He groaned. Resignation lined his face. Surging forward, he claimed her in a deep kiss, cupping her breast with one hand as he explored her mouth. His teeth scraped along her tongue, sending shivers down her spine and making her body arch into his touch.
She fumbled with the ties to her undergarments. She felt empty, needy.
He pulled back, out of breath, and stilled her hands. He placed one of her palms on the seat next to her thigh, the other on the other side. He squeezed her wrists, telling her silently to keep them there, and kissed her again.
Well, if he wanted to do all the work, that was fine with her. For now.
He trailed kisses down her neck. Grabbing the back of her thighs, he pulled her to lie flat on the sofa.
The twinge in her side was easily ignored. His mouth had a way of making all pain disappear.
Brogan slid a hand behind her, arching her back. Without lowering her gown, he laved at her breast. He suckled her nipple through the silk, using his teeth to scrape across the sensitive nub. He slid his other hand up her pantalets to the slit at her crotch.
She whimpered at the first brush of his fingers against her lower lips. Moisture pooled, and Brogan growled as he spread her desire up to her clit.
She clutched his head. “You feel so good.”
He pulled back from her body, ignoring her protest, only to circle her wrists and plant her hands back on the sofa. “Stay.”
Her chest heaved. It took more energy to not reach for him than it did running upstairs. But when Brogan raised the hand that had been petting her, inhaled deeply and licked his finger, she forgot all about her discomfort.
Giving her a wicked smile, he slid down her body, shouldering her knees wider, and stared at the slit in the fabric. And what lay behind. He placed his hands on her hips and peeled the opening wider with his thumbs. And to her disbelieving eyes, he lowered his head and put his mouth on her.
“Oh, Lord!” Needing something to hold onto, she reached over her head and grabbed the back of the sofa. James had never shown her this. She wanted to protest. Wanted to take a bath, perhaps, before letting Brogan know her so intimately. But her body refused to say any words to stop it.
Brogan traced a path between her lips, lapped at her essence before sliding that marvelous tongue into her core. His nose brushed her clit with each bob of his head, sending streaks of pleasure through her body.
She pleaded. Begged. Urged him not to stop. To never stop. Her life would be perfect if Brogan could live between her thighs. She’d care for nothing else, not even food or shelter.
He gripped her bum, pulling her closer as though he couldn’t get enough of her taste. And just when she thought she couldn’t take another minute of his delightful torture, Brogan wrapped his lips around her clit and sucked.
She exploded into a thousand vibrating bits of pleasure. She bucked into his mouth, writhed with ecstasy until it all became too much. She collapsed back, sucking down air and blinking at vague shapes her eyes refused to focus on.
The fabric of her gown was smoothed back down her legs.
She held out her hand, not able to do much more than that. “Give me a moment. That was… spectacular.” She shook her head clear and gave Brogan a big smile.
Which quickly dropped at his closed-off expression. “What’s wrong?” He didn’t answer. Her stomach clenched, and dread withered the last, lingering feelings from her crisis. She swallowed. Keeping her voice light, she said, “Is it the sofa? I know it isn’t big enough for the both of us. We can go to your bedroom to finish.”
She glanced down at his trousers. The bulge, thelargebulge, behind the falls proved he wanted her. Perhaps he just went quiet during intimate times. Any moment, he would throw her over his shoulder and take her—
“This was a mistake.” The clench of his hand was his only display of emotion. “If you want a different investigator, I’ll understand. You can interview the other agents tomorrow.”
Juliana pushed a hank of hair off her face. “I don’t want another investigator. I want you.” In her bed. In her life. And maybe, if they were both lucky, in her heart.
“Then we’ll forget this ever happened.” He took a step back. Away from her.
Her insides twisted. He might have been able to discard a kiss, but he couldn’t ignore what had just happened between them. “Brogan…”
“I’ll get some blankets for you. You can sleep on the sofa tonight.”
And as fast as his long legs could carry him, he fled the room.
Juliana bent her head, fighting the tears that threatened. Perhaps shewasdifferent than the women he was used to. Perhaps she was too different from him.
Because apparently he could ignore what had happened between them.
And she knew she would never be able to forget it.
