Total pages in book: 21
Estimated words: 18896 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 94(@200wpm)___ 76(@250wpm)___ 63(@300wpm)
Estimated words: 18896 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 94(@200wpm)___ 76(@250wpm)___ 63(@300wpm)
“Your last miss didn’t count,” she said in a husky voice. “Now play pool.”
He wagged a finger in the air. “Like I said, naughty girl.”
“What fun is it if you don’t have to work for it?”
“Trust me, sweetheart, it’d be plenty fun. But if you insist, I’ll take another turn.” Having laid his soul bare, he knew it was time to turn up the heat. “But before I make this next shot…”
“You’re too confident about your gaming abilities,” she said, interrupting him.
“Aren’t you the one who said never play a game you can’t win? But if at any point you change your mind…”
She shook her head. “I wouldn’t have let you bring me here if I wasn’t sure.”
He let out a slow breath of air that did little to help his rapidly beating heart. “Just remember, it’s your choice.”
She looked at him in a way no one—no woman—had ever looked at him before, with just the right mixture of trust, reverence, and desire to make a man fall to his knees.
“You’re a nice guy, Max.”
He’d never been called nice before and he knew his actions tonight were as unique as she was. “You’re pretty damn special yourself.” He leaned over the table and easily made his next shot, then walked a few steps to line up the next. “But something tells me you won’t be thinking such great thoughts about me after this,” he said, sinking another ball as he spoke, then his third before shifting her way.
He focused on her and his breath caught in his throat. She’d left her shoes under the table in the other room and Max hadn’t realized how little remained—the shirt, skirt, and belt, all three items she’d discarded while he was upping the ante and making his shots.
She faced him now, his most erotic dream come to life. Her clothes lay in a pile beside her. Her blonde hair, tousled and full, caressed her shoulders. The body he’d glimpsed through the barrier of clothing and imagined in his mind had nothing on reality. A black lace bra cut in a deep V contrasted with and revealed creamy mounds of flesh, while a whisper-light-looking bikini bottom barely covered her sex.
She met his gaze and shrugged, a deep blush staining her cheeks and an embarrassed fidget to her stance. “I forgot to mention that when I lose—no matter how unlikely—I always pay up.”
He edged his finger beneath one delicate bra strap, savoring the feel of her soft flesh beneath his roughened fingertips. “If you consider this a loss, then we have nothing further to—”
“Shh.” She placed one finger over his lips. “That was a figure of speech.”
His tongue darted out and he tasted her, a combination of salty skin and female softness. She sucked in a startled breath but she didn’t remove her hand. Instead, she traced the outline of his mouth with her fingertip, leaving him incredibly aroused by her touch.
“The game’s over, Max, and I’d call it even.”
He grinned. “Win–win.”
“Mmm-hmm.”
Taking that as his cue, Max did what he’d been dying to do since he’d laid eyes on her standing beside the Christmas tree—he spanned her bare waist with his hands, curling his fingers around her back and kneading his palms into her skin.
She let out a low, throaty moan. Need, want, and desire collided as her back arched and her breasts reached toward him, almost as if in supplication. Max didn’t want to deny her.
And he could no longer deny himself.
Chapter Four
Max checked outside, happy to find the lights off, only the entrance to his apartment open. He settled Brandy on the table and the lacquer edge felt cool against her hot, fevered skin, making her more aware of her surroundings and what was to come. She spread her thighs and he stepped inside, then bent his head and captured her nipple in his mouth, suckling her through the filmy black lace. His teeth grazed her flesh, then his tongue soothed and white-hot darts of need pulsed inside her. Her reaction was immediate, the pull starting at point of contact and causing intense contractions deep in her core.
“You like that?”
Her answer came out a low, husky growl.
“Is that a yes?” He cradled her tender flesh in one hand and treated her other breast to the same lavish attention as the first.
She squirmed against the hard surface and slick moisture trickled between her legs as warmth and desire exploded inside her. “That’s a yes.”
He lifted his head and met her gaze. “You like to play.”
“When it goes both ways.” She raised her hands, placing both palms not just on his bare chest, but against his nipples.
Slowly, she raked her nails downward, watching, gratified, as his eyes glazed with heated emotion.
He groaned aloud. “You have no idea what you do to me.”
“Oh, I think I can guess.” Because she knew what he did to her. Every nerve ending came to life, raw and exposed, sizzling with live currents of desire.