Page 66 of Second Time Around
The limo stopped and the driver’s voice sounded through the intercom. “We’re home, sir.”
Kyra sat up and realized that her panties were still looped around one knee. “Oops, gotta get these back in place,” she said, reaching for them.
But Will was quicker, his arm snaking out to pull them down to her foot. “You won’t need these anyway,” he said, working the red lace over her ankle boot. He stuffed the panties into his jeans pocket with a wicked smile. “It was your idea, after all.”
“That was a one-time offer.” But her body prickled with awareness that she was naked under her skirt.
“You can ransom them inside.” He pushed open the car door.
Kyra swung her legs out the door with knees pressed together like a movie star at the Oscars. Of course, no one was wandering down the sidewalk in front of Will’s ultraexpensive address at this hour. But she felt the watchful eyes of security cameras, even though she had no idea where they were hidden.
Will waved his magic wristband and they were inside the spectacular foyer. As they walked toward the back of the house, every step brought a brush of air that reminded Kyra of where her panties weren’t.
“Would you like a drink?” Will asked when they reached what Kyra thought of as the garden room.
“Point me to the bar and I’ll make you whatever you want, if you have the ingredients,” Kyra said. That was one skill she could bring to the table.
Will shook his head. “You are off duty.” He swung open a panel to reveal a wet bar. “What’s your pleasure?”
“I’d love a really crisp, dry white wine.”
“I have the perfect bottle but it’s in the wine cellar. Excuse me for a moment.” He strode out of the room.
Kyra walked to the garden door, sliding it open so the soft spring air wafted over her skin, bringing the splash of falling water from the fountain and the scent of earth and growing things. She closed her eyes and inhaled. The empty lot next to the Carver Center exuded the same aroma, especially after the grass had just been mowed. With the raised beds nearly finished, they would soon be planting vegetables and herbs to use in the center’s kitchen. A couple of the kids’ parents turned out to be enthusiastic gardeners and had worked with her to choose what to plant, since they knew what would thrive in the New York City climate. Their excitement at having a place to grow things was infectious.
Melancholy seeped through her as she stood in the doorway of Will’s extraordinary home. She’d been happy with her life until she’d sat down at his table in Ceres. The kids at the center amazed her. Emily was a wonderful boss who was becoming a friend. Kyra’s hard-won expertise as a bartender gave her satisfaction. And the debt diminished every month, even if the pace seemed glacial.
But Will made her long for things she thought she’d put behind her. Things she no longer believed she could have.
“Sorry to leave you alone.” His voice made her turn to see him striding to the bar with a bottle in his hand. His usually well-groomed hair was still tousled from their lovemaking in the car, but that just made him look sexier. He walked with such confident grace that even in his faded jeans he personified power, decisiveness, and intelligence.
The simmer of dissatisfaction with her life boiled into a haze of yearning. She didn’t just want to go back to school. She wanted this man. Wanted him to be waiting for her outside Stratus every night. Craved his brilliant conversation. Ached to watch the color of his eyesshift with his emotions. Hungered to have the right to touch him wherever and whenever she chose.
She must have made a sound because Will looked up from pouring the wine. “Do you want to take it outside?” he asked, finishing his task and picking up the two glasses.
As he walked toward her, his eyes glittering in the low light, his sculpted lips curved in a seductive smile, the muscles in his thighs propelling him forward with an easy strength, she just plainwanted.
“Kyra? Are you all right?”
She jumped. He was holding the glass of wine out to her, but she’d been too absorbed in her longing to reach for it. “Sorry, just wondering what kind of wine it is,” she blithered.
His smile turned anticipatory. “Taste it first and then I’ll tell you.”
She lifted the glass to the light and swirled it gently as she’d been trained to do in the wine class she’d taken for Stratus. “Beautiful color and nice legs.” She held it under her nose and took several quick sniffs. “Lovely but powerful. Definitely aged in oak.” Will’s gaze locked on her as she took the first sip. When the flavor swirled over her palate, she forgot all her fancy training, closing her eyes as she swallowed the nectar. “Oh God, this is unbelievably fantastic. What is it?”
“Le Montrachet. The wine of kings.” Will took a sip from his glass and closed his eyes. “My favorite.”
Of course Will would have what was arguably the world’s greatest dry white wine in his cellar. That he had chosen to share it with her made her heart do somersaults. “I’ve never had a white wine with this kind of complexity. It’s like a great red, only better.”
“I knew you’d appreciate it.” He kissed her, his lips cool from the wine. “I suggest we take the bottle upstairs so I can lap it out of your navel.”
Kyra hissed in a breath as his words drew trails of heat through her. “I’m not sure you should treat great wine that way.”
“Your body deserves nothing less than the finest.” He kissed her neck just under her earlobe.
Arousal flared in her belly, as much from his words as his kisses. “As long as I get the same privileges.”
He dipped his finger in the wine and drew a line down between her collarbones, then bent to lick it off, the heat of his tongue contrasting with the coolness of the wine. “Something like that?” he purred.
She nodded, her throat clenched against the moan that tried to work its way out.
“Privileges granted,” he said. “Maybe I should get another bottle out of the cellar. Because I want to lick it off every inch of you.”
Even as pure desire rolled through her, something else twined with it, something sweeter but much, much more dangerous.
Something that even Petra had seen in Kyra’s eyes when she looked at Will.
