Page 28 of Second Love

A sad smile curved his lips. “You always were the good girl—and there’s nothing wrong with that. Hell, I used to wish I could be like you. But I knew I’d—I don’t know—taint you, if I married you.” He smirked. “You have no idea how hard it was to walk away.”

Maddie took a step closer. Just one step. She didn’t dare do anything more yet in case he bolted. “What about now?” His eyes flared. She squared her shoulders. “Do you still want to walk away now?”

“I probably should.” His lips twisted into a wry smile. “But I’m too selfish.”

He closed the gap. Warm hands cupped her face, hot lips brushed hers. Goosebumps pricked her arms. Sawyer’s strong fingers pressed into her hair and she opened her mouth to him. She tasted coffee briefly before her mind shut down. She had never been kissed like this. Ever.

Arms wound around his neck, she allowed him to press the kiss deeper. Her breathing hitched, her pulse almost deafened in her ears. She couldn’t seem to get enough of him. Over the past few weeks small touches had been enough. The accidental brush of a hand, the not-so-accidental breeze past him. Now she needed all of him—against her, inside her.

Maddie wriggled her hips against him while his tongue explored her mouth. She met his exploration, touch for touch, sweep for sweep. He groaned when her body met his arousal. The sound sent thrills up and down her spine.

This man—this fascinating, sexy man—loved her. Perhaps that was what made the experience that muchmore. More exciting, more passionate. With Sawyer, she wanted to throw away the rules, to ignore the voice of logic in the back of her mind that said anyone could find them up here and that there was no bed and it was the middle of the day.

He tore away long enough to look into her eyes. “Jesus, Maddie, I can’t—”

She cut him off with a kiss. She didn’t wantcan’ts.She’d spent too long worrying about what she couldn’t do.Right now she wanted to concentrate on what she could. At the moment, it seemed she could bring a man like Sawyer to his knees.Not that she wanted him on his knees. She wanted him beside her or inside her. On top of her perhaps. Equal to her. She’d always felt so unequal in his presence. So boring and dull. To experience a tiny bit of what it must be like to be Sawyer was heady.

A hand came away from her hair and went straight to her lower back. He clamped her to him, allowing her to feel every inch of his hard body against hers. Every solid, hot inch.

“Sawyer,” she moaned.

He stilled briefly but must have taken the way she peppered kisses down his rough jaw and back to his mouth as encouragement. He rocked his hips into hers, sending little bursts of pleasure through her.

But this wasn’t quite enough.More, remember?She unhooked her hands from his neck and skimmed down his arms. She felt muscle under the cotton of his shirt then warm skin and the sprinkling of hair on his arms. Tracing one arm up to where he held her face, she followed the veins in the back of his hands and felt the strength there. That he had the power to do anything with her but didn’t, made her heart squeeze.

His breath came hot and heavy on her ear while she skimmed her hands down and around to his waist. His body undulated under her fingertips and she released a low moan when his mouth closed about her earlobe. He nipped and kissed the shell of her ear, sending deep, soul-pervading shivers through her.

She grappled with the bottom of his shirt until she found what she’d been searching for. Warm, firm skin met her fingertips. His body gave a shudder when she touched him. Muscles contracted and between her legs, heat pooled. She thrust her hands higher, tracing over the ridges until she found his flat nipples. He bit down on the crook of her neck, no doubt marking her, as she scraped her nails down his body. The heated mark she felt on her skin sent a rush of excitement through her.

Sawyer kissed her again. If she’d thought he was passionate before, she was wrong. Each time she touched him, his kisses grew more frantic. When she began fumbling with the button on his jeans, he moaned her name and cupped her rear.

The warmth of his hands electrified her. There was no going back now—maybe there hadn’t ever been. She needed Sawyer more than anything. More than books or a wedding or lottery winnings. This was about them and nothing else now.

Desperate hands grappled with her top. His fingers scraped her stomach and a tremor passed through her. She needed those fingers higher up—or lower down. Hot impatience governed her movements when she thrust a hand inside his jeans and cupped him through his briefs.

Scalding, heavy, thick. A deep pang of yearning speared her.

A rumbling groan rose up from within him and he tore back to thrust his shirt over his head. She helped—or hindered—she wasn’t sure, but it seemed to take too long to get the top over his head and flung onto the dusty sheets covering the floor.

Maddie swallowed and swallowed again. With shaky hands, she followed the swirls of ink up over his shoulder and onto his chest. The rest of his body was unmarred, the juxtaposition between tattooed and bare skin mesmerized. The all too brief glimpses she’d had before hadn’t done him justice.

One hand over his tattooed half, and the other over his bare skin, she relished his heavy heartbeat against his palm. Two halves, just like him. The bad boy still lingered—teasing her, taunting her, exciting her. But at the same time there was this new side to him. Caring, cautious, romantic even. Both sides drew her in.

He sealed his hands over her rear and pulled her close. Dragging herself through the lust crowding her mind, she managed to rip her t-shirt over her head before slinging her arms around his neck. They both hissed when her flesh connected with his. He found her bra strap and opened it easily. She let her bra drop away.

“Holy—”

She didn’t give him much time to look. Light-headed with need, she flattened herself against his smooth skin and her nipples tightened in response. The warm strength of his body seared her skin in the most delicious way. Sawyer smoothed his hands up and down her back and brought his mouth to beneath her ear. His lips dragged across her skin, his teeth nipped. Then he bent lower. His breath scalded her until he sealed his mouth around a nipple. Thank Goodness for his hands upon her back or she might have collapsed.

Maddie dug her nails into his strong shoulders and watched his muscles bunch and flex. The ache between her legs grew unbearable and as divine as it was to have his mouth on her throbbing nipples, she needed him elsewhere. Fingers in his hair, she drew his head up and kissed him. She kissed him with deep, long, desperate strokes of her tongue in the hopes of covering her desperation.

“Jesus, Maddie,” he groaned against her mouth.

And he kissed her ferociously. His hands seemed to be everywhere. In her hair, cupping her breasts, stroking her back and fumbling with her jeans. They stumbled until her bottom met the workmen’s bench at the rear of the room. She kicked off her shoes. Clumsy fingers worked at pressing down her jeans and panties in one go.

Cool air swirled about her heated juncture, emphasising the risk they were taking. The noise of hammering and workmen pacing around filtered in briefly, but she forgot it all when he shucked out of his jeans and briefs.

She could swear at that moment she’d never wanted anything more. Not even books or chocolate. She followed the line of dark hair down with her gaze and eyed him. She had an honest-to-goodness hero right in front of her. This was what all those romance authors were writing about. And he was all hers.

---