Taken By The Shark

“Where’s this dinner you’re talking about?” she wanted to know.

“Hopefully in the oven,” he said, stepping over to check. “It’ll take about twenty minutes to warm it up before we can eat. Want to watch television or something?”

“Sure, why not,” she nodded.

“Or we could just turn on some music,” he said. “Have a bit of wine. Talk about the mating habits of the marlin. Practice a little bit of human mating ritual while we’re at it.”

Chelsea laughed. “And you want to do all that in twenty minutes, right?”

Casting her a salacious leer, Mark replied, “How about if we do that last part once the food is out? I don’t want to burn it because things are getting too hot in the other room.”

“Yeah, really,” she replied, her voice trembling a little.

“Nervous?” he asked softly as he turned back from twisting the oven’s knob. “You know I’m teasing, right? Well, not entirely, though. I’d really love to taste these lips right here a whole lot more thoroughly before we have to go back and behave ourselves again.”

“I—I’m sure you would,” she stuttered, and she trembled in his arms.

“Hey, what happened to my confident girl?” he teased her as he traced her chin with the back of his hand.

“Unfamiliar material?” she suggested.

“Well, that just means you need to study it,” he told her as his lips brushed against hers again. Finally figuring out he didn’t intend to deepen the kiss unless it was her idea, Chelsea tilted her head a bit and tiptoed as she leaned against him and kissed back.

“Did you set the timer?” she reminded him with a smirk.

“I forgot,” he chuckled.

“I’d actually like to eat this food, in case you were in any doubt,” Chelsea told him. For emphasis, her stomach growled loudly, making both of them laugh.

“Boy, you’re not kidding,” he said then. “Maybe we should find you a snack.”

Chelsea grinned wryly as he set about examining the cupboards until he came across a box of crackers. Then he pulled a block of cheese from the refrigerator and cut it into hunks to put on them and they carried the tray out into the living room. They turned on the television and sat there snacking until the bell rang about twenty minutes later.

“Stay here,” said Mark with a smile. “I’ll bring the food out.”

“You don’t want to sit at the table?”

He grinned. “It’s not necessary.”

When Mark returned he brought two plates on which portions of baked salmon were placed. Along the side of each were carrots and angel-hair pasta. She smiled thankfully and began to eat, noticing that Mark favored the fish much more than the other food as he ate.

“You don’t like vegetables?” she teased him as she finished her food.

Mark chuckled. “I’ll eat them sometimes,” he said. “But mostly I like protein foods. I guess I’m pretty much your typical carnivore.”

“Must be a man thing,” she teased him. “My father and brother are the same way”

“What about you?” he wanted to know. “You ate your meat pretty fast along with those veggies.”

“Yeah, but I ate both,” she chuckled.

“Do you want to eat my carrots, miss smarty-pants?” he grinned, lifting a forkful up to her lips. Grinning back, Chelsea took the offered bite, chewed it, and swallowed. Mark’s eyes tracked every movement with keen interest. It didn’t take a whole lot to figure out he was imagining a different use for her mouth, and she blushed furiously as their eyes met.

“It’s almost nine already,” he complained. “Could be time for those kisses now.”

“You think so?” she asked softly as she let him draw her onto his lap. They were sitting on the couch side by side already, so it didn’t take him much effort.

The kiss he gave her this time was so far from tame in both heat and intensity that Chelsea could easily imagine she’d suddenly gone up in flames. She sucked in a deeper breath and exhaled it out hotly into his mouth when he used his tongue to part her lips. His own breath mingled with it as he slid his tongue inside.

His hands came up to cup her face. Her hands slid up and around his neck as she pressed against him more fully. She whimpered softly when they briefly broke apart, their eyes meeting. She smiled at him and he smiled right back. Then he moved in and kissed her again, more tenderly this time.

Chelsea gasped at the feeling in the pit of her stomach that this caused. She wasn’t experienced enough with kissing to know every kind of kiss could affect a person differently, and it was a curious discovery. She didn’t have a lot of time to reflect upon the information right then, though, since she was determined to turn off her inner scientist. She wanted to experience this more fully, without allowing the distraction.

Mark smirked as he pulled back again. “I hear you thinking too much,” he teased her.

“Sorry,” she said with a blush.

“It’s okay, we need to head back to the meeting point anyway,” he said. “I probably should be there before the rest of them since I’m in charge, right?”

“It generally works better that way,” she agreed.

“Hey, it might be difficult, ignoring these lips for a whole week,” he told her with a smirk. “Might need to figure out how to taste them again before then.”

“Like what?” she wanted to know.

“Don’t worry,” he told her as they got to their feet. “I’ll definitely think of something. Besides, this is just a ‘for now’ thing, you know. Once we’re sure this is working, we won’t even need to hide at all. I’m in charge here, I can do what I like.”

“I get the concept,” she told him, latching onto his arm as they headed for the door. “You know that the others are likely to get jealous or start trouble over me being your favorite. They taught us all about that in business class.”