Sweet Seduction Shield(46)

I'd never felt this way before. And I'm ashamed to say, I'd never felt this way for Rick either.

But Rick had never been like Ryan on the inside. Hadn't even come close.

I took the last step that brought me within touching distance, right beneath his chin, practically against his chest. If we were being watched, I didn't care. I had to hope that ASI were the only ones monitoring and that any indiscretions on Ryan's part would not make it back to his bosses. But I had to do this. I had to finally touch.

It had always been him who reached out. The brush of his hand in the dip of my lower spine. A finger sweep across my cheek, tucking a piece of hair behind my ears. His large palm in mine. I'd never reached for him. Not once.

But I did now.

My hand came up and cupped his cheek, felt the bristle of his beard against tender skin. My finger traced the edge of his jaw, noting it was quite square and masculine. I hadn't picked that up, the goatee had hidden it. My thumb ran along his bottom lip, taking in the fullness, the smoothness, the heat. While my eyes devoured every inch of his face. His high cheek bones, his V shaped eyebrows as he slightly frowned. The flare of his nostrils with each stroke of my finger and thumb. The heavy lidded eyes, that seemed to glow from chestnut, to chocolate, to dark, rich espresso.

I licked my lips and a soft groan emitted from between his teeth.

"What are you doing?" he husked.

"Trusting you," I replied, my voice soft, but with a sexy edge of roughness I never knew it could posses.

"Marie," he warned, my finger came up and pressed against his lips to get him to stop.

"Ryan," I shot back with a smirk at the surprise in his widening eyes. I'd never called him by his given name, only ever by his surname to his face.

"Well?" he challenged against my finger, the movement sending a thrill right through my centre to parts hidden below.

"I'm going to kiss you," I advised confidently. His mouth tipped up into a smile. "But just one thing," I whispered, leaning closer, letting my hot breath replace my finger on his lips.

He licked them.

"Don't you dare change because of me."

He sucked in a breath and pulled back slightly, but my hand snaked up and wrapped around his neck, bringing him back.

"I like you just the way you are," I added, my lips pressing softly into his, just once. Just a peck, a taste of what was to come. "Inside and out."

He groaned, wrapped his arms around me, pulled me hard against his chest, his groin, his thighs, and then commandeered my kiss completely, and made it his own.

I liked that too. But I don't think I needed to tell him... he could already tell.





Chapter 14


Just About Beautiful, Multifaceted, All Encompassing, Sometimes Challenging... Love.

Everything else ceased to exist, but Ryan's lips on mine. A firm press, a slanting stroke of smooth flesh, the lick of his tongue along the bottom edge of my mouth. The encouraging nibble of his lips on the corner. His hot breath, mingling with my hotter breath. The sounds he was making; masculine, throaty, needy. The bristle of his goatee against my chin, cheek, upper lip. Rather than distract, it seemed to heighten my senses, making me want more of that feeling everywhere.

I gasped when his teeth pulled on my bottom lip, nipping a bit more firmly than I had expected. Every touch was more forceful than I had expected. Pierce had been controlled, certain in his actions and behaviour, well contained. But what he showed me now was someone else. Someone who allowed himself that hunger, who entertained it, explored it. Owned it.

And it matched mine.

I'd had dates over the past few years, nothing serious, nothing long term. The occasional liaison that led to more, but not one of them had made me crave. Had made me lose all sense of time and place. Had made the world disappear and only the next kiss, touch, sensation... matter. We were standing in the centre of a backyard next to a house full of people, with more people walking the perimeter fence, yet I didn't care. And what was more appealing, neither did Ryan.

With every groan, every fervent press of his lips to mine, every hungry sweep of his tongue inside my mouth, he let me know how much he wanted me, how much he'd wanted me all along.

For the first few moments it was just our lips engaged, our tongues entwined, our breaths mingled. I had a hand wrapped around the back of his neck, and one pressed to his hard, heaving chest. He had his arms snaked around my waist, one hand firmly placed on my butt cheek over my jeans, the other moulded to the curve of my hip. But the only part of us to dance were our lips, everything else was forgotten; there but not there.

Until he slipped his hot palm inside my jeans, skin to skin, cupping my butt intimately, while his other hand brushed purposefully against the underside of my breast through my t-shirt.