moment? Lust brings everything to attention, but lust is such a one-dimensional word. It’s the softer, deeper feelings I have for her that make everything come alive for me with this woman. “Tiger. Dear God, you’re … breathtaking.”
“Thank you.”
A rosy glow flushes her skin. When’s the last time I saw a half-dressed woman blush? Never. She’s not audacious, but she’s not mousy either—she’s a woman who’s discriminating about who she shows her body to, and I’m honored that she’s chosen me.
I lean a shoulder against the door frame and make a circle motion with my finger. “Turn around.”
The blush deepens, but she obeys. When she turns her back to me, I let out a groan that rattles the windows. “Fuuuuuck. Are you trying to kill me?”
She glances over her shoulder and down to the big red bow at the top of her thong that accentuates the two round globes of her ass, then her gaze rises to mine. The raw temptation in that look might cut the cord on a weaker man’s self-control. But I’m a highly disciplined athlete and can handle myself … just barely.
Forty-Two
Tiger
“Don’t move.” The command in his voice is unmistakable and I couldn’t move if someone paid me a million dollars. He prowls around me, getting as close as he can without touching me. “You are a sight, Tiger Lyons.”
“Yeah?” There’s barely enough air behind the word to make it audible.
“Oh, yeah.” He makes another rotation and this time he drags his fingertip over the swell of my breasts and across my upper back, then drops a kiss on my shoulder. The lick of flames left in the wake of his touch pebbles my skin and sends heat racing over my flesh.
I reach for him, but he stills my arm. “Uh-uh. Hands down.” He’s behind me now, and his lips go to my ear. “Be good or I’ll have to spank that lovely ass of yours.”
My head falls back to his shoulder, and a pitiful “Ahhhh,” is all I can manage.
A second pass and he slowly zigzags his finger around my waist, then across my lower back. He’s only touched me with the tip of that one digit and I’m more turned on than I’ve ever been in my life.
On the third time around my body, his finger traces the top of my butt. I jump when his explorations take him to the cleft just below that bow. “Shhhh, I got you,” that sex-on-a-stick voice says behind me again.
I keep my mouth shut because I think I’ll die if he stops. On the next rotation his finger trails under my bottom, sending goosebumps cascading down my legs. As he makes his way to stand in front of me, he slows the progress of his touch, torturing me inch by precious inch. When he finally gets to the scrap of satin between my legs, he draws circles over the sparkly material. His burning whiskey eyes are locked on mine like he’s trying to see into my soul. I want to lower my lids and keep him away from my feelings, but I resist. Because even though it scares me to death, he’s sharing his secrets with me while trying to unearth mine.
He breathes out, and I breathe in.
I breathe out, and he breathes in.
We stand in this exchange where the very thing that gives life passes between us. It’s a becoming of sorts. I’m no longer just Tiger. He’s not just Cash. We’re something more, something stronger and braver than we’ve ever been before. Whatever it is, I’m snuggled into it and never want to leave.
“Cash, please.”
His mouth catches mine, and my bones turn to mush. A groan breaks loose from somewhere deep inside me when he snags my bottom lip and tugs. His finger is continuing its discovery of the most intimate parts of me, and I’m not sure how much longer my legs will hold me.
Long, wet, open-mouthed kisses skim over the skin at my neck, but I want more. I need his skin against mine as much as I need my next heartbeat. The bottom of his shirt is bunched in my hands. His lips leave my flesh just long enough to let me pull the material over his head. When his mouth returns to my body, he covers my nipple through the thin material of my bra. Waves of pleasure tug me under, and I have to grasp his shoulders to stay upright. He slips his hand around my back and unclips the