“Just…right for that moment. Between us.”
Axel closed his eyes. “I am not an honorable man, Libby.”
“Is that so?”
He drew a breath, and met her gaze. “Outside of my work, which always comes first, I’m a selfish bastard and I know it. Hell, everyone knows it. But even so, I don’t want to hurt you.”
Libby bit her lip, fighting a laugh. “But don’t you see? I don’t really give a flip if you’re selfish. Be any kind of obnoxious, egotistical chump that you want, it won’t matter to me, because other than sexually, I have no interest in you at all.” Her nose touched his. “Now, if you’re saying you’re selfish in bed, then—”
“No.” He gave up. Hell, to be honest, he’d given up the moment he saw her in his office and knew he’d be able to find her again. “You’ll enjoy yourself, I guarantee it.”
Her breath snagged on a sigh, her eyes turned hopeful. “Does that mean…?”
“Yeah.” He looked at her crazy braids, her teddy bear shirt, and her purple toenails, and was gripped by the most violent lust he’d ever experienced. He was already hard. His hands were shaking. His stomach knotted.
But he knew it wasn’t just lust. Lust was a familiar thing, and this was…more. Hotter, gentler, explosive and tender. Consuming.
It left him floundering. Lust he understood. The other stuff…Too unfamiliar to examine closely. “I want you, Libby. Right now. Right here.” He touched her cheek, and was struck by the incredible warmth of her velvety skin. “You okay with that?”
She came up to her knees and her eyes darkened—with uncertainty or excitement? “Yeah, I am.”
Axel eyed the short, narrow bed. It didn’t look big enough to accommodate two people, but he’d make do. At the moment, he could take her standing up. Hell, he could take her standing on his head.
He just really, really needed to take her.
They stared at each other, Libby waiting for him to make a move, Axel trying to determine what the best move might be for a virgin.
Getting her naked topped his list, so he asked, “Have you seen any nude men?”
Her eyes widened. “Not yet, but don’t let that stop you.”
His grin came reluctantly. She was a cheeky little thing, quick with a comeback, a delightful mix of shyness and bravado.
Having no modesty to speak of, Axel reached back, grabbed a fistful of his tee and yanked it off over his head. Watching her watch him, he dropped it to the floor and simply stood there. He liked the way she stared at his chest and abdomen, sort of agog, her eyes rounded and her lips slightly parted. Her gaze dipped lower still, visually tracing the bulge in his jeans.
When he didn’t move, she said, “Go on.”
Axel laughed as he pulled off his boots, then sat on the side of the mattress to peel off his socks. Leaving his jeans on for the moment, he settled back into the corner where she’d been earlier. The back of the love seat served as a headboard of sorts, but with arms. Axel caught her waist and pulled her onto his lap.
She might be tall, but she didn’t weigh much, and she was soft in all the right places.
“The braids are cute,” he told her, “but how hard would it be to lose them?”
Both her hands were on him, stroking through his chest hair with single-minded absorption. “Not hard.”
“Great.” He lifted one skinny braid and the cloth-covered band holding it slid off the end. Her hair was so thick and silky, the braid unraveled with no help from him. In minutes, he had all eight braids undone. Her hair looked slightly wavy now, but after stroking his fingers through it, it smoothed out. “I love your hair,” he told her, his voice going a little deep with the reality of having her so close, his for the night.
He just had to keep his cool and make it good for her. From what he remembered—how many years ago was it?—virgins were tricky. They needed more care. More time. More finesse.
He could handle it. Maybe. If he thought about other things, like getting the oil changed in his BMW, or facing the chief of staff over a reprimand, or how Booker and Cary would react if they knew the predicament he currently faced.
“Will you kiss me again?”
“Damn right.” Axel took her mouth, slow and deep and wet, his fingers tangled in her hair, her fingers on his shoulders, kneading like a cat. She squirmed on his lap, distracting him with the way her bottom moved against his boner. And thinking of her bottom…His hands went there without his mind’s permission, and damn, she felt good.
The television played in the background, but not loud enough to cover the sounds of their deepened breathing.
Forgetting his own rules about slow and careful, Axel turned and laid her flat beneath him across the bed. One of her slender legs got trapped between his, the other rested alongside his hip. She made a soft sound of surprise, hugging him tighter to her, arching up, provoking him.
“Shhh,” he whispered, raising his head to look at her. Her eyes were heavy, her mouth swollen and deep pink from their kisses. “Be still, Libby. Relax.”
“No.” She pushed up again, her hands spread wide across his lower back. Her eyes closed in pleasure. “You feel so good. All hard thick muscle. I like being squashed.”
He didn’t want to squash her, damn it. “Libby…”
“Do you ever think about this with your female patients?”
Appalled, Axel thrust himself away on stiffened arms. “Good God, no!”
“Really?” With him above her, she explored his chest again, dragging her palms over his nipples, sliding one hand down to his abdomen, making him nuts. “I heard that gynecologists see women the same way a mechanic sees a car engine. Is that true then?”
“I really don’t want to talk about my work right now.” Talking about it gave him the willies, and made him very uncomfortable. The women he saw as patients…No, he never thought of them in sexual terms.
Thank God Libby hadn’t been a patient.
Her hands opened on his jeans-covered ass, slid into his back pockets, and squeezed. “The thing is,” she whispered, suddenly looking shy, “I didn’t feel funny about you seeing me naked until I found out what you do.”
Oh. Axel relaxed, realizing the source of her questions. He came down to his elbows and pressed a tender kiss to her mouth. She sighed and her warmth drew him again, so he continued kissing her, lingering a little more each time, licking over her lips, then sinking in for a long, leisurely, tongue-twining smooch that left her breathless and grasping at him.
“What I do at the office,” he said while working his way from her lips to her ear then her throat, “has nothing to do with this. I separate my work from any sort of intimacy.”
“But…”
“No buts, honey. I can’t say I see
