Page 20 of One Night in My Rival's Bed

‘What? You think if we kiss I’ll start sending out wedding invitations in the next post?’

He smiled at my attempt at humour. ‘Don’t even think about it. I have no plans to get married.’

‘Nor do I.’

His hand came up to rest against the base of my neck. I had no idea my skin was so sensitive at my hairline, no idea how wonderful it felt to have a man’s fingers splay into my hair. A shiver passed over my scalp like a Mexican wave and my insides coiled and tightened with sudden savage lust. His eyes lowered to my mouth and I held my breath, my heart beating so heavily I was sure he could feel it, let alone hear it. He brought up his other hand and traced a slow outline of my mouth with a lazy finger.

‘You have a beautiful mouth.’ His voice was low and deep and sexy, so sexy it made every millimetre of my skin lift in a shiver.

I couldn’t take my own eyes off his mouth. The shape of it fascinated me, the sensually shaped contours making me ache to feel them moving against my lips. I lifted my hand to his face and traced his mouth as he had traced mine, another wave of lust rolling through me as the rasp of his stubble grazed my finger.

‘You’re not burning dinner, are you?’ My voice was barely above a whisper, my thumping heartbeat loud enough for the neighbours to hear.

Grayson gently tugged me off the stool so I was standing in front of him, close enough for our hips to meet. A bomb went off in my blood, an explosion of heat and fire that left no corner of my body unaffected. I yearned to move even closer, to press my pelvis harder against his, to feel the contour of his body rising against me. It was an urge, a primal drive I suddenly couldn’t control. I placed my hands on his trim hips and leaned into him, a gasp escaping my lips as the heat from his hard body met mine.

His mouth came down and captured mine in a kiss that sent a shockwave of ferocious need through my flesh. I could feel the pulsing ache of my lower body, a secret ache that silently begged to be assuaged. His tongue demanded entry to my mouth and I opened to him on a breathless whimper of heady, blissful pleasure. Hot streaks of longing flashed through the core of my being, leaving fire trails in their wake. I was burning for him, on fire for the possession of his body.

Grayson shifted position to gain better access to my mouth, his lips hard and yet soft and utterly irresistible. His hands came up to cradle my face and I shivered from head to foot at the sheer magic of his touch. His tongue played with mine in a cat and mouse caper that sent my senses reeling and my pulse racing off the charts. It was a kiss of dominance and, God help me, I submitted to it. Totally. How could I not? I was becoming addicted to the flick and dart of his tongue; I was captivated by the firm exploration of his lips and the explosive energy that generated between us.

His hands moved from cradling my face to hold me by the hips. He pulled me closer to his body and I nearly came on the spot. He was hard. Rock-hard. So hard I could almost feel the thundering throb of his blood. He lifted his mouth off mine and looked down at me with his blue-grey eyes glinting with raw, earthy lust.

‘I was so determined to keep my hands off you.’ His tone had a generous hint of ruefulness and his mouth twisted. ‘Like that was ever going to work.’

I lifted one of my hands to the back of his neck and played with the ends of his dark hair, my breasts pushing against his broad chest, my lower body humid and wet with want. ‘You’re proving rather irresistible as well.’

His eyes darkened as they held mine. ‘If we were both sensible, we’d stop this right now before things get out of control.’

‘Do you want to stop?’ I could not believe how forward I was being. I’m no prude and I’m all for women owning their body’s desires and needs, but practically begging Grayson to make love to me was a little out of character to say the least. He was my enemy, my rival. I didn’t even like him...all that much.

But my body had other ideas. It liked him very much indeed. It desired him like it had desired no one else. It throbbed and ached and pulsed for his touch. I thought I was possibly going todieif he didn’t kiss me again.

Grayson’s hands tightened their hold on my hips and a shiver coursed down my spine. ‘If we do this, it’s only going to be once. To get it out of our system, understood?’ His tone was adamant but something about the scorching heat in his gaze made me wonder if he was saying it more for his own benefit, not mine.

I raised my eyebrows in a playful manner. ‘What if once isn’t enough?’

‘It will be.’ He let out a short harsh-sounding breath. ‘It will have to be.’

‘Because?’

‘Because I have a rule about mixing business with pleasure.’

I lowered my hand from playing with his hair and laid it flat against his chest instead. His heart was thumping hard underneath my palm and a frisson of delight rushed through me to think he was as attracted to me as I was to him. The sense of power it gave me went to my head. I straightened his shirt collar and then gave his chest a dismissive little pat and stepped back to put some distance between us. I had to before I was tempted to cross a line I hadn’t crossed before.

‘It’s a good rule. But I have a rule as well.’

‘What is it?’ There was a guardedness about his expression—a slight narrowing of his gaze, a tensing of his features.

I locked my gaze on his, determined not to be the first to look away. ‘I don’t do one-night stands.’

One side of his mouth lifted in a cynical fashion, but I was sure I saw genuine regret in his eyes. ‘Then it seems we’re at an impasse.’

‘Because you won’t change your mind.’ I framed it as a statement instead of a question.

Grayson closed the distance between us and then picked up a loose strand of my hair and wound it around his finger, tethering me to him in a deliciously scalp-tugging, skin-tingling way. ‘Are we a case of immovable object meets unstoppable force?’ His voice was lightly teasing but there was a deadly seriousness in his gaze.

‘Could be.’ Another shiver rolled down my spine as his finger wound a little tighter. He was stirring in me a wild and reckless want that threatened to get out of control.

He slowly bent his head and lowered his mouth to the edge of mine. His warm breath skated across my lips and my insides quaked with longing. ‘What if we just do this then?’ He brushed his lips against mine, sending volcanic heat straight to my core.

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