He spotted Pet the minute he turned the corner out of the entry. She’d left the chair she’d been sitting in and now stood with her back to the room, framed in the large floor-to-ceiling window as she peered out at the dark night and city lights beyond. Her red gown was a bright beacon against that background, and his gaze slid hungrily over her as he approached.
Feeling himself immediately harden and his hands clench with the urge to rip the gown off so he could run his hands over the pale flesh it hid, he forced himself to stop and take a couple of deep breaths. Good Lord, he was like a bull ready to charge the matador’s red cape, he realized, and shook his head. He wanted to go slow here. Hard for life mates, but not impossible. He hoped.
Pet heard the soft rustle of his suit as Santo approached her, but continued to look out the window at the city below. Her eyes closed, though, when his big hands settled on her shoulders, and his thumbs began to rub back and forth over her naked skin.
They stood like that for a minute, neither of them speaking, and then Santo brushed the hair away from her neck and bent his head to kiss the sensitive skin there.
Breathing out a sigh, Pet tilted her head to the side, giving him better access as his mouth moved along her throat. The small caress sent shivers through her body and had her nipples tightening with anticipation. She was sufficiently distracted that it wasn’t until her gown began to slide down her body that she realized he’d undone the zipper. Santo shifted his hands to her waist then and lifted her out of the dress as it pooled around her feet. He then stepped in front of the overstuffed chair she’d been sitting in earlier before setting her down.
When his hands left her, Pet sensed that he’d stepped back to look at what he’d revealed. She could feel his eyes trailing over her body. The gown hadn’t allowed for a bra, and it had been too warm for stockings. She was standing there in nothing but red panties and the red high heels she’d worn with the dress, but waited patiently, allowing her anticipation to build.
“Turn for me.” The words were a low rumble that vibrated through her body.
Pet turned slowly to face him, her anticipation growing when she saw that his eyes had gone silver. She stood still and proud as those eyes burned hungrily over her body, but her own eyes were moving over him too, taking in his large shoulders in the tailored suit, and his flat stomach, before dropping to the growing bulge pressing against the front of the dark dress pants.
“Sei bellissima,” Santo murmured finally, and then reached out to brush his knuckles over one already erect nipple.
Pet thought that meant she was pretty or beautiful, but didn’t bother to ask as he let his hand drop away and stepped closer to lower his head and kiss her. This was a sweet, teasing kiss, his lips feathering over hers and then nipping lightly.
She reached for him, wanting to slip her arms around his neck, pull him close, and deepen the kiss, but he caught her hands to stop her. Holding them captive, he continued to tease, lick, and nip at her lips until she moaned in frustration. Only then did Santo slide his tongue out to thrust it between her parted lips. It slid in for a brief sortie that had her responding eagerly, but then it withdrew again.
Pet opened her eyes in time to watch him sit down in the chair. Using his hold on her hands, he tugged her forward to stand between his legs, and then he suddenly leaned forward to press a kiss to her lower belly. Pet’s stomach muscles jumped in response and she bit her lip as Santo’s tongue slid out to run along the strip of skin above the line of her panties. But then he leaned back a little, grasped each side of the delicate cloth, and drew the red lace panties down her legs.
Pet stepped out of them when he urged her to, her now shaky legs wobbling a little on the heels, and then she watched him toss the scrap of cloth on her dress. Her head whipped back around, though, when one of his hands began to skim up the inside of her leg. Lifting his head to watch her face, he let his fingers drift up along her thigh until he could press the heel of his palm against her. Pet closed her eyes on a moan as he applied pressure, her hips instinctively pushing forward into the caress. And then she gasped and grabbed for his shoulders as he slid one finger up through her folds to find the moist heat already waiting for him.
“I want you,” Santo growled as his finger moved against her flesh, running lightly over and then around the center of her excitement.
“Yes,” Pet groaned, and reached down to cover his hand, urging him to move it so she could straddle him on the chair. But he wouldn’t allow that and simply continued to caress her, his eyes hooded with desire as he watched her face.
“Santo,” she protested on a gasp when his other hand glided to her breast and began to pluck and toy with her nipple, adding to the pleasure swelling within her. “Please.”
“Not yet,” he growled, and then claimed her other nipple with his mouth.
Panting, Pet shook her head but then cried out and threw her head back, her body stilling when he slid one large finger inside of her, slowly stretching and filling her.
“Santo . . . please,” she cried to the ceiling, and then his hand left her breast, tangled in the hair at the back of her head and urged her face down as he let her nipple slip from his lips so that he could kiss her. There was no teasing this time. His tongue thrust into her in rhythm with his finger as it withdrew and plunged back in.
Pet kissed him back almost desperately, her fingers clutching at the shoulders of his suit, her legs trembling, hips thrusting as she rode his hand toward the release she knew waited. But just when Pet was sure she was about to find that release, his hand was suddenly gone from between her legs and his mouth left hers to press soothing kisses to her cheeks and then her neck.
Pet started to open her eyes on a groan of disappointment but ended up gasping instead when he suddenly sat back and caught her at the waist to tug her forward. She ended up straddling his lap on the chair, her legs bent and caught between his legs and the chair on either side. She could feel his erection beneath her, hard, hot, and exposed, and realized he’d unzipped his slacks and drawn himself out at some point.
She tried to rise up then to take him into her, but Santo caught her hips and held her still.
“If you do that now, it will be over,” he growled in warning.
Pet hesitated, considering the benefits of prolonging this torturous foreplay versus the instant gratification of having him inside her, and then growled back, “I don’t care.”
Santo’s eyes widened, the silver in his irises swirling, and then his grasp on her hips tightened and he lifted her slightly until she could feel his erection pressing at her opening. But he wasn’t completely done tormenting her. With his hands on her hips, he kept her from plunging down on him as she wanted and eased her slowly down, filling her inch by inch.
“Oh, God,” Pet groaned as her body fought to accommodate him. “Oh, Santo. Oh, please. Oh . . . oh,” she breathed, opening eyes she hadn’t realized she’d closed and meeting his gaze once they were completely joined. Panting heavily, she took in his burning eyes and clenched jaw, and suddenly smiled and said, “You feel so good.”
Santo relinquished one hold on her hip then. Sliding it around her neck, he pulled her head to his for another kiss. Even so, this time Pet was the aggressor, thrusting her own tongue into his mouth as she began to move, raising herself halfway off of him, and then sliding back down. They both groaned as their bodies met again, the sound vibrating through their mouths and bodies and then she broke the kiss and sat up to watch his face as she began to ride him.
It was a short but very satisfying ride. Pet barely rose and lowered herself half a dozen times before the pleasure of release overwhelmed them, and she tumbled into the dark void that seemed to always follow when she was with him.
Pet turned off the hall light in passing and flicked on her bedroom light as she entered, only to pause in the doorway. The bed looked big and empty under the glare of the overhead light. She frowned at it briefly and then turned away, hitting the switch again as she did. Darkness instantly settled around her, but Pet knew her home well and made her way back through the silent apartment to the living room without a problem.
While her bedroom drapes had been closed and the hall had no windows, the blinds at this end of the apartment were always open. With moonlight gliding through the windows, she had no problem seeing, and her feet carried her straight to the chair she’d woken up in half an hour ago.
Santo had been asleep when Pet first woke, slumped against him in the chair. She’d taken a moment to peer down at his handsome face in rest. But hunger and the memory of their dinners in the refrigerator soon had her shifting gingerly to climb off of his lap. Of course, her movement had roused Santo at once, and he’d reached for her, but she’d avoided his hands and gained her feet. Naked and laughing at his grumpy mutters, Pet had fled the living room.
After hitting the bathroom, she’d moved on to her bedroom to find a robe. She’d pulled it on and tied it as she’d retraced her steps to the kitchen. Much to her surprise, Pet had found Santo there, unpacking their meal from the restaurant. His jacket was now missing, his shirtsleeves rolled up, but otherwise his clothes were back in order.
They’d worked together to heat up the food, and then sat at the island to eat. It had been pleasant but a little rushed. Santo had to return to the house for his shift watching Purdy’s place and all too soon it had been time for him to go. She’d seen him out, then cleaned up the mess from their meal and headed for bed, only to come out here instead.
Pet pulled her legs up and curled sideways in the chair where Santo had shown her such pleasure. Closing her eyes, she pretended it was his chest she was resting against rather than just the back of the overstuffed chair. She had wanted him to stay, but had known he had to go, and now she missed him.
The acknowledgment made her swallow a sudden lump in her throat. This was exactly what Pet had wanted to avoid, and she didn’t know how it had happened, but she was falling for the overgrown immortal.
Pet frowned and looked back out the window, wondering where it had gone wrong. She’d been upset about the date to begin with, knowing there was too much chance for him to tell her about himself and deepen her liking for him. That was why when he’d asked her how she’d known about immortals, she’d revealed her history to him. Pet had thought if she kept talking and kept him from telling her about himself, she could avoid getting attached. But somehow it had backfired.