Four
Natalie had stunned herself with that proposition.
But she wasn’t sorry.
And she wouldn’t call the words back.
She couldn’t deny the truth to herself or to Max. She wanted him to kiss her. She burned to feel the press of his lips against hers. Her body hungered for a man’s touch after so long. After all this time alone, however much she yearned for contact, she hadn’t acted. She’d resisted. Until now.
The draw to Max St. Cloud couldn’t be denied.
Would he question her?
She barely had time to form that thought before he angled toward her. He slid his hand behind her neck, his broad palm cupping the nape of her neck. His fingers thrust up into her wet hair and she felt the tingle all the way to her roots. Her lips parted and...yes.
Max kissed her. Oh, how he kissed her. His mouth slanted over hers with a skim, then another as he settled into a fit that only belonged to two specific people. A kiss unique just to them.
His tongue traced along her lips slowly, deliciously. And she was surprised at his careful finesse. He was such an immense and bold personality, she’d expected a more...audacious, forceful even, approach. Yet he took his time. Her fingernails dug into his chest and she wriggled closer, leaning into him.
A rumble of approval vibrated in his chest against her touch and she slid her arms around his neck.
As he leaned back against the cabinet, he pulled her across his lap. She held tighter to him, twisting her body to press her chest to his, her legs draped to the side. Max’s mouth returned to hers with a soul-drugging allure that seeped into her senses.
Their wet clothes sealed to each other, the heat of him radiating into her already-combusting body.
The attraction was every bit as strong as she’d thought, dreamed, even feared a little. Because she was a mature
woman who knew her wants and desires. This level of chemistry was rare.
Incredible.
If one kiss could set her on fire so intensely, what more would she find in bed with him? And, damn, how fast her mind had skated to there, to images of them naked together, moving and pleasuring each other.
Already she could tell from the brush of his hands and his attention to detail in noting what she liked—yes, that pause to kiss along the tender flesh of her neck—that there was a generosity that would bode well in bed.
He seemed to hear and react to her every hitch of breath, just as she went on alert for clues from him. How when she stroked along the edge of his ears he inhaled deeply, a tug on his earlobe... Yeah, he liked that. Although her wriggle in his lap launched an all-out groan from him. And a throb. A hard, steely throb that made it abundantly clear how much he wanted her.
Pulling away from the warmth of his kiss, she rested her hands on his hard chest for balance. The steady rise and fall of intrigued breathing. The warmth of his eyes searching hers.
Desire pulsed through her, enlivening her joints, her bones. She didn’t even seem to register the way her waterlogged clothes clung and hung off her body. Barely noticed how wet his polo shirt had become from the press of her body.
What she did notice was the flame in his eyes, the palpable hunger resting on his lips.
She took a steadying breath, attempting as much as possible to collect herself.
Moments of silence ticked by as they stared deep into each other’s eyes. She broke the stare, willing her tongue to form words as butterflies rose in her stomach. “Aren’t you going to ask me why I did that?”
“Uh-uh.” He tugged lightly on a damp lock of her hair, then traced down the length of the strand.
“Why not?” She couldn’t resist leaning her cheek into the cradle of his palm.
“I’m just glad you did.” His eyes skimmed over her face, as if he was learning and taking in every aspect of her.
Her face. Not her body. And somehow that felt even more intimate.
“Max, this is complicated. Maybe we need to talk—”
“Who says everything has to be analyzed or discussed? This attraction between us just is.”