Page 10

Sex . . . sex was a big deal.

She was sorely lacking in the experience department, and it didn’t take a porn star to realize that Taylor was very well versed in all of this.

Julia knew she was way out of her league with him.

But she didn’t want to say good-night. She didn’t want to let him go right then, because she would never see him again. She was leaving tomorrow and he was going wherever he was going. There wasn’t going to be a second chance and she . . . she didn’t want to add tonight, add him, to a list of things she wished she could do over.

So she pulled her shit together and reached out, wrapping her hand around his, and turned the key. “I would like for you to come in.”

Taylor’s chest rose under the dark thermal. “You’ve made my night.”

A smile tugged at her lips as she opened the door, stepping aside. “Um, most of the stuff is packed up. Except for obviously the furniture.” She gestured at the couch as she closed the door. “The furniture will go into storage.”

Taylor walked a few feet ahead, scanning the small apartment. There wasn’t much to it. A living room and small eat-in area in front of the galley kitchen.

“My dad is actually going to handle the whole storage thing since the movers couldn’t come until the weekend,” she rambled on, stepping past him. “The bathroom is right down that hall.” She dropped her wristlet on the island and started to turn around. Did she have time to change her panties into something sexier? Most had been packed and shipped ahead, but maybe she had something nicer in her luggage? “I don’t have a lot of stuff to drink, but I’m sure . . .”

Julia trailed off as her gaze connected with his. She watched Taylor reach and wrap his fingers around the collar of his thermal. Without saying a word, he tugged that piece of clothing over his head and down his arms. Tossing the thermal onto the back of the couch, he lowered his arms.

“Oh,” she whispered, her gaze roaming over him. “Oh my . . .”

Taylor was beautiful.

His skin was a tawny gold color, and there was a whole lot of that skin on display, from broad shoulders all the way to these fascinating indents on either side of his hips and the popped vein that disappeared under his jeans. His chest was extremely well-defined like his biceps were. And his stomach? While he wasn’t overly muscular, he had a legit six-pack.

Julia dimly realized that this was the first time she’d ever seen one in person.

The lopsided grin was back by the time she managed to drag her gaze back up to his. “This is going to sound cliché as hell, but I’m glad you like what you see.”

“Who wouldn’t like this?” she asked, genuinely curious.

The grin spread. “I don’t know. All I care is if you do.”

“You just know the right thing to say, don’t you?”

“Not really.” Taylor came forward. He didn’t just walk. He stalked. “I’m just honest.”

“Really?” Stepping back, she bumped into the island.

“Really.” He stopped in front of her, his gaze burning into hers, searing her skin. A moment passed while she focused on breathing evenly. “You can touch me if you want,” he said. “And I really hope that’s what you want.”

Julia nodded. Or at least she thought she did, because he reached into the small space between them and curled his fingers around her wrist. He brought her hand to his chest. Her breath caught.

Pressing her palm against his chest, he then slid his hand down her arm, his finger reaching under the sleeve of her dress. Her hand flattened against his warm skin. She felt dizzy as he guided her hand down over the dips and planes of his chest.

“How?” she blurted out before should stop herself.

An eyebrow rose. “How what?”

God, what was she thinking? Her hand tingled as her fingers curled against his skin. “How . . . how did we end up here?”

“Well,” he drawled the word out as he glided his hand back down to hers. “We left the bar, got into a car, and drove here, but I’m guessing you don’t mean that.”

“That would be a good guess.”

He dipped his head, resting his forehead against hers. “We got to here, because I saw you and I wanted to get know you better. Then I did. And as I talked to you, I decided I wanted to really get to know you.” He started moving her hand again. The tips of her fingers brushed over his belt. “That’s how we got here.”

A flutter started deep in her chest as her eyes drifted shut. “And you didn’t see any other women and thought they’d be better to get to know?”

His forehead dragged over hers as he tilted his head to the side. His nose brushed hers. “I saw other women.” He paused, and her head fell to the side as his mouth dragged over her cheek. “Women I normally would’ve been interested in getting to know better. Women that are nothing like you.”

She stiffened, her eyes flying open. “Wow. That may be a little too honest.”

“That’s not an insult,” he said, folding his other hand around the nape of her neck. “Trust me.”

“I . . . I have no idea what to say to that,” she admitted.

His chuckle caused her to shiver. “Maybe you don’t have to say anything?”

“Maybe.”

Taylor was on the move again and she felt his breath first just below her ear and then his lips. He kissed her pulse and then he nipped at her skin. His tongue darted over the bite, soothing the skin. A moan bubbled up her throat.

Heat blasted her veins, sending out a bolt of pure need that nearly took her legs out from underneath her. Then he was guiding her hand down again, beyond the belt.

Julia gasped.

Goodness, she could feel him, hard and thick under his jeans. There was no faking that kind of response he was having. Maybe she wasn’t normally the type of woman he went for, but he was into this.

He drew back. “Do you feel that?”

Unable to speak, she nodded.

“So you get how we got here now? Why I’m here?” he asked. “My dick is hard for you. Not anyone else back at the bar.” He pressed her hand against him, folding her fingers around the length. “That’s all for you.”

Her entire face flushed red.

Taylor stilled, looking down at her. Surprise flickered across his face, followed by understanding. “You really haven’t done this before, have you?” He drew her hand away from his cock, bringing her palm back to his chest. “The whole hookup thing?”

Shaking her head, she wondered if her face was going to burn right off. “I really haven’t.”

“I see.” Sucking that bottom lip between his teeth, he trailed a fingertip down her neck. “You really are a good girl. I like it.”

She stared up at him, her heart trying to claw its way out of her chest.

“But do you know what I like even more?” Lowering his head, his lips brushed along her cheek as he said, “I know there’s a very bad girl in there who wants to come out and play.”

There was a good chance that she did, she really did.

His lashes lowered for a brief moment and then that unnerving stare locked on to hers. “I’m going to do something that you’re really, really going to enjoy. Okay?”

She was going to go into cardiac arrest. “Okay.”

A smile appeared on his mouth and then vanished. His hands were suddenly on her arms and without warning, he spun her around. She gasped once more when he drew her back against him, fitting his hard body against hers.

Before she could question what he was doing, his mouth was on her neck. He trailed a blazing path of tiny, hot kisses down the length as his hands drifted off her arms. Her eyes were wide, fixed on the dark cabinet doors across from her as his palms crested over her breasts. They immediately swelled, the tips tightening to almost painful points. Julia’s hips tipped back, into his, and she bit down on her lip at the sound of his deep, throaty growl.

God, she never heard a man make that sound before. Not like that. Not like he was about to devour her.

Those hands kept moving, sliding down her sides and then over her hips. His fingers bunched, dragging the skirt of her dress up. Then his fingers were slipping over the bare skin of her outer thighs as he nipped and licked at the skin of her neck.