Wicked Burn

“I’m sorry for being late. I never even got a chance to drop off my suitcase before I went to the museum. How much time do we have before you have to be back at the theater?” she queried anxiously.

“I have to meet with my lighting designer in an hour.”

“Oh . . . so soon,” she murmured regretfully. She blinked after a moment when she realized that she’d been staring hungrily at his mouth. “How is everything going with the play?”

He shrugged. “It’s going.”

She smiled as she took a sip of wine. Vic’s fingers stroked her nape slowly, the seemingly casual touch setting off a series of fire-works along her sensitive nerves. He abruptly removed the clip that held her hair, allowing it to fall around her shoulders.

“Did you get everything done in New York that you intended?” he asked gruffly.

Niall’s eyes fluttered closed in sublime satisfaction at the sensation of his long fingers massaging her scalp. “Yes.”

“Did you miss me?”

Her eyelids opened and she met his hot, steady stare.

“You know I did.”

His mouth tilted into a crooked grin. His first two fingers caressed the front of her throat softly before they twisted in her strand of pearls, forcing her closer to his face.

“Do you wear these pearls just to drive me nuts?”

Niall laughed softly. “No. I sincerely doubt that most men would say that pearls were a supersexy accessory.”

“Most men are idiots, then,” he muttered as he nuzzled her ear and then lightly bit at the tender flesh. Niall felt her pussy flood with moisture when his lips closed around the pearl studs in her earlobes and his warm tongue flicked against the gem and her flesh.

“I can’t wait until opening night,” he muttered a few seconds later.

“Why?” Niall asked breathlessly. Her entire consciousness focused with unbearable intensity on every subtle movement Vic’s mouth made on her ear and neck.

“Because after all this shit with the play is said and done, I’m gonna show you just how sexy your pearls really are.”

“Do we have to wait that long?” she shocked herself by asking.

Vic exhaled slowly. Much to her regret he removed his mouth from where it was nuzzling to such breathtaking effect along the back of her neck.

“Yes,” he replied with just a tinge of irritation flattening his handsome mouth. “I’ve got a million things I need to do. If the next few nights are anything like the last two, I won’t even get back to the apartment until three or four in the morning.”

Niall brushed his lean cheek lightly with her fingertips. “You’re going to make yourself sick if you keep up that pace, Vic.”

“Just a few more nights of it. Opening night is the peak of the frenzy. It’ll be downhill from there. And after that, you’re all mine, Niall.” He leaned forward and planted a quick, hard kiss on her mouth. When he raised his head his expression was thoughtful.

“You never did tell me how you got a boy’s name.”

“The name Niall has been passed on to a male in the Chandler family for generations. Since my parents only had me, I was the lucky recipient.”

His eyelids narrowed slightly. “It suits you somehow. Is your father named Niall?”

She nodded.

“Guess I didn’t make a great first impression on them the other day.”

Niall flushed and glanced away. “That wasn’t your fault. They’re not usually that brusque. I think it just shocked them to see . . . us . . .” She waved her hand around in front of her. “You know.”

“They don’t think that their grown daughter has a right to her private life, including having sex,” he finished flatly.

“No, that’s not what I meant.”

Even though she kept her eyes averted, she could feel his penetrating stare on her. Her discomfort only grew when she realized that this would be the perfect opportunity to tell him about Stephen. But should she even assume that would be what Vic wanted? Just because he was sexually attracted to her didn’t mean that he wanted to share something so intimate.

The waiter approached, and Niall’s moment for self-disclosure passed. She told herself her ambivalence about talking to Vic about herself had absolutely nothing to do with a fear that he might condemn her.

During dinner Niall tried her best to keep her attention on the topic of conversation instead of thinking about her burgeoning relationship with Vic. But it was difficult to remain focused when she was so aware of the man that the side of her body pressed and brushed against so intimately. The movement of his neck when he swallowed beguiled her, the sensation of his fingers casually stroking her neck distracted her, the sight of his muscular, hair-sprinkled forearms just plain turned her on.

“My mother and Meg are going to be here on Friday afternoon,” Vic said as the waiter cleared the remains of their dinner.

“You’re going to be busy at the theater, aren’t you?” Niall asked. When he nodded, she added, “I’d love to take them out to dinner before the play. Would you extend the invitation?”

“Sure,” Vic muttered. Niall colored when she realized that he studied her intently while he spoke, and that the message in his eyes nowhere near matched their casual verbal exchange.

“We have some delicious dessert offerings for you this evening. May I tell you about our specials?” the enthusiastic waiter asked.

“What we’d like is some privacy.”

At first the waiter looked a little nonplussed at Vic’s bluntness but he recovered swiftly, merely nodding and offering a slightly offended “of course” before he walked away.