“And Theo likes to argue with you about them because…?”
Colette lifts a hand to cover her mouth, frowning as she finishes chewing. “I’m not sure I should share that with you.”
“Why not?”
“You and Theo don’t talk about your sex lives… right?”
I tip my head. “Not lately, no. We used to. When we were younger. Nothing too graphic, but I think we both appreciated having a friend of the opposite sex to mull things over with. Just to make sure we weren’t doing it wrong.”
Colette rests a light hand on my thigh under the table. “You’re doing it right. All of it. In case you were wondering.”
“Yeah?” I dip my head, brushing my nose against hers as I angle for a kiss.
“Yeah,” she murmurs, leaning back. “I have salad dressing breath.”
“You do. It’s pretty gross,” I tease, kissing her softly, loving the feel of her lips curving into a grin against mine.
It’s been a long time since I’ve smiled and kissed at the same time.
Too damned long.
“Then stop kissing me, jerk,” she says, pushing playfully at my chest.
“I can’t.” I brush my lips against hers again. “You’re irresistible.”
She sighs. “God. You, too. How are we going to make it until tomorrow morning?”
“More of what we did this afternoon. I think I’ve proven I can control myself.”
Colette scoots her chair back, moving out of reach with a stern shake of her head. “No. No more of that,” she insists. “At least not tonight. I can’t take it.”
I blink, surprised by the pain in her eyes. “I’m sorry. I thought I took care of you, Cee. If I didn’t, you should have—”
“No, you did. Of course you did. Don’t be silly.” She cuts me off, fluttering her fingers as she pushes her half-eaten salad away and reaches for her still-steaming bowl of chicken and dumplings. “I can’t wait for the sinful stuff anymore. I have to see if these dumplings are as buttery and delicious as they smell.”
“Colette.” I curl my fingers around her knee. She stiffens as I add in a softer voice, “I thought this afternoon was good. Great, even. You need to tell me if it wasn’t. I don’t ever want to do anything when we’re naked that doesn’t make you feel good.”
She shifts her troubled gaze my way. “Of course you made me feel good. And it was incredible, but I want to make you feel good, too. I need to. It’s just the way I’m built. Taking without giving feels…wrong.”
“You weren’t just taking,” I assure her. “You gave me so much.” I almost tell her about the songs but swallow the words instead. I don’t want to ruin this by spilling too much too soon. “I just love being with you, touching you, discovering you. The coming is secondary.”
“Not to me.” She shifts in her chair, clearing the way for my hand to skim higher on her thigh. She presses a kiss to my neck, making me shiver as she whispers in my ear, “I’m dying to make you lose control. I was fantasizing about it all afternoon. I barely got through five chapters of my book. I kept getting distracted. And turned on…”
I’m so hard I could hang my empty salad bowl on my cock, and food no longer holds the slightest appeal, but I force myself to reach for my bowl of dumplings. I snatch my spoon up with a shaking hand, dive in for a bite, and shove it into my mouth.
Colette sits back with a soft harrumph, eyes narrowing as she watches me chew. “That made you hungry for dumplings?”
I shake my head tightly. “I either eat this or I eat you. Right now. On the table. Spread you open and devour you while the stars come out.”
She bites her lip. “Jed and Nancy might see.”
“Jed and Nancy are going to leave us alone. She’s made that clear.”
“You think?”
“I know.” I scoop another bite into my mouth, barely tasting the perfectly firm dumplings because I’m so distracted by wishing I were tasting every inch of Colette’s skin and her hot, wet pussy. “They can tell. I’m sure anyone looking at us can tell.”
“Tell what?” Her tongue sweeps across her bottom lip.
“That we’re about ten seconds away from fucking like animals at any given moment.”
Her lids drop to half-mast. “More like five.”
“Three. Give or take.”
Her breath rushes out. “How did we do it? Before?”
“Do what?” I murmur.
“Ignore the chemistry.”
“You were with someone, and I don’t like dwelling on things I can’t have. I like dreams that have at least a shot at coming true.”
“Me, too,” she says. “Or at least I used to think that was true. Now…” She shakes her head, her troubled eyes finding mine. “What are we doing?”
“Trying to make a baby,” I say, pushing my bowl away and threading my fingers gently into her hair.