Well Suited (Red Lipstick Coalition #4)(40)

Like I’d said, it’d been a long fucking week.

When the meal was through, Katherine bolted out of her chair, scooping up plates and glasses with the determination of a wide receiver running for the end zone. Into the kitchen she went, hurrying through dishes with the efficiency of a general heading into battle. And when she wiped off the table, she might just as easily have been seconds away from the whistle blowing to signal the end of a never-ending workday.

And with that task done, the whistle did blow, along with the gasket that kept my desire in the steam vent.

She smiled, her cheeks pink and eyes darting to me only once.

“Dinner was lovely. Thank you all for welcoming me. I’m very tired, as growing arms and legs is much harder work than one mightrealize. So I’d like to say goodnight.”

Amelia’s frown bordered on a pout. “But I haven’t seen you all day, and it’s only eight thirty.”

“I promise, I’ll see you tomorrow,” she said, stepping into Amelia to give her a stiff hug. “The day has been very exciting, and I’d like to…decompress.”

I barely stopped myself from laughing out loud.

Amelia sighed, resigned. “All right. Text me if you change your mind, and I’ll come down.”

“Thank you,” Katherine answered. “Goodnight, Tommy, Sarah.” She turned to me. “Theodore, would you mind helping me with something upstairs?”

“Not at all,” I said as every nerve in my body jumped in unison.

I was completely composed, and Katherine was trying to be, bless her. But her face was inconspicuous, hinting so blatantly at her actual meaning, it might as well have been a blinking neon sign that said SEX, PLEASE.

Tommy and I shared a look, and with a brief goodbye, I followed Katherine up the stairs, shamelessly staring at her ass the whole way.

The second we were clear of the stairs, she turned on her heel and launched herself into my arms.

I locked her there, locked my lips to hers, breathed in the smell of her soap and shampoo and her. She smelled like books and paper, like fresh laundry and the gentle sweetness of baby powder.

She smelled like mine. The week since I’d held her last was gone with one deep inhale.

Her arms threaded around my neck, mine around her waist, and when I stood straight, I kept ahold of her. Her feet dangled, toes inches from the ground. I knew because they thumped my shins as I hurried toward my bedroom, kicking the door closed behind me.

I’d thought to ask her where she wanted to be, but I couldn’t be bothered to break the kiss. So I opted for my room where we’d gone every time, guessing it was best to leave her space her own until she indicated she wished otherwise.

I hummed a sigh as I laid her down, fitted my hips against hers, spent a long moment exploring her mouth, cataloging the feel of her body beneath me, her hands in my hair. The warmth of her. The way she fit against me despite the difference of our height.

When I broke away, it was to trace her face with my gaze. Red lips plumped from the pressure of mine. Lids heavy with desire. Lashes black and luxurious, fanning when she blinked. Her eyes, a kaleidoscope of color, a mosaic of blues and greens, tans and golds, the color quickly fading as the black of her pupils expanded to swallow the sight of me.

I thumbed her bottom lip, finding myself smiling. “That was a dirty trick, Kate.”

“Well, I wanted you to kiss me, and you wouldn’t.”

“You know the rules.”

“I wrote the rules.”

A laugh hummed behind my closed lips. “You made me sit through dinner with my mother when all I could think about was fucking you.” I tsked. “I’m gonna have to get you back for that.”

“Please, don’t make me wait,” she mewled, shifting her hips.

I rolled mine, pressing myself into her. “Oh, it’s too late for that. Maybe if you hadn’t teased me like you did.”

Her thighs parted wider. “But you teased me all day.” It was almost a whine, the sound so uncharacteristically needy that I laughed my surprise.

“What kind of man would I be if I didn’t follow the rules?”

She sighed. “You’re incorrigible, do you know that?”

“It’s been said.” I looked down my nose at my hand as it traced the V of her neckline. “But you’re no better.”

At that, those crimson lips of hers curled at the very corners. “It’s been said.”

Down to the buttons my fingers trailed, a dozen tiny, shiny buttons, rounded on top and marching between her breasts. I popped one out of its loop, trying not to let the feeling of her fingers ruffling the short hairs at my nape distract me.

“I’m gonna take my time, Kate.” I unfastened another button. “I’m not giving you what you want until you’re begging me for it.”

Her bottom lip slipped between her teeth, her hips shifting and rolling against my cock, pressing that spot where she needed me. “If I beg you now, will you give it to me?”

“Not a chance.”

I closed my eyes and kissed her, sucked that fat bottom lip into my mouth, pinned it with my teeth, traced it with the tip of my tongue. Melded my lips to hers, angled my face and hers far enough to get deep, tongues tangling, breaths mingling. My determined hand made quick work of those buttons, unfastening them down to the space where her ribs parted ways. Her skin was hot beneath my fingertips, the feel of her breath rasping in and out of her lungs transmitted to me by way of touch. Her breast in my palm, warm and heaving, her nipple peaked and reaching through the delicate lace of her bra—the bra I’d bought, a claim I’d staked.