He liked the sound of it. He wanted more as he continued to claim and possess her mouth in a way that he’d never experienced with any other woman. The lower part of his body began to throb as he felt his desire rising. His lips made tortured demands that he intended for her to heed.
There was no hesitation on her part. She returned his kiss with equal fervor, but for all the wrong reasons Reese believed. He knew she thought he was just horny, willing to temporarily set aside their friendship to fulfill his needs. Boy, was she wrong, and he would enjoy proving to her just how wrong she was.
In the distance, he heard the faintest sound of vehicles approaching, as some of the men began returning to the ranch. It was time to take one final taste of her mouth for now, he thought, as he slowly broke off the kiss.
In a daze Kenna studied Reese’s face, silently acknowledging what they’d just shared. They had kissed a second time and again he had been the one to initiate it. She decided to sort out her emotions later. But for now, all she wanted was to savor his kiss—so intense that it left a lingering sting on her lips.
He had said he wasn’t going to apologize this time. And that meant there would be no regrets. He had wanted her—the bulge of his erection pressed against her had been evidence of that. But now as the gravity of the moment was setting in, she wondered what he was thinking.
She pulled in a sharp breath when he reached out to trace her jawline with his fingertip as his gaze held hers. She quickly concluded that he’d decided not to think about their dilemma—at least not now. A ragged moan escaped her lips when he slowly lowered his fingertip to trace a path down her neck toward to the center of her breasts. He moved his finger to the right, and rubbed it back and forth against her blouse.
She watched the movement of his hand before slowly returning her gaze to his face. “I thought we were talking about the chicken,” she said throatily, her voice overwhelmed with arousal. She felt a tremor of desire ease up her spine as her gaze held his deep, dark penetrating eyes.
“What makes you think we weren’t?”
As unexpectedly as his seduction had started, it ended when he released her and he walked over to the sink.
Chapter 15
Kenna had been quiet through most of their dinner, Reese noticed as he helped clear the table. If she was in shock from the kiss they’d shared earlier, she hadn’t seen anything yet, he thought. He loved her and he intended to do whatever he had to do to put those words into action and show her just what she meant to him.
Admittedly, part of what he felt was physical—unadulterated sexual desire. After all he had a healthy libido and had gone without sex for months. But he was also in love with the woman he craved so desperately. When they shared a bed, it wouldn’t be purely sexual. He would be sharing his body, his mind and his soul with the woman who had his heart.
He leaned against the counter and watched as she tried to avoid eye contact. He knew that she knew he was looking at her. Reining in his desire for her wasn’t going to be easy, but he intended to try. “Dinner was good,” he said, trying to break the ice.
She glanced over at him. “My part was easy.” She gestured toward the leftover chicken on the stove. “You’re the one who had the hard part. And the chicken was delicious, by the way.”
“Thanks.”
A few moments passed. “Reese?”
He looked at her intently. “Yes?”
He saw her swallow hard. “You don’t have to help me clean up the kitchen. I can handle it alone.”
He shrugged. “We’ve always cleaned up the kitchen together whenever we share a meal, Kenna. Why change now?” he asked innocently, as if he hadn’t practically mauled her mouth a short while ago. The memory of it only heightened his awareness of how much he wanted her.
“I know, but…”
“But, what?”
She held his gaze for a second and then shook her head. “Nothing.”
Oh, he would gladly show her what nothing meant. “Come on. Let’s clean up the kitchen together.”
“I do need to ask you something first,” she said softly, looking everywhere but at him.
He leaned back against the counter. “You can ask me anything, Kenna. You know that.”
She nodded then shifted her gaze to look him squarely in the eyes. “Why did you kiss me again?”
He focused on her mouth. “Because I didn’t get enough of the taste of you the first time,” he said, omitting the fact that it was even better than he remembered.
They stared at each other for the longest while. Neither said anything. He began to wonder just how long it would take before one of them broke the silence. “But you apologized for kissing me the first time.”
He heard something akin to hurt in her voice, and it was at that moment he understood the reason for it. It wasn’t about the kiss. She was hurt by his apology. He knew he had to backtrack and clear things up with her. “I wasn’t apologizing for kissing you that day, Kenna,” his voice deep with emotion. “I was apologizing because I enjoyed it too much, and if it had been left up to me things wouldn’t have stopped at just a kiss.”
He saw her blink in confusion and then he continued. “Look, I know you think you have this whole thing figured out, and in your mind the only reason that I’m coming on to you is because I’m hard up.”
“Isn’t it? Men have needs. And as far as I know, you haven’t been sleeping with anyone since Alyson. You’re not the type of man who would get involved with a woman just to satisfy his sexual needs,” she said quietly.
He rubbed his hand across his face. Clayton was right when he said women could be difficult at times. “Yet knowing that about me you think I’d take advantage of you in that way?”
“Honestly, I don’t know what to think anymore. So tell me, Reese, why would a man who wanted nothing more than to be my best friend before last week now want something else when nothing has changed between us?”
But everything had changed. He’d always been sexually aware of her, but had downplayed the attraction. Because they were both unattached now, he felt free to explore what else there could be. Evidently she hadn’t figured that out yet, and there was no reason to spell it out for her. Actions spoke a hell of a lot louder than words when it came to winning a woman over, according to his cousin Clayton.
There was no reason to assume that just because he’d realized he was in love with her that the feeling was mutual. But that didn’t mean that one day it wouldn’t be. In fact, he planned on making sure that day came, and soon.
“A lot has changed, Kenna,” he finally said. “We’re living under the same roof now.”
She rolled her eyes. “Your point?”
He slowly moved closer to her, trying to tamp down the rampant sexual urge stirring in him with every step. “The point, LaKenna James,” he said when he stopped directly in front of her, “is for whatever reason, there’s sexual chemistry between us that is now out in the open. You want me as much as I want you, and I intend to be honest about it and not try to hide from it. I know you better than any man on earth. I know you mentally and emotionally more than anything. I want to get to know you sexually.”
He saw fire leap into her eyes—raging fire, angry fire. “And what happens after I move into my own place? When I’m no longer living under your roof? Don’t you understand what we could stand to lose if we embark on a sexual relationship? There’s no way we’d be able to go back to being best friends after being lovers, Reese.”
A part of him wanted to tell her the truth—that he had no intention of them ever going back to the way it was. This was final. And he would make sure she felt the same way about him that he felt about her. “I don’t want to think about the future, Kenna. I just want what we have now.”
Okay, so he’d told a little white lie, but he knew Kenna. “Let’s table this discussion for now,” he suggested. “I’ll help you clean up the kitchen, then we can watch a movie and relax. You’re overthinking this,” he added.
&
nbsp; “And you don’t think I should?” she snapped.
Suddenly, his need to make her understand some of what he was feeling became paramount. He moved closer to her, forcing her to retreat, pressing her back toward the counter. She was trapped. He was unnerving her, and in response to his closeness he heard her take in a sharp breath. Then he reached out and cupped her chin to tilt her head to meet his gaze. “What I suggest you spend your time thinking about is this.”
He lowered his mouth and seized her lips and tongue so passionately and so possessively that he felt it all the way to his groin. Pressing his lips against hers he proceeded to devour her, ravish her mouth and savor the tantalizing taste of her. He noticed that she had not pushed him away, but was kissing him back, displaying as much hunger as he was.
He sank his mouth deeper into hers, while pressing the thick ridge of his erection against her feminine mound. They were fully clothed, but it seemed their bodies refused to acknowledge anything separating them. The only problem he had with that was a burning desire to have nothing between them.
God, he loved the taste of her mouth, loved the way her tongue mated with his, the way her breasts were rubbing against his chest. And he loved the fact that she was just as ravenous as he was. His senses were spinning out of control, making him greedy and making feasting on her lips his immediate obsession.
When he heard the sound of Joe’s voice as he approached the house, Reese tore his mouth from Kenna and released her. “Go on upstairs, take a long, leisurely bath and relax,” he whispered softly. “You need to be well rested for your first day on the job tomorrow. I’ll finish cleaning up the kitchen.”
Silence hung in the air between them and he saw the uncertainty in her gaze. It had been hard sitting across from her at dinner. Desire had nearly consumed him, but he had fought to maintain control.
And he was fighting to maintain it now.
“You sure you don’t mind?” she asked.
“I’m positive. Go on, I’ll be fine.”
She paused a few moments before moving around him, her tantalizing scent lingering in her wake. It was then that he drew in a deep breath, closed his eyes and leaned back against the kitchen counter as a rush of emotions flooded him. He knew that if he were to march upstairs and tell her how he truly felt, that he loved her not just as his best friend but as the woman he wanted to spend his life with, she wouldn’t believe him. He hadn’t given her a reason to do so yet.
For the first time in his life he was going to try his hand at winning a woman over, and he wasn’t beyond pulling out all the stops to accomplish it.
In spite of having taken a long, leisurely bath like Reese suggested and getting into bed early with a good book, Kenna was still wide awake. It was midnight. She sat up in bed trying to vent her pent-up anxiety. She knew the reason she couldn’t get to sleep: every time she closed her eyes, Reese’s face appeared. Now, however, she was seeing him through different eyes.
She knew how it felt to be caught in his intense gaze and to feel his lips, knowing exactly how they tasted and just how they felt. But she didn’t need to know any of those things to realize how much she loved him. Her feelings had been there for years, hidden. In the past, she’d never had a real reason to think about it. She just accepted it for what it was and knew eventually one day the right woman would come along and capture his heart. A part of her believed, and still did, that eventually she would meet a man who would marry her and give her the family she wanted.
Since she couldn’t sleep, she decided to go downstairs and watch a movie. Even if she didn’t stay awake through the entire movie, she would watch it long enough to fall asleep and wake up ready to start her new job.
Getting out of bed, she slipped into her robe and walked to the door and peeked out. It was dark and quiet. She glanced across the hall at Reese’s room. She’d heard him come upstairs and go to his room hours ago, so more than likely he was asleep.
She closed the bedroom door behind her and tiptoed across the hall, trying not to make a sound. She quietly headed downstairs to the basement. She had been in Reese’s home enough times to know her way around the basement in the dark. Her heart pounded with excitement in anticipation of watching her favorite movie. No matter how many times she saw it, she loved Mr. and Mrs. Smith.
The LED lighting along the floor of Reese’s home theater guided her path. She turned on the light switch after crossing the room to where Reese kept his DVD library. She paused, sensing an unexpected surge of heat.
Reese knew the moment Kenna entered the room, even before she turned on the light. He wished she hadn’t, because the LED lights embedded in the floor illuminated her short nightgown, making it obvious that she was wearing nothing underneath. And it was clear just what a voluptuous, curvy body she had.
He was sitting in one of the seats in the back of the home theater, so she didn’t notice him. Desire was surging through every part of his body, and those erotic dreams that had awakened him were there in living color.
“I’m here, Kenna,” he finally said. His voice sounded husky and deep, even to his own ears.
“Reese!” she said with a gasp, turning around and looking in the direction of his voice. “What are you doing up? I thought you were in bed.”
“I couldn’t sleep,” he said, easing out of the leather seat and slowly walking toward her. “I take it you had the same problem.”
Kenna swallowed as Reese moved toward the light. He was shirtless, and his jeans hung low on his hips. His wide shoulders and the well-defined muscles of his upper arms were proof he worked out regularly. She began to feel warm just looking at him. He was beautiful, muscular and built to perfection.
“Kenna?”
“Yes?” She averted her eyes from his body and looked at his face. She was embarrassed to realize he’d noticed her checking him out.
He smiled. “I said I take it you couldn’t sleep either.”
“No,” she replied. “I couldn’t sleep and thought I’d watch a movie.”
He nodded slowly. “And I just finished watching one.”
“Oh. Which one?”
“Mr. and Mrs. Smith.”
She laughed softly. They had gone to see it together when the movie first hit theaters. He had enjoyed all the action, and she had appreciated the romance. “That’s what I was going to watch, too.”
“It’s already loaded. Here’s the remote.”
“Thanks.”
The moment their fingers touched she jerked away when she felt a surge of electricity. She inhaled a deep, uneven breath. “I guess you’re on your way back to bed now, right?”
His eyes gazed down at hers. “Are you trying to get rid of me?”
“Of course not. In case you’ve forgotten, this is your house.”
“I haven’t forgotten, and if I remember correctly, this home theater was your idea.”
She couldn’t help but smile. She’d known he would appreciate a media room since he enjoyed watching movies as much she did. In college, they’d often gone to the movies together. “Are you complaining?”
“No, in fact this room has given me a lot of enjoyable hours, even when I’m not watching a movie. It’s peaceful and quiet, and this is where I come when I need to think.”
“And it seems I interrupted you. I’m sorry.”
“Don’t apologize. Besides, I was thinking about you.”
She swallowed. “Were you?”
“Yes.”
She wanted to ask him for details, but decided she was better off not knowing. “Then I’ll leave you alone with your thoughts. Good night.”
She turned to leave, and he reached out and grabbed her hand. The touch was electrifying. It sent sparks and a swell of warmth through her body. She tried to pull her hand away but Reese held tight. She glanced down at the hand holding hers and then looked into his face. It was filled with a heated emotion she’d never seen before. “Reese?”
“I just need to hold you for a minute, Kenna,” he sai
d in a voice laced with such raw need that she felt it in her own body.
She hesitated and then without saying a word she moved closer to him as he pulled her into his arms and held her tight. Laying her head on his chest she closed her eyes, thinking that if this was a dream she didn’t want to wake up. How many times had she envisioned Reese holding her this way?
She breathed in his manly scent and felt the unevenness of his respiration. Slowly she became aware of the erection pressing against her, and she instinctively angled her body closer to him.
He rumbled a low groan in her ear and lowered his hands from her waist to settle them on her backside, pulling her even closer. It was as if he wanted her to feel the strength of his desire. And what she felt had nothing to do with friendship.
She couldn’t ever recall responding to any man so quickly and easily. And knowing the man generating that reaction was Reese made the lower part of her body, which was tightly pressed against him, ignite in anticipation.
As her head nestled against his chest, she could feel his heart pound, and his pulse begin to race.
And talk about hard…
As if on cue, his erection began to throb against her body as he became more engorged. She heard him moan just as he cupped the back of her head and tilted her face to look up at him. And for a tense, sexually charged moment they simply stared at each other.
Kenna wasn’t sure how long he planned to stand there looking at her, seducing her with his gaze while her heart beat wildly. His eyes shifted lower and became fixated on her mouth. She nervously licked her lips in response, which elicited a deep groan from his throat just seconds before he dipped his head down and kissed her.
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