrapped his hand around my ankle and moved my foot from his chest. ‘But I’m not working on my car now.’
I kicked off my pumps and braced my heels against the hood of the car. ‘No, you’re not.
It’s nice to have your undivided attention for a change.’
‘You definitely have my attention,’ he said roughly. ‘I just wish you’d said something a hell of a lot sooner if this was the end result.’
‘Me, too.’
‘Damn, Catherine, I’m about to burst through my pants, you’ve got me so worked up.’
I smiled, noting his sizeable erection in his grease-stained jeans. ‘I see that. It’s about damn time.’
‘Yeah, it is, isn’t it?’
Mark moved closer, running his hands up my shins to my knees as I masturbated. He gently pressed my legs apart, until I was splayed across the hood of the car. Fully exposed to his view, I paused in stroking my clit to hold my labia open with two fingers.
‘Like what you see?’
Mark nodded, gaze riveted.
‘Want a lick?’
Again, he nodded.
‘Lick it,’ I demanded in a voice that didn’t sound at all like me but was, suddenly and passionately, all me. ‘Now.’
Mark wasted no time in leaning between my spread thighs and running his tongue slowly up the length of my pussy. He held my legs apart, pushing them up and back until my knees nearly touched the hood of the car. I was fully exposed to his gaze – and his questing mouth – but I needed more. I felt open, empty … and I wanted to be filled.
‘Push your tongue inside me,’ I whispered.
I was never this demanding. I was the quiet type in bed, moving him where I wanted with a sigh or a moan or my hands. But we weren’t in bed – and the combination of my slutty outfit and being spread out on Mark’s car like some kind of porn star was making me bold. I felt as if I was waking up from a very long sleep, all these months of waiting for Mark to snap out of his grief, trying to be patient but just becoming more and more resentful.
I knew we still had some work to do and that it wasn’t all better just because I’d concocted a silly plan to seduce him. But maybe this wake up call of what we had – what we’d always had in good times and bad – was a much-needed reminder for both of us. I hoped so. And, judging by the way Mark was staring at me, teasing me by making me wait, I think he was hoping for the same thing.
I sighed as he finally fulfilled