straighten the straps and pull up the neckline to a more respectable position. “Anyway, I’m not sure we’ll be kissing again today.”
“Why not?” He’s edged over so he’s too close to me again. He smells like soap and coffee and toothpaste. He’s wearing what he slept in, so he must have put the T-shirt and pajama pants back on after he showered.
“Because it’s... it’s strange.”
“Why is it strange?”
“You know why it’s strange. We’re not together. I’m your client. We’re just faking this whole thing. Kissing is...”
His eyebrows quirk up. “One of the perks of the arrangement.”
I’m not sure why, but the words make me feel better. They give me a context in which to place my chaotic feelings and responses to him. Maybe he’s right. If it’s simply one of the benefits of the arrangement, why shouldn’t I take advantage of it?
After all, what woman would turn down the offer of a scrumptious kissing session with a man as skilled and irresistible as Damian?
“Really? It’s just one of the perks?”
“Of course. You’re paying me a fortune and asking almost nothing of me. You could at least give me a chance to show you what I’ve got so I don’t feel like I’m taking money for nothing.”
It makes sense. Maybe it’s completely nonsensical, but it makes sense to me at the moment. He’s acting so practical and blunt about it—like it’s no big deal.
Perhaps it’s not. Perhaps I’m overthinking it and tying myself into mental knots the way I always do.
“Ooookay.”
He tilts his head to study my face. “Is that a real okay?”
“Yes, it’s a real okay.”
“So you want to kiss again?”
“I guess. I mean, we don’t have to if you don’t want to, but I suppose there’s no reason not to try it out a—”
Before I can complete the last word, he’s taken my face in both his hands and is kissing me with surprising urgency.
It knocks the breath out of me. I’m paralyzed with a rush of excitement and pleasure, so I just sit there and let him kiss me for a minute.
Then it starts to feel so good that my body responds before my mind can catch up. I grab his shoulder and open my lips to the questioning advance of his tongue.
He makes a rough sound in his throat and slides into my mouth, easing me down onto my back at the same time. My spine arches as he deepens the kiss even more, and one of his hands begins to stroke up and down my body over the thin fabric of my gown.
I bend up one leg so I can brace my foot against the mattress and gasp when his mouth finally releases mine to trail kisses along my cheek and down to my throat. “Damian!” His name is breathy, soft, coming out without volition.
He hums against my skin as he teases the throbbing pulse in my throat. I’m already so turned on that I rock my hips beneath his weight.
“Damian,” I choke out again as I run my fingernails down his back, the material of his shirt rough under my hands.
“That’s right,” he murmurs thickly, his voice so muffled I can barely make out the words. “Let go. Just let go. You can do it. It’s going to feel so good.”
I want to let go. I’m so close to releasing my tight grip on myself and the world that I’m shaking from the need. “Damian, please.” I don’t recognize the pleading sound of my own voice.
His mouth moves lower as I arch up more dramatically, my nipples poking shamelessly against my gown. He nuzzles the cleavage at my neckline, then nips at one my breasts so quickly that I can do nothing but cry out with the sharp jolt of pleasure.
“Yes, baby. Just like that. Let go all the way. You’re doing so good.” He’s moved back up to my neck, trailing kisses that seem to scorch me. “Let me make you feel good.”
His words are making me just as hot as his kisses and caresses. I have no idea why or how it’s happening. I can’t keep my body still. I’m squirming beneath him and now clawing at the back of his neck in my eagerness. “Please. Please. I need... so bad.”
“I know you do. I know how much you need this. Just let me give it to you. I promise I won’t let you down.”
I make a soft sob as he takes one of my nipples in his mouth, sucking it hard through