Page 7 of She Came Upon A Midnight Clear
“Drink it, darlin’. Champagne gives you a wicked hangover, and I don’t want to be responsible for you feeling like crap tomorrow.”
She shakes her head, but takes the bottle, twists the cap off, and sips.
“Good girl.”
I hadn’t meant to say it; it just came out. But she doesn’t seem to mind. In fact, her cheeks go pink and her long lashes come down on her high cheekbones, and the move seems so submissive to me, I can barely take it. Which starts my brain going again, inventing little scenarios. Most of them include her naked and over my lap while I smack her perfectly rounded ass.
Stop it.
“Okay. I’ll come find you as soon as I can, Evie.”
She smiles and nods, and I track down some of my staff to help me get things wound down. People are already leaving of their own accord, and pretty soon everyone is gone except for three of my vet and kennel techs, and the DJ, who’s packing his gear. And Evie is sitting in a chair petting Olive.
Olive’s owner, my kennel tech Angie, calls the dog and tells us goodnight, then we really have the place to ourselves as everyone else exits.
“How you doing?” I ask Evie.
“Good. I’m good,” she says, gazing up at me.
“Excellent. Because I’ve been wanting to do this since the moment I saw you, and those mistletoe kisses were not enough.”
I pull her gently to her feet, wrap her up in my arms, and kiss her again. This time it starts out sweet and gentle, but then her hands slide behind my neck, and her body leans into mine until I can feel every gorgeous curve of her against me, and I slip my tongue between her willing lips.
Her mouth is so damn sweet—as sweet as I’d always imagined it would be. And soon she’s panting against my lips, and I’m pretty damn sure I’m panting, too.
I pull back and murmur, “I really want you to stay with me tonight. Feel free to say no. You absolutely don’t have to. But god, Evie, I want you so bad.”
“I want to stay with you, Dru. Please.”
I look into her eyes, really searching as I ask her, “Are you saying this because you’ve had too much to drink?”
She shakes her head. “No. I promise. Most of my buzz has worn off, and… fuck, Dru. I’ve wanted this for years. I’ve thought of you. Remembered that one kiss. And I feel like an idiot for saying this out loud?—”
“No,” I interrupt her. “I’ve never stopped thinking of you, either.”
“Really?” she asks, and I can see she needs reassurance.
I brush a lock of her pale blue hair behind her ear. “Evie. It’s why I broke up with Marcy. I couldn’t be with her when what I really wanted was to be with you. It wasn’t fair to her. Or to me.”
“But you never said anything.”
“No. It didn’t feel right. Not while Marcy was still living with you. Then I heard you’d moved away, and… all I was left with was the memory of that single kiss.”
“Me, too,” she says in almost a whisper, looking into my eyes.
I bend down to brush a kiss across her lips, then take her hand. “Come with me, Evie.”
Evie
I cannot believe this is happening. Dru has been the fodder for my fantasies for years, and now I’m here with them, and I’m pretty sure they’re taking me to bed, and I’m shaking a little all over.
I felt bad at the time, like she’d shared something too personal that should have been kept secret, but Marcy once mentioned that Dru liked to spank her, and when I think of it, I’m instantly wet.
God, please be kinky.
Her hand is big and warm and wrapped around mine as she leads me up a wide staircase. She opens a heavy door at the top and we step into her apartment.
It’s a huge loft with exposed brick walls and heavy wood beams in the vaulted, plaster ceiling overhead. Rugs are placed here and there on the old, broad plank wood floors, warming up the space. There’s a living area, what looks like a fully-equipped, modern kitchen, and at one end, a bedroom area. The furnishings are a little rustic, heavy woods and brown leather, other than the framed punk and Riot Grrrl band art on the walls, along with what I recognize as the spare, contemporary art prints I remember she’d always loved. It fits her perfectly.
