BlowOuttheCandles by Karenna Colcroft Page B

kitchen, where the smell of roasted herb
chicken breasts and baked potatoes overwhelmed the scents of the candles on the
table, and removed the food from the oven.
    Darin was suddenly behind her, wrapping his arms around her
just below her breasts. Tracy jumped. She hadn’t heard him enter the room. Her
nipples perked up again and she ached to have him cup her breasts in those
strong hands of his. “Smells good,” he murmured, his breath hot against her ear
and cheek. “I can’t wait to taste.”
    Even though she was certain he meant the food, Tracy
shivered as sparks went through her. She was equally certain the food wouldn’t
be all he tasted that night. The thought of his lips around her nipple and then
his tongue between her legs made her so aroused her knees trembled.
    The anticipation of what would happen after dinner might
drive her insane.
    She tried to break free of his embrace to reach the plates
she kept in the cupboard above the stove. He didn’t let go. “If you want to eat
I need to take the plates down,” she said, hoping he would ignore the request.
She wanted to stay in his arms. Wanted to inhale the scents of cologne and man.
It had been too long since she’d been with anyone and too long that she’d
fantasized about Darin with no relief. Now that she was finally getting what
she wanted she didn’t want to stop even for a moment.
    He nuzzled her neck and she shivered at another rush of
desire. “You don’t really want me to let you go,” he said. “Do you? Be honest.”
    “No, I don’t,” she said softly. “You’re the one who said we
should eat first. I’m just saying I need to get the plates and I can’t reach
them with you holding me this way.”
    “Then I suppose I should let you do that.” He kissed the
spot where her neck and shoulder met, the spot that always drove her crazy, and
stepped away. “I’ll be waiting at the table.”
    “I’m a waitress now?” She glanced at him over her shoulder
with a raised eyebrow, hoping the sarcasm would hide the way her body trembled
in the wake of his kiss. “Do you think I’m going to serve you?”
    “That’s exactly what I think. Isn’t that what we were just
discussing?” He ran his hand over her ass. She hissed in a breath. Just his
touch did things to her that most men couldn’t do no matter how hard they
tried. He smiled smugly. “We’ll talk while we eat.”
    He left the room and Tracy stared after him. He expected her
to serve him. Of course that made sense. He was dominant. Yet his comment had
caught her by surprise. They definitely needed to discuss this further and set
some limits and rules. As long as they agreed on everything, it would be fun to
see where things went between them.
    “You said dinner’s ready,” he said from his seat at the
table.
    “Yeah.” She took the plates from the cupboard and dished up
the food then brought it into the other room and set one plate in front of
Darin, between the fork and the knife and spoon she’d already set on the table
before he’d arrived. The candles were still burning and on impulse, she turned
off the lights in the room so the candles provided the only illumination.
    “Very romantic,” Darin said. “I guess you did have ulterior
motives.”
    “I admitted that.” She indicated the bottle of wine and the
two wineglasses that sat between two of the candlesticks. “Everything we need
for a perfect night.”
    “Pour the wine and we’ll make a toast.”
    Tracy opened the wine bottle and poured some wine into each
glass. Darin stood to pick up his glass and clink it against hers. “To a
perfect night,” he said.
    “To a perfect night,” Tracy echoed. Hopefully more than
one.
    They sat and started eating. Tracy studied Darin while he
cut his potato. The guy she’d had her eye on in college had become a very
attractive man. Over the past six years she’d watched him grow more appealing,
even more confident and in charge than he’d been when they’d first