No Romance Required(23)

The giggle that escaped was part nerves and part excitement. Cory wasn’t acting like himself. He was almost being flirty. “I don’t show my secrets on strange men’s balconies.”

That single brow winged up as he set the notebook aside. “Since when am I a strange man?”

“You’ve always been strange. Part of your appeal.”

“I’m also the man you’re dating, in case you’ve forgotten.” He moved closer, studying her far more intently than he usually did. “Not sure what game you’ve got going, Ms. Townsend, but I’ll play. And I’ll win.”

“This is a game we can both win.” She laid a hand on his chest. Warm, smooth skin stretched under her palm as he sharply exhaled. “Want to move things inside?”

He didn’t shoot her down or laugh at her, two minor miracles. His eyebrows climbed toward his hairline. “Looking to break that ten-month streak?”

She couldn’t stop staring at the swell of his Adam’s apple, and the way it jumped when he was nervous. Like right this second. This magnetically sexy, commanding, intelligent man was nervous because of her.

He might as well have injected an aphrodisiac directly into her veins.

“You never said how long yours was,” she said, letting her voice linger on the double entendre. She raised her gaze to his slowly and savored the flare of heat cracking through the ice in his gorgeous eyes.

“Don’t you know?” He followed the vee of her sweater down to where it ended just above her breasts. Her nipples hardened, pressing through the cashmere. Shamelessly begging for more than just his glance. “You took your sweet time looking. And feeling, as I recall.”

Vicky wet her lips. She hadn’t pushed him quite like this before, but he’d never given her the slightest signal he would respond before Saturday night. But that was then, and this was now. He was interested. And he wasn’t hiding it, either.

In more ways than one, she realized as his length brushed her belly. Holy shit, he was turned on. Over her. Hard enough to fuel a thousand fantasies.

“Sometimes your imagination can overemphasize things, in retrospect. And the eyes can play tricks on you.” She sounded breathless, as if he’d already made her come and she was heading for round two.

“Especially when they’re like yours. Eyes like yours could convince a man of anything.” He rubbed against her so lightly she wondered if she’d imagined it. Until he did it again. “I almost believe you want me, Victoria.”

She couldn’t look away from his eyes. All that passion, that heat, for her. She wanted to harness it, own it. Make sure he never forgot that she’d been the one to make him feel that way.

“What’s going on in that beautiful brain of yours?” He trailed his fingertip along her collarbone and she nearly whimpered. “Some women might want to rope me into this arrangement to try to make it real. But my money isn’t what’s making your breath quicken right now.”

She tried to find the words to convince him to take her to bed, but she couldn’t speak past the swamping need fanning out from her belly. If he slipped his hand between her legs, he’d discover the throb inside her, that primal drumbeat that sounded for him alone.

As much as she wished she could deny it, some part of her had craved him since she was a girl. She’d fought it, ignored it, but that growing part of her clamored for her attention now.

“You pushed me even after I’d told you we couldn’t do this.” His voice thickened. “Not us.”

“Yes, us.” In some way, it had always been them, moving to this moment. And she wasn’t about to let him go without making sure he knew it.

Holding his gaze, she licked his throat, one long swipe against his stubbled skin. His groan ruffled her hair and sent a powerful bolt of arousal through her system. She curled her fingers into his chest, digging in with her nails, and licked again, adding a scrape of teeth over his Adam’s apple.

She moaned when he clenched her waist and slammed their bodies together. His rigid length wedged against her stomach, spurring her on. Slowly, she dragged her lips down his neck. She picked up the fresh scent of his soap, and images of him in the shower scrolled through her mind. Except she was there with him. Sipping the water droplets from his shoulders. Dropping to her knees to take him deep in her mouth. Swallowing more when he begged her not to stop—

“Victoria.” His guttural use of her name caused her to still. “This will change everything.”

Then his mouth crushed down on hers.

Its weight was a brand, forever stamping her with the memory of this night. Of stars in an inky black sky. Of his heart racing against hers.