Page 58

Steady.It wouldn’t help the situation if she fainted.
The vest came off. Ryder let it drop to the floor. He gripped the bottom edges of his cotton undershirt and lifted, pulling the fabric over his head.
“Oh my God.”
An angry red patch the size of her hand spread below his left ribs.
He could have been killed.
She’d already lost too many people in her life. She wouldn’t survive losing Ryder. Not this way. Before she realized what she was doing, her fingers brushed his skin.
He drew back with a hiss. His hand trapped hers in a firm grip, holding it away from his body.
“I’m sorry. Did I hurt you?”
“No.” His voice was like sandpaper, filled with a hunger that stretched the skin tight across his chiseled face.
The air filled with a different tension.
Nathalie licked her lips. The heat blazing in his eyes might burn her alive.
She let her gaze take in the rest of his bared flesh. When they’d been together, his upper body was smooth and toned, but not overly muscular. Now, a smattering of dark brown hair lightly covered molded pecs. His abdominals were defined ridges along his torso.
Her fingers flexed with the need to touch them. A rush of liquid heat dampened her panties.
His grip on her fingers tightened.
It would be a lot easier to stay professional if Nathalie wasn’t looking at him like he mattered to her.
A post-danger adrenaline rush surged through Ryder, heightening his senses, bringing his need close to the surface.
It would be a lot easier ifshedidn’t matter tohim.
He let go of her hand to wrap his fingers around the back of her neck, forcing her head back. “Tell me why.”
A trace of fear flitted across her face before her expression shuttered.
Hell no. He wasn’t letting her avoid him again.
His hold on her tightened, trapping her against his body. He dropped his head and took her lips with a barely leashed aggression. Using her gasp to his advantage, he took her mouth with his tongue the way he wanted to take her sweet pussy with his cock.
Instead of pushing him away, Nathalie’s fingers dove into his hair. She pulled him tighter against her breasts, shattering any thoughts he might have had about restraint.
Gripping her arse with both hands, he spun and lowered her to the couch. His mouth returned to hers, ravaging, stealing her breath for himself.
With hands that shook, he shoved her skirt past her hips.
Her flimsy black lace panties and his trousers weren’t enough of a barrier to keep the heat of her sex from teasing his cock until it was hard as a steel pipe. Instinct took over. He ground himself against her, ignoring the pain in his left side. The bullet could have sunk into his flesh, and it still wouldn’t have stopped him from touching Nathalie, tasting her.
“Ryder.”
Her breathless moan pushed him over the edge.
“Damn you, Nathalie. Damn you to hell.”
No other woman in his life had made him burn the way she did, even now, even though she’d broken him and walked away, leaving him in pieces.
He tore at the buttons on her blouse, yanking the fabric off her arms. Her black lace bra went next. Her nipples were hard points that begged for his attention. He latched onto one with his mouth, drawing in hard, loving the feel of her arching beneath him. She tasted sweet, like the strawberry jam he’d devoured with scones as a child. He nipped, then swept his tongue over the tip to soften the sting.