Page 35 of Paging Dr. Breakup
His mouth swept over hers once, twice. His lips were steel covered with warm velvet, and he pressed kisses to the corners of her mouth until their breathing became ragged.
Pulling his head up, he rasped, “Tell me to stop and I will walk away.”
Her heartbeat stuttered in her chest. So much about this felt right and wrong at the same time. It was a sham but oh so real. “Don’t stop,” she whispered.
He dipped his head for another breath-stealing kiss that made her head spin.
When he leaned back, she paused and studied him. His face was shadowed in the dim light. Heat poured off of him. His chest rose and fell too quickly, like he’d run a mile.
Her heart hammered in her chest. When was the last time she’d felt this way?
The answer rattled her.Never.
Which meant, what? Oh, God, Deirdre wasn’t prepared to get in touch with her feelings and address her personal demons. Not tonight. Not after so many years.
“Um, want to come in for a bit? Talk about our plans for later this week?” she managed to say.
With his face in shadow, she couldn’t read his expression, but he stood in silence. She sensed him studying her.
“Plans. Sure.” Disappointment and a dark intensity laced his words.
She tore her gaze away from his and led him inside, flicking the switch inside the front door to turn on the living room lamp.
The moment the door closed, his arms banded around her.
Chapter Thirteen
Cal had takenpretense to a whole new level.
God help him, he liked it. Deirdre’s scent. The feel of her soft mouth against his. So many years of wondering what it would be like to have her in his arms like this. She was everything he had never had but deep down always wanted.
But for Elijah.
Elijah. His best friend’s memory.
His friend’s wife.
Cal didn’t care.
Pressing Deirdre against the wall next to the front door, he leaned in, caging her, breathing her in, memorizing the fit of his body against hers. “God, Deirdre.” He hauled in a big lungful of air. “This isn’t about plans. It’s not about me. It’s us. We’re in this together.”
“What do you want?” Her mellow voice unraveled his control.
You. I’ve always wanted you.Somehow, he stopped the line from exiting his mouth.
Instead, he selected other words. “Another taste. More. Once wasn’t enough.”
She gave a shaky laugh that rocked his equilibrium. “I’m on board with that.” Gripping his shirt, she pulled, closing the scant distance between them and met his lips.
The tentative brush of flesh against flesh became more insistent. Hotter. Sweeter.
Then another bolt of desire shot through him as he slid his hands up to cup her jaw. He was making up for so many lost years. Everything he had missed was right in front of him. He changed angles, nipping and licking until she opened to him. He swept his tongue between her lips, and she met him thrust for thrust. The air she breathed was the air he breathed. She was a light beckoning him to circle closer. Cal would get burned.
He didn’t care.
Cradling her cheek with one hand, he stroked the soft line of her neck with the other. Her sigh sent a red-hot bolt of need straight to his groin. He hardened immediately and needed more.
Trailing his hand up, he laced his fingers through her hair, holding her so he could feast once more, raining kisses over her mouth, her cheeks, her neck. She smelled like flowers and tasted like fresh air and joy. “I can’t believe… this is…” he said between kisses.
