Wicked Burn(41)
Niall brushed his lean cheek lightly with her fingertips. “You’re going to make yourself sick if you keep up that pace, Vic.”
“Just a few more nights of it. Opening night is the peak of the frenzy. It’ll be downhill from there. And after that, you’re all mine, Niall.” He leaned forward and planted a quick, hard kiss on her mouth. When he raised his head his expression was thoughtful.
“You never did tell me how you got a boy’s name.”
“The name Niall has been passed on to a male in the Chandler family for generations. Since my parents only had me, I was the lucky recipient.”
His eyelids narrowed slightly. “It suits you somehow. Is your father named Niall?”
She nodded.
“Guess I didn’t make a great first impression on them the other day.”
Niall flushed and glanced away. “That wasn’t your fault. They’re not usually that brusque. I think it just shocked them to see . . . us . . .” She waved her hand around in front of her. “You know.”
“They don’t think that their grown daughter has a right to her private life, including having sex,” he finished flatly.
“No, that’s not what I meant.”
Even though she kept her eyes averted, she could feel his penetrating stare on her. Her discomfort only grew when she realized that this would be the perfect opportunity to tell him about Stephen. But should she even assume that would be what Vic wanted? Just because he was sexually attracted to her didn’t mean that he wanted to share something so intimate.
The waiter approached, and Niall’s moment for self-disclosure passed. She told herself her ambivalence about talking to Vic about herself had absolutely nothing to do with a fear that he might condemn her.
During dinner Niall tried her best to keep her attention on the topic of conversation instead of thinking about her burgeoning relationship with Vic. But it was difficult to remain focused when she was so aware of the man that the side of her body pressed and brushed against so intimately. The movement of his neck when he swallowed beguiled her, the sensation of his fingers casually stroking her neck distracted her, the sight of his muscular, hair-sprinkled forearms just plain turned her on.
“My mother and Meg are going to be here on Friday afternoon,” Vic said as the waiter cleared the remains of their dinner.
“You’re going to be busy at the theater, aren’t you?” Niall asked. When he nodded, she added, “I’d love to take them out to dinner before the play. Would you extend the invitation?”
“Sure,” Vic muttered. Niall colored when she realized that he studied her intently while he spoke, and that the message in his eyes nowhere near matched their casual verbal exchange.
“We have some delicious dessert offerings for you this evening. May I tell you about our specials?” the enthusiastic waiter asked.
“What we’d like is some privacy.”
At first the waiter looked a little nonplussed at Vic’s bluntness but he recovered swiftly, merely nodding and offering a slightly offended “of course” before he walked away.
“Subtle, Vic,” Niall murmured in amusement.
“He’s the one who’s being thick. Any fool could see that what I’m interested in isn’t on the dessert menu.”
Niall’s gasp of surprise when he covered her mouth with his own segued to a low moan of arousal in a matter of seconds. She didn’t think of protesting when his fingers lowered from her neck inside her blouse, where he lightly caressed her breast. Her nipples beaded tight beneath his plucking fingertips. She arched her back, pressing her flesh into his palm. How was it that he always knew precisely when to be soft with her and when to be hard? His gentle, stroking fingers made her burn with a desire for more of his magical touch.
When he suddenly seemed intent on granting her wish, however, Niall was shocked.
“Vic what are you doing?” she whispered against his lips when he slipped his big hand beneath her skirt and skimmed his fingertips across her thigh.
“You’re wearing a garter belt?” he asked incredulously.
“Yes,” she muttered when he slid his forefinger beneath the elastic of the garter and trailed it up to the bottom of her panties.
“You are such a good girl,” he muttered with a naughty grin.
Niall’s eyes widened in stark disbelief and arousal when he pressed two fingers against her labia and moved rhythmically. She glanced around the restaurant nervously. They were fairly secluded in the deep booth. She couldn’t see anyone directly, but she definitely heard the muted sound of voices and clinking dinnerware in the distance.
“Vic, people will see,” she whispered.
His answer to that consisted of fluffing out the tablecloth until it covered her lap and to keep right on doing what he was doing. Niall’s face pinched tight with lust when he began to pulse his long fingers vertically as well, working the hard ridge of his forefinger between her swollen lips until he directly stimulated her clit.
“Your panties are wet,” he whispered as he nuzzled her ear. “Much too wet to have gotten that way just now. Were you getting turned on while we ate dinner?”
“Yes,” Niall admitted. She turned her head and tried to get to his lips, but he backed up slightly, eluding her. She gave a shaky cry when his fingers pushed aside the triangle of silk that covered her seeping sex. He growled in satisfaction as he stroked her clit with eye-crossing precision.