I pulled back, dropping kisses to her cheeks, nose, and forehead, then taking her mouth again. I only meant to keep the kiss brief, but as soon as our lips touched, all bets were off. I slanted my mouth over hers, pulling her higher up my chest, deepening the kiss. She stroked the skin on my back in gentle passes. I grunted in approval, slipping my hand into her hair, feeling the tangle of curls, silky and rich, as I wrapped my hand around them. Time lost meaning as we drowned in the sensations and taste of each other.
One moment, we were standing. The next, I had her sitting on the counter, me between her splayed legs, as I tongue-fucked her mouth. The warmth of her center surrounded my cock, even with the layers of material separating us. She was a temptation I could no longer resist. There was no other word for her. Hotter, wetter, deeper—our kisses continued. Her injuries faded away, my worries evaporated, and nothing else mattered but this intense connection.
Until I tugged on her hair, and she stiffened. Realizing what I had done, I broke away, my breathing fast.
“Tally,” I whispered. “Baby, I’m sorry. I got carried away. I forgot about your head.”
She met my gaze, her blue eyes wide. The dull sheen of pain was gone, replaced by the brightness of passion. Her lips were swollen from mine, her cheeks flushed. Her harsh breathing matched mine.
I touched her cheek. “Are you all right?”
She smiled. Real. Wide. Lovely.
“Other than the fact that you stopped, yes.”
“I hurt you.”
“It’s fine now.” She leaned closer, pressing her hands into my back, inviting me to meet her halfway. “Where were we?”
It wasn’t an invitation I wanted to resist.
So, I didn’t.
Later, we were on the sofa, cups of coffee in our hands. She sat with her back against the armrest, her legs draped over my lap. I studied her, noting her occasional grimace, but other than that, she seemed all right.
“Stop looking at me as if I’m an experiment.”
I chuckled. “Hardly that. I was a little, ah, handsy. I’m just making sure you’re okay.”
“I like your sort of handsy. It was last night’s kind I object to.”
There was something in her voice, a trace of bitterness that caught my ears.
“You’ve been subjected to that before?” I asked, keeping my voice steady.
She didn’t say anything for a moment, then nodded.
“Can you tell me?”
“Not now.”
She’d been through a lot, so I tamped down my curiosity.
“All right.”
“It’s pretty personal.”
“So was my tongue down your throat, but we managed that well.”
A smile tugged on her lips, and she huffed a laugh.
“I suppose we did.” She took a sip of coffee before asking the question that had hung in the air since I’d pulled away from her.
“What’s happening here, Julian?”
I paused before I answered. She had every right to ask that question. I only wished I knew the answer.
“I don’t know.”
“Bullshit.”
I blinked at her vehemence.
“I’m sorry?”
“I hate being lied to. More than anything. Don’t tell me you don’t know what’s going on here. You kissed me. You must have some vague notion of an idea in that sexy head of yours.”
“Vague, yes,” I agreed.
“Then say it.”
I slapped my hands on my knees. She wanted honesty? She was going to get it.
“I’m your boss, older than you, not looking for a relationship, yet I can’t stop thinking about you. Wanting you. And after last night, needing to protect you. I shouldn’t have hired you because I was attracted to you the second you burst in the door, all flushed and pretty. I went against my own instincts and did it anyway. I was basically fucked then and even more so now because I can’t seem to stay away from you. All I think about is having you. When you’re close, I feel this odd sense of…peace. You calm me, and I’m selfish enough to want more of it. More of you.” I drew in some much-needed oxygen. “I don’t understand it, but that’s it in a nutshell.”
She blinked. Looked away, then back at me. “You think I’m pretty?”
It was my turn to blink. “That’s all you got out of that?”
“No. I got it all, just clarifying.”
“Yes, I think you’re beautiful. Sexy. Adorable when you’re rearranging your desk or taping my Post-it notes into place. All of it.”
“Hmm. Was that so hard to admit?”
I started to laugh. This woman was crazy. Yet, as with everything else about her, I liked it. I leaned forward and kissed her nose. “Surprisingly, no.”
“So, you think this is a relationship?”
I rubbed a hand through my hair. “I don’t generally go around kissing women who work for me, so yes, I believe it’s something.”
“What about women you rescue?” she asked quietly.
I thought about the countless women Hidden Justice had helped. Would continue to help long after I was gone. Tally didn’t know about them, though. She couldn’t. It was too dangerous. She was just teasing me. I knew she was talking about herself.