Slow Hand (Hot Cowboy Nights, #1)(49)

“What? Are you thinking to have your wicked way with me?”

“I was more hoping you’d want to have yours with me.” His answering look made her mouth go dry. “You devastate me, Nikki. Do you know that?”

“Me?” She gave an incredulous laugh.

“Yes. You. I haven’t wanted anyone this bad in a very long time. Hell…” He raked his hair with a self-deprecating laugh. “I don’t know that I’ve ever wanted anyone this bad.” His gaze slid down to her mouth while a half smile hovered over his. “I’m sitting here looking at you with my mind bursting with all the things I still want to do to you.”

“Even after this afternoon?” She was growing flushed and it definitely wasn’t the wine.

“This afternoon only whetted my appetite for more. Hell, if this table had a decent cover on it, I’d slide my hand up those sleek, smooth thighs of yours right here and now.”

Nikki stifled a gasp and squeezed her thighs against the sudden warm gush.

His mouth curved into a slow, knowing smile. “Am I making you wet? So easily, Nikki?”

“Yes, damn you!” she hissed.

He chuckled. “Then, darlin’, I’m making it my personal goal to have you squirming in your panties before the check comes.”

“Oh really?” She arched a brow. “What if I’m not wearing any?”

She noted his heavy swallow with a surge of satisfaction. “Are you sure you want to go there, Wade? I thought I’d already demonstrated that two can play these games.”

“I’m up for it all right.” His grin stretched wide and sexy. “Bring it on, darlin’…gimme all you got.”

Paula arrived a moment later with the check. Wade reached for his wallet, but Nikki stalled him. “You know, on second thought, I think I’d like some dessert.”

“Anything in particular?” Paula asked.

“Yes. I have a sudden craving for some fresh fruit. Do you have any peaches or nectarines perhaps? With cream.” She slanted Wade a sultry look. “I love nice, juicy peaches drowning in cream, don’t you, Wade?”

His pupils flared. He wet his lips.

“I’m so sorry,” Paula said, “but we don’t have peaches. Could I tempt you with something else? We have a luscious triple chocolate terrine or crème br?lée. We also have a mascarpone, dark chocolate, and hazelnut cannoli.”

“Cannoli?” Nikki’s gaze darted to Wade. “You mean those wonderful Italian pastries that you eat with your fingers?”

“Yes. These are excellent.”

“Perfect.” Nikki smiled deviously.

“Coffee with that?”

“No, thank you. Just the cannoli.”

“Oh no you don’t,” Wade murmured in warning the moment Paula departed.

“Oh yes, Wade. I love cannoli. Especially if they’re big and long and so filled to bursting that they explode in your mouth.”

His jaw twitched. “Stop. Just stop now or I’ll make you so sorry.”

“No, I’m going to savor the hell out of my dessert. I’m going to lick and nibble all the chocolate off the outside, and then swish my tongue on the inside. And after that, I’ll suck out all the filling…and you’re going to watch me.”

“The hell I will!” Leaping out of his chair, Wade threw a wad of bills on the table. He then jerked Nikki to her feet, hauling her out the front door before dessert ever arrived.

*

They’d barely made it to the car before he pinned her up against the passenger door. He dipped his head and groaned, “I told you I’d make you sorry.”

She licked her lips with a shiver of excitement. “How?”

“I’m going to make you whimper and beg, Nikki. I’m going to reduce you to a puddle of moist, hot mayhem.” His hand was already sliding up her dress and gliding over her thighs.

“You can’t! We’re in the parking lot.” She protested on a gasp at the paradoxical softness of his calloused hands.

He nuzzled her neck, lightly abrading her skin with his deliciously bristled jaw, his breath a heated caress against her skin. “It’s dark enough…and I’m blocking you from view. Hmm. I like these, Nikki. A lot.” He traced the lace band at the top of her stockings with his fingers. “Now I’m wondering…”

She knew what he was thinking. Her remark about her lack of panties was meant to drive him wild. She hissed when he probed higher and dipped into her wetness with a grunt of deep satisfaction. But he didn’t stop there. He slid deeper, his fingers exploring her passage, his thumb slowly circling, swirling the wetness around her clit.

He took her ear lobe between his teeth. “You’re going to sob for mercy, Nicole.”

Dear God, we’re in a freaking parking lot!

But he wasn’t about to let her off the hook. No indeed-y. Not after how brazenly she’d teased him. Her heart raced. His fingers plunged, working in and out of her sheath. Her breath came in short pants. Her legs felt like jelly. She clutched his shoulders for balance as her climax formed low in her belly, like a storm gaining momentum by the minute.

“Please, Wade,” she whispered.

“That wasn’t good enough, Nikki.” He swirled his hot tongue in her ear. “How about ‘pretty please with sugar on top’?”