It Must Be Your Love (The Sullivans #11)(49)

She was right about the goodnight kiss, even though it would kill him to walk away from her again tonight, but he also needed her to know, “I don’t want them, Mia. You’re the only one I want. The only one I’ve ever wanted.”

“Then prove it to me,” she said in a husky voice that ripped through his system like a bolt of electricity.

He had her mouth crushed beneath his before she could finish her sentence, and the sweet taste of her was all it took for Ford to lose the extremely tenuous hold he had over himself. A heartbeat later he had her backed up against the wall and had lifted her so that her legs were wrapped around his hips. He needed to get as close as he could to her, and when he pressed his denim-covered erection against her and she gasped with pleasure, he immediately took advantage by sucking her tongue into his mouth.

He had been planning to give her a sweetly seductive goodnight kiss...not this sinful assault on every inch of her mouth, but when he tried to pull back, he found himself doing just the opposite. He tangled his hand into her long hair and roughly pulled her head back so that he could attack the soft skin along her neck with his lips, tongue, and teeth.

But he wasn’t the only one losing his mind, because Mia had her hands underneath his shirt, and she was raking her nails across his pecs. When he suckled her most sensitive spot—right where her neck turned the corner to her shoulder—she had to grip his shoulders to keep herself steady against him as she shook with pleasure.

Ten seconds. That was how quickly he could have their clothes off and be inside of her. She’d be so hot, and so wet, and so ready for everything he could give her that every clear thought in his head turned to static, until all he could hear was the hard throb of blood in his ears.

No, damn it. He wouldn’t lose their chance at forever for a few perfect minutes of rolling around on the floor naked with her.

On a forceful curse that reverberated against all the floor-to-ceiling windows in her condo, Ford made himself take his mouth from her neck and put her down on the floor.

Her breath was heaving in her chest as she stared up at him, her skin rosy and gorgeous, her eyes bright with arousal. “I didn’t know a goodnight kiss could be like that,” she whispered.

He knew he should be taking one step away from her, and then another, but when she reached up to touch his face, he knew he’d stay if she asked him to. Every promise he’d made, every one of his good intentions would crumble in the face of his need to be with her right now, tonight, to take that taste of pleasure they’d both just had and multiply it a thousand times over.

“Go.”

Her eyes were dark with need, and he knew it cost her just as much to say that one word as it did for him to obey it. Somehow, he made his feet take him one step away from her, and then another and another, until the front door was at his back.

Chapter Twenty-one

The moment Ford unexpectedly walked into Mia’s office on Wednesday morning, the buzz of excitement started humming among her employees again. He was only human, but everywhere he went it seemed crackling energy followed him. It was why hiding with Ford in public was pretty much impossible. No matter how good a disguise he put on, or how deserted a location they went to, his fans could sense his presence.

Clearly, given how giddy her employees were as he greeted each and every one of them by name, none of them had gotten used to being around him yet.

Would they ever? That is, if she and Ford actually were able to make a new relationship work? It was the very question she’d spent most of the night lying awake trying to figure out...

“Good morning, beautiful.”

He was holding out a to-go cup of coffee for her, but it was his absolutely tantalizing clean male scent that hit her first. That, and the fact that he only seemed to get better looking as the days passed. Age, she knew with perfect certainty, would only make him more desirable.

“You again? You’re here so often I’m going to have to start putting you on my payroll, aren’t I?”

She had to tease him, all the more because it was so good to see him. So much better than it should have been, considering it had barely been twelve hours since he’d left her with the hottest goodnight kiss in the entire world. One that had left her reeling almost as much as her growing feelings for him.

“I hope hazelnut lattes are still your favorite.”

Her heart was pounding and her legs felt a little shaky as she took the cup from him. “They are, thank you.” She couldn’t seem to stop her voice from coming out a little breathy, not when every inch of her craved every inch of him. Knowing she’d drop the scalding hot coffee on both of them if she didn’t put it down, she carefully placed it on her desk.

“I’ve got to head down to Oregon in a few minutes. The bus is outside blocking traffic, but I couldn’t go without seeing you first.”

“I’m glad you did.”

And she truly was. She wasn’t sure if the skies had been sunny before he arrived, but now that he was here, she felt as though she were on a Caribbean beach soaking up the strong, warm rays rather than in the cool and cloudy Pacific Northwest.

Oh, how badly she wanted to touch him, so badly that her hands were actually shaking from the urge to reach out. But she knew her employees had to be watching the two of them through the glass walls of her office...and even the slightest touch would be akin to admitting she was Ford’s.