Page 15 of Billionaire Protector

She looked at him. He looked at her.

And that’s when his revenge became clear. No one was going to explore anyone. He’d only made her think that. Instead, he was taking off his ruined shirt so she could clean it.

Damn.

She should’ve walked away, should’ve told him to clean it himself by jumping in the nearest river. Unfortunately, she stared instead. And stared and stared and stared some more.

Yup, it was that pathetic.

It was like her own personal peep show. Cole undid the last button, slowly revealing the toned skin underneath, the expansive chest leading to chiseled six-pack abs. The muscles were wide and defined, the skin smooth and tanned. Then… he removed his shirt.

“Whoa.”

Had she said that out loud? It hadn’t been a conscious decision, but 6’3” of solid steel hijacked her senses and her voice. She licked dry lips, tried not to imagine exactly what those muscles would feel like. She could reach into her memories, but ten years ago, he was still a kid. Now, he was every inch a man. “I get it. This is my punishment for the whole monkey thing.” Her voice came out breathless and light. “You’re trying to unbalance me.”

He gazed at her with perfect confidence, and heat crept up her neck. Now he commanded perfect control. “I’m not trying anything. I just don’t want any of the neighbors seeing me take off my uniform.” Amusement sharpened fathomless eyes. “Are you feeling unbalanced?”

As much as George the monkey when he’d found Mrs. Carmichael’s surprisingly robust supply of vodka.“Of course not,” she sniffed.

He stepped closer. “You look a little flushed.” His voice came out low and husky, and she fought the urge to retreat. She would never show weakness, not to him.

“I’m fine,” she said, but it wasn’t true. She wasn’t fine. Not when he was so near, not when his heat engulfed her, cast her far underneath his looming shadow. The scent of musk washed over her, drawing her to him like an aphrodisiac. She fought for strength as desire hit, the attraction to push into him, to feel all of him.

He moved closer.

She moved closer.

Then him.

And her again.

They met in the middle…

And kissed.

Resistance fled, reason and logic vanishing under the onslaught of desire for this powerful man. Cole immediately took control as he pulled her flush against a chest of pure muscle. She pressed closer, melding skin against skin, surrendering, demanding, giving and taking, an impossible juxtaposition of need and desire. He tasteddelicious.

With a low growl, he deepened the kiss. She wrapped her arms around him as he kneaded her skin with confident motions, massaging tender limbs deep into submission. A fog entered her mind, stealing all thoughts and sabotaging good sense. She needed more…

A monkey screeched in the distance.

Reality slammed into her. What was he doing? What was she doing? What weretheydoing? She pulled back, gasping for breath. “What did we do?”

“This didn’t just happen,” she added.

“No, no, no,” she continued.

“Crap.”

Cole gazed at her with hooded eyes, a tangle of surprise, satisfaction and confusion, but most of all hunger. So much hunger. Yet then he straightened, the challenge in his eyes turning to pure determination. That was the minute she knew:

He wasn’t done.

Yet for now he remained as in control as always. “Not my typical reaction.”

“I didn’t mean it like that.” She fought for breath through vice-tightened lungs. “I mean, the kiss was fantastic.”What had she just admitted?“I mean it was fine, adequate even…”

He folded his arms across his chest.

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