Page 126 of The Bet
“You’ve been counting?”
He scratched the back of his neck. “No, I was just thinking out aloud. It’s taken me four months to get to kiss you.”
“I’m not an easy catch, Stone,” she said, slowing rising, their hands entwining automatically. “And you’re not my type.”
Or hadn’t been.
He kissed her again, unexpectedly. “Don’t keep on reminding me.” Smiling, because he had lifted her mood, she kissed him back, because she liked the feel of his lips on hers, liked to feel the hardness of his muscles, liked that all of a sudden, they could.
“I’m sorry.” Another kiss, his hands around her waist, her arms around his neck, tongues exploring and mating. A drawn-out kiss that had her wanting much more. She forced herself to stop, when she heard a deep guttural moan come from inside her. At this rate, she’d want him to stay the night.
“You’re hot stuff, Laronde.” His gaze swept over her, energizing every cell in her body.
“You’re a bundle of surprises, Stone.”
“You’re making my balls blue.”
She reached below, touching his hardness, eliciting a gasp from him. “You’re right.” She stroked him over the soft fabric, saw the glint in his eye, the strangled breath he pushed out of his mouth, and then his hand reached over and moved her hand away.
“I should go,” he said, his eyes moist, his breath ragged.
“Why?” She couldn’t understand why he was leaving. “For someone who has a reputation as a player, you’re disappointing me.” She grinned as she said it, but she caught something in his expression she couldn’t decipher. As if he didn’t like that she was calling him out on it. It surprised her because she’d assumed he’d always played that careless womanizer part so well. For a long time she had wondered why girls were stupid enough, crazy enough, desperate enough to fall for him, and here she was, doing the exact same thing herself.
“Sorry to disappoint you on this occasion, but we can continue at another time.” He adjusted her yoga tee, which had slipped off one shoulder.
“Are you sure you don’t want a helping hand?” she asked mischievously.
“You’re killing me, Laronde.”
She wasn’t ready for him to go. Her evening had been gloomy, but now, after this, it wasn’t just the throbbing between her legs, it was having him around. She could restrain herself but she didn’t want to be alone. “We can talk, we don’t have to make out.”
He bent over and placed his hand around the back of her neck, tilting her head upwards. “Believe me, I want to do much more than make out with you.” He dropped another kiss on her lips, leaving her breathless, and speechless, and wondering why he hadn’t. “But I also don’t want to rush anything.”
She pressed her lips together, understanding, even though her body was a jungle of nerves, wild and unrestrained.
“I’m glad I came,” he said.
“Maybe next time you actually will,” she murmured, licking her lips provocatively, and surprised by her sense of letting go. It was as unnerving as it was exhilarating, the effect that Stone had on her, the way he made her throw logic out of the window, and succumb to her desire.
