Guarding Kelsey ((Books We Love Romantic Suspense)) (18 page)

She stroked her fingers along his shoulder and arm. “Don’t do what?”

Wolf grabbed
her errant hand. “Do I need to resort to handcuffs?”

Her eyes sparked with mischief and she smiled unabashedly. “Would you?
Oh, promise me you will.”

He shook his head. “Don’t make things more complicated than they already are.”

“You choose to complicate them.
You knew when you brought me home it was no longer strictly professional. Now, you can make excuses about how it’s easier to protect me in your
home
rather than mine.
And then you can try the sorry line about keeping your emotions out for the good of the case. But the only thing that is going to convince me is if you tell me you aren’t interested.
In which case, this will be the last time the subject arises between us.”

“You are not making this easy.”

“It couldn’t be any easier, Wolf.
I’m not asking for a lifelong commitment from you so the answer is as simple as yes or no.”

“And that’s enough for you?”
Hell, he wasn’t sure it would be enough for him.
Was he worried about protecting Kelsey or himself?

“I think Mick Jagger said it best.
You can’t always get what you want
.
. but you get what you need
.”

“I believe he also said,
I can’t get no satisfaction
.”

“That’s because he never had my raspberry torte.”
She waved the fruit tart in front of his face.

“That’s unfair, not to mention illegal.
I thought better of you.
If I take that now, on your terms, I will be accepting a bribe.”

“All right.
For the good of your incorruptible morals, I’ll just throw it out.”

He hooked his arm around her waist as she strolled past and tugged her against his body.
With his free hand he grabbed the plate.
“I’m sure we can reach a compromise.”

“Like, you can eat before you pay me instead of after?”

He shook his head.
He wasn’t going to win this battle.
He didn’t
want to
win this battle, but damn it, he should want to.

She dipped her finger into the torte and brought a bite of the fruit filling to his lips.
“Give it a try.”

A sweet treat and an even sweeter woman, hand feeding him.
Was it any wonder he had no
self-control
?
By the third taste, she had ambushed him with a sinful desert and the more alluring promise of warm flesh to follow.
He could only pray she would come to her senses.
Not much hope there.
She had set her sights on seduction and she wouldn’t be detoured from the goal.

"I did not bring you here for this reason.”
Not consciously, but he wondered if he had subconsciously known where this would end.

“I wouldn’t have come if I thought you had. We’re both adults, we’re attracted to each other. And right about now, we both need a release from the mounting tension. I know I do, anyway.”

* * *

Kelsey
set the pie plate on the cou
nter and took his hand.
She knew Wolf had misgivings. Hell, she even admired and respected his attempt to ‘do the right thing.’
But she needed this as much as he did. Maybe even more.

Inside the bedroom,
she stood before him.
Her façade of bravado did not change the fact that in the art of seduction, Kelsey had little practical experience despite her marriage.
She fumbled impati
ently
at
the buttons of his shirt.
"This would go a lot faster if you would work with me."

He reached for her hands and brought them to his lips.
"Are you in a hurry to get this over with?"

She wasn’t in a hurry to get finished, but to get started so she wouldn’t have to obsess over it any longer. "Is it your intention to make me more nervous than I already am?"

"Do you want me to rush it?
"

“No
.
.
And yes.”
While
slow
sounded nice in theory, her need for him left her burning with desire and impatient to feel all of him.

“I’ll go with your first answer.”
He molded his palms firmly over her hips and pulling her into the center of the
bedroom
.

Her arms went instinctively around his neck.
So much for getting him out of his clothes right away.
As long as he didn’t let go, he could take all the time he wanted. Good things came to those who waited. So she heard.

Kelsey pressed against him, basking in the warmth of his hard body.
The
cotton
fabric
of his shirt caressed her cheek as he eased her head onto his shoulder.
She breathed a sigh of contentment.

In his arms time stopped. All
the pain
and confusion of the last few day
s
faded to the furthest corner of her mind.
Tomorrow, in the cold light of reality, she might regret this.
Tonight was for dreams.

The closeness and the seductive sway of their bodies added to her rising excitement.
His determination to keep the pace slow had an opposite effect on her.
She wanted more, and she wanted it now!

As she reached for
her
blouse he took hold of her hands. "No."

"No?”
Her voice pitched with confusion.
Had he changed his mind?

"I will do that.”

Slowly, as if to torment her further, he unfastened each of the tiny buttons.
She watched his large hands, deftly moving lower until, finally the dress came open and swirled to the floor at her feet.
A tremor of delight
tap-danced
down her spine.

He looked at her satin lingerie and grinned.
“Boxer shorts?”

“What do you wear under your clothes?”

“You will have to wonder for a while longer.”
He turned her and slipped his arms around her waist from behind.
She leaned into his rippling chest muscles that flexed as he drew her closer.
The strength of his embrace wrapped her in a cocoon of protection.

His chin nuzzled the side of her face.
He left a trail of kisses, as light as feathers and just as soft, along her neck and shoulder.

"Wolf,"

"Quiet.
I need to concentrate."

His hands outlined the contours of her body as he pulled her camisole over her head.
If he concentrated any harder she would climax right then and there.
She wriggled against him.
The evidence of his arousal added to her growing need.
"I'm not the only one getting impatient here."

"I am not impatient."
He treated one of her ears to a sprinkling of moist kisses.

Her nerve endings responded by standin
g at attention.
He deliberately tormented her
.
She raised her hands to help him along.

"No!
I’ve got everything under control here."

At least he did, because she was fast losing her control.
She never imagined how easily he would get to her.
And how completely.

With a practiced snap, he unfastened the front catch of her bra.
He turned her around to study her.

"You are amazing," he muttered.

Using his tongue, he traced a line down her shoulder to her breast.
He covered the taut nipple, sucking with a greedy hunger that sent a shudder through her.
She buried her fingers in his silky hair.

He dropped to his knees.
The last of her clothing fell to the floor.
He cupped her buttocks in his palms and inched her forward.
His tongue circled her naval.

“Oh, yes.”
She barely recognized the anguished moan as her own voice.

He gazed up at her, his dark eyes sparkling with mischief.
"Are you having a problem with your breathing?"

"As a matter of fact
.
. yes.”

His exhale of laughter warmed the flesh of h
er belly.
"Good things come to those who wait
."

Clichés? Really?
"When do I get to join in?"

"Soon.”

In contrast to the lingering manner in which he had removed her clothing, he stripped off his own without giving her a moment to catch her breath.

"Hey.
You said I would do that," she complained.

“Next time.”

Next time
. She like the sound of that. She’
d hate to think this was a one-
time deal.

* * *

Wolf lifted her and carried her to the bed.
Flushed with desire, she
laid
her head back into the pillows.
Golden strand of hair framed her flushed face.
An unexpected surge of possessiveness filled him as he knelt down before her.

Her skin was smooth and hot, her hands eager and impatient.
"Not yet.”

First with his hand, then his mouth, he explored her body, tasting, teasing, and from the depth of her sensual cry, even tormenting.

As his lips moved to the soft mound between her thighs, he felt her tense.
He hadn’t expected her to be afraid.
H
e glanced at her face. Perhaps fear wasn’t the right emotion, but he felt she was trying to hold something back.
Holding back when he wanted to dive in, literally tested his strength in ways he’d never been tested before.

He continued to arouse her, slowly coaxing her to new heights.

Her fingers clutched the fabric of the bed sheets.
She trembled as she opened for him, removing the last barrier of resistance.
He caressed her thigh with fluid movements, bringing his fingers higher to part the folds of skin and expose the tiny pink nub at the center.

Again, she tensed.

"Don’t fight it, Kelsey."