Page 25 of Crave Me
“I would.” I switch off the ignition, holding her in place with my voice when she reaches for the door. “Wait until I come around.”
“Why?” she asks.
“I want to open the door for you.” I chuckle at her quizzical look. “It’s what all decent men should do in the presence of a lady.”
“You still consider me a lady?” she teases. “Even after all the swearing I’ve done?”
“Wren, there’s no denying your vocabulary took me by surprise when we first met. But you don’t curse to shock or intimidate. You’re simply being true to who you are, and I very much like who you are.”
She stills in place, her expression softening. “Thanks, Evan.”
I frown slightly. “I haven’t done anything.”
“Yeah, you have,” she tells me gently.
She averts her gaze, alerting me that a lot went unsaid in those simple words.
I want to question to her about it, but choose to open my door instead. The last thing I want is to make her uncomfortable. “Alfred, watch,” I say, slipping out.
“Watching,” Alfred answers.
I walk around and open the door for Wren. She hooks her thumb behind her as I help her out. “Our security system wasn’t good enough for you?”
The lights flash, signaling Alfred’s technology has activated the security system. “You’ve seen where I work and what I do,” I say, offering her my arm. “Would you expect anything less of me?”
She leans her head against my shoulder, causing her hair to bunch and sending a whiff of her perfume into my nose. “No. But tell me this. Why Alfred? Are you secretly Batman?”
I angle my head. Her aroma is delicate, like gardenias following a spring shower. It makes me want to pull her closer. I wait instead, allowing her comment to makes me laugh as she intends. “If I was Batman, I couldn’t tell you. A superhero must guard his secret identity at all costs.”
She pulls out her key from her purse and opens the front door. “At all costs?” she asks. “So nothing I’d say or do will make you spill the location of the Bat Cave or give me a peek inside your utility belt?”
I follow behind her when she steps inside, shrugging out of my coat as I consider her comment. I dismiss it as innocent flirting as she clicks the lock behind me. “No, for the sake of Gotham and the world, I must protect my super secrets.”
“Hmm, so you are Batman.”
I chuckle and place my coat over the rail. I don’t expect her to close the distance between us or to drop her coat off her shoulders in one slow seductive move.
That doesn’t mean I object to what follows.
“Hi,” she says, linking her arms around my neck, her voice barely above a whisper.
I don’t feel my arms circle her waist. They’re just suddenly there. What I do feel is the relentless desire to kiss her, something I can no longer deny myself.
My body curls forward, welcoming her tightly against me. Her lips are soft and silky, melting like sweet chocolate over mine. I push my tongue inside for a deeper taste, causing her to moan.
“Damn, Batman,” she says when we come up for air.
We started out slow, getting sense of each other, but as my mouth returns to her, a primal need I’ve never experienced erupts. My hands travel along her back and through her hair in smooth, quick motions, the force of my weight, arching her back.
I think I should edge away, slow down, and not overwhelm her. But I can’t stop and she won’t let me.
Wren lifts her chin, exposing her throat for me to glide my tongue against. She shudders, but it’s the gasp that accompanies my nibbles behind her ear that make me crave more than her skin.
Need. That’s what this is. My need to touch Wren.
My hands slide down and around her back, returning to her waist to grip her hips. I leave her mouth to catch my breath. “Is this what you meant about coming inside and warming up?” I rasp against her ear.
Her breath hitches when my teeth skim along her jaw. “It’s a start.”