Gold Shimmer (8 page)

How the hell can he tell?

Running his thumb along the sensitive spot where my leg meets by body, his tense expression settles. “Just relax. Let it happen.”

“Easier said than done,” I say truthfully. “I’m on a countertop, laying here like a party smorgasbord with people just outside the door.” Let him think I’m having stage fright. The alternative is much worse.
Oh yeah, did I forget to mention I’m unsolvable.
You’ll be trying to find that missing puzzle piece all night and end up with lockjaw.

“I have plans for us after.” He glances toward another door that leads off the kitchen. “But if you’d like a room now…” Before I can object, he takes his hat off my head and then scoops me in his arms.

With my mask suddenly pressed against Calder’s warm neck and his amazing smell doing indescribable things to my insides, true panic sets in. It’s one thing to mess around with him while people are just a door away. It’s another thing entirely to steal away to a quiet space where he’ll expect me to get naked.

I
can’t
be alone with him. I’m not Celeste. She doesn’t have a single tattoo. I’d know if she did, because she would have posted it on social media the day she got it.
How did I let this get out of control so fast?
As he takes a couple steps, I cup the side of his face and press a kiss to his jawline. “Here is fine, Calder. I’ll try to relax.”

His serious gaze scans my face. “Are you sure?”

When I nod, a pleased smile flickers. Kissing my forehead, he murmurs, “That’s my girl,” and turns back toward the island.

His girl.
Damn that just makes my heart ache. I’m insane, but I can only blame it on his intoxicating scent. The musk of want radiates off him, drawing me in, making me want to spend more time with him. The man runs so much deeper than I could’ve imagined. He shifts from cold to hot, from simple kisses to extreme passion in a blink, yet his complexity absolutely fascinates me. I don’t know what to think of him…other than I could bury my nose in his warm neck and inhale all night long.

Calder lays me down on the island once more, and even though he’s standing to my right, he puts his hand on my stomach when I try to sit up. “Lay still,” he commands, his hand already moving to clasp my inner thigh.

While he runs his left hand along my shoulder, then up my neck to my jawline, his right hand inches higher up my thigh. The music thrums at a frenetic pace, but his movement toward my throbbing sex is excruciatingly slow. His gaze has never left mine and I clench my inner muscles, pulsating with the need to feel his hands and mouth on me once more, his fingers possessing me even deeper than his tongue.

“Calder—”

“Not a word.” He quickly bends close, his mouth a breath away from mine.

I smell myself mixed with his masculine scent and before I think better of it, I slide my tongue along the seam of his lips. I need to know what we taste like together. When I run my tongue along my own lips, a low, feral growl erupts from his throat. Our combined taste is salty sweet with just the right amount of passion mixed in, and the flavor only makes my stomach clench more. Just as I start to press my lips to his, he clasps a handful of my hair and holds me still.

Breathing in and out in harsh gusts, he releases my hair and jerks my legs toward him. Swiftly lifting my right leg over his shoulder, his mouth connects with my sex in voracious need, like we’ve been lovers for years and there’s no build-up necessary, nothing but mutual want and pleasure. I moan, enjoying his rough aggression only to be even more turned on when he anchors my other leg to the counter, opening me fully for his greedy mouth. His groan of approval vibrating against my body shakes me deeply.

“Fuck, I can’t get enough,” he rasps, then plunges his tongue deep along my center, devouring me like a man who’s gone too long without a meal that truly satisfies.

My heart jacks and my hips move on their own, seeking release to the build up, shocking the hell out of me. I have never made it this far. I’m gasping for air, my stomach tensing, my thighs trembling.

“Cald…so good. I can’t even—”

“No sounds,” he commands.

I gulp back the wail clawing to let loose from my throat and arch my spine, pressing wantonly against his talented mouth.

But when he latches onto my clit and sucks it hard, my quiet huffs vault to excited, erratic pants.

Tension curls in my belly, pleasure drawing from every pulse point and centering on my core. The sheer bliss of the moment threatens to turn my heavy breathing into full out screams of pleasure.

If I call out, he’ll stop and that’s the last thing I want. I’m climbing, climbing so high the darkness feels far, far away. I don’t want to fall down into that black abyss.

Grabbing his hat by the bill, I turn it so I can inhale his intoxicating scent while these amazing feelings are spreading through my veins in a fast moving, prickly heat.

As I rock my hips, I know the hat won’t muffle the shocked wail of pleasure rushing up my throat, so I clamp my lips on the rim.

When my body starts to shake and my inner walls begin to convulse, I swallow my shock as it registers that an orgasm is taking over my body.
Holy shit!
Biting down on the leather band, I hold back the cry of release that bursts past my lips. It feels so good to let go and allow myself the freedom to experience the ultimate pleasure that has eluded me for years. And I gave it all over to a complete stranger. At the moment, I don’t care how fucked up that makes me.

“That’s it, angel. Give it to me. Every last delicious drop,” Calder grunts against me, his voice suddenly gruff.

Just as I press shamelessly against him, he pauses briefly and murmurs, “All for me,” before he presses a hot kiss on the sensitive spot where my leg meets my body. While I revel in the feel of his mouth in a place I never thought of as erogenous, he slowly lowers my other leg to the countertop. I pant as his warm breath rushes against my wet sex. He flicks my clit with his tongue before he begins to roll the bit of skin between his tongue and lip. When he pinches the sensitive bud, then tugs on it, teasing my body mercilessly, he finally does what he promised. He delves his tongue impossibly deep, fucking me, possessing me…taking me to another plane.

He’s so aggressive, I’m nudged across the counter, but he yanks me back and burrows as close as he can get, his teeth and mouth taking me to a new edge of pleasure and pain. His actions are primal and raw, giving me the most authentic, intimate moments I’ve ever had with another person. I move higher, euphoria keeping me just outside the edge of embarrassment at the sound of him lapping up the heavy rush of desire dripping down my sex.

When Calder pauses and glances up at me with insatiable lust in his gaze, I take several deep breaths, unable to form words, let alone believe that I might just come once more. And even if I can’t get there right away, I wish I had the freedom to try all night long. I wish I could say the words he wants to hear:
Take me to bed. I never want to leave it.
They would be completely true. But that is the last thing I’ll be able to say tonight.

With a confident smirk, Calder dips his head toward my body once more. Just as he connects, a closed door on the far side of the kitchen opens. I quickly push on his shoulders, then jump down at the same time I grab my underwear off the counter.

Two guys stand in the doorway their gazes locked on us. One is dressed as a prohibition era gangster, while the short, thin one blinks behind a full jester mask and hood. The gangster guy smirks, then says something about getting a bag of ice before they both quickly proceed to the fridge and pull open the freezer.

My fingers curl tight around my underwear and I feel my face flaming, despite the mask. Reality bursting our bubble of intimacy forces my brain to reengage. Of course it’s just my luck to stumble across the one man who managed to make my body sing while I’m pretending to be the person I despise most. Worry quickly rises to the surface, fast and furious. How will he react when he finds out the truth?

He’d been adamant about how he feels about being lied to earlier. I should’ve kept my distance and stayed away. I just didn’t think things would progress this far. I didn’t think he would give me a mind-blowing orgasm.

I didn’t think at all.

I assumed he’d be easy to walk away from, like all the guys before him.

God, I was so wrong.

Calder tugs his hat back on his head, his expression impassive. From my position beside him, I see the fast rise and fall of his chest. He’s just as affected. Correction…he’d been caught up in
Celeste
.

While the two guys lift the huge fifty pound bag of ice out of the freezer drawer, I swipe my free hand across the counter, then blow the gold sugar dust off my palm. As the sparkling dust settles I say in a low voice, “Don’t be distracted by gold’s shimmer, Calder. Underneath the shiny polish, it’s just a lump of metal like any other.”

He frowns and starts to say something when the bag of ice drops on the freezer door, knocking it off its hinges. “Can you help, man!” one of the guys yells to Calder as the bag splits and ice begins to spill out.

Once Calder quickly rushes over to help with the rupturing plastic bag, I turn and leave through the doorway the guys came through, ducking into a small bathroom. Thankfully the power is still out, so no one can see how flushed I feel after I come out of the bathroom with my underwear now intact. Unfortunately the darkness also hinders my ability to locate Talia. I step down into the dancing crowd, trying to blend in while I look for her. I really hope she got what she came for, because I need to get out of here,
now
.

My stomach swirls with nausea and worry sets in when I can’t find her after I walk a circle around the dance floor. I must look like I need it, because a passing server offers me a glass of champagne. I take the drink and down it in seconds, then instantly regret it. My head is buzzing and my stomach feels even less settled.

Setting the glass on a table, I turn, intending to resume my search for Talia when I run right into the guy dressed as Batman.

“Celeste!” he says, smiling as he clasps my shoulders. “Dance with me?”

Well, shit…I’d promised I would. I nod and pull him into the crowd, hoping I’ll catch a glimpse of Talia out here on the dance floor somewhere.

“I can’t believe we’ve never done this before,” he says casually over the music.

I stop scanning the room for my roommate and focus my attention on him. The muscles he’s wearing are all costume. On the slim side, he’s around five-eleven with dark brown hair and a nice enough smile. I have no idea who he is, but apparently Celeste must by the way he’s talking to her. “What? Dance?” I ask, curious how they know each other.

He nods. “Yeah…well, party actually. It’s kind of funny considering we’re close in age.”

I shrug and give a half smile. “Different circles.”

A frown furrows his brow briefly, but then he laughs. “I guess so. It’s not like I’ve gone to Europe with you and your entourage.”

What the heck does that mean?
I don’t get a chance to ask, because I suddenly see Calder on the edge of the crowd, sweeping the dance floor with a serious gaze. The look of frustration on his face sends guilt shooting through me. Even as I move so Batman blocks me, I feel awful about ditching Calder.
I suck
. Regardless, he’s going to be pissed at me, but at least this way, he won’t hate me completely. Right now he’s annoyed, but if he finds out I lied to him about who I am, he’ll be royally pissed.
Where the hell is Talia?
I wish I could text her, but one downside of my skimpy costume is there aren’t any pockets for a phone.

I take a chance and peek around Batman’s bobbing shoulders as he moves to the fast paced song. My heart jerks when I don’t see Calder.
Where did he go?

Then I see his white hat and broad shoulders weaving through the crowd, his expression determined as he surveys the dancing people all around him.

“I—I suddenly don’t feel so well,” I say to Batman.

When I start to turn away, Batman clasps my shoulder, then points to my right. “The bathroom is in that direction, along that wall.”

“Thanks.”

As I dart away, he calls over the music, “Talk to you later, Celeste.”

I wince that his voice seems to carry, but quickly duck around half-drunk partiers as I head in the direction of the bathroom and away from Calder.

I glance back to see if Calder has spotted me, and when I note that he hasn’t I exhale to calm my racing heart. I turn to face forward and run right into Jake.

“Whoa, hey!” he says, grinning as he clasps my arms. “I’ve been looking for you all night, Celeste.”

Heat flashes as fear and rage swirls through every nerve ending in my body. Hearing him say Celeste’s name brings the past raging back.

I’m on my knees, wet grass soaking my jeans. I feel weight on my shoulder and my hands are held behind me. What the hell? Heavy breathing gusts against my neck. Someone is holding me in place.

Jake tilts my chin up, his gaze glittering with power and smugness. “I’m going to be your god tonight, Celeste. Open your mouth.”