I like your priorities, he told her, pulling her to her feet.
Three steps toward her room and she found herself pressed against the wall, the full length and hardness of him weighted, holding her in place.
Desire had been simmering in her belly but now, as he licked over her earlobe, and then nibbled down her neck, it burned inferno hot.
She hung on as he continued to feast on her throat, as his hands rucked up her sweater, spreading more heat against her belly where he brushed his fingertips.
Why was she wearing pants? From now on, she needed to wear skirts when she was going to be alone with him. For easy access.
She nearly laughed but that was before he pulled the sweater up and off, leaving her there in her bra, the cool surface of the wall a counter to the heat of him.
All she wanted was him. On her. In her. All around her. That sort of focus was something she only usually had for art. But this? He filled her with so much naked greed it surprised her.
She struggled momentarily with his button and zipper, but then, with a groan, she grabbed his cock. In both hands.
He snarled, spinning them a few times until they burst through the half-open door of her bedroom, nearly taking them both to the floor as she tripped over several pairs of shoes shed left out.
Laughing, he heaved her up and then onto her bed. She managed to pull her jeans and panties off as he got his jeans and shirt off.
She paused, hands at the hooks of her bra as she took him in. His eyes were glazed slightly, drunk on hormones and sex. His upper body was so much better than any of the pictures shed seen in magazines or on television.
She hadnt been able to get a good look when theyd been together a few days prior; it had been rushed and theyd still been totally clothed. But he stood in her room, stealing the oxygen, pumping out fuck-me heat like a furnace.
And that was before shed really gotten a look at the line-and-dot elephant head across his upper chest. Later... Later shed ask about all his ink, including the numbers and letters on his left side and the jellyfish on his thigh.
After.
For that moment, however, she tossed her bra to the side after surging to her knees. He didnt need her to hold a hand out, instead, he looked her up and down with a light in his gaze and then moved, taking her to the mattress, his body against hers, skin to skin, hot.
She hissed, writhing against him as sensation rushed through her system.
* * *
SO FUCKING BEAUTIFUL.
Beau looked at her on her knees, tits still jiggling just a little from her movement.
Curves for miles.
Not wanting to wait another second, he joined her on the bed, pulling her underneath him. Before he could kiss her again, she wrapped her legs around him, opening herself up to him so his cock brushed against the scalding heat of her pussy.
Youre so wet, he mumbled, sliding his hands over all the skin he could reach.
Thank you for that, she replied.
He wanted to laugh and groan and snarl for more.
So he bent to kiss her and let himself fall.
Nothing tasted the way she did. Sweet and tart and totally Cora.
She dug her nails into his shoulders, trying to hold him in place, but there was more of her he wanted to kiss. More of her he wanted to explore.
Always more and never enough it seemed.
He tasted the salt of her skin as he licked over the blade of her collarbone. Drew in the sweetness of her sigh and the shiver that followed.
Kissed her over and over all the way down her body, over her ink, including a lovely bit of lace and gems just underneath her very fine breasts.
After looking his fill, he licked over a nipple until she made a soundbreathy and needyand then he blew until it stood hard and dark.
He hummed his delight. Wandered over to her other nipple, repeating the lick and blow, and was rewarded with her nails digging into his biceps and a snarled yes.
At the hollow of her hip, he inspected the firefly in full color inked there. She yelped into a fit of giggles when he nipped it.
She was ticklish as he rained kisses over the inside of her thighs.
The laughter stopped as he spread her open and looked his fill.
Yes. Utterly beautiful.
She arched her back on a gasp when he took his first lick. And let himself drown in her. In giving her pleasure and taking his own.
In his hands, she was fire. Lush and sensual. But at the same time there was an edge to her. A vibrantand in places, darkenergy.
There, between satiny thighs she was slick and totally open to him. There she was more addictive than hed imagined she could be.
Bone-deep craving seemed to slice through his senses, shredding his control.
The muscles of her thighs trembled as her breath caught. Close. He knew she was close and though he wanted to feast on her for a lot longer, he had to satisfy himself with knowing hed have another chance, hopefully more than one, to get back to where he was exactly at that moment.
Making Cora Silvera come so hard she pounded the bed at her sides as she brokenly whispered his name.
He had to rest his cheek against her belly, gasping for air the same way she was doing. Not because he was physically tired, though he liked to think his oral skills took some energy. She seemed to yank his emotions free with the way she not only touched his skin, but reached inside him with her reactions. With nothing more than being who she was.
Hed been through a lot of traumatic crap in his life. A lot of highs too. He was generally easygoing with it all by that point. But the way he felt with her, around her, was just shy of overwhelming.
So seductively good he just didnt have the energyor the willto make up reasons to resist.
Cora was an adventure he wanted to experience.
Her smirk when he lifted his head enough to look up her body sent an arc of lust straight to his cock, so he jumped up to dig through his pants to grab a condom before returning to her.
She grabbed the packet from between his teeth before he could bite down and tear it open. Thats bad for your teeth, she told him, ripping it by hand and giving it back.
He could flat-out guarantee that hed never had a lover tell him to be careful of ruining his teeth. Perversely, that only made him harder. So hard that he had to zone out a bit as he got the condom rolled on his dick or else come all over his hand and end thisat least for twenty minutesbefore it got started.
Still on her knees from when shed grabbed the condom, she waited for him, lips slightly parted, pupils large. Her hair was tousled all around her face in a way that screamed, I just had an orgasm.
On your belly, he told her.
She rolled over and gave him a look. Inviting more as she thrust herself back toward him.
He swore under his breath as he took in the antique chandelier taking up the entirety of her back. An old-school design. Strong and feminine. Sexy as hell.
I love this ink, he said, leaning down to kiss her between her shoulder blades. Settling between her thighs, he pushed one leg up, keeping it bent at the knee.
The sight of his cock disappearing into her body as he slowly entered her short-circuited his brain. His hand at her hip, fingers digging into the muscle there slightly to set the pace he wanted.
Slow. Because he wanted to draw it out.
But that was difficult when she was so snug and hot around him. Still soft and slick from her orgasm, her inner walls stretched, and then tightened around him.
Deep. Even deeper once hed tipped her hips just a bit. Knew hed gotten it right when her moan got raspy at the end.
He fucked her with hard, deep digs. Concentrated on how it felt, on how her skin tasted, on the wall holding back his climax.
Harder, she said over her shoulder. More. Please.
Beau bent himself over her. I want your hand on your pussy. On your clit.
He knew she liked it by the way her inner muscles seemed to flutter around his cock. And the surprised moan as she slid her hand between her body and the mattress.
Knew shed begun when she got even hotter and wetter. Even through the latex it was enough to bring the orgasm hed been holding back roaring toward him as he stayed where he was, his body caging hers, thrusting deep and hard.
She whimpered into the blankets as she started to explode around him and that was it. He continued to fuck her as it sucked him in and held him under. He came so hard his thigh muscles burned and jumped.
* * *
SWEET BABY JESUS eating jerky, she mumbled, rolling over so she could watch him get out of bed to dispose of the condom. She just had some of the hottest sex of her life with a dude who looked like sex on legs.
Wait. Did you just say sweet baby Jesus eating jerky? he asked, a wary expression on his face.
I did. I was just thinking about how youre just so damned gorgeous and hot and it occurred to me what a delight that was.
He snorted as he joined her in getting dressed, and then pulled her into a hug, taking a long, leisurely trip around her mouth and throat before letting her go at last.
Leaving her needing to lean against the wall a moment because she was weak in the knees.
Glad to be of service, he said. I like the way you objectify me.
Thats a big relief because I gotta tell you, looking at you gets me all warm and tingly. And then you add the cooking and the sense of humor and the way you fuck and its just downright impossible not to objectify you.
Smiling, he walked two steps back to where she leaned against the wall and caged her in with his body. Yum.
Im not the irresistible one here, he murmured before bending his knees to kiss her slow. I have dreams about your taste, he said, stepping away from her.
How did one even process a man like Beau saying such things? It made her light-headed in the best way. Made her feel like a gorgeous queen and damn it was really fucking wonderful.
The start of something really fucking wonderful. She hoped, even as she knew it could be a quick thing, she had a very strong feeling it wouldnt be. There was something compelling about not only Beau, but the energy they had as Beau and Cora.
She shouldnt think on it overmuch at that point though. Let it be magic. Magic was lovely.
CHAPTER EIGHT
GALLERY SILVERA SAT on a corner, next to a wine bar and across from a café. It was the perfect sort of place to wander after enjoying a glass of wine or a cup of tea. There were several other galleries within a four-block radius, all having a different perspective and emphasis. It created a lovely, artsy atmosphere.
Coras town house was close enough that she usually walked during the warmest months. But more, she herself was part of the neighborhood she worked in. When she chose what went on the walls in the gallery, what could be seen through the big windows facing the street, Cora expanded her gallery outside. Connected with those other places, and through Seattle Center, they were part of something vibrant, pulsing with music and art and dance.
Itd been in the current location in the shadow of the Space Needle for thirty years. Most of them had been as a moderate success. Her father had originally bought it as a gift for his wifeand as Cora believed, a way to give Walda roots. To give her a sense of place to build a life and a family. Which shed done, but in her own way because no one told her mother how to live.
Like any kid who grew up in a family that ran a business, she and her siblings had spent a lot of afternoons and weekends at the gallery. It had brought color and creativity into her life at a very early age. Shed learned her multiplication tables while tucked into a back corner. A young painter who now had an established, successful career had helped her with a book report. Their dining table had always been surrounded by artists, art lovers and all manner of exciting, interesting folk.
The gallery and the people who came through it were what she always thought of as another room of her childhood home.
She would get dressed and in makeup in her office once all the last touches were in place. For the time being she was in jeans and a long-sleeved shirt and wore sneakers as she rearranged some of the bouquets and floral baskets while making sure all the descriptions and associated materials with each piece were free of errors.
The caterers and bar staff had arrived and were beginning to get set up when she finished up all she could do for the event.
Maybe knocked on the door of Coras office not thirty seconds after shed gotten her clothes and accessories for the night laid out. I brought you a coffee, Maybe told her, kissing her cheek as she handed the travel mug over.
Her friend was not only a fantastic hairdresser and barber, she also did makeup for her friends on special occasions. Maybe had shown up with her case, ready to work.
Youre my favorite, Cora said as she got into the chair.
Naturally. You can tell me about the pumpkin patch and the sex you had afterward while Im doing your hair.
How the hell do you know we had sex? Cora looked at herself in the mirror, carefully making sure she hadnt missed a love bite or something embarrassing.
You have the glow. Your hair is looking fantastic. Its got sex volume. And you didnt deny it immediately. Also, you seemed pretty hot for one another and so it was a natural assumption.
Maybe began to do her magic on Coras hair while she sipped her coffee and sighed happily.
He was cute at the pumpkin patch. He pulled the wagon without complaint. Then he made me three different kinds of tacos while I decorated. Then we had terrific sex. Like stick your finger in a light socket electric sex. And in the afterglow what do you think we did?
Ate more tacos?
Cora sighed. I hadnt even thought of that. Hell, eating more tacos totally would have been a wise choice. But no, after he fucked me silly, he helped me with some of my pumpkins. We even carved some before I had to leave to get here. Oh, and hes coming tonight.
Cora kept her eyes closed as Maybe worked. Pinning, curling and spraying her hair before moving on to makeup. At some point, Rachel arrived and Cora recounted the same story, catching her up.
Hell be more comfortable because he knows everyone already except for Beto and Finley. It was less pressure that way. If, for whatever reason, he hit his limit on Cora time, or their chemistry cooled or soured, thered be other people around to make it easier to avoid one another.
Finley is curious about him. Shes done some internet sleuthing so be ready for all her questions about his, um, more colorful days, Rachel said of Coras sister.