her fingers in the fabric exposing another sliver of the soft pale skin of her thighs.
Her panties were black, a lace pattern that covered the place he longed to touch and taste, and with slow, deliberate movements they were sliding down her long legs and then lying in a puddle on the patio. Tess’s curls were dark red and neatly trimmed; his attention was riveted there for a few moments by the sensual weaving of her fingers in their springy tangle. He forced his gaze to return to her face, needing to see that she was one hundred percent in this with him. If she backed out, it wouldn’t be the first time he’d gone home horny and hungry for Tess; it hadn’t impacted their working relationship in the past and if the brakes went on now, it wouldn’t be a problem in the future.
Tess’s voice was clear. “Adam, I know what I want and it is you. Like we agreed—no strings and we both walk away when we’re done.”
Adam took two steps forward, taking her mouth and inhaling her words as if they were the very life force he needed to keep breathing from one minute to the next. Tess opened to him immediately, her surrender echoing his own demand, and the heat between them rose with every rub of tongue and slide of lips.
She wasn’t sweet, but Tess’s brand of need was addictive and he already knew he’d have to tread carefully on this path or he’d find himself on the wrong side of what this was supposed to be about. He didn’t have time for a relationship and he really didn’t have time to be nursing a yearning for a woman he couldn’t have.
Adam leaned her against the half wall, pressing kisses along her jawline, and down the pale column of her throat. The V-neck of her dress allowed him access to the delicate line of her collarbone and the shadowy top of the sweet cleft between her breasts, and he tasted, licked, nipped as much as he could reach. Tess writhed against him, bracing herself against the edge of the wall as she wrapped her legs around his waist.
Adam slid his hands down her body, cupping her bare ass and lifting her up in the air so that he bore all of her weight. From this position, Tess gazed down at him and he could see every detail of her expression. He observed the way her lids fluttered halfway closed when he grazed the folds of her sex. Observed the way she tried to bite back her moan when he found her slick and hot and spread it over her clit. Groaned out his own desire when he dipped a finger inside her heat and she lifted herself up and down on the digit, taking her own pleasure. He was absolutely at her service.
“Jesus, Tess, you feel better than I dreamed. Go ahead, take what you need, baby.”
He used his thumb to massage her clit, adding another finger as she anchored her hands on his shoulders, grinding down on his fingers. Adam loved this look on Tess, debauched and hungry, powerful and honest. She leaned down, claiming his mouth in a fierce kiss of teeth and tongues, tasting of the months they denied themselves the sating of this primal need.
They broke off the kiss, Tess’s cheeks flushed and her lips swollen and red. She threw her head back, her passion-coated shout of laughter ringing out into the night.
“You look like a queen with the stars making up your crown,” he whispered, letting the awe in his voice shine through. “And every true sovereign deserves to be worshipped.”
Adam slid her down his body, ending with her sitting on the half wall. He dropped to his knees at her feet, running his hands along her inner thighs, pushing the hem of her dress to expose the soft curls hidden beneath. He took his time, tracing the blue veins lying just under the skin, following with soft kisses and tender nips that made her gasp.
“I’ve never known anyone like you, Adam Redhawk,” she whispered, her nails digging into his shoulders in an attempt to drag him closer. He resisted with a smile; he was going to take his time.
“Well, that just means that you never had a man who appreciated what an incredible woman you are.” He placed a kiss next to her right knee. “Stupid men not knowing what they had.” A kiss on the left leg. “You’re