Page 46 of Between Love and Honor

“Oh, I’ve hurt you! I’m so sorry.”

She tried to pull her hands away but he quickly covered them with his own. Their gazes locked and neither of them moved. Thunder rumbled outside but the pulse pounding in his ears was louder. He blamed the intoxicating scent of her because the next thing he knew his hands were on her waist pulling her in closer. She tucked her chin and gently rested her forehead against the uninjured side of his chest.

“Thank you for bringing me here,” she murmured.

“I never thought I’d get to show it to you. Yet, here you are.” The admission slipped past his lips before he could stop it.

Her eyes were dewy when she finally lifted her head. It was his undoing. Leaning down, he gently traced the seam of her lips with his tongue. She opened her mouth for him without hesitation, inviting him in with a sweet sigh.

Slowly, reverently, he explored her hot, silky mouth, savoring every taste and sensation. Their kiss earlier today had been frenzied and explosive. Right now, he just wanted to reacquaint himself with the feel of her again after all these years.

Quinn was doing some reacquainting of her own as she slid her hands down along his belly seeming to trace every muscle. When she moaned with satisfaction, his jeans grew unbearably tight.

“You like what you’re finding there, Brit?” he murmured against her lips before playfully nipping the bottom one.

She answered by slipping her hands beneath his T-shirt and spreading her fingers out over his belly. The sensation of being skin-to-skin sent a wild jolt through him. The hell with going slow. He captured her mouth in a deep, searing kiss. The keening sound of need coming from the back of her throat spurred him on. He delved deeper with his tongue, kissing her as if he could make up for all the lost years since the last time they were here. Her fingers were now digging into his sides, maneuvering him against her so she was flush with his erection. She rocked her hips into him every time he thrust his tongue. Any residual pain from his wound disappeared as all the blood rushed to his crotch.

He backed her up to a barstool at the counter, lifting her so she could wrap her legs around his waist. She grazed her teeth along his jaw and dug her fingers into his scalp in an effort to take control. As much as he liked a woman who knew what she wanted, something made him hold back from relinquishing any power to her. Instead, he took the opportunity to explore the sensitive column of her neck.

Her lusty sigh nearly had him rethinking his strategy.

“Put your hands up,” he instructed.

“Why?” The sultry tone of her voice sent another jolt to his groin.

“Just do it, Brit.”

As soon as her hands were raised, he had her shirt and bra off in less than five seconds. A personal best.

She cocked an eyebrow at him. “Definitely a Bond move.”

Ben wasn’t listening to her. He was too busy studying the sight before him. They were perfection. She was perfection. Flat stomach. Round breasts. Dusky pink nipples. He didn’t remember them being so dark. But then again, he’d been too nervous back then to spend a lot of time committing her physique to memory. He wrongly thought he’d have more time for that later.

“Now who likes what they’re finding?” she teased.

She was unabashedly leaning back with her elbows on the counter behind her. A strand of her hair clung to her cheek. The rest of it was a riot of red waves from where he’d been dragging his fingers through it. Hell, yeah, he liked what he’d found.

He skimmed his fingers up her taut stomach. Her muscles flinched at his initial touch but she boldly kept her gaze locked with his. A quiet gasp escaped her lips when he traced the underside of her breasts. It was the only indication that she wasn’t as unaffected as she wanted him to believe. He used it to his advantage, brushing his thumb over her hard nipples. She arched her back at his touch.

“You want me,” he said smugly.

“Nothing has changed from before.”

Her admission caught him by surprise, dousing his cockiness and nearly stealing his breath.

“I’m here now. With you,” she whispered.

Shit. Why did it feel like he was being played?

Using her legs, she squirmed against him. Her urgent movements scattered whatever coherent thoughts and questions remained in his oversized brain. He bent her over his arm and took what she was offering. The sound of her delighted sighs filled the room as he feasted on her breasts.

“I want you, Quinn,” he confessed when he came up for air. “Even though I don’t fucking know you.”

“You do know me, Ben,” she whispered. “You’re the only one who’s ever known me.”

“No!” He pulled her up so they were face-to-face, their noses nearly touching. “I don’t know you. Not the real you. I want the truth. All of it. I want to know you inside and out.”

Bewilderment lurked in those big green eyes of hers.

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