Moonlight Kisses Read online

  Sage jabbed a finger at his chest. “Y-you have got to be the most arrogant, the most infuriating, the most...arghh!”

  Cole’s instincts took control. Wrapping an arm around her waist, he hauled her against him. The lightning-quick move caught her off guard, and he felt a whoosh of breath leave her body.

  Huge brown eyes stared up at him. They softened as he examined their depths. God, she was beautiful, he thought. Her caramel-slicked lips beckoned, and while there was a part of him still annoyed with her, the rest of him wanted her, badly.

  “We’re probably trapped in here for at least another hour or two.” He brushed his knuckles down the side of her cheek with his free hand. “Not Stiletto. Not Espresso. Me and you. The last thing I want to do is fight with you. What do you want?”

  She swallowed hard. Cole could see the rise and fall of her breasts beneath her dress, feel her nipples bead against his chest as her breath came out in soft pants. Sage’s body told him what she wanted. He just needed her to say it.

  “If you won’t tell me what you want, maybe the answer lies in that pretty lipstick you’re wearing.” Still holding her close, Cole leaned in and kissed her softly on the lips. She moaned, and his cock hardened instantly. “What’s it called?”

  Her eyes sparkled, and she bit her bottom lip before answering. “Lick Me.”

  Chapter 11

  “My pleasure.”

  Cole’s deep voice rumbled through her, and Sage melted. The velvety timbre slipped past her defenses, and she dropped her guard.

  “I’m going to lick you until you’re hoarse from screaming my name.”

  His promise made her drop her panties.

  They hit the floor, and Sage quickly stepped out of them, kicking the scrap of black satin aside.

  There were a myriad of reasons why this was a bad idea, but at this moment, with this man, she didn’t give a damn about any of them. Cole had awakened a long-dormant desire only he could satisfy.

  “Again, I have two words for you, Mr. Sinclair.” Sage raised a brow. “Bring it.”

  With a swipe of his arm, Cole cleared a top shelf of sheets, sending them tumbling to the floor. Sage rested her hands on his biceps as he placed his hands on either side of her waist. He lifted her above his head as if she were weightless and gently deposited on the empty shelf’s ledge.

  His chin level with her knees, he lifted his gaze. “Oh, I intend to bring it, all right,” he said, echoing their first conversation. “I just hope you can handle it.”

  Sage’s bare ass shivered against the cool steel shelf, but the rest of her body was on fire, her core already wet with anticipation. “Ooh. That’s mighty big talk. Let’s hope your tongue can back it up.

  Cole stuck a finger inside the scooped-neck collar of her dress. He pulled her forward until her face hovered inches from his, and then closed the distance between their mouths. He kissed her long and deep. His tongue owned her mouth as it teased and tantalized hers in a carnal preview of the coming attraction.

  Sage moaned and squeezed her legs together, on the brink of climaxing from a single kiss. There was nothing lacking in this man’s tongue game. Nothing at all.

  Threading his fingers through her hair, Cole fisted a handful of the kinky curls. His grip tightened, and he tugged her head back to end the kiss. The primitive action sent a shiver from her scalp down to the tips of toes, which curled inside her thigh-high boots.

  “Not yet,” he said, reading her body’s signals as if they were his favorite bedtime story.

  Minutes ago, she’d banged on the door desperate to escape. Now Sage didn’t care if it ever opened. The music coming from the ballroom further secluded them. Its pulsing beat drowned out the outside word.

  She watched Cole take a single step backward. He grasped her calf in one hand as his other hand and his gaze traveled down the length of her boot-encased leg to her ankle.

  “Damn.” He closed his eyes briefly as if he were struggling for control and then he stared up her. The lust she saw in his dark eyes matched her own. “Later, I want to see you wearing nothing but these boots and me on top of you, but for now...”

  He draped her leg over his shoulder until it dangled down his broad back. The motion raised the hem of her short dress to the tops of her thighs, and Cole pressed a kiss to the inside of the one resting on his shoulder.

  Sage’s teeth sank into her bottom lip when he placed his free hand on her other knee and gently pushed it aside, splaying her open for his perusal. The appreciative expression on Cole’s handsome face made the discomfort of her last Brazilian wax worth it.

  She leaned back, and braced her hands behind her as he buried his face between her thighs.

  Cole licked her once, drawing out the movement as if he had nothing but time.

  Then he did it again.

  Oh, my God. Sage’s eyes slammed shut, and she pressed her lips together to keep the scream reverberating in her head silent. She felt him pull back and opened her eyes to find him staring up at her.

  “Unbelievable,” he said. “You taste even better than you look.”

  He put his tongue back to work alternating long, languid laps with quick flicks, overwhelming her clit with a deluge of sensations. Bringing her to the brink, then holding back as she squirmed and begged for more of the exquisite torture.

  “Don’t stop, Cole. God, please don’t stop.” Her frantic pleas filled the room as he continued, licking and sucking until Sage thought she’d lose her freaking mind.

  The first spasm hit, and she nearly bucked off the shelf. Cole’s strong hands slipped beneath her. He gripped her ass and pulled her even closer.

  Sage arched her body toward him, calling his name as she rode his tongue to a shuddering orgasm that left her sweating and shaking like a junkie.

  And like an addict, she was already craving another fix.

  Cole lifted her off the shelf, and Sage slid down the length of his body. He kissed her hard and deep, his talented mouth still tasting of her.

  “Wow.” It was the only word Sage could manage. Even then it sounded like a hoarse croak.

  Cole held her close, and Sage didn’t miss the smug satisfaction in his smile or the rock-hard cock in his pants. She slid her hand between them and palmed his erection.

  She raised a brow as she gently squeezed. “Impressive.”

  Cole hissed out a breath as his cock pulsed against her hand. “If you’re impressed now, just wait until I get inside you.”

  Sage took a step back and tugged at his belt. “As you probably already know, Mr. Sinclair, I expect you to...”

  “Bring it.” He smiled down at her as they both uttered, what had unintentionally become their favorite catchphrase, simultaneously.

  “I just hope I can handle it.” Sage fanned herself with one hand and unbuckled his belt the other. She was reaching for his zipper when they heard a noise at the door.

  Before they could register what was going on, it opened. A woman wearing a hotel uniform stood in the doorway. Concern creased her features.

  For the first time, Sage noticed the music had stopped. Not only had this man made her lose control, she’d lost track of time and place.

  “Someone said they thought they heard a woman screaming in here. Then there was a chair wedged against the doorknob.” The hotel worker turned to Sage. “Are you okay, miss?”

  Sage averted her eyes, trying to remember just how much screaming she’d done. “Uh...”

  “She’s good,” Cole said, still holding her close. “Damn good,” he whispered against her ear.

  The hotel employee glanced from her to Cole, then pointedly at Sage’s discarded underwear on the floor. “Sorry to disturb you.”

  The woman shot Sage another look, this one filled with pure envy. “Lucky heiffa,” she muttered,
as she walked away.

  Yet, with the door open and them free to return to the real world, Sage didn’t feel fortunate. Deep down, she wasn’t ready for their interlude to end. Not yet.

  Exhaling, she prepared herself to make and hear the awkward excuses that came in the aftermath of an unexpected sexual encounter. She knew, in this case, it was probably for the best. In this room, they were lovers. Once they stepped out of it, they were back to being adversaries.

  “This has been...but...” she began. Still in Cole’s arms, her gaze drifted toward the open door.

  He placed his forefinger to her lips, before she could finish, and then used the same finger to lift her chin. “I’ll understand if you feel differently, but I have to confess that I’m not ready for the real world to intrude on us just yet,” he said.

  Sage looked into his dark eyes as words continued to tumble out of his mouth. Again, she found herself drawn to Cole’s honesty, sincerity and a vulnerability she suspected he rarely revealed.

  He also had the courage to say aloud exactly how she felt, but couldn’t bring herself to express. Sage didn’t miss the irony of it. The same woman who faced her fears and took risks regularly in business shrank away from both in her personal life, especially in matters of the heart.

  “There’ll be plenty of time to focus on our respective businesses,” Cole said. “Spend the afternoon with me.”

  There wasn’t anything she wanted to do more. However, her sensible side, the part of her that wasn’t light-headed from his kisses and still pulsing from the aftershocks of his making love to her with his tongue, made her hesitate.

  “I’m not sure if it’s a good...”

  Still holding her firmly against him, Cole shook his head once. “Don’t think.”

  “But...”

  “You turned down the offer I made you the first day we met. Now I want to make you an altogether different one,” he said. “Will you hear me out?”

  Again, her sensible side attempted to intervene. Get your panties off the floor, put them on and get out of here, it implored. Sage knew she should heed the warning, but instead found herself nodding her head.

  She’d simply listen to what he had to say, she reasoned. Then she’d make her excuses and leave. Just chalk up what had happened between them to a temporary lapse of judgment.

  “Let’s finish what we started upstairs in a big room with a huge bed.”

  Sage pressed her lips together to prevent an involuntary moan from escaping. She wasn’t sure whether it was the persuasiveness of his deep voice or the concrete feel of him pressed against her, but she nodded her agreement.

  Cole’s smile lit up his entire face, mirroring how she felt inside.

  “Great,” he said. “Let’s find the front desk and check in, so I can get busy making you my Valentine.”

  * * *

  Cole plucked a chocolate-dipped strawberry from the silver tray on the bedside table. He held it up, just out of reach from the naked woman lying across the bed.

  “You’re not playing fair,” Sage said. She was on her stomach, propped up by her elbows, her chin resting on her hands.

  The position offered an enticing view of her cleavage and an even better one of the ass Cole couldn’t keep his eyes or his hands off. “I thought you knew by now I don’t play fair.”

  He took a big bite out of the juicy berry and slowly chewed. Sage’s lips, puffy from an afternoon of his kisses, drew into a pout.

  “Don’t even try it with that face,” he said. “You know it gets me hard.”

  “Everything I’ve done since we checked in to this suite gets you hard.”

  Leaning his back against the headboard, Cole polished off the strawberry. He couldn’t argue. Everything about this woman turned him on. They’d made love against the door within seconds of walking through it. Mental snapshots of those stiletto boots wrapped around his waist as he drove into her again and again clicked through his mind.

  Next they’d steamed up the glass-enclosed shower before finally tumbling into the king-size bed for round three.

  “But I’m not complaining.” Sage’s faux scowl transformed into a satisfied grin.

  “Stop flattering me and answer the question.”

  “What did you ask me, again?”

  Cole selected another strawberry from the tray, this one covered in milk chocolate and candied pecans.

  “Tell me.” The sheet covering the lower half of his nude body shifted as he leaned forward. He brought the fruit within an inch of Sage’s lips. “Was Lick Me actually the name of that lipstick?”

  “What makes you doubt it?” She tried to take a bite out of the strawberry, but she didn’t answer his question and he pulled it away.

  “I familiarized myself with Stiletto’s catalog before I made the offer to buy it,” he said. “I don’t remember a lipstick with that name.”

  “Maybe it’s a new shade that we haven’t officially added to the catalog yet.”

  “Is that the case?” Cole polished off the fruit.

  Sage rose to all fours and crawled toward him. The tips of her breasts brushed his bare chest as she reached across him and grabbed a berry from the tray.

  “Seeing as how you’re the competition, that information is confidential.” She took a bite of the juicy berry and chewed slowly. She rested her chin on his chest and pinned him with those big brown eyes.

  In them, Cole saw the sweet vulnerable side he suspected she didn’t often reveal. The woman could be as frustrating and challenging as she was smart and beautiful, but at this moment he found her incredibly endearing.

  It was a moment he wanted to savor as he enjoyed their sexy banter.

  “My question involves a yes or no, Sage. Answering it wouldn’t involve spilling any of Stiletto’s secrets,” he said. “Besides, this afternoon is about me and you, remember?” Cole touched a finger to his chest and then to the tip of her nose. “Not Espresso. Not Stiletto.”

  As if on cue, a text chime sounded from Sage’s purse in the other room of the suite. Her assistant had instructed the front desk to lock it in the hotel safe when she’d been unable to locate her boss. The desk clerk had returned it to Sage when they’d checked in.

  The phone began to ring. Sage raised her chin from his chest and looked toward the other room.

  “I meant to shut it off after I texted Amelia from the front desk,” she said. “Then we came up here, and you’ve kept me distracted ever since.”

  Once they’d entered the suite, somewhere between stripping off each other’s clothes and making love against the door, he and Sage had come to an unspoken agreement to leave the world outside. And there would be absolutely no discussions involving their respective businesses.

  “It has to be work.” She seemed torn as her eyes darted from him to the doorway separating the bedroom from the front room. “I’m just going to take a quick look and read the message. I’ll be right back.”

  Cole instantly missed the soft warmth of her body as she left the bed and padded barefoot into the other room to retrieve her phone. The seductive sway of her round ass made him want to reach out and grab it, throw her over his shoulder and haul her back into bed.

  He tempered the urge to go caveman. Where in the hell had it come from anyway? This was simply an afternoon of great sex with a woman he was wildly attracted to. Nothing more.

  Cole told himself he was satisfied and had worked her out of his system, but the burgeoning erection on the verge of tenting the sheet was downright greedy when it came to Sage Matthews.

  Sage returned to the bedroom, phone in hand. Her face wore a rare indecisive expression. “It was someone from my team wondering if...”

  She began to pace as she explained the reason for the text.

  Exhaling, Cole steeled himself for the disappointm
ent of her leaving to put out some fire at Stiletto. He of all people should understand. In the past, he’d also broken it off with a woman or two who hadn’t been willing to take a backseat to his job.

  Yet, it niggled at him.

  Not because he was hoping for another round of sex, although more of it had been on his afternoon agenda. Nor was it that he was having fun getting to know her beyond their attraction and characteristics they seemed to have in common, although, he now craved her sharp mind and quick wit as much as her body.

  Then it occurred to Cole that their similarities were exactly what bothered him. During his first stint working for his mother at Espresso and then later as an executive at Force, he’d been exactly like her.

  It had taken walking away from both to make him realize he couldn’t do it all. Nor could he control everything. He had to trust others to help him.

  Cole reached for Sage’s hand. He looked pointedly at the phone in her other palm and then at her. “Just. Let. Go.”

  “Of my phone?” Sage’s pretty face scrunched up in confusion.

  Finding her naked curves a distraction, Cole rose from the bed and retrieved plush white robes from the bedroom closet. He donned the larger one, before wrapping her in the other.

  “Let’s talk for a moment,” he said.

  Cole could practically see the wheels of her brain spinning. Although they hadn’t known each other long, a part of him knew her as well as he knew himself. Mentally, she was already leaping ahead to whatever work problem she presumed only she could resolve.

  “But I just told you, I have to...”

  “This will only take a few minutes,” he said. “And who knows, I might just give you back your underwear.”

  The corner of her mouth quirked upward into a hint of a smile, and she nodded her agreement. Taking her by the hand, Cole led her to the sofa in the front room.

  “I know it’s none of my concern, but I don’t think either of us can deny anymore that we’re two of a kind,” he said.

  She looked down at their joined hands. “I tried to chalk it up to coincidence, but there have been too many now,” she said. “We can both be cocky, pushy, dominating, insensitive and even a little ruthless when necessary.”