Bargaining with the Bride (Honeybrook Love, Inc. 1)

But the kiss they'd shared had been so electric that he could never look at her again without seeing all the sensuality he'd been so desperately trying to avoid. Even if she was in a tent he was sure his cock would still be aching to feel her. Even if her entire body was cloaked in a blanket.

Ina shapeless blanket with nothing else…just that thin, soft white skin entirely naked beneath it.

Blood thundered in his ears, and suddenly this huge effort to throw caution to the wind and ignore everything else seemed like the only remaining option. After that kiss, there would be no putting the horse back in the barn. There would be no pretending that every time he'd closed his eyes to sleep, he hadn't imagined pulling her clothes off one piece at a time until she was open and willing and all his. On her sofa. In his car. On top of his desk. All his.

He swallowed hard, nearly wincing as his cock swelled against him again with another surge of need. She's set her wine on the counter beside her and was crossing her arms over her chest, unintentionally squeezing her breasts together and enhancing her already impressive cleavage.

"Kiss me." It was practically a whisper, but it carried across the room like a dart, his pulse quickening as he returned to the image of her naked body beneath impossibly thin, white sheets.

Thin just like her tattered tank top. So easy to rip. It would only take one quick, solid movement to liberate her perfect breasts, to take them is his hands. To massage them. To kiss each peak.

The silence between them was palpable, each moment tracked only by the pulse he was sure pounded in both of their veins. Sh stopped swinging her feet against the counter, and instead sat unmoving, her arms still supporting her as she leaned against the back splash. They stared at each other, and he watched as the sweet pink color of her cheeks painted the delicate skin of her neck, and crept lower, to places he couldn't see.

She bit her bottom lip slowly, releasing the supple pink petal only to run her tongue across it. Almost imperceptibly, she nodded. Once. Twice.

His feet moved without his consent. Slowly at first, but then he was sprinting, making his way across the room in only a few strides.

His palm cupped the back of her neck and he crushed her mouth against his, smashing his own lips into hers with a fierce command.

It occurred to him that she might protest, but just as he was about to ease away, her fingers grasped at his hips. She used his body as an anchor to pull herself toward him, pressing her hot core to his own. Inviting him to rip away what little barrier there was between them.

"Rachael?" He breathed between demanding, passionate kisses.

"Yeah?" She voice had become something between a moan and a purr, and the sound make his hands twitch to explore her further, to silence whatever conversation couldn't be made physically. But this was important. It needed to be said. They'd already gone this far.

"How much do you like this shirt?"

She pulled back for a moment, eying him with a playful expression. Her lips glistened, redder and more inviting than they'd even been before.

"Not enough to say no."

She leaned back, and with one satisfying rip, the tank was mere shreds in his hand. Her full, firm breasts perfectly displayed before him.

But staring at the scraps of fabric, he realized a few things.

First, ripping a shirt was harder than it had seemed in his fantasies.

Second, he did not at all care what his employee handbook had to say.

Third, and most importantly, her body was more perfect than he could ever have imagined.

* * *

The counter was cold, and so was the kitchen. Or, at least, that's what logic told her. In the heat of the moment, though, her body knew no sensation other than hot, burning lust. Fire licked at every nerve in her body, and her need had risen so much that it was nearly impossible to breathe. She knew nothing, nothing at all, except that Garret was there, the remnants of what had once been her favorite tank top in his hands, and she wanted to be taken hard and fast by the sexiest guy she'd ever known.

She didn't bother to ask before she yanked his shirt from over head, pressing her chest against his so that their bodies were completely flush with each other. It all felt strangely…right.

As his fingers worked the straps of her bra, she traced the length of his neck with her tongue. She smiled against his skin, enjoying the steady pick up for his heartbeat as it thrummed beneath her lips.

So close, so perfect…

And then it all went to shit.

9

At first, he didn't realize what happened. All he knew was that his mouth had been on Rachael at last, taking in her sweet, pale skin...

And then the entire world exploded into sound and chaos.