Page 72 of Token

“Does that answer your question?” she panted as she turned around in his arms, hooking her arms around his neck and offering up her mouth.

The ring of his cell phone served as a momentary interruption. He ignored it, crushing her parted lips beneath his. Everything got hot fast. The kiss. The blood coursing through his veins. And hard. His erection strained against the fly of his jeans.

“They’re not going to stop calling until you answer,” Kennedy said, her breathing shallow as she reluctantly ended the kiss.

What?It was only then Nate realized his phone was still ringing. That whoever was calling hadn’t given up.

“Nate, it might be someone from work. Something to do with the lawsuit,” she prompted.

It was a good thing at least one of them was still lucid.

Dragging his body from the soft warmth of hers wasn’t an easy feat. The phone had stopped ringing but started again as he reached the island in the kitchen.

Still hot and distractingly bothered, Kennedy drew in a breath and levered herself to a sitting position, slowly emerging from a sexual fog.

Whew!The man knew how to kiss and played a serious game of foreplay. But then, he’d been dealt a pretty nice hand. Incredibly talented hands. And lips and tongue.

She then ran her fingers through her hair, a mess of dark tangled curls, which reminded her that it had been about a month since she’d worn it straight. She’d make sure to take care of that soon.

“This better be important,” Nate said, speaking to the poor soul on the other end of the phone. That person would never know what they’d interrupted.

“Hold on. Let me check.” Looking at her, he mouthed,I’ll be right back, before he exited the kitchen and disappeared down the hall toward his office.

Kennedy would bet her beloved iPad thatI’ll be right backtranslated into more than fifteen minutes. Fine, just as long as he knew that when he came back, he’d simply have to get her hot and bothered all over again. No hardship there.

She took a big gulp of her wine before hoisting herself off the couch. When she was at his place, she never seemed to have a lot of time to really look around, inspect things. Her gaze halted on the shelves of books surrounding hisginormousTV.

Back when they’d first hooked up, his pleasure reading had strictly been books by authors like James Patterson, Stephen King, and John Grisham. These days she had no idea what he liked, which was how she found herself studying his collection of trade and hardcover books.

More James Patterson and a few books by Vince Flynn. Her eyebrows rose at the sight ofTeam of Rivalsby Doris Kearns Goodwin. The book next to it had those same eyebrows practically meeting her hairline:How to Be an Antiracistby Ibram X. Kendi.

For a moment Kennedy stood there, unable to do anything but stare at the lightly creased spine. Then she ran the tip of her finger down it in a state of dazed wonderment. Once the shock wore off sufficiently, she snatched the book off the shelf and whipped it open.

Nate bought this? Had he actually read it? That question was answered soon enough once she began flipping through the pages, revealing comments in his handwriting along the margins. A lump formed in her throat and tears stung the backs of her eyes. Why she was getting this emotional about a book couldn’t be put into words. It was as if he’d opened a secret part of himself to her, allowing her inside.

“Reading anything interesting?” he asked from across the room as he made his way toward her, his expression full of lascivious intent.

Countdown to hot and bothered had begun, and she was more than ready for the sequel.

“Have you been reading behind my back?” she asked coyly, batting her eyelashes and turning the book so he could see the cover.

His eyes lit in quiet amusement. “Just some light reading to pass the time on the plane.”

She carefully placed the book back on the shelf, dragged her tongue slowly across her upper lip, and gave him her full attention. “You have no idea how sexy I find you right now. How much I want to fuck you senseless.”

Kennedy Amelia Mitchell, did those words just come out of your mouth? It’s like I don’t know you anymore.The Aunt Pauline part of her preferred to clutch rosary beads instead of pearls, as it offered a better chance of not burning in hell.

You’re not a practicing Catholic, and fucking is a beautiful thing.

Nate didn’t give her a chance to take a word of it back, his blue eyes blazing as he hauled her to him, his mouth capturing hers in a bone-melting kiss.

Devouring.

Positively ravenous.

While relieving her of every stitch of clothing, he growled, “Wait until you see the James Baldwin books I have in my office.”

Just when she thought he couldn’t turn her on any more, he managed to kick his desirability up another notch. The man was proving to be an irresistible combination of good looks, intelligence, with such a strength of moral character, humanity, and compassion, it was hard to believe he was real. He literally took her breath away. As in, she was having a hard time catching her breath, his large hands caressing her all over.

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