Passing His Guard

“Think you’re that good, do you?” she teased, a poor attempt to lighten the mood. It was a fail.

“I know I am, but that’s not the point. Rya

“Listen, Aiden, I’ve played it safe my entire life. Doing all the right things, following all the rules. And look where it’s gotten me—the nice guy cheated on me with my best friend a week before my wedding. I’m nearly bankrupt, and one of the most dangerous men in New York is hunting me down. From where I’m standing, safe and responsible doesn’t look quite so good.”

“Fuck, Rya

The raw honesty in his voice sent a shiver of anticipation up her spine. It was all the encouragement she needed. Rya

He tensed. A tortured groan rumbled in his chest when her hand made a slow trek down his abdomen. “I’m not so sure you do, Rya

Before her fingers could breach the waistband of his boxers, he caught her wrist in a firm grip and pulled her arm up over her head, pi

The trail he made down her neck would surely bear the evidence of his touch. He was like a starving man, and she was his last meal. When his head dipped and his mouth covered her breast, sucking hard against the turgid peak, she almost lost it right then and there. His touch was electric, his tongue torturing. Oh, mercy, she was so out of her league with this guy. All she could do was hold on and enjoy the ride.

“You have no idea how badly I’ve wanted to be inside of you,” he groaned, his confession a ragged gasp. “How many cold showers I’ve endured . . .” His mouth blazed a path down her stomach. “How many times I came by my own hand, thinking of you and wishing you were there to relieve the agony.”

Oh, Lord, his wicked confession was like injecting lighter fluid into her veins. She burned up with him. The imagery he painted drove her senseless with desire. The tension coiling tight in her core propelled her hips off the mattress. She ceased processing thought beyond the need to be filled by him. The emptiness inside her became an insidious ache bordering on pain.

“Please, Aiden,” she panted, needing . . . needing . . . She didn’t know what she needed right now, only that he could give it to her.

“Shhh . . .” he crooned. “I’m going to take care of you, sweetheart, just trust me.”

His breath brushed over her glossy lips, wringing a desperate moan from her throat. She didn’t even recognize this mindless woman begging him to make her come. Rya

He muttered a curse that sounded more like reverent awe. “You’re so fucking beautiful. I don’t think you could be more perfect.”

She was moved beyond words. Reaching for him, she threaded her fingers through his hair, met his worshipful gaze, and warned, “You keep saying things like that and you will make me fall in love with you.”

But his response rocked her to her very core. “Would that be such a bad thing?”

What was he saying? Was he telling her this wasn’t just sex for him? That he wanted her to fall for him? No, not now . . . She couldn’t have this conversation with him now. That would change everything. But before she could stop him, Aiden dipped his head and ripped the protest out of her mouth in the form of an unintelligible moan.

The hard ball of his tongue piercing teased the bundle of nerves at the top of her sex as he applied rhythmic suction that sent her crashing over the edge in seconds. She cried out, and her fingers curled into his hair, holding him against her as spasm after blissful spasm wracked her body. Her empty core contracted, still yearning to be filled, leaving her both sated and aching for more. The physical contradictions he stirred in her mirrored her emotional turmoil. Did Aiden have any idea how thoroughly he’d just fucked her?—in every sense of the word?

When he pulled away and crawled off the bed, a horrible sense of déjà vu slammed into her. “Where are you going?” she cried, cursing herself for sounding so needy.

“To get my wallet.”

The ambient light from the bathroom outlined Aiden’s shadowed form. Lord, he was big. She watched him grab his pants off the floor and dig his hand into a pocket. He swore and then shoved it into the other. When he pulled out his wallet, she noted the hastiness in his movements. He lacked his natural grace. Perhaps she affected him as deeply as he did her. Finding what he was looking for, his wallet hit the table with a thump and the crisp sound of a tearing wrapper a

Rya

Aiden must have taken her silence for what it was—second thoughts. When he reached the bed and crawled back over her, he took her face in his hands and gifted her with the sweetest kiss. “You don’t have to do this, you know. It’s not too late to change your mind.”

A part of her wondered if he was hoping she’d chicken out. But she’d meant what she’d said. She was tired of playing it safe. Bottom line, she was falling for Aiden, and regardless tomorrow was going to suck. Letting him go was going to be painful no matter what happened between them tonight, and one thing she knew with absolute certainty: She would never regret being with him.

She slipped her arms around his neck and pulled him closer, opening her legs to accommodate his hips as she deepened their kiss. His spicy masculine scent mixed with her light feminine flora, blanketing them in an intoxicating cocoon of lust. She could taste herself on his tongue, and the intimacy sparked feelings of possessiveness that surged up inside her, catching Rya

“I haven’t changed my mind,” she whispered between kisses. “I want you to make love to me.”

CHAPTER

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