Page 42 of The Skeikh's Games

“Is this okay?”

Kade turned at Ava’s soft husky voice. He held in a groan when she sank her teeth into that sexy red bottom lip.

“So…not okay?”

“No,” he spat and looked at her hurt expression. “I mean no, it’s not not okay.” He took a deep breath and closed his eyes. “I’m saying no don’t change you look breathtaking.” She really did in the pink rose dress she wore that skimmed her knees and hugged her breasts. She wore a dark pink cashmere sweater and pink heels. She looked like the perfect fiancé and every dirty dream he’d had for the past two weeks.

“Really?” She didn’t want to believe him but the way he stared at her set her body on fire in a way that said he meant every single word.

“Hell yes. In that dress Henderson will have no doubts about how we’ll spend the evening once he leaves.”

She shook her head with a smile to cover her blush. “Kade, the things you say to me, I swear. No wonder everyone woman in town is in love with you.”

His gaze darkened for a second before returning to normal. “No sweetheart, that’s the money.”

She cupped his jaw, “Don’t sell yourself short Kade, you’re also hot with a sexy body.”

He turned his head slightly and kept those enchanting green eyes trained on her, he kissed the center of her palm. “It’s yours anytime you want it.”

She smiled. He’d said that more than once in the two weeks since she moved in and she always said the same thing. “I don’t think I could handle it.”

“Maybe some other time,” he always said with a smile. This time he pulled her in and planted a soft kiss on her lips.

She sucked in a breath and a lungful of that smell that was all Kade, sandalwood and bergamot and stepped back. “You are way too potent for my peace of mind. Now tell me what I should know about tonight.” It was their first dinner with the Hendersons and Ava wanted to do a good job, not just because they were helping each other out but because she liked Kade.

“Henderson is a dinosaur. Very old fashioned and he thinks a man without a wife and family can’t run a business as well as a man with them.”

She smiled up at him and it was his turn to suck in a breath. “Perfect. I cooked a meal that proves I’ll be a good little wifey, at home cooking for my big strong man.” She squeezed his bicep with a laugh but implored her mind to remember the details for later.

When the Hendersons arrived Kade felt no nerves, he was confident he and Ava would pull it off. Over the past few weeks they’d become friends and even developed a friendly flirtation so they were easy together. She was so natural all evening with Helena and Bruce, surprising even him with her gentle touches and caresses throughout the evening.

Her black forest cake wowed Helena, who asked for the recipe, making Bruce joke that he’d sign a contract with Kade just because Ava got Helena in the kitchen again. It was a good night, fun even. When they left Henderson told Kade, “I don’t know what you did to get a woman as beautiful and talented as that to agree to marry you son, but keep her happy and you will be successful.” Hearing those words had shaken something loose in Kade. He didn’t know what, couldn’t even explain it if forced but he felt different.

“I won’t Bruce.” He shook the man’s hand and closed the door behind him. The first hurdle had been cleared. When he opened his eyes he found Ava’s pink sweater laying on the back of a chair and the coffee table clear of glasses, so he went in search of his fiancé. Fake fiancé, he reminded himself. “There you are,” he said with a smile. “The evening went fantastically. Bruce and Helena loved you.”

Ava pulled two dark brown bottles from the fridge and held one up for him. At his nod she popped open the bottles and handed one over. “I’m glad, I thought they were pretty great too.” They were funny and kind just like her parents, at least what she could remember of them. She turned and walked through the open doors off the kitchen. “It’s such a beautiful night,” she whispered to herself.

“It’s not as beautiful as you Ava. Not by a long shot.” He couldn’t take his eyes off her and here, under the pale moonlight she looked stunning he couldn’t breathe for wanting to touch her. Taste her. Without the sweater the prim and proper dress became a means to torture him, with her long neck on display, the tops of her breasts peeking out and that beauty mark in the center of her back. He wanted to explore her body, to see if there were other marks like it. One finger slowly caressed the length of her exposed back until she shivered.

“Kade,” she whispered and turned to him, desire making her eyes nearly black.

It was that plea, that longing he heard in her voice that snapped his control. Pulling her to him, Kade’s strong arms banded around her middle until there was no space between them and his large hands cradled her face.

Thumbs caressing her jaw line made her moan and reach up for those lips and that mouth she’d dreamed of kissing since the first time her name left his lips. His mouth moved against hers, hungry and seeking, and she gave back as good as she got. His mouth was warm and soft and it tasted like chocolate and cherries. His skin was so soft, his muscles underneath forged steel, his heart hammered his passion against her hands. This kiss, this moment was everything she had ever dreamed of and she had to stop. She would. In a moment. “Kade,” she moaned into the night as his mouth peppered kisses down the column of her throat.

“I’ve wanted to taste you there all night,” he said, his words choppy from his heavy breathing. He had to feel more of her and commanded his hands to leave her face and trail down her body until he cupped her backside to press her deeper into him. They groaned simultaneously when their bodies connected in that perfect spot.

The words were on the tip of her tongue, “Take me to bed Kade,” but she couldn’t bring herself to say them. She wanted Kade, of course she did. He was handsome and smart, funny and kind and he could turn her on with a smile. But she couldn’t give her body to him knowing it was temporary and she knew it could never be anything but. She had to stop. “Kade, please,” she pushed gently on his chest. “I can’t.”

He looked at her in confusion until the lust cleared. “What’s wrong?”

Her head fell to his large, muscled chest. “Nothing’s wrong it’s me. I can’t have sex with you.”

“Are you a virgin?” He knew she was young but not that young.

She gave him a get real look. “No I’m not. But I am a realist Kade and in the real world you don’t fall for a girl like me and if we have sex I know it’ll be good.”

“It would be damn good,” he growled.

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