“It wouldn’t matter. I would come anyway.”
Raine shivered and took the leap.
“How about this Saturday night, seven, at the bar in La Luna, on Pickering Wharf. It’s a nice place but not too formal. Great food, if nothing else works out.”
“Okay. Let’s make it six—we’ll have a drink before dinner.”
Raine watched the words travel across the screen and could hardly believe it. They were going to meet, to really meet. In person. For real.
I stare into your luscious brown eyes. “Okay. So, in three days we’ll know.”
I pull you close to me. “It seems like forever. Are you sure you don’t want me to drive up tonight?”
I run my fingers through your hair. “No, I am sorely tempted, but this is probably a better idea. And remember, it is just dinner—we can opt out at any time.”
Jack knew it was the right thing, though he was so hot for her he could barely imagine not touching her, or making some of what they had shared a reality. But she was providing an out for him, too. Just in case. And when he got there, if things were good, who knew what could happen? He had a feeling about this; he was willing to just go with it.
“Agreed. Just dinner—unless you beg me to go back to your place and engage in illicit activities.”
“You never know. Maybe it will be you doing the begging.”
Jack smiled. Desire raced through his blood and flowed through his fingers out into the words.
“I’d beg for you, Nilla, you can count on it. I’d like to drop to my knees in front of you, kiss your feet, taste the skin on the back of your knee, and then work my way up, slowly, taste you, run my tongue over you until you come with my mouth on you, until we are both begging. And that’s only the beginning.”
“Um, I am not sure this is a good idea….”
Raine swallowed, and tried to focus as her breath became shallow. The hunger she had been feeling for weeks was suddenly a little frightening. This wasn’t a game anymore; it was real. He was real. They were going to sit across a table from one another and have dinner and talk, and all that while they would both be remembering the secrets that had passed between them. She closed her eyes and tried to settle herself.
“Why not?”
“I don’t think we should really discuss this, considering…”
“Nilla, tell me how you feel, how your body feels right now….”
Raine tried to think, and quell the heat pounding through her bloodstream. She wanted to back off, and knew she should, but sheer desire weakened her. She knew what she wanted, and reached down for the courage to ask him for it.
“Rider, your number. Give me your number.”
“What?”
“Your phone number, Rider, tell me. I’ll call you. I need to…hear you.”
Jack was shocked speechless as he contemplated her request. No, not a request, a demand. The idea of actually talking to her stole his breath, and he didn’t bother thinking about it, but just responded.
“Oh, yeah, sweetheart, yes. Here.”
Jack typed in his cell phone number.
“I’ll call you in a little while. I just want to shower and change out of my work clothes.”
Work clothes? He smiled knowingly, pure masculine satisfaction pooling in his heart. She had come directly to find him. He acknowledged her message, and signed off.
His house was suddenly incredibly still and quiet, and he could hear his own heart pounding. The wind howled outside the windows, and minutes slowed down as if he was drugged, the feeling of waiting for the phone to ring weighing down on him. God, she had taken him by surprise.
She was changing. She was taking a shower. He closed his eyes and imagined the hot water running over her naked, soft skin. Then she would put on…what? His imagination nearly drove him mad. By the time the phone rang, he had imagined her in everything from black dominatrix leather to pink lace—and then in nothing at all. His mind went still. He pressed the talk button, and was relieved to discover his voice actually worked.
“Nilla.”
Raine thought for sure she would pass out just hearing him say her name—well, her screen name, but the same difference. Low and smooth, it slid over her like hot lava, and she tried to sound calm in response.
“Hey, Rider.”
Her voice was like whiskey, hot and golden. He closed his eyes and let it ease over him for a moment before speaking again.
“It’s much like I imagined it would be.”
“What’s that?”
“Your voice.” He settled more comfortably into the chair, and smiled into the phone. “When we talked online, some times I imagined I could hear you, but the real thing is a million times better.”
Raine smiled. “It is. I love hearing you too.” She took a deep breath, trying to calm her nerves. “This is pretty intense.”
“Something tells me it’s about to get even more intense, Nilla.”
Raine felt weird being called by her pseudonym, and almost caved to the temptation to tell him her real name, but held back. That could wait. For now, this was good. She laughed, and almost didn’t recognize the husky, sexy sound of her own voice.
“Could be.”
“Um, Nilla, not to be too cliché, but exactly what did you change into?”
She laughed. “Rider, are you actually asking me what I am wearing?”
He laughed, too, a warm, husky, sexy laugh.
“You bet I am. You can’t leave a guy hanging like that and not expect him to go half-mad with wondering. Tell me, Nilla.”
Raine looked down, and nervously smoothed her hand up and down over her thigh.
“It’s no big deal…usually when I get home from work I shower and change into my comfortable clothes.”
“Tell me about them.”
Raine smiled, and shook her head. This was crazy. She had thought calling him might add the edge of reality and stem the passion that was quickly getting out of control online.
She couldn’t have been more wrong. Voice to voice, they were spontaneously combusting. She took a breath, and spoke, feeling a little silly, but pressed on anyway, remembering that Nilla would have no problem responding to this request.
“Flannel pajama shorts and a top. Cushy socks. Not exactly Victoria’s Secret, but soft, warm, and comfortable.”
Jack chuckled, intrigued by the thought of her cuddled in flannel, the cotton sliding against warm, soft skin, clean and smelling of soap and powder. The slight edge of shyness that came through her voice made him want to break through, to make her lose control and tell him what he wanted to hear.
“I wish I could smell you. I want to slide my hands along your skin, touching you. I want to know what secrets you are keeping under that flannel.”
Raine felt rather than saw the flush work its way over her body, his voice setting off pins and needles of passion on her skin. She tried to speak normally, but her breath caught, betraying her response.
“Rider, I think we should just talk, we probably shouldn’t…”
She could almost see his naughty grin as he spoke. “That’s what makes it so much fun, Nilla. Forget the shoulds and shouldn’ts for a minute.