“Yep.” She held her chin up. Elegant and poised, in spite of her shabby, shapeless clothes, but with his mods, he could see that she shimmered with excitement.
Curiosity was already dogging him. He liked gathering data, knowing all there was to be known, but she wasn’t giving anything away
She’d rejected the gallant suitor scenario, so fuck it. She’d have to deal with the lust-crazed predatory animal that was beneath.
A powerful impulse roared up from the depths. He pulled her into a ravenous kiss.
Chapter 8
A childhood memory flashed through Caro’s mind. Of herself, thirteen years old, diving off a high, smooth granite cliff and into the old quarry. In midair, just before the frightening plunge into the dark, deep water.
The universe had distilled itself to this intersection of space and time, this room, this man. This kiss, charged with worshipful hunger.
Her own hunger roared up to answer it. She clung, melting, craving his heat, his strength. Her nails slid over his shoulders and his suit jacket, frustrated by his starched collar, his thick silk tie. She wanted to rip away all barriers to his hot skin. His lips were soft, seductively insistent. His mouth tasted so good. She drank in the subtle spice of his cologne, his glossy hair, sliding her fingers through it.
She abandoned herself to the sensations. Her body gave her no choice, and it was great not to have a choice. She was exhausted from choice-making. Her body had decided for her that the most important thing on earth was to be kissed as if she were this man’s heart’s desire.
She’d felt nothing but fear for so long, curled up like a seed in a pod. His touch made everything inside explode outward in a wild riot of color, scent, sensation.
Dangerous. Of course. This man was a luxury that she could not afford, and there would be a reckoning. Yes. Yes, she knew that. Fuck it. The knowing was just a shrill yapping in the back of her head. What was happening was all that mattered.
His arms were steely hard. His erection prodded her belly, made her ache and squirm, thighs squeezing around the hot, surprised glow. Shivering waves of tension convulsed and released, each new almost-orgasm blooming from the one before, each new one deeper. Noah Gallagher was a vast, undiscovered realm, and she wanted to discover him, all of him. To lose herself and stay lost. Seeing him and being seen. Tasting him and being tasted.
Their hands were all over each other. His grip was so warm and strong, gripping and caressing. Hers skittered, frustrated by that damn tailored jacket, trying to dig into the thick muscles of his massive shoulders. He thrust his tongue into her mouth, showing her how wonderful his sensual mastery was going to feel when he entered her.
He lifted his mouth, slowly. The tiny, liquid pop that their mouths made as they disengaged made Caro’s eyes flutter open. She was lost instantly, hypnotized by those bright, astonishing eyes that seemed to see all the way into forever.
He spun her around, so that her back was pressed to his front. She felt disoriented until he lifted the weight of her hair and pressed his lips against the side of her neck, and started systematically unraveling her with his slow, dragging kisses, his breath so hot, his teeth gently nipping each and every exquisitely sensitive nerve ending.
His hand slipped inside her belt. Her jeans were very loose, since chronic fear was as much of an appetite killer as her current grocery budget. He caressed her belly, her hip, kissing and nibbling her neck as his hand moved over her mound, his long fingers pressing the springy curls beneath her nylon panties.
He made a low, inquisitive sound, giving her throat velvety, questioning kisses. Wordlessly asking permission to go further, with each touch, everywhere he touched. In no hurry at all. Patiently waiting for a sign. She wanted to give him one, desperately, but her voice was locked in place. Like her muscles, jammed and frozen.
“Can I?” His low voice rumbled in her ear as startled pleasure rippled down her entire body, right down to her fingers and toes.
She nodded, and clung to his thick forearm pressed against her belly, moaning inaudibly as his hand teased beneath the waistband of her panties and then lower, where she was damp and hot. His fingertips slid slowly around the bud of her clitoris until she began to shake with excitement.
He just kept at it, lazy and languorous, as if he would be happy to spend the rest of his life making slow, sweet love to the nape of her neck while petting her into an erotic frenzy. Sweet torment: his melting kiss, the sure touch of his hand. He leaned back against his desk and perched her against his thigh so that he could slide his finger deeper inside her, and found her swollen and slick. She clenched his finger eagerly at each gentle intrusion. Every caress took her higher. Made her want him more.