NYC Angels Flirting with Danger - By Tina Beckett Page 0,46

Just like he felt now when any relationship started to go on for too long. And like Chloe, he’d never told anyone about what had happened … until Jason had asked about the padlock hanging open on the back door of his house. Locked doors still made him edgy, even today. Would it be the same for Chloe with sex?

He looked down into her eyes. “You don’t have to do anything you don’t want to do. Ever. Do you understand me?”

“I wanted to. That’s just it. I wanted it to be good for you. I just … couldn’t.”

“Me being with you makes it good, Chloe. I get pleasure out of your pleasure.”

He watched as she digested that piece of information. When her brows puckered, and she appeared doubtful, he leaned back against the wall with a sigh, carrying her with him. “When I do something that makes you whimper, when you return my kisses—when my touch makes you fall apart. That’s what gives me pleasure.”

“Really?”

“Really.”

She scrubbed the back of her arm over her eyes. “I’m sorry. For taking off like that.”

He gave a soft laugh. “You scared me.”

She touched his face. “Can we try again?”

Was she serious? He’d already screwed up once. Didn’t trust himself not to do so again in the heat of the moment.

She reached up, her thumb brushing across his lower lip. “Please, Brad. I need to erase the bad memories and replace them with good ones.”

“Are you sure?”

“Yes.”

He hesitated. He’d already told himself this was the end—that he was all wrong for this kind of thing—but her heartfelt words and the fact that his body was responding to her touch in a way that was impossible to hide made him rethink his decision. If he said he didn’t want to, she’d know he was lying, and the rejection might damage her more than she already was.

Helping her up, he went and switched off the shower then picked up two towels. Slinging one around his waist, he used the second one to dry Chloe off, patting every inch of her body then sliding the soft towel under and over her right breast, the nipple tightening as he did so. He repeated the act on the other side and lingered there until she leaned into the friction, her eyes fluttering closed.

His body responded instantly, and he put his mouth to her ear. “That’s what gets my motor running.” He dropped the towel to the floor and scooped her up in his arms and carried her off to bed.

Chloe rolled over, her breathing ragged, while his senses were still firing like crazy.

Brad followed her, leaning on one elbow as he stared down at her flushed cheeks, the faint sheen of perspiration on her brow. He’d allowed her to find her own way this time, although it had nearly killed him, his body straining under the pressure of keeping still. The result had been well worth it.

He might never recover, in fact.

Experienced or not, she set him off the second she touched him.

And that mouth. Lord. He’d tried to draw her away before she got too close, but she’d brushed his hands aside, insisting. The heat of it as it had closed over his flesh …

He shuddered. It was like nothing he’d ever felt in his life.

The graphic image flashed through his skull, and he swallowed hard as a part of his anatomy defied gravity and stirred back to life. So soon.

What the hell was she doing to him?

“You’re a witch,” he whispered, reaching to brush her hair from her forehead, needing the contact, wishing he could roll her on her back and start all over again. But he didn’t want to scare her.

Not the way he was scaring himself.

He’d never minded the mirrors the former occupants had left over his bed. Until today. Seeing their entwined images reflected back at him had taken his normally icy control and shaved it down to nothing. He’d barely lasted until she’d climaxed.

Her lips curved and she caught his hand, carrying it to her chest where her heart beat strong and firm against his palm. “So it was okay?”

“More than okay. Much more.”

That was another problem. The sex had been good. Really good. Which could create problems down the road. As a doctor, he was used to patients—pregnant though they might be—getting a little case of hero-worship when the team helped them right a troubled pregnancy.

Chloe had been stuck in a terrible marriage, with a man who’d selfishly used her and given nothing