Merry and Bright(54)

“Then why don’t you ever kiss me?”

Matt blinked. That hadn’t been what he’d expected, though, in truth, he didn’t know what he had expected. He knew she was talking to Ned, not to him, but he still stepped closer, so close that he could have bent his head and put his mouth to the nape of her neck. Her scent came to him, soft and lovely and incredibly sexy.

So sexy.

Her skin seemed to glow in the pale light. She tended to dress conservatively, and he supposed the cut of her black velvet dress was modest enough, but it molded and hugged her body, dipping both in the front and the back in a clean, sensual line.

“Ned?”

Christ, he wanted her to stop saying some other man’s name. He wanted to hear his name.

She sighed then, a lost sound, a sorrowful sound, and unable to take it, he wrapped his fingers around her arm and turned her to face him. Before she could decipher the fact that he had a good four inches on Ned, he hauled her up against him and did as she’d asked. He kissed her.





3


Cami sank immediately into the kiss. She couldn’t see a thing in the dark room, but she didn’t need to. Ned’s mouth was firm yet warm, and tasted yummy. Then his tongue touched hers, and a bolt of desire zinged her from her roots to her toes, hitting all the good spots in the middle.

Oh, did he know how to kiss. Thankfully. She’d been worried because not once had he swept her up in his arms like this, against his body, inhaling her as if she was the greatest thing since sliced bread, and she loved it. Loved also the obvious hunger and passion he had bottled up.

For her.

Not to mention the delicious hardness of his chest, his belly, his thighs . . . in between. God. She hadn’t been kissed like this since . . . she couldn’t remember.

It didn’t matter, she was being kissed now, and she couldn’t believe how amazing it felt. Her bones melted, along with her reservations about Ned being the right one for her, and she ran her hands up his chest, winding her arms around his neck to pull his head even closer to hers.

His hands moved, too, at first grazing up and down her back in a seductive motion that drew her in even closer, molding her body to his. Up and down, further each time, over the skin bared by her dress, until he cupped her bottom. The intimate touch shocked her, and aroused her beyond belief. He squeezed, the thin material of her dress and her new thong the only things separating his hand from her flesh. A brave departure for her, but she’d needed something drastic tonight, had needed to try something different. She’d loved the way she looked when she’d caught her reflection in the mirror. Sophisticated and glamorous—so unlike her usual self.

Now she was glad she’d dared, though his fingers on her, with so little barrier, felt shocking. One hand left her bottom, gliding back up her body to sink into her hair, dislodging a few carefully placed pins as he palmed her head, holding her in place while he decimated her with a kiss so deep and sensually charged, she could only whimper and let him take her where he would.

“Mmm,” rumbled from deep in his throat, the hand still on her bottom urging her closer, rocking the softest part of her to the hardest part of him. Oh, God, this felt good, so good. If she let herself think, she might have admitted it was difficult to reconcile this deep, wet, hot, shocking erotic connection with the mild-mannered Ned, the one who was so nice and kind he often let people walk all over him rather than face a disagreement or handle a contradiction.

But she didn’t think, because the rough growl that reverberated from deep in his throat made her weak. So did his sure and talented mouth, his steady and knowledgeable hands, both of which were driving her crazy. So did his mouth as it made its way to her jaw to nibble her throat. In fact, she had to clutch at him to remain standing. “You feel good.”

In an odd reaction, he went completely still for a beat, then pulled back and stared down at her, the mask covering the upper part of his face but not the heavy rise and fall of his chest as he breathed erratically.

That’s when it hit her. Ned wasn’t this tall. Or broad. Or built.

Then she caught the glittering of his eyes.

Not dark brown, but . . . steely, stormy gray.

Oh, my God.

Not Ned. Not Ned, but—Reaching up, way up, she grabbed his mask. She wasn’t tall enough to yank it off over his head, so she pulled it down and stared into those glittering eyes. “You.”

“Me,” Matt agreed utterly without repentance or apology.

Stepping back in horrified, humiliated shock, she came up against the window just as his mask, caught by its elastic string, slapped him in the chin.

Without a word, he ripped the thing off and stepped toward her.

“Don’t,” she choked out, her every nerve ending still pulsing with hopeful pleasure. She lifted a hand to hold him off, but he just took her fingers in his and came up against her, trapping her between the window and his body.

The window was icy cold. But not Matt. Nope, his hard body radiated heat and strength as he cupped her jaw until she was looking him right in the eyes. “Well, that took me by surprise,” he murmured.

“What are you talking about? You knew exactly who you were kissing!”

“Yeah, but I didn’t expect to be leveled flat by it.”

“You expect me to believe that you were laid flat? You, the man who’s kissed every single woman in a hundred-mile radius?” God, she was a fool. She’d known better, a small part of her had known from the moment he’d touched his mouth to hers—Ned would never have taken her like that, kissing hard and deep and unapologetically fierce—but her body had surged with such heat and need, and a desire so strong, she was still shaking from it.