Hot and Heavy (Some Like It Hot 2)

She swallowed hard. Oh, Lord, she’d pushed him too far, and he was going to give her exactly what she’d asked for.

He was going to spank her.

CHAPTER ELEVEN

Knowing she deserved the punishment Cole was about to mete out for taunting him, Melodie’s entire body tensed in anxious anticipation as she waited for the first smack to her bottom. Long, suspended moments passed, but instead of the stinging swat she’d prepared herself for, his splayed hand gently kneaded her buttocks and his thumb traced the crease in between. In their scuffle, her dress had ridden up, and his palm continued its downward exploration to her bare thighs.

Cole’s breathing grew heavy, as if he were lost in a deep trance, his fierce erection pressing against her hip. She bit her bottom lip and shivered, afraid to say anything that might break the sensual spell cast over him, afraid he’d come to his senses and stop the exquisite pleasure of his touch.

The warm, blunt tips of his fingers feathered the inside of her trembling thighs, and her legs widened of their own accord, welcoming his caress. Bolder still, he slipped beneath the hem of her dress where he came into contact with the barrier of her panties. Following the panel of silk to her feminine mound, he encountered the warm, wet evidence of her arousal. Groaning deep in his throat at what he’d discovered, he rubbed the damp, slick fabric against her swollen, aching flesh and plied her clitoris with slow, circular strokes.

It seemed her climax at the club had only whetted her appetite for more, because that easily, that quickly, another orgasm beckoned. Instinctively she arched her hips against his hand, her fingers biting into the taut muscles in his thighs where she braced herself. She trembled at the sensations washing over her, moaned at the heated pressure building inside her, needing more, needing Cole.

She twisted around to glance up at him. His features were etched with a searing hunger, his eyes feverish and hot with lust. He wanted her, too, and that knowledge thrilled her.

“Cole…please.”

He blinked as if someone had slapped him, looking startled, the seductive moment shattered. “No,” he grated in an agonized tone, then more firmly added, “No,” as if he had to convince himself to stop touching her.

He gave her a gentle push off his lap and she slid to her knees in front of him. “Cole?” she questioned, needing some kind of explanation for his withdrawal.

He closed his eyes and pinched the bridge of his nose between his fingers. His chest rose and fell as he took a deep, shaky breath and let it out. “This can’t happen.”

It was the same old argument, and tonight she wasn’t going to let him dismiss their attraction without a fight. She pulled his hand away, forcing him to look at her. He did so with a familiar scowl that made her smile.

“It can happen, if you let it.” Swallowing hard to calm her own nerves and racing heart, she eased his knees apart and moved in between so that his thighs bracketed her waist. “I’ve never wanted another man the way I want you, Cole.”

Taking advantage of their provocative position, she reached for the waistband of his slacks and unfastened the top button. She gripped the tab of his zipper, but before she could ease it down and over the enormous erection straining the front of his pants, he caught her wrists, holding her at bay.

“Mel…”

“Don’t tell me no, Cole,” she said before he could express his own denial. “Not tonight.”

Leaning into him, she placed an open-mouthed kiss on the taut material stretching across his stiff cock. She rubbed her cheek against his heat, breathed in the musky, male scent of his arousal. “I want this and I want you.”

“You’re not thinking straight,” he said hoarsely.

She lifted her head, shaking her tousled hair out of her face. “My mind is perfectly clear.”

He laughed abruptly. “Not likely. You were drinking like a fish at the nightclub!”

Shrugging, she placed her hands on his chest, aching to touch his naked flesh. “I was thirsty.”

The disbelief in his eyes was plain to see. “I won’t take advantage of you when you’ve been drinking.”

She sighed and brushed the tips of her fingers along his clenched jaw. “You’re so noble, Cole, so damn honorable. While I admire those traits in a man, it’s the last thing I want from you right now.” She paused a moment, then added, “I was drinking ginger ale with lemon.”

He frowned, and she knew he was about to debate the issue with her. So she proved her claim the only way she knew how. Curling a hand around the back of his neck, she pulled his mouth down to hers. Lips meshed, parted, and her tongue slid deep inside in a long, hot kiss as she let him taste and sample the lemon essence still lingering on her tongue.

She was the first to pull back, which she took as a positive sign. “See?” she said breathlessly as she dragged her hands down to his chest. His rapid heartbeat thumped wildly beneath her palm and she experienced a jolt of satisfaction knowing the kiss had excited him as much as it had her. “Not a drop of alcohol.”

He stared at her, his stunned expression gradually ebbing to contrition. “I apologize for accusing you of being drunk,” he said reluctantly, huskily.

Ah, hearing Cole admit that he was sorry was very sweet, indeed. “An honest mistake I can forgive,” she replied with a slow, beguiling smile. “But just for future reference, don’t make assumptions about me until you check out the facts.”

He lifted a dark brow, a rare glimmer of amusement making an appearance in his eyes. “Are you attacking my credibility as a PI?”

“Just making sure you no lo