Read Online KiltedForPleasure by Melissa Blue - Free Book Online

letting his hand drop back to the couch.

    “You’re welcome,” he said.

    Her nipples tightened painfully. “So…the McCulloughs?” she asked.

    “We won’t have sex if you don’t want to,” he said. “Relax. Or at the very least stop rambling about work.” The smile he gave her didn’t reach his eyes.

    She should have been able to breathe easier at his reassurance. Her keen awareness of his every movement should have lessened, but the Callan she’d known so far would have never said that. She tilted her head, taking in the sharp angles of his face. There was something there she couldn’t understand. “Who were you visiting at the cemetery?”

    He heaved a sigh that was so weary it made her ache. “Someone I’ll love till the day I draw my last breath.”

    Her lungs squeezed and she couldn’t find the air to even ask another question or give him condolences. How could she when Victoria couldn’t fathom the grief hinted at in his voice? Their eyes met and what she saw made her heart hurt for him. He laid the grief out for her now without trying to hide it by being rude or a pain in her ass. And it simply was an abyss. He didn’t come by to grouch or to drop off a copy of the new contract. He hadn’t wanted to be alone.

    “Callan,” she murmured.

    His jaw clenched and unclenched before he looked away. He puffed up his chest and settled deeper into the couch. “When your reasons for saying no to sex seem trivial, let me know.”

    She flinched like he’d slammed a door in her face. In a sense he had, but did he really need to explain? The message was clear. Drop the subject. Act like she hadn’t just seen him open and hurting, because it wouldn’t matter. Sex with him might have consequences if they got caught, but it wouldn’t be complicated between them.

    She gravitated into his space, tempted to cup his cheek just to comfort him and maybe ease the ache twisting her stomach. He didn’t want that kind of comfort, and she couldn’t give him the kind he needed.

    Before she could retreat back into her corner, he reached up and ran his thumb over her cheekbone. A sound filled with longing almost ripped from her throat. He was looking for any invitation to do what they both wanted, to do what he clearly needed—Callan wanted to forget.

    He swept his thumb over her bottom lip. “I’m sorry if I gave the impression I’d sit by idly until you changed your mind.”

    He had his hands in her hair before she could set him straight. A nice good grip too. He tilted her head up. “Tell me you want this,” he demanded.

    The way she curled into him screamed yes. “I’ll never—”

    He kissed the “no” away. She balled her fists, ready to hit him if she had to, but he pulled back, sucking on her bottom lip gently.

    Do it again. Don’t let me stop this. She said, “Just because—”

    This kiss was deeper, longer. She wrapped her fingers around his arms and held on. She couldn’t think when his tongue flicked at the corner of her mouth. All she could do was part her lips and let him in. The wet heat of him was too damn tempting, but the moment he stopped, she’d try again to talk him out of this seduction…

    Soft. So damn warm and convincing. She wanted his mouth everywhere. Little by little she just melted into him, letting his lips and hands tip her world, push her closer to the edge of insanity. It was wonderful and stupid.

    She crawled deeper into that small corner of the couch to steal some room and maybe some of her sanity back. Her breath panted out as she pushed his chest. Heat burned her cheeks, her every limb. She throbbed from need. She needed to stop.

    “Leave.” The only word she managed to get out came out as a plea, but she’d take it.

    “Say yes, Burke.” He scraped his teeth along her top lip and groaned. “You taste good.”

    “It’s the wine.” She balled her hands on his shirt. “You’re not leaving, are you?”

    “Do you want me to?”

    The answer