Love, Tussles, and Takedowns (Cactus Creek #3)(29)
Jesus, she argued the way she fought. Quick, no-nonsense, short-distance jabs.
“No. That’s not a no.”
She pulled back and a sweet, sexy smile traveled from her lips straight up to her eyes.
Another effective jab.
Then she slid her hand into his and kissed his knuckles.
“Honey, that’s the hand that can’t feel.”
“I know. And no, it isn’t,” she replied with a shrug, as if her answer made all the sense in the world.
Shockingly, to him, it did.
And though he knew he was diving into waters that were undoubtedly going to pull him out farther than he could make it back from, he dropped his lips down to hers and drank in all her sweetness, all her bravery.
Never had he ever wanted a woman so much.
Looking into her kiss-drunken eyes, he almost smiled when she seemed utterly shocked that her apartment door was now behind her back.
“Unlock the door, honey. Let us in.”
CHAPTER EIGHT
WHEN HUDSON’S EYES darkened to an intense, smoky gray, Lia felt her knees go weak.
Most of her other jellified joints soon followed as he all but stalked her to the couch and gently tumbled her backward onto the cushions.
Slipping his hands under her, he slid her back toward him and settled her between his rock-hard thighs as his eyes tracked the movement of her t-shirt inching up her torso. His eyes remained locked on the few inches of skin revealed while his palms smoothed over her belly.
“Have I told you how sexy I think your belly button is?”
A ludicrous statement she knew was untrue. Halfie belly buttons only looked sexy on women surfers and beach volleyball players. And while Lia was reasonably sun-kissed from her late afternoon jogs and frequent trips to the outdoor gun ranges, her belly was nowhere in the vicinity of tan.
Self-consciously, she slammed her hand over her navel.
“No,” he growled softly, pulling her hands up to circle his neck instead. “No covering up. If all I get is first base with you tonight, then your belly button is definitely fair game.”
“First base?” she grumbled, the female pout in her voice one she’d never heard come out of her mouth before. “I thought we agreed on third base.”
“One base at a time, sweetheart. Tonight is first base.”
He was smiling against her skin, she could feel it.
Well, two could play at that game.
She slid her hands back down to her belly and reveled in how quickly his eyes went from disgruntled to red hot with lust as she slowly pulled her shirt up and off.
“First base only, Lia,” he ground out, sounding like he was reminding himself more than he was her.
“According to the internet, that’s kissing and over-the-clothes action.” She grinned as she saw his eyes dart to her fingers at the button fly of her jeans. And hold. “So my boyshort panties and a sports bra seem perfectly within first base guidelines.”
He exhaled a long, slow breath. “Jesus. You are so beautiful, Lia.”
She watched, captivated as he proceeded to memorize every inch of her with his hands.
“Used to be, I could handle a combat weapon with the kind of speed and precision that guys in my unit were gladly willing to trade their left nut for.” A hard edge darkened his expression for a brief moment before fading, softening when his gaze fell on her face again.
“After the explosion, discovering that I wouldn’t ever have that level of fine motor control in my trigger hand again, or that I wouldn’t ever be able to fully process the feel of a weapon because of the nerve damage in my other hand…that just about destroyed me.”
He slid his hand over her skin gently. “But this—”
She gasped, gripped the cushions to keep herself grounded mentally, emotionally. To keep her silly heart from acknowledging the fact that he was shattering her defenses with that one simple touch, owning her with the intense, single-minded focus his eyes held as they followed the path his fingers were tracing across her belly. Hungrily. Reverently.
“I thought that was the hardest thing I’d have to get over because of my injuries. But this right here,” he whispered, leaning down to wreak even more havoc on her senses by shadowing his touch with his words, his evil, evil lips only just barely skimming her flesh. “Not being able to do all the things I want to do to you with the pace and precision I want to with this hand…”
She stopped breathing when she felt his other palm smooth up the back of her thigh.
“And worse, not being able to feel you fully with this one… Hell, Lia. That’s killing me more than you can imagine.”
*
HUDSON NEARLY CAME in his jeans when Lia gasped and bucked up against him, sending her sexy mound mere millimeters from his lips.
This was definitely well past first base.
So he backed off.
Only to find he couldn’t go another second without feeling her lips under his again. He pulled her up onto his lap with every intention of kissing her silly.
Until the rings on her necklace swung forward and caught the light.
His eyes snagged on the glittering anchors to her past and instantly he dropped back to put some distance between them.
With every heaving breath she took, those two rings served as a dainty, twinkling reminder he’d started to allow himself to forget.
Violet Duke's Books
- Violet Duke
- Resisting the Bad Boy - Nice Girl to Love, Vol 1 (Can't Resist #1)
- NICE GIRL TO LOVE (THE COMPLETE THREE-BOOK COLLECTION)
- Love, Exes, and Ohs (Cactus Creek #4)
- Love, Diamonds, and Spades (Cactus Creek #2)
- Love, Chocolate, and Beer (Cactus Creek #1)
- Falling for the Good Guy (Can't Resist #2)
- Choosing the Right Man - Nice Girl to Love, Vol 3 (Can't Resist #3)
- A Little Combustible Chemistry (Cactus Creek 0.5)