Read Online Rules of the Game by Nora Roberts - Free Book Online Page B

She struggled against him, but her movements only caused more heat to flare from the friction of her body on his.
    Gradually, the kiss altered. The hard pressure became sweet. He nibbled at her mouth, as if savoring the flavor, sucking gently, though his arms kept her pinned tight. She lost even her blurred vision, and her will to resist went with it.
    Parks felt the change, her sudden pliancy. Her surrender excited him. She wasn’t a woman to relinquish control easily, yet both times he had held her, he’d prized it from her. With gentleness, he realized, suddenly aware that the anger had fled from his body and his mouth. It was gentleness that won her, whereas force would only be met with force. Now he didn’t want to think—not for a moment. He wanted only to lose himself in the soft give of her body, the white-silk scent that poured from her and the dusky flavor of her mouth. They were all the seduction of woman, only intensified by her surrender.
    Brooke felt the liquid weight in her limbs, the slow insistent tug in her thighs before the muscles went lax. Her mouth clung to his, yearning for more of the magic it could bring with the gentle play of tongue and teeth. His hands began a slow exploration of her body, kneading over the soft material. When she felt him loosen the narrow zipper that ran from her throat to her waist, she roused herself to protest.
    â€œNo.” The words came on a gasp of breath as his fingers slid along her skin.
    Parks gathered her hair in one hand, drawing her head back so that his eyes met hers again. “I have to touch you.” Watching her, he glided his fingers over her breast, pausing briefly on the taut point before he roamed down to her flat, quivering stomach. “One day I’ll touch all of you,” he murmured. “Inch by inch. I’m going to feel your skin heat under my hands.” His fingers trailed back to her breast, leaving a path of awakened flesh in their wake. “I’m going to watch your face when I make love to you.”
    Bending, he touched his lips to hers again, tasting her breath as it shuddered into his mouth. Very slowly, he drew up the zipper, letting his knuckles graze along her skin. Then he ran his hands up her back until their bodies fit together again.
    â€œKiss me, Brooke.” He rubbed his nose lightly against hers. “Really kiss me.”
    Tingling from his touch, aroused by the whispered words, she pressed her open mouth to his. Her tongue sought his, hungry for the moist dark tastes that had already seeped inside of her. He waited for her demands, her aggressions, feeling them build as her body strained against his. With a groan of pleasure, Brooke tangled her fingers in his hair, wanting to drag him closer. When he knew his chain of control was on its last link, Parks drew her away. He’d learned more of her, but not enough. Not yet. And he wasn’t going to forget that he had a small score to settle with her.
    â€œWhen the camera’s rolling, it’s your game and your rules.” He cupped her chin in his hand, wondering how many times he’d be able to walk away from her when his body was aching to have her. “When it’s not,” he continued quietly, “the rules are mine.”
    Brooke took a shaky breath. “I don’t play games.”
    Parks smiled, running a fingertip over her swollen mouth. “Everyone does,” he corrected. “Some make a career out of it, and they aren’t all on ball fields.” Dropping his hand, he stepped back from her. “We both have a job to do. Maybe we’re not too thrilled about it at the moment, but I have a feeling that won’t make any difference in how well you work.”
    â€œNo,” Brooke agreed shortly. “It won’t. I can detest you and still make you look fantastic on the screen.”
    He grinned. “Or make me look like an idiot if it suited you.”
    She couldn’t prevent a