Page 40 of Undeniable Temptation

Her lips wouldn’t let her deny him, nor would she allow them to speak the truth. He was right. If life didn’t exist outside this hotel room, she would be undeniably happy. But the world was there, on the other side of that door, simply waiting for its chance to strike.

“Take as long as you need to think about it.” He leaned his shoulder into the wall, taking a casual stance. “I’ll wait around until you’re ready to admit it.”

She released a breathy chuckle. “You’re going to stand there until I surrender?”

“This isn’t a battle. There’s no surrender. You need to quit fighting and just acknowledge the truth.”

She opened her mouth, prepared to give him the speech on contractual obligations, but he cut her off.

“You spend too much time fixated on problems instead of focusing on what you want and what we could have together.”

“Believe me, I’ve focused enough on both.” She threw her arms up in the air. “There. I admitted it.”

He inclined his head. “Now prove it. Throw caution to the wind and give me a Leah-instigated kiss. Convince me I’m not alone in this obsession.”

She shook her head. “Don’t make me do that.”

“I’d never make you do anything. But we both know the last thing you want to be doing is thinking.”

“Thinking is constructive. Thinking is—”

“Safe. Yeah, I know.” Hope left his features. “Do you really want me to go?”

Her stubborn mind said yes. Every other molecule in her body screamed no.

He sighed and reached for the door.

“Wait.”

He straightened, chin high, shoulders rigid. Each glide of her toes along the carpet increased her rapid pulse. It was hard to breathe. Hard to strategize and scheme.

“Stop thinking.”

“I can’t.” She was a thinker. It was her thing. Plan, plan, plan. “If I stop thinking, I’ll never want you to leave this room.”

“Then we’ll both get what we want.”

She encroached, coming toe to toe, thigh to thigh, and again, became sucked into the lascivious vortex. “Don’t tease.”

“Tease?” He flinched. “Working with you for years, knowing I could never have you, was a tease. This right here is the exact opposite. We can be together. We can work this out. Make no mistake, Leah, I’m all yours.”

His fingers glided over her hip, gentle in touch yet jolting in effect.

“One kiss,” she demanded. “No hands.”

He held up his palms in surrender. “One kiss. No hands.”

Her heart was beating too fast. Her palms were sweating. It was as if her world hung in the balance. Be careful or careless. Be selfless or sinful. She was dying to taste those lips and tangle with his tongue. She yearned to see his shirt on the floor, his jeans around his ankles, and his cock deep in the back of her throat. But… But…

“I’m waiting,” he whispered.

“Give me a second.” She needed to work herself up to this. To suppress her fears and anxieties. Her career… Her family… Her future…

She swallowed on her approach, knowing this was the end. She couldn’t deny him. Couldn’t hold back. He remained still as she tilted her head and brushed her mouth over his. She kissed him, slow and soft and sweet. There was no world. No Leah. Only lips and teeth and tongues. There was only comfort and relief. Necessity and instinct.

She was kissing Ryan—the man of her dreams. And he was kissing her back, increasing her fascination with the deft way he made her burn. It wasn’t in a dingy stairwell, or in a drunken binge. This was a connection without risk, without harm. Until he gripped her hips and ground into her, sending an explosion of warmth to her pussy.

She found strength to wiggle from his grip. “You agreed, no hands.” She glared at the laughter in his eyes and turned to walk away, only to be wrapped back up in his arms.

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