Page 5 of Hungry Like A Dragon
“Are you asking if I’m single?”
“Yes, I am.”
“Why do you want to know?”
They’d reached the edge of the forest. If they kept going along the path that circled the lake, they’d walk past the school and eventually head back to Gabe’s house.
“Because I’d like to have sex with you.”
He stopped walking. She paused and glanced up at him. He stared at her— was that was disgust or temptation on his face? The man was damned hard to read.
Finally, he wiped his hand over his face and closed his eyes. “Are you serious?”
“Quite.”
“Why?”
“Why am I serious?”
“Why do you want to have sex with me?”
“I don’t know. I just do.”
“That’s not a good enough reason.”
“You seriously won’t have sex with a willing woman unless she has a good reason?”
“No, that’s not what I’m saying. I’m—”
“Immediate gratification. That’s what I’m looking for. A little down and dirty mutual pleasure. Are you saying that doesn’t interest you?”
“Not at all. I’m just—”
“I’m leaving for New Orleans soon. Tomorrow, if not tonight. I’m not interested in anything beyond mutually satisfying sex. What are you looking for?”
“I wasn’t really looking for anything, actually.”
“No strings attached. No expectations, beyond an orgasm, for each of us. We walk away when we’re done. I go to New Orleans to do this job for Gabe, and you go back to cooking. How does that sound?”
He frowned. “It sounds like we’re negotiating a contract. Which shouldn’t be hot at all.”
She sidled closer, trailed a finger along that dragon’s tail tattooed onto his arm. “But it is, isn’t it?”
“Yeah. Because it’s you.”
“What is it with you?” she asked, sliding her arms around his waist and moving forward, which forced him to walk backward toward the tree line. “It’s a good thing you don’t talk much. Otherwise you’d have women lined up for days, trying to get in your pants.” She dropped her hands and cupped his ass. “Just as firm as it looks.”
“Where are we going?” He glanced over his shoulder and then grasped her waist and guided her slightly right to avoid tripping over a fallen branch.
“Right there,” she said, nodding at the largest tree in the vicinity. He continued backing up until he was leaning against the tree and she was pressed into him, her legs spread, the apex of her thighs throbbing.
“Are you serious?” he asked when she slid her hand under his shirt and gently raked her fingers across the taut muscles of his abdomen. He groaned and said, “I guess so.”
“Come on, Noah. I need this. And I think you do too.”
“More than you can possibly know.”
He took charge then, twisting her around until her back was pressed against the tree. The bark was rough even through her shirt, but it only added to the eroticism of the moment. She was about to get it on with Noah Ladon, and she was wetter than she’d probably ever been in her life. And she’d never given him half a thought before now, beyond,Damn, the man can cook.
