Free Scorch by Kait Gamble

as it was and with Daniel’s expertise of her body, he could have her screaming in a few seconds. She clawed at the back of his head. “Why don’t you find out?” Then she pressed her lips to his sealing in the cries he was about to evoke. She briefly felt him smile against her mouth before the first thrust of his fingers blanked her mind.
    As predicted, he knew exactly what he was doing as he teased and coaxed her body, evoking immediate streaks of pleasure. Daniel pumped his fingers, rocking his palm against her clit in a steady rhythm designed to make her climax as quickly as possible.
    Chelsea bit his bottom lip in an attempt to keep quiet as the sensations swept through her body like wildfire. The move only served to spur him on more. With a growl, he drove his fingers deeper, faster, until she was caught up in a toe-curling orgasm that blanked her vision. He swallowed her cries with a groan and eased her back to reality just moments before they heard footsteps approaching.
    Mortified at what they had just done, Chelsea stepped back and grabbed the first thing she could reach and pretended to read the label as if it held the secrets to the universe.
    “Daniel?” One of the chefs stuck his head in. “I’ve been looking all over for you. We need you in the kitchen.”
    “I’ll be right there.”
    The man retreated.
    Daniel turned to her, taking the jar from her hands. “Are you okay?”
    She had no idea. One second she’d been shopping for dresses and the next she’d let him get her off in the pantry of a restaurant she was supposed to be running. Didn’t it prove that when it came to him she had no common sense? Anyone could have walked in on them. Something could have gone wrong while she was in there losing her head.
    “I’m fine. You’d better get out there and find out what’s going on.”
    He didn’t look convinced, but he did as he’d been asked.
    Chelsea righted her clothing and ran her hands through her hair until she had no more excuses left to hide out in there. She had to make sure this never happened again.
    Thankfully, Daniel was too busy in the kitchen to talk, and she was occupied at the bustling front of the restaurant. Once everything was wrapped up, she hurriedly gathered her things like a coward, hoping to get away before he noticed.
    Fat chance of that happening.
    She hadn’t even made it to the door when she heard his voice behind her.
    “In a hurry?”
    Busted, she turned and gave him a wan smile. “I guess I’m just tired. I’ll see you tomorrow?”
     
    * * * *
     
    Chelsea pulled into her parking space then trudged up to her apartment. She opened the door and immediately regretted her decision to come back alone. She dropped her bag onto the laminate flooring and kicked it aside before toeing off her shoes.
    Why had she passed up a night of amazing sex again? Oh yes, dignity. Self-respect. Blah, blah, blah. She’d rather be naked and orgasming right now than alone in her depressing apartment with her equally dreary thoughts.
    Chelsea opened her fridge and sighed. And without food.
    Exhausted, frustrated and irritated, Chelsea collapsed onto the couch. And the day had gone so well…
    When there was a knock at the door, she groaned. What now?
    “I told you I was tired.” She had expected Daniel to be on the other side, but was disappointed. Sorely.
    Richard.
    She slammed the door in his ridiculously handsome face.
    “Hello to you too, Chelsea.” His lyrical Irish accent came through the door as cultured and calm as ever. “Will you let me in?”
    Heart fluttering in her chest like a caged hummingbird, she backed away from the door. What was he doing here? How had he found her? “I have nothing to say to you.”
    “Chelsea. Please. Stop being childish.”
    “Are you kidding me? You dumped me the night before our wedding in a text!” She fought the urge to kick the door and prove him right. Why did she have to turn Daniel down tonight? It wasn’t as though she