that this wasn’t something meant to last. That it never had been. Something deep down inside wanted to contradict that. But this… this was my head reminding the rest of me that we’d set this in stone at the outset. “You know… since our divorce is practically on the calendar as soon as you get your green card.”
She pulled back and looked into my face, her eyes searching mine. There was no offense. She clearly understood what I was saying, but she didn’t draw back. Instead, she rose up on her tiptoes and kissed me on the cheek. “I can’t reach your forehead so that will have to do. There, now we’re even.”
I fought a grin, dipped my head and kissed her again on the cheek. That soft, fragrant cheek. Her luscious hair brushed my face and heat surged. “Nope, we’re not.”
Her face clouded, and I caught that gleam in her eyes, that same one that ignited whenever we were in competition. Hell, who was I kidding? The two of us, we were always in competition. Before I could even think, she was on her tiptoes again, this time kissing me on the lips. It was a long, lingering kiss. Warm, inviting, but close-mouthed.
When she sank back to the flat of her feet, I followed her down, my mouth never further than an inch from hers. I’d been wanting to kiss those lips again—craving it like a man underwater too long craved oxygen. Like a child, lost and searching, craved home.
Her lips parted quickly, easily, and I pushed my tongue into her mouth, aggressive, needing to taste her. My hands clamped tightly around her upper arms, unwilling to cede this newly found treasure. I plundered her, a ruthless pirate unwilling to stop until I got everything I wanted.
She bumped against me as she angled her head to meet my demands, responding to them just as eagerly. That rushed intake of air, that breathy sigh. I was rock hard and aching for her in seconds.
She was just too fucking sexy for her own good—and mine.
She was also caring. And honest.
And sweet.
And Kat…
She was her and, as I’d known for the entire duration of our acquaintance, she was irresistible in practically every way. And I’d fought a good fight.
But I wasn’t going to fight anymore. We both knew the boundaries of this, the end date. I wasn’t going to resist what we both wanted so much. Until then, there was too much to explore, too much to savor.
My hands were under her shirt, palming the soft skin of her waist and back under it. She pressed against me, sighing, sifting her fingers through my hair. Slowly, without taking my mouth from hers, I guided us to the bed.
She caught on quickly and moved with me. Our kisses deepened, became more heated and desperate. I wanted—no I needed—to be inside her. I needed it like I needed water, food and air. And I felt that need all over my skin, where it tingled—inflamed, achy, and feverish.
I’d never wanted a woman the way I hungered for her.
This way lay danger, like those old antique maps that were lined on the edges with pictures of mythical beasts and the warning Here be dragons.
She was danger, right before me in the form of a diminutive, curvy redhead with the biggest heart I had ever known. Brains, beauty and compassion. A fucking dangerous combination. And I had full sails open to the wind, ready to cruise right over the edge of the map, dragons or no.
And I didn’t fucking care.
With a quick tug at the collar, I pulled off my shirt and dumped it on the floor. I closed my eyes and savored the feel of her hands as she explored my body. Her palms smoothed over my chest, my nipples, down across my stomach, around to my back, my shoulders. She left nothing untouched.
“I want you,” she whispered to me. Three simple words that entered my system like a drug straight to my blood. Feverish—I might boil over if I didn’t plunge myself into her soon.
My hands reached up, tangling my fingers into her silky fire hair. Gently, I pulled her head back to look into her face. “I’m going to fuck you, Kat.”
Her eyes darkened, dilated wide. They were such a pale blue that I could see the reaction immediately. And the way she swayed against me. And the way her breath hitched. In seconds, her shirt was off. Then she reached around and her