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Everything about this situation was lose-lose.
“I need my space.” She needed to breathe air that wasn’t filled with him.
Ryder moved, and she found herself caged between the counter, two powerful arms and a muscled body. His face was carved in ruthless lines—a face she didn’t recognize.
She breathed him in and cursed her traitorous body as it caught fire.
“Someone is stalking you. Someone tried to hack into your company’s network. Until we know who, my job is to keep you safe.” His breath bathed her lips and snatched the air from her lungs. “I will do my job as I deem necessary, which means I won’t be staying in a bloody hotel.”
Granite dug into her lower back as she tried to put space between them.
His gaze turned predatory. “Are you afraid, Nathalie?” Heat blazed in his eyes. Clashed with the ice in his voice. “You should be.”
Shewasafraid. But not of her stalker. Her biggest fear was that she wanted Ryder to kiss her again more than she wanted to breathe.
“I told you not to look at me like that,” he snarled. His tongue speared her lips, demanding submission.
She opened to give him entrance, greedily taking him in, and slid her fingers over his broad shoulders to burrow into the silky strands of his hair.
He yanked her against his hard body, the evidence of his desire pressing into her belly.
Electricity raced through her veins to scorch her insides with a need so great she wanted to scream. She’d dreamed about Ryder for years, but the reality of him now was more than she could have ever imagined.
An ache built only he could satisfy. Deep inside her. Where she didn’t know where he began, and she ended.
Her hands fisted in his hair. She ground her hips against him, reveling in the hungry sound that tore from his throat to bathe her lips, letting him know without words what she needed.
Nathalie set him on fire. None of the women he’d been with since her had made him feel the way she did. Out of control, desperate for her touch. Her earthy floral scent with that hint of lavender filled his nose. The erotic sting of her nails on his scalp only made him harder.
He dug his fingers into the curves of her hips, her breathy moans shattering the iron control he prided himself on having. Tearing his mouth from hers, he traced the line of her jaw with his lips, trailing down the vulnerable column of her throat to the exposed area of her collarbone and the unbuttoned top of her cream silk blouse.
The top swells of her breasts teased him through the thin fabric. He nudged it aside with his nose and gave a gentle bite, a primal satisfaction filling him when she shuddered.
The center island was the perfect height. He lifted her onto the cool stone. His fingers trembled as they undid the buttons on her blouse, parting the material to reveal more golden, tawny skin. He reached around with one hand to unhook her bra.
“Ryder.”
Christ. The way she said his name, all “please fuck me” in each drawn-out syllable, made his cock so hard he saw stars. Shoving up the bra, he latched onto one of her breasts with his mouth. He knew what she liked. First, a powerful draw that hollowed out his cheeks. Then a nip with his front teeth. Followed by his tongue, soothing the sting.
“Ryder.“ Now she panted his name, as if she couldn’t get enough air.
He turned his attention to her other breast and did the same. “Lie back.” Using his palm, he pressed gently on her until she lay across the center island.
Her trousers had to go. He unfastened the button at her waist and yanked down the zipper, exposing a gold barbell navel piercing.
“You still have it,” he murmured. “I wondered.” His head dipped so he could curl his tongue around the metal, warmed by her body heat.
Nathalie moaned.
Black lace panties.Nice.They had to go, too. He gripped the edges of both garments and pulled them down, past her knees.
She was bared to him, all smooth, silky flesh.
The memory of how to play her body returned to him as if they’d never been apart. He’d always known how to make her come. Hard. He swooped in, his tongue gliding up her glistening folds.
Home.
Her taste was a deeply buried memory rushing to the fore.