He swung his hips in a slow grind that left no doubt to his thoughts. The hard line of his erection rode her hip with each roll that could’ve been simple dancing but wasn’t. Her groan rumbled in her throat as she pressed her lips to his neck in a naked plea for answers. For help?
No.
All she really needed was strength and the courage to leap when she was programmed to run.
She didn’t know why, didn’t understand what had made her dodge and sabotage every relationship until now. There was nothing in her background to give her a fear of commitment, but she had run whenever that sick, squirming, stomach-turning sense of entrapment—of wrongness—had overtaken her.
But the jumble of emotions tumbling around inside her right now were different. They weren’t shoving her away but drawing her closer.
She breathed deep, held it. Stubble tickled her lips, the salty lure of his skin tempting her to taste it. The haunting undercurrent of his aftershave swirled with the longing he’d ignited until she was lost to the feel of him against her.
His breath warmed her temple. The rapid pace of his pulse thumped just below her bottom lip in a telling beat. She flicked her tongue over his neck, catching that hint of salt and scratch of stubble. His chest hitched. Shivers tracked the trail of his hand as it slid down her neck in a caress that spoke of everything he wasn’t saying.
He wanted her, but foremost, he had her. He could’ve pushed this attraction long ago but he hadn’t. Not while he’d been her boss, when he’d had the power position over her. He’d waited until they were equals. The gentleman who opened doors, paid for lunches and bought toys for his assistant’s kids had honored the boundaries that came with authority.
That meant so much.
She shifted her hand to the back of his head and drew him down. He came easily, longing burning in his eyes. He tensed, waited. Expectation crawled in her chest until she finally whispered, “Kiss me.”
CHAPTER FOUR
Her whispered words hung between them for an extended pause. A dozen scenarios of right versus wrong ran through Daniel’s head before he gave in to his base desire and followed her demand.
He should’ve been prepared for this kiss, for the tender feel of her lips. For her breathy inhale and sigh. Should’ve . . .
Her lips were warm velvet beneath his as she welcomed him in. His groan caught in his throat, his thoughts scattering with the first swipe of her tongue over his. The haunting taste of her triggered a visceral reaction almost as strong as her floral scent. It curled around him, drawing him in until he wondered how he’d lasted without this for so long.
He wanted more. Of her. Of this. Of where they were heading.
He tried to remain gentle, tried to hold back the urgency that pressed on his need. Fire whipped through his groin so quickly, he groaned at the wild hunger it unleashed. He struggled to hold back when he wanted nothing more than to sink into her, to feel her wrapped around him, taking him in.
Her fingers dug into his nape, her response unrestrained. Her open desire merged with his, tempting him to lose all track of where they were. Each hot, desperate pass of her tongue over his pushed him closer to forgetting why he needed to stop.
A last deep swipe, a nibble, a small brush that screamed not enough, and he pulled back. His head spun with so many thoughts, but none of them clear. She was freedom and freefall all in one. The terrifying sense of spinning wildly out of control was grounded by a belief that she was in the same state.
Her eyes lifted, her lips still parted as she tried to draw him back down. God, how he wanted to let her.
He brushed his thumb down her jaw, marveling at the flutter of her eyelids. She turned her head into his touch, her lips opening further. His stomach pitched with the knowledge that his life was changing, that she was changing it in ways he’d never fully imagined.
Their surroundings pressed in when someone jarred his back. The music was suddenly overly loud, the crush of bodies claustrophobic. They’d come to a stop in the middle of a sea of movement.
“Come home with me.” His pulse seemed to stall as he waited for her response, every muscle tense. He was pushing. Things were moving at lightning speed, yet in some ways he’d been waiting forever.
She lifted until her lips hovered near his. Her eyes had darkened to a molten blue that spoke to everything he was feeling. The promise of “what if” hovered between them like a tangible thing before she whispered, “Yes.”
Relief unwound the tension holding him stiff before she grazed her lips over his. His muscles constricted tenfold at her tender touch, the light confirmation more powerful than any wild plundering.
“Let me grab my purse,” she said, stepping back. She trailed her hand down his arm, a promise wrapped in the curl of her fingers around his. “I’ll meet you outside.”
He swallowed his instant objection to her departure, instead nodding as she turned away. He tracked her slow escape from the dance floor until she glanced over her shoulder, her smile both a promise and a question. His grin was instantaneous before he found his wits and made his own escape to the exit.
The urge to stay at her side was too foreign for him to dissect. Tara did that though. Wound him in knots before she slowly unraveled them with a smile or a simple glance his way.
The brisk outside air was a solid reminder that this wasn’t a fantasy. Tara was coming home with him.
The valet had the car at the curb, the engine idling, when she stepped outside. Her soft V-neck sweater and mid-thigh skirt were both sexy and modest. Her style had never been blatantly anything, yet she wore everything like it’d been tailored specifically for her.
He held the car door open, enticed by the flush on her cheeks and the secrets hidden behind the faint curl of her lips.
“Thank you,” was the only thing she said before she slid inside. No questions on where they were going. No sudden doubts or hesitation.
Yet another thing about her that captivated him.
His low chuckle rumbled out as he rounded the car to the driver’s side. At this point, there was little that didn’t draw him to Tara. She was a force he had no ability to resist.
And zero desire to do so.
CHAPTER FIVE
“Did you fire me simply to get me into your bed?” Tara laid the question down with only a small slice of accusation in her voice.
He jerked his head toward her, his glare hard and unwavering. The streetlights flickered over his face in a show of shadows and highlights that displayed his sharp scowl, which held irritation more than anger before his gaze returned to the road. “What if I did?” Light amusement underlined the speculation in his voice.
Her laugh burst free, sharp and abrupt before she clamped her mouth closed. She recognized that playful yet taunting tone he used to draw out answers before he gave his own.
She shook her head, her eyes closing. The absurdity of him firing her just to sleep with her was too much to handle. There’s no way he would’ve done that. For one, he was too ethical. Secondly, she couldn’t possibly be worth the risk if anyone found out.
“I’d still be right here,” she finally admitted. Her stomach contracted with that truth. Even now, snuggled into his leather seats, heat warming her bare legs, his scent filling the car with hints of wicked ecstasy, she couldn’t believe she was really there. That this gentle yet strong man could really want her. Most likely, she would’ve been right here if he’d asked when he’d still been her boss. Apparently, her ethics weren’t as strong as his.
His soft laugh rolled through the interior to ease the tension that’d sprung up. He grabbed her hand, squeezing it. “I didn’t.”
Her shoulders fell, the relief a surprise. “Good to know.”
He brushed his thumb over the back of her hand before he let it go. The shiver that tracked up her arm hugged her chest and filled it with promises she wanted to trust.
“Do you want to talk about it?” she asked.
“What?”
“Yesterday. The layoffs.”
His sarcastic huff forecasted his response. “No.” He scrubbed a hand through his hair, the black strands falling back into place as if he’d willed them to. “Do you?”
Her brows whipped up. Did she? Not really. The layoff stung her pride, but holding him responsible was stupid. “Can I ask you one thing?”
“Of course.”
“Am I better off being out of there?” The tension within the company had been building for a while. Sales had dropped, and the whispers of a power struggle at the top had fed the discontent among the employees.
He’d exited the highway and was winding through the quiet streets of one of the sprawling suburbs that extended from the city. His weighted sigh pulled on his shoulders. “In my opinion, yes.”
His answer didn’t surprise her, yet he still worked there. “Is that the VP talking or the guy trying to get me into bed?”
His smile was quick, the gleam in his eyes deadly when he glanced her way. “Both.” Her mouth went dry. A rush of warmth coated her cheeks before he looked away. “But my answer has nothing to do with getting you into bed.”
“No?”
“No.” The corner of his mouth hooked up in a quick smile. “Not even a little.” He turned into the driveway of a house set back behind a sprawling front lawn and mature trees before she could ask him anything else. The two-story home fit into the suburban neighborhood that seemed more family-friendly than executive-stuffy.
She quickly typed in his address and sent the text to her friends as he pulled into the garage. He hitched a brow in question after she clicked the screen off. She shrugged. “You can’t be too safe.”
“No,” he agreed. “You can’t.”
Something like pride simmered in his voice and charmed her for no explainable reason. All thoughts of work and safety fled when she caught the heat in his gaze. She wet her lips, forcing herself to look away. The intensity was too much and not enough, if that was possible.
They entered his house through the garage door that opened into a laundry room. She caught a brief glimpse of the kitchen before she was in his arms, his mouth seizing hers. This. God . . .
She melted into his urgent touch, into the possessiveness that swelled with each demanding brush of his tongue. The kiss was everything she’d dared to imagine and had thought impossible. It curled through her on a sensuous path to her core, stroking the desire bursting to break free.
She was falling, hard, fast and so out of control that she could barely scramble to hang on even though her hands were around his neck, one buried in his hair in a frantic rush to get closer. To finally take what he was giving.
Her head spun, the lingering taste of scotch tempting her on every swipe of his tongue. Want stormed through her and set her skin on fire. Her sweater was suddenly cloying, her cheeks burning.
Her back hit the wall, and her purse fell to the floor. The solid thump of it striking the tile barely registered above the persistent rap of her heart. He slid his palm beneath her sweater, igniting a shock point of awareness that burned into her side. That first illicit contact sparked another rush of unhinged desire. It was fierce yet tender. Intense yet right.
A trace of panic skittered up her chest, which only served to clarify the moment. She wasn’t just falling for him, she was close to being gone. She tore her mouth from his, her weak cry cutting through the room. How had they gotten here? What did it mean?
He trailed a line of kisses up her jaw, his hand gliding up her ribs on an ascent she didn’t want to stop. No, she didn’t want to stop any of this.
“Don’t hurt me,” she whispered. The words were more air than sound, but it rose from her heart to hang between them. A warning, or a plea?
His hand stilled beneath the curve of her breast. Her chest rose and fell in quick beats that matched the rapid pace of her breaths as he shifted back.
The room was dark, lit only by the pale glow of the appliances and the dim light of the moon. His face in shadows, she felt more than saw his concern. His touch lightened. The tips of his fingers trailed down her jaw. Her eyes fluttered shut on the tenderness communicated by that one simple caress.
So soft. So . . .honest.
“I’ll try not to.” His fingers feathered over her tender lips, his words touching too close to the want growing in her heart.
He’ll try not to. Not a false promise but an honest admission. She smiled at the statement that was so him. Direct, when others would’ve used flowery words to appease her. Truthful almost to a fault.
She drew him down to take another kiss before he exposed every vulnerability she tried to hide. He’d already exposed so many. Too many.
But there was no reward without risk. Maybe that had been her problem all along. The thing she’d been avoiding without conscious thought.
She had to risk her heart in order to claim another’s, and no one had been worth that risk—until now.
CHAPTER SIX
Hurting Tara was the last thing he wanted to do. In fact, it was why he’d resisted her for as long as he had. So he wouldn’t hurt her.
So he’d be free to love her.
He didn’t hide from that truth, not when it pulsed in blinding clarity from his heart.
She took his mouth with the same open passion he poured into her. Every nip and dip, each stroke of her tongue and soft hum, told a story close to his own. Her skin was tempting silk beneath his palm, the curve of her breast an inviting tease.
The urge to swing her around and take her on the kitchen island clamored beside the desire to savor this moment. To show her how much she meant to him, how different she was from other women.
Even if he couldn’t stop touching her . . . kissing her . . .
He dragged her bottom lip between his teeth, let it slip out as he pulled back. The darkness closed around them to provide the privacy he’d longed for, only now he wanted to see everything. Catch the shift in her eyes, the parting of her lips, the blush that stained her cheeks and bled down the valley between her breasts.
The promise of so much more motivated him to step back. Her eyes opened to watch him beneath lowered lids. Her brows dipped in question until he took her hand and led her from the kitchen. The path to his bedroom had never seemed so far. The stairs ended at a small landing that curled back to reveal the rooms off the hallway.
Their shoes tapped lightly on the hardwood floors, the clicks loud in the quiet anticipation. It prickled over his skin and tightened in his groin as she followed him into his bedroom.
The room was cast in shadow from the moonlight, adding to the sensual mood humming in his blood. He captured her mouth in another long kiss, one that curled through his chest before it wrapped around his dick. He’d been hard since she’d stepped into his arms on the dance floor, but the demand had been mellow, almost patient until now. The urgency spread in little snips that licked through his stomach and peppered his chest with increased hunger.
Her gasp sucked the air from his mouth, her muscles tensing for a long beat when he finally cupped her breast. His groan tore through him as the mound filled his palm, the soft silk of her bra the final barrier to the flesh he wanted to worship. And that was just the beginning.
Did she have any clue of the power she held over him? Of how he longed to explore every inch of her?
The hard nub of her nipple teased his thumb beneath the material, upping the desire that’d become entangled in the prolonged anticipation that continued to circle. Need clawed up his spine at a pace that only heightened the wait. He grazed his teeth down her jaw, nipped her earlobe as he skimmed his thumb back and forth over the tip straining beneath her bra.
Her whimper held the same tempered need that wove through him. Her fingers tightened on his shoulders, her head tilting as her chest lifted into his hand. He hummed his agreement into the soft side of her neck. This dance of theirs was so damn amazing. Perfect in ways he’d ne
ver imagined, had never dreamed possible.
Not for him.
The workaholic perfectionist who’d dedicated his life to getting ahead, only to realize he had no idea where he was going. Tara had changed his outlook, while highlighting what he was missing.
She worked her hands beneath his suit jacket and ran her palms down his chest, her nails dragging over the material to score the skin beneath. His stomach clenched against the hit of shallow pain. It tugged his desire forward and laughed at his show of control.
Their mutual groans vibrated into the darkness. His erection pressed hard and prominent into the firm plane of her stomach and spurred the desire he was barely holding back.
“God . . .Tara . . .” He tore himself away under the promise of more. Better. Getting her naked—getting them both naked—had become a necessity.
Her expression was indistinct in the dim lighting, but her touch held nothing back. She shoved his jacket from his shoulders, and he let it fall down his arms, catching it on his fingertips before it tumbled to the floor. He sensed more than saw her grin. It’d be that devilish one. The one that could tease a laugh from him or warn of something to come.
He tossed the jacket over the back of a chair and flicked on the bedside lamp. Light bloomed through the room and brought everything into focus. The moment. The importance. The significance of having Tara there.
Her hair spread over her shoulders and down her back in a tumble of brown curls that she usually contained in a bun or clip. The corner of her mouth hooked up in a teasing smile as she reached for the hem of her sweater. He was there a second later, replacing her hands with his own to draw the material over her head.
His swallow was thick as he got his first glimpse of her. Her breasts were smaller yet full. They rounded beneath the cups of her bra to display an enticing line of cleavage. The unexpected sexiness of her bra had that hunger tearing at his chest. Her preference for high necklines and modest clothing made this discovery all the more attractive.
Mixtape: A Love Song Anthology Page 46
