No Stranger to Scandal - By Rachel Bailey Page 0,25

the world started again as he leaned down to capture her lips, kissing her deeply, hungrily, sliding his tongue against hers. She wrapped her legs around his waist and arched up into him, savoring the feel of his body pressed against her. He ground into her and every cell in her body came alive with an electric current, vibrating and sparking.

Then Hayden stilled and heaved in a breath. “That bottomless bag of yours has got to have condoms.”

Delicious sensation came to a screeching halt and she blinked up at him. Protection? “No,” she said slowly, mentally running through the contents of her bag. “You don’t have any?”

He swore under his breath and wrenched himself away. “No idea, but I’m hoping like crazy.” He ditched his jeans and strode to the bathroom, disappearing through the door, leaving Lucy to run through the options. One of them could sprint to the drugstore. A possibility, but it was a long time to be separated in their current state. She glanced at the lights of the city twinkling through the window across the room—she didn’t want to leave this suite alone for anything less than a fire. They could both make a mad dash to her place—she had some condoms in a drawer. No, Josh was asleep, they couldn’t leave. They could ring the concierge and see if he kept a supply—

Hayden reappeared—fully sheathed—with a predator’s grin and prowled across the room. She managed to ditch her trousers and panties by the time he reached her, anticipation singing through her entire body.

“Thank goodness,” she said as he climbed back on the sofa and covered her with all that heat. “I was making contingency plans and they were getting more ridiculous by the second.”

“I look forward to hearing about those plans,” he said, nipping at her earlobe. “Later.”

“Much later,” she said. “I have other plans for our mouths right now.”

Never slow on the uptake, Hayden kissed her, nipping, sucking, stroking until her head swam and she was writhing underneath him.

“Now,” she begged. “Please, now.”

After drawing out the moment for several more agonizing seconds, he captured her gaze and slid into her in one smooth, deep stroke. The world swirled around her and came alive. She came alive. She tightened her grip on his waist with her legs, holding him there, savoring the sensation. Then, despite her hold, he began to move, and she was lost to the dance of their bodies, helpless to do anything but match his rhythm and give in to the sensations.

She soared higher than the stars, and Hayden’s voice at her ear telling her she was beautiful, that she felt incredible, sent her higher still. The rhythm they created together was pure magic; her body was sparkling with bright, pulsing energy. His deep murmurs at her ear became more intense, edgier, pushing her to the brink, and she dug her fingers into his back, holding on, wanting the moment to last. His thrusts became faster, more urgent, and a wave of pleasure rose within her, too big to be contained, and she cried out his name as it burst in an explosion of color and light and intensity, dimly aware that Hayden followed her soon after.

* * *

Hayden stared at the ceiling from his position on the sofa, Lucy wedged beside him, his stomach slowly hollowing out. That had to be the stupidest thing he’d ever done, which was saying something, because he’d done a lot of stupid things in his life.

Making love to Lucy had been earth-shattering, yes. Bone-melting, definitely—he might not be able to stand again for a week. But still stupid.

What exactly were those rules beforehand meant to achieve, other than to give him a false sense of security and permission to sleep with her? He liked Lucy—maybe too much—but she was still lying to cover for her stepfather, and had pretty much admitted she’d do anything to save Graham Boyle.

Hayden had no doubt Lucy had genuinely wanted him tonight—the need in her eyes had been a thing of beauty. But would she use what had happened between them against him to protect Boyle, if she felt she had no other choice? His gut clenched tighter. He’d like to think not, but obviously his judgment was seriously impaired when it came to her.

Even if she wasn’t lying to protect her stepfather, she was ten years younger, for Pete’s sake. He’d been twenty-two once, with all the fun and experimentation that entailed. But he was thirty-two now, with a