Pulling me back to him, he cups one cheek with his free hand. It’s intimate. It’s intoxicating, and the temperature in this cool windowed room has suddenly risen a dozen scorching degrees. Once again, I’m lost.
Out of my peripheral I see Conn stand and exit the room, quietly chuckling.
“You’re going with us.”
The effect Asher has on all of my senses is confusing. Every single time he touches me my pulse races. I have a hard time remembering to breathe. I have no idea what we’re doing here and I have to start working for this man in just a few short days, yet he’s almost acting like we’re a couple. I need to get myself together or I’m going to be completely lost to him.
“Why?” I breathe.
“Alyse,” he moans, his eyes searching mine. They penetrate my soul, pilfering a little bit of it into him. “Because I’m not ready to let you go yet.”
I watch him lower his lips to mine, the whole scene playing in slow motion. Jesus, I shouldn’t let him do this, but I’m going to anyway.
When his mouth touches mine, sparklers ignite behind my eyelids. Low-current voltage flows slowly through my body, lighting me up from the inside. I think it’s spilling out of my pores, like sunbeams.
This is exactly the way it felt last night. This is a million times more intense than it felt eight years ago. My blood literally flares to life with his simple touch, his passionate kiss. It’s dizzying. It’s exhilarating. What the hell will having sex with him make me feel like?
Completely consumed, Alyse. Utterly lost.
Groaning, Asher deepens the kiss, his tongue demanding entry, which I give. Lips never leaving mine, he pulls me astride his lap. I helplessly comply. Both hands now cup my face and I hand over complete control to him. Or he takes it. I’m not sure which and I’m not sure I care as I feel his thick, pulsing want for me in exactly the right spot.
My denim-covered pelvis involuntarily rocks against his hard length. His grip tightens and a low, guttural growl comes from deep within him as his kiss becomes more feverish. My God, the man knows how to use his mouth. I can only imagine how much experience he has with his cock.
Suddenly he’s pulling away, holding me far enough back that I can’t reach his lips. It takes a few seconds to force my eyelids open, but when I do and meet his dark blues, they’re hazy and dilated with lust. His jaw ticks with restraint. Our chests heave with want and exertion. We stare at each other for long moments. I feel the heat in my face and know I’m flushed from head to toe.
I’m fully aware anyone could walk into the room at any second, catching us in this compromising position, but I can’t make myself move or look away. He’s a sorcerer; I’m completely enthralled in his magical spell.
When Asher finally speaks, it’s barely above a whisper and the sincere words he utters make me foolishly want to give myself to him. Every broken, ragged edge of me. “I’m not sure I will ever be ready to let you go, Alyse.”
“Asher…” I close my eyes, trying to get my violent hormones and riotous emotions under control. When I open them, his hunger hasn’t abated a single bit. “What are we doing here?”
A small smile tips his lips. “I don’t honestly know, but I can’t seem to stop. Hell, I don’t want to stop.” He pauses, his eyes sweeping to my swollen lips before lifting to capture mine again. “There’s something different about you, Alyse. There always has been. Even when I shouldn’t have been attracted to you all those years ago, I was. And now that I’ve found you again, I need to know what it is. See if we have something else here besides the intense need to fuck each other.”
I suck in a sharp breath, his unfiltered words catching me off guard once again. But for the first time since I met Asher Colloway so very many years ago, his cocky attitude is shed and I see vulnerability in its place. It’s probably the most endearing side of him he’s shown me yet. It makes me want to agree to anything he’ll ask of me, which I’m one breath away from doing. He pulls me to his waiting mouth once again.
“Thoughts of you have utterly consumed me for weeks,” he whispers against my lips before kissing me softly. His kiss is reverent, worshipping. Sweet.
So damn perfect.
Every word he’s spoken is what any woman wants to hear from a man who’s interested in her, but still I hesitate, trying to make one last lame, admittedly very lame, effort. “But I’m going to work for you,” I manage to say when he lets me pull back.
“No, you’re going to work on a project for my company.”
“But you own the company.”