Victoria Lawson - The Ultimate Erotic Short Story Collection 17

Finally they got to the valet stand and as Mark asked for his car, Kristi felt the cool breeze coming off the Gulf brush past her legs. What felt cool on her bare legs felt almost chilly on her arms.

“It will be just a minute,” Mark said as he turned back to face her. “It has cooled down since we got here, hasn’t it.”

Wordlessly he took off his dinner jacket and draped it over her shoulders, and Kristi felt his hand gently run down her arms, almost as if to make sure she was well protected from the brisk night air. Kristi instantly felt the heavy wool warming her skin.

With a flash of the headlights and a quick double-toot on the horn, the valet brought around Mark's crisp but understated midnight blue Lexus. As the valet came around, Mark gave him his tip along with a slight smirk for the unappreciated toot.

After giving the valet the stink-eye, Mark opened the passenger door for Kristi and guided her with the lightest of touches. She noticed that his hand lingered a bit longer on the small of her back, though she didn't mind. In fact, she was always a sucker for gentlemanly conduct as it was becoming so increasingly rare. But was it her imagination or did his hand brush a bit lower this time?

As the door opened his hand brushed around her hip and then left her, hanging in mid-air to take her hand and help her into the plush interior. As she took his hand for the first time, she was surprised at how soft yet firm it was. How was it that the most innocent of gestures could suddenly set her off on a river of consciousness?

Without her even realizing it, Mark shut her door and quickly slid into the seat beside her and shut his own door with a soft click. Without a sound the soft and melodic sounds of some classical artist encompassed the cabin, its quiet power warming her as much as Mark's jacket had a moment before.

Mark slid the car into gear and pulled away from the restaurant. At the stop sign leaving the entry he stopped — and for much longer than he should.

"Mark," Kristi asked from under somewhat wine heavy eyelids, "Is everything alright?"

"Actually, no," Mark sullenly replied, "It isn't."

The car suddenly and immediately grew silent in spite of the music. Deafeningly so.

Uh-oh, Kristi thought to herself as her natural and overblown sense of paranoia came barreling suddenly to the fore. "What is it?"

With the most serious look she'd yet seen from him, Mark turned to her. "We simply can't go on in such blatant violation of safety. Please allow me to fasten your seat belt"

Before she could respond, Mark had unbuckled his own seat belt and leaned over across her body, his fingers groping for the belt. As she felt him begin to draw the belt over her she realized her mouth was still smiling a bit in surprise.

For whatever reason, she sucked in her slight stomach; almost as if how the seat belt fit would in some rare respect reflect on her weight or femininity. On hearing the sudden intake of air, Mark at that very moment looked up at her, his face mere inches from hers.

Panicking, Kristi realized that some sort of comment was needed here, if not actually expected. Without having an idea of what she would say, she opened her mouth a bit in preparation, assuming whatever came out would be sensible. In the same fraction of a second, Kristi wondered if there were enough heels in her closet to redeem herself.

But instead she felt a warm softness on her as Mark's lips touched hers. She realized from the tentativeness of the kiss that Mark we as nervous now as she had been earlier in the night. She kissed back, hopefully letting him know that everything was okay.

Feeling her response, Mark kissed her more fervently but still well within the bounds of what one would normally expect on a first date. Finding herself wanting just a bit more — though not that much more, Kristi reached up and let her fingers run up Mark's neck until she could let her nails dig ever so slightly into the back of his head. She let her mouth open a bit, knowing that any man would take that hint.

And so he did, and for the slightest of moments their tongues touched. Against her will, Kristi felt herself getting a bit away from herself and pulled away.

"The seat-belt?" she asked, finding herself looking at Mark from under her extremely long lashes.

"Oh, yes. Sure," Mark stammered a bit, obviously flustered more than a little.

Damn it man, Kristi found herself thinking to herself. If Mark apologized as it appeared he would it would really take the special feeling she had all the way down to nothing.

"That was unexpected, but very nice," she said, just to allay any of his potential lingering concerns.

With a wry smile that made her want to ask what was on his mind, Mark slipped the car back into gear and pulled out into traffic. He still hadn’t shared where exactly they were going. It seemed to Kristi like they were headed back toward the coffee shop where Mark had picked her up.

“We're just a few minutes from the coffee shop,” Mark said, almost as if reading her mind. “But my place is on the way. Might I interest you in a drink? It also has a great view of the city skyline, which is beautiful at this hour.”

Kristi readily agreed, though hoping she wasn’t sounding too eager in her response. Surely anyone could tell that the invitation was almost certainly for quite a bit more than a mere drink and a pretty view. She’d hadn’t committed to more, at least not consciously. Seeing Mark’s hand draped casually over the center console, she reached over in the dim light of the dashboard and took it in hers.

Without much more ado they arrived at Mark’s apartment, though Kristi likened it more to a penthouse, though surely the city sported nothing with such a high-brow label. In size it was fairly modest, occupying half of the top floor of a twelfth floor building overlooking the harbor and, in the distance, the lights of downtown twinkled in the night.

As Mark opened the door with a flourish and motioned for Kristi to precede him in, she gasped audibly at the interior. Everything that fronted the water was fronted by wonderful French doors, all of which were open, permitting a cool breeze to waft through the space, bringing with it the exotic aroma of the sea. The light of a crescent moon cast everything in a soft, pale, and somewhat green-tinged light.

“How lucky could one man be,” a voice came from somewhere within and off to the left, follow by some brassy horns.

“Dino?” she asked, although she already knew the answer. “I wouldn’t expect a young pup like you to enjoy Dean Martin!”

“First,” Mark said, fighting back a laugh, “If I am a pup, then so are you, given that you are only a few years older than I am. And I do like all of The Rat Pack, though Frank not so much. He's always struck me as a bully. Drink?” he said, nodding in the direction a little bar on wheels in the corner under a framed poster for the movie Rio Bravo , with Dean Martin, of course.

After getting her a glass of white wine and himself a stiff vodka tonic, Mark led Kristi out onto the balcony, which was much more secluded than one would expect. Dean began singing Houston , and they continued getting to know each other, enjoying the company and the view. They both had another drink as Dino continued to croon softly underneath their conversation. Kristi knew they were barely speaking over a whisper they were so close, but it seemed like his voice captivated her.

It was during Everybody Love Somebody Sometime that Mark leaned over and kissed her softly on the lips. This time she wasn’t surprised and the faint hint of lime mingled with the vodka made her lips tingle.

“Let’s consider that our first kiss,” Mark said, “that one in the car was just impulse. This one… this is the one I want to remember.”