Rachael Thomas – Red-Hot Affairs: The Crown Affair / Craving Her Enemy's Touch / A Lone Star Love Affair (страница 8)
‘Matt?’ she said with a sexy kind of breathiness that had him envisaging her saying his name in a whole lot of other ways.
At the images that spun through his head, the last vestiges of his resistance crumbled and Matt gave in. He wanted her. She wanted him. Why shouldn’t they go for it and to hell with the consequences?
Ruthlessly ignoring the little voice inside his head demanding to know what on earth he thought he was doing, Matt tilted his head and gave her a slow smile. ‘I think you should stay.’
STAY?
Oh, goodness.
Laura hadn’t thought it possible for her heart to beat more rapidly than it had when she’d been draped in his arms, but she’d been wrong. It was now galloping so fast she feared it might leap out of her chest.
The atmosphere had turned electric. Something about the way Matt was looking at her made every hair on her body leap to attention and quiver. The intensity of his gaze, the tension in his body and the smouldering smile … A lethally attractive combination that made her stomach lurch. God, if she wasn’t careful she’d be in so much trouble.
‘For what?’
Matt shrugged, but his eyes glittered with intent. ‘Lunch. The afternoon. Whatever.’
Lunch she could do. The afternoon would probably be manageable, too. It was the whatever that concerned her.
‘I can’t,’ she said a little hoarsely, and cleared her throat.
‘Why not?’
‘I have plans.’ That sounded good.
‘Cancel them.’
‘No.’ Excellent. Firm and uncompromising, that was the thing.
‘Why not?’
‘I’m on sabbatical.’
‘From lunch?’
‘From everything.’
‘Why?’
No way was she spilling out all the details of her disaster of a life. ‘I have my reasons.’
Matt’s eyes darkened. ‘I’m not suggesting you give up your sabbatical altogether. Just take a quick break.’
He ran his gaze over her and her body burned in the wake of its trail. Her breasts swelled. Her nipples hardened and molten heat pooled between her legs. Desire whipped through her and she had to fight not to tremble.
A one-night stand. That was what he was suggesting, wasn’t it? How disgraceful. How offensive. And, what with the lust hurtling around inside her, how completely and deliciously tempting.
‘That’s outrageous,’ she breathed, sounding less than convincing.
‘Is it?’
‘I might be concussed.’
‘Are you?’
‘Well, no, I don’t think so, but that’s not the point.’
‘Then what is?’
‘We barely know each other.’
‘So?’
‘I don’t do that sort of thing.’
‘Neither do I.’
‘Then why me? Why now?’
A muscle ticked in his jaw and his eyes burned with desire. ‘Because of this,’ he muttered fiercely, closing the short distance between them, wrapping her in his arms and slamming his mouth down on hers.
Laura didn’t have time to protest. Didn’t have time to resist. Because the minute his lips touched hers what little rational thought she had left shattered. Fire licked through her veins. Beneath his mouth she moaned. Wound her arms round his neck and threaded her fingers through his hair. Pressed herself closer, parted her lips and felt her entire body soften.
When his tongue slipped into her mouth, seeking hers, finding hers, her knees buckled. If she hadn’t been locked in his arms she’d have crumpled to the floor.
Sensation after sensation cascaded over her. Matt slid his hand over her waist, stroked it up her side and cupped her breast. Laura shuddered as his thumb brushed over her straining nipple and arched her back.
Drowning in pleasure, she sank into his kiss. No one had ever done this to her before, she thought dazedly. No one had ever turned her bones to water with nothing more than a kiss and a caress.
And she wasn’t sure she’d ever done this to anyone, either. Matt was kissing her as if it were his sole mission in life. So focused. So damn good. His mouth seemed to have been made for hers. She fitted his hands perfectly. He would fit her perfectly.
A wave of lust rolled over her and she couldn’t stop herself tilting her hips and rubbing herself against the rock-hard length of him.
Her control began to spin away and, totally unsure of whether to be scared witless or tumble him down onto the sofa, she gave in to the pleasure.
When Matt finally lifted his head, she could hardly breathe. Unlocking his arms from around her, he took a step back, his eyes blazing and his breathing jerky. At the sudden absence of his support, his heat, Laura shivered and swayed for a second.
‘That’s why,’ he said, drawing in a ragged breath and shoving his hands through his hair.
Laura blinked and touched her lips with trembling fingers. ‘That’s why what?’
‘Why you.’ His eyes, still dark and unfathomable, gleamed. ‘As for the why now, well, I have the entire weekend free.’
Ah. ‘I see,’ she said a little shakily.
‘You know,’ he said, looking at her as if he wanted to devour her all over again, ‘I really think you should cancel those plans of yours.’
Burning up beneath the heat of his gaze, Laura suddenly couldn’t remember why she’d mentioned the non-existent plans in the first place.
Her heart skipped a beat. Oh, heavens. She wasn’t seriously contemplating what he was suggesting, was she? She’d be mad to agree. She barely knew him. It was insane. She didn’t do one-night stands. Had never wanted to. She preferred to date, assess and evaluate before leaping into bed with someone.
But where had that sensible, cautious approach ever got her? Dumped, that was where. Relationships sucked. Relationships belonged to the old Laura. Why shouldn’t one-night stands belong to the new?
Besides, to have someone want her with this intensity, this hunger, when she’d been so recently rejected by someone she’d been with for years …
Her self-esteem, which had taken such a battering, was already rocketing. And to want someone quite this badly, when she’d thought she’d never be interested in anyone ever again, was heady stuff.
Her breath caught.
Standing in front of her was the most devastatingly gorgeous man she’d ever met. Who for some reason appeared to fancy her rotten. Would it really be so bad to go for it?
Suddenly sick and tired of evaluation and analysis, Laura made up her mind. ‘How long are you here for?’
‘I’m leaving tomorrow.’
‘Are you planning to come back any time soon?’
‘No.’ His eyes bore into hers, burning with desire but offering nothing, apart from an afternoon of unimaginable pleasure.
Laura’s heart pounded. That did it. No mess. No threat of entanglement in another debilitating relationship. Just the promise of hot sex and maybe lunch. ‘OK, then.’
For a big man he moved surprisingly fast.
Even though she was ready for it, had been waiting for it, sort of knew what to expect, nothing could have prepared her for the sheer force of the desire that slammed through her at the feel of his arms whipping round her and the touch of his mouth to hers. The floor beneath her feet rocked. Her entire body buzzed with sensation.
Now that she made the decision to go for it, it was as if a dam had burst deep inside her. Any inhibitions she might have had fled.