Jasmine put a hand on her hip. “I don’t think I can teach you to make a sound.”
“Sure you can. Demonstrate it for me. Roll an r.”
“You say it as if it’s simple. You can’t just roll an r, you have to attach a word to it.” She paused and considered. How hadshelearned? The same way all children did, she supposed—one word at a time. “Let’s start with something simple. Red.Rojo.”
Her tongue rolled over the word, and he got closer, watching her mouth move intently.
“Rojo,” he repeated. “Rojo.” But his tongue clicked against the roof of his mouth. He said the word twice more with the same result. “I will feel like a fool if I have to repeat the same word for the next hour.What’s another one?”
“Perro,” she offered. “A dog.”
“Perro.” His mouth opened and closed, and on the third try, aslightvibration entered his tone. “I’m getting better at this. Now give me something really challenging.”
“Atormentar.”
“I know that word. That’s you.” His hands came to rest on the table behind her, bracketing her in his arms. “A tormenter.Atormentar.”
With his nearness, a hint of his pomade teased her nose. “Madera de cedro.That’s what you smell like. Cedarwood.”
“I wear it because you like it.” He nuzzled his cheek over hers, and he lowered his voice. “What am I doing now?”
“Me estás tocando… y me susurras al oído.”
“Tocando.” His hands found the back of her neck, threading through her hair, grazing fingernails over her scalp. Tugging lightly on her hair, he gave himself better access to her throat, then breathed, “Susurras.”
His breath cooled her skin, and a shiver ran through her. Holding onto her hip, he eased her until her body pressed flush against him. She gasped as his tongue rolled over her ear—teasing her with the tip. “Do you like when I touch you and whisper into your ear?”
Trembling, she held onto his shirt. “Yes.”
He cupped her cheek, and the pad of his thumb grazed her bottom lip. “Can you roll an r with your mouth full?”
She blushed as red as the sauce.
“I can try.”
“Try.” He aligned his mouth with hers and whispered, “Go slow. I want athoroughlesson.”
She lifted onto her toes and pressed her lips to his, dipping her tongue into his mouth. His muscular arms wrapped around her, and a contented sound escaped her throat. She rolled her tongue over his as he rolled his hips into hers. His kisses became bolder. Deeper. Heparted from her, and held her chin up with one finger. Eyes trained to her mouth, he asked, “How do you say, ‘I want you’?”
In his eyes, there was a shadow of something primitive and dark. He looked at her as if he were starving. Reflected in his pupils, that same hunger flashed in her own. She flicked her tongue over his.
“Te deseo.”
His grip tightened, and he groaned, “Te deseo.”
He moved his mouth over hers fast,hard, and unrelenting. Swept away, she held onto him while he took what he wanted from her. With every deliberate stroke of his tongue, heat traveled down her spine, urging her closer to him. She pressed her chest into his, and his hands rose, holding her ribs, teasing the underside of her breasts. He growled into her mouth. The sound traveled down to her core, forming a fiery ache within—consuming her.
“Matthew,” she whimpered. “It feels—”
A sharphissfilled the air, and a deep gurgle. The pot bubbled over, sizzling on the surface underneath. Moving quickly, Matthew reached for a towel, then lifted the lid. A cloud of steam wafted into the air around him as he transferred it to a back burner, off the heat.
Breathing hard, Jasmine placed a hand to her chest, as if she could calm her thundering heart. They had gotten so carried away she hadforgottenthey were cooking.
He gave her a lopsided grin. “Do you imagine it’s done?”
Recovering slightly, she moved to check. Thickened sauce faintly popped in the pan, settling as it cooled. As she stirred the dish, the chicken fell off the bone.
“It’s ready.”