confident.”
The man was too cocky. It was high time someone knocked Nick Stone down a peg or two. Perhaps she was just the woman for the job.
Nick pulled her tighter against him. Tilting up her head, he took her mouth in a hard show of possession. His tongue darted out and licked at the seam of her lips, all but demanding she open for him. Lacey had no choice but to obey. As soon as her lips parted, he took advantage and delved in.
His hands were everywhere. They slid down her back to her bottom where he cupped her close and pulled her into the cradle of his thighs. She groaned, or he did, she wasn’t sure. All that mattered was that he continue kissing her. Lacey was on fire. Her entire body responded to the feel of his lean strength against her giving flesh.
Nick tilted his head and she raised her hands to grasp the sides of his neck, holding him to her. She tunneled her fingers through the dark strands of his hair, reveling in its softness. His tongue touched and played with hers, darting in and out, mimicking lovemaking. He was hungry. Urgent. Challenging. Lacey couldn’t stand it anymore.
Pulling back, breathing as if she’d run four laps around the gym, Lacey moaned, “Bedroom, now.”
She turned and started in that direction, but a hand at the back of her waistband pulled her up short.
“Not quite yet,” Nick ground out.
Lacey stared, confused and anxious. “Huh?”
“Lesson two, remember?” he reminded her.
Anne Rainey
“Yeah, lesson two. You can tell me all about it in the bedroom.” Lacey tugged on his hand again and smiled up at him. He looked so sweet, so ravenous, as if he were drinking her in with his eyes. It was the ultimate temptation.
“No,” he said, attempting to sound stern. He failed miserably, because Lacey wasn’t buying it.
She was about to push a little more, but he placed his index finger to her lips and murmured, “We need to slow down a little, baby.”
She pouted, but Nick only closed his eyes. Darn it. She was getting nowhere fast. Lacey moved his finger and protested, “I don’t see why. Things are going pretty well
at this pace.”
Nick opened his eyes and stared at the woman before him. She was begging him for sex. What the hell was his problem? Easy. He wanted this to be about more than lessons. Regardless of what he’d told her, he knew if they went into the bedroom, it’d be wham, bam, and she’d be walking right out of his life. No fucking way.
“If we don’t slow down I’m going to come way before you ever get a hint of pleasure. I’ve waited too long for this already.” He watched her gaze flit down his body as if trying to see right through the fabric of his jeans. She was such an inferno of needs and wants right now, and that was as it should be, but Nick wanted more than Lacey’s body. He wanted an emotional intimacy with her and he couldn’t get that if he let her have her way.
Nick touched the tip of her nose and smiled. “First we get to know each other. That’s lesson two. Learning to appreciate the moment.”
Lacey rolled her eyes at him. “I am appreciating the moment. Besides, we already know each other.”
“Not in the way of lovers we don’t. We know each other as buddies. That’s not the same thing. Not by a long shot.”
She looked dubious. “Well yeah, that’s sort of what I was trying to do, get to know you as a lover.”
Touching Lace
Nick had no idea restraint could be so difficult. She was just so damned tempting. But he wouldn’t be a substitute for cookies. Right now that’s all it would be for Lacey. A way to drown her problems in a few blissful moments of sensual gratification.
He rubbed his hand over his face, trying to gather his fortitude. “Lacey, I want to spend time with you. I want to touch and cuddle. Ease into the moment, ya know?”
Lacey sighed. “It occurs to me that I am way out of my element with you, Nick. I don’t know what you want from me. Most men are perfectly content keeping
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