Then he kissed her back.
Taking over, taking control, he pivoted and put her butt to her door, accepting all she offered. She tasted like bourbon and honey and something so sweet he’d never get enough. His body pulsed with hunger.
Bourbon. Honey. Well after midnight.
He twisted his head away, keeping her safely in front of her door, his chest heaving. “Wait.”
“No wait.” She tried to climb inside his skin, leaning up on those dangerous heels to kiss beneath his jaw.
The woman was going to kill him. Forget terrorists. Forget the danger of flying planes so close they could refuel in the air. Forget even helping out with search and rescue fighting Mother Nature. Sweet Marlie Kreuk would do him in.
“No.” He grasped her arms, careful to keep his hold gentle. “Wait a minute.”
She blinked up at him, her sparkling eyes more green than brown. Needy and hungry eyes. For him. “Why?”
There were a million reasons why, but only one mattered right now. “How much have you had to drink?”
She blinked, and then the sweetest smile tipped her lips. “You are such a protective hero.”
Hero? No. Protective? Yeah, probably. “Answer the question, sweets.”
“I had one wine with dinner and then an after-dinner drink hours later that has not gone to my head. I’m fine. Sober. Fully in control of my faculties.” Her gaze dropped to his mouth. “You can kiss, Albertini.”
This was a colossal mistake.
She unbuttoned her coat, so close he felt the backs of her knuckles against the bare skin on his abs. It fell to the floor, along with her sparkly silver purse.
That breath-stealing dress and those heels were right there. So close. As if she knew the struggle he faced, she took the final step separating them, brushing her nails across his abs. “If you really don’t want this, tell me, and I’ll go inside my apartment and lock the door, perfectly safe. I’m not going to push you anymore.”
Her mere existence pushed him to do something he shouldn’t. Add in that dress, and he was lost.
He indulged himself by reaching for the clip in her hair, twisting it, and letting those curls cascade down over her shoulders. “This won’t change anything, Marlie. My job still takes precedence, and I’m not a good bet.”
“I’m not a gambler.” She ran her fingertips up over his pecs to his neck and then into the thickness of the hair at his nape. “I’m not asking for anything from you. Except maybe one more kiss.” She looked up and then stumbled a little in the high heels. Peach color wound through her face. “It’s been a long night on these.”
He caught her, his hand flattening across her lower back—her bare, soft, narrow lower back.
With that one touch, he was lost.
He slid his arm all the way around her waist, clamped a hand on her hip, and lifted her against him. She met his mouth more than halfway, and he took her deep, finally kissing her as he wanted. Full on, in control, learning everything he could about her.
She kissed him back, wrapping her arms around his neck and lifting her thighs to balance better against him. He turned, still kissing her, and stalked back into his apartment, kicking the door shut behind them.
Knowing the layout of his place in the dark, he maneuvered them to his bedroom, where he set her on her feet and then spun her around to face the wall.
Her laugh caught him in the balls, hard. Even so, he took his time, wandering his fingers down her exposed spine. “This dress should be illegal,” he ground out, noting the fine globes of her ass in the flimsy material.
She turned then to face him, and he let her. “So should your abs.” She tucked her fingers in them, spreading her hands out.
He reached behind her neck and unfastened the snap, unfolding the material and pushing it down to her waist. While she hadn’t worn a bra, she had twin sticky pads over her hardened nipples that he gently lifted away.
Her soft gasp had him lowering his head to lick and kiss one before easing the pain in the other one. She shifted against him, her nails digging into his shoulders. “Bosco.”
He lowered the dress to the floor, lifting first one leg and then the other to release them. Her panties were a sheer black that nearly killed him, and he removed them just as fast, wanting his mouth on her. Now.
Then he gently tossed her back onto the bed with one push.
She landed, her legs kicking out, her chuckle sweet. “My shoes.”
