Forbidden Love with the Marine(33)
Blade nodded sagely, his own gaze equally teasing as it pinned to hers. “And with that right person, the idea of falling won’t be a bad prospect at all, will it?”
“So true,” she murmured, placing the glass down as she imperceptibly leaned closer. It took Blade a second to realize she was simply mirroring his own gesture, his body already slanted in her direction, his face inches from hers.
Collecting himself, he snapped back, blinking. Somewhere along the line, he’d been just about primed to close in for a kiss with Makayla. It had felt natural, seamless, to simply move his head a certain way and bring her lips in position to be claimed.
Was he crazy? Or was he just plain reckless? His step-sister Gina trusted him or she wouldn’t have suggested he stay a few days in her home while he looked around for a place of his own. The very last thing he should be thinking of was hitting on her sexy-as-hell roommate.
He saw Makayla’s disappointed look when he withdrew, but he stamped down any urge to grab her face and plaster those deliciously puffy and pink lips with hungry kisses.
Clearing his throat lightly, he reached for the bottle to pour her more wine, but she shook her head, placing a hand over the glass.
“I’d think you were trying to get me drunk, sir. But you’re too much of a gentleman for that I’m sure,” Makayla murmured with a little teasing smile. And yet Blade had heard the prickle of annoyance in her tone and he was astute enough to know what it meant. So she thought he was a gentleman? And did she think that was why he’d chosen to pull back from what had obviously been a potential kiss?
What did Makayla Stiles want from him, Blade mused? He sure as hell couldn’t take it for granted that she felt even a percentage of what he was feeling every time she was near. He was a heartbeat away from ravishing her on the spot, but he dared not believe her attraction for him was just as fervent. Or could he?
Chapter Five
Makayla had positively been about to scream when the gorgeous lips of the former soldier pulled way out of her reach. Good God! This man was getting under her skin.
Of course, he was one of those. Men who refused to take advantage of a woman even though she was practically panting for it. Couldn’t he tell? Or would she have to be less subtle?
She’d changed into a dress after a quick, scented bath; she’d talked her head off in the belief that he was the kind of man who you needed to first stimulate through the mind.
But Makayla was done with undercover maneuvers. Looked like she needed to take a more direct line of attack.
She’d say this much; he sure knew how to soften a woman up through her stomach. And she loved that he didn’t go overboard with the meal. It was just right.
He didn’t bother with dessert, instead topping off the delightful dinner with sugar cones heaped with chocolate ice cream and sprinkles. At her suggestion, he moved to the couch in the living room to eat their ice cream cones. Makayla plopped down beside him and in the process managed to topple her scoop of ice cream onto the front of his shirt.
“Oh no!” she cried. “I’m so sorry!” she yelled, grabbing a napkin and trying in vain to clean his shirt.
“Didn’t you learn never to play with your food?” Blade growled, lunging for her. Makayla let out a squeal in surprise and tried to skip off the couch but he was too quick, grabbing her by the waist and pinning her down against him. Her breath got hitched somewhere in between her chest and her throat as she unintentionally came in tight proximity with Blade’s hard, warm body.
“Don’t worry about the shirt,” he said, before placing his arms across his chest and tugging the sticky shirt up. His torso spread out wide when he pulled his shirt over his head.
Good heavens, thought Makayla with breathless delight as everything seemed to happen in slow motion. His pecs and abs stretched tautly from the motion of his arms being lifted above his head, the V at this waistline sharpening and then relaxing as his impressively muscled arms lowered. Makayla had a glimpse of sexy armpit hair before he tossed his shirt aside, his ribcage flexing.
She couldn’t keep her eyes off him.
Blade’s blue eyes blazed as he felt her eyes over his body.
His gaze was assessing but at that point Makayla didn’t really care how it looked, the way she was staring at him with her jaws unhinged.
Every etched line and muscle of his golden-skinned body took her back to that night she’d found him asleep in her bed. Now, she felt manacled by the urge to simply reach out and touch him, like he was some perfectly carved marble sculpture. The breadth of his shoulders, the curved roundness of each bicep, the eye-catching tribal tattoos inked darkly on his right breast. His washboard belly was so flat it was almost concave, and he had the most gorgeous nipples, like copper coins. Not a trace of hair, except the light trail leading down into the waistband of his jeans.
Blade’s body had a throbbing, vibrant beauty that could bring a woman to tears. Looking at him brought her darkest, most hidden cravings to the surface and she could almost hear the tigress in her purr.
“Makayla...”
Makayla wasn’t sure if it was a warning or a plea she heard in Blade’s tone...but she knew it had the same element of aiming to keep her from what she wanted so badly to do – and that was to touch him.
She bit hard on her bottom lip, which got a tortured groan rippling low in his throat as he watched her mouth. Her body then moved even before she knew what she was doing, shifting sideways until she was edging against Blade’s strong, virile frame, her breasts pillowing into his rock-hard pecs.