Page 24 of Hate On

“There is nothis, Moira,” he said, chuckling. “We just decided to accompany each other. Sooner or later, some of us have to bury this animosity between the families after all. Isn’t that right, Julianna?”

She smiled at him, but made no other response.

Moira pouted prettily as she got to her feet. “Be that way. Here I was thinking I’d be the first one with the news for once.” With a huff, she bent over and kissed Julianna’s cheek. “Call me. We need to have lunch. It’s been ages.”

“I will.” Julianna caught her hand and squeezed and Moira lost herself in the crowd while Roman took the seat she’d vacated.

On the dais on the far side of the room, the band was wrapping things up and she said, “It sounds like the speeches are about to start.” She hesitated, then asked, “Do you want to hang around for that?”

He covered her hand with his, playing his fingers over hers. “Not unless you really want to stay.”

After slipping her shoes back on, they rose and made their way to the exit, fielding a few more greetings and making their goodbyes to the people they knew. By the time they actually reached the door, one of the hosts had taken the stand and was well into his welcome speech.

The car was just pulling up as they stepped outside and Julianna slid him a look. “Excellent timing,” she noted.

“I try.” He opened the door for her before his driver could get out and once she was inside, he slid in behind her, shutting the door. “I had a good time. Thank you for coming with me.”

She stared into his eyes, just inches away. “I had fun myself. Thank you for asking me.”

His lids drooped as he stared into her eyes and the distance between them shrank away to nothing as she swayed closer to him.

When his mouth closed over hers, a low noise filled the air, but she didn’t know if it came from her or him. Hunger beat inside her, a living, breathing thing. Unable, or perhaps unwilling, to resist it, she slid in closer to him and wrapped her arms around his neck.

He responded by wrapping his arm around her waist and pulling her into his lap. He broke the kiss briefly to hit a button which sent the partition between them and the driver up. As it glided upward, he said, “Take the long way,” to the driver.

“You mind?” he asked, meeting her eyes.

“Hell, no.” They could pull into a parking garage for all she cared.

She wiggled around on his lap, the full, free cut of her skirt falling around her thighs, little barrier between them.

It was even less of a barrier as she threw one leg over his hips, the material riding up to bunch around her hips as she arched against him. The feel of his cock was hot and heavy, a brand against the sensitive folds of her pussy and she was glad she’d foregone pantyhose when she’d been getting dressed.

He shoved a hand in her hair, dislodging the few pins she’d used to help hold some of it up and away from her face. “You look so pretty and put together. I’ve been wanting to muss you up all night,” he whispered against her mouth.

Any answer she might have made was smothered against his lips as he slid his tongue across the seam of hers, seeking entrance.

She opened for him, moving against him, trying desperately to deepen the contact between them.

“I’m going to come here and now if you keep that up,” he groaned against her mouth.

She laughed, the thought delighting her.

He slid his hands up and unzipped the concealed zipper at her side, tugging the dress down until her breasts were bared before him. The dress’s bodice was lined, making a bra unnecessary and she heard a mutter of appreciation escape him as he cupped her naked breasts in his hands. “You’ve been walking around in there practically naked under this,” he said, voice raw. “If I’d known that, I would have dragged you out of there hours ago. Hell, you might have never made it out of the car to begin with.”

He slid his hand up her thigh and she shivered as his fingers brushed her panties.

But he didn’t pull them off.

He just stroked his thumb up and down the green-gold material as he kissed her again. One drugging kiss turned into another and she felt lost in him by the time he lifted his head.

Dress pooled around her waist, the skirt rucked up over her thighs, she struggled to catch her breath as he stared down at her.

“We should probably stop,” he said gruffly.

“I don’t want to.” Boldly, Julianna reached down and closed her hand around him through the material of his tuxedo pants. The fine cloth stretched tight over him, allowing hardly any give. “And you don’t want to either.”

“There’s a lot of things I don’t want to do, but I do them anyway. It’s part of being an adult.” But his lids drooped low over his eyes as he stared at her. “It’s late. You’ll have to get up early to finish up with the prototype. You should sleep.”