Sinful (Restless Nights) (3 page)

The fire in
Jace’s gaze was scorching but his words were tense as he said he’d be right back. I traced his movements as he disappeared down a back hallway. The shot he’d set in front of me heated my tummy. It was Patron, my favorite. I slipped off my shrug, searching for relief from the heat radiating through my body. When I looked back at the group of guys, all eyes were on me.

Maybe I should have left the shrug on
, ‘cause I was seriously self-conscious right then.

“What?” I asked.

Cole shook his head. “Don’t worry about it.”

I tried for a smile and laugh. It came out sounding a little strained. “Well
, I have four sets of eyes on me like I’ve grown a second head or something. So explain, please.”

Mark was the first to say something. “We’re just trying to figure you out.”

“Explain,” I said with a little exasperation on my tone.

Cole chuckled and Anthony took over then
. “He’s asking what your intentions are with our friend.”

My tongue slipped past my suddenly dry lips to sweep over and wet them. It was a fair question, considering the situation. But I didn’t have intentions other than to enjoy the night.

“I don’t have intentions. We’re friends.”

I was met with smirks that I wasn’t sure how to read.

“Okay, on that uncomfortable note I’m gonna go work off some of the alcohol.”

I slipped from the booth without a glance back and made my way to the darkened dance floor. I wasn’t out there long before I felt
Jace’s presence behind me. Strong yet unsure arms wrapped around my waist, gently pulling me back against his lean hard body. I glanced over my shoulder meeting his gorgeous dark gaze, a small smile playing across my lips. Even though I knew this was wrong and was likely leading to a place of no return for our friendship, I couldn’t muster up the conscience to stop what I had so long been hoping for. 

His fingers swep
t my long hair from my shoulder. His lips brushed feather soft against the bare skin leading to the crook of my neck, where his teeth bit down gently. I felt my body melt against his, stretching my neck to allow him more access. His hand crept up to cup my chin, turning my head, forcing me to meet his gaze as his lips came to slant over my own. The gentle caress of his tongue against mine was all the encouragement I needed to let my wants and needs lead me down a darkened road. He wasn’t mine. Not really, but in this moment I could pretend she didn’t exist. I could tell my mind to let my heart decide how this moment would play out, and yet the words slipped whisper soft from my lips.

“What about your wife?”

His hands stalled and his lips pulled back, leaving mine frozen and alone.

He let a heavy breath slip past his lips
. He clasped my hand and led me from the dance floor.

He didn’t say a word until we had gotten through the loitering tourist
s and had rounded the side of the building.

He smiled when we finally stopped and he looked down at me. I saw the sad quality of it and something deep in my core twisted. I knew this man well, through the computer screen
, and yet somehow his facial expressions, which I had only had hours to familiarize myself with, felt familiar.

“I knew you would ask me that
,” he said, his gaze locked on mine as he spoke. “And I wasn’t sure how I would deal with the question.”

I nodded. “I should have asked earlier. Because
let’s face it, that dinner we just had was more of a date than two friends catching up. And I think we both know we’re not the cheating type. I feel like I know you well enough to know it’s not your style.” I averted my eyes momentarily, gaining the strength to say what needed to be said, even though my body was begging me to let this go. “And I won’t be anyone’s mistress, one night stand, or their biggest regret.”

His smile brightened some as he nodded.

“You aren’t, and it wouldn’t be any of those things. Gemma left over eight months ago.”

My brows furrowed at the statement.
How could she have left him eight months ago and this was the first I’d heard of it?
We talked every day!

“What?”
Yeah, that was eloquent, but I was kind of shocked. “Are you serious?”

He nodded
. “I wouldn’t lie about that. I signed the divorce papers two weeks ago.”

“God,
Jace, I am so sorry. Why didn’t you tell me?”

It was true, I really was sorry for the pain he must have been feeling. Yet a small voice whispered through my mind that he was available now. I promptly told it to shut the hell up. This was not a moment for selfish wants and needs. I knew my friend had to
be hurting.

He shook his head
. “Don’t make that face.”

I stared up at him
. “Umm. What face?”

“The one you were just making, the one that says you feel pity for me.”

“It’s not pity. I could have been there for you. Why didn’t you tell me?”

He sighed and took a step closer to me. “I felt it coming for a while
, and it was what I wanted too, but that didn’t make it easier. I was in a dark place. Explaining to family and friends what had happened, and I felt like shit because of it.”

My heart was breaking a little at what he’d been going though.

“But,” he continued, “when my days ended with you, all that crap that surrounded me seemed to go away. I wasn’t about to spoil the one good part of my days. I smile when I get to talk to you, Avery. Then when I saw you tonight, you were more beautiful than I’d imagined. Seems your outside radiates as beautifully as the inside part of you I’ve gotten to know so well.”

I really didn’t have any words
, and I didn’t need them. Jace pushed me back against the wall and his lips descended on mine.

My mind didn’t fight this time. My hands were in his hair, twisting the dark velvet around my fingers. My tongue met his in a dizzying, frantic rhythm,
sweeping in and out of his warm, sinfully perfect mouth. His hands gripped my hip as he pushed closer, caging me between his hard body and the cool brick of the wall behind me. A whistle pulled us both out of the haze the kiss had sent us into. Jace lifted his head and narrowed his eyes before taking my hand and pulling me towards the parking lot. He passed the rental car and kept moving to a waiting limo.

“Where
are we going?” I murmured.

He opened the limo door and gestured for me to get in. I climbed in and sli
d across the smooth leather. He followed, shutting us inside.

“Whose limo is this?” I asked nervously.

“Cole’s.” He smiled. “He rented it for the night.”

“He rented a stretch Hummer for a pre-bachelor bachelor party?”

Jace shrugged. “We rented a party bus for the actual bachelor party.”

Apparently done talking about the vehicles and bachelor party, he cupped my cheek and his lips landed on my neck.

A soft moan escaped me before I asked, “What about the driver?”

Jace
hit a button and the dividing window began to drop. He stopped it at only a crack.

“You can stay or take a wal
k but don’t open the divider,” he said before closing the window.

I laughed when he looked back at me with a proud tip to his lips.

“That might have been construed as rude,” I chided playfully.

“He’s been dealing with Cole all night
. I’m sure he’s fine.”

I pulled my lower lip between my
teeth and bit down lightly. Jace groaned and pulled me to him. Our lips meeting in a passion filled, crushing kiss. His hands were on my hips again pulling me closer. Any reservations I had held were gone and I found myself swinging my leg over him to straddle his lap. I could feel the intoxicating heat roll off his body as I rocked against him. My fingers firmly bit into his shoulders. I don’t know if the small amount of alcohol helped to release my inhibitions, but I found myself sliding off his lap and onto my knees in front of him. My hand shook slightly as I popped the button on his jeans open and drew his zipper down.

His lids dropped as he watched me slip my fingers under the waistband of his boxers. Sliding them down
until his cock sprang forward and I licked my lips. The truth was while I was no virgin, like in any way, it had been a long time. Reflectively, I realized it had been close to a year since I’d been with a man.

My eyes locked with his as my lips brushed over the head of his impressive cock. My tongue darted past my lips to twirl and pick up the bead of pre-come that had formed. My lips slid lower taking him inch by slow inch until my mouth was full of him. My hand wrapped around his base to cover what my mouth couldn’t contain
. I drew back slowly, sucking softly before releasing him to lick him like the best damn lollipop my tongue had ever had the pleasure of tasting. Wetting his hard flesh I moved my hands up his shaft as I suckled on the tip of his cock. Stroking him slowly as my teeth lightly grazed down, I took him back into my mouth and swallowed, squeezing him.

“Fuck, Avery.” His hip
s jerked and his hands landed in my hair, fisting it into hand holds as his hips rocked, making my job a little easier as I licked, nibbled, and sucked him to a blinding orgasm.

He finally broke our eye contact as his head fell back and I took him a little deep
er and sucked a little harder.

“
Avery,
” he roared my name and I smiled around his cock as he released every drop of his pleasure.

It was
blindingly hot, crazy sexy and every bit as good as my fantasies told me it would be
.

Better actually.

Once I finally found control after the stomach tightening, flashes of lights behind my eyes, I want more, orgasm, I lifted my head to see her smiling as she tucked my still half hard dick back in my boxers and carefully zipped my jeans. My hands shot out to cup her face and bring her back to me. She gave zero resistance and climbed back on my lap.

I studied her face
; her beautiful big eyes were excited and held a promise of something I was afraid to think too much about. Her pouty lips were swollen, her cheeks a stunning shade of pale pink. It made her look all the more beautiful. My heart clenched as the thought flitted through my mind, she was almost too beautiful to look at and still too beautiful to look away from. There were layers that created the amazing creature that straddled my lap, and I planned to learn about all of them.

I pulled her mouth to mine and crushed my lips against hers. I tasted myself on her and my cock jumped again. When I finally pulled back her eyes were glassy and her breath was uneven.

She placed a hand on my chest. “I need a drink,” she murmured.

I arched a brow. “Already want to wash away the taste of me?”

A sultry smile lifted her lips. “Hell no, but I need an excuse for us to get out of this limo.”

I grinned
. “Why?”

She brushed her fingers through my hair and locked her hands behind my neck.
“Because your friends are going to start to wonder where we are and if we don’t go now, they’ll catch us in a couple hours, while I’m doing more dirty things to you.”

She kissed me gently this time, and my body responded even stronger to the sweet passionate press of her lips and the soft sweep of her tongue. She slid off of my lap
, adjusted the skirt of her dress, and got out of the limo. I reluctantly followed. I didn’t see any issue with a couple more hours of dirtiness in the limo. Not as long as it ended in bed with her in my arms while I slowly pushed deep inside of her.

“Stop
,” she whispered almost shyly, which was ridiculous and so fucking adorable. Gone was the sex kitten she’d just been.

I tried for innocent as I stepped closer to her
. “Stop what?”

“Looking at me like
you’re hungry and I’m the perfect meal.”

I chuckled and wrapped my arms around her waist to pull her closer. “You are the perfect meal, the richest wine
, and the most decadent dessert.” I dipped my mouth to her ear and tugged lightly on her lobe before continuing, “And I plan to taste and savor you later tonight.”

She shivered in my arms
. I pressed a gentle kiss to her neck, and then released her body to lace our fingers and pull her back to the bar. We stopped where I had pushed her against the wall. I looked down at her with what I guessed was a broad and satisfied smile.

She gazed up at me, a question in those beautiful blue-gold eyes.
“Why’d we stop?”

I brushed my fingers through her tousled hair, untangling the mussed locks from when I’d fisted the silky tresses for handholds. My hands cupped the nape of her neck and my thumbs brushed over her cheeks. “Your hair was a little wild, your lips are swollen
, and you look flushed.”

She laughed
. “So I’m a hot mess.”

It was a statement, but I shook my head
. “No, you’re beautiful and perfect. Definitely hot, but not a mess.”

I kissed her one more time before we went into the bar. She slipped away to the bathroom while I ordered another round for us and the boys.

Cole studied me closely before shaking his head. “Did you two have a good
talk?
”

I smirked at him
. “We did in fact.”

He chuckled
. “Um-hmm, I’m sure that’s all you two did.”

My eyes narrowed but not with anger or
irritation, but in a signal that Cole would get no details from me about anything that had happened. Avery was pleasure and what we did was for me and her and none of his fucking business.

Cole laughed again
. “I won’t ask, and I know you won’t tell, so all I’ll say is good for you.”

I was riding
a high that I had never come close to before her.

“I will assume she finally asked about Gemma?” Mark questioned. There was a quality to his tone that I couldn’t quite place. He wasn’t judging her
, but it still felt a bit cold.

“Yeah
, she asked. Just like I knew she would,” I told him.

Mark’s lips quirked and he grunted.

“What’s your deal?” I asked.

He shrugged
. “I like Gemma. She’s my friend and while you think you and Avery were doing nothing wrong we both know you were blurring the line. It makes me question her character… and maybe yours a little also.”

My gaze lightened as he spoke
. He wasn’t wrong, an emotional affair is just as bad, maybe even worse than a physical betrayal. But his feelings about the situation should have nothing to do with Avery. She had never crossed any lines in our interactions, and she couldn’t be blamed for what I had felt for her while I was still with Gemma. “If you want to judge or question someone, then let it be me. She’s done nothing wrong and I would appreciate you not treating her like she has.”

Mark dipped his chin
. “I guess none of it matters since you’re finally acting like a human again and not a stubborn, cranky hermit asshole.”

A smile crossed my friends face and I let out a bark of laughter.

Avery made her way back to us, curiosity lighting her features as she slid into the corner booth next to me.

“What’s so funny
?” she asked.

I smiled and shook my head.
“Nothing.” I gestured to the shot sitting in front of her. “We were just waiting on you.”

A playful twist lifted her lips as she grabbed the shot and downed the drink. The
rest of us followed suit, and we fell into comfortable conversation. Avery zeroed in on James and started asking about Julia and the wedding.

I held back a groan of sympathy for my friend as he started
to tell Avery about the flowers his bride has chosen. The poor bastard knew the difference between a Calla lily and an Oriental lily. Okay… so do I, but Julia had included him in every fucking detail. He even had an opinion about the damn dresses her girls would wear.

I slid my hand over Avery
’s bare thigh. Her dress had ridden up slightly, enough so that my palm was only inches from her juncture. She glanced at me as James continued telling her about the wedding. I pushed her dress up a little further and brushed my fingers along the soft skin of her inner thigh and over the lace fabric of her wet panties.

The moisture made my cock jump with excitement. Pushing the lace aside I ran one finger along the slit of her silk lips. Her
trimmed curls were wet and I knew if I could see them they would glisten in the dim light. I pushed my finger in between her folds and was met with a wet heat that almost made me groan. Slipping lower so my thumb could tickle her clit I teased the swollen bud for a few seconds before sinking two of my fingers deep inside of her. 

Her breath hitched and her gaze flicked to me. I smiled
, but kept my attention on James as he prattled on about some more wedding related facts. I sunk my fingers deep into her and withdrew slowly, all the while my thumb made soft circles over her clit. I felt when her body clenched and knew she was close. I slowly eased up, holding her right at the tipping point. Her gaze swung to mine and held. I brought my free hand to cup the side of her neck and tucked her head between mine and the back of the booth. Her breathing was a bit ragged as my lips, feather soft, brushed over her ear.

Before I could say anything
, she whispered, “You are an evil man. We’re in public, and your friends are sitting here with us.”

I blew against her neck and whispered back
, “But they don’t know what I am doing to you. To them it looks like we’re just having an intimate conversation.”

I flicked her clit softly and withdrew my fingers to let them hover at her entrance.

Her lips captured my earlobe softly biting down before her tongue swept over the outer shell.

“Don’t you dare stop now
,” she rasped low.

My finger entered her harder this time and my thumb quickened its pace. Sending her over the edge she’d been teetering on.

“My God, you’re wet, and responsive, you have no idea how badly I want to spread you out and lap up every drop of your release.”

Her head tilted away from me tossing her hair over her face to hide behind the
thick, dark veil of silk. I felt her teeth clamp down on my shoulder, stifling her whimper as I continued to play her body through her orgasm.

Her hand fell to mine squeezing and trying to pull me away. She lifted her head then and caught my gaze. “You have to stop
,” she mouthed.

I smiled and dropped my forehead to her
s.

“What’s the matter baby?” I asked in a low almost gruff tone. I was hard as a rock. Her juices drenched my fingers and the sensation went straight to my aching cock.

“If you don’t, everyone in this bar is going to know what you’re doing,” she whispered, her heavy lidded eyes trying for serious.

“Just an intimate conversation
,” I whispered back as I smoothed her dress back down her thighs.