I tried to slow my breathing as he caged me in, realizing that his breaths were as shallow as mine. I could feel the hard press of him against my thigh, and I smiled at the thought of not having to touch him at all to make him that way.
The fire between us cracked and fizzled as his gaze held mine. We were both bare beneath the water, nothing between us but mere inches of space. He leaned down, crowding me against the side, and I ached for the moment our lips would meet. I inhaled, closing my eyes as he lowered his face toward mine.
His fingers knotted into my hair as he captured my mouth in a ravaging kiss that made me burn with the need for more.
Finally.
It had been too damn long since a kiss had made me feel anything other thanmeh. But Ben sparked passion in me with the barest brush of contact.
It was chemical, this urgent desire he ignited inside me.
He teased my lips apart, groaning into my mouth as I consumed him as thoroughly as he devoured me.
The bang of a door slamming shut in the hallway outside the pool startled us apart.
“Shit,” Ben muttered, glancing toward the door. When it stayed firmly closed, I let out the breath I’d been holding.
“We should probably get dressed,” I whispered, nervous that whoever had been in the hallway would come back and find us.
He nodded, wading to the steps. He found some towels in a cupboard and offered me one as I stepped out of the water, face turned away so he wouldn’t peek. I smiled at his effort of chivalry. He’d seen plenty of my body when I undressed and dove in, but it was sweet that he was trying not to make this uncomfortable.
I dried off and then redressed, leaving my dress half zipped. Iwasn’t planning on keeping iton much longer, anyway. Our heated moments always seemed to go up in a puff of smoke for one reason or another, but I wasn’t ready to let this one go yet.
Instead of waiting for another moment to present itself, I took matters into my own hands. A woman in her twenties had needs, damnit.
I ambled over to him with my heels in my hands. There was no way I was putting these things back on.
“Walk a lady to her room?” I asked, peering up at him through my lashes.
He gave me a lopsided grin, his arms finding their way into his sleeves. “You’re not a lady. You’re a witch.”
I cackled. “So, what if I am?”
“Then I guess that would explain how you’ve put me under your spell,” he mumbled, gesturing me toward the elevator.
I snorted, refusing to take him seriously. The only reason he was enraptured with me at all was because I was the only woman within a twenty-mile radius that he hadn’t been able to charm into bed. I might be about to invite him into my room, but he hadn’t charmed me into anything. This was my idea.
Well, Brian’s.
But still.
Ben wasn’t in charge tonight. I was. And that meant I was going to get exactly what I wanted out of Ben O’Connor.
I grabbed Ben’s arm and tugged him into the elevator.
“What floor are you on?” he asked from where he stood next to the panel, hand hovering over the numbers.
I brushed against him as I leaned across to push the correct button. Goosebumps popped up on my skin as I stepped back.
He leaned against the wall, glancing at me bemusedly. The elevator made its slow descent to the tenth floor as we waited in tense silence, the air thick with the implications of what might happen once we made it to my room.
Ben’s gaze roamed up my body before he locked eyes with me, cocking a brow in silent question. The sound of the ding when we reached our floor made us both jump. I took an unsteady breath as I led himdown the hall to my room.
“Come in with me?” I said as I opened my door, offering him my hand.
She Makes The Rules
Istareddownather hand, wondering what the catch was.
