“You have? For how long?”
He gave a half shrug. “Too long.” He shifted slightly, an almost imperceptible sign he was uncomfortable. “You thinking we should do this here, right in your garage?”
She giggled and moved toward the door that led into the house. “No. That would be ridiculous. Come on in.”
The garage door led into a small mudroom and then into the kitchen. She gave it a quick glance as she slid off her heels to confirm that her dirty dishes were put up and there was nothing weird or embarrassing sitting out on a counter.
Robert looked around at the white cabinets, gray-and-silver granite counters, and stainless steel appliances. There was nothing particularly special about her kitchen, but it was clean and pleasant and upgraded. She liked it.
“This is nice. How long have you lived here?”
“A couple of years. It’s a nice neighborhood, and I’m only ten minutes from work.”
“Did you buy this as new construction?”
“Yep. What about you? What is your house like?”
“My house,” he said, toeing off his shoes and leaving them on the floor where she’d left hers, “is a hundred years old.”
“Really? I’ve got to see it sometime.” She wasn’t intending to be suggestive. She just liked old houses and would have bought one herself had she not been worried about the upkeep.
“You can. Anytime.”
They stood in the kitchen for a moment. Amanda set her little purse on a counter and took off the cashmere wrap she’d been wearing with her dress. Then she looked over at Robert, wondering what she should do.
She usually felt comfortable enough about sex. She’d had four boyfriends in her life, and she’d had a good sex life with all of them. She normally wouldn’t have hesitated about making the first move, but with Robert it was different. They weren’t dating or in a relationship. He’d just appeared out of nowhere, and now he was in her home. They were supposed to have hot sex, but she wasn’t sure how to begin.
Should they talk for a while? Have a drink? Ease into it slowly?
Or should she just jump him right now?
She gulped and eased her weight from foot to foot. “So...”
“So.”
“I’m not super experienced about this kind of thing. One-night stands, I mean. Do you want something to drink? Or should we—”
His expression changed. She saw it happen for just a moment as he took a few steps to close the distance between them. She only had a couple of seconds to register the heat and hunger on his face before he was kissing her.
Kissing her.
She made a little grunt in her throat as his lips closed down on hers. He used both hands to hold her head in place as his mouth moved against hers urgently. For just a moment, she was so surprised she couldn’t move, but then the pleasure started to rise. Her lips tingled. Her head throbbed. Her heart pounded all through her body.
She slid her hands up around his neck and softened against him, kissing him back.
She hadn’t been sure what to expect from a kiss from this man. Skill, no doubt. Confidence and experience, absolutely. Maybe a kind of cool control that seemed to characterize him.
But there was nothing cool about his embrace right now. He was skillful and experienced. That much was clear from the way his hands and tongue were moving. But there was also something hot and uncontrolled about him. Like he couldn’t stop himself from doing what he was doing to her. And it was the headiest feeling she could remember.
That there was something about her that was capable of snapping the threads of this man’s control.
He stepped her backward until her butt hit the lower cabinets, and his hands slid down to span the back of her neck. It was just a kiss. His hands didn’t move any lower than her throat. But she was already so turned on that pressure throbbed between her thighs.
Arousal hit her so hard and so quick that it came with a flicker of anxiety. She finally turned her head away and took a ragged breath of air.
He lowered his hands and took a step back. “Okay?”
“Yes, I’m okay.” She smiled at him since she felt better immediately. “Just catching my breath.”
His expression relaxed. “Okay then.”
She inhaled and exhaled, thrilled to see him so flushed and rumpled. She wasn’t the only one affected by that kiss.
“Exactly how much breath do you need until we can kiss again?”
She giggled. “Just a little bit more. You’re really good at that.”
“At what? Being impatient?”
“No. Kissing.”
“Yeah?”
“Yeah. Not to give you a big head or anything. But I didn’t expect it to be so good.”
He frowned. “Why wouldn’t you expect it to be good?”
“Oh my God. The male ego knows no bounds. That wasn’t an insult. It was a compliment. It’s just that kissing someone you don’t know really well is kind of... kind of strange. You know? Like you’re shoving yourself into clothes that don’t quite fit. So I was expecting it to be... I don’t know. A little awkward.”
“I’m sure if you keep going with your self-assessment, we can make this awkward real quick.” Despite his dry comment, his eyes were warm and his lips twitched slightly.
She made a face at him. “I like to talk. It makes me feel better.”
“All right then. You talk as much as you’d like. I’ll do something else with my mouth if that’s all right with you.”
Her whole body gave a little clench. “That seems like an acceptable arrangement.”
He was chuckling softly as he moved toward her again, kissing her mouth and wasting no time in sliding his tongue against hers. She melted against him again, just like she had before. She wrapped both arms around him, needing to hold on as he slid both his palms down to cup her bottom through her dress.
The gesture made arousal tighten between her legs. The entitlement of it.
After a few minutes, he lowered his mouth to kiss a trail along her jaw and then down her throat.
She dropped her head back in helpless pleasure, relieved her back was against the counter for some extra support. “Oh God, you’re so good at this.”
He grunted with what sounded like approval. His lips and tongue were busy at the pulse in her throat.
“I’m seriously about to lose it.” She gasped, clutching at his hair as waves of pleasure and tightening anticipation overwhelmed her. “How is this happening already?”
His grunt was definitely approval this time. He was really liking what she was saying.
She had to fight not to grind her hips against him. “Should we move to the bedroom?”
“Why?” His voice was muffled by her skin—he’d kissed his way lower, to the cleavage revealed by her neckline—but the question was clear.
“Because it might be kind of strange to have an orgasm right here next to my blender. I told you I’m about to—” Her words were cut off when he lowered his head even more and gave one of her tight nipples a little nip through the fabric of her dress.
“Did you like that?” he asked thickly. He straightened up with an almost feral smile.
She scowled. “You know perfectly well I did. And you don’t have to look so much like a caveman just because you have a few skills. Has it ever occurred to you that it’s not about you and maybe I’m just a very sexy person who knows how to enjoy—”