Page 20 of Seducing Cinderella

“Mmm.”

He smiled, loving the simple pleasure he was giving her with his hands. He pushed his thumbs up the centerline of her neck to the base of her skull, then massaged in tiny outward circles. She inhaled slow and deep, then let it out on a breathy moan as her shoulders pulled down in a relaxing stretch.

“Good.” Reid moved his hands to her shoulders and worked on the knots between her shoulder blades. Before he could stop himself, he leaned in, placing his face on the side of her head. Her hair tickled his cheek, and its flowery scent, paired with the anticipation of tasting her again, made his mouth water.

He turned his head ever so slightly to speak in her ear. “Keep this feeling of relaxation and carelessness. Stay out of your head, okay?”

She nodded and he turned her around so her back was against the wall again. With his right arm, he began walking his fingers up the wall for the stretch, bringing him closer to her with every inch he gained. Talk about incentive.

“Right now your focus is on my eyes…”

“Uh-huh…”

“But if you’re looking to get kissed, where should your eyes be?”

Her gaze drifted lower and settled heavily on his mouth. The pale gray of her eyes changed to a molten silver. Her lashes weren’t the impossibly thick and long kind he was used to seeing, but then again, it’d been a long time since he’d seen a girl scrubbed free of makeup, much less without fake eyelashes. He rather liked Lucie’s. They were thick at the lash line, but then gathered to form triangular spikes that curved up only slightly. Just how he imagined a pixie’s lashes would be.

She swept the tip of her tongue over her lips, making them glisten with moisture. Only a few inches separated them as his right hand was as high as it could go without causing pain. Now to lean into the stretch.

As he slowly, slowly closed the space between them, he heard her breaths turn to pants and his own heart beat double-time against his ribs. When their lips barely touched, their breaths mingling, he paused, giving her the opportunity to take the lead. To take what she wanted.

She didn’t.

At the end of the ten seconds, he walked his hand back down the wall until he was standing straight again, arm by his side.

Reid studied her for a minute, trying to figure out how to get her to act rather than think. Again, he walked his hand up the wall, drawing closer to her as he spoke. “Tell me what you want.”

“I don’t understand.”

“There’s a reason we’re doing this. You want something. Don’t think about the answer. I want you tofeelthe answer. Now,” he said once he’d gone as far as he could and began to lean toward her, “tell me what you want.”

She licked her lips. Swallowed hard as his mouth got closer but stayed just out of reach. “Right now?”

“Right this very instant.”

“I want to kiss you so badly it scares me.”

Her answer shocked the hell out of him—he’d been expecting her to say something along the lines of wanting her doctor—but he was too selfish to give a damn.

“Then do something about it,” he commanded.

Lucie grabbed the sides of his face and meshed her mouth on his. This time, saltiness left behind from her workout mixed with the strawberry taste of her lips. The combination was intoxicating, but it was nothing compared to the one-two punch he got when she swept her tongue over his upper lip.

Reid took that as an open invitation. Plunging his tongue inside her mouth was like tasting sweet ambrosia.

He hoped like hell his boxer briefs would do a better job of containing his growing erection than he did of containing the toe-curling groan that escaped his chest.

She pulled away, switching immediately into therapist mode. Although she wasn’t usually so breathless when assessing him. He liked her affected like this. A lot. “This isn’t a good idea, Reid. You need to stay focused with the stretches or you’ll cause yourself more pain.”

With his left hand on her chin, he dragged her attention away from his injury. “My shoulder isn’t in pain right now, Lu. However, I can’t say the same for another place of my anatomy.”

He waited patiently for her innocent mind to catch up with his wallowing in the gutter. To no avail. “I don’t understand, where are you in pain?”

He hitched his left brow and quirked up a corner of his mouth. Now she’d get it in three…two…one…

A slight widening of those light gray eyes and a sudden interest in the ceiling above his head told him he was right on the money. He would’ve laughed at how charming he found the blush in her cheeks, but he wasn’t exactly in the laughing mood. Nope. His mind had already hopped onto the one track that was headed straight for trouble. The fun kind.

“I know I’m not your type, Reid. You don’t have to make things up to make me feel better about myself. I’m a big girl.”

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