Free Summer Fling by Serenity Woods Page B

I
look for, and what I can taste in it.”
    He took one and popped it in his mouth,
looking into the distance. “Mm, nice.”
    She tried not to think of the way his
tongue was sampling the chocolate and said instead, “Any flavors?”
    “Vanilla?”
    “Yes. Anything else?”
    “Er…something fruity?”
    She laughed. “Not bad. Now, take another
one, and we’ll try them together.” They both took a chocolate. She bit it in
half with her front teeth and smoothed the chocolate on the roof of her mouth
with her tongue. “Okay. The first thing I look for is the texture. Is it
smooth, thin, creamy, buttery, sugary?”
    He followed her lead, bit his chocolate,
and considered. “Creamy. It’s not thin, it’s almost fudge-like, quite dense.”
    “Yes, very good. Gold star. Next, I think
about the flavor notes. Are they simple? Complex? All flavors, like scents, can
be divided into groups—nutty, roasted, fruity, flowery, spicy. A lot of it
depends on where the cocoa beans came from. The ones used for these chocolates
were from Madagascar, and that gives the chocolate a citrusy taste, like
tangerine. Can you taste it?”
    “Um…kind of.”
    “There’s also quite a bit of pineapple in
there.”
    “If you say so.”
    She smiled. “I added chopped, dried
cherries to these, which is probably the dominant flavor you can taste and is
why you said they were fruity. It also gives them that slightly chewy texture.
You’re right about the vanilla too. I added that to balance and deepen the
flavors.”
    “Anything else?” He ate the other half,
clearly amused at how much she could get out of one chocolate.
    “I have to think whether it has a slow and
lasting taste or whether the flavors are fleeting and quick. Does it linger on
the palate?” She popped the other half into her mouth. As she sucked, she said,
“this one’s not bad—the taste of orange and cherry remains after the
chocolate’s gone...”
    She gestured with her hand as she spoke,
but her words drifted off as he caught it and turned her palm toward him. A
circle of chocolate remained on her thumb and forefinger where the truffle had
melted as she held it.
    He studied her thumb thoughtfully. Then,
very slowly, he covered it with his mouth and sucked.
    She stared, shocked, as every single hair
on her body stood on end. It was the single most erotic act she’d ever had done
to her, which was saying something considering she’d dated Ethan for so long.
    Garth brushed the pad of her thumb with his
tongue, and in response her nipples tightened and her panties grew damp. His
eyes met hers as he did it, hot, challenging, interested to see whether she
would let him finish.
    She should move away. She should totally
tell him not to be so forward, and who the hell did he think he was, and why
did he think he could do something so intimate when she barely knew him.
    Instead, however, she said, “Oh.”
    He turned his mouth to her forefinger and
did the same with that, stroking it with his tongue, swirling it across her
skin, and then he pulled back and looked at her. Licking his lips, he held up
his hand, showing her the dots of chocolate on his own thumb and forefinger.
    Chloe stared at him. Was he asking her to
suck it off? Eek! Her cheeks flamed and she blinked rapidly just thinking about
the phrase.
    Garth chuckled and reached out to brush the
dob of chocolate across her bottom lip. Automatically, she went to remove it
with her tongue, but he shook his head. She waited, transfixed, as he moved
closer, leaned forward, and kissed her.
    He touched his soft, warm lips to hers and stroked
his tongue once across her bottom lip, then again, removing the chocolate
slowly. But he didn’t stop there. He moved his tongue into her mouth and slid his
arm around her waist, and before she knew it, he was kissing her soundly, pinning
her against the breakfast bar. He pushed his hips forward, and the hard length
of him that pressed against her stomach was a clear indication of