From Fake to Forever (Newlywed Games 2)

Delicious. She just wished she knew what had burst his dam.

It took way too long to reach her floor. They flew from the elevator the moment the doors slid open.

Card key already in hand, he backed her against the door and kissed her thoroughly. She fell into it and into the sensations of the hard planes of his body pressing hers, the wood at her back, the urgency in his hands. All of it stoked a hot flame inside her.

And yet, she hesitated.

She wanted him so badly, but a little worm of doubt wouldn’t let her continue until she got some answers, especially the most important one—was all this going to disappear if she blinked?

Pulling back, she put a finger to his beautiful mouth.

“I have to know,” she murmured. “What’s tonight all about? You’ve been resistant to this since the moment I walked into your office.”

Her hands ached to touch his sculpted abs and her mouth salivated to taste the hard flesh she’d felt pressing into her abdomen. But she didn’t move, waiting for his response with bated breath. If he claimed to be acting on the heat of the moment, she’d bid him good-night in a heartbeat. They weren’t drunk, and neither of them had a life crisis to blame this on.

This was nothing but two adults coming together because they desperately wanted to be with each other. She needed to know he was choosing this.

“Yes,” he acknowledged. “But not because I didn’t want you.”

“Then why?”

He swayed backward a fraction, but it was enough to alert her she’d hit a nerve. Running a hand through his spiky hair, he released her waist, letting his arm hang at his side. “You’ve got our experience in Vegas built up in your head as something legendary. I can’t maintain that myth for you. I’m just me and you’ve already expressed disappointment over that.”

“Oh, honey.” She bit her lip before she spilled too hasty a denial. Because she had said that. “The only reason I have that experience built up in my head is because you’re the man who made it legendary. Are you worried it’ll only be mediocre?”

Patently ridiculous, if so.

He shook his head. “I’m saying I’m not like I was in Vegas in real life. I don’t want to be wild and crazy on a regular basis. I can’t. It leads to poor judgment.”

As her heart twisted with disappointment, he shifted and pulled her close, wrapping his arms around her so that all the good parts of their bodies aligned. “But you seem to drag my wild side into the light whether I like it or not. I decided to let you, just for tonight.”

Had that been the golden ticket all along? If she’d seduced him from the get-go, they could have avoided all this drama.

She smiled as her body relaxed in the knowledge that he wasn’t about to deny himself what he clearly wanted. Which meant she won, as well. “I see. This is a relationship with an expiration date.”

Guess that made it easier for him to let his guard down, as long as he could put it back up in the morning. Or at least that was what he was telling himself. She’d let him think that all he wanted, but that wasn’t how it was going to happen.

She stepped aside so he could open the door. Then he picked her up in his strong arms to carry her to the bed, where he laid her out carefully and began unbuckling one stiletto while treating her ankle to butterfly kisses.

She sighed a little. “I thought you didn’t believe in romance.”

The shoe hit the floor. Eyes half-shut, he rubbed his stubbly jaw over the arch of her foot and murmured, “I said romance was for losers who couldn’t get a woman into bed. I didn’t need it to get you here. But that doesn’t mean I don’t think you deserve it.”

The back of her throat burned with sudden, unshed tears and she couldn’t speak. This was the Jason of two years ago and yet not. He was still gorgeous and pushed all the right buttons, but she didn’t remember him being sweet. She couldn’t quite get a grip on him.

“Meredith,” he said, almost reverently. With extreme care, he took off her other shoe. “You’re the most exquisite woman I’ve ever seen. Bar none. I want to taste you. All over.”

“Sounds like a plan to me,” she choked out.

“Hope you don’t mind if I start here.” He slid a hand up her thigh and hooked her panties, drawing them off. Then he parted her skirt at the slit and let his gaze travel over her flesh. He murmured near poetic words of appreciation.

Fevered desire swept along her skin.

He knelt on the bed, gripped her thighs and lowered his head. And then his tongue touched her intimately. Pressing harder, he explored her with the tip and then the broad, rough part laved her. Her eyelids fluttered closed as he pleasured her thoroughly, yanking another climax out of her almost immediately.