Page 146 of Her Reluctant Hero
Chapter Ten
The surf had done its trick. Mallory finally felt calm enough to go inside, go to sleep, not dream of Adrian, of everything that had happened since she’d decided to come to Belize, of all the doubts that plagued her mind. She’d been so careful constructing that wall around her emotions when it came to Adrian. But after the conversation in the truck, the incident in the tub and the talk in her hotel room, she felt that mortar crumbling.
Before, she’d talked herself into believing she was here for the ship. Now…God. She knew exactly why she had returned.
She was a glutton for punishment.
She turned to walk out of the surf and saw Adrian sitting on the beach, legs folded in front of him, arms looped over his knees as he watched her, that grin curving his mouth, his teeth glinting in the moonlight.
Defensiveness kicked in, battling the punch of pleasure, of excitement at seeing him—and losing. She had to keep her head. She had to. What would she risk if she lost it? “What are you doing down here?”
“Couldn’t sleep.”
He pushed to his feet in a fluid movement, moved toward her as she stepped out of the waves onto the packed sand. Even while her brain told her to stop, to slow, to turn away, her legs carried her forward, the wet hem of her T-shirt—his T-shirt—catching on her bare legs as if trying to remind her why she shouldn’t be doing this. She didn’t pay attention, focused only on Adrian’s eyes.
He lifted his hands, curved them on either side of her face, his fingers rough against her skin. That maddening grin taunted her even as he lowered his head and she rose on her toes.
Just that, just his kiss, the taste of him, the feel of him, easy but still carrying the punch of lust, was enough to chase doubts from her head. No future. No consequences. Only she and the man she’d loved since she was twenty.
He stroked her jaw with a callused thumb, combed his fingers through her hair. She whimpered and deepened the kiss. He caressed her hairline, the line of her throat, his rhythm unmistakably sexual, his pace slow, gentle, savoring. This new, older Adrian had learned some control himself.
She eased against him, coasting her hands up his bare arms, caressing the defined muscles there, feeling them ripple as he slid his hands down to cradle her hips, bring her against his arousal.
Suddenly three years apart felt like an eternity. With only a step and a little shove, she dropped him to the sand and came down on top of him, straddling his lap. She found his mouth again with hers, so easy, tracing the line of his lips, hungry to taste him as she edged her hips closer to nestle his erection, gliding her hands up over his naked chest, revving her own desire.
He bent and brushed his lips across her throat as he coasted his palms up her thighs. The sizzle that went through her charged him as well. He pressed his lips against her ear. “I’ve missed you, Mal.”
She dragged her teeth over his earlobe. “Yes. God, yes.”
He drew back just enough to look into her eyes. “I don’t want to make love to you out here. Not where anyone could come up. Not when we have two beds waiting.”
His thumbs traced circles on her thighs, below her panties. His eyes brightened when he realized she wasn’t wearing shorts underneath the T-shirt. But those lazy circles jangled her nerves so much she didn’t know if she could stand, much less walk to the hotel. Nitrogen narcosis had nothing on Adrian Reeves.
“You have to stop that, or don’t stop.” She pushed her hips closer, urging his touch higher, needing relief, release.
With a grin, he dragged his palms down her thighs to her knees before he gave them a gentle shove to move her off him. “Let’s go.” He dumped her off his lap, rolled to his feet and reached to help her up. She clasped his hand and stood, swaying close, brushing against him. He drew in a sharp breath.
The grin flashed again before he led her to the hotel. They were breathless by the time they reached the lobby. He shushed her giggles as they echoed off the walls of the empty place. Sandy footprints marked their path as they hurried to the elevator.
When it dinged, the doors slid open with a whoosh. He crowded her inside, against a corner and parted her legs with his knee. The hair of his thigh tickled, arousing her, as he covered her mouth with his. He stroked his tongue deep as he slid his hands under her T-shirt, gliding over her waist, teasing her with the proximity of his touch. She moved into him just as the door dinged again, opened, and he eased out, his hands on her hips to guide her into the hall.
“Your key?” he asked against her ear.
She reached inside the neck of her shirt and tugged out a chain with the keycard clipped to it. He slipped it over her head to unlock her door, then turned to pull her inside, dragging her T-shirt over her head while he circled her toward the bed, then lowered her to it.
This kiss was deeper, hungrier, as if the last of his control had escaped its leash. He closed his palm over her breast, the sensation both alien and familiar. She bowed into it, opening her mouth on a moan. His tongue delved deeper, his hips pressing into hers, his arousal undisguised. She shifted on the bed so he was poised at the junction of her thighs. He pushed against her once, twice, before rising off her.
“Adrian, no,” she protested, reaching for him.
He merely cocked his head in amusement, then shucked his shorts and knelt over her again, to drag her panties down her legs. She glided her fingers over his stomach and felt his skin ripple before she closed them around his length, sliding from base to tip, dragging a shuddering groan from him before he pushed her hand away. She held her breath, waiting for the next step.
Well, she knew the next step, but with Adrian, she couldn’t be sure what form it would take.
He took her face in his hands, kissing her with the same tenderness he’d shown earlier. With gentle prodding, he laid her down on her side, stretching out beside her. His eyes never left hers as he lifted her thigh over his hip and entered her.
All the foreplay, all the arousal, melted away. No longer did she feel desire as such, only an overwhelming sense of right. This was where she belonged. With Adrian. In his arms, in his bed.
In his life. She felt complete.
