Paper Marriage Proposition(27)

His hand slid languorously up her spine, and his fingers caressed the bare skin on her back as he huskily murmured, “Look at me, Beth…”

She felt the gentle cup of his hand on the back of her head, drawing her forward until his lips were a breath away.

“…and tell me you don’t want this.”

He covered her lips with his. She stiffened at the contact, trying to fight it, but his lips felt plush and warm, and when the wet silk of his tongue swept into her mouth, she was lost. Lost in the moment, in a kiss that was profound with yearning and rough with hunger, a kiss that was shattering and devastating and beautiful, a kiss from a man she wanted and feared and admired.

An unfamiliar desperation rose inside her, the need to experience this closeness with someone staggering in intensity, making her not only respond but do so with hot, ardent abandon. Whoever he was, whatever he was, he was suddenly more crucial than air, and her every defense against him fled. Her fingers bit into his shoulders and her mouth began to move frantically under his.

“More,” he rasped, and slanted his head, “Give me more.”

A moan rushed out of her, muffled by his mouth as their lips dissolved in a hungry, wild exploration. He tasted of coffee. Smelled like a man. His hands greedily roamed her sides, along her back, clutching and kneading even while pressing her against him.

Eager to investigate every plane, ridge, angle of his body, she let her hands venture up his back and curled her fingers around his thick nape. His arms tightened around her and he groaned into her mouth. He was so aroused! She could feel it, the thundering in his chest against her breast, the sharp shudder that rushed through him as he deepened the kiss and ground his need against her in slow, suggestive moves of his hips.

Rather than fill her with fear, the stab of his broad, unyielding hardness sent a flood of warmth across her body, and the muscles of her tummy clenched with need.

In the darkness of this bedroom and very late at night, she’d wondered if he spent sleepless nights like she had, thinking of him. If he was haunted by the kiss they’d shared before the press. And if he’d both been waiting for and wanting a new one. But it was insane!

Squirming, she pushed him away and gasped for air. He pulled back, and her chest heaved crazily, and her lips tingled with the sweet moisture of his mouth.

He cupped her face between both his hands and focused on her eyes with a heavy-lidded gaze. “I won’t apologize,” he said, a warning.

Dizzied, Beth had trouble pulling away, couldn’t seem to find her grounding. She found herself clinging to his collar with her fists. “Why? Why did you kiss me?”

There were no reporters now, no priest demanding he kiss the bride, no need to kiss her at all. She’d done the same to him that first night, but she’d been desperate. What about him?

He didn’t answer. Instead, he gently pried her cramped fingers from his shirt, set her arms at her sides with a brotherly pat, and smiled a devil’s smile from the door. “Good night, Bethany.”



He could still taste her.

It amused him. It annoyed him. It made him feel starved.

Across the room, Landon watched the blonde, blue-eyed vision in a cream wedding dress mingle among the well-dressed crowd and colorful blur of dancers.

They’d planned a small celebration—nothing too posh. Bethany had asked for simple and simple was what Bethany got.

Lush white casablancas populated his home today. They were accompanied by music, candles and a promising buffet. A buffet that couldn’t possibly satisfy Landon’s hunger. No, nothing could appease this hunger. This aching, growing void for more.

The tension between them had been building during the week. Like a fire stoked with their plotting, their glances, their smiles. Landon was known as a patient man, but his body didn’t listen to patience tonight.

He thrummed with desire. Had strained against his pants all through the ride to city hall. He’d watched her loose honeyed hair brush against her shoulders, her small, pert breasts rise and fall under her form-fitting dress.

It would have taken nothing to lean over and kiss her again. This time touch her, caress her soft skin, wrap his hands around her hair.

But she wasn’t ready. Last night she’d pushed him away. And Landon would wait. So she trusted him, respected him. Wanted him bad enough to come to him.

His wife…

The tantalizing thought made him groan low in his throat. Did she moan when she made love? Did the thought of being legally bound to him play with her libido the same way it did with his? He closed his eyes and exhaled a ragged breath, attempting to forget the way her mouth had tasted, of apples and pears.

With effort, he pushed away from the limestone column in the foyer and made his way back into the party, watching Kate and Bethany chat. Her dress molded to her slender body, and the sight drove him up the wall.