Page 19 of A Kiss to Remember
She issued the invitation, knowing he would only take her up on two of those. And even as he exited the car, rounded the hood and opened her door, she accepted it.
Moments later, she led him into her home, and as soon as they crossed the threshold, Declan closed the door behind them, twisting the lock. All without removing his hooded gaze from her.
Need dug its dark claws into her, and her thighs trembled with the force of it. How was it possible towantthis much? To feel like if he didn’t put his hands on her, his mouth on her, his cockinsideher, she would crawl out of her skin? Lose her mind?
“Touch me.”
Two words. They were all she could push past her constricted throat. They were all that were necessary.
He stalked forward, shrugging out of his coat, peeling his sweater and dark T-shirt over his head, dropping all the clothing to the floor. Her breath expelled from her lungs on a hard, longwhoosh.
Jesus Christ.
Clothed, he was beautiful.
Bared, with golden skin stretched across taut, flexing muscle, he was magnificent.
She couldn’t move, her gaze greedily bingeing on the wide breadth of his shoulders, the wall of his chest, the corded strength of his arms. That ridged ladder of abs with the dark silky line of hair that disappeared beneath the waistband of his pants.
A waistband his hands had dropped to.
“Wait.” She popped her palms up in the universal sign of Stop.
“Let me,” she whispered. “I want it.” She clasped her hands together as if holding her passion for him between them. “I want you.”
“I’m yours.” He beckoned her closer, and as imperious as it seemed... Damn, it was hot, too. “Come get me.”
Oh God, if only that were true, she mused, crossing the few steps toward him. If only he was really hers. To keep. She shook her head. No place for those thoughts here. Stay in the now.
“What’re you telling yourself no about?” he murmured, tugging her closer, tunneling his fingers through her hair, his nails scraping over her scalp. Her lashes fluttered closed, and she turned into his big palm, sinking her teeth into the heel, giving him back a little of the pleasure/pain he’d doled out to her. A hiss escaped him, and when he fisted the strands of her hair, pulling, she nipped harder. “This is going to be over before it begins, sweetheart,” he warned, dipping his head to take her mouth in a brief but thorough conquering. “Now what’re you telling yourself no about?”
No way in hell could she answer that loaded question.
So she didn’t.
Instead, she tackled his belt and the closure on his pants. Desperation climbed high inside her, neck and neck with lust. She wanted to drown herself in pleasure. In need. In him. Forget about what awaited her tomorrow. Forget the uncertainty.
For the first time, she was taking for herself and damn the consequences.
But he covered her hands with one of his, halting her frantic actions. The other cupped her cheek, tilting her head back.
“So many times I’ve wondered what goes on behind these lovely hazel eyes. What secrets you’re keeping. And it’s those moments, I consider switching careers and becoming an archeologist whose main job is unearthing those treasures.” He danced his fingertips over her cheekbone, the arch of her nose, the top bow of her lip. “You wouldn’t give up those secrets easily, but they would be worth the work.Youare worth the work.”
Her chest squeezed so tight, she locked her teeth around a cry. No one had ever spoken to her like that. She closed her eyes and bowed her head on the pretense of pressing a kiss to the base of his throat. Anything to avoid having him see the love she knew was in her gaze.
Declan gripped the sides of her shirt, balling it in his fists until it untucked from her jeans and bared her stomach. She lifted her arms, stamping down the nerves in her stomach. That dark hot need in his eyes couldn’t be faked. He wanted her; he liked her body just as she did. Still... When the top cleared her head and the heat in that indigo gaze flared, the lingering remnants of doubt dissolved like mist.
“Fuck, sweetheart.” Lust stamped his features, pulling his skin taut over his cheekbones, his lips appearing fuller, more carnal. “Let me...”
“Please,” she damn near whined.
He lifted his hands toward her, but at the last minute, lowered his arms.
“Bedroom,” he ground out.
Wordlessly, she turned and led him down the hall and into her shadowed bedroom. Moonlight streamed through the large windows, providing more than enough illumination. But Declan must not have thought so because he crossed to the lamp on her bedside table and switched it on, bathing the room in a warm, golden glow. Then he crossed back to her in that sensual, almost-feline glide of his, and lust wrenched low in her belly, high in her sex. She couldn’t contain her whimper. Didn’t even try.
When he reached her, Declan slowly lowered to his knees, his pose worshipful, reverent. As were the hands that removed her boots and jeans. As were the lips that pressed a kiss to her hip just above the line of her black panties.
