If anyone should be embarrassed around here, it should be me and my unruly dick.
‘It’s fine. I thought someone was in the house.’ A stray strand of hair flops across her forehead and it takes every ounce of self-control I have not to tuck it behind her ears in a gesture that oddly seems even more intimate than my erection pressing against her.
She must have noticed it beneath her thigh. Clearly, she’s too polite to mention it.
She wriggles further on top of me, balancing her sex deliberately on top of my shaft. ‘Is that why you brought a super-sized gun into my bed?’
Or maybe not.
‘Victoria…’ The name emerges from my throat like a low guttural growl.
Amorous eyes sparkle with unconcealed glee, roaming across my torso before returning to my face. ‘Archie, I’m only human…’
‘So am I.’ I might have survived four military tours, but this assignment is definitely going to be the death of me.
‘That’s exactly what I’m counting on.’ She grinds herself against me.
How I would love to rip that lace straight from her. ‘Don’t start something we can’t finish.’
‘Oh, I always finish what I start. Remember those needs I mentioned…? Waking up to this…’ She grinds again. ‘…certainly doesn’t do anything to extinguish them.’
It’s every man’s fantasy, waking up with the woman they’ve been obsessed with for years straddling them. But to me, it’s a nightmare. It’s a line I can’t cross.
Her head drops to my neck and she inhales my scent in a show of raw animalistic appreciation. Her tongue darts downwards across my pecs, tracing the lines of my tattoo. Pressing tiny kisses across my scars.
‘Victoria.’ Desire rages through every vein and artery. But so does duty.
I rock upwards into a sitting position, grab her bum and lift her sideways, placing her on her own side of the bed.
Huh, her own side? Check me out. I’ve only been here a few hours and I’m staking a claim on her bed. Talk about being presumptuous.
Her face falls as I leap from beneath the covers.
Huge, heated eyes rove over my chest and directly down to my underwear. She looks as though she’s in physical pain. ‘You want this as much as I do.’
‘Sweetheart, believe me when I tell you I want itmorethan you do. I have for a long time. But it’s one line I can’t cross.’
‘Why not? We’re both consenting adults.’ The silk cami does nothing to hide the erect nubs beneath it. A visceral desire rolls from her in waves.
What I wouldn’t give to be able to pin her down and lick her like an ice cream.
‘There are a million reasons why not, the first of which is it’s a breach of my contract.’ My mouth’s saying no, but my feet still haven’t got the memo, rooted to the floorboards as if they’re part of the furniture.
Her breathing is heavy, ragged. Passion emanates from every single one of her pores. ‘Don’t leave me to take care of myself again, Archie.’
The visual she’s creating is almost enough to make me blow in my pants.
‘Victoria…’ I should walk away. Step under a freezing cold shower. But it won’t help. Victoria has ignited an inferno in my underwear that five thousand cold showers couldn’t put out. But that doesn’t change the facts.
Finally, my feet receive the message and I’m at her doorway. ‘I’m sorry. Please don’t think it’s because I don’t care about you. If anything, it’s because I do.’
She flops back lazily onto a plump pillow with an exasperated huff. Thick tousled hair fans out around her head. Shooting me a flirtatious wink, she says, ‘We’ll see about that, Archie.’
I might have survived this battle, but Victoria looks as if she’s about to embark on a war that might actually kill me…
13
VICTORIA
