Dark Desire After Dark

28

"It's ideal for our purposes," Cadeon said, gazing down the length of the highway.

It was deserted, looking like an abandoned airstrip through the forest, and was visible all the way to the mountains in the far distance. Old snow lay in clumps off to the side of the road, but the pavement was clear and dry.

"You're really going to let me drive?"

"Whose car is this?"

She answered, "Not ours."

"Good girl."

As he pulled over, she surveyed the area. The forest was lit by the waning moon, the sky clear. "I can't believe I'm all the way up in northern Michigan, and there's no real showing of snow."

"Maybe so, but now you get to see the northern lights."

"No way! Where? I don't see them—which way are they?"

He pointed to the left, just above the tree line. "There's your Aurora Borealis."

Her gaze followed, and she gasped. Shimmering violet lights danced against the black sky. As they swirled, they alternately obscured, then highlighted the moon and stars.

Seeing this made her heart sing, and she murmured, "So lovely."

"Legend held that the Valkyrie created the lights."

"What was the legend?"

"The early northlanders believed that when the Valkyrie rode from Valhalla to choose brave warriors for eternal reward, their armor cast a strange flickering light over the sky."

"Really?" When he nodded, she said, "You know a lot."

"You think?" he asked nonchalantly, but she could tell her comment pleased him.

She was inclined to be nice to him, still delighted over her dinner, and excited about finally driving this car.

"You ready?" He turned a knob to the left of the driver's seat.

She could feel the car sinking lower and heard a whirring behind her. "The spoiler in the back—"

"Retracts into the body of the car. So do the front flaps. And here's something you'll like to hear. These changes reduce the drag coefficient by .05 percent."

She quirked a brow. He was speaking her language. Once they traded places, she sank into the driver's seat, adjusting the mirrors.

"You know how to drive a stick, right?"

"I cut my driving teeth on a Carrera, thank you very much."

"Good. Then put on your seat belt."

She fastened the harness. "You, too." At his mulish look, she said, "Please?"

"Fine, fine," he said, startling her by conceding so easily. "Now just pull out real slow."

Though he had yet to drive slowly, she dutifully slipped the gear into first and eased out onto the road.

"All right, get her up to the speed limit."

Steadily giving gas, Holly shifted to second, then third.

"That's it. You're doing good. Really good. What do you think?"

By fifth gear, she was convinced the clutch was the crispest on earth, the accelerator the most sensitive. The engine was responsive, like nothing she'd ever driven. "Incredible. It maneuvers so easily. All-wheel drive?"

"You know it."

"It's hugging the road." Like a bullet on a magnetized rail.

"Believe it or not, this car is as heavy as a tank. A full two tons."

"No way."

"If it's so easy to drive, then let's see you open her up."

So Holly accelerated, feeling a thrill when she saw she'd broken the highway speed limit.

"Faster, pet. Come on, kick 'er in the guts!"

"You asked for it." She nailed the accelerator, and the car shot forward, plastering them back into their seats. One hundred miles per hour. The tiniest correction on the wheel caused the most precise adjustment in the direction. One forty. The power, the thrum of the engine, the control—all so heady.

The road was indeed like a runway. And Holly felt like a different person—a boots-wearing, seafood-eating, thong-clad driver of million-dollar cars.

When she peeked at the speedometer again, they were doing a hundred and eighty.

Her heart was racing, her adrenaline pumping. But she also felt something she never expected.

She was getting really aroused.

By the time she was flirting with two hundred miles per hour, there was no ignoring it. Her breaths grew shallow, and she wriggled in the seat. Still getting worse.

Two hundred ten. She licked her lips. Speed. Seductive. Sexy.

He'd grown quiet. She darted a glance at him.

He was staring at her, his eyes dark and inscrutable. "Pull over," he said.

"What? Did I do something wrong?"

"Just stop the car."

As soon as she'd pulled over and put the gear into park, his hands shot for her, cupping her face, drawing her in for a searing kiss. With a cry she responded, crushing her lips to his, flicking her tongue.

Her hand shot for his erection. She wanted to touch it like before, but she couldn't reach it. He put his palm between her legs but she couldn't spread them enough because of the steering wheel and console.

"Bugger this," he growled, snapping off his seat belt, and slamming out of the car.

Just as disappointment swept over her, he opened her door and freed her seat belt as well. His big hands grasped her sides, lifting her from the car to set her on her feet outside.

"Cadeon?" When he started on her zipper, she cried, "Someone will see!"

"No one's driving by."

When he shoved her jeans and panties down past her knees, she cried, "What if—Oh."

She didn't have time to resist before he'd placed her on the top of the car, spreading her legs to open her bared sex.

"What are you going to do?"

"Show you something new." He nuzzled her thigh with his cheek, his stubble rasping her tender skin. She could feel his warm breaths….

With a start, she realized what he intended. But she couldn't make herself protest. Everything he'd shown her so far had been amazing. Why would this prove any diff—

"Oh—my—God," she gasped when he licked at her clitoris with his strong tongue.

She fell back on the car, overwhelmed, spreading her legs even wider in welcome. Unimaginable pleasure assailed her, and she couldn't bite back a sharp moan.

He spread her flesh between two fingers, licking her, ravenous on her sex. "Pull up your top over your breasts."

"I'll freeze…"

"You won't."

"Why—"

"My hands are busy. Do it, or I'll stop."

Where was his other hand? Comprehension came. "Oh…" The idea of him masturbating as he kissed her like this sent shivers all over her skin.

With a swallow, she tugged her sweater and bra up as he'd done in the hotel. She hadn't perceived a breeze from the forest before, but now it brushed over her sensitive nipples, hardening them even more. She moaned anew.

He reached up and placed her hands on her breasts. "Play with them," he said, before returning his mouth.

As she began to cup her breasts, she gazed up at the sky with heavy-lidded eyes. Above her the stars were feverish, the northern lights glimmering from violet to red and punctuated by her growing lightning. A dream.

Already, the pleasure was about to overwhelm her.

"Your nipples"—he sounded in pain—"pinch them."

As he set back in, she did, shocked by her own touch, arching her back sharply. More breeze, more stars, more insistent licks.

"Are you ready to come?"

"Yes!"

"Me, too," he rasped, then he sucked her clitoris between his lips.

She screamed, shooting upright as her orgasm ripped through her. He was licking, groaning, using lips, tongue, and teeth to wring more from her.

When he gave a harsh growl against her flesh, she knew he was about to come right after her. Even when she was finished, he continued his kiss, as if it heightened his own pleasure.

Once he was spent, he lay his head on her thigh, catching his breath.

Eventually, she sat up on her elbows.

After staring at her uncovered breasts with his brows drawn, he met her eyes. "Every five hundred miles?"

She shook her head. "Four twenty."