the front of his jeans came into contact with her belly. Her eyes locked on his. Knowing, but not quite acknowledging. Not yet.
Then her fingertips crept up his chest, her arms slid around his neck. ‘Unbelievable,’ she murmured.
‘Believe it,’ he murmured back.
Lissa looked up into those liquid blue eyes framed with thick dark lashes and wanted to drown there. She slid her fingers into his short military haircut and released a sigh that seemed to come from the depths of her soul.
Then, in a flash like a remnant of lightning from last night’s storm, she hesitated. Did he know how she’d always felt about him? Was he about to take full advantage of that knowledge?
His erection butted against her as if in answer and, oh, how long had she wanted that? But, ‘Wait …’ She relinquished her hold and pushed at his chest. Reluctantly but firmly.
His brows lowered, his gaze turned bemused, those perfect, ready lips turned down at the corners, but he didn’t quite let her go. His hands still rested on her waist. ‘You okay?’
‘I … yes.’ Of course he didn’t know.
But how well did she really know Blake? Did she believe the old gossip about him? She didn’t know—she’d never had any personal contact with him beyond the casual ‘hi and bye’.
She’d thought she’d known Todd. She’d trusted him with her heart, and with her body, and he’d abused that trust. In so many ways. The niggle turned to panic and flared bright and urgent within her. She started to pull out of his hold.
‘Hang on, where are you going?’ He tugged her back, his arms slid around her, steel bands holding her prisoner.
She fought down a sudden feeling of claustrophobia. ‘I just remembered I need to. be somewhere.’
‘No.’ He released one arm to lift her chin with a finger so that she was looking up, up into his eyes. ‘No,’ he said again, softer this time, but no less demanding as he gripped her chin and dropped his mouth to hers.
Futile to fight it. The old thought flashed through her mind and hot panic geysered up her throat but as his lips moved over hers the bad drained away as quickly as it came.
She’d fought Todd when he’d made the same move on her over and over while she’d struggled and died inside, but here, beneath the heat of Blake’s mouth, even within his uncompromising hold there was a whole world of difference.
Because she knew instinctively that she could pull away at any time.
Masculine dominance. Strength. Control. She’d come to fear them, but with Blake, here, now, it faded away like mist beneath a tropical sun. She felt none of that familiar trepidation, only a willingness to meet him equally, man to woman, and an urgent desire for more.
His stubble grazed her chin. Her legs trembled and she clutched at his T-shirt to keep from sliding to a puddle at his feet. She could feel the hard wall of his chest, leashed power humming just beneath his skin, the heavy thump of his heart against her fists.
This was nothing like a simple meeting of mouths. Nothing like it had been with any other man. Here, as his lips moved over hers, there was fire. The same fire, the same hot desire that burned brightly within her.
Until Todd had left her feeling inadequate as a lover, she’d never been a woman to shrink from her own desires, from taking what she needed from a man and giving in return. Celebrating her sexuality, absorbing her own pleasure, while ensuring she reciprocated in full measure. But she’d never felt the overwhelming emotional connection that suffused her whole being now, with Blake.
Her mouth parted only too willingly as he sought entry, his tongue dancing lightly over hers at first, then deeper, bolder, exploring the inside of her cheeks, her teeth. So easy to let emotion take command of her body as she absorbed the rich dark flavours he brought, the low growl she could hear deep in his throat, the feel of his fingers beneath her chin, against her neck. So simple to forget everything but this urgent, raw desire sweeping through her and give herself up to it.
Blake had never known that passion could be laced in such delicacy. His hands were unsteady as he tilted her head for better access to more of her sweetness, lifting them so he could glide his fingers through her silky hair and hold her close, where he wanted her. Where he needed her.
With her pale skin and clear translucent eyes she reminded him of a miniature porcelain doll. Easily broken. So he was careful to keep the fire that roared like an inferno through his blood contained.
Something had spooked her a moment ago, but now … now she clung to him, all lithe limbs and soft feminine curves. Her body melted against his, fitted with his as if she’d been made expressly for that purpose.
A rumble rose up his throat as he cruised his hands up over her shoulder blades, taking it slow, testing her response, testing his own. Then down her spine, all the way down so that he could tuck that spectacular bottom even closer against him.
But when his erection ground against her belly and she let out a sexy turned-on moan, all reason, all thought fled except the overwhelming desire to have her. His greedy hands raced up to skim the outer edges of her full round breasts. Taking their weight in his palms, he indulged in her warm, womanly shape.
Hunger. An insatiable hunger that demanded to be appeased. And need. Hot, acute, devastating need that rushed in with a torpedo’s force to fill the void he’d learned to live with.
Dipping his head, he nuzzled a breast until he found its pebble-hard nipple. Heard her murmur, ‘Oh … yes …’
He drew it into his mouth and suckled her through the soft jersey while his hands slipped beneath the hem of her T-shirt to feel her silky smooth belly against his palms. When he nipped at the erect little peak with his teeth, she gasped and arched against his mouth.
As if from a distance he heard a muffled sob as she cried out his name, sending white-hot shards arrowing straight to his throbbing groin. He shifted his attention to her other breast while he eased the T-shirt up over her ribcage, his thumbs already grazing the undersides of those perfect globes.
Then her hands pushed at his chest and through the roaring in his ears he heard the words, ‘Blake … stop …’
Stop? It was enough to shake off the sexual fog that enshrouded them. He looked into those wide, passion-drenched eyes and knew she wanted it as bad as he. ‘Okay, we’ll take this somewhere more comfortable,’ he murmured.
But when he ran a finger over the neck of her T-shirt, skirting the swell of her breast, she wrapped a restraining hand around his. ‘No sexual favours …’
He frowned. ‘Is that what you think this is? Repayment for my assistance?’
‘I don’t know, I …’
She thought so little of him? And suddenly he knew why. She believed the gossip. A bitter taste lodged in his throat. ‘This is called sealing the deal with a kiss,’ he muttered harshly, ‘and you were enjoying it as much as me.’
‘It wasn’t just a kiss.’
Then his brain caught up with the rest of him. Her wavering, the hesitation. Her incredulous, ‘After all this time.’ Her reluctance
