DONOVAN (Gray Wolf Security, #1)(121)

Jacob’s expression didn’t change, but I was still sure I saw surprise in his eyes. He sat back, his eyes moving from my face to Lucien’s.

“Are you happy now, brother?” Lucien asked.

He didn’t wait for Jacob to say anything. Instead, he slid his arm around my shoulders and pulled me back against him.

“You liked my kiss?” he asked, his lips close to my ear.

I twisted a little to see his face. As I did, he moved in for the kill, stealing my lips before I could even catch my breath. He took my wine glass from my hands and set it on the long, narrow table that stood behind the couch, his hand moving over my jaw and into my hair at the base of my neck. I turned in to him to find a more comfortable position than the one I was in, and that encouraged him to draw my thigh up over his legs.

I hadn’t made out quite like this since I was in high school, sneaking around behind my father’s back. He thought I was a good girl. If he knew half of what I’d done before going off to boot camp, he’d probably have a stroke.

Lucien’s jaw was moving a little, encouraging me to open to him. Almost on instinct, I did. I opened, and he was touching me in places I’d never been touched. The man knew what he was doing when he slid inside of me. He didn’t just shove his tongue in my mouth and hold it there. He didn’t just wiggle it around. He had a purpose. He knew that touching the roof of my mouth would make my belly quiver. Somehow he knew that running his tongue along the length of mine felt like the finest caress on my thigh. I’d never shared a kiss with someone who was so well versed in the art of seduction. It was doing things to my sense of control that I wasn’t sure I liked.

And then there were his wandering hands. Despite the fact that I had my hand pressed against my thigh to keep him from making much progress, he still managed to get his hand under my skirt and slide it up along the back of my thigh, his fingertips moving high enough that they teased the bottom edge of my panties. I shifted slightly, trying to make it difficult for him to touch me there, but he was determined. And my resolve was growing weak.

I’d forgotten that Jacob was sitting just a few feet away from us. I forgot where I was and what I was doing for much longer than I wanted to admit. He was an amazing kisser, and the warmth of his hand moving up my thigh made me want to forget more than just where I was. I pressed my hand to the center of his chest and felt his heart pounding underneath. When was the last time I’d been close enough to a man to feel something that intimate? Too long. So when his mouth moved over my chin, when I lay my head back so that he had free access to my throat, I wasn’t thinking about having an audience. I wasn’t thinking about the fact that I barely knew this man. All I was thinking was how good it felt and how desperately I wanted it to never stop.

I buried my fingers in his hair, drew him closer to me even as he made his way farther down my throat to the narrow valley created by my bra and the crisscross of the front of the dress. My nipples were straining, desperate for him to take them into his mouth. I almost moaned in relief when his hand came up and wrapped itself around one of my breasts, the pressure of his palm against my nipple offering just a little relief against the building need in my lower belly. I squeezed my thighs together, a soft moan coming from deep in my throat as my clit responded to that little bit of relief.

I don’t know what it was. He was quiet. He didn’t say anything as he stood and slipped out of the room. But something made me aware that Jacob was no longer there a moment before the sound of a door slamming reverberated through the house.

“Lucien,” I said, my voice little more than a whisper.

He either didn’t hear me, or thought it was simply a lover’s utterance. He continued to work his way down my chest, his hand making my cleavage look huge as his lips grazed across the rounded top of a single breast.

“Lucien,” I repeated, a little louder, a little less breathy arousal in my voice.

When he still didn’t respond, I pressed my hand to his forehead and pushed him back enough so that I could scoot out from underneath him. I climbed to my feet and tugged at my dress, putting it to rights as I wished I had a sweater or something to pull on to cover my hardened nipples. It was embarrassing, the evidence of arousal on my body.

“What are you doing?”

“Jacob’s gone.”

“So?”

I twisted around and looked at him through slightly narrowed eyes. “There’s no point in putting on a show if the audience has left.”

“I can think of a reason or two.”

I ignored him in favor of picking up Jacob’s untouched wine glass and swallowing most of the liquid in one long gulp. The wine was good, just as he’d said it would be. But I was never one to stop and sip something just for the elegance of the moment. I took a breath, then finished the glass in another gulp.

“You could stay the night,” Lucien said. “He’ll expect to see you over the breakfast table.”

“I think not.”

“I’m paying you quite well to be convincing, Miss Garcia.”

I set the glass down very carefully, not giving in to the desire to shatter it. Then I turned and studied his charming smile, wondering if it really worked on most girls. You’d think they’d see through it, see the slimy jerk that existed just under the surface, the one who thought he could hire my father’s security firm and expect extra favors just because I was pretending to be his girlfriend so that I could get close to the people around him.