Randi looked up at him and shivered as she fell into his dark, liquid blue eyes. He was looking at her like a predator that hadn’t had food in weeks, his gaze devouring every inch of her face. His intensity at the moment made her edgy, and his unexpected apology threw her off balance. This wasn’t the Evan she was used to, the Evan who either ignored her or threw out condescending comments.
His body pressed closer, his free hand resting against the door beside her face.
“I forgive you,” she said in a rushed voice. “Just don’t kiss me again.”
If he lays those lips on me, I know I’m toast.
His unique, masculine scent surrounded her, sinking into every pore of her skin, intoxicating her. If he tasted her, she’d never be able to resist him.
“Why?” he asked huskily. “Don’t tell me you don’t want this, Miranda.”
His tone was entreating, almost pleading with her to acknowledge the smoldering heat between them. Her heart skittered as he pressed his lips to her temple, leaving a hot trail of breath along the side of her face.
“I can’t,” she said painfully, knowing she wanted him to kiss her worse than she’d ever wanted anything else in her life. “And nobody calls me Miranda.”
“You can,” he cajoled. “And I prefer Miranda. It’s a beautiful name.”
“I hate it.” Randi’s chest was heaving as Evan’s lips trailed lightly to her ear, his heated breath on her sensitive skin making it difficult for her to draw a breath. “Only my real mother used that name.”
“Maybe you could learn to like it again if there was a man saying it while he was making you come harder than you ever have before,” Evan suggested hoarsely in her ear.
Oh, sweet baby Jesus. Randi was afraid she’d probably learn to love her full name again under those circumstances. All thoughts of her birth mother gone, the only thing she could think of was the mental picture he’d just painted.
Him . . . in the heat of passion, groaning her name like she was a goddess, pounding into her as she experienced the most divine climax of her life. If his fierce expression was any indication of how he pleasured a woman, he’d strip away every defense she’d built up over the years and leave her begging for more. She felt helpless to resist this seductive side of Evan she’d never seen before.
Reaching behind her, he opened the door to let Lily come back in, and then he closed it quickly and flipped the lock, surging forward as he made the motions.
His engorged cock pressed against her pelvis, and she bit her lip to stifle a moan as she felt the size and strength of his erection against her body.
“Kiss me,” Evan demanded as he moved his hands down her back and cupped her jean-clad ass with both of his large, strong hands. His fingers gripped the flesh and pulled her molten core into his hard form. “You asked me not to kiss you, so you have to kiss me.”
Randi’s willpower broke as she looked up and saw the longing in Evan’s eyes. It was an echo of exactly what she was feeling, and she could no more resist him than she could stop breathing. Wrapping her arms around his neck, she speared her hands into his coarse hair and yanked his mouth down to hers. She needed his touch more than she wanted to resist him, and as his lips collided with hers, Randi completely forgot why she was even trying to fight the urge to devour him.
He sprang into action the moment she kissed him, taking control as he demanded her complete surrender. Tasting. Teasing. Commanding. Evan’s tongue swept into her mouth, wiping away every doubt she had as he conquered her mouth with his own, leaving her breathless and mindless as he finally surfaced, his teeth catching her bottom lip and nipping at the flesh as though he wanted to mark it.
His lips were suddenly everywhere, and Randi’s hand left his hair and wrapped around his neck as she felt herself being lifted off her feet. She landed on something soft—she assumed it was the couch—but she wasn’t about to turn her head away from his mouth to look. She was too obsessed with the feel of his body against hers to give a crap what she’d landed on.
For some unknown reason, she felt safe letting Evan take control of her body while it burned for his possession. She knew he was feeling the same insane desires that she was experiencing right now.
Randi nearly whimpered as her body lost contact with his. Opening her eyes, her breath hitched as she saw Evan in the firelight, whipping his sweater over his head and pulling it from his body like he wanted it gone right that second. Randi blinked, stunned by the sight of his muscular chest and defined abs, covered by an abundance of bare skin that she was suddenly itching to touch.