One Summer in Santa Fe - By Molly Evans Page 0,28

smiled knowingly. “Heart is fast, too. Are you sure it’s the water?”

“No. I could be having a reaction to something.”

“Like what?” He drew her closer until she stood in front of him, no longer up to her neck in the water. “It’s certainly not an adverse reaction. You look very healthy to me.”

Taylor’s gaze dropped and her nipples tingled as if he had touched them. The sodden white T-shirt clung to every curve and nuance of skin, revealing everything to his hungry gaze that she had sought to hide beneath the water. “I’m not sure. Mimosa maybe?” Probably a reaction to too much Taylor. Too close, too fierce, too hot.

“You only had one.”

As he spoke, Taylor’s hands drifted from her hips upward, dangerously close to her throbbing breasts.

“Yes, but—”

“I think it’s something else.”

Raising his gaze to hers, Taylor’s eyes flamed with desire that made her heart rate more erratic than it already was. Piper licked her lips and dropped her gaze to his mouth. With nothing but hot water and a flimsy sodden shirt between them, Piper wanted to reach out to him, to take what he offered with his body. That sweet release she hadn’t known in a very long time urged her boldly forward. One step closer and his thumbs stroked her peaked nipples. They were already hard and pressed against the shirt.

“I think you’re right.” Was admitting that bad? Giving him more power over her than he already had? She didn’t know, but seemed powerless to stop herself. She wanted this. She needed his touch, more than she had known even moments ago. So much of her life went to giving to others. Wasn’t it time she allowed herself to take a little, to please herself just a bit? That wasn’t being selfish, that was experiencing life and everything it had to offer. For too long she’d sat on the sidelines, watching while life raced by her.

“I’d also like to say that the shirt looks better on you than it ever has on me. I think I’ll have it bronzed later.”

Piper took a deep breath and inched herself closer, her gaze locked on him as something inside her broke free. Her arms crept out to his shoulders, and her hands rested on the slick skin. Oh, how she wanted this man. This adventurer, who had begun to creep into her mind, her dreams, and her heart, pushed aside the past, pushed aside the memories of hurt, until there was nothing except him in front of her. With him there would always be excitement, but would she be enough for him? Could she be enough? Be bold enough, brazen enough, passionate enough? There was only one way to find out. The past had no place here. The now was filled with Taylor in her arms.

“Do you want it back?” She pressed forward until her breasts met the solid wall of his chest, and she tipped her face up, her mouth inches from his. Every sense she had was focused on him. Standing between his parted legs, she let herself drift forward.

“Yes,” he whispered, and cupped the back of her head.

“Then I think you should take it.” Desire made her speak. Boldness urged her forward. Temptation made her close the gap between them.

With a groan, Taylor moved. His arm around her waist pulled her against him and the hand behind her head guided her mouth to his. Parting her lips, Piper surrendered to the need and the desire raging within her. It wasn’t the heat of the tub or the effects of one Mimosa that made her want Taylor. It was everything he was, and he was everything she wanted.

The kiss he’d first given her paled to the heat of his mouth now. Lips moving over hers, his tongue probed deeply, eagerly stroking against hers. As he kissed her, Taylor drew her knees to either side of his hips so that she straddled his lap, providing her with proof that he wore no suit. Groaning deep in her chest, she pressed herself against Taylor, against the muscle and the heat of him.

Hands roaming over the curves of her hips, Taylor raised her up until her breasts reached the level of his mouth. Holding her above him, he opened his mouth over a nipple and teased. The tremors of her arms clutching his shoulders let him know how much he affected her. Moving to her other breast, he rolled his tongue around the nipple through the wet shirt that clung