Page 69 of Embers in Autumn
My body trembled, every nerve tuned to him. He curled his finger just right, brushing that spot that made sparks burst behind my eyes, and I nearly cried out, muffling it against his shoulder instead.
He added a second finger, his thumb pressing against my clit, and the world blurred. I gripped the armrest so hard my knuckles ached, my body arching despite every voice in my head screaming at me to stop.
“Fuck, I wish I could bend you over this railing,” he growled, his fingers plunging inside me.
The music built, faster and faster, and so did his rhythm. Each thrust of the strings matched the flick of his fingers, the pressure of his thumb on my clit, until the two blended into something unbearable. My breaths came quick, shallow, desperate, and still he didn’t stop.
“Come for me,” he growled softly, his teeth grazing my neck. “Be my dirty little secret in this pretty little box.”
And I shattered.
The release tore through me, white-hot, my thighs trembling as I bit down hard on my lip to keep from crying out. The orchestra reached its peak at the same time, the hall erupting with sound, drowning my muffled gasp as pleasure ripped me apart.
Dean held me through it, his hand steady, coaxing every last shudder from my body before finally withdrawing.
He pulled his fingers free and casually lifted them to his lips, sucking them clean with a dark, satisfied groan. He finally looked at me then, eyes blazing, a smirk tugging at his mouth.
“Best concert I’ve ever been to.”
And all I could do was nod, breathless, still reeling, praying no one below had noticed the symphony happening in our box.
CHAPTER 21
Dean
I couldn’t stop smiling. Not through the rest of the concert, not when we slipped back through the velvet-curtained lobby, not even in the car ride home with the cool night air drifting through the cracked window. Amber sat beside me in her emerald dress, her cheeks still flushed, her lips swollen, and every time I glanced her way, all I could see was the way she’d fallen apart under my hand in that velvet box.
Christ, I’d ruined myself for anyone else.
She kept fidgeting, tugging at her earring, smoothing her dress, refusing to meet my gaze for more than a second. But the way her thighs pressed together, the way her breath caught every time our hands brushed on the console—I knew she was just as wrecked as I was.
By the time we pulled up in front of her bookstore, my self-control was hanging by a thread. I killed the engine, and before either of us said a word, we were out of the car, her keys jangling in her hand as we rushed up the stairs.
We barely made it inside.
The door clicked shut behind us, and I spun her, pressing her back against the wall of the narrow stairwell. My mouth crashed against hers, wild and desperate, all the restraint I’d shown during the concert shattered in an instant.
She moaned into me, her hands clawing at my jacket, pulling me closer, closer. I gripped her hips, pinning her in place, grinding against her like a man starved.
“Fuck, Amber,” I groaned against her lips, kissing her like Iwas drowning and she was the only thing keeping me alive. “I couldn’t stop thinking about it. Watching you come apart while an entire hall of people sat twenty feet away—” I bit down on her lip, sucking it between mine until she gasped. “You drive me insane.”
Her nails dug into my shoulders, her legs shifting like she wanted to climb me, take me right there against the wall.
And God help me, I wanted that too.
Amber kissed me hard enough to steal the breath from my lungs, then pushed against my chest. For a second I thought she wanted me to stop, to slow down, but instead she dropped to her knees right there in the stairwell.
Jesus Christ.
The sight of her—emerald dress pooling around her thighs, hair loose from its careful twist, her earrings catching the low light as she looked up at me—nearly buckled my knees. She looked like a goddess, one who’d chosen to kneel in front of me, and my brain went white-hot.
“Amber…” My voice was rough, half a groan, half a plea. My hands braced against the wall behind her as if I could hold myself up, because the only thing running through my mind was*don’t come just from this view.*
She didn’t give me time to think. Her fingers tugged my belt open, slow, deliberate, her eyes locked on mine the whole time. That gaze alone had me pulsing, my cock straining against the zipper she eased down.
When she freed me, I swore under my breath, my head tipping back against the wall. Her soft hand wrapped around me, stroking once, twice, and I was done for—nothing left but raw need and the thought that I’d never seen anything more beautiful than Amber on her knees, owning me completely.
“You’re killing me,” I rasped, looking down at her, at those perfect lips parting as she leaned closer. “You have no idea whatyou do to me, baby.”
