Page 28 of Inevitable Inheritance

And her hypothesis was correct: she went all wiped clean again.

* * *

Derrick was shocked at first,and then he just dove in.

He usually found that if it was too good to be true, it was best to enjoy the ride as long as possible. He was going to do just that. He could not believe that she had let him kiss her in the first place. He had meant to only give her a peck, wipe that cocky attitude off her face, and punish her a little for having pitted his sister against him. But then he just pushed his luck, deepened the kiss, and it had totally worked out for him.

And for her too, it seemed.

Derrick tightened his arms around Taylor’s waist and heard her moan. She pushed her hips into his, and he just about lost his mind. The feel of Taylor’s body so close was absolutely unraveling his senses; they felt like they were on overload. He heard every purr, whisper, and moan from her, felt every small movement. He relished the heat on her skin and the taste of mint in her mouth. It was all too much, but he would try to drink it all in, let himself get drunk on it.

Derrick slipped his hands to her hips and then continued sliding a palm down the outside of her thigh. He repeated the movement with his other hand. He moved slowly, giving her ample opportunity to stop him. He couldn’t comprehend what had changed. She had been so pissed at him, but he didn’t argue or stop.Keep moving, Fletcher, the little devil inside told him, holding his angelic conscience in a choke hold.

When he reached the back of her thighs, Derrick lifted Taylor up. She went so easily that he couldn’t believe it, but he didn’t waste time thinking about it. Instead, he set her on the waist-high counter of his kitchen island and stepped effortlessly between her legs. He moved in as close as he could get to her, to her core. He let a groan roll into her mouth as his denim-covered erection pressed up against her. She gasped but didn’t stop him. The only thing separating his erection from her core was his jeans and her leggings. Derrick was perilously close to losing his mind.

In order not to rush things and rip apart the barriers, Derrick slid his hands back up her sides, never breaking the kiss. She was right there with him, her hands still wound around his neck, and she softly returned his kiss. It was slow and patient, and Derrick desperately wanted to go deeper, to do more, but he didn’t know how she would react, so he kept up with the slow torture of their kiss.

When his hands made it to her neck, he left his palms there and threaded his fingers into her hair. Feeling the impossibly soft golden silk in his fingers, he wrapped them into it. He opened his eyes, and saw her eyes closed and her face relaxed; there was no trace of tension or stress.

Derrick couldn’t stand it anymore. He slowly deepened the kiss and pushed a little harder. He kept his tongue with hers, rubbing, stroking hers little by little, until he felt buried in her mouth. And that made him think of being buried elsewhere in her.

“Taylor,” he whispered against her mouth. She cut him off, by resuming the kiss.

Derrick slid a hand down her body and pulled her hips to the edge of the counter, pressing her harder against him. Her moan told him how she felt, and he kept kissing her. If she wasn’t stopping him, he read that as a green light.

It was at that moment that Derrick hated his stupidity in choosing a ring tone that sounded like a screeching siren to alert him that Todd was calling.

He heard it in the distance. Their kiss slowed slightly, and then there was silence. But when it went off again, it seemed louder than ever, sending them jolting apart, and apparently waking up Taylor.

* * *

Taylor was breathing heavily.Her eyes went from shadowed with desire to wide and panicked. She looked around like she was completely bewildered by where she was and what was happening. She gaped at Derrick. Then she looked down and saw him in between her legs; it was as if all that had happened was just now coming to her, and she realized what they had been seriously close to doing.

“Oh my God,” she whispered, pushing Derrick back and jumping down from the counter, which brought her right up against his body and something large, and hard, and straining against the front of his jeans.

Taylor looked down again in shock. She went to turn away, and her hip struck Derrick right in his groin. He pitched forward in pain, striking his head on the granite counter.

“Ow, fuck!” he shouted.

“I’m sorry,” Taylor said quickly, making a beeline for the living room area. Derrick picked up his phone. “What!” he shouted instead of the generic hello.

“Going so well, Derrick?” Todd asked, tauntingly, “Perhaps you should have let us bring her home.”

“What is it, Todd?” Derrick asked, seeing Taylor stiffen at the name. This guy had always rubbed her the wrong way, and it was worse now that he was associated with all her new fears. Shuffling from the kitchen into his study, Derrick was hoping to spare her from any further trauma as he talked to him.

“Look, before you two set sail on your romantic cruise,” Todd said, voice drenched with sarcasm, “Charlie and I have the immediate list for Taylor to go over.”

“Where are you?”

“We will be pulling in—” the buzzer to Derek’s private garage buzzed in the apartment, “now.”

Derrick hung up on him and strode to the wall in the foyer to hit the buzzer to allow Todd and Charlie to pull in. He turned to find Taylor pacing back and forth across the living room.

“Tay—”

She looked up at Derrick, still wide-eyed and very nervous.

“Tay, we didn’t do anything—”

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