say that—a small part of her hated him for it, and a huge part of her loved him for it.
Shit.
Shaking her head, Ellie blew out a frustrated breath, smirked, and repeated what she’d said to him the day this whole crazy charade started.
“Wow. You really take this Dudley Do-Right thing seriously, don’t you?”
That eased some of the tension from his jaw, blew a bit of the storm from his eyes.
“Damn right,” he said. “Now, if you could get on board with this and just go to bed, that’d be a big help.”
“Fine. But can I at least use the bathroom first?”
“Make it quick.”
With the water running as cold as she could get it, she rinsed one of the washcloths and pressed it against her face and neck, but it didn’t help; nothing would at this point. Resigning herself to the fact, she finally gave up and headed back through the suite.
Brett hadn’t moved from where he was perched on the window ledge, but his gaze tracked her all the way across the room.
“Last chance,” she laughed. “No? Okaaaaay…g’night, then.” She stepped into the bedroom and turned to close the door, but he was right there. “Oh!”
Without a word, he took her face in one hand, slid the other one over her hip and across her backside so he could pull her up tight against him as he moved them backward, pinning her between his muscled hardness and the wall.
She thought this kiss would be slow and gradually build like the other ones, but she was wrong.
So very, very wrong.
The second his lips touched hers, the air exploded between them. There was nothing gentle or gradual about this; it was all frenzied desperation, hot, hard, and hungry. His mouth moved over hers, searching, tasting, pushing her to open, to meet his need with her own.
She’d never been kissed like this before, like not kissing her would kill him, and the only reason she recognized that was because she felt the same way; the only thing still giving her breath was the sound of her name as it ripped from his throat. She curled her fingers into the fabric of his shirt, holding him close as he nudged his thigh between hers and groaned.
When he broke away, everything she felt was reflected back at her in his eyes: emotion warring with lust, confusion with certainty, frustration with fiery determination.
Her pulse racing, her lips still tingling, she couldn’t help herself—she had to try to get closer yet. But there was no room, not so much as a breath of air between them. She tried to press herself against his leg, but he just growled low in his throat and held her tighter so she couldn’t move.
“I’m sorry,” he murmured, his lips barely a breath away from hers. “I shouldn’t have done that.”
“Bullshit,” she choked, struggling to catch her breath. “The only thing you shouldn’t have done was stop.”
Half-laughing, half-groaning, he set his hands against the wall on either side of her and lowered his head to her shoulder. “You’re not making this easy, you know.”
“And you’re surprised by that?” She slid her fingers over his head, knowing he’d lean into her touch the way she loved so much. “Have I ever made anything easy for you?”
No.” He lifted his face to hers, his eyes as soft as she’d ever seen them. “You never have.”
She might have felt bad about that except for the way he was smiling at her, so easily, so sure, as though he’d always smiled at her.
“What do we do now?” she asked, gently scraping her fingernails back against the side of his head. “And please don’t say—”
“Good night, Ellie.” He pulled her hands down and held them between his own for a long second. “If this door has a lock on it, please use it. Please.”
Before she could even open her mouth to respond or protest, he was gone, pulling the door closed between them and leaving her slumped against the wall.
She never did lock the door—not because she wanted to tempt him but because she knew if she went anywhere near the damn thing she’d just yank it open and walk right back out there to him.
Hands down it was the longest night of her life, and going by the amount of tossing and turning she could hear him doing out on the pullout, he didn’t fare much better. The only difference was that she rolled out of bed in the morning looking and feeling like crap and