Unmasked

I find the guy she’s talking about. He looks like your typical stuffed shirt corporate ass, and he’s scanning the room, looking pissed.

“Your nemesis?” I ask, amused.

“Worse,” she sighs. “My date.”

I look again, more interested this time. “That guy?” I can’t keep the surprise from my voice. He’s definitely not who I would picture her with.

She rolls her eyes. “It’s a set-up. Trust me, I would never choose to spend three hours in a confined space with him of my own free will.”

I chuckle, dancing her smoothly behind a gaggle of people. “Bad breath?” I ask.

“Try bad soul,” she corrects me. “He’s a heartless lawyer.”

“Is there any other kind?” I quip.

“Hey!” She lightly hits my shoulder. “I’m a lawyer too!”

“You are?” I stop, looking down at her in surprise. “I would never have guessed.”

“Why, because I haven’t billed you for the dance—yet?”

I laugh again. This girl is funny. “No, because you’re… I don’t know, nothing like any of the lawyers I know.”

“I’ll take that as a compliment,” she announces.

“Don’t,” I grin. “That means I’ve only got one left.”

Noelle laughs. “I’ll give you a pass, this time.”

“So generous,” I tease. “See, that’s why people don’t clock you as a lawyer.”

Noelle glances over my shoulder again. “Damn, I think he’s spotted me. Come on!”

Before I can object, she grabs my hand and yanks me into the crowd.

“Wait a second—” I laugh.

“Look, he’s coming!” Noelle drags me off the dance floor, then cuts a left down a long hallway. “Hurry!” she hisses. Her shoes clatter on the marble floors as we race away, people turning to stare as we charge past.

“In here,” I say, spotting a doorway leading outside. I pull her through to the dark courtyard and hustle her into a corner of the shrubbery. I peer back towards to the door. “Did we lose him?”

“I don’t know.” Noelle’s voice is breathy.

I turn. She’s backed up against the wall, so close I can feel her heart racing in her chest. The torches nearby cast a soft glow across her face, her eyes shining in the dim light.

Damn, she’s beautiful.

I watch, transfixed as she takes a shaky breath. Her eyes drift to my mouth, and she unconsciously bites her plump lower lip.

Suddenly, I couldn’t care less about this blind date we’re running from. Let him find us, right here, my hands sliding around her waist, her head tilting back invitingly.

Nothing in the world could stop me from kissing her again.

This time, I take it slow. I don’t want the raging heat from before; that was too dangerous. An unstable reaction. Now, I carefully draw her closer and close the distance between her inviting mouth and mine.

She melts against me, arching up to meet my kiss. I ease her lips open, licking into her mouth as I slowly explore her sweet depths.

This, I can handle. This lets me keep control. But too soon, she’s pulling me closer, biting gently down on my lip as her hands run through my hair.

I groan, feeling the heat spiral. Wildfire, burning hot and fast. I push her back against the wall, crushing her warm curves in my arms as my kiss turns demanding; devouring.

Noelle makes a noise of pleasure that’s like a shot of adrenaline, straight to my system.

Gasoline on the fire.

I grip her hips tightly, molding her body into mine as my tongue plunges to claim her mouth. But she meets me, every moment, every stroke; gripping handfuls of my shirt to tug me closer, arching her body invitingly to press against the hardness already grinding into her.

Fuck.

I want her. I want to unravel her, see her come undone. Turn that teasing smile to a gasp of pleasure; see what that spark of challenge looks like when she’s naked and writhing under my grasp.

I’m almost ready to take her right here in the darkness when a door slams down the hallway; laughter rings out as people pass us by, just a few feet away.

I wrench back, too close to losing control. Dammit. I swore I wouldn’t let her get to me, so what the hell am I doing?

Noelle blinks, and a hurt look skitters across her face. “What’s wrong?”

“Nothing.” I answer shortly. “I just… I’m sorry I let that get out of hand.” I rake my fingers through my hair and try to ignore the fire still burning in my bloodstream. But Noelle makes it hard: she’s leaning back against the wall, her cheeks flushed, and her lips parted, swollen from my kisses. Everything about her screams wild, frenzied sin.

One taste of her could make a man forget himself. Forget the world, all his responsibilities.

As if reading my mind, her lips curl in a smile. She reaches out, and takes hold of my tie. “How about you and I make a deal?” she says, her eyes blazing with a wild spark of rebellion. “Just for tonight, the real world doesn’t exist. It’s just me and you, and whatever happens next.”

My heart pounds in my ears. It sounds like a deal from the devil, too good to be true.

“One night,” I echo slowly, as my mind runs riot. The things I could do. The pleasure I would show her…

“One night.”

Noelle slowly tugs my tie, pulling me closer, back to that tempting mouth. I try to resist, to think clearly of all the reasons why this is a very bad idea, but I can’t help swaying towards her and the magnetic force of that smile.