Read No Time Like Mardi Gras for Free Online

met his evenly as her shirt hit the ground.
    Just like that, the mood shifted, and the air felt close and tense. The noise just beyond the walls faded until Jamie’s shallow breaths and the blood pounding in his ears blotted it out completely.
    Unable not to, Colin let his fingers glide gently over the plane of her stomach, tracing the indentation that ran from ribs to navel, enjoying the little gasp and the way the muscles contracted under his touch. Jamie never broke the stare, even as he retraced his path up between her breasts, to the hollow at the base of her throat that fluttered under his fingers.
    Jamie swallowed and her breath began to stutter. Her hand reached for the hem of his shirt, fisting in the fabric, pulling him closer to her until he could feel the heat from her skin. There was a moment where she seemed to inhale, her pupils dilating, and then Jamie rose to her tiptoes to press her mouth to his.
    The sensation rocketed through him as if he’d been hit by lightning, causing his knees to buckle as he pulled her close and her tongue slid inside his mouth. He grabbed onto the filing cabinet with one hand and slid the other around the firm curve of her butt, steadying them both. Jamie moaned deep in her throat, and the sound nearly sent him over the edge right then.
    Jamie’s hands tangled in his hair, holding him when he moved to taste her neck, the skin on her collarbone, the soft spot behind her ear, and her leg rubbed restlessly against his.
    He’d just wanted to touch her, nearly convincing himself that would be enough, but now... He wanted to explore her, devour her, lose himself in her.
    The bra strap marred the smooth skin of her back, but a quick twist of the clasp allowed him an unimpeded sweep from neck to waist. She dropped her arms, allowing it to fall the rest of the way to the floor, and leaned back against the door, giving him access to small, perfectly formed breasts. Jamie hissed as his thumb brushed over her nipple, and her whole body quivered.
    She pushed his shirt up until it caught under his arms, and he let go of her long enough to remove his own beads and pull the shirt the rest of the way off. He tried to capture her lips again, but Jamie’s head dipped to his chest, pressing hot kisses against his skin. He was having trouble breathing and then couldn’t breathe at all when Jamie’s tongue flicked over his nipple. He pressed his palms against the door hard, gritting his teeth as the pleasure seared through him.
    Then she was kissing him again, hitching herself up to wrap her legs around his waist, her hips writhing against him. Any hope he had of rational thought or restraint was lost.
    A tiny voice in the back of Jamie’s mind was trying to send out a caution signal, but the rest of her was able to ignore it completely. She’d known she’d go right over if Colin so much as touched her, but she hadn’t realized she could spontaneously combust in someone’s arms or that it could feel this incredible when she did. It was better than her imaginings, more than her hopes. Colin was a freakin’ gift from the sex gods, every inch of him designed to tempt and to please, and she didn’t care if it was a good, bad or indifferent choice; she was going to take every bit she could and enjoy it.
    Colin coaxed her legs back to the floor, then slid to his knees, hands grasping her hips as his mouth caught her nipple. The lights went dim as he sucked her, and without his support, she’d have collapsed altogether. Hot, wet kisses on the sensitive underside of her breast and across her ribs left her trembling. Then his tongue traced a path to her navel and beyond, inch by torturous inch until he finally reached the snap of her shorts.
    He paused, his breath hot against her skin, and she looked down to see him watching her face, as though he was looking for permission to cross this last barrier. At the same time, his fingers were tracing along the hem of her shorts, teasing over her inner