THE TOUCH OF HIS MOUTH was brief, warm, firm. Regina barely had time to appreciate his taste before he lifted away the tiniest bit.
“Oh.” Tentatively, thoughts of chicken obliterated, Regina laid her hands on his chest. He’d dressed in casual chinos and a polo shirt, but the domestic clothes couldn’t hide the true nature of the man. The soft cotton fabric served an enticing contrast to the hard muscle, long bones and crisp hair underneath.
His eyes were more gray than blue now, glittering with heat. There was nothing even remotely domestic in the way he watched her. “More than anything,” he rumbled low, “I’d like to carry you into your bedroom right now, strip you naked and make love all night.” He closed his eyes a moment, drew a breath. When he looked at her again, some of that intense heat had been tempered. “But we’ve got a lot to get cleared up first.”
Regina faltered. Make love all night? Strip her naked? They hadn’t known each other that long. Regardless of her strong attraction to Riley, she wasn’t the type of woman to leap into an affair. Responsible people utilized caution and thought before making that type of commitment.
Stepping back from him, she gestured to her tiny two-seater table. Her hand shook and she had to clear her throat twice before she could speak. “Sounds like we have a long talk ahead.” Thankfully, her voice was only a little shaky. “Sit down while I serve dinner.”
Riley watched her with indecision before silently agreeing. Regina could feel his gaze on her rump when she bent to pull the perfectly browned chicken out of the oven. Martha Stewart would be proud. Ms. Manners would applaud her.
As the delicious scents of stuffing and chicken wafted through the air, Butch perked up, his little nose raised and quivering with interest. Regina looked at him, but Riley said, “I wouldn’t. Once you feed him table food, you’ll never be able to stop. And it’s not good for him anyway.”
“Right.” She knew that, and since she always tried to do the right thing, she hoped her dog would do the right thing as well. Giving Butch an apologetic shake of her head, she filled his bowl with dog food. Appeased, he began to eat while Regina carried the food to the table. The chicken was placed perfectly on a platter, the potatoes looked fluffy in a decorative bowl, and steam rose from the broccoli with melting butter atop it. She lit a scented candle in the middle of the table and everything was complete. Beautiful.
“What can I do to help?”
Regina stared at Riley, and he stared back, studying her. She’d expected him to sit and admire her dinner preparation skills, not watch her every move. But if he wanted to help...wasn’t it a man’s job to carve? She’d never had a man around long enough to know, and her father certainly hadn’t been the type to worry about how food was cut. He was more a grab-and-stuff-it-in-your-mouth kind of guy.
Regina handed Riley the butcher knife and fork with a flourish. “Iced tea, milk?”
“Tea is fine.” He stood to begin slicing apart the chicken. Regina noticed that he did an admirable job. He glanced up at her. “Why are you so nervous, Red?”
“I’m not.”
“You are.”
She sighed, unable to deny the obvious. “No more so than usual. That is, I’m always nervous.” It was a complaint she often got from men. But now, with the man being Riley, she felt doubly unsettled. Add to that some unknown assailant who had tried to hurt her several times and might just try again, and to her way of thinking she had plenty of reason to be nervous.
“Because you’re worried?”
“Yes.” She poured the iced tea, sat, remembered she wanted music and popped back up. “I’ll be right back.” Seconds later, the stereo in her bedroom played low, adding soft sounds to the clink of china and silver.
Riley waited for her to return. He held her chair, but when she sat, he didn’t retreat. Instead he bent down and kissed the side of her neck. Oh Lord, she’d never get used to this spontaneous kissing of his. At Mach speed, he’d taken them from acquaintances, maybe friends, to something much more intimate.
Fighting the urge to gasp again, she stiffened. Where he’d pressed his mouth, her neck tingled and felt damp. A strange but pleasant warmth rippled through her.
Riley spoke softly into her ear, adding to her awareness. “You need to be comfortable being alone with me, Red.”
The way he said that, all seductive and low, made her stomach flip-flop. “I do?” At this rate, she’d never be able to eat. It’d look like she didn’t appreciate her own culinary skills.
“Yeah.” He brushed her nape with the back of one finger, then circled the table and sat in his chair, facing her, casual as you please, as if he hadn’t just been teasing her, turning her on.
“Um...why?”
He picked up his fork. “Starting today, we’re going to be alone together.” His gaze caught and held hers. “A lot.”
* * *
THE FOOD WAS DELICIOUS. He’d had no idea that Regina was such a fine cook. For long moments, they ate in silence. He waited to see what Regina would say to his statement, but she just sat there, watching him cautiously, occasionally nibbling on her food.
He didn’t want to spoil her dinner, so he sat back and studied her. “I guess you want me to explain?”
She cleared her throat. “That’d be nice, yes.”
A starched linen napkin had been placed beside his plate. Since it was there, Riley used it to pat his mouth. “All right. You’re not showing much improvement at the gym.”
Her shoulders sank the tiniest bit. Riley wasn’t sure if it was disappointment or relief. “I know. I’m not a very physical person.”
He intended to hold all judgments on that until he had her in bed. Then he’d see just how physical he could coax her into being. “You don’t need physical strength, Regina. But you do have to stop worrying about other people watching you.”
She winced. “I know. It’s just that I hate looking like a fool.”
“Once you know what you’re doing, you’ll look like a pro.”
“Yes, of course,” she quickly agreed. “I’ll try harder, I promise.”
He didn’t believe that for a minute. “Regina?”
She glanced up at him, her brows raised quizzically.
“I’m going to give you very private lessons from now on. Just the two of us.” He looked at her mouth. “All alone. No spectators.”
She stared at him for three seconds. “You are?”
Riley nodded, a little put out that she questioned every damn thing he said, like she couldn’t believe it or doubted it to be true. He wasn’t a liar, damn it.
Stunned by that mental statement, he shook his head and made a quick amendment: he wouldn’t lie to her, and not about this. Other lies, lies from his past, were well buried.
Holding on to his patience, Riley continued his explanation. “There’s not much room here at your place, so we can’t really get going tonight.”
Her mouth opened. In anticipation, shock or horror? Riley couldn’t quite tell. “You can either come to my place, or the gym after hours.”
She held perfectly still. Tonight she had her thick hair twisted at the back of her head and held in place with a fancy gold clip. It had been somewhat loosened by the kiss he’d given her earlier. The florescent overhead lights brought out the deeper reds and lighter golds, mixed in with the auburn. It also reflected the wariness in her green eyes.
She wore a freshly pressed sleeveless green V-neck shirt and low-riding cotton slacks. Her sandals showed off her meticulous pedicure.
From the top of her head to the tips of her toes, she was polished to a shine. She’d even managed to do dinner with no additional mess, putting things away as she used them so that no empty pans sat on the stove and no seasonings were out.
Riley wanted to see her mussed.
He wanted to see her sweat.
He wanted to hear Ms. Suzy Homemaker crying out in raw sexual excitement without a single thought as to how she looked, concerned only with the deep, driving pleasure.
Damn, he had to stop that train of thought or he’d be seducing her right now.
Finally, she nodded. “Thank you.” Her voice sounded a little raspy. “It does embarrass me. I think it’ll be easier without others watching. But, Riley, mostly it’s you that I worry about.”
“Me?” Sipping his iced tea, he watched her, thinking it wasn’t such a bad thing if he unsettled her. It meant she held at least a small amount of awareness for him as a man.
She pleated her napkin. She straightened her fork. Suddenly she blurted, “Are you attracted to me?”
“Yes.”
She seemed surprised by his immediate answer. Then she chewed on her lips. “I’m attracted to you, too.”
She made that admission with the same regret she might have given a murder confession.
“I know.” He hadn’t known. He’d hoped. He was pretty sure. But he’d wanted confirmation.
Now he had it.
“It...bothers me, the idea of you seeing me all messy and sweaty.”
Hearing her say it sharpened his desire. “Eventually, I’ll see you every way there is.” He toyed with his iced tea glass, his gaze never wavering from hers. “When we have sex, you’ll definitely be sweaty. Messy, too. That’s the way it is with good sex. But I’m willing to bet you’ll look hot as hell.”
Her breathing deepened and her brows puckered in thought. After a long hesitation, she said, “You, um, you treat Rosie like a pal.”
“Rosie is a pal.”
“But she’s also a very attractive woman.”
Leaning back in his seat, Riley nodded. “Agreed.”
“And yet you never have romantic thoughts about her because she’s become your pal.”
Riley had no idea where she was going with this. Women could be so confusing, even to a man who prided himself on getting past the surface stuff. Oh, he could detect some of her thoughts. She was uncertain, interested, wary. But he wanted to know why she felt so uncertain.
He eyed her, then decided a little truth couldn’t hurt the situation. “Who says?”
Confusion left her face blank. “Who says... Well, Rosie said. She assured me that she loved Ethan and—”
“She does.” It had recently become very clear that Rosie had always loved Ethan—she’d just been waiting around for him to come to his senses and realize that he loved her, too.
“—and that Ethan was a good friend of yours.”
“He is.” With Harris and Buck, they made a regular foursome, but he and Ethan had more in common. They were all friends, but if Riley ever had his back to the wall, he’d trust Ethan more than any other man.
“Then—”
“You think because we’re friends, I shouldn’t have sexual thoughts about her?” He stretched out his long legs beneath the table and bumped into her small feet. “You and I are friends, and I have plenty of sexual thoughts about you.”
Her eyes widened comically. “Plenty?”
It was his turn to smile. “All day, every day, as a matter of fact.”
She stewed on that for a bit before speaking again. “But see, that’s just it. I thought you felt about me the way you feel about Rosie, except you’re closer with her.”
“Not a chance.”
“You’re not close to her?”
“Very close. But the way I feel about you is on the other end of the scale. I don’t intend to ever sleep with Rosie.” He let his gaze drop to her breasts. “You, however, I intend to get naked with just as soon as it can be arranged.”
Her eyes dilated in shock, but he also saw reciprocal interest in the way her breathing deepened and how her skin warmed. Despite all that, she shook her head. “You should probably know, Riley, I don’t sleep around.”
“You’re a virgin?”
More color stained her cheeks and she frowned. “No, I didn’t say that.” Then she added in a mumble, “For heaven’s sake, I’m twenty-eight years old.”
“So you’re saying you don’t want to sleep with me?” He knew damn good and well that wasn’t true. But would she be honest?
“Of course I do.”
He grinned.
“I mean, I do, but I’m not going to. Not anytime soon, that is. We barely know each other.”
He’d known her long enough to understand exactly how he felt. “We’ve known each other better than three weeks now. That’s not exactly a sneeze. And because of the lessons, we’ve been physically close.”
“You’re keeping count?”
She was clearly astonished by that. Hell, it still stunned Riley a little, the depth of what he felt. But he didn’t want her panicking on him, so he backed off. “Let’s finish eating, then we’ll talk about it more. By the way, you’re a hell of a cook. I’m impressed.”
Relieved by the change of topic, she nodded. “I wanted you to be. Impressed, I mean.” She caught herself and her gaze jerked up to his. “That is, I try to impress everyone.”
“Yeah? Why is that, Red? You don’t think just being yourself is good enough?” There was so much he still had to learn about her. Funny how appearances meant nothing to him because they weren’t something you could trust. Yet, they meant the world to her.
The contrast in their views might have discouraged him, but he figured he was at least making headway now.
“Maybe.” She propped her head on her hand, realized that wasn’t the proper way to sit and jerked upright again. “Actually I’ve thought about this a lot, about why I’m the way I am. Every so often, I wish I could be different because sometimes it has the opposite effect and just drives people nuts.”
“What people?”
“Co-workers, friends. Men.”
He didn’t give a damn what other men thought of her. If they steered clear, hell, he was glad. “Rosie and Ethan and Buck and Harris like you fine.” He smiled. “I like you more than fine. But I am curious why you’re so worried about what other people think. That is, if you care to talk about it.”
She pleated and fussed with her napkin. “It’s silly really. Maybe something of a habit left over from when I was young.”
“You were a fussy child?”
His teasing put a self-conscious half smile on her face. “Yes. Very fussy, I guess. See, I came from a...a dirty farmhouse.” She wrinkled her nose with that confession. “And when I say dirty, I’m not exaggerating. It’s awful to admit, but we lived like pigs.”
Not sure that he understood, Riley asked, “You were poor?”
“Poor and slovenly are not the same thing, but yes, we were poor, too. I’ve never been certain if it was necessary, if they just couldn’t make enough money or if they simply mismanaged what they made.” She shrugged. “My parents sustained us from paycheck to paycheck. If we ran out in the middle of the week, or something came up—as things always do—they’d borrow or beg.”
The expression on her face twisted his heart. Softly, he said, “That had to be rough.”
“I hated it and it embarrassed me.”
The emotional plethora took Riley off guard. Being a private man, he couldn’t imagine discussing so much of his personal background. “So you’ve worked to change your life. There’s nothing wrong with that.”
“It was never my life.” She sipped her tea, scooted her broccoli around on her plate with the edge of her fork. “It was my mother’s, my father’s and my younger brother’s. But not mine.”
No, Riley couldn’t quite imagine her ever being comfortable in those circumstances. She was so prim, proper and precise now, that it must have been almost painful for her.
“You didn’t accept the circumstances of your youth.”
“For as far back as I can remember, even as a young kid, I tried to make it different. Everything I owned was old and stained, but I did my best to always keep it clean and pressed.” She glanced up at him and gave a low laugh. “My brother used to make fun of me for being so meticulous. The other kids we knew.... They liked to call us names and poke fun at us.”
Riley hated that anyone had hurt her feelings, even though it had happened long ago. And her brother... It was ridiculous to be angry at him when he’d been no more than a boy, too. But that didn’t change how Riley felt. “Kids can be pretty cruel when no one is teaching them better.”
“Maybe. But if you’d ever seen our farm or car or how my parents behaved in public, you’d understand why the kids treated us the way they did. I understood it. And I knew my family would never change. After I graduated high school, I moved away, got a job as an errand girl with a small paper and worked my way up to reporter.”
Riley smiled. Reporter was a bit of a stretch considering the small pieces she wrote. Then again, her human-interest stories for the local paper were always entertaining. She’d done a stellar article on Ethan that had made the fire department, as well as the whole town, proud.
Riley thought about it and decided selective sharing was good. It forged a bond that would bring them closer together, and that was his ultimate goal. There were parts of himself he could discuss, parts that weren’t buried deep and that wouldn’t reveal anything beyond the surface.
He mentally skimmed a variety of topics and settled on his safest bet—family. “My mother isn’t immaculate or anything.”
Her interest obvious, she glanced up at him with a smile. “No?”
“She keeps the place tidy, but it’s always well lived in. I have two younger brothers, one older.”
“Four boys? My goodness.”
“Yeah, Mom felt the same way.” He laughed. “The others still live near to home and they drop in a lot with their broods. Between the three of them, I have ten nieces and nephews.”
“Wow. A big family.”
He acknowledged that with a shrug. “Mom is old-fashioned, the type who wants to feed you the minute you show up and fusses around you the whole time you’re there. I haven’t been home to see her in a while.” That was something he should remedy, Riley decided. Funny that he hadn’t much considered how long it had been until Regina started discussing her family.
Wondering how Regina would react to the casual mess around his mother’s house, he pushed his plate away. “Maybe next time I go, you could come along with me.”
Her eyes shot wide. “You want me to meet your mother?”
She sounded as if he’d asked her to swim with sharks. “And Dad, too. You’d like them.”
She had nothing to say to that so Riley pressed her. “What about your folks? Do you visit with them at all?” He wouldn’t really be surprised if she’d broken all ties, but it’d be a shame. When all was said and done, family should be there for you, and vice versa.
“They’re gone now.” There was a wistful, sad note to her voice. “Mom died years ago from cancer and Dad passed away from a stroke two years after. The farm was sold and my brother and I split the profits. That’s how I bought my house. I’ve been sitting on that money for a while.”
Riley had wondered about that. He didn’t imagine a small-town reporter earned much income. “I’m sorry.”
“It was a long time ago. I loved them, but I was never very close with them. We had a...strained relationship.” She hesitated, and Riley wondered if she’d pull back now, if she’d return to being evasive. Instead, she shrugged. “They thought I was snooty.”
With almost no prodding at all, she continued to open up to him. In his experience, reporters pried into anyone and everyone’s life, but clammed up when it came to their own personal issues. He couldn’t help wondering if her openness was a compliment reserved for special people. Did she feel safer with him? Did she trust him?
“Snooty, huh?” He pretended to study her head to toe, then nodded. “Circumspect, yes. Meticulous, maybe. But not snooty.”
“Thank you.” She tucked in her chin to hide her smile. “My brother still accuses me of thinking I’m better than them.”
“Do you?”
“Think I’m better? No. But I’m certainly wiser about how I handle my life.” Her long look seemed like a warning, one he fully intended to ignore. He would have her, and soon. “My parents had a great farm that they let go to ruin because they refused to do any real work. It should have been worth five times as much, but they’d never taken care of it. The house was so run-down it had to be demolished. There wasn’t a piece of furniture or a dish to be salvaged.”
“No mementos at all?”
“A few photographs that my brother and I split. My folks didn’t believe in cherishing the past or planning for the future. They had the barest medical coverage and of course, it wasn’t enough. Now my brother seems just like them. He flits from one job to the next, one woman to another.”
Sounded like a lot of guys Riley knew, men who wouldn’t grow up and so, at least in his opinion, weren’t really men.
“He’s already spent his inheritance and doesn’t have a thing to show for it. I asked what he intended to do when he retired, but he just laughs and says he has a lifetime to worry about it. He hasn’t learned at all.”
“But you have?”
“Absolutely.” She met his gaze squarely. “The house is an investment in my future, but I have others as well. If I get sick, I’ll be able to take care of myself, not rely on others or end up in the care of the state. I’m careful about everything I do and I don’t give in to impulses.”
Impulses like sexual desire? Did she hope to deny the chemistry between them? Riley didn’t correct her but he knew different. He could be persuasive and he never gave up easily.
At his long silence, her chin lifted. “What about you?”
“What about me?”
She looked self-conscious but forged on. “Do you have a retirement plan? And you mentioned your place. Do you have your own house or are you renting?”
The inquisition so surprised him, Riley laughed. “Tell me, Red, are you curious for personal reasons, sizing me up as husband material, or are you mentally working on that damn article?”
She stiffened, but she didn’t lie. “A little of each maybe, though it’s certainly too early to be thinking about anything serious between us.”
“You really think so?”
Her face went blank, then pink with confusion. She forged on. “And I wouldn’t write the article without your permission. It’s just that the whole community hero angle worked so well with Ethan, I know people would eat up a life story on you.”
He ignored that because his life wasn’t anybody’s business. “But you’re personally interested, right?”
She chewed on her lips again. “We’re not involved, Riley, so it’s more curiosity than anything.”
“I want to be involved.”
She pressed back in her chair. She blinked, studied his face, then looked down at her hands. “You know, Riley, it occurs to me that this could get pretty muddled.”
“How so?” Riley felt strangely sated. He’d had a delicious meal, cozy conversation and the sight of Regina seated across from him. It was the kind of setting he could get used to—the kind of setting he hadn’t wanted again until he’d met her.
He knew exactly how he’d like to end the day, but after everything she’d confessed, he had his doubts about her cooperation. He could be patient, especially since all indications led him to believe he’d eventually win.
“You say you believe me about the attacks.”
“I do.”
“Then don’t you think we should keep the personal and the professional separate? Won’t it be hard for you to be objective if we’re...well, sleeping with each other?”
Objectivity had flown out the window within hours of meeting her. He drank the last of his iced tea and nodded at her plate. “What I think is that you should eat some of this great dinner you fixed.”
“I am eating.” She took two more bites, then went on in a rush. “Why would you believe me when no one else does?”
“It’s easy enough to understand. You finish eating and I’ll tell you a story, okay?”
“All right.”
She still only picked at her food, but he felt better knowing he hadn’t completely ruined her meal. “Back when I was a new evidence tech, before I became SWAT, I got called to the scene where a guy had broken into his seventeen-year-old girlfriend’s house. The mother had forbid the girl to see him anymore, but when she left to go shopping, he snuck over. When the girl tried to send him away, he got unreasonably furious, choking her and banging her head on the wall a few times.”
Regina’s head came up, a broccoli floret dangling from her fork. “Dear God.”
“The mom got home in time to pull him off her,” Riley assured her, but as usual, the bitter memories filled him with anger. Too many times, he hadn’t been able to make a difference. “The detectives got there just before me, but the boyfriend had already fled. They were speaking with the mom and daughter, and the dad who had just arrived home. Patrol tells me that the mom wants to prosecute the guy, but the daughter doesn’t. When I explain that her boyfriend committed a Felony One—aggravated burglary—which carries the same sentence as murder, the mom starts backing up, too.”
“But her daughter...”
“Has purpling choke marks on her neck and bruises on her cheek and temple. Still, she just kept saying, ‘But I love him. He didn’t mean to hurt me.’”
Regina threw down her fork. “Well, what in the world did he think would happen when he manhandled her that way?”
“Men like that don’t concern themselves with the victim. And with the daughter spouting all the classic I-have-no-self-esteem phrases that you get from abused women, there wasn’t much we could do. The dad was noticeably silent, only occasionally saying, ‘I think I just need to have a talk with the boy.’”
“Unbelievable.”
“No, honey, unfortunately it’s all too believable and cops run into that crap every day. We had to leave with no charges filed because the victims wouldn’t prosecute. I was pissed, the other detective was scratching his head and then the female officer says, “I can tell you what’s going on in there. Dad’s beaten Mom up a few times and the daughter knows it. Mom doesn’t want to say anything because she might get another beating and the poor girl thinks this is normal behavior because she’s lived with it for years.”
Riley’s hands fisted on the tabletop. He wouldn’t tell Regina that eventually the girl had run off with the jerk—and died because of it.
Subdued, Regina left her seat and came around to Riley’s side. Immediately, Butch did the same. He ran from his bed, stretched up with his paws on her thigh and begged to be held. Regina scooped him up close, rubbing her nose against his soft fur but speaking to Riley. “I’m sorry.”
Riley gave her a one-arm hug, pulling her into his side. Because he was still sitting, his face was level with the subtle swell of her breasts. Well, her breasts and a fuzzed-up, irritable Butch who didn’t want Riley to touch her.
The dog was too territorial, but Riley understood how he felt. “Yeah, me, too.” He forced his gaze to her face. “But you know what, Red? It taught me something. There are all kinds of perspectives and things we never see. And women, God bless them, are pretty damned intuitive. If you say someone is after you, I’d be an idiot not to take you seriously. And, believe me, I’m not an idiot.”
She gave a small, tremulous smile. “Thank you. It... Well, it feels better, safer, just knowing someone isn’t writing me off as a nut.”
Riley pushed back his chair and came to his feet. Oh yeah, he knew exactly how Butch felt because the urge to hold her was nearly overwhelming. “Tell you what, Red. Let’s put the dishes away, then go to the living room and you can tell me everything that’s been going on.”
“Everything?”
“From the beginning. Maybe we’ll be able to sort things out.” He put his hand at the small of her back and urged her away from the table. “Do you think Killer can entertain himself a few minutes?”
The dog managed a sideways glare and a roll of his lip, but when Regina put him in his bed, this time he circled, dug at the bedding for a few seconds, then plopped down to sleep with his nose noticeably close to his rump.
Her kitchen was so immaculate, it didn’t take any time at all to put things away. The leftovers went into matching containers in the fridge. The dishes were rinsed and put in uniform order in the dishwasher. Regina was so orderly, so clean, it unnerved Riley a bit.
Would she expect everyone to be that tidy? Curious as to how judgmental she might be, Riley said, “You’ve been to Rosie’s place before, right?”
“Yes, why?”
“How’d you like it?” Rosie was tidy, but nowhere near as big a neat freak as Regina.
She thought about it for a moment, then smiled. “From the first time I stepped into Rosie’s house, it felt cozy, like a home.” She gave a soft laugh that sank into him. “But Rosie’s that way. Very warm and open and friendly. I like her a lot.”
Satisfied by her answer, Riley smiled. “Yeah, me, too.”
Together they washed the pans, Regina cleaning and Riley drying. Damn, but he had a good time doing it. Just being with her calmed something turbulent inside him, making him feel more at peace with himself and his life. But slowly the serenity of the moment expanded into heightened awareness. He wanted her, and not having her was torture.
When her hands were completely submersed in soapy water, Riley moved behind her. Holding her waist so she couldn’t slip away, he deliberately pressed in, relishing the feel of her full bottom against his groin. A short groan rumbled in his chest.
One day soon, after she’d accepted him, he’d take her this way, from behind, sinking deep, feeling her buttocks on his abdomen and thighs. He’d be able to cover her breasts with his hands, toy with her stiffened nipples, slip his fingers down her belly to her...
“Riley?”
He ignored the hardening of his body, the surge of lust, to nibble carefully on her ear. Without intentional thought, he further aroused her, letting his breath tickle her ear, using the edge of his tongue to tantalize the sensitive nerve endings along the tendons in her neck. “You don’t want to sleep with me yet, Red, but you will soon. In the meantime, a little kissing won’t hurt anything, right?” Before she could answer, he dipped his tongue into her ear, then gently sucked her earlobe. His accelerated breaths fanned the delicate, baby-fine hairs at her temple.
“No.” Her hands went still, just dangling over the edge of the sink, not quite in the water, not quite out. She tipped her head back to his shoulder and closed her eyes.
Riley leaned around her to see her face. “No what, honey?” He pressed one hand from her waist to her belly, spreading his fingers wide in masculine possession. His thumb dipped into her navel through her clothes, pressing gently, symbolic of so much more. Few people understood the erogenous zones of a woman’s body, how small touches, when combined just right, could elicit carnal reactions.
In his training, he’d learned a lot about pressure points that could cripple, but the reverse was also true. He knew the places where exquisite, almost unbearable pleasure existed.
He could make her come, right here, right now, without undue effort, and that knowledge had his entire body straining in need. But he didn’t want to push her. The constraint cost him, making him tremble and turning his voice hoarse. “No, you don’t want me to do this, or no, there’s nothing wrong with it?”
“There’s nothing wrong with it.”
A shudder rippled through him; she’d seemed so wary of sexual involvement with him that any capitulation now felt like a major triumph.
Suddenly she turned and plastered herself up against him, breasts to abdomen, belly to groin. “I want to kiss you, Riley. I just don’t want you to expect it to lead to bed.”
“All right.”
Her green eyes narrowed with mingled surprise and uncertainty. “All right, what?”
He settled his hands on her hips, urging her closer still, so he could feel the rounded, feminine contours of her body. “All right, you can kiss me. Go ahead.”
“Oh.” She looked at his mouth, licked her own, and Riley nearly lost it.
“Hurry up, Red.”
“Okay then.” With her soapy hands sliding around his neck, she went on tiptoe and her mouth touched his.
Riley waited, his heart thundering, his erection straining, his testicles tight. With ruthless determination, he gathered his control around him and kept his stance relaxed, his expression calm, when in reality his emotions bordered on savage. He’d never wanted any woman the way he wanted Regina.
Her warm velvet tongue licked out again, this time over his lips. “Riley?”
“Yeah?”
“Open your mouth for me.”
That did it. As carefully as he could manage considering the tumultuous raging of his libido, Riley gathered her fully against him. With her heartbeat echoing his, he opened his mouth but didn’t let her take the lead. His tongue slid in, deep and slow, mating with hers, teasing, showing her with his mouth how he wanted to take her with his body. Their hot breaths mingled, their hands clutched. Her body relaxed and sighed into his, so soft and fluid and feminine; his grew more taut with pounding lust.
He’d promised himself only a few kisses when he started this, but then he hadn’t counted on the effect of her full and enthusiastic involvement. Before he’d even had time to think it through, he had a small breast in one hand, a firm, lush cheek in the other.
Their groans sounded at the same time.
Her nipple stiffened against his palm, a plea that he couldn’t ignore. Using only his open palm, Riley brushed his hand over her again and again, abrading her nipples, giving her only so much. Her fingers tightened in his hair. She pulled her mouth away to gulp for air. “Riley?”
She said his name as an invitation, an appeal for more. “Regina...”
The sudden furious yapping of the dog startled them both. As if he’d only just then realized their physical closeness, Butch ran wild circles around them, snapping at Riley’s leg without actually touching, making his discontent with the situation well known.
It hit Riley that his control had definitely slipped. For that brief moment, he’d lost all sense of himself, acting solely on need. It was an awesome, almost frightening admission. No one, not even his wife, and not even the worst imaginable scene, had so much as caused a flicker of loss in his innate control. He’d considered it an unchangeable part of him, like his height and bone structure.
One glance at Regina’s hot face and he wanted to curse. “I’m sorry.”
She shook her head. “No. No reason to apologize.” She smoothed her hands down the front of her blouse, realized they were wet and tucked them behind her. Her smile was entirely false and self-conscious. “Would you like coffee?”
Strangely insulted, Riley stared at her. They’d shared a killer kiss, he’d had his hands all over her, and she wanted to continue playing proper hostess. “What I’d like,” he muttered under his breath, “is to finish what we started.”
“Excuse me?”
“Nothing.” He needed a distraction and fast. The obvious distraction was now chewing on his heel while growling like a banshee. Riley reached down for Butch, but with his expression so dark the dog tucked in his tail and scurried away with due haste. Issuing a grievous sigh, Riley caught Butch with one hand and held him up close. Regina stood next to him like a fretful mother while the dog tried to brazen it out, grumbling, snarling and looking to Regina for rescue.
“Shh,” Riley soothed while stroking the narrow back with one finger. The dog was smaller than his foot, his legs no thicker than Riley’s baby finger and he fit fully into one hand. Butch quieted just a bit, giving Riley a suspicious look reminiscent of Regina’s. “Good boy. See, I’m not so evil, huh? I saw that you weren’t actually biting me, just trying to scare me off. You don’t trust me with Regina. But you’re going to have to get used to me touching her, buddy, because I intend to touch her a lot.”
Regina said, “You do?”
Riley slanted her a look. “Since we’re done here, let’s go into the living room. The sooner I can figure out what the hell’s going on with your attacker, the sooner we can get beyond it.”
Regina dried her hands, neatly folded the dish towel to hang over the bar and hurried after him. “And then what?”
“And then I can concentrate on just you.” He smiled at her over his shoulder, a deliberate smile, hot and suggestive. She stopped dead in her tracks, blinked twice, then followed him into the room.
And damned if she didn’t wear a coy little smile of her own.