Page 27 of One Night Only
We continued through a lobby that was all polished concrete, brick walls and exposed pipes, and onto a waiting freight elevator where Dallas pressed the button for the fifth floor. The top. When the elevator stopped, we stepped into a hallway similar to the lobby, with only the one door, and I followed him, waiting as he pressed a code into a keypad. A quiet alarm beeped as the lock released, and I was rendered frozen when I saw what was on the other side of the door: a converted loft with a long wall of arched windows that looked out over the Manhattan Bridge and the Brooklyn Bridge to the left, the New York city skyline twinkling from the other side of the river.
“Wow,” I said under my breath, enamored with the view. I’d lived in New York my whole life—this was my home, where I grew up—but the view of the city at night was something I doubted I’d ever get tired of.
I startled from the feel of a firm hand on my hip, sliding around and splaying across my stomach, lips skating the delicate skin just below my ear.
“You want some water?” Dallas murmured with a featherlight kiss. “Coffee?” Kiss.
I shook my head, unable to form words because reality was starting to set in.
“Beer?” Kiss.
With a soft laugh, I shook my head again. “I don’t drink beer.”
“Um… protein shake?” Kiss.
I snorted a laugh, and then when I realized I’d just snorted, I slapped a hand over my mouth as I turned, looking up at him with wide eyes.
He ducked down, meeting my gaze with a knowing grin. “Did you just snort?”
“I’m sorry; I can’t believe I just did that,” I murmured from behind my palm.
He pulled me in closer, hands rubbing up and down my sides. “Nah, that was fucking adorable.”
As I stared up into his eyes that caught the shimmer of lights from the city, turning them almost iridescent through the darkness, I felt something. Something I couldn’t even begin to comprehend because I don’t remember a time that I’d ever felt it before. What was happening?
In an unexpected move so tender it caused me to gasp, Dallas gently trailed the back of his knuckles down my cheek, stopping at my mouth to drag his thumb over the plumpness of my bottom lip. When he looked at me in a way that I couldn’t recall a man ever looking at me before, it was as if the rubber band that had been holding my resolve together snapped, and I suddenly needed him more than I needed air.
Grabbing the front of his shirt and yanking with such force I heard the telltale tear of a thread giving, I urged him closer, claiming his lips and mouth with mine. His hands gripped my waist so tight, pulling me flush against him as he met my tongue with his own. But unlike every man in my past, Dallas didn’t battle me for dominance, didn’t need to be in charge; instead, he accepted everything I was willing to give him with a satisfied groan and the unspoken plea for more.
His hands moved around to my ass, grasping me painfully tight in the most delicious way and lifting me off my feet. My heels slipped and clattered to the hardwood floor, and I had no other option than to wrap my legs around him. But when I did, I felt exactly how much he wantedme, his hard length rubbing right up against where I was throbbing, and a whimper fell from me into our kiss as his tongue toyed with mine. And that’s when I realized that this was happening. This was actually happening. For the first time in over three years, I was about to have sex. Sex with a human man.
It's only when the car starts slowing to a roll that I realize we’re suddenly on my tree-lined street, pulling up to a stop outside my apartment building.
“A doorman building?” Dallas teases. “Fancy.”
“This is my sister and her wife’s place. I’m just living with them at the moment,” I say quietly, embarrassment causing my shoulders to shrink.
I see the doorman walking out under the awning, approaching the car, but Dallas is quicker, already out and opening the door for me.
Reluctantly I take his hand, stepping up onto the curb, forced to meet his eyes as they smile down at me.
He glances over his shoulder, jutting his chin at Mike, tonight’s doorman, saying, “I’ve got this, sir.”
Mike smiles politely, looking from Dallas to me, tipping his hat before turning and walking back inside.
“Thanks for the ride,” I whisper, trying to retract my hand and scurry inside. But Dallas’s grip doesn’t let up. And, instead, he takes my other hand in his too, holding me right where I am.
“I meant what I said, Goldie,” he murmurs, dipping his chin so he’s so close, almost forehead-to-forehead. “This was never a one-night thing. And deep down, I think you know that.”
Chewing on my bottom lip, I avert my gaze, because the look in his eyes is doing things to me that can only lead to trouble. It’s not just my job and the contract I signed. It’s not even my age and the obvious difference between us; I kind of wish it were justthose things. But it’s more than that. So much more. And it always will be.
“Hey,” Dallas murmurs, releasing one hand to tuck his forefinger under my chin, forcing my eyes up.
I look at him—reallylook at him—and something passes between us.
“I’m not going anywhere.” He shakes his head slowly. “I can wait…”
My gaze dips to his lips, and I find myself rising up onto my tippy toes, inching closer and closer to his mouth like I’m no longer in control of my own body.
