We can't do this now.

“Do you want some wine then?” Edward spoke out loud this time.

“Yes please,” she nodded. They burst into laughter. It was all just so comical. The sexual tension had been building for a while. During his trip to Abuja they spoke more on the phone and some tender exchanges in the late night calls had gone further than they would have.

Edward filled both glasses with the chilled champagne and gave one to her, lifting his in a toast. “To the beautiful lady in my life, Gladys you’re the only girl that I have ever wanted this badly. I just wish you wanted me half as much.”

If only he knew, she thought lowering her eyes to drink from her glass. She could feel him watching her with a hunger that echoed within her secret places. Her breasts felt heavier, the tips tingling against the fabric of her top. She wanted him to touch her right then and to kiss her, but she also didn’t want him to. She shifted on her seat and adjusted her neckline.

“To hell with it,” Edward muttered. He moved closer and put both arms around her. His mouth covered hers in a warm, wet kiss. The feel of those lips against hers was as thrilling as in her fantasies. She fell back on the cushions and tried to prop herself up by the elbows. He deepened the kiss, and her arms give way so that she fell on her back beneath his weight.

Gladys didn’t know the last time she’d enjoyed a kiss so much. His lips were hard and soft at the same time and his mouth a warm haven. When she felt his hands grip her waist in a tight caress, she placed her palms on his chest and felt the heavy pounding of his heart through his T-shirt. It aroused her deeply to know how much he wanted her. It thrilled her that he could desire her so much that his hands slightly shook as they shifted to her bare arms.

“I want you,” he said on a whisper against her lips, his eyes darkened with passion as they held hers. “I’ve wanted you for months, since the first time I saw you.”

His words brought her back to where they were. She lifted her hands from him to run them through her braided hair. “Edward,” she sighed. “We can’t do this now.”

“Maybe not here.” He lightly stroked her neck his fingers, moving down to the cowl of her neckline. “But it’s so hard not to go further. Having you alone here is torture.”

Gladys sat up and shifted a little. “Anyone can come in anytime…”

As if on cue, footsteps sounded on the steps and in the next minute people were joining them in the room. Edward kept his arms around her and continued to send heated glances her way but she feigned ignorance and smiled as she chatted with Kanayo and the others. Still he stole a long sweet kiss when he dropped her off at her aunt’s place after the party.