asked, running one finger along her upper lip and slipping its tip into her mouth.
“Who’s who?” She tapped his finger away from her face like a bothersome fly.
“The bastard who hurt you so badly that you’re afraid to let anyone else get close?”
“You see,” she said, finally struggling to her feet and swirling to face him. “You’re doing it again. Just because I don’t fall into your arms, there has to be some tragedy in my life that’s turned me off men for good.”
He was still sprawled on the ground and felt at a disadvantage, having her towering over him as she protested a little too vehemently.
“I didn’t say that.” He stood as well, the calmness of his tone appearing to take the edge off her anger.
“Perhaps I prefer women,” she said with a playful smile that drew his attention to her highly kissable lips and kept it there.
“No, you don’t.”
“What makes you so sure? I know you’re a self-appointed expert on women in general, but even you—”
“This,” he said, provoked beyond his admittedly limited endurance.
Before she had time to assess his intentions, he pulled her into his arms and held her there. The feel of her soft breasts pressed against the hard planes of his chest sent his mind on a sensual detour. He squashed the various options that swamped his brain. Acting out his impulses with this skittish, contrary, highly desirable female was out of the question. If he scared her off, his brothers would never forgive him. They were all up for the challenge of bringing her to heel, and that achievement required deviation from their usual methods. Guile, making Ms. Darwin aware of her sensuous nature and what she was missing out on by suppressing it, was the order of the day.
He heard the air leave her lungs in an extravagant whoosh as her body collided with his and actually felt a fine tremor run through her as he held her against him. The next move was hers. He’d caught her by surprise, but, gratifyingly, she didn’t put up a fight. Her eyes flared, wide and wary, but there was curiosity in them, right along with the swirling passion that turned them the colour of burnished amber. Something changed inside Brad as he held both her body and her gaze captive. Hell if he knew what it was because he’d never experienced anything remotely like it before. All he knew was that if he didn’t at least manage to kiss her without scaring her off, then he’d give up women for good.
He dropped his head and bestowed an experimental, teasingly light kiss on her lips. The shudders passing through her body intensified and her eyes fluttered to a close. Taking that for a green light, he moved in for the kill. His lips firmed against hers, practised and persuasive. She shifted against him, causing renewed agony to his genitalia that had nothing to do with an elbow to the scrotum. He continued to tickle the corner of her mouth with his tongue, waiting to see how she would react. Her arms wormed their way round his neck and euphoria streaked through him when her lips parted and she started to kiss him back like she meant business. Brad’s tongue, velvety and sensuous, commenced a journey of discovery inside her mouth, savouring the heat of it. His hands roamed possessively as he did so, holding her firmly against his erection as he rubbed it against her gut.
Steffi was a full participant in that kiss, enjoying it every bit as much as he was, but if he didn’t stop it now, then he wouldn’t be able to hold back. She wasn’t ready for more. Besides, the three of them had decided that a little gentle persuasion was permitted but she had to be the one to come to them when she was ready for the full deal.
Brad tore his lips from hers and released his iron hold on her body. She almost stumbled without his support and he quickly grabbed her arm before she fell.
“That’s why I know you don’t prefer women,” he said, trying not to sound as smugly satisfied as he felt.
She looked
Elizabeth Rolls
Roy Jenkins
Miss KP
Jennifer McCartney, Lisa Maggiore
Sarah Mallory
John Bingham
Rosie Claverton
Matti Joensuu
Emma Wildes
Tim Waggoner