Wildstar

"That isn't true."

"Coward," he taunted lightly, his voice suddenly be­coming soft and whispery.

His smug arrogance was too much to ignore. Setting her teeth, Jess marched over to his chair. How she would like to shatter his confidence! He was certain he could seduce any woman to willing compliance, but she would show him she wasn't about to succumb to his practiced charm.

When she reached Devlin, though, he slipped an arm around her narrow waist and, to her surprise, gently pulled her down on his lap. His thighs felt hard and uncompro­misingly male beneath her skirts, and the shocking contact discomfited Jess. She hadn't planned on letting things get so out of hand.

She was about to change her mind about accepting his challenge when Devlin reached toward the table and set his dinner knife beyond her reach. "I'm not taking any chances," he replied to her inquiring look with a dancing light in his eyes. "I suppose it's a good thing I'm not wearing my guns."

Jess felt heat rising to her cheeks at his teasing. Before she could retort, though, Devlin said softly, "All right, I'm ready now. Put your arms around my neck and kiss me."

When she hesitated, his beautiful mouth curved in a very male smile. "Come on, 'fraidy cat, it won't hurt you. You might even find you like it."

Jess hardened her resolve. She couldn't stand the idea of him questioning her courage, but more than her pride was at stake. She needed to prove to herself, even more than to him, that she could resist his seductive advances.

She took a deep breath. Since she was sitting on his lap, her face was at the same level as Devlin's. All she had to do was lean forward.

She did, slowly, and touched her mouth to his. His lips were soft and warm and somehow luxurious. It made her think of savoring rich chocolate.

Involuntarily, Jess shut her eyes, while her arms stole around his neck almost of their own accord.

She heard the throaty sound of approval Devlin made as he wrapped his arms around her waist and pulled her closer. Drawing her breasts against his chest, he forced her to increase the pressure of the kiss. Tentatively, almost shyly, Jess's lips fluttered beneath Devlin's in unwilling surrender. She didn't know how to deal with the physical sensations overwhelming her. He made her feel hot and quivery and weak, as if she were no longer in control of her senses. When he used his tongue to paint her bottom lip with dampness, she almost gasped at the erotic ripple of heat that surged through her body.

Eventually, he pulled away, and she saw that his smoky eyes had darkened to charcoal. "Not bad for a first time," Devlin said in a low, husky voice. "Try it again with more passion this time."

"But . . .dinner's . . . getting cold. . . ."

"Let it. Open your mouth to me, Jess," he whispered against her lips.

"But—"

"Don't think, angel, just feel."

Unbelievably, Jess wanted to obey him. She wanted just once not to think about everyone else first. Just once to give in to pure lush sensation. And that was what his kiss was . . . sensation. Exquisite and arousing. Delicious and intense. She felt as if her bones were melting as Devlin tasted and sipped at her mouth, irresistibly blending ten­derness and demand, intimacy and boldness. His tongue was like slow fire as it took the deepest corners of her mouth, spreading and stroking, leaving her without a breath to call her own. He was a highly experienced man with a masterful touch, she knew that. But it didn't matter. Not when she was so stunned by the wildly primitive urges beating in her blood.

She clung to him, wanting his incredible kiss to last for­ever, desperate for it to end before she dissolved into a pool of liquid heat.

Devlin felt her trembling acquiescence. He had known too many women not to recognize need when he saw it, held it in his arms. She was so needy for everything a man could give her. And he ached to be that man.

He made his kisses deliberately provocative, stroking and sensual, using every skill he possessed to heighten her pleasure. It was an art he had been practicing for a very long time. And Jessica responded with blind desire, press­ing closer and giving a hushed little moan from deep in her throat.

Her eager hunger entranced him, inflaming his own hunger. He wanted to throw away the pins in her hair and plunge his fingers into her glorious tresses. He wanted to unbutton that high-necked blouse of hers and lavish atten­tion on her beautiful, full breasts. He wanted . . . But he knew very well that once he began such intimacy, he wouldn't be able to stop himself from going further.

With agonizing reluctance, Devlin summoned all his willpower and forced himself to end their embrace. When slowly he drew back, Jessica opened her eyes with a dazed look of pleasure.

Devlin drew a ragged breath and gave her a smile of blatant male satisfaction mingled with frustrated desire. "I think that's enough of a lesson in passion for one after­noon. Any more and I won't be able to let you go."

When he tucked an errant tendril behind her ear and eased her off his lap onto her feet, Jessica stood there un­steadily for a moment, looking around blankly, trying to remember what she'd been doing before she'd so foolishly accepted Devlin's challenge to prove her womanhood, be­fore his devastating kiss had left her aroused and flustered and shaken to her very core.

Oh, yes, dinner. She had been about to sit down and eat.

Moving slowly around the table, Jessica lowered herself into her seat. Somehow, after Devlin's kiss, she knew it would be impossible to keep her mind on roast beef and mashed potatoes.

Chapter 7

Monday morning dawned bright and clear, with none of the smoky blue haze that usually hung over the mountains. Up at the mine, Devlin watched the Colorado sky turn from ebony to pale gray to cloudless cobalt, but he made no effort to saddle his horse. The Wildstar crew tramped up the mountain road and reported for work, and the endless toil of hard-rock mining began . . . drilling and blasting, shoring tunnel and shaft walls, shoveling rock and tramming it to the surface in buckets, to be loaded into ore cars. But still Devlin hesitated to leave. He wasn't sure he trusted himself alone with Jess.

He'd gone too far yesterday with her, he knew. The game he'd been playing had turned dangerous. It had been easy—too easy—to awaken her passion and make her re­spond to him, but his plan had nearly backfired. He was an experienced man taking advantage of an innocent, yet he'd come close to losing control himself.