As she circled around the booth he couldn't keep his eyes off her, the ultra-low scooped back broken only by straps connecting to a gold ring on her lower left back that left nothing in him but the urge to pull her close...
Run his fingers along her skin...
Seating down next to him, close enough for her presence to further assault him, far enough to make the longing rise...
Crossing her legs she watched him, the intensity in her eyes battering at his newly constructed defences, driving rationale away.
"You're here," he stated, voice somewhat hoarse.
"Yes, as one can clearly see." She gestured her head behind him.
Bill turned his head to find Genevieve talking to Justin, his friend looking at the French woman intently as she spoke, absorbed.
"Doesn't explain what you yourself are doing here." He turned to face her, wanting her, needing her to say it.
And realising that she was almost as stubborn as he was...she wouldn't capitulate to that easily.
"I don't need to explain it." Her tone told him she didn't want to argue
He knew if he pushed she would barricade herself away again. She was here, of her own volition, and he couldn't resist the enjoyment he derived from it.
He moved closer towards her, eliminating all distance, their legs touching.
"I don't need you to." He leaned in close, boring into her eyes.
"I just care that you are." The veracity of that statement resonated inside him, and he knew she felt it, saw it in his eyes.
All rationale had fled the moment she had placed her fingers on him, whispered softly as she sang to him.
She smiled at him, and the sight of it, being the cause of it, warmth flooded him.
"Now tell me how she roped you into being a model."
She snickered, explaining, "In the end, it was simply easier to just give her what she wanted. She can be such a headache when she's pouty. All the time I had was preoccupied by other things. I didn't want to add her to the mix."
"What other things?"
"You know."
"I want to hear you say it."
"Why?" she breathed.
"Say it."
She turned her head away from him. Placing his glass on the table, he urged her face back towards him, fingertips on her jaw as tendrils of heat erupted at the contact.
"That wall you're trying to construct even as we talk has no ground to stand on, " his fingers trailing down her jawline, "I know you feel it, I can practically smell it in the air when you react," fingers running down soft skin, her pulse pounding, "almost hear the jump in your heartbeat when I touch you," her pulse drumming faster beneath his fingers, "just about feel, taste the pleasure that little contact brings you," her eyes glazing over with his words, "you can't deny this..." lowering his head more, eyes locked, " just as much as I can't."
Steffy's chest rose as she bit back, "Doesn't change the fact that you're married to the woman you picked over me once before."
Bill saw the pain in her eyes as she said it, the urge to drive it away an unalterable entreaty he could not reject.
"Even that doesn't change the fact that you are all I think about," he leaned in closer, "all I seem to want, no matter how wrong it should be," lips pressed gently against hers, "or how right it feels," tongue licking her lips, her shocked gasp giving him the opening he needed as he leaned in, sealing his mouth over hers, her inebriating taste flooding him...
Her eyes fluttered closed.
Pulling back, he told her, "Say it," before he leaned in again, sipping on her lips, her breath turning short as he did this.
"I'll concede... that... it's there." It was barely a whisper heard above the music.
Slanting his lips over hers, he kissed her again, slightly deeper.
Gazing into her eyes when he pulled away, his lips widened a genuine smile on his lips.
He leaned back; draping is arm across her shoulders as he did.
She gravitated towards him.
"I never figured you a jazz lover."
"I'm not, usually, not up until I had someone change my mind just now."
She smiled, "Bet you never thought I could sing."
"I'd never put anything past you Steffy Forrester. I expect much more surprises will emerge from you."
"How did you like the fashion show?" she asked, a level of seriousness in her tone that told him her business acumen was forefront.
"I suspect many will be surprised by the foray into the dark edge of sensuality. Forrester Creations has never done that before. That being said, you and Genevieve made it work; pulled the whole thing off with a finesse that will no doubt leave the fashion industry waiting for more."
Her face lit up at his words.
"I have to admit, if Andre hadn't helped us, we wouldn't have been able to make it that superb."
"Helped you how?" his voice harsh as jealousy reared its nosy head.
A knowing smirk on her face as she answered, no doubt amused by his tone.
"Back in Europe he is a stage and lighting effect savant, known for pushing the boundaries .He's the one who designed it so that my shoes would light up with every step I took. He also called in a favour from Taylor Swift who he met in Paris. Lemar was more than happy to help her out with the performance."
Steffy's smirk lingered even more at how he refused to respond beyond his wordless grunt.
"Did you plan on being a model the whole time you were planning the show?"
"No actually. Genevieve roped me in about ten minutes before the curtains went up. She is tenacious in her requests. She'd designed the outfit I wore on the sly, it wasn't even a part of the original runway pieces, let alone the showstopper we had planned on."
"But what a showstopper it was indeed," Bill responded, his voice hoarse as the image of her sprang forth in his mind.
"Liked it did you?"
"You and I both know the answer to that," he said, leaning in to place a gentle kiss on her lips.
Steffy giggled, looking at something over his shoulder. He turned to see his friend being dragged on to his feet by a determined Genevieve who was ignoring all his refusals.
"We will make our own dancefloor then. I want to dance, and you will dance with me," she told poor Justin as she continued to drag him away. Smiling he looked back at Steffy to find her eyes on him.
"I am not dancing."
"I know," her sultry voice replied before she snatched his drink out of his hand, throwing it back. Faster than he knew her to be, she leaned in towards him,
"Close your eyes."
"Steffy," he argued, no command in his voice as her fingers ran up his cheek to his eyes.
"Close them."
As if she tugged the string that tethered them together, he found his eyes sliding shut, her soft touch tantalising his skin as fingers ran down his face to his neck, hands flat on his chest a moment before he felt her move away.
"Keep them closed," she warned a second before he was about to do the exact opposite.
A few moments later he felt her presence, before her hands returned to his chest, the heat seeping into his skin as they moved behind his neck, curling into his hair.
A gentle kiss to his jaw before she proceeded to tease him...
A slow swipe of her tongue against his lips...
Scraping nails in his scalp, the bite of it waking his beast...
She held her body away from his, slapping his hands away when he tried to hold her waist.
Soft kisses down his jaw to his neck until she reached his pulse, then back up again.
Moving away from him when he tried to prolong the contact...
The beast clawing at him, to be let loose...
"If you keep teasing me..." he warned her.
"You're going to what Dollar Bill?" his name whispered on his mouth, her voice cocky.
Swiftly, he grabbed her waist, pulling her onto his lap, hand firmly grasping her thigh, sizzling fire at the moment of contact,
The other spread against her back, soft velvet skin beneath his rough palms...
Scorching heat arising...
Eyes still closed he drew her to him, softly biting her lips when she tried to pry away.
They stayed that way, his mind lost in the feel of her, the taste of her, his need for her. Time became an aspect of the world that did not apply to them. He was cocooned in the enchanting nature that was her as he held her to him, peacefulness coursing through him, yearning overtaking him, shredding all the resolve he had once maintained he had, but was nowhere to be found.
Pulling back, he gazed at her, the string between them jerking strongly as they locked eyes, pure bliss spreading throughout him at her smile.
"Let's go get you a drink."
Justin pulled Bill away from Steffy's side a while later, motioning for him to join him. Following him to the booth, his friend looked at him, concern written all over her face.
"I hope you know what it is you're doing."
As Bill searched his thoughts he found himself responding, "No, I absolutely do not. All I know is I'm going to do what feels right. And right now..." he looked towards the bar, at Steffy's head thrown back as she laughed with Genevieve, "she is all that seems to."
"What the hell are you on about?" Justin asked, confused.
In that moment, he chose to voice the truths that raced in his head, the ones he had been negligent to, hoping that simply ignoring them would make them go away.
"I'm not happy." Justin's face registered shock.
"I haven't been happy, And as much as I hate to admit it, the last time I was, Brooke was around."
"You didn't say a thing. You and Katie look the vision of happiness."
"At that time, I believed I was. Maybe I repeated it enough times to myself until I believed it. In my own way, I love my wife; don't get me wrong. I believed that Katie was that road to happiness that I had forgotten, merely strayed from." Eyes straying to his addiction yet again, he added, "Until that moment I looked into her eyes, and everything else, well, was proven irrelevant, misconstrued."
Turning back towards Justin, Bill waited for his friend rebuttal.
"Can't say I don't know what you're saying, because I do."
"The little French morsel you can't wait to devour?"
"Well, yes," Justin laughed.
"What about Donna?"
"Katie?"
"You first comrade"
Sighing he responded, "If I know what's good for me, I will stay away from her. Genevieve would beat both my ass and hers. And I would let her."
"Feisty one you got there."
"And don't I love it."
Justin waited for Bill's answer to his question, and he found he didn't have to think too long about it.
"I wish there was any easier way for Katie to not be hurt, but I can't see one. Here I am, I've convinced her to give me another chance, and now I'm gonna do what? The only thing I know with every fibre of my being is that I am not letting that woman right there go again."
Justin nodded his head. "Well, I'll see you at the office tomorrow."
"You realise you drove me here right, and that my car is at the Forrester car park."
"You're a resourceful man," a pat on his shoulder," you'll find your way."
Going back over to the bar, Justin was met midway by Genevieve who yelled at Steffy, "Don't do anything I wouldn't do!"
"You have no boundaries Gen!" Steffy yelled back
"Exactement chéri. Au revoir!" An air blown kiss before the pair left them.
Standing beside her, he leaned in.
"You ready to go?"
Her reply was to stand from the stool, her body pressing up against his as she leaned towards his lips, the contact pouring desire into him, finger underneath his jaw as she placed a peck on his lips, turning away and walking towards the exit.
The first thing his consciousness became aware off was the minor throbbing in his temples. The next was the heat of the body next to him
The familiar scent he breathed in,
His head buried in her neck, arm thrown across her midriff, fingers intertwined.
Slightly raising his head he looked down.
Hair mussed over the pillow, arm tucked underneath her cheek, a vision of unparalleled beauty, peace radiated from her, seeping into him.
Never, had he felt such. Years of waking up next to women, inclusive of his wife, of Brooke, none of it had ever felt this way.
Gently squeezing her closer to him, a light peck on her cheek, he moved to disentangle himself.
Her fingers tightened on his as she turned to face him, eyes fluttering open, desire blossoming in them as he gazed upon them.
"Hey," softly spoken.
He found he couldn't resist it, the urge, his beast driving him.
Lips found lips, hard in their intent, his hand splaying across her abdomen.
"Morning," he replied, voice deep.
"You stayed all night?"
"You wanted me to."
"I didn't think you would."
"I wanted to."
"But Katie..."
"I wasn't going anywhere," he assured her, another quick hard kiss following.
When he finally let her up, she insisted on feeding him breakfast, his shirt lovingly draped over her body.
His beast purred at the sight.
Practically emitted a low roar as he remembered how he had ended at her apartment.
They sat in the back of his hired car, Justin having organized it before he'd even left the jazz club.
She had distanced herself from him, sitting away from him.
Yet she still kept glancing towards him...
Fire in her eyes...
As her hand ran down her exposed neckline...
Her other hand playing with the hem of her dress against her thighs...
Biting her lower lip...
The driver pulled into the driveway at her complex.
She reached for the door, silent.
He reached out to grab her arm.
"Just let it out."
"I don't want you to have to go."
He opened to respond...
"But I understand that you have to," she continued before he had a chance, "So I'm not going to ask you to."
Shaking his arm off, she left the car, his mind in turmoil.
Understandably, he had to be heading home.
To his wife.
But the thought of just leaving Steffy...
His beast gnarled.
"Stop," he yelled through the partition as the driver began backing out.
Of their own accord, his hands opened the door, catching the elevator doors a second before they shut, Steffy's widening eyes slamming shut as he grabbed her, fingers sinking into her hair as he ravaged her mouth. He didn't let up when she let them into the apartment, as she led him to the couch, straddling his hips, hands on her backside as he inched her forward, sensual hands tearing his shirt open, hands hovering over his chest before that moment...
Of touch....
A hiss of breath leaving him as her hands branded him.
They were moving fast, too fast.
Pulling away, he held her hands to her chest.
It wasn't going to happen like this.
"I didn't come up here for this." Moving her hands around his neck, he stood, her legs wrapping around his waist, testing his resolve as the beast demanded more.
"Bedroom?"
"Up the stairs to the right."
Steffy ignored his prior edict, running her hands across his neck down to his back as she pressed herself closer as he walked up the stairs, small kisses to his neck, his jaw.
Placing her on the ground when they reached the room, he stepped back.
She was a siren, calling to him, volumes of wanting in every breath she took, the lingering look she graced upon him, the way he could tell she wanted to take that step towards him.
"Go change." His voice, though deep, husky from the inferno raging inside him, that dress of hers making it harder, held that command.
She cocked her head, her stubbornness coming out to play.
"Now Steffy," he added a hint of pleading in his tone.
"Fine." He could tell she wasn't too happy about this.
She walked over to him, causing to raise his eyebrows. Smiling, she went around him, featherlight hands pulling his shirt off.
Sitting on the edge of the bed, he waited. She returned, his shirt on her frame, his savage beating his chest at this.
Hands on her hips she asked him, "Now what?"
"Now we sleep."
She couldn't hide the smile on her face fast enough. He knew that she understood what he was doing, showing her that she was more than lust, that this time; she was more than promises or words of forever.
Pulling her back against his front, she wiggled herself, causing shards of pleasure.
"Behave," he whispered in her ear as he brushed her hair down her back.
"No promises," she whispered back as tranquillity found him, found them, and they fell into slumber.
"I see you learned how to cook," he commented, having polished the French toast off his plate.
"I wouldn't go that far. So far, breakfast is safe, as long as it doesn't involve anything beyond egg items, bacon..."
"Pancakes?"
"Let's just say my last attempt resulted in my housekeeper docking me an extra fee for having to pry it off the ceiling."
Bill snickered.
"Stop it," she playfully swatted his arm.
Blocking and grabbing her arm, he tugged her off her stool to stand in between his legs, her hands automatically wrapping around his neck, his around her waist.
"I don't want pancakes. I have everything I want right here."
As he said it, he saw the reality seep into her eyes.
"Don't Steffy."
"But it doesn't change that it's true."
"All you need to know is I am where I want to be. Okay?"
His phone began shrilling, disavowing the chance for a response.
They both knew who it was.
She stepped back, going into the living room to retrieve it for him.
"Spencer?"
"Bill, are you alright?" Katie worriedly asked.
"I'm fine. I'll be there shortly."
He ended the connection before anything else could be said.
"I've got to go."
Steffy stood hunched over the counter, a singlet and shorts having replaced his shirt.
Coming up behind her, he placed his hands on her shoulders.
"This changes nothing."
"Go home to your wife Bill."
"Steffy."
"Just go."
"Not until you turn around and look at me. Not until you understand what I am saying. Not until..."
She swiftly turned around, jumping into his arms, her head on his chest as she held him close. He wrapped her, close, the warmth of her levelling him out, centering him.
"I'll see you soon."
He stepped back, grabbed his shirt from the counter, walking without looking back, knowing if he did, he wouldn't leave.