Page 30 of Dashing for Love

He steps us farther into the dark, walking me backward until I’m pressed against a wall. My heart pounds and my mouth has gone desert dry. I watch silently as he moves, a shadow in the night, taking the hat off and placing it on a stack of chairs beside us.

“Can you see anything?” he asks.

“No,” I whisper. My heart is about to pound out of my chest. I don’t know what he’s going to do, but I’m here for any of it. All of it.

Without a word, he removes his mask. I can’t see his features, which is both a relief and a disappointment. His hands find mine, and I don’t move as his fingers trail lightly up my arms and over the curve of my shoulders to my neck. Goosebumps trail in his wake, and I hitch a breath as his hands hover over the ribbon securing my mask.

He shifts closer. “May I?”

The only thing I can hear is my heartbeat. “Yes.”

It takes only a moment for him to untie the ribbon and remove the mask. A second later, his hands are cupping my face and tilting my chin.

Fuck.I can’t get enough air. My chest heaves.

He makes a noise in the back of his throat as his thumb strokes my skin. “So soft,” he whispers. “I didn’t let myself wonder what you looked like. I told myself it didn’t matter. And it doesn’t.” He presses his thumb to my lower lip, dragging it down slowly, and it might be the sexiest thing I’ve ever experienced. He growls. “But these red lips, Dawn.”

An ache blooms between my legs as my hands move of their own accord, finding the loops of his dress pants tugging him closer. I want to demand he kiss me. To beg. But I have no words. He’s shredded them all with the ones he just uttered.

“May I kiss you?”

I squeeze my eyes shut in relief. “Please.” It comes out as a whimper.

He threads his hand around the back of my neck, angling me exactly where he wants me, and then his lips lower to mine.

I moan as he takes my mouth, offering myself up on a platter. This man’s words have already ruined me, and now his lips are killing me. I feel everything at once: his hands holding me in place, unbelievably strong and commanding, yet soft and gentle. The way his body surrounds and presses into mine exactly like I knew would happen. His scent invades me as his tongue licks across the seam of my lips and I open for him, knowing it was my last defense and unable to care.

When he groans, it unravels me. Teeth and tongues clash as his hand slides down the side of my body and dips into the open slit of the dress, his touch searing against my bare skin as he wraps his fingers around my thigh and pulls it up to anchor his hips between my legs.

We both curse at the contact, and he nips at my lower lip, pulling it into his mouth and sucking it before releasing it.

Without stopping the kiss, I push my hands up his chest, exploring the hard muscles obvious even beneath the dress shirt before moving one hand around and down to grab his ass and guide it forward. He rocks against me, the hardness of him doing little to ease my aching center.

“Dawn,” he breathes, his chest heaving against mine. He starts to pull away. “We?—”

“I know.” I tug him back. I want to memorize everything about this moment. The darkness, the scent of him, thefeelof him, the mystery that permeates all of it despite me knowing exactly who he is.

He kisses me harder, grabbing my wrists and raising my arms above my head to pin them against the wall as his mouth trails hot kisses down my neck. When his other hand grazesthe side of my breast, I gasp, the sensation both too much and not nearly enough. His hand keeps going, the fingers tracing beneath my breast before falling to my stomach, then around to my waist to grip me hard.

“The things I would do to you, Dawn,” he says, his voice low and dark. “We’re not there yet, but when we are.” He scrapes his teeth against my neck as he releases my arms, his lips soothing the light sting.

We stay there for a moment, just breathing, his head bent beside mine, before he reaches to grab my mask. Together, we position it on my face, and he ties it behind my head. In two short movements, he’s secured his own mask and put his hat back on.

He reaches for me, his hand cupping my chin once more to place the lightest of kisses on my lips. “Can’t wait to see if I ruined that lipstick.” His chuckle is so signatureMattythat I nearly crumple.

I place my hand in his and let him lead us back into the light. We pause at the edge of the ballroom. “How do I look?” I ask.

His eyes are soft, but his mouth tips into a wicked grin. “If I didn’t know any better, I’d say you’ve been kissing someone.” He closes the distance between us once more. “Dance with me.”

We dance for another hour, until my feet are so numb I can’t feel them. He walks outside with me to wait on an Uber, taking his jacket off and wrapping it around me when he sees me shiver.

Of course he does.

I blink up at him, wrapped in his scent and the warmth of his coat, and never want this night to end. When the car eventually comes, I return the jacket and get another kiss in return. Reluctantly, I get in the back seat, his scent still clinging to me as I turn to watch him. He holds his hand up, waving.

Chapter 12

Matty

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