His eyebrows raised. “Baking?”
People thought bakers pranced through icing sugar and worked to the sound of chirping birds, but rolling dough with a hard pin for hours on end was no joke.
“Yeah, they used to be worse when I worked in a commercial kitchen during my apprenticeship.”
“That’s kinda badass.”
A few moments later, he’d completed his task and said, “You’re good to go.” But his hand remained around her fingertips.
“Thanks,” she said, her beating heart flaring once again.
It took several more seconds for him to finally release her, and as they walked down the hallway together, the chatter of the class downstairs grew louder. But all Retta could focus on were the tiny sparks that would skate over her skin every time some part of her body grazed Duncan’s. Was he feeling them too? Did he think about the day at her apartment at regular intervals like she’d been doing?
When they reached the top of the stairs and ramp that took people down to the gymnasium, she turned to say goodbye and found him looking at her with such intensity. His hands clenched and unclenched, and neither of them said anything. The tingling that had been isolated to her arm now ran rampant across her entire body. It wasn’t clear who moved first, but it didn’t matter once they were embracing and their lips were touching.
They were on the move, but she wasn’t exactly sure where to. His strong arms encircled her waist, and while stumbling and careening backward to an unknown destination, she never worried they’d hit a wall or fall. He tasted faintly of spearmint, and she could feel the stubble on his face he usually kept shaven.
Eventually, they entered a room where the door muted the noise on the other side. It was here where she heard their erratic breathing and truly felt her body’s response to the man before her.
Duncan hadn’t expected to see Retta today, and he might’ve let her go off to her class if she hadn’t turned around and looked at him with her big brown eyes stark with desire. He’d abandoned his commitment to keeping things straightforward the moment he saw it.
She was kissing him and running her hands down his bare arms, and he could barely make sense of anything. His brain told him to get her on some sort of surface. He moved them toward a table and swept his arm across it. Papers, pens, and a full mug of cold coffee hit the floor.
Her breath hitched when he picked her up and placed her on the edge of the desk.
Not wasting any time, he spread her legs wide and settled in between them. Kissing her deeply, his body flooded with heat when she grabbed the back of his neck and pressed closer to him.
“I’ve been thinking about this,” Retta said against his mouth.
“About what?” he asked.
“You touching me.”
He found it difficult to breathe for a moment. “How? When? When do you think about that?”
Running his lips against her neck where her rapid pulse danced underneath her skin, he waited for an answer. But the sound of someone walking past the door distracted her.
Moving her chin so she’d look at him, he said, “The door is locked. No one’s getting in.”
She nodded and slipped her hand underneath his shirt, her fingers skimming across his abs and chest. He gritted his teeth, and managed to ask again, “When do you think about me touching you?”
“Every time—” She removed her hands from his body and pushed up her T-shirt, tugging the thin sports bra down until her chest was exposed—“I’m trying to fall asleep or get myself off to relieve stress.”
He exhaled roughly and studied the way her breasts jutted out as an offering. Perfect. They were absolutely perfect. Round and small enough to comfortably fit in his palms.
“Stressed about?” he asked, mostly because he didn’t like the idea of her being stressed.
She released a breathy laugh. “Money, the bakery, climate change—”
Her words were cut short when she whimpered as he lightly ran his thumb over her stiffened brown nipple.
“You’re so sensitive.”
“I know,” she replied as her words turned into a throaty moan when he took one of her hard nipples into his mouth.
In response, she grabbed the back of his head. He needed to grow out his hair a bit, he decided then. Feeling her grip tighten around his coils would be his priority. She arched her back, and he felt more than heard the carnal sounds escaping her lips.
He pressed his knuckles against her clit over her pants and made lazy circles, carefully watching her until he got the right rhythm and speed that had her breathing shallow and her eyes half open. Grabbing his hardening dick, he willed it to work with him at this time.
