Defender (Seattle Sharks 9)

“I missed you, too,” she admitted, squeezing me tight. There was something in her tone that put me on alert. I’d heard it on the phone, too, but I’d dismissed it as weariness from traveling.

I leaned back and tipped her chin up. “You okay?”

Her eyes dulled a little. “Yeah, of course. Just tired.”

“Harper, I’ve traveled all over the continent with you. You don’t lose the spark in your eyes when you’re just tired.” Was she leaving? Taking her lab early? Was she about to tell me that we needed to talk?

“My mind is just really busy. It’s okay.”

Her almost-smile said it was anything but. I knew the signs— when she was working out a problem her mind didn’t rest until she found a solution. It was exhausting to watch, so I couldn’t imagine what going through it felt like.

“What do you have spinning around in there?”

“So much.” Her hands slid up my ribs to my chest and then looped around my neck. “Want to quiet it for me?”

That wasn’t something I ever declined.

My mouth took hers tenderly, with sipping kisses that both soothed and inflamed instantly. I’d thought our chemistry would have cooled by now, or at least lowered to a simmer, but the minute we touched, we went straight to a boil, both of us desperate for what only the other could provide.

Her fingers bit into the back of my neck as she pulled me in for a deeper kiss. I grabbed her ass in both hands and lifted her, then used my tongue and lips to show her exactly how much I’d missed her. She tasted like cookies...chocolate chip? Just to be sure, I kissed her harder, deeper, slanting my mouth over hers again and again. Yep, chocolate chip.

In two steps I had her on the counter. Then I cursed the sexy, long dress that kept her from spreading her knees wide enough to slip between.

She ripped my shirt from my jeans and then sent her hands up my abs, tracing all the spots I knew she liked to linger. I hissed as her fingers dipped into my waistband. I guess I liked it when she lingered, too. If she reached any lower, she’d find out exactly how well I liked it.

Impatiently, she stripped off my shirt, more than one button hitting the hardwood from the force of her need.

“I was only gone six days, and somehow I forgot how utterly perfect you are. Perfect and mine,” she said, her hands moving over me in a reverent sweep.

“Hardly perfect, but always yours.”

She flicked the button on my jeans and slid them down over my ass. My blood abandoned my head, thought no longer possible.

She wrapped her hand around my dick through my boxer briefs.

I fucking needed her. Needed to get inside her, to connect with her in the most primal of ways.

“Let me take you upstairs,” I growled against her mouth.

“I don’t want to wait.” She made her point crystal clear as my boxer briefs joined my jeans around my thighs.

“Fuck. Harper,” I groaned. Then I kissed her until her grip tightened on my cock and her breaths turned into ragged whimpers.

Fisting her dress in both hands, I revealed her legs as the fabric slid up the silky lengths. She braced her weight on the counter and lifted, giving me clearance to take the dress, and her prim, sexy-librarian sweater off in one long pull, leaving her in a pale pink bra and matching underwear.

“Gorgeous,” I told her, pulling back only far enough to peek at the woman I was about to worship.

Then I kicked off my shoes and removed my remaining clothing, standing naked before this woman who looked like she was going to devour me.

“Hurry,” she begged. “It feels like it’s been forever.”

Need beat through my veins with every heartbeat, screaming at me to bury myself deep, to remind her why I was worth coming home to. Worth staying for.

My tongue found hers as my fingers delved beneath the fabric of her thong, finding her soaked and slippery. The satisfaction of knowing I turned her on with only kisses had me moaning into her mouth. There was nothing hotter than when Harper wanted me.

Her panties and bra came off next.

“What are you thinking?” she asked as I blatantly stared at her. Her voice had that husky edge that almost made me come on its own.

“That I’ve never seen a more beautiful woman. It was like you were made for me. There’s not one curve or hollow that doesn’t fit me.” I trailed my hand down her breast bone before taking a pert nipple in my mouth and flicking it with my tongue.

She threw her head back with a gasp.

My fingers found her clit and rubbed, eliciting a swear word from her pretty pink lips. Her heels ground into my ass as she used her legs to bring me closer.