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“Like I said, it’s obviously adrenaline and danger.”She’d thought about this a lot on the drive home.No way could he actually just want…her.“We had both of those tonight.So maybe that’s why the powerful heart of yours is racing wildly.Because of the rush.”Not because of the way he felt about her.Certainly, not that.
Her heart also raced wildly.Was it from the events of the night?Or because Eb was touching her?Or maybe because she was just at the end of her rope?
He leaned toward her.One hand on the banister.One hand still holding her.“Answered you before.You.You’re what turns me on.”
He’d been…serious about that?No, no, she would not believe him.Could not.Eb was drop-dead handsome.He could have any woman he wanted with the crook of a finger.
“You turn me on.”Each word from him was bitten off.“And how fucked-up is that?To be turned on by the woman married to my partner?I fuckingknowI should keep my hands off you.”
Her heart raced even more now.Hello, palpitations.
“But all I want to do is touch you everywhere.”
Yes.Do it.Great idea.Let’s forget all the reasons this shouldn’t happen and have wild, dirty sex all night long.Oh, the temptation.
A dangerous temptation.
Because he was a dangerous man.One who could wreck the world that she was struggling to rebuild.“I’m not married to your partner.”
“No, you’re his widow.The Wicked Widow.”
At that moniker, Naomi tensed.That had been the name given to her by the local press.And picked up by the people online who were out for her blood.
Why?
Because they thought she was a killer.
“Do you want to fuck a killer, Eb?”She thought it was a fair question.
“Do you?”he returned.
Goosebumps skittered over her body.“What’s that supposed to mean?”
He smiled and that lethal grin stole her breath.Holy hell, he had a dimple.Talk about an unfair and potentially lethal secret weapon.Even as she was adjusting to the reality of that dimple—this was her first time to fully appreciate it—Eb told her, “I don’t play by typical rules.I’m notnice.I’ve gotten my hands bloody plenty of times over the years.Fuck me, and there will be no going back for you.”
Right.She did not need to, ah, fuck anyone.No matter how tempting Eb might be.But, because he was right there, and her position on the steps put her at the perfect level with him, she reached out and curled her arms around his shoulders.“It’sniceto be with someone who doesn’t pretend with me.I’m sick of lies.”The lies she told.The lies others told her.“Hudson was a straight-up bastard.Sadistic.Twisted.”
A furrow appeared between Eb’s brows.
“He made my life hell.I am glad he’s dead.”The truth just kept pouring from her.It felt freeing.“You won’t believe me, of course.Everyone thought he was so perfect.And he was your friend.Your partner.He would tell me all about your great adventures together.”
“What do you mean…sadistic?”
She put her mouth on his.The kisses before had been rushed.And maybe…maybe she thought that she could kiss him, and arealkiss would show that the passion wasn’t truly there between them.That the sparks she felt when they touched wouldn’t ignite into a blaze.Instead, they’d fizzle out with a real kiss.
His lips were open.
So were hers.Her tongue dipped into his mouth.Stroked.Teased.And he?—
A growl tore from him.His hands flew to curl around her hips as he hauled her toward him.He took over the kiss.His lips, his tongue—he took.He tasted.He claimed and the spark didn’t fizzle.It erupted.A wildfire that pulsed through her veins.She opened her mouth wider.Her fingers sank into his powerful shoulders.She knew this was wrong.
But Naomi didn’t care.She hadn’t kissed someone and felt this soaring passion in…in…
Ever.
She’d never kissed someone and felt this way.This consuming, lightning-fast need was what happened in movies.Books.Not real life.Certainly not her life.
Henry bumped into her leg.