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CHAPTER THREE

SUTTON

Kissing a stranger should not feel like coming home.

Except coming home wasn’t quite right.

That was too gentle for what this was.

For what stirred inside me when this man banded an arm around my lower back, lifting me flush against him so that only my tiptoes anchored me to the floor.

Too gentle for the response that hummed in my body when he parted his lips and brushed his tongue against mine.

And the groan he released straight into my mouth the second our tongues touched?

That sure as fuck wasn’t gentle.

Jesus , I wanted to climb him like a tree.

Was actually gripping the collar of his suit jacket like I might try it right here in the bar.

I didn’t care that we had an audience.

Barely even remembered why I was doing this in the first place.

I just wanted to cling on for dear life and allow myself to be taken anywhere— anywhere —this man wanted to take me.

The way he cupped his other hand at the base of my skull, his fingers delving into my hair, said he had a lot of ideas about doing just that.

Screamed it even louder when he brought his thumb to my chin, guiding me to open myself farther for him, allowing his tongue even deeper.

So calm and confident and sure in a situation that was anything but.

My god , it’d been a long time since I’d been kissed like this.

Actually, I wasn’t sure I’d ever been kissed like this.

Like I was an oasis in the middle of a desert, that first gulp of fresh air after cresting the surface of the sea.

He was devouring me.

And I was letting him.

His massive body was warm and firm, a steady rock holding me up.

And thank god for that, because I had no hope of doing so myself.

My nipples were tight points against his chest, and I had very little doubt he could feel them.

Because my dumb ass hadn’t thought it imperative to pair a bra with my pseudo pajamas.

These barely B cups usually didn’t need one.

Usually .

Unless, of course, I was dry humping the hottest man I’d ever seen and my pussy was loudly reminding me just how lonely she’d been with only silicone to keep her company.

After too long and yet not nearly long enough, he pulled back, both of us breathing heavily into the scant space between us.

“You’re trouble, aren’t you?”

“More like in trouble. But thank you,” I murmured against his lips.

Mostly because I was still dangling off the floor, and he didn’t seem in a hurry to set me down.

“I just really needed?—”

“Anything.”

“There was this creepy guy, and he?—”

“I’ll kill him.” Storm clouds descended over his features as he glanced around the room, pinning each man with a glare.

I huffed out a laugh at the sheer gravity of his words.

They were spoken with such a deadly calm, I didn’t for one second think he wasn’t serious.

“I’m not sure we need to do all that. I just needed to get away without bringing him back to my room.”

He turned his attention back to me, a beat passing.

Two. Three. “How about my room, then?”

A slow smile swept across my mouth.

I speared my fingers through the short hair at the base of his head, my body lighting up over the possibility of what this man could do to it.

My time here was nothing more than a stopover.

In less than twelve hours, I’d be on my way to a new life with my daughter.

And I’d never see this sexy beast of a man again.

So what did it matter?

What did any part of tonight matter?

“That would definitely be easier, considering my teenage daughter is alone in mine.”

It took only a moment before realization dawned.

His features hardened even more, his jaw ticking as he scanned the bar once again.

And I could tell the second he’d spotted Chief Creep.

His entire body went stiff, his murderous glare alone enough to send people scurrying.

I looked over my shoulder and confirmed my wannabe suitor did just that, not daring to even spare me a glance.

I exhaled a sharp sigh of relief, knowing that even if the guy who wouldn’t take no for an answer never saw my knight in brooding glory set foot in Laurel’s and my room, he’d assume this man would be there.

And that was good enough for me.

“He got the message,” my protector rumbled.

“But just in case, text your daughter and tell her not to open the door for anyone.”

There was absolutely no reason for my stomach to flip over his concern for Laurel when that had been solely my job the entirety of her life.

That probably wasn’t even the reason for the feeling anyway.

The flutters in my stomach were no doubt just the letdown of nerves since I wasn’t in fight-or-flight mode anymore.

“She’s a mouthy teenager who wouldn’t open the door if there was a fire. Believe me, she’s fine,” I said.

“And I’ll be up there soon enough. We’ve been at each other’s throats for two days, so I was just giving her some space.”

“For how long?”

“What?”

“How long were you giving her space?”

“Oh…” I darted my gaze between his eyes, reading every ounce of desire reflected back at me.

“An hour or two.”

“So, you’ve got, what? Forty-five minutes left?” he asked, his gaze dropping to my mouth.

I caught my lower lip with my teeth, loving the way this man looked at me.

Who the hell needed a lemon drop when I could get drunk on that alone?

“Something like that.”

He met my eyes once again, a thousand promises in his stare.

“I can do a lot in forty-five minutes.”