Page 3 of Crave Me
A strange ache slammed into my chest and my gaze flickered around the area. We were alone on the patio, in the frigid barely above freezing temperature. And suddenly, the sound of her voice, the brightness in her blue eyes I could see beneath her black and diamond mask made me feel like it was a hundred degrees.
“And what have you been told about me?” I couldn’t help myself. My hands curled into fists to beat back the urge to press my hand to her waist, skim it up her ribcage to just beneath her breasts. Were they as full as they appeared? Would her nipples pebble if I brushed my thumb over them?
Her confidence faltered and she licked her lips. Her champagne glass trembled before she held it tighter.
“Well?” I asked when she didn’t answer. I took another step forward. Close enough to touch her. Close to enough to inhale the soft, fresh scent of her perfume. My dick hardened from the sight of her and the scent. This was how I liked my women.
A little bit timid. A whole lot submissive.
She rolled her shoulders back, trying to gather confidence that wasn’t there. A way to make herself appear taller even when she was almost a foot shorter than me, in heels.
God, she was tiny. Breakable to someone like me. It only made me want to get closer.
“I know you’re a man who knows how to please a woman in...unconventional ways.” She licked her lips and glanced away from me.
No sense in getting shy on me now. I didn’t know whether to be irritated or yank her against my chest and scold her for being so forward. It was the last rule a woman who knew anything about me should do.
“And what, Little Bird?” I gestured toward the cluster of peacock feathers sparking out from one side of her mask. “You want to play with me?”
She stepped forward. There were only inches between us and heat swirled. It’d been a long time, possibly years, since I’d experienced this kind of connection with a woman. She was playing games and I was at a severe disadvantage. This wasn’t ever the role I took. But as she reached out and slid her small hand down my forearm to my hand, I didn’t care.
She was beautiful. Tiny.
I could teach her everything I liked. She obviously wanted it.
“Yes,” she whispered, her soft voice gone husky and wobbly. Her gaze lifted to me and even in the dark night, the lights from the museum made her blue eyes sparkle and shine. “I want you to play with me.”
Chloe
Oh my God. I was doing this. I couldn’t believe I was doing this. I couldn’t believe I was saying these things, but as soon as I recognized Simon Delgado outside on the patio, and alone, I knew this could be my only chance.
I wasn’t even expecting him to be here, but lucky me, here we were. Years ago, I’d met Simon and watched him fall in love with someone else. It had killed, but considering the woman had been my sister, I also hadn’t had a choice. When they broke up, that had killed, too. Mostly because the small friendship I had created with Simon had evaporated with their relationship. Perhaps it was wrong of me to approach him now. I’m sure in some Sister Code Handbook, or Guys’ Code Handbook, exes and siblings weren’t allowed, but I barely had a relationship with my sister anymore. Cassie took off from Grand Rapids shortly after they broke up for a job offer, and she was too busy and so focused on becoming partner at her law firm, she didn’t return home unless it was a holiday.
Yet, despite my sister and how much I’d always cared about Simon, I still couldn’t believe how I was acting. None of this forward stuff, girls hitting on guys stuff, was how I behaved.
When he stepped outside earlier, I’d excused myself from my friend, Tyra, and her husband before I lost my nerve. If he recognized me, he’d walk away from me so fast my head would spin.
I’d already slipped by calling him by his name. From everything I’d heard about Simon, he made the rules. When he commanded, women listened.
Except for one, anyway.
His eyes had widened behind his black mask that covered half his face. He looked different without his typical plastic-framed glasses, but I’d recognize Simon anywhere. From the first night I met him, until he disappeared from my life three years ago, I had only seen him a dozen times, usually on my breaks from college. It was just enough time for him leave a deep and everlasting impression on me.
Or in my fantasies when I was alone.
“So, Little Bird.” Good Lord. His voice was as beautiful as I remembered it being. “What exactly would you like me to do to you?”
We didn’t have time for me to list the things I wanted him doing to me, but I had started this and I had to follow through. I had to at least try.
“I want you to teach me how to submit.”
His shoulders jerked back at my bold declaration and his lips parted before he quickly erased the look of surprise from his expression. I had been too forward, too pushy. I recognized my mistake as soon as he scowled.
“You don’t have a submissive bone in your body.”
I reached out for him again, brushed my fingertips over his forearm. “Please, Simon.”
His wrist twisted and he grabbed my hand, squeezing mine firmly in his tight grip. “Who are you? You’re familiar to me.” His gaze tore from mine and he scanned the patio before coming back to me. “I don’t appreciate these games. Either remove your mask, tell me your name, or walk away.”
