“Trouble in high school?” he asked, lifting a dark brow.
Senada smiled. “You don’t sound surprised. What kind of trouble are you expecting me to say?” She leaned forward. “Mooning the principal? I never got caught at that. Making out under the bleachers while I skipped Spanish? Never got caught at that either.”
She watched the reluctant flame flicker to life in his eyes and felt a decadent thrill. The sensation was a nice diversion, but she should throw him out of her house, certainly off her bed. Her gaze dropped to his open shirt, revealing his bare muscular chest, and she withheld a sigh.
“You know, Sin, you make a man wonder just what it takes to catch you.”
The thrill bucked through her again, stronger this time. “But that’s part of the fun, Troy, tagging, holding, but never quite catching.”
Tempted and wanting to tempt, she leaned closer until her lips were a breath away from his. “Wanna have a little fun?”
He took the dare and her mouth in a searing kiss. “No,” he said. “I wanna have a lot of fun. But you’re in no shape for—”
Senada let the sheet drop from her breasts.
Troy’s gaze fell to her bare torso.
Sin smiled. “You were complaining about my shape.”
Troy dragged his gaze back to her eyes and shot her a dark look. “I wasn’t complaining.”
“That’s nice.”
He studied her thoughtfully. “What do you want, Sin? A diversion? A little vacation from your pain? Escape from reality?”
She sucked in a quick breath. Her bravado disappeared. His words made her feel unbearably exposed, worse than naked. She drew back. “Forget it. Just forget it. I shouldn’t have—”
He wrapped his hand around her wrist. “Just answer the question, Sin. What do you want?”
Her heart hurt as it pounded in her chest. “I want to forget,” she whispered. “Just for a little while. I want to forget.”
He shook his head slightly, his violet eyes full of compassion and something deeper, something she’d never seen in a man’s eyes before.
“Oh, sweetheart,” he murmured, pulling her into his arms.
Senada fought tears. No one had ever called her sweetheart. Her breasts brushed his chest at the same moment his mouth took hers, and lightning mixed with tenderness. The combination was irresistible.
She stretched her hands around his shoulders and sighed into his mouth. Trust flowed through her again. Troy would make her forget, if only for a little while.
He pulled away from her for a moment to gaze at her. He took a deep breath. His eyes looked nearly black. “Are you sure?” he asked in a low, rough voice.
His concern grabbed at her so hard, she had to close her eyes. “Yes,” she managed. “But you’ve got to stop being so kind or I’m going to cry.”
He gave a half chuckle and rubbed her breasts from side to side against his chest. “You’ve been hangin’ around the wrong kind of men.”
Her nipples budded against the abrasion. “You might be able to convince me of that.”
He tilted her chin upward and slid his tongue down her neck.
Her body suffused with heat. “Oh!”
His mouth continued its sensual trek down to the upper rise of one of her breasts. “Yes?” he murmured.
He licked gently, precisely over the place where her heart beat furiously. Yet another tender but unbearably arousing gesture. “Yesss,” she managed, and put her fingers through his hair to urge his mouth lower.
When his lips fastened on her nipple, she arched her back. His hands were on her arms, but she would almost swear that with each sweep of his tongue, he was stroking her secret places. Under his persistent caresses, she grew hot and uncomfortable. It was difficult to remain still.
She tugged at his shirt. “You have on too many clothes.”
“Average amount,” he corrected, moving his mouth to her other breast.
“Too many,” she repeated, and started on his belt.
Her fingers brushed against his obvious arousal, and she had a tough time deciding whether to touch him now or to wait. Just for fun, she ran her fingernail down his zipper.
He sucked in a shallow breath. “If you don’t move your hands away, you’re gonna get something started.”
She laughed through the achy fire in her blood. “I’m doing my best.”
Troy swore and wrapped her hands around his waist. “What am I gonna do with you?”
“Keep me busy,” she said. “Keep me very busy.” She ran her tongue around his lips, then boldly slipped it inside his mouth.
It seemed a second later that he was cradling her head in one arm, supporting her back with the other as he pressed her down and kissed her long and luxuriously. As if he were determined to keep a check on the speed and velocity of their desire, he held her firmly.