“Did he let me go so easily because—?”
“I talked him into working again. After you left.” His hand tightens against my scalp, punctuating his words. “I know him. He needs the distraction. Understand?”
“Yeah.” I don’t like it, but I gave up all rights to have a say in his life. “Thank you for telling me. And for being there for him.”
“He was there for me. Funny how that worked out, huh? Despite it all, we salvaged our friendship.”
It’s more than I could’ve ever asked for, and I’m so fucking grateful.
“Go tell your sister good-bye.” He lifts me off his lap. “We’re leaving.”
And just like that, the conversation is over. I love that I can count on him to listen when I need him and to shut it down before it becomes repetitive and unproductive.
On the ride home, I sit beside him in the Maserati, thoughtfully silent and focused on the future. I’m getting married in a week. Trace is spearheading a foundation for the homeless—a cause that’s near and dear to my heart. And I’m sitting beside a man who sets my skin afire with merely a look. Like now.
“You should probably keep your eyes on the road.” Just the thought of having him inside me again, all swollen heat and hunger, makes my thighs clench.
“Then I’ll have to use my hand.” Deliberately lowering his voice to the pitch of sex, he roams a hand up my thigh and teases the fly on my jeans. “I told you to wear a skirt.”
“And I told you it was too cold.”
He slides his touch away to shift through the gears, and I’m momentarily distracted by how strikingly attractive he looks driving this sporty piece of hot metal. His hand drapes over the steering wheel, the leather seat molding around all that powerful muscle, as he zips through traffic with a wildness that magnifies his confident male beauty.
The night sparkles around us, shining brighter up ahead where the casino towers over the horizon. He veers onto the next street and heads in the opposite direction of the penthouse.
“Where are you going?” My lower body melts as the hand returns between my legs.
“It’s a surprise.”
“What kind of surprise?”
“The kind I won’t tell you about, so don’t ask again.”
He crosses the bridge into Illinois and drives twenty minutes to the town of Belleville. There’s not a lot in this area, but the moment he pulls up to the huge Skyview Drive-In sign, I bounce in the seat.
“Is it open?” I only see a couple cars in the parking lot.
“365 days a year.” He pays the attendant at the drive-through window and parks at the far end of the lot, away from the other two cars.
Movie trailers flicker across the massive screen, revving my excitement. I’ve never been to a drive-in, especially not in January. I suspect it’s a lot busier in the summer months, when movie watchers can sit atop their cars and enjoy this uniquely American experience beneath the stars.
“Where are the speaker poles?” I scan the empty parking lot, wondering how we’ll listen to the movie. “I thought there were little boxes that hang on the car windows.”
“They were replaced with an FM broadcasting system.” He leaves the engine running and cranks up the heat.
As he tunes the radio to the right FM station, the screen lights up with a movie intro that hitches my breath.
“Dirty Dancing.” I shake my head, grinning. “How did you—?”
“I made a request a couple weeks ago.” He hits a button that reverses his seat as far back as it will go. Then he bores his gaze into mine. “Remove your clothes.”
Deep and gravelly, his command tightens my nipples against the satin of my bra. The man is raw, hard, biteable perfection, and the pleasure he ignites in my body is ruthless.
Even if the tinted windows didn’t conceal my nudity, I would obey simply because it pleases him. Jeans, sweater, boots, undergarments—I remove it all and kneel on the seat, facing him.
His lashes hood over eyes glowing with male approval. “Come here.”
Fragile tremors tiptoe across my skin as I crawl over the console. The space is so tight I don’t know how we’ll fit behind the steering wheel.
Hands on his shoulders for balance, I place a knee on the seat between his thighs. With my lips so close to his, he kisses me, his mouth hot and moist, his tongue rubbing against mine and the hand on my bare butt possessive as always.
The heat of his body heightens the kiss, stirring and warming the deepest parts of me. He caresses my backside and licks lazily inside my mouth. No tension. No time lines. Nothing but the contentment of togetherness humming between us.
The movie soundtrack streams through the car speakers, drowning out the panting sounds of our breaths. He pulls me closer, breaking the kiss to position my body on his lap with my back to his chest.
“I want your mouth.” I twist toward him.
“Watch the movie.” He clasps my waist and turns me back.
Gritting my teeth, I rein in the compulsion to steal another kiss. He intends to torment me, his hands already wandering over my nude skin. The best movie of all time fills the windshield, but I can’t concentrate on it. Not with his grip on my thighs, spreading me open and hooking my legs around the outsides of his.
He has full access to my body and takes advantage. Cradling my back with his chest, he nibbles at my throat and swirls his fingers through my wet heat until pleasure weighs down my bones.
The lips on my neck are relentless as he presses his wicked touch inside me. Sinking to the deepest knuckle, he grinds in and rubs the spot behind my pelvic bone as his thumb plays with my clit.
The first orgasm hits hard and fast, priming me for another. I squirm on his lap, and he pins me tight against him, thrusting his hand and holding me on the precipice.
“I love to feel you come.” The thickness of his voice makes my body ache, but deeper and longer lasting is the grip he has on my heart.
He continues to finger me and buries his face against my neck, sliding his cheek against mine, his hips moving just enough to let me feel how badly he wants me.
Desire hot in my veins, I come again, this one harder, tighter, robbing my breath.
“Trace!” I writhe on his hand, my nipples pointing skyward, which he doesn’t hesitate to torture with a brutal pinch.
When he finally removes his fingers, he wraps a hand around my throat, angling my head back to attack my mouth.
His kiss is raw and aggressive as he releases himself from his pants. “Sit on my cock.”
Breathless and shivering, I reach beneath me, curl my fingers around the hot length of his erection, and stroke. He could easily haul me down and slam himself to the root, but he seems utterly lost in the kiss. Lips raw and tongue deep, he focuses all his attention on my mouth.