“Exactly,” he murmured.
“Uh…Christian, what are you doing?” Megan asked throatily when his lips were almost touching hers and their breaths were mingling intimately.
She saw his dark eyebrows go up at her question, but otherwise there was no sign of hesitation or retreat. His gaze never left her lips.
“Given the fact that I was about to go against my personal code of ethics and kiss the living hell out of you when I thought you were married, do you really believe I’d leave without at least tasting you now that I know you’re single?”
Then he lowered his head and did just that.
Chapter 2
After a few seconds, desire burned away Megan’s shock. Christian obviously knew what he was doing when it came to kissing. He must have put in a lot of practice since Tammy Dupree.
His mouth was gentle, firm…very persuasive. He used it to fully discover the shape and nuances of her lips. He sipped, he nibbled, he sucked at his leisure. His mouth slanted unevenly over hers, sandwiching and caressing first her upper lip and then her lower lip. A cry caught in Megan’s throat when he bit with exquisite care and dragged his white teeth over the sensitive skin of her lower lip, prying her…
“Open,” he said.
“What?” she murmured dazedly.
He took very ungentlemanlike advantage when her lips parted to form the question. His tongue entered her mouth, a sleek, sensual intruder. The kiss became hot, insistent.
“God, you…taste so…good,” he mumbled, sounding a little incredulous as he plucked at her lower lip. He took her mouth again with his tongue. His hands swept gently down her body, lingering against the sides of her breasts before he skimmed the circumference of her waist, finally settling on her hips. He gave a low groan when he brought her closer against him, and Megan instinctively understood why. Their fit—the way her body cradled his obvious arousal—was…delicious, somehow.
She shyly touched her tongue to his, then played and dueled more boldly. She liked the way his breath caught at her action, the way he pressed her almost desperately against the hard angles of his body. Of their own accord, her hands came up to tangle in the soft hair at his nape, to lightly detail the muscles of his neck and shoulders. He felt so wonderful to her seeking fingers, so different from her, so hard and male.
She felt his arousal when he pressed tight against her belly, but she wasn’t offended or afraid. A hazy fog of sensuality encapsulated her. For a brief, magical moment she knew only the taste of Christian, the feel of him…and the mandate to experience more.
She gave a tiny cry of protest when his mouth left hers. Her eyelids fluttered open. Christian watched her with an unwavering focus. His facial muscles were rigid as his eyes detailed her face.
“Emily is calling you.”
Reality returned sluggishly at first, then with a resounding crash.
When Megan started against him and began to abruptly pull away, Christian wouldn’t allow it. He held her while he dipped his head once more and dropped a controlled but hungry kiss on her mouth before freeing her. Megan noticed the slow grin that crept across his handsome face before she hurried to the kitchen.
She felt flustered and all too aware of his looming presence in the kitchen entrance when she straightened after helping Emily insert her straw. She busied herself by picking up the plastic wrapping from the juice box that Emily had dropped to the floor while she responded with forced enthusiasm to Emily’s chatter, all the while avoiding Christian’s gaze. The adults watched the little girl scurry into the living room with different expressions—Christian with benign fondness and Megan with vague alarm that her niece’s exit left her alone with him once again.
When he spoke his voice was gentle…amused. Just the sound of it partially captured Megan once again in his web of effortless intimacy.
“You don’t have to look so guilty, Megan. It was only a kiss.”
Her eyes flew to his. Only a kiss? Is that what it had been to him? Her quick examination of him left her in little doubt of it. He seemed relaxed, content…maybe even a little cocky as he leaned there in the entryway of her kitchen. His assured attitude hardly seemed fair, considering the fact that she herself felt like she’d just woken up into a different world than the one she had occupied for her entire life until the moment she had experienced the power of his kiss… and his touch.
“Can I see you tomorrow?”
“Yes,” Megan answered immediately before rational thought interrupted. “I mean, I’d like to, but I’m watching Emily.”
“And what do you two ladies have planned?” Christian asked Megan, but his attention shifted to Emily as she ran once again into the kitchen and poked at his thigh to get his attention. She had returned with a lopsided clay sculpture of a dog that she proudly held up for Christian’s inspection.
“We’re going to ’Merican Girl!” Emily answered as Christian admired her sculpture of Casey, the family dog.
“’Merican Girl?” Christian asked, clearly bewildered.
“The American Girl store.” Megan smiled when she noticed his continued puzzlement at her explanation. “It’s a doll store. It’s got…” She paused, her smile unconsciously widening as she thought of trying to describe such a haven of girlhood to this epitome of masculinity. “It’s kind of hard to describe. I doubt you’d like it.”
Christian looked offended. “Why wouldn’t I like it? I love dolls.”
Laughter bubbled past Megan’s lips. She tried to restrain it, but Christian’s injured expression only fueled it. Emily giggled too, even though Megan knew she had no idea what was so funny. “You love dolls, do you?” Megan managed between bursts of laughter.