Best Dessert

** Harper **

It felt like flying up into cloud nine, drifting high above the sky somewhere as the whole world trembled and swayed.

Harper lay boneless on the soft sofa, lost in the moment of pure bliss. Her body felt simultaneously feather-light and stone-heavy, so much so that she didn't know how to move it, so she simply lay still and let all her senses focus on Eli's touch, letting it smooth out the little tremors that were still rippling one after another through her body.

She whimpered when he finally withdrew. Her core clenched again at the loss of contact, suddenly feeling achingly empty.

With one last kiss on her back, he reached for the straps of her bra and clipped them. "Did I meet your challenge?" His voice was raspy. "You seem to approve of my massage."

Remembering their conversation before the whole drill started, Harper let out a breathy chuckle. "Yes … You really are good at just about everything. Makes it so hard to guess what you'll surprise me with next time."

Eli zipped her dress up and straightened back into his seat. "I can give you a sneak peek. Next time you come back here," — he grazed a finger over the skirt wrapped around her thighs — "all of these are coming off."

Harper's heart did a full somersault at the words. Then she chuckled and pulled herself up from the sofa, turning to face him. "You can't be seri—"

The word died on her lips as she caught sight of the look on his face.

His eyes were hooded, the ocean blue irises gleaming darkly under half-masted lids, locked onto her with a heated intensity. His smile was faint, an almost-there curl that touched one side of his lips a little more than the other, and the slightly crooked result made him look … so wickedly hot.

But that was not what shocked her mind out of her. It was what he did next — lifting his finger that was glistening from her doing, he slipped it into his mouth, suckling like it was coated with honey. His tongue ran a lascivious circle around it, licking everything clean before pulling it back out, and the tip of his finger made a wet "pop" sound when it left his sumptuous lips. His eyes were trained on her the entire time, his gaze sultry and dark.

Dear God. Even in her wildest dreams, Harper had never imagined anyone would do this in front of her. Just the look on his face was enough to make her heart riot in her chest, and to think what he was tasting and seemingly enjoying …

Without warning, the heat in her body that was just satiated kicked back in full force. She squeezed her legs tight together, trying to calm down the throbbing in that area between them, but oh how she wanted his finger back inside her at that moment. Or his mouth. Or his—

As if reading her thoughts through her eyes, Eli quirked an eyebrow. "I said next time, Harper. If you keep looking at me like that, I might start to take it as a request to expedite the schedule."

Harper blinked, snapping back from her unspeakable imaginations. Wait, what the heck had she been thinking? Flames licked her cheeks, and she lowered her gaze sheepishly like a little girl caught doing something naughty. "Ah, k-keep your lesson schedules, I like them the way they are …" She fumbled for something better to say to fill that all-too-intimate silence. "Um … And I liked what you said about … conversations and dialogues. I didn't realize that's an area where I needed improvement."

Eli's eyes seemed to have only darkened more at her words. "You mean you liked the general reminder, or you liked the examples I used?"

"…"

What a great topic she had chosen to bring up. Her cheeks burned again as his words from earlier echoed in her head, not at all helping with the heat searing through her. It was one thing to read about sexy men talking like that in bed, but a completely different thing to hear it uttered against her own ears. She would've never thought that it would turn her on so effortlessly … until now.

"I … just thought I should probably work on that front some more …" She tried to avoid answering his question by pretending to focus on business. "Maybe it's something we can add to the agenda as well?"

The half-smile on Eli's face widened, the curl of his lips looking even more wicked and deadly hot. "I take it as your answer to my question is the latter," he smirked. "And yes, we can certainly add it to our agenda, by providing you with more examples in our future practices."

More examples … Harper wasn't sure if she should be excited or embarrassed at that moment. The expression on her face must've shown all those conflictions mortifyingly clear, as Eli kept watching her for quite a while with a half-amused, half-smoldering look. "How about we start with one right now?" he offered at last. Reaching over, he tilted her chin back with a skilled hand. "You should taste yourself, Harper. See how damn delicious you are."

And he sealed his lips against hers.

Harper let out a tiny sigh as his tongue claimed hers in a breathless sweep, filling her with the scent of him. Fresh citrus and crisp ocean breeze. But then, as he deepened the kiss and caressed the hollows of her mouth, she tasted a hint of something else on top of that familiar presence. Something sweet and smooth, a little salty … The lingering taste of her desire.

"Best dessert to top the dinner with, isn't it?" he whispered against her lips.