Page 9 of Wicked Bite
I pulled my jacket off and handed him my purse across the bar so he could hide it for me. “Yeah, it sucked. Dice and I were making a killing, too.”
He took my stuff and stowed it. “At least you get an early night.”
“This is my friend Grayson.” I motioned to him.
John’s eyes roamed over him. “Nice to meet you.”
Grayson gave him a nod. “Likewise, mate.”
I didn’t know what it was or why I wanted to be closer to him, but the Brit had caught my interest. More so than any guy had before. Was it his playful nature? The composed way he handled himself in a fight? Or was it simply the fire I felt between us?
“What’ll it be for you two?”
Just then the music picked up and my hips started to sway of their own accord. There was something about the way the beat of the music and the fun feeling of the night made me want to move.
“Be right with you.” Grayson turned from John and grabbed my hand. “Shall we?”
I glanced around the room, where there were couples dancing and spinning around. “You know how to salsa?”
“There isn’t much I don’t know how to do.” He wagged his eyebrows at me. Then, to make his point, he spun me around and pulled me in tight to his body.
His hips swayed rhythmically to the music, and I followed. Suddenly, all there was, was him and me. His body pressed to mine, moving in a way I’d never seen a guy move before. He was sleek and cool yet full of passion. His hand splayed across my back, and he guided me around so effortlessly. I was helpless not to respond to him. When he met my eye, I felt hypnotized by the deep mahogany color in his. He spun me around and pulled me in, so my back was to his chest.
“Well matched, are we not?” His check brushed mine.
Breathless, I whispered, “I’d say so.”
His lips brushed my ear and a jolt shot through me. He turned me once more and my chest pressed into his. He was so close his heady wine scent filled my senses. Like a rich Pinot Noir. He wrapped his hand around the side of my neck just under my jaw and his other hand around my back.
“Piper,” he whispered just before taking my lips.
His mouth pressed into mine, warm and firm. Electricity shot through my body, and I found my hands wrapped in the lapels of his jacket pulling him in closer. His tongue tangled with mine for a sweet, teasing moment and then he pulled back. “Aren’t you a surprising little creature?”
I wanted to know if he felt it, too. The fire? The sizzle? Did he want more of my lips? More of my touch? Dice catcalled me from a table off to the side and I glared at her.
“You want to get out of here?”
He nodded and pulled me toward a door leading toward a dark outdoor balcony. The second we were outside he pulled me into him, and his lips slammed into mine. We were walking but I didn’t know where to. His hands were on my body pulling me with him, and my feet followed his just as they had when we were dancing. Tiny drops of rain hit my too-warm skin and I didn’t care. We turned a corner and suddenly we were alone. We’d just met and yet I didn’t mind being in a dark corner of the roof, hiding in the shadows with him.
Heat radiated across my body, and I wanted closer to him, more of him. His hands pressed into my lower back, and he was close, so close I could feel every inch of him surrounding me. If I wasn’t careful, I could drown in a man like Grayson. He was all-consuming and so much more than I thought I was ready for.
I pulled back from our kiss. “Wait, just a sec.”
Instantly, he stopped and took a small step back. He was breathless and licked at his bottom lip. “Too much?”
I sighed. “Yeah.”
“I felt it, too.” He leaned back from under the overhang of the roof, tipping his face back to the rain. It fell in small drops over his face and into his hair. When he shook it out, his hair fell in wild waves around his face.
“Bit too intense for just meeting.” I tried to hold the regret from my voice.
“So, then we talk and meet each other all over again.” He shrugged.
“Oh, good. Maybe my picker isn’t so broken after all,” I muttered under my breath and leaned against the brick wall behind me.
Grayson stepped from the rain and leaned against the wall next to me. “I’m sorry, your what is broken?”
I sighed and gave a light chuckle. “My picker.”
