CHAPTER ELEVEN

      Simply Irresistible

      WE’D LEFT OFF IN BED, naked and insatiable for each other.

      I didn’t want to pick up from there. I wanted to back up several steps, both figuratively and literally. Things were moving too fast again. But I stayed where I was, even grasped his biceps, enjoying the feel of hard muscle and hot skin under my hands.

      When Stone dragged his right thumb across my lower lip, I gasped, barely resisting the urge to take it into my mouth. Faint lines of amusement bracketed his eyes, though his expression remained predatory. He looked like a man who wanted a woman and knew he could have her.

      I bit his thumb.

      He chuckled but wisely moved his hand. “You’re a fiery woman, Stella. Wicked sweet. And damned if I’ve not missed the feel of you.”

      My pulse fluttered as his big hands slid down my hips to glide over my butt, pulling me closer to the erection testing the zipper of his jeans. As they flattened against his chest, my breasts ached with a need echoed in my womb. His heat seeped into me, warming me in too many places.

      Closing my eyes, I inhaled the faint citrus smell of his hair and the purely male scent of his skin. My hands caressed the taut muscle beneath his shirt. I rubbed up against him like a cat in heat, while his hands seemed to touch me everywhere at once. It wasn’t enough.

      Dark greedy desire permeated every fiber of my being. Yes, it was stupid, risky even, but I wanted him. It had been like this from the first moment we’d met. Something about him ignited my basest need for hot, wild sex. He slowly lowered his head and, eyes still shut to everything except the anticipation of the moment, I turned my face to meet his kiss.

      Instead he nuzzled his soft lips against my temple and growled in my ear. “You’ve a way about you. Makes me want to strip you bare, to feel your heat and your passion. Remember how it was between us? Like capturing lightning in a bottle.”

      I almost moaned aloud at the images replaying in my head. He’s got the kind of voice that lends itself to seduction, a blend of smoky resonance and rich brogue. It’s one of the reasons I’d fallen for him in the first place, one excuse for what happened…

      “It will only be better this time, Stella.”

      He lowered his head and I finally got that kiss. I’d braced myself for—hell, I’d counted on—a hot, urgent plundering that would fan the burning need inside of me and have us going at it on the foyer tiles. Instead, Cameron took me off guard, brushing his mouth slowly, oh-my slowly, over my lips.

      The sweet thrill of his touch, combined with the spicy taste of him, seduced me. I could feel long unused parts gearing up for action but he resisted when I tried to take the lead. Although it’s so not my personality, I sat back to enjoy the ride.

      Slanting his mouth over mine, he enjoyed my lips as though they were something precious, cradling the back of my head with unexpected and unwarranted tenderness. Which thoroughly confused me. I raised my palm to his chest and pulled back, then realized that placing my hand over his heart was a mistake. The strong, steady beat was a false promise of durability and commitment.

      Stone didn’t relinquish his hold on me. “Let me have you, Stella. Let me make you my own.”

      That did it. I broke free, staring at the floor while I tried to collect myself, and instantly missed the feel of him. If I were honest, I might admit that I’ve missed him all along. But I’d eat the engine out of my Harley before I told him so. The last man who’d attempted to possess me, make me his, hadn’t lived to regret it.

      “I did that once, but didn’t care for it.” I’m a pretty good mimic, so I got the accent down cold, but my voice wasn’t bass enough for a perfect imitation. Stone recognized his own words anyhow.

      “Is it over, then?” His tone was colored with as much defiance as disbelief.

      Stone’s personality was magnetic, hypnotic, overwhelming. I didn’t want to be his, not at the risk of getting lost in his shadow. My gaze settled on his left arm. The short sleeve of his T-shirt revealed the tattoo on his triceps. The winged dagger with Who Dares Wins etched below it said a lot—and reminded me how little I really knew about him.

      “Let’s be honest, Stone. It never really began.”

      Finally I looked up at his face. I’ve seen photographs of glaciers in Alaska, formed by weight and weather and time until the core turns a bright, frozen blue. Stone’s eyes are that color. I wanted to look away but wouldn’t allow myself the cowardice. “We’re strangers who shared an incredible night once, who now have to work together temporarily, and that’s all.”

      His gaze narrowed, hitting me like twin blue laser beams, cutting through the surface bullshit to the core I’m so damned careful to protect. His expression challenged me, dared me, invited me to open up and make something real of whatever game we were playing.

      Suddenly I was almost overcome with the need to lean on him, to curl myself against his big body and take comfort from his warmth and strength. But I killed the thought as soon as it emerged. I’ve worked hard to shut myself off, to not need anyone and to take the hits alone so that no one ever paid for my mistakes again.

      I looked away, reaching for the front door and yanking it wide to usher him out. He hesitated for a second then moved resolutely forward, brushing against me as he passed. Suddenly, he whipped around. His arm shot out and before I knew it he’d plastered me to his side. There was no tenderness in this kiss, just the silent insistence that it was a beginning, not the end.

      He let go just as abruptly then turned away. He swaggered down the driveway without once looking back. I stood watching him go, dazed, until I realized my fingertips were tracing my mouth. Annoyed with both of us, I slammed the door and headed for the kitchen.

      As I chose a shot glass from the cabinet and pulled the vodka out of the freezer, I wondered what the hell I was doing. I’d made a mistake with Stone. But which one had it been? Letting him get close, letting him matter or pushing him away?

      Probably all of the above.