“Oh shit,” Jesse muttered, and shifted in his seat. “You’ve got to stop looking at me like that.”
The rush I got from his discomfort was intoxicating. I hadn’t felt this alive in years. I loved the ability I had to provoke such strong reactions from him, and I reveled in how he made me feel.
“And how am I looking at you, Jesse?”
“Seriously?”
I cut a piece of my steak, and nodded before I put it in my mouth. “Seriously.”
His eyes moved to my fork as he said, “Like you’d rather be eating me than that piece of steak.”
I put the steak in my mouth and slowly chewed it, and the rapt way he watched me made me want to order him to get up and come over and kneel beside me while I finished my meal.
I’d only ever wanted that with one other before, and that was what made Jesse so forbidden. It was what made my obsession with him so dangerous. He was fucking beautiful. “Would you like that?”
Jesse swallowed, his nerves finally making his brain kick in. “I think I would.”
“I can work with that for now. Eat your meal, Jesse. You’re going to need the energy for what comes next.”
Jesse didn’t say much after that. And neither did I, knowing that silence was as effective as a command in making one think. He did as he was told and ate his meal, all the while watching my every move. He was a fascinating mix to me. Both shy and bold at times. Whereas most who knew me wouldn’t dare to question me, Jesse had dared to ask things that I had long ago buried and most knew not to go near.
Naiveté is both a blessing and a curse at times, I thought as I studied him throughout dinner. He knew nothing of me. That was the blessing. The curse was it was also what made him so irresistible.
My reputation, as far as Jesse Clark was concerned, consisted of nothing more than a business mogul who owned a sex club. Sure, it was a little bit dangerous, but nothing compared to the truth.
As we finished up our meals, I gestured to the menu. “Any room for dessert?”
Jesse blinked several times and then shook his head. “No.”
“No room?”
“That, yes,” he said, and then shifted in his chair a little. “And I don’t think I can sit through dessert.”
I brought my napkin to my lips and then tossed it on the table. As I got to my feet, I pulled my wallet out, threw the tip on the table, and came over to Jesse’s side. He craned his head back to look up at me, and I raised an eyebrow at him and crooked my finger for him to stand.
Without a word, Jesse set his napkin on the table and got to his feet, and once he was standing opposite me, I bent my head down and put my lips by his ear. “Well, if you can’t sit through dessert, maybe you can kneel through it instead.”
When I raised my head, Jesse’s eyes were glazed over and his mouth was slightly parted, and I couldn’t stop myself from touching him. I took the back of his neck in a firm grip and then lowered my head to take his lips with mine. The second our mouths connected, his hands came up to grip my sweater, and I slipped my tongue between his lips to tangle it with his.
Good little lamb… There had been no hesitation when I’d reached for him, not even with all the eyes I knew were on us right this minute. It had been perhaps careless on my part, since I kept my private life sealed shut, away from prying eyes and gossip, but I’d invited the whispers simply by taking Jesse to 360.
As sugar sweet as he tasted, this wasn’t the place and now wasn’t the time, so I released the hold I had on his neck, and Jesse blinked up at me, dazed.
“Last chance to run away, my lamb,” I murmured, rubbing my thumb over his bottom lip. Before the words were out of my mouth, Jesse was shaking his head.
“I don’t want to run.”
“No? But what if I want you to?”
Jesse sucked in a breath, his eyes growing hooded. Then he brazenly looked me in the eye and said, “Then why don’t you make me?”
Goddamn, that was almost enough to have me pushing Jesse to his knees right then and there, and my cock strained behind my zipper at the thought. I needed to get him out of there, to where I could do every bad thing I’d thought about over the last two weeks.
Taking Jesse’s hand firmly, I weaved us through the restaurant, back to the elevator, and as the hostess saw us coming, she quickly made sure it was open and waiting.