Mother, Please! - By Brenda Novak & Jill Shalvis & Alison Kent Page 0,54

I don’t mean to.”

Now she was worried about him. He was so un-deserving of her—

“I brought you a picnic. But I don’t want to eat yet. Actually, I had something else in mind—food was just sort of a bribe.”

Oh God. “What—” He had to clear his throat. “What did you have in mind?”

Her eyes heated. “Take me to your bedroom and I’ll show you.” Before he could say a word, she’d taken his hand and opened his front door.

Then she shot him a smile over her shoulder, a smile that promised an evening he’d never forget, a smile that promised oblivion from his torturing thoughts, a smile that promised everything he’d ever wanted.

But after he had followed her down the hall to his bedroom, the sheets tumbled all over because he hadn’t bothered making his bed that morning, he got a good, long look at her from the low-burning lamp on his nightstand.

Beneath that sensual expression danced an anxiety that told him she wasn’t comfortable making the first move, that she was half-braced for his rejection.

As if he’d ever reject her. And yet, how could he do this before he admitted—

She kicked off her heels, and her hands went to the buttons on her white blouse.

He swallowed hard as she slowly revealed a strip of creamy skin and the curve of her breasts. His entire body reacted, but he forced himself to stand there with his hands at his side because how in good faith could he make love to her with his little secret between them. “Melissa—”

“This is really out of character for me,” she admitted with a shaky laugh. “But I wanted to be bold tonight. Shameless.”

She was doing a damn fine job, and it was his job to stop her. Stop her from feeling free and open and—

Ah, hell, he couldn’t. He couldn’t take this away from her.

Or him.

The material fell open and her fingers moved to the fastener of her black trousers.

His mouth went dry. “You—we…”

“I want you,” she whispered, suddenly the sure, calm one in the room. “I’m tired of ignoring all my emotions. I want you, and I am going to show you how much.”

Her pants fell from her hips. She shrugged off her shirt, leaving her standing before him in a white lacy bra and matching panties and nothing else.

Which made him Dead Man Walking.

MEL WATCHED HIM as he moved close to her. She saw need, hunger, even fear, everything she felt as well, and her heart lightened. She wasn’t just acting on her lust, though there was plenty of that.

This was more, so much, much more. And she wanted him to feel it, too.

“Melissa…”

She put her fingers against his mouth. “Please, Jason. Just for tonight.”

For a long beat he simply looked at her. “Please,” she whispered.

In response, he yanked his shirt off over his head. Beneath, he was solid, tanned, and rippled with a lean strength that made her mouth water.

His mouth skimmed her jaw softly. She turned her face toward him so that their lips connected, and her entire body relaxed as the tension she hadn’t realized she’d been holding slowly started to drain.

“Melissa…” His arms banded tightly around her while his lips nibbled so softly, so sweetly against hers. “You are so beautiful, you take my breath. And there’s no way this is just for tonight. Know that right now.”

And then he changed the angle of the kiss, deepening it, tasting just as good as he smelled, which was one-hundred-percent male, and she thought she might die of the pleasure of it. This was what she’d needed tonight, and she’d been right to come and get it, to do something for herself, with a man she both yearned for and was beginning to trust.

This, with him, was right, and she felt her loneliness ease. But it wasn’t all about her loneliness. She’d been alone a good long time and she’d never sought to ease it before.

It was Jason. He was different, and he enthralled her. She knew it was crazy, and far too soon, but so much about him made her forget to hold back. He was physical yet tender. Smart, confident. His own man.

And in her, he saw something unique, something special, and when he looked at her with that knowledge in his eyes, she felt a little unique, a little special.

A little…his.

His pants joined hers on the floor, and then he pressed her back, until her legs bumped into his mattress. He followed her down, surrounding her body