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“You can’t… Are you serious?”
“Serious as a heart attack, baby. And I’m not about to let you go until we’ve figured this out.”
Seven (#ulink_e52a4eac-bf71-544f-b3f5-2189554a5922)
Kate felt overwhelmed by Lance. She put her hands on his chest and leaned forward to kiss him, licking her lips the second before her mouth touched his. She kept her mouth open, feeling the exhalation of his breath against her. She closed her eyes and rubbed her lips over his.
She let herself make this moment into a memory that she’d remember for the rest of her life. If the last week had taught her anything it was that Lance was important to her. And that forever… well, forever might not be in the cards for them.
But now was. Right now. She curled her fingers around his arms and touched his tongue lightly with hers, stroking it into his open mouth. She tasted the beer he’d drunk earlier and something that was starting to be familiar to her. A taste that was just Lance.
She started to withdraw from his mouth and felt his teeth close lightly around her tongue. He angled his head and she felt his hand on her ribs right below her breasts. His other hand tangled in the hair at the back of her head.
He held her so strongly as his mouth moved over hers, as he took complete control of the embrace and of her body. Shivers spread down her body from her lips past her neck. Her breasts felt fuller as she continued kissing him. She leaned forward and felt the tips of her breasts brush his chest.
She moaned, and then was embarrassed and broke away.
He stopped her. “What is it, honey?”
She shook her head. How had she thought that she could be with this sophisticated man? Had she forgotten that the hair and clothes were just window dressing? Inside she was still Kate Thornton.
But this was Lance Brody and he didn’t take no for an answer. He pulled her back into his arms, his hands falling to the small of her back, holding her against his rock-hard body. His erection nudged the bottom of her stomach.
She glanced up and saw that he was watching her. And she realized she wanted to see more of him. All of him. How often did dreams come true?
If she walked away now, the makeover would be just what she’d called it—window dressing. Nothing more than a facade on her dusty old life. But she had changed.
She put her hands on Lance’s face, drew his head down to hers. “You are the best kisser.”
He smiled at her, just a little half smile that made her pulse race. “I’m just getting started.”
Kate let herself relax and stop worrying about the future, about everything other than this moment. She wanted Lance. He wanted her. Together, they were going to make this moment one of the most memorable.
Lance kissed her again and then lifted her in his arms. She realized she liked the way he carried her around. She loved the feeling that came with being in his arms. Since Kate was big for most of her life, Lance was the first man to carry her as an adult. And it made her feel beautiful, like the sexy girls that men always carried in the movies.
Lance carried her over the threshold, back into his bedroom. He kissed her so tenderly before slowly undressing her.
She crossed her arms over her breasts, knowing despite the weight loss that she still wasn’t perfect. This body… she glanced down at it. Her breasts had fine white stretch marks. And her stomach wasn’t flat. She wondered sometimes if it would ever be.
“What are you doing?”
“I’m not very good-looking naked,” she said.
He shook his head and drew her hands away from her body, holding her arms open so she felt so damned exposed. Too exposed. She couldn’t do this.
Just when she was about to turn away, he pulled her into his arms, hugging her close to his clothed body. “Kate, can’t you feel what you do to me?”
He took her hand and drew it down his body to his erection. It was hard and proud, pressing against his jeans. She stroked him through his clothes.
He traced his finger over her breasts, circling around the white fleshy globe before coming closer to her nipple. It beaded up and she bit her lower lip, waiting in anticipation of his touch.
“Katie?”
“Hmm?”
“You have one hot, sexy body,” he said. His finger rubbed over her nipple, making it impossible for her to remember her own arguments.
A moment later, his head dipped down and he suckled her, drawing her nipple into his mouth. She rubbed her hands over his short hair.
“Lance, take your shirt off,” she said. She surprised herself with her demand. But she wanted to enjoy every second she had with Lance, and she needed to see his chest.
He lifted his head and stood there in front of her. “You take it off for me.”
She reached for his shirt and drew it up and over his head. He tossed it aside and she couldn’t help but reach for his chest. She touched his muscles over his breastbone and then followed the line of hair that tapered down, disappearing into his waistband.
“I like you without your shirt on,” she said.
“Do you?”
“Yes.”
She felt more vulnerable now than she had just a second before. She hadn’t meant to leave herself so open to him. Yet, at the same time, she knew there was no other way for her to react to him.
He didn’t say anything else, just bent to trace the line of her neck to the base. He licked her there and then dropped the softest kiss on her.
She couldn’t think as he stood back up and lifted her onto the bed. He bent down to capture the tip of her breast in his mouth. He sucked her deep in his mouth, his teeth lightly scraping against her sensitive flesh. His other hand played at her other breast, arousing her, making her arch against him in need.
She fumbled with his trousers. He should be naked. She pulled back. Again the brazen woman she hadn’t realized she was came to the scene. “Take your pants off.”
He stood up and unfastened them, kicking off his pants and underwear in one smooth move. He came back down on top of her. She reached between them and took his erection in her hand, bringing him closer to her, spreading her legs wider so that she was totally open to him. “I need you now.”
He lifted his head; the tips of her breasts were damp from his mouth and very tight. He rubbed his chest over them. Then he donned a condom.
She slid her hands down his back, cupping his butt as he thrust into her loosely. Their eyes met. Staring deep into his eyes made her feel like their souls were meeting. She felt her body start to tighten around him, catching her by surprise. She climaxed before him. He gripped her hips, holding her down and thrusting into her two more times before he came with a loud grunt of her name.
After disposing of the condom, he held her, pulling her into his arms and tucking her up against his side.
She wrapped her arm around him and listened to the solid beating of his heart. She closed her eyes and let out her breath, snuggling closer to this man that she’d wanted and loved for so long. She felt his arms wrap around her and she realized that in this moment, she had everything she’d ever wanted. Her dreams were coming true.
Lance woke up with a hard-on and his hands on Kate’s breasts. She felt so incredibly good. He rubbed his erection against her buttocks and lowered his head to her neck. She shifted in his arms, rubbing against him.
He nibbled on the skin exposed by the morning sunlight. She was beautiful. He knew she didn’t think so but as he looked down her body, wrapped in his arms, he’d never seen a more beautiful woman.
He rubbed his palm over her breast until her eyes opened halfway and she moaned softly. The same noise she’d made last night when he’d made love to her.
He shifted on the bed, so that he was lying next to her, his morning hard-on pressing against her hip. It had been a long time since he’d had a woman sleep over and it felt right to Lance that Kate was there.
“Morning.” He took her mouth with his, letting his hands wander over her body. That she was here in his bedroom was just as it should be.
“Good morning,” she said, putting her hand in front of her mouth.
He pulled her hand away from her face and kissed her. “You taste good this morning, honey.” He swept his hand down her body. “Look good, too.”
She flushed and buried her red face against his chest. He put his arms around her and held her. He didn’t understand it but Kate was more beautiful this morning than she had been last night. Her dark hair was thick and curled in disarray around her shoulders. The makeup she’d had on yesterday had worn off and her eyes were clear.
“You slept with your contacts in. Do you need to take them out?”
She shook her head. “I got the kind you can wear for a month. I had a really hard time getting them in initially.”
“Then why wear them?”
“Glasses were part of the old me.”
“So was I, but not anymore.”
Kate laughed. “Glasses have always been a mask for me to hide behind and I don’t want to do that anymore.”
He traced his hand over her shoulder and down her back. She shivered with awareness and her nipples beaded. She was so wonderfully responsive. He pushed her back down on the bed and then bent to lick each nipple. He blew gently on the tips. She raked her nails down his back.
“What are you doing?” she asked.
“Making love to you this morning,” he answered, kissing his way to her stomach and tasting her flesh there.
“Why?”
“Because I can,” he said.
He kissed her soundly, thrusting his tongue deep into her mouth until she was writhing on the bed and moaning his name.
He continued to kiss and nibble his way down her body, taking time to draw her nipples out by suckling them. When she arched off the bed and clutched his head to her breasts, he decided to move lower, to nibble at her stomach and trace the faint scars left from her weight loss. He hadn’t realized how proud he was of Kate until now. She’d really taken charge of her life.
He moved lower until he knelt between her thighs and looked down at her. “May I kiss you there?”
She swallowed, her hands shifting on the bed next to her hips.
“No one has ever done that,” she said.
“If you don’t like it, I’ll stop,” he said.
Her legs moved and he took that as a yes.
He leaned down, blowing lightly on her before tonguing her soft flesh. She lifted her hips toward his mouth.
He wrapped his hands around her hips and drew her up to him, holding her to his mouth as he tasted her. He pushed her legs farther apart until he could reach her dewy core. He pushed his finger into her body and drew out some of her moisture; he lifted his head and looked up her body.
Her eyes were closed, her head tipped back, her shoulders arched, throwing her breasts forward with their berry-hard tips, begging for more attention. Her entire body was erotically beautiful in the morning sunlight.
He lowered his head again, hungry for more of her. He feasted on her body, carefully tasting the moist flesh between her legs. He used his teeth, tongue and fingers to bring her to the brink of climax but held her there, wanting to draw out the moment of completion until she was begging him for it.
Her hands grasped his head as she thrust her hips up toward his face. But he pulled back so that she didn’t get the contact she craved.
“Lance, please.”
He scraped his teeth over her clitoris and she screamed as her orgasm rocked through her body. He kept his mouth on her until her body stopped shuddering and then slid up her, holding her tightly in his arms.
He rolled over, keeping her with him until she straddled him. “Sit up, honey.”
She did as he asked, bracing herself on his shoulders. He shifted his hips until the tip of his cock found the portal of her body. The warmth of her against him made him realize he wasn’t wearing a condom. He reached for the one he’d left on the nightstand last night.
He quickly opened it. “Sit up.”
“Let me do it,” she said.
He handed the condom to her and with a little help from him, he was sheathed. He shifted his hips again and slipped the tip of his erection into her.
“Take as much of me as you want,” he said.
“I want it all,” Kate said. “But I’m not sure…”
He put his hands on her hips and guided her down on him. But the feel of her around him quickly eroded his self-control and he found himself holding her hips tightly while he thrust up inside of her, trying to get deeper. He pulled her legs forward, forcing them farther apart until she settled even closer to him.
He slid deeper still into her. She arched her back, reaching up to entwine her arms around his shoulders. He thrust harder and felt every nerve in his body tensing. Reaching between their bodies, he touched her between her legs until he felt her body start to tighten around him.
He came in a rush, continuing to thrust into her until his body was drained. He then collapsed on top of her, lying his head between her breasts.
A week later, Lance still hadn’t had the chance to talk to Lexi, who had gone back to DC. But he had managed to keep Kate on as his assistant. And he’d taken her to dinner every night—and made love to her most of those nights, as well.
The investigation into the fire was going painfully slowly. Mitch was back in DC and Lance hadn’t spoken to him since the Fourth. They were ready to get back to work at the main refinery. They needed to be producing barrels of oil each day, not sitting idle.
He picked up the phone and dialed Darius’s number.
“This is Darius.”
“Darius, my man, what news do you have from the refinery?”
“Not much. The arson investigator is still tracking the accelerant to try to find the source.”
“Do you trust the man?” Lance asked. “Is he competent?”
“Yes, I think he is. I’m going to call his office later. I’ll follow up with you when I have news.”
“Thanks, Darius. I appreciate you taking this case.”
“That’s what friends are for, right?”
“Indeed.”
“Speaking of friends… what’s this I hear about your engagement?”
