Page 28 of A Lot Like Love
She sucked in a breath as his fingers trailed across her skin. Yes, she did mind.That’s what she should have said. Only she didn’t. Chloe dug her nails into the leather beneath her as Ryder explored her upper arm, across her shoulder and painstakingly slowly down her chest. All his fingers stopped at the edge of her top, except for one which dipped a little lower.
“Chloe?”
She swallowed, breathing heavily, conscious of every tiny movement of his body. His fingertips were like blasts of scorching heat against her skin, each touch making a dent in her willpower.
“What are you doing?” she choked out.
His grin was wicked. “What do you want me to be doing?”
She wasn’t going to answer that. “Ryder, we shouldn’t…”
“Why not?” he asked, his deep, husky whisper not helping her willpower any. “The way I see it, we can have some fun together and get what we both need.”
She swallowed hard as he pushed down the front of her top, so close to exposing her chest, his fingers way too close to her breast for comfort.
“So,” she started, sucking back a sharp breath as he stroked her skin. “You just want sex?”
He chuckled as he tugged her closer and pressed a warm kiss to her neck. “I want you. For as long as I can have you.”
Chloe stifled a moan, trying to find some shred of willpower, knowing she needed to pull away. But her bones were like liquid, refusing to comply, and instead of heading in the other direction she ended up climbing onto his lap, straddling him as he guided her closer, hands locked on her hips. What had happened to her steely resolve?
“You’re bad, you know that?”
“So I’ve been told,” he replied, one hand snaking around the back of her head to force her forward, tipping her down toward him.
“This is only temporary,” she muttered, staying in control just enough to push him back so she could talk. “We had a deal and once it’s done, I’ll be heading off to school. On the other side of the state.”
Ryder made a noise that sounded like a growl. She didn’t know if he was angry with her words or impatient for her to shut the hell up and get back to kissing him.
“I thought you didn’t want to be my mistress,” he ground out.
“I’m not your mistress,” she murmured, lips parting from his barely enough to get the words out. “This is just two people having fun and pretending to be in a relationship. No feelings, no strings attached.”
His laugh was a throaty rumble. “Sweetheart, you might not be having feelings but I sure as hell am.”
Her eyebrows shot up at the same time as she met his gaze, feeling just how excited he was as she sat on his lap.. “You know I wasn’t talking about those kind of feelings.”
He shrugged. “I get it. No falling for you, no real relationship. Now can you stop talking and let me show you what kind of feelings I had in mind?”
“You’re a devil, Ryder King,” she muttered. Chloe closed her eyes as Ryder tugged her down, his hands tangled in her long hair and holding her in place. The little voice in her head, the one telling her she was a fool to do anything with Ryder, was starting to fade until all she could think about was how good his mouth felt against hers. His lips were painstakingly slow one minute then rough and demanding the next, tongue clashing with hers as she explored his mouth.
Chloe heard a moan, listened to the guttural noise before she realized it had escaped from her. Ryder’s hands were all over her, one on her bottom now, the other skimming under her T-shirt, feeling her up and sending goose bumps racing across her skin. Her body was humming, back arched as his palm pressed against her stomach and traced a path upward. But he wasn’t the only one allowed to touch.
She pushed up, taking her mouth off his only long enough to yank open a few buttons of his shirt, desperate to explore his chest, to feel his muscles and taste his skin. Ryder went to move but she pressed down hard on his chest, palms flat, thighs clenching tight to lock him in place. She only hoped the flight attendant hadn’t come back in—Ryder had told her the attendants knew to make themselves scarce and kept to their quarters, but still…
“Stay still,” she ordered after a quick look around to make sure they were definitely alone.
Ryder raised one eyebrow, clearly up for the challenge. “Or what?”
She laughed. “Or this.” Chloe made fast work of the next couple of buttons and pulled his shirt out from his jeans so his entire chest and stomach were exposed. Then she dipped her head, hair falling over him as she kissed his chest then his abs, tongue darting out to explore each grove of muscle. She’d been wanting to do it ever since she’d seen him strip off his shirt the other day, no matter how much she’d tried to pretend otherwise.
Ryder sucked in a sharp breath as she worked her way back up and sucked hard on one of his nipples, grating her teeth gently against the delicate flesh.
“Easy,” he muttered, grabbing hold of her hair.
She laughed, fighting to free herself from his grasp. “Or what?”
He yanked her head up, his gaze a combination of deadly serious and playful. “Wouldn’t you like to find out.”
