Page 44 of Avoiding Temptation
Chapter Fourteen
The meal isout of this world, and it’s almost enough to drag me from my nightmare. Joe wanted to bring me here to get me away from what’s haunting me, but he managed to bring it closer than it has been since the phone call from Detective Barker.
I force myself out of my own head so I can enjoy what he’s done for me, but it’s harder than I ever imagined it would be.
He can see it. The concern hasn't left his eyes since he released me to get ready, but thankfully he’s given me the reprieve I need and not asked me about it. He wants to, he’s practically vibrating with the need to, but he won’t.
“Would you like coffee?” our waiter asks once she’s cleared our dessert plates.
“I’m fine, but would you?” Joe’s heated and concerned eyes turn to me. I ignore the concern and focus on the desire.
“No, thank you. I think I’m done.” I rub my hand over my full belly. I can’t remember the last time I ate an entire three-course meal. Not so long ago it would have seemed so normal, but now I live on a diet of toast and noodles, it seems like it was in another lifetime.
I swallow down the last of my wine, and Joe’s eyes lock onto my lips and run down my neck as I do. His teeth sink into his bottom lip, and his muscles tense.
“I think I’m done too. I’m done with you teasing me from the other side of the table. I’m done with imagining what you’re wearing under that sinful little leather dress, and I’m done waiting for another taste of your sweet pussy.”
I gasp. “You can’t say stuff like that here. Anyone could hear you.”
“So? Anyone who’s bored enough to be eavesdropping right now will only be jealous.”
I glance around the full restaurant and find everyone lost in their own conversations or meals.
“Excuse me,” Joe calls out when a waiter walks past. “Please could we have another bottle to take up to our room?”
“Of course, Sir. I’ll be right back with it.”
It feels like only seconds later that Joe has a chilled bottle of white wine in one hand and one of mine in his other.
My stomach somersaults as we step into the lift alone. The air crackles between us as Joe hits the button for the top floor and turns to me.
I back up. The look in his eyes and the tight set of his shoulders makes my heart race and my skin tingle.
He closes the distance between us and successfully sucks all the air from the tiny space. His body is impressively huge at the best of times, but right now, in such an enclosed space, he looks downright dangerous.
I feel like a little chick being hunted by its prey, but there’s not an ounce of fear in my body right now.
I might be scared of many things in my life, but Joe isn’t one of them. My feelings for him might be another story, but him, his strength and power, not so much.
He stops when there’s barely an inch between us. His breath races across my face. It smells like wine and chocolate from the moose he just had for dessert. It’s delicious, making me desperate to know how it’ll make him taste.
I expect his lips to land on mine, but much to my surprise, when we connect, it’s only our foreheads that are touching.
His eyes continue to stare down into mine, and it’s like he can see all the way down to my toes. The weirdest feeling comes over me, the desire to tell him everything. To spill everything I’ve kept so close to my chest for so long. It’s right on the tip of my tongue, even though I know that now is not the time.
He makes me feel safe. He makes me feel strong. Acknowledging both of those means that I know he’ll keep my secrets locked up as tightly as I do. He’ll accept them and support me without question.
“Quinn,” he breathes, making my insides quiver with need. “What the hell are you doing to me?”
I want to respond, to tell him that I really have no idea, but I don’t get a chance because the lift doors open on our floor and we’re forced to break apart.
The second the door to our fancy hotel room slams behind us, he’s on me. My bag drops to the floor with a thud. I’ve no idea what happens to the bottle of wine, because both his hands grasp my face as his lips descend on mine. He walks us backwards until I bump up against the wall, but he doesn’t stop, not until every inch of our bodies that can touch are.
His hard length presses into my stomach and he grinds his hips slowly, ensuring I feel every inch of him.
“I need you so fucking badly,” he groans in my ear after kissing along my jaw. A shudder runs down my spine and radiates all the way out to my fingertips and toes. I sag against the wall as his hands skim down my sides and his fingers dig into my hips with an almost painful grip.
Something flashes in his eyes like he’s made a decision, and his hands drop lower to push the fabric of my dress up around my waist.
