Instant Temptation (Wilder #3)(19)

It wasn’t easy.

“So I’m guessing all is forgiven,” she said, her voice a little ragged.

He pressed a finger and thumb into his eyelids and took a deep breath.

“You look like you’re torn between kissing me again and spanking me.”

He dropped his hand and stared at her. “Good idea. How about both?”

Her eyes widened, then he hauled her up and kissed her again.

For a beat she was utterly still, then met him halfway, melting into him, over him, fisting her hands in his shirt as things went instantly wild. She came up for air first, but even then her lips clung to his before she slowly pulled away.

Looking as completely perplexed as he felt, she stared at him. “What the hell was that?”

A category-five hurricane. “A hell of an adrenaline rush.”

“And?

“And”—he finally went with total honesty—“I have no idea. You drive me f*cking crazy.”

She let out a sound that managed to convey frustration, amusement, and temper all in one. “Same goes.”

“You should probably slap me the next time I do that.”

“Yeah.” Her gaze dropped to his mouth again. “TJ…”

Ah, hell. He was going to do “that” again, slap or not, and they both knew it.

In fact, they lunged at each other.

But instead of wild, this time the kiss was deep and soulful, and devastatingly necessary as air. He felt her knees give, and gliding his arms around her, supported them both as her fingers wove into his hair at the back of his head. It felt so damn good he groaned into her mouth, sucking on her lower lip, biting it, kissing it again. He could feel the heat of her body, the soft cushion of her soft curves pressed up against him, and his brain clicked completely off, instinct and need taking over.

When they broke apart, she pressed her face into his neck and he felt her draw his scent in, as if maybe she couldn’t get enough of him, and his chest ached, physically ached.

God. He had no idea what was happening, but suddenly he wanted to know he wasn’t alone in this. Needed to know he wasn’t alone in this. Fisting his fingers in her hair, he gently tugged until she tilted her face up.

Her eyes were closed. “Harley, look at me.”

It took her a minute, as if she was trying to get it together before she did, but when she opened those seductive eyes, the truth was there for him to see.

He wasn’t alone in this.

That wasn’t necessarily a comfort.

The silence was as heavy as the humid air around them, and was broken only by their accelerated breathing. Then a branch cracked overhead, falling through the trees to hit the ground near them.

Harley jerked.

TJ didn’t move a muscle, not knowing what to say. Rare for him.

Harley finally gathered herself first, turning away to get moving again, leaving him to follow.

Or not.

He knew what she was hoping for. She wanted him far, far away. Hell, on that they were in perfect accord. But what he wanted to do and what he needed to do were two very different things. He needed to know she was safe.

So he followed.





CHAPTER 6


Harley walked hard and fast, but still couldn’t outpace her demons. Or the fact that her body felt so…alive. Every nerve ending hummed and pulsed, and little electric zings of sheer lust randomly fired from erotic pulse point to erotic pulse point.

She had no one to blame but herself. She’d known the minute that TJ’s lips touched hers she’d be in big trouble.

Lord, the man could kiss.

He knew just how to work that warm mouth of his, too, how to hold a woman, how to pull her in and make her purr. Hell, she was still purring.

He was following her, of course. Keeping pace but letting her lead, leaving her to her thoughts.

Thoughts she could do without, so she slowed until he was at her side.

Even more devastating than his mouth were his eyes. They were a deep, velvety green, and mirrors to his soul. She turned and looked into them. He had a few fine lines fanning out from the corners. Not from age, but from his easy smile, from squinting into the bright high-altitude sun, from planning and thinking about his clients’ fun and safety, from worry and concern about those he loved.

From following her up a mountain out of that worry and concern.

All those little things he did were just pieces of the puzzle that made up the boy she’d once loved, the boy who’d grown into a man. A good man. A solid, strong man.

A man, despite everything her common sense screamed at her, she was incredibly attracted to.

With a long exhale, she stepped off the narrow trail and up on a huge boulder overlooking the wild, open forestland and jagged mountain peaks for as far as the eye could see. And there, surrounded by three hundred and sixty degrees of glory on earth, she could secretly admit one more thing—she’d never gotten over him.

And it was unlikely that she ever would.

She felt him step up to her side and take in the view as well, still silent.

She’d thought this trip would be easy. Fun. Exciting. She’d spend some time just…being. She could ruminate on her favorite TV shows. She’d talk herself out of her addiction of chewing on her thumbnail. She’d think about her life and how she wanted to move outside her comfort zone and really live it.

Passion included, please.