Page 24 of Power
In public.
Dear God, this man could kiss.
I could kiss like this all night, all day, all year. His tongue was gentle yet dominant, his grip on my face growing firmer as he stepped closer and opened his mouth wider. Surrendering to hisvortex, I reached my hand up and trailed my fingers through his silky hair. I wanted him to set me on the bar and bury himself in me. I wanted him to rip my clothes off and spread this magic across my body, my breasts, and my sex. I wanted to look him in the eyes as he buried himself in me.
“Please.” His voice was rough with need. “Don’t leave.”
11
SCARLETT
The kiss evolved into something I’d never experienced before, with an electric current of need that only increased in strength the longer our mouths moved together.
And I certainly never experienced what came next. When our kiss deepened into an almost frenzy, rather than having my rideshare take me home, Jace and I got a taxi to his hotel. There, the kiss continued, only broken up when we needed to watch where we were walking. It was only when I was standing in front of his now-open hotel door that I wondered what the hell I was doing.
At the risk of coming off like a prude, I had never done this before. Don’t get me wrong. I wasn’t opposed to a one-night stand, nor having the gumption to sleep with a guy shortly after you just met him. If anything, I envied the women who were so free and confident in themselves that they would make those types of decisions, but for a brief moment, a small part of me wondered if I was being reckless.
Dangerous even. I didn’t know this man, and I’d let him lure me to his hotel room.
Yet my instincts told me he wouldn’t hurt me. We were in a public hotel, with shared walls, a phone, and plenty of places torun. My protective nature ceased and desisted, paving the way for the biggest question on my mind: Why was I doing this?
My life was a series of multistep plans strung together and organized around a goal. Hell, if I did relationships (which, again, I did not), I’d probably create a PowerPoint presentation and some sort of scoring list for men. And sadly, the only ones I’d ever be open to dating would be the kind you’d never marry. I wanted nothing to do with powerful men, thanks to my past, so that probably left the weak and unmotivated. That was a huge cup ofno thanks, but I digressed.
All these years of carefully, strategically, exhaustingly working up the corporate ladder and going without much of a personal life. I was the girl who, when walking on a path, kept my eyes on the end of the sidewalk, on the destination for which each step was meticulously designed. I didn’t just fail to smell the flowers; many times, I didn’t even notice them along the way. Telling myself I could have fun tomorrow. I could watch that movie that had been on my list forever, make a sizable dent in my TBR, ride my horse daily rather than just on weekends, and do all the other things I had been sacrificingtomorrow. That today was about discipline and working toward my goal. Responsible, careful, and preplanned.
And for what? I’d missed all those flowers to find the end of the path, the career I’d sacrificed for, to be a mirage. A jackal in a suit who sabotaged what I’d been working toward.
Now, with Jace waiting for me with an open door, he beckoned me from my comfortable, predictable life into the unknown. Which made me realize something else: I had never embraced the simple act of being desired. This thing with Jace was me trust-falling into the opposite of everything I’d been. Led by desire and fun only. And you know what? I needed this. Like a cleanse of some sort. Uninhibited, don’t think too much about this, just have fun, and have (hopefully) mind-blowing sex. Then, Monday morning, I’d go back to work and move forward in a constructive, thoughtful manner.
Tonight, I couldn’t control if I’d be able to salvage the promotion that consumed my life to earn, nor could I control what HR did to Grabby Hands once I reported him. But I could control my reaction to flowers. And Jace was a stunning bouquet of my favorites.
All I needed to do was step inside his garden.
12
SCARLETT
“I’m going to ravage you.” Jace pressed me against the inside of his hotel room door, his warmth radiating through my clothes.
A quick glance past his shoulder—and trust me, it was lightning fast with his mouth blazing a path down my jaw—revealed this wasn’t so much a hotel room as it was a luxury suite, bathed in amber lighting that made everything feel dreamlike.
And, oh my God, the possibilities. With so many surfaces besides just a boring old bed. Which was perfect. The only place I’d ever had sex before was in a bed. Traditional, missionary, and if I was really doing this, if I was really pushing myself to get the hell out of my head and have some fun, then why not act out a fantasy or two with this sexy stranger?
And what a stranger he was. I loved that he was so tall, he had to duck his head just to kiss me, loved how his muscles rippled beneath that black shirt with every movement, building the anticipation of seeing what lay underneath. When his hand gripped my outer thigh, teasing the hem of my skirt higher with torturous slowness, his impressive erection pressed against me, making my breath catch.
The thought of him inside me sent heat pooling between my legs. Maybe I hadn’t been with a man in forever, but thatdidn’t mean I didn’t want it. Heaven, did I want it? Going without a man’s hands on my body, his tongue working magic while his eyes locked with mine, feeling him fill me until I cried out in bliss … apparently, all those desires hadn’t just been simmering on the back burner of my mind. They’d been smoldering, waiting for the match that would ignite them into an inferno.
“How do you like it, Scarlett?” Jace’s lips traced down my collarbone as my skirt inched higher.
It struck me, in the best possible way, that he’d taken a moment to consider my needs. Not just his. The other men I’d been with had never done that. If Jace was even half as talented as his kisses in the sex department, the man needed no instruction, but my word, him asking me?
Okay, panties are officially ruined.
As a bonus, his consideration emboldened me to answer.
“I want you to taste me until I shatter,” I breathed.
He groaned, the sound vibrating against my skin.
