Page 25 of Temptation at His Door

“Your arteries just let out a massive groan.”

“I work out every day, so my arteries are just fine.”

Joa shrugged. “It’s your heart attack.”

“I’d be very happy for you to give me CPR.”

Ronan heard his flirty words, surprised at his sex-tinged tone. What the hell? He was flirting? Hell, he’d thought his ability to do that had died with Thandi. It should’ve died with Thandi!

Guilt, hot and sour, washed over him and he took a large sip of his wine. He risked looking at Joa and noticed that she was giving the grating of his cheese far more attention than it deserved. Her extraordinary cheekbones were slightly tinged with pink. He dropped his gaze lower and immediately noticed that her nipples were hard and pointy beneath her loose sweatshirt and that her breathing was ever so slightly erratic.

Jeez, she was as turned on as he was. Dammit, this wasn’t good.

At all.

Needing to reset their conversation, Ronan cleared his throat. “How were the monsters today?”

Joa’s head flew up, all sexual awareness gone. Her eyes sparkled with amusement. “Man, they are too cute. Aron is a riot—the kid has a wicked sense of humor for a three-year-old.”

Aron was more like him when he was younger while Sam was more studious. And serious. “He is funny.” Then her words sank in and he grimaced. “Oh, God, what did he say?”

Joa grinned. “On the drive home, I asked them to tell me some of your rules and I got the standard responses...pick up your toys, say please and thank-you.” Joa’s grin was wide and infectious and he couldn’t stop his lips from curving upward, even though she had yet to come to the punch line. “Then Aron informed me that only Daddy is allowed to say goddammit,goddammit.”

Ronan laughed. “At least he didn’t tell you that he wasn’t allowed to pick his nose or worse.”

Joa slid both their plates under the hot grill before turning back to look him in the eye. “Oh, he told me those, too.”

Ronan groaned. “That kid has no filter.”

“He’s super cute, though.” Joa picked up her glass of wine and swirled the red liquid around. She looked deep in thought and when he could look into her eyes again, he noticed her laughter had faded.

“Sam is quieter, more anxious.”

Ronan straightened and frowned. “What do you mean?”

Joa placed the plates on the counter. She switched off the grill and took her seat opposite him. “When we got home, Sam asked me, twice, whether you had landed safely. I went online, showed him the website where you can track your plane via radar and found your jet. He kept checking it until you called and told him that you were safe on the ground. I don’t need my psychology degree to tell me that he’s scared to lose another parent, that’s obvious.”

Joa scooped up some meat with a piece of tortilla and popped it into her mouth, keeping her eyes on him. He didn’t want to talk about his kids or his dead wife. Hell, he wasn’t sure he wanted to eat, unless it was to devour her. He reminded himself that he was hungry, and forked food into his mouth. It was delicious and they ate in silence for a few minutes. “This is great, thank you.”

“Pleasure,” Joa calmly replied, meeting his eyes. Attraction and hot, molten desire flared and Ronan wasn’t sure who made the first move, him or her, but one minute he was eating, the next she was standing between his legs, her cool hands on his cheeks. Then, somehow, again without his knowledge, his hands ended up gripping her hips and his arms banded around her tiny waist, pulling her so that her breasts pushed into his chest, his thighs caging her in. He inhaled her scent and relished the feel of feminine curves, female comfort.

Then he made the mistake of dipping his head to place his lips against that small, butterfly-shaped birthmark on her collarbone...

God, she was so soft, her skin so smooth. He shouldn’t be doing this, it was wrong, but he couldn’t help himself, it had been so long since he’d held a woman, heard the hitch of her breath, sensed the delicious tension in her body. Should he advance, should he retreat?

Ronan was still trying to make up his mind, resist temptation, when Joa’s tongue touched the cord in his neck, and electricity, hot and powerful, danced over his skin. If this was wrong, why did having her in his arms—her lithe, fragrant body pressed against his—feel so damn right?

He couldn’t help it but he needed to taste her, to feed on the essence of her, so Ronan turned his head to capture her mouth. He knew how to kiss her—he’d relived their previous kiss a hundred times—but then Joa opened her mouth. His tongue slid against hers and the world stopped. Time ceased to exist as he explored her mouth, his hands running up her back and cupping her butt. His erection pushed against the barrier of his pants and he wished she’d drop her hands from his shoulders to free him, desperately needing her hot hands on his shaft.

Ronan felt dizzy and sideswiped but his body knew exactly what to do, how to please her. Sliding his hand up and under her sweatshirt, he encountered her bare breast, her nipple a tight bud. Rubbing his thumb across her, he heard her muffled moan and she arched her back in a silent plea for more. Ronan hitched up her sweatshirt and looked down at her breast, small but perfect with its dark, merlot-colored nipple. So sweet, so rich.

He ducked his head to kiss her, to pull her against the roof of his mouth, and when her hand pushed between their bodies to hold him, he groaned against her skin.

It had been so long and he knew that it wouldn’t take much for him to climax. Damn, this was so much better than those lonely, sad, solo efforts in the shower.

But pleasure was so much better shared, so Ronan ran the backs of his knuckles down her abdomen, flirting with her mound. When Joa pushed his hand underneath the band of her yoga pants, he only encountered a small patch of hair—no bra and no panties, so hot!—and feminine heat. Ronan captured her chin in his free hand and pulled her mouth back to his, awash with sensations.

His hand in her pants, her hand on his shaft... Her mouth was warm and wonderful.

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