Gabe grabbed her hand, walked her around the bar and then sat her up on the bar stool. Not satisfied with the situation, he eased off her shirt and bra, finding the soft skin that he was rapidly developing a taste for. Now the situation was looking up.
Tonight Tessa was bolder with him, running her hands under his shirt, removing the soft cotton, leaving them skin to skin. He wrapped her jean-clad legs around his waist, his body seeking home, eager to find the moist honey that Gabe knew was waiting there.
Tessa grinded against him with painful friction, and his body jerked, impatient with the layers between them.
One way to fix that. He wrenched down her zipper, his hands already reaching beneath the tight material, underneath the damp fabric, finding the warm pulsing piece of her that he wanted to own.
Tessa moaned in his mouth, and he hauled her off the stool, stripping her jeans in one easy pull. The lean legs wrapped around him, and he set his erection free. With shaking fingers, he sheathed himself and then slammed into her core.
He swallowed her cry with his kiss, tasting the tang of lemon, the softness that was Tessa. And because she liked to prove him wrong, her hips surged against him, and the firelust began all over again.
Five times he moved inside her, but the angle was wrong. Not enough. Not deep enough. Not enough of her. Frustrated, he swore and lifted her onto the bar, following on top of her. This time when he drove into her, he heard her answering sounds, music to his mind.
Suddenly, strong legs wound tightly around his waist. That was what he loved most about being inside her, this urgent desire to have him closer and closer until their bodies fit together like one.
Her hand fisted against his back, and he could feel the hunger that was raging inside her.
“I like the dark,” she whispered, her lips tasting his neck. “I love the dark.”
“Tessa,” he said but then stopped. Gabe wasn’t used to talking, wasn’t used to the games that women and men played. He’d always been obsessed with Prime, but this…a man could develop a new obsession.
“No names,” she whispered and then twisted in a neat little turn, climbing on top.
The dim light hit her body, her skin shimmering in the shadows, her breasts glistening with moisture, and his heart all but stopped. Her head fell to one side, her neck so long, so smooth, and his heart started beating again, hammering against his chest. He felt it then, desire, fear and the absolute certainty that he had crossed over some imaginary line, a point where there was no going back. Ever.
Tessa rode him, bucked against him, her hands skimming over his skin, and Gabe knew he was close. He grabbed her hips tight, plunged inside her, pistoning back and forth, wanting to pull her over the edge, wanting to watch her face as she came. Soon her mouth fell slack, her body tensed and, with a long cry, she climaxed, pulling him in after her.
IN THE DARKNESS, SO many things could stay hidden. Tessa felt his body beneath hers, marveled at the strength there, imagined the long hours that had made him that way.
He was her pool boy, her landscaper, her repairman and her delivery man, all wrapped up into one neat package of her ideal lover. That knowledge she could accept, letting the fantasy weave over her, keeping her mind free to explore, to enjoy and, best of all, to savor. As long as he was nothing more than a fantasy, she could look at him with a lover’s eyes. Tessa could still make love to him, and all she had to do was pretend. Not a problem.
She rose and dressed, watching the play of the muscles in his chest, his butt as he put on his clothes. The lines of his body were so hard and fluid, like a sculpture but alive and burning with heat.
“Tessa,” he started and then stopped, and she was grateful that he understood, that he never questioned why their relationship must stay in the dark. But there were so many places to go, so many other places that lovers could meet in secret.
“I think we should meet at a movie next time,” she told him, daring to propose something new. “In the afternoon, when nobody’s there, in the back row.”
“I don’t know,” he muttered, his voice unsure. “Are you still playing the game?”
She laid a finger on his lips, pressed a kiss against his chest. “Ssshhh. Think. Fantasize. So many things to do in the dark. Tomorrow. Meet me tomorrow afternoon.”
Her heart raced, pumping with excitement at the idea of seeing her lover again so soon. He reached for her, kissed her with passion, eagerness, devotion, and soon she could feel the decision inside him.
“All right.”
WHEN GABE FLIPPED ON the bar lights, he expected to find Tessa still caught up in the last throes of passion. Instead she was unaffected, her face smiling, with none of the husky thrill that he’d heard in her voice earlier.
Inside, Gabe knew perfectly well that something was screwed, but his body still hummed from being surrounded by her, and for the moment he could convince himself that everything was fine.
They closed up together, Tessa whistling a Donna Summer song as she finished, and then he walked with her to the subway, back to the apartment they both shared. Once inside, he looked at her curiously, wanting to hold her again but not daring to ask.
She gave him a careless smile and waved before shutting her bedroom door. “See you in the morning.”
Gabe contemplated the closed door, contemplated his aching cock and decided on a shower.
Cold.
THE CHIRPING SOUND OF Tessa’s cell woke Gabe bright and early on Wednesday morning. He didn’t intend to eavesdrop on his roommate’s conversation, but she certainly wasn’t making an effort to hide her words, talking loudly, and then his ears perked up at four of them two-bedroom, one-bath.
The more he listened, the guiltier he felt, but not so guilty that he would stop. She made noises of general agreement, tossed out some numbers and in general seemed happy as a clam.
Gabe frowned.
When she wandered into the living room, he was already waiting for her. “Phone call?” he asked.
“Yeah,” she replied, a stupid answer that didn’t help him at all.
“Oh. Making plans for tonight?” he asked, trying again. “Remember, you’re supposed to work. It’s my poker night.”
“No plans,” she said breezily.
“What was it then?” he asked, which sounded so pathetically obvious, but, okay, lately he seemed to be losing his usual subtle touch.
“My potential new roommate,” she replied, beaming at him.
Roommate? What the hell? Now, sure, they were only on day two of the Great Roommate Experiment, but in Gabe’s world, things were good. “A new roommate? What the heck is that about?”
“I told you that I’d be out of your hair as soon as I could.”
Yes, that had been the plan before they were sleeping together. “That’s really fast. What do you know about this person?”
“Well,
