“Tyler, what’s going on?” she asked, her voice slightly breathless.
“I’m glad you came.” He stepped up to her, and her heart began thudding for an entirely different reason now.
“I was too intrigued not to,” she told him. “But I did think about ignoring your summons.”
“You want excitement in your life, Elena. It’s why we connected at the bar, and it’s why we’re together now. I just want to give that to you.”
“I don’t need excitement. I’m perfectly content with my life the way it is,” she countered, though a voice inside her told her otherwise. She’d been merely surviving before connecting with Tyler.
Since being with him, she felt as if she were truly living — even if that life was dangerous.
“Come here.”
Tugging her into his arms, he latched his mouth on to hers with such possession that she had not a single moment to think of anything other than responding in kind.
One hand rested on the back of her neck, tilting her face up to him, while the other gripped her hip and drew her closer. With a moan of pleasure she melted against him, enjoying the thrill of feeling his hardness press into her.
When he released her, it was a moment before she could speak, and she wished there were more light around them. Then she might have been able to look into his eyes. But she was also enjoying the intimacy of their surroundings.
“You did all of this for a booty call?” she finally said.
“That’s dessert,” he replied with a laugh. He released her only to take her hand and lead her around a corner to a lawn where a large blanket was laid out with lanterns, wine, fruit, cheese and crackers and what looked like some good chocolates sitting on it.
“This is a lot of effort to get me into bed, Tyler.”
“I already have you in my bed, Elena. This is because I find that I like romance again.”
Holding her hand while she sat, he then joined her and poured them each a glass of wine. The burst of alcohol was exactly what she needed in that moment. She didn’t know why, but nerves were fluttering through her.
“Just when I think I’ve gotten you figured out, you change up the rules and do something like this,” she said.
“We never figure someone out fully.”
She thought about that for a moment. “What happens when I no longer intrigue you, Tyler?”
“I don’t see that happening any time soon.”
He hadn’t said it would never happen. She hadn’t missed that. But she didn’t want to think about it right now. Looking at this man in the soft lighting he had around them, she decided she had wasted enough of her life being cautious.
She was the one to initiate the kiss this time.
The stars shone above them, peeking through the overhanging trees. The evening air had a coolness in it, but with the heat the two of them generated, she didn’t expect to feel it at all.
Tyler’s work-roughened fingers stroked her neck before he began undoing the buttons of her top. And then his lips trailed down the path he was opening up.
Every touch of his scorched her, and just as she’d known, the night air didn’t have the slightest effect on her. But his mouth certainly did. With a quick flick of his fingers he undid the front clasp of her bra, and then was stroking her hardened nipple with the warmth of his tongue. He groaned around her nipple, the vibration adding to the sensations coursing through her.
“Tyler,” she sighed as she dug her fingers into his hair and pulled him even closer.
“The feel of you beneath my lips makes me lose control,” he said before moving to the other breast and giving it equal attention. “The taste of you, the smell of you, the feel. It’s all perfection.”
He moved lower, his lips skimming along her stomach as his fingers began undoing the buttons on her trousers. She lifted her hips to make it easier for him to discard them and her lacy undies.
Knowing they were outside in a park added to her excitement. It was decadent, and thrilling, and she wanted him even more than the first time she’d lain beneath him. Yes, she doubted she’d lose her law license for public — and pubic — indecency; he must have secured the place from any intruders.
She grasped his hair. “Take me, Tyler. Take me right now,” she demanded.
He fanned his breath over her already hot womanhood. She loved the feel of his tongue caressing her folds, but she wanted more than that right now. She wanted him sinking within her. Nothing else would do.
Feeling her urgency, Tyler climbed back up her body, quickly discarded his own clothes, and then settled between her thighs.
“I can’t get enough of you,” he whispered before slowly, sinking sweetly inside her.
“More, Tyler. I want more.” And she bucked up against him, trying to urge him on.
He smiled, his features barely visible as he pulled back and then slowly sank within her again.
She wiggled beneath him, pressure building ever higher as he refused to quicken his movements, just continued to move slowly in and out of her as he caressed the side of her face with gentle fingers.
“So beautiful,” he sighed. He leaned forward and kissed her so tenderly that it brought tears to her eyes.
No. This was wrong. This was too intimate, too personal. This was so much more than sex — it was making love, and it was … perfect.
“Tyler, please,” she begged.
“Let go, Elena,” he told her. “Give me all of yourself.” He moved a little faster, but he was still caressing her lips with his own and then trailing them down the side of her neck. All the while he was running his fingers through her hair, along her jaw, and down her side.