Page 26 of Strike Fast

Needing more friction, she pulled him closer and rubbed her breasts against the rock hard planes of his chest. Reid hummed against her lips and shifted his stance to bring his hips square between her legs, the sudden pressure of his erection against her covered mound making her whimper. He cut off the sound with another deep, searing kiss, and rocked his hips, slowly dragging his thick length along her swollen center.

Tess jerked her head to the side as pleasure radiated outward from where he stroked her, sucking a ragged breath between her parted lips. This was so freaking intense, and a little frightening. She couldn’t remember teetering on the brink of losing control like this, and not with a man she barely knew.

Reid stopped rubbing against her and simply pressed forward with his hips, the thick length of his erection snuggled up to her throbbing core as he kissed his way back across her jaw to her ear. Unhurried, sensual enough to make the breath clog in her throat. The hand holding her hair slid down her shoulder, down to her ribs and up again to gently cradle the curve of her breast. Tess bit her lip and quivered in his grasp, her aching nipple grazing his hot palm through two layers of fabric with every uneven breath.

“So sweet, Tess,” he groaned, gently nipping her earlobe. “I wanna unwrap you so bad. Peel that dress away so I can kiss you all over, and slide my tongue into you.”

God!She shuddered at his graphic words, her body totally on board with that plan and her mind supplying the movie in a string of rapid high-resolution images.

He made a low, gruff sound and placed a hot, open-mouth kiss to the sensitive spot on the side of her neck before raising his head and studying her. Tess stared up at him through heavy-lidded eyes, her lips swollen, her aching nipple grazing his palm. The heat in his eyes, the tightness of his face and the hard ridge of his erection were all at odds with the tender way he cradled her breast and the care he’d taken in arousing her.

With his other hand still grasping the back of her neck, he stroked his thumb across the straining nipple, watching her eyes the whole time. Tess bit her lip but couldn’t stifle a whimper of pleasure as need knifed through her. She strained up onto her toes, needing more friction. Just…more.

“I know, baby,” he whispered, pressing a tender kiss to her parted lips, the soft stroke of his tongue making her crazy.

Except he lifted his head and let his hand drop before easing his body away.

No!She made an unintelligible sound and swayed forward, tried to pull him back, but he merely smoothed his hand over her hair and dropped another brief kiss to her upturned lips.

She blinked up at him, confused, on fire. “What—”

“I’m not taking you to bed tonight.”

Shock cleared some of the haze of arousal away. “Why not?”

The corner of his mouth kicked up, and then he sobered again. “Because I like you, a lot, and when we first got up here you were nervous. That tells me you’re not ready, even if your body is. And since we sometimes work together, I don’t want you to regret sleeping with me or feel awkward around me later.” He ran his thumb across her lower lip, light as a sigh, and she kissed it. “I need to know you’re sure, and not just giving into this because of the chemistry happening between us.” He leaned forward to rest his forehead against hers, a smile in his voice. “But hell, our chemistry is off the charts.”

It was. She didn’t know what the hell to say to his reasoning, so she let out a shaky laugh to cut the tension.

He murmured in agreement and paused to kiss the tip of her nose before easing back. She felt cold all of a sudden without the intense heat of his body against hers, and was grateful for the support of the wall at her back because her knees were so damn weak.

“You sure you don’t want to stay the night?” she asked, still a little breathless. Having him hold her in the night would be so damn good.

He shook his head, his dark eyes intense. “If I climb into that bed with you, there’s no way I wouldn’t wind up inside you at some point.”

Her insides clenched. It sounded like a damn good idea to her, but he was right about one thing; she needed to be sure before they took that step, and she admired him for giving her the space to make it. Even if her body hated her freaking guts right now.

His palm caressed the side of her face, then he lowered his hand. “I’ll call you before I see you down at Emerald Warrior.”

She nodded, not knowing what else to say. It was a huge exercise, and while they might catch glimpses of one another here and there, she doubted they’d be able to spend any time together in their off hours. Still, a chance was better than nothing. “We’ll figure something out.”

“Damn right, we will. This isn’t over, Tess. Not by a long shot.” He aimed a sexy smile at her as he took a step toward the door. “Dream about me.”

Like she had a choice? “Okay.” Although dreaming required her to be asleep, and with how tightly wound her body was right now, that wasn’t likely to happen for a long time.

But she’d sure as hell be fantasizing about him, and the moment when they finally did something about the hunger raging between them.

****

Morning sunlight filtered through the palm fronds that arched across the cabana next to the pool. Carlos stripped off his robe and stretched out naked on his stomach on the massage table, relaxing with a groan of contentment as he set his face into the round face cradle.

The sprawling ranch house and its secluded ninety acres of land in the southern Sinaloa region had been beautiful when he’d bought it last year, but he’d made certain improvements and added things like the waterfall currently splashing into the deep end of the swimming pool. The silvery sound of it soothed him, especially late at night when he lay in his bed in the master bedroom upstairs, the ever-present ache in his leg and his spinning mind about to drive him crazy.

His personal massage therapist adjusted the pillows beneath his shins and hips before covering his naked ass with a light sheet. He didn’t care if she saw it, but she was a professional, not a whore, and so she insisted on proper “draping” whenever she worked on him.

“Still the left hip and lower back?” Juana asked him, one cool hand resting on the center of his bare back.

“Yes, and my calves, too.”

---