Lilo kissed him back with a passion he hadn’t expected, especially not from a woman who barely knew him. She was pure fire and unrestrained hunger. She was positively wanton. He felt her heartbeat reverberate in his chest, her soft breasts crushed against him. Gentle moans escaped from her throat whenever he gave her occasion to breathe. But the reprieve never lasted long. A mere second, and she would seek his lips again, demanding more, a deeper connection, as if she couldn’t get enough of this kiss, of him. Just like he couldn’t get enough of her.
His cock ached now, desperate to plunge into her heat and find release. He let his hands roam over her body, exploring her luscious curves, caressing her, seducing her. Yes, he knew what he was doing. Using her vulnerability to get what he wanted: a taste of this beautiful and brave woman. He should be ashamed of himself for giving into his baser needs and stop this madness now. He’d brought her to his house to protect her, not to maul her like a hungry animal. But his cock cared nothing about that. Didn’t know what honor was. Only wanted to feel her. To be with her.
And she did nothing to stop him. There was no resistance. He didn’t have a snowball’s chance in hell of stopping this, of doing the honorable thing and letting her go to bed—alone. All he could think about was how to maneuver her upstairs to his bedroom where they could continue this folly with some privacy. Where he could strip off her clothes and feast his eyes on her, while he brought her to ecstasy.
But he knew that wouldn’t be enough. Even finding release inside her wouldn’t suffice. No, he knew with a certainty he’d never felt before that only when he tasted Lilo’s blood would he be truly satisfied. Sated. Happy.
But this would mean exposing himself. Showing her who he was. What he was. How would she react? Would she still rub her sexy body against him and allow him to touch her? Would she still want to touch him? The way she touched him now? With her warm fingers sliding underneath his shirt, her fingernails clawing at his back, while he tunneled underneath her top and touched the smooth skin of her abdomen? He slid higher, slowly, gently, waiting for her to stop him. But no protest came from her lips, lips that were busy devouring him.
Only a few more inches and his hands would be on her breasts, cradling those perfect globes in his palms, teasing those nipples with his fingers...
“Blake, luvvie, are you h—?”
Blake spun around, breathing heavily, glaring at the person coming through the front door.
“Rose?” He ran a shaky hand through his hair. Fuck! It would be his 4th great-grandmother, walking in on him practically fucking Lilo in the hallway. Just fucking perfect! “I thought you were in Carmel…”
Rose looked past him. “Oh…”
From the corner of his eye he saw Lilo nervously rearranging her clothing. “I’m sorry.” Her voice cracked. She looked at Rose, then back at him. “I need to go.” She dashed past him to the stairs, running up to the second floor.
“Lilo!”
But she didn’t stop.
“I guess I came at a bad time,” Rose said.
“You could say that.”
12
How could she have been so stupid?
Lilo shut the door to the guestroom behind her and lifted her suitcase onto the bed. She rushed into the en-suite bathroom, and grabbed the few things she’d unpacked earlier, tossing them back into the suitcase.
Blake had a girlfriend! His stunned words had confirmed as much. I thought you were in Carmel. Apparently he hadn’t expected her home this early. So he’d thought he could mess around while his girlfriend was out of town. Damn it! He was just as bad as every other man. Only Morgan West wasn’t like that, because she’d written him differently: at least Morgan never committed to one woman and let his various bedmates know that he wasn’t exclusive. He didn’t lie.
Well, technically Blake hadn’t lied, he’d simply forgotten to tell her that he had a girlfriend. A very beautiful one at that. She looked no older than twenty-five and was as stunning as any model. Blonde, petite, delicate features. And a British accent. Clearly, Blake went for blondes. Maybe a few days without his girlfriend had made him randy. Maybe he’d needed to get a fix from another blonde, and she’d been the willing victim.
How could she have let herself go like that? She’d been about to undress him, throwing all caution to the wind. A few more minutes and she would have been sleeping with a complete stranger, a man she knew nothing about. A man who was cheating on his girlfriend.
A knock at the door made her stiffen.
“Lilo, please, we have to talk.”
She scoffed. She had nothing to say to him. “Don’t worry, I’m leaving. Tell your girlfriend—”
The door opened, making her spin around. Blake stood there, his eyes immediately darting past her to the suitcase on the bed, his surprise evident.
“You can’t leave.” He marched into the room and closed the door behind him.
Instinctively she took a step back, the back of her legs bumping against the bed. “Please tell her I’m sorry. If I had known…”
“You think Rose is my girlfriend?”
“She shows up here at five in the morning and calls you luvvie.”
Blake had the audacity to chuckle. “Rose is English. She calls everybody luvvie. Or dear.”