Page 51 of After The Storm

Which she wished more than anything at that moment that he would.

And then he said nothing. No flirty retort. No lip-lickingly cute anything. He just fell silent.

That was it. Disappointed or discouraged or whatever she was feeling, she sat up next to him and didn’t stop herself when the truth of how she felt and how he made her feel came spilling out in all its messy glory.

“What is with you, Roman? At dinner tonight, we were having a great time, and then poof! You disappeared. No see you later, Kate. No I’m going to head down to the lake and enjoy the sound of the water. Nothing. I had no idea where you went. I just knew you didn’t seem to want to be near me. Again. Now you come in here all ready to do your protective hero shtick, and when you find out I just had a nightmare, you look disappointed. Then flirty cute Roman comes out for a little bit—by the way, I really like him, so if this is a case of multiple personalities, I’d love it if you could tell him to come back. And just when I think we’re making some headway, you go radio silent on me again. What the hell is going on with you?”

Kate had to take a breath after letting all that out, and she waited for him to say something. Anything. But all she got was silence and his usual staring at her with those dark brown eyes that gave no hint as to how he felt about anything.

“Whatever. Fine. Feel free to go back to your room or wherever you were before you came in here. I’ll be—”

Before she could lie and say she’d be fine, he leaned over and stopped her words with a kiss that curled her toes. His lips softly pressed against hers, gently taking what he wanted from her as she eagerly offered him as much as he cared to have. Stuffing his hand into her hair, he pulled her to him so their bodies melded together.

He felt warm and powerful against her, and as he settled her onto his lap, she found out how much she affected him. His tongue slid lightly over her lips into her mouth to tease hers, sending a jolt of need straight to her core.

She wanted him before she knew how incredible he made her feel. Now she needed to have him inside her.

Chapter Sixteen

Rolling her hipsover him, she moaned into his mouth. “God, this feels so good.”

He leaned back away from her and smiled. “I haven’t done anything much yet. Just wait until we get to the good parts.”

Kate looked down at his lap. She’d already felt how hard the good parts were. Waiting for them wasn’t top on her list of things to do at the moment. Feeling him as he pressed his body to hers and she rode him like that stallion she’d been thinking of before sounded much better than waiting.

“No more waiting, Roman,” she said softly as she pulled his mouth to hers and kissed him hard with all the need she had built up inside.

His hands slid down her side to her hips, grasping her firmly to hold her still. God, she wanted him to move so much faster. Why did he insist on taking his time? Did the man have no understanding of how much she wanted him?

Taking matters into her own hands quite literally, she leaned back away from him even as he held her in place and undid his pants. He watched as her fingers slowly unzipped them and then spread the fabric apart to reveal his black cotton boxers underneath.

She looked into his dark eyes and searched for a sign as to how he felt, but as always, she saw nothing. If she was to believe his eyes, he felt nothing about what she was doing to him.

His body told a completely different story, though. As she lightly ran her fingertip down the front of his boxers, she felt how hard he already was. He wanted her as much as she wanted him, so she reached under the fabric and felt him twitch against her hand as she wrapped her fingers around that hardness.

Now she saw a different look come into his eyes. Need filled them like she’d never seen before that moment, and he took hold of her and flipped her onto her back in one fluid motion.

Part of her wanted to protest that she hadn’t finished teasing him, but he didn’t look like a man who wanted to hear another word questioning him at that moment. Intensity filled his face as he made quick work of her pants and shirt, leaving her lying there beneath him in just her bra and panties.

He ran his hands up her legs, spreading his fingers as he inched up her thighs toward where they met her body. She wanted him to touch her so badly it hurt. But he stopped just before he reached that spot she knew would give her what she needed and smiled down at her.

“The look on your face says you have a question for me, even at this moment, Kate,” he said in a low voice edged with desire.

Sliding her hands over his, she tried to tug them higher on her thighs to no avail. Now she did have a question for him.

Her lips forming a pout, she asked, “Why are you trying to torture me?”

He leaned down and kissed her on the lips, whispering against them, “I wasn’t, but it was all worth it to see that adorable little pout you just did. I think that might have made me even harder, and that’s saying something.”

Enough teasing. She had a hundred ideas of things they could be doing that felt better, and she desperately wanted to try each and every one of them with him.

Scratching her fingernails down his back, she felt his thick muscles through his new shirt and wanted to rip the thing off his body. To hell with new clothes. He could walk around without a shirt. That would work. He’d look different than he had so others might not recognize him, and she’d get to see him half naked.

She didn’t have to resort to tearing it off him, though. He stripped out of it and his pants as she watched in awe as inch by inch his body came into view.

The hardness of his chest that made her wonder days before if he had a shield on under his shirt stood on full display for her now. Clearly, this man had either been blessed by God or spent a good amount of time in the gym.

Whichever it was, the effect was breathtaking.

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