Page 14 of Midnight Dissonance

Lexi moaned, gripping his jacket even tighter. And with each sure, swift glide of his tongue against hers, her body surrendered to his mastery. God, was it any wonder he had his own fan club at the Eros Pit?

And that thought was like a bucket of ice water tossed over her head. It jolted her out of her lust-infused haze.

Lexi jerked back, breaking the kiss. She released his jacket and retreated, putting a few steps between them.

Shock mingled with lust on his handsome face. And he stared at her oddly, like she had something on her face. But she couldn’t deal with his hangups, not when she had a surfeit of her own. Not to mention she had a show to put on.

“Go home, Josh.”

“No. It’s a free country.” His refusal sparked the desire in her to pick right back up where they left off.

But that way led to ruin and heartbreak. Lexi rolled her eyes instead of launching herself into his arms. “Just stay away from me.”

She pushed past him and walked away. Her focus had to be on her show and not that Mister Fuck Anything With Tits made her feel as if she was coming out of her skin.

Because she wanted to climb him like a damn tree. And let him own her in the bedroom. After that kiss, she knew he would be an extremely skilled lover. She’d bet a scene with him would destroy her, and make her his most ardent groupie.

And that made him more dangerous than Travis.

She vowed not to see him again. Nor would she kiss him again. What the hell had she been thinking? Between Travis coming on to her and Josh’s timely rescue, she was all mixed up inside and scattered. She likely would have kissed an ogre if they had saved her.

But she grabbed her tea and headed backstage, ignoring the yearning in her heart that Josh was different, urging her to give him a try.

5

Bloody feckin’ hell!

It’s real. The Ryan click. A gentle wind could topple him onto his arse.

Josh didn’t believe in fate, soulmates, or the woo-woo energy stuff. He believed in the law and order, in what he could see, feel, and touch.

Until Lexi kissed him and blew all his beliefs to smithereens.

The reason behind her sudden kiss remained a total mystery. He touched his lips, where the ghost impression of her mouth still lingered. They still tasted like her and buzzed from the contact. The kiss had given him a semi. His dick roused, sensing a female like no other they’d come into contact with before.

Kissing her had been like he’d wrapped his lips around a downed electrical wire. Volts of lightning zapped through him and left him reeling. The devastation was total. His world would never be the same after that lip-lock. Because he would never forget what it felt like to kiss her.

Nor did he want to.

Desires he had buried a decade ago had been resurrected. A new sense of purpose filled him. He craved more with Lexi. Because if that’s what it felt like to kiss her, how would she feel writhing beneath him when he was buried hilt deep inside her? He bit back a groan at the imagery.

And he’d felt it. The Ryan click. It totally spun him for a loop. He’d truly believed it was a myth. One of those family legends passed down through generations with no truth behind it. And while his cousins proclaimed they felt the click with their wives and husband, he’d simply chalked it up to hormones and the honeymoon period in a relationship.

Josh left the short hallway and found a seat at the bar. It was one of the last remaining seats in the entire club. He ordered a beer.

And while he waited for her act—because he wasn’t leaving tonight until she did to ensure that creep didn’t try anything else—he mentally went through the reasons he was crazy for thinking he’d felt the click.

One. Lexi was far too young for him. She was only twenty-three. A babe in the woods yet, still finding her way in life. He was thirty-seven and rather set in his ways. There was a fourteen-year age gap between them. What could they possibly have in common?

Two. He wasn’t sure he liked her. She was ornery and difficult. She fought him at every turn. She drove him nuts with her refusal. But did she drive him crazy because of the tsunami of heat simmering beneath the surface?

Three. She didn’t like him. Barring that kiss, which he considered totally out of the ordinary for her, she wasn’t going to give him an inch of common ground. But there had been a moment, a few seconds at most, when the kiss ended and he’d spied an aching vulnerability and tender heart. How many people had broken it or had been careless with it to make her so guarded?

Four. That fucking kiss curled his bloody toes. Her curvy body had felt right against him. And he’d wanted to haul her out to his car and take her home, where he could spend the rest of the night worshipping her sweet curves until they were both physically spent.

Wait. He should stating his list of reasons he hadn’t felt the click. And why it was a bad idea to pursue anything with her. Not trying to sway himself to pursue a relationship with her.

What the bloody hell had been in her kiss?

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