He opened the gate to the deck, and Pepper barked from behind a window screen, nearly giving him a heart attack.
“Come on, Pepper,” he said through clenched teeth. “Hush. Please.” He leaned the bike against the house.
Pepper stopped barking and panted.
He touched the screen with his finger and Pepper licked it. “Did she forget you last night?”
Leanna’s face appeared behind Pepper. She blinked several times and sleepily rubbed her eyes.
“I could never forget Pepper.” She hugged Pepper’s head, and Pepper licked her cheek.
“Sorry. I didn’t mean to wake you.” He couldn’t take his eyes off of her devastatingly sexy bare shoulders.
“You brought my bike back?”
She smiled, and he felt his anger float away. He stifled the urge to say, Oh, come on. Not the smile? That’s not fair.
“Come on in,” she said through the window.
He watched her walk away and—wow—she was wearing only a pair of lace panties. She disappeared into the bedroom, and when she came back out, her arms were up in the air and a silk camisole was sliding down her bare chest. Kurt could. Not. Move.
She came out on the deck, took his hand, and—
A chipmunk ran across the deck inches in front of her feet.
“Did you see him? Wasn’t he the cutest little thing?” Her eyes widened, and the joy that she exuded was contagious.
Kurt felt a smile form on his lips. She was incredibly cute, but he could not form a sentence to save his life.
Another first.
“Come on. I’ll make you some coffee.” She led him inside.
The clothes she’d worn the night before were on the kitchen table, her shoes were in the middle of the floor, and there she stood, barefoot, in a pair of lace panties and that seductive silky camisole, setting a teakettle on the stove. He might not be able to speak, but he could feel the squeeze of his heart, and his legs had a mind of their own. Two silent steps put him behind her. His hands found her glorious hips—the hips he’d dreamed about more times over the past two days than he cared to admit.
“No coffee,” he whispered in her ear. “I…I’m jogging back home.” His heart thundered in his chest, and when she turned to him and pressed her hands to his pecs, she stole his breath.
“I’m sorry about yesterday.” Her voice was soft and tender.
Pepper whined at his feet, but he was too focused on Leanna blinking up at him to notice.
“Is…Carey your boyfriend?”
She shook her head. “I don’t do boyfriends very well.”
He narrowed his eyes but didn’t want to—couldn’t—take the time to decipher what that might mean. He had to taste her sweet, sexy lips. He had to be closer to her. He lowered his mouth to hers and wrapped his arms around her body. He placed one hand on the graceful curve of her lower back, and the other snuck beneath her hair. Her lips parted as she opened up to him. Her hands slid up his chest to his shoulders, and her tongue—her luscious, hot tongue—stroked his in perfect sync. He had to feel more of her. He slipped his hand beneath her cami, reveling in the soft, tender feel of her back. The back he’d been envisioning since she’d first changed into his sweatshirt. She pressed against his chest, and he craved more. So much more. He drew back and searched her eyes, and the desire in them mirrored the heat raging through his veins.
“Wow,” she whispered.
A half smile was all he could manage, because wow was right. That kiss sent a bolt of lightning right through him. “Sorry.”
“Sorry?” She wrapped her arms around his waist and snuggled into him. “That’s the best kiss I think I’ve ever had in my life, and I really, really want another.”
He lowered his lips to hers again, and she made the cutest, sexiest little sounds of pleasure. He wanted to kiss her forever just to hear more. She reached up and stroked his cheek, and he couldn’t help but back her up against the bathroom door and deepen the kiss. She pulled back. They were both breathing hard.
“Teeth. I have to brush them.”
He hadn’t even noticed. She reached behind her and turned the doorknob. The door opened, and he kept his grip on her, then lifted her up and set her on the sink before he kissed her again—deeply, greedily, hungrily devouring her. She opened her legs, and he stepped between them. She arched into him.
“You taste delicious.” He kissed her again just to prove it. His lips slid to the corner of her mouth, where he placed another soft kiss, and he couldn’t stop there. He kissed her jaw, her neck, her sweet shoulder before reclaiming her mouth again.
She took his face in her hands and looked into his eyes.
“I’m a train wreck, and you’re anything but,” she whispered.
He loved her honesty. “You are. I am.”
He kissed her again, and she pressed her hands against his back, closing the inch gap between them. He couldn’t believe she was in his arms, and relief from what he knew now had been disappointment, not anger, forced his lips from hers, and he gazed into her eyes.
“I thought you went home with Carey.”
She shook her head and brought her lips to his chest, pressing soft kisses along the tattoo over his heart and making him want her even more. Kurt buried his hands in her hair and tilted her head back so he could look into her eyes again. What was it about her that enraptured him so? Time was ticking away. He should be back home eating breakfast, reading the paper, and getting ready to write, and all he wanted to do was carry her into the bedroom and make love to her.
He was too torn to move. Another day of not writing would set him back, and his deadline was looming. “Leanna.”
She smiled. “I know.” She dropped her eyes to his chest and ran her finger over the ink again. “You have to write. I need to get my van.”
“Go out with me tonight.” He didn’t wait for her to respond. He kissed her again and groaned as he forced himself to tear his lips away before he became too lost in her and wasn’t able to.
“Okay,” she whispered.
“Okay?”
She nodded. “Tonight.”
He’d forgotten what he’d asked. His mind was running down another path—swooping her into his arms and making love to her until he forgot how to write and she forgot…Oh no. Until she remembered everything. No. He wanted more than that. More of her than an hour of ravaging her heavenly body.
“Tonight.” He took a step back to try to cool the heat between them. He ran his hand over his face and his eyes down her captivating curves. Kurt lowered his forehead to hers. “You are the most alluring woman I have ever met. I can’t stop thinking about you.”