Ben pushed the door open slowly. The hall was dark, candles sporadically lighting a path to the kitchen. He smiled lazily and dropped his suitcase next to a small table. He started on his way, wondering what Grace would be wearing.
In the kitchen Grace heard the front door open and grinned to herself. Ben would join her momentarily. She glanced at the table and nodded. Everything was laid out perfectly, two candles burning brightly, illuminating the food she'd painstakingly prepared. She turned her attentions back to the platter she was finishing, a final drizzle of honey and she smiled. She could feel Ben behind her, his warm breath trekking over the back of her neck. His hands lightly clasped her shoulders and turned her to face him. After a week alone she drank in the sight of him, well-cut charcoal suit, crisp white shirt and a silky black tie. His dark hair was tousled and looked as though he'd been running his hands through it repeatedly as he was wont to do. Her blue eyes met his almost black ones and the corners of his mouth lifted into a secretive smile.
Ben leant down and brushed his lips against the corner of Grace's. She smelt like a thunderstorm and he inhaled deeply. Her red hair was all swept over her left shoulder in a cascade of waves, the milky pale skin of her neck on show, tantalizing him. Her deep blue eyes, framed with heavy dark lashes, were crinkled slightly at the corners as she smiled at him. He brushed his lips against hers again, a longer kiss this time though still feather-light. She sighed contentedly and swished over to the table her hips swaying. The dress she wore clung to her curves perfectly, the dark silk complementing her complexion. His own skin seemed especially tanned compared to hers.
"Sit." Her voice was husky, as if she'd smoked too many cigarettes in her time though she'd never touched them.
Ben complied slowly, sinking into a seat opposite her. "You shouldn't have gone to this much trouble." Grace didn't need to look up to know he was smiling, though Ben's smile wasn't something she ever liked to miss.
Grace stood up and made her way towards Ben, watching his eyes follow the lilt of her hips. She smoothed the dress under her and sat on his lap, pulling a scrap of black velvet from the table. His arms wound round her waist, thumb stroking her hip slowly and she shivered. Grace slid the velvet over Ben's eyes, obfuscating his vision and tied it in a small knot.
"My pleasure." Grace whispered in his ear. She pulled the first plate towards her and picked up an asparagus spear, dipping the end in hollandaise sauce before pushing it lightly against Ben's lips.
Ben sunk his teeth into what Grace was feeding him and broke the morsel off. Asparagus, his mind supplied, but what's the sauce? He tried unsuccessfully to identify it as she fed him another three spears then kissed him lightly. Ben pulled her against him tighter and she rubbed her nose against his, then moved down to kiss his jaw line, appearing to not mind the slight stubble that rubbed against her soft lips. He smiled and she bit his bottom lip gently.
"Let me get the main." Her voice was an entreaty as she ran her fingers over his hand that secured her to him. Ben let go reluctantly, maintaining contact as long as possible. He could hear quiet strains of piano playing that he had not noticed earlier, a soft almost melancholy song. He listened to Grace quietly bustle around the kitchen, metal clanking against metal at one point. She placed a plate in front of him and resumed her position on her lap. "Slow cooked beef in a red wine jus," she whispered in his ear, lips against his earlobe, "with garlic mushrooms." The smell was ambrosial. She held a fork against his lips and his teeth closed around a miniscule button mushroom. He nodded appreciatively, the flavours bursting in his mouth. Grace carefully stabbed a piece of beef dripping with jus.
Cooked to perfection, Ben thought as it melted in his mouth. His mind began to wander back to the thought of Grace in her stunning dress and his blood heated. She must have known it would drive him crazy; the low cut back, the soft rustle as it moved... He could hear her soft, shallow breaths, her hair whispering as she turned to feed him. The further through the food he got, the more distracted he became. Grace's hips brushed against his erection and he growled. She stopped feeding him and trailed a fingertip from his ear to the collar of his shirt. He ran his hand from her hips up to her exposed back, stroking her lower vertebrae, eliciting a breathy moan from her.
Grace pressed her lips against Ben's as he teased her skin. The contact was light and almost unbearably exciting, she clenched her thighs together and Ben smiled in the dim candle haze. She pulled away gently as Ben's fingers drew a soft line up her spine and then began swirling circles along her shoulder blades. She speared the last mushroom and fed it to him, watching as his jaws chewed slowly, almost thoughtfully as he let the flavours caress his palate. She lightly dragged a nail along his throat, rubbing the stubble there the wrong way.
