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‘Aw, hell!’ Sam jolted out of her chair. ‘Oh, my God, Victor! Mr Alexander. I’m so sorry. I had no idea you were still here.’ Sam hastily rearranged her bunched up skirt. The cerise taffeta refused to fall in to place, leaving all of her coltish legs on display.
‘No, no. Don’t apologise. Carry on.’ The man, whose name had been on every banner in the gallery, gave a dismissive wave before reaching for his brew.
‘No, really …’ Sam continued to apologise. ‘Um … I think we ought to be going. Come along now, everybody out. Let Mr Alexander have his peace.’
‘There’s really no need.’ A twitch of annoyance flashed across his face. It seemed Victor Alexander was more perturbed by Sam’s insistence that we stop, than by the depravity he’d stumbled upon. Having finished making his drink, he turned and rested against the arm of the sofa Sam had jumped up from, and from which David was still extracting himself.
‘What are you doing?’ Sam asked, the quaver in her voice betraying her still underlying panic.
Victor raised his eyebrows. ‘Watching. Drinking my coffee. Given how much you were enjoying yourselves it must be a good show.’
Is it wrong that I loved him from that very moment, from his winkle-pickers to his mod jacket to his almost, but not quite perfect nose? I slapped a hand across my mouth to hide my smile, while Sam gaped and spluttered. I probably ought to have tried to extract myself from the situation, rather than stand there being amused, with my butt on show, but Nathan held me in a death grip.
‘No – no. You can’t.’ Sam reached out to her celebrity guest, but stopped short of dragging him from his perch. ‘I thought you’d left. I watched you go.’ She finally managed to wrench her dress into the correct position, at which point her cool, business self reasserted itself. She took a breath, and spoke calmly, ‘I’ll go and order you a taxi now. I apologise things weren’t properly organised earlier.’ She took a step towards the door, then abruptly backtracked and grabbed hold of her husband. David was still fastening his fly as she dragged him into the corridor.
‘We ought to leave too,’ Nathan murmured into my ear. His grip had relaxed a fraction, allowing me the freedom to move. ‘Ease forward slowly. We don’t need to show him anything.’
Curiously, the thought of Victor’s gaze upon my naked bottom sparked excitement rather than horror. I actually didn’t mind that he wanted to watch. Interesting, considering Nathan, the man who usually loved being watched, was itching to get away.
‘Lyssa,’ Nathan prompted.
‘I meant it. Don’t feel you have to spoil your fun because of me,’ Victor remarked. If the fun hadn’t already been over, I might have taken him at his word, but Nathan’s erection had shrunk and was now safely tucked up behind his fly.
‘Another time,’ I said, as if we were likely to cross paths again under similar circumstances.
‘Definitely.’ Victor flashed me a sinful smile, showing just a hint of teeth that seemed to convert my throwaway remark into a promise.
‘What the devil did you say that for?’ Nathan barked, once he’d bundled me into the corridor. ‘Lord knows what sort of nutcase you’ve encouraged. Next thing you know he’ll be stalking you.’ I didn’t think Victor was a nutcase, but Nathan barely let me get a word in until we’d reached the foyer, and then only to enquire if I had everything before we got into the waiting taxi. I was willing to bet it was meant for Victor, but Nathan didn’t seem to care.
‘Actually, no.’ I paused at the top of the entrance steps, forcing Nathan to backtrack in order to find out what the problem was. As a consequence of being dragged from the room, I’d managed to leave my handbag behind. ‘Purse,’ I explained.
‘Oh, blinking hell, Lys!’
‘It’s not your problem,’ I snarled back.
‘Get in the cab. I’ll fetch it.’
I nearly did, until I realised going home sans keys and cash would be completely pointless. ‘You get in,’ I insisted. ‘My keys are in my purse.’ That and it plain made more sense for me to fetch my bag. I knew where I’d left it for starters, and nor was I quite so desperate to flee into the night. ‘Go home, Nathan. I’ll get Sam to phone me another taxi. We’ll catch up later in the week.’
For a moment I thought he was going to be belligerent about it. Nathan could be remarkably stubborn on occasion. His eyebrows were drawn low and his lips had formed a sour line. ‘Go. Honest, I’ll be fine.’ I was a big girl and I knew how to find my way home. Nor was I half as tipsy as I’d been an hour ago.
‘Oi! You getting in, or what, mate?’ the cabbie hollered.
‘All right,’ Nathan gave in with a sigh. He kissed my cheek. ‘I’ll see you Friday. Stay safe.’ He clearly wasn’t pleased to be leaving me behind, but he got into the cab.
I was already back inside the building by the time they pulled away.
Victor occupied almost exactly the same spot I’d stood in moments before when I returned to the green room. He turned slowly when he saw my reflection so that we were facing when I walked towards him. ‘I forgot my purse,’ I explained.
He bent and retrieved the item from the sofa, then held it out to me.
‘Thanks.’
‘No problem.’
Really, that’s where the conversation ought to have ended. Except, let’s just say that on second inspection, my interest was doubly piqued.
Victor Alexander was not a traditionally handsome man, but he was definitely a striking one. It was more than just his clothes. He was slender as a willow, and angular, almost to the point of being gangly, with thick collar-length black hair. Yet it was his very loose-limbed eccentricity that made him interesting. What captured me at that moment though, were his eyes – eyes full of icy flames. Looking at him made me believe in Jack Frost and the Snow Queen, and conjured images of ice palaces and romping before roaring fires wrapped in bearskins.
What’s more, not only did I suddenly want to inhabit those snowy vistas with him; I suspected he felt exactly the same way.
‘Was there something else?’ he asked in response to my lack of movement.
‘No, that’s everything.’ I shook myself out of my stupor and tucked my purse under one arm. ‘Well, goodbye again,’ I remarked, turning away.
‘You know it really wasn’t my intention to spoil your birthday.’
I turned back again, and he nodded towards the ridiculous pink birthday badge Nathan had insisted on pinning to my dress.
‘That’s OK. You haven’t – yet.’
‘Yet?’ He grinned and I couldn’t help but reciprocate. ‘That rather implies that I’m about to.’ He sat down, so I did too.
‘Depends,’ I remarked cryptically. God knows what I was thinking, but considering the way he was making my insides fizz just by looking at me, I’d be a fool not to try to draw this out.
He pressed his index finger across his lips. ‘On what?’
‘Whether you’re going to kiss me?’ Now I was being downright naughty, perhaps even too outrageous for his sensibilities. Really, I knew nothing about him. The thing was I’d seen this film once, where the girl says to the guy ‘we should have sex’, within minutes of meeting him. And they do. And then they keep meeting and it all turns out wonderfully. Based on first impressions, I think I was hoping for a similar kind of happily-ever-after with this man. That was assuming I hadn’t already convinced him I was delusional, desperate and/or dangerous. Lord knows it was probably justified. I’d only just met the man, and I’d just sent my date home in a taxi. Not that Nathan and I were a proper item.
‘I’m not sure I can do that, Lyssa.’
I heard the words, but it was his expression I paid attention to. He never once looked away. ‘Even if I say please?’ Daringly, I touched his face.
‘Even if you say pretty please.’ He didn’t attempt to escape my touch, though he did put his hand over mine. I bit my lip. I guess I’d read the whole thing wrong and had somehow misconstrued his politeness for genuine interest, and yet … Dammit, I leaned forward to steal what I wanted. He tasted good. It felt even better.
He looked slightly shocked, but not in an angry way. Taking that as encouragement, I leaned forward to do it again. Victor covered his mouth with his fingers. Instead of kissing, we stared at one another from a distance of mere inches.
‘I can’t.’
‘Nathan and I, we’re not committed,’ I explained, thinking that might be the reason for his reluctance. He had just witnessed me being taken by the guy. ‘What I mean is that we’re lovers, but we’re not in love. We’re not exclusive. We see other people.’ I’m not sure my explanation was really helping.
‘I still can’t.’
‘Girlfriend?’ I wondered aloud.
‘No.’
‘Married?’ Not that he was wearing a ring, but not all guys do.
He shook his head.
Well, I guess I’d made a big enough fool of myself. I made to rise, only for him to catch hold of my hand. My insides were flip-flopping between precaution and desire, as he drew me back down onto the sofa, but I knew what was going to happen. I was going to have sex with this man. Sizzling hot, uncomplicated, birthday sex and it was going to be terrific.
‘I’m curious, do you make a habit of flaunting yourself and then propositioning the onlookers?’
‘Do you make a habit of spying on people?’
‘Touché.’
Goddammit, what were we doing. He was still holding my hand, and smoothing circles over my knuckles with his thumb. How could I feel so turned on by something so simple?
‘Nathan stole your cab, by the way.’
‘Did he?’ He didn’t seem overly concerned by the fact. ‘I guess that means I’m stuck here a little longer.’
Considering he’d just refused to kiss me, he made that remark sound awfully like a proposition.
‘And?’ I prompted. Something had to happen. I couldn’t sit here feeling this tense without completely losing my mind.
‘And –’ His smile grew impossibly broad. ‘– and I’m sorry I missed the opportunity to see you –’
‘– to see me?’
‘Come,’ he said.
Heat rushed through me like I’d been hit by a geyser. I was stunned by his words and simultaneously aflame. My body gave one pulse after another, while between my thighs I was suddenly sodden. I’d never had such a strong reaction to a single word before. I didn’t actually come, but I came insanely close.
‘Maybe you could touch yourself?’
OK, I thought I’d been forward for stealing kisses, but he was demanding far more.
‘Where exactly?’ As if the direction of his gaze didn’t make it obvious. ‘You can’t expect me to do that here?’
‘Why’s it any different to what you were doing earlier?’ When he put it like that, he sort of had a point. I’d still be getting off in public with an audience. It’s just that doing myself seemed far naughtier than doing it with another person, and I at least knew Sam and David, whereas I knew nothing about him. Of course, that hadn’t stopped me trying to jump his bones a minute ago. Nor was I particularly shy about this sort of thing. I wasn’t the kind of girl who never touched herself. I often used my fingers to help things along. Plus, there was every possibility that if I did this, he’d be all over me as hard as I could possibly wish.
I sat back and, knees bent, opened my legs a fraction, just enough so that he could see up my dress. Tentatively, I put one hand on my thighs, and raised it along with the hem of my dress.
Victor’s gaze became fully focussed on the ascent of my fingertips. He crept forward, first perching on the sofa edge, then kneeling on the floor to watch as I brushed through the tufts of dark curling hair framing my sex. Considering how aroused I already was, I kept the touches light, and well away from anything sensitive.
‘I bet you’re really good with your hands, being a sculptor.’
The prompt failed to draw him. If he’d just move one of his hands slightly so that it lay upon my thigh.
‘Potter,’ he corrected. ‘Sculptors carve. They chip away at things. I mould things to my will.’
I could believe that, although, presently I was more interested in getting my hands on his body and exploring all of his curious male angles and ridges, than letting him top me. Instinct told me he possessed the sort of washboard abs you could climb down, and I had high hopes for other bits too, given the bulge he was sporting.
‘Why don’t you touch properly?’ he asked, reasonably.
‘Because I’m wound too tight.’ I’d come too fast and too hard, when I wanted to draw this out. ‘Surely you know how that feels.’ An erection as fierce as the one he had caged had to hurt. ‘Maybe you should … as well.’
Our gazes met. Raw lust crackled between us. I read his need. How he longed to bury himself deep, pound into me until there were no boundaries left between us, and we burned with pure lust. I saw too that he wouldn’t do it. Victor Alexander had no intention of doing me, even if that meant he had to ride home with a hard-on you could bang nails with. He wouldn’t give in. Not tonight, and as far as I could read, not any time soon either.
For some mad reason, he’d decided not to touch me or himself.
‘Do you usually just get off by watching?’
‘Not as a rule.
‘Touch yourself there,’ he demanded.
My fingers were trembling, my agility shot to pieces. It was like a battle of wills. Both of us staring. I’m not sure who gasped the loudest when I finally did as he asked. My little bud stood so far to attention that one press there was like hitting the ignition on an explosive device. And once done, there was no going back. I couldn’t stop. I couldn’t unwind the act.
Victor remained unearthly still. He didn’t rub himself. He didn’t even twist to generate friction. He just let his yearning fill up his expression, until it became too raw to look at, too mesmerising and terrifying. I didn’t understand it, but I felt its lure.
My eyelids fluttered closed. The darkness only increased my awareness of him; his thick earthy scent, the whisper of his breath against my hot skin. He moved. Blew. My body convulsed. He blew again and orgasm gripped me tight. Without touching me, Victor tipped me over. I came so hard the muscles in my thighs were still twitching minutes afterwards.
I opened my eyes to find him still there, still watching me with those silver-grey eyes, while his breath continued to whisper across my sex, now soothing instead of teasing. ‘Beautiful,’ he muttered.
He offered me a hand up, which I accepted, thinking that now surely I’d be rewarded with a kiss.
Apparently not.
‘Why?’ I had to ask.
He had to know he could do whatever he wanted to me at that moment. Instead, he stood away from me, tense and horny, when really there was no need. I could make him feel good.
‘I’ve probably kept you too long.’ He shoved his hands into his pockets, which had the effect of raising his shoulders.
‘That’s fine. You know I don’t normally –’
‘You don’t have to explain.’
But I did. I didn’t want him to think I routinely picked up guys in this way. Yes, I enjoyed a somewhat unconventional sex life, but I only really played with guys I knew. I’m not saying I hadn’t enjoyed the odd one-night stand in the past, but it wasn’t my normal mode of operation.
‘We’d better go down now, in case there’s another taxi waiting.’
A curious combination of embarrassment and relief flickered across Sam’s face when she saw us together. I was betting she’d anticipated me having left along with Nathan. ‘I was just coming to find you,’ she said to Victor. ‘The taxi just pulled up.’ We headed straight outside.
‘Are you OK sharing?’ I asked.
‘It’s yours. My lift’s finally arrived.’ He glanced across the car park to a point some distance away. ‘It was nice meeting you.’
‘Likewise.’
He lingered, rather than hurrying away. ‘Why aren’t you an item?’ he asked, referring back to my remarks about Nathan.
‘I’m not sure I could ever be content with only one man.’ I was being flippant. The hour was late and I still didn’t know how to interpret him. The truth was that I was still carrying around too much baggage from my last relationship to consider confining myself to another man anytime soon. Craig and I had split after he accused me of infidelity. All I’d actually done was ogle a few guys. Not touched them or kissed them, just turned my head to look when they walked by. In Craig’s eyes that was enough.
