Darryl nodded approvingly. “It’ll be good to nail that account.”
“I’ll bring it home.” Michael pushed the folder that he had been looking at earlier across the desk. “Take a look. I think I’ve got it covered.”
Darryl leaned forward and picked up the folder. Balancing it on his knee, he flipped through a few pages, skimming them. He began to nod. “The presentation looks good.”
They briefly discussed the project, Darryl’s recent trip, and a few other business issues before Darryl left the office. Michael glanced at his wristwatch.
Two more hours. That incredible dress.
He smiled.
* * * *
The ballet premier was spectacular. Winter was enthralled with the soaring music, the classical pageantry on stage, and the sheer glamour of the event. Michael had said nothing about her spending the night with him, so she had been able to relax into full enjoyment of the production.
As the performance concluded, she sighed in utter contentment. Winter clapped along with the rest of the appreciative audience. She almost regretted the end of what had turned out to be a perfect evening. It was a rare treat to get out of her lonely apartment and do something like this. She picked up her clutch bag and got to her feet. She was grateful to Michael for bringing her.
Michael helped her to drape the soft wrap over her bare shoulders. His warm hands rested on her for a moment before lifting away. She slid a glance back at her escort as they left their seats and began to make their way up the aisle with the rest of the audience. Michael had worn a black tux and white shirt that fit well across his broad shoulders and complemented his dark tan. He looked spectacular. Winter had seen more than one woman take notice of him. She had forgotten what it was like to be in the company of a solicitous, good-looking man.
The animated buzz of conversation around them barely registered outside her reflections. Michael had been the perfect gentleman throughout the evening. During the intermission, they had exchanged polite chitchat about the performance, and Michael had mentioned that he was going out of town for several days. “I have a new client that I am hoping to interest in our encryption software.”
“I hope your trip is successful.”
He had leaned closer, a gleam in his pale eyes. “Have I told you yet that you look beautiful tonight?”
“I believe that you mentioned it once or twice,” she replied demurely. He had laughed, and as the lights dimmed with the end of the intermission, he had reached over to lace his fingers with hers.
At the memory, a smile touched her face. She had liked the ordinary give-and-take between them. With Michael, she didn’t have to be the strong, invincible woman that she pretended to be when she was with everyone else. For a time, she could be just a woman enjoying the company of an attractive and attentive man.
As she and Michael were making their way down the gallery toward the broad stairs, a bottleneck formed and the crowd slowed and eddied to a stop. The crowd was densely packed, and the lighting was dim. Winter waited patiently with Michael standing close behind her.
His palm smoothed warmly down her backside.
Winter jumped, exclaiming under her breath. Embarrassment fizzed through her veins. She darted a quick glance around, but no one seemed to have noticed. She felt his hand start its way down again. But this time his fingers lingered, tracing the line of the thong she wearing from side to side. Then, lazily, one finger followed the thong down between her buttocks.
She started forward a half step, but he caught her arm and pulled her back against him. He gently folded her arm behind her and held her wrist pressed to her lower back. It would appear to anyone who glanced their way that they were holding hands. Effectively holding her captive, he used his free hand to trace and tease the hollow of her buttocks. Then he palmed and kneaded and firmly squeezed one butt cheek.
Winter’s breasts rose and fell with her quickening breath. She was glad for the dim lighting, knowing that she was blushing. She struggled to keep her expression neutral, not wanting anyone to guess what he was doing. Warmth began to suffuse her body. His breath ruffled the curls at her nape, and she realized that he had stepped closer to her. The corner of his jacket brushed her hip.
His fingers tightened around her wrist as he moved her hand. She felt the satin texture of his tux pants against her fingertips, then the hard bulge that filled the shallow of her palm. She jerked her arm, but he would not have it. He leisurely stroked her imprisoned open hand firmly against him, up and down, up… Winter swallowed, feeling vividly every slide of him against her taut palm. Under her hand, his length grew and became more rigid. Michael’s free hand slowly massaged her butt in sensuous circles. Ribbons of heat began coiling low in her belly.
Winter bit her bottom lip. Her heart pounded erratically. Heat flushed her face and neck, spreading lower into her décolletage. She was stunned by the impact of Michael’s teasing play. She was actually getting turned on by what he was doing to her there in the crowded hallway. His long fingers suddenly slid under the curve of her ass, lightly caressing her intimately through the thin jersey. A frisson of pleasure shuddered through her. She swayed back against his chest.
“The crowd seems to be moving finally. Shall we go?” His voice was husky in her ear, but otherwise he sounded perfectly normal. Winter swallowed.
She
didn’t feel normal. Her heart was beating fast while her breath fluttered under her ribs. She did not trust her own voice, so she just nodded.
He freed her wrist and stepped round to her side to politely encase her elbow in the warmth of his cupped hand. Winter was glad of his support. Her legs felt wobbly. They slowly descended the stairs along with the rest of the crowd. They didn’t speak as they emerged out into the night, both too aware of the sexual tension that was arcing between them.
When they reached his Porsche 911 Carrera Cabriolet, Michael unlocked and opened the passenger door for her. His hand brushed her back as she slid in.
Sparks
of electricity shot through her where he touched her, and she shivered.
He shut the door and went around to get in on the other side. He started the engine. Then he glanced over at her, his expression enigmatic in the light from the dash. “It’s a beautiful night. Do you mind if I put the top down?”
“All right.” She watched as he pressed a button in the center console. With a faint whirring, the hood opened and folded down into a concertina onto the back. Michael swung the Porsche out of the emptying parking lot and onto the darkened streets.
The warm wind rushed over her, tugging at her hair and stirring the silky skirt of her gown. Winter let the wrap slide off her shoulders, baring her arms to the breeze. She was acutely aware of the man sitting beside her. She cast a quick sideways glance at him through her lashes. A lock of dark hair tossed across his forehead. The garish streetlights cast flickering shadows over the hard planes of his features, leaving his expression unreadable. His mouth was set in a firm line. The gleaming white shirt molded to his chest. His virility heightened her senses.
Michael rested a flat wrist on top of the steering wheel while he firmly guided the car with his other hand. She stared at his hands, particularly at his long tapering fingers, and remembered what they could do to her body in the dark on tumbled sheets.
She breathed in his familiar scent, a heady mix of male and spicy cologne, and desire slammed into her. She chewed on her bottom lip nervously. Anticipation hummed through her. There was crystal certainty in her mind that they would end up at his house.
They had left the city behind to cruise along a two-lane dark highway. Just when she began to wonder where they were going, she saw the muted softened lights of the metropolis spread out below them. The night was clear and the view spectacular. The deep shadows of rolling hills framed the shimmering, blue-white lights of downtown
Austin
.
“Oh, it’s beautiful.”
Michael pulled the Porsche over into the entrance of an unlighted parking lot, letting the powerful engine idle. He half-turned toward her. “This is Scenic Overlook. Do you want to get out?”
She nodded. “Yes.”
Michael turned off the engine and set the brake. He got out then came round the car and helped her out. He shut the low car door behind her, but he didn’t step away. He slipped his arms around her, his hands lightly sliding along her spine and curving lower to clasp her buttocks.
Winter flattened her hands against his chest. She tilted her head, looking up at him uncertainly. “Michael?”
“It turned you on, didn’t it?” he whispered. “When I was doing this with all of those people standing around us?” A hard hand squeezed the underside of her ass cheek while the other sensuously traced the line of her thong through her dress.
Her body instantly reacted. Heat pooled in her belly. She flushed with embarrassment. What was wrong with her that he could so easily arouse her? She pushed hard against his unyielding chest. “Stop it!”
“You didn’t tell me to stop then, Winter. You liked it. I felt you shivering.”
“I… all right, yes! It was turning me on.” There was no point in denying it when he had read her reaction so well. She would never admit it to him, but he was doing a good job of turning her on right then. “Are you satisfied now?”
He gave a low laugh. “Hardly.” His hands continued their erotic play. He glanced into the dark night. “A car could come along any second and catch us in the headlights,” he remarked casually.
Winter quickly looked around to stare down the night-shadowed road. The suggestion, once put into her head, wouldn’t leave. His hands and what he was doing with them, his breath warm on her face, his muscular arms caging her in—pleasure speared through her, and she shuddered.
Suddenly he turned her around and doubled her over the low door of the sports car. She caught herself in the shallow of the bucket seat, braced her hands, and started to push back upright. He crowded her against the side of the Porsche. Her hair tumbled in her face as she twisted her head to stare up over her shoulder at him. “What the hell do you think you’re doing?”
He flattened one hand onto her upper back to hold her in place, bent over the door. “This is the way it’s going to be tonight, Winter.”
She felt her skirt yanked up. Sudden coolness struck first her legs then her bare butt. She heard the unmistakable burr of a zipper. “No!” She squirmed and bucked, but the angle was too steep, his hand was too firm, and her splayed thighs were pressed too close against the metal side of the car by the weight of his body. She heard a tearing sound, the snap of a rubber. She bucked again, and he hissed.
“Someone could come along at any time, Winter.”
At his husky reminder, excitement gripped her again, more strongly. The thong stretched tight across one ass cheek as his fingers pulled it aside. She sucked her breath in sharply. She felt the blunt questing nudge against her exposed, wet sex. Then his thick, rigid cock penetrated her, stretching her wide with a single hard thrust. He was fully seated, his length burning her passage. Her inner muscles clenched. Michael grunted and swore. “God, you’re so tight, so hot.”
With a sharp shift of his hips, he began to move. She arched again, uttering a muted cry, but he held her tightly in place. His heavy shaft stroked deep inside her, setting up a steady, hard rhythm. Winter caught her breath in little pants as his rocking pushed her against the car. The top of the door bit into the tender flesh of her stomach. The clunky necklace hanging from her neck banged over and over against the door handle.
His fingers bit into her flesh. The wet smacking sound of their joining was underscored by his swift rasping breaths. The smell of sex permeated the night air. The speed of his possession increased. Every hammer thrust drew a grunt out of her. Tears blurred her eyes, and she bit her lips, but it wasn’t because there was pain. A sensual haze encompassed her. All she could do was hold on while he forged fiery heat and humiliation through her.
Michael stiffened, uttering a hoarse shout. When he shuddered, when he was done, Michael pulled out of her body and rolled off the used condom, dropping it to the ground. He let the thong snap back in place. Breathing heavily, he stepped back to adjust his still-rigid shaft back into his tux pants.
Winter levered herself up, twisting to face him. “You son of a bitch!” She blazed with anger. She took a hasty step away from the car, her open palm flying out at him.
Michael caught her forearm before her palm could connect with his face. His fingers tightened, and he dragged her arm out at an angle to her body, holding it there. At the same time he yanked her against him. She fell into his body, trapping her other arm between them.
“Let go of me!” she panted. She squirmed against his chest, arching as far from him as she could. Ignoring her struggles, he cradled her ass and lifted her, pushing her pelvis into him. The bulge under his zipper pressed into her belly.
His breath was warm on her face. “You may not have altogether enjoyed that encounter. But I suspect, once you’ve had a chance to think about it, that you’ll realize something new about yourself, Winter.”
The bright headlights of a vehicle swept by, momentarily blinding them.
Winter’s heart slammed. If it had come along only seconds earlier, she and Michael would have been… That queer excitement gripped her again. Her breath hissed between her teeth.