First to Fail (Unraveled #3) - Marie Johnston Page 0,4

when I had her in my arms.

Her eyes were hooded and she leaned closer. I closed the gap, drawn to her like a magnet I was helpless to resist, and dropped my lips onto hers.

A soft gasp escaped her, but she rose to her tiptoes, her hands coming around my shoulders for support. Winding my arms around her tight waist, I marveled once again over how well her outfit encased her body. I could feel every inch of her, but she was fully clothed. The warm fabric was smooth under my hands, allowing me to enjoy the solid curves of her body.

I deepened the kiss, and she opened for me. A strong, take charge woman like this let me lead? I’d take every inch she allowed me, and I’d make sure we weren’t interrupted. I backed us toward the cove outside of an unused conference room for extra privacy. With each step, her breasts rubbed through my shirt, the quality material not strong enough to suppress her peaked nipples.

Her tongue twined with mine, soft, hot, and needy. Blood left my head to pump to my groin until the fly of my jeans dug into my flesh. Natalia’s warm body against mine, a subtle undulation against my erection, I was done. I gripped her ass and squeezed. What would this be like if we were naked? If just kissing her was this lust inducing, what would sleeping with her be like?

She rocked against me, her pelvis stroking my erection. We were both having the same fantasy of being alone together and sans costume. I wedged a knee between her legs, and she didn’t hesitate. She ground against my thigh like it was her job and I was flinging fifties.

I took the kiss deeper, timing my tongue with her movements and massaging her ass with my hands as her butt flexed and relaxed against my palms.

A moan escaped me, mingling with her heavier breaths. My only mission in life was to get her to come. Smashed together, feeling every inch of her body, it wasn’t enough. I wanted her falling apart in my arms.

Loud voices and rowdy laughter approached.

She pulled back, a gasp ripping from her throat, and stumbled out of my arms. Lifting her hand to touch her kiss-swollen lips, she shook her head. “I’m…I should be…I don’t usually move this fast. I’m new in town, and jumping into some guy’s arms…”

The dismay etched on her face cleaved through my lust. We just met, but this wasn’t some fling to me. There’s more to me and Natalia. I know it. “I’d like to be more than some guy. Are you free next weekend?” I didn’t even know what she looked like, but I enjoyed her passion, and she was easy to talk to. Under that black wig and those dark contacts, Natalia outshone Valaria.

“I—” She adjusted her wig and scowled. Had it dawned on her, too, that I didn’t know what she really looked like? Will that make it seem less significant to her? “I’m not ready to date. I just moved here and my job…”

I held my hands up. Her nerves were coiling tighter, her tension was almost palpable. “No pressure. We can exchange numbers and when you’re free maybe we can grab supper or hit up a movie?”

I’d almost lost her until I said movie. Her eyes lit up. “I like movies.” Her expression fell. “I left my phone in the car rather than have the outline of a rectangle on my ass.”

The whole time I’d been feeling her up in that suit, I hadn’t felt a phone. “Valaria doesn’t have a friends-and-family account, huh?”

She chuckled. “No.”

The reminder of her ass in that costume threatened to send more blood to my fading erection. She rattled off her number and I triple-checked it was stored before we walked back to the showroom floor.

I couldn’t wait to see her again.

Chapter 2

Natalia

“Ms. Shaw?”

I looked up from my computer screen, schedules and change requests still emblazoned across my eyes. My young assistant’s voice was hesitant, like she worried I would send her packing for the interruption.

I’d only done that to an assistant once during my first position after graduate school. Maybe twice. Being taken seriously as the principal of a private school when I’d just turned thirty and had little teaching experience wasn’t easy. I stuck to being a hard-ass. The reputation stuck with me through to this position and I need to live up to it. Being brought on board to keep