Read The Last Straw for Free Online Page B

everything familiar. She’d fled from all reminders of him. But now he was here and she ached for him.
    “Let’s get you to bed.” He lifted her, laid her down and worked himself out of his clothes. The sight of his lean, muscular body stole her breath. He crouched over her, his rough hands scraping pleasure over her hot skin as her pelvis rose to meet him.
    His tongue flicked and darted, leaving a trail of moisture drying in the heat down her throat, around her nipples and down her belly, while his hot hands cradled the sides of her breasts. She arched, her eyes sealed shut, surrendering to the longed-for pleasure of his touch.
    But then his touch was gone, leaving her body taut like a bow. “Why are you stopping?” She opened her eyes and found him tearing the foil off a condom. “Oh.” Next he worked it over his erection. Her breath caught in her throat. “Don’t I get to play with that?”
    “All you want, baby, all you want.”
    “And anything I want?”
    He knelt beside her on the bed, all the muscles of his abs and groin hard above his sheathed erection. “Anything.”
    She pulled him on top of her and ran the tip of her tongue over his full, chapped lips until his eyes darkened and he took over the kiss, probing and pressuring her with male hunger.
    The first touch of him against her opening evoked a groan. When he withheld himself, she growled and wrapped him in her legs, gripped his hard buns and pulled him into her body.
    “God baby, there’s no one like you.”
    She studied his eyes. Did he mean it? It didn’t matter now. He held himself motionless as she rocked against him. Held until her body pulsed around him. “Your turn.”
    His caressing gaze turned more intense with each speeding stroke. Her power over him turned her on. She flicked her tongue over his mouth while his strokes turned to urgent thrusts. He swelled larger within her and she clutched her legs more tightly around him, rocking with him until he released into her.
    After, with their arms and legs entangled and their breath mingled, he asked “What are you smiling about?”
    “I just wanted to know.”
    He opened one eye. “What’s that?”
    “Is this involvement?”
    He shifted up on his elbow, his eyes wide, his throat working.
    She laughed and slapped his bare buns. “Or entanglement?”
    He grinned and fell back onto her pillow, closing his eyes. “Don’t worry,” he said. “I’m not going to make the same stupid mistake twice.” A moment later, his breathing deepened to a steady rhythm as his mouth relaxed into a slight smile.
    I had to have this and I refuse to have regrets . Sated, she closed her eyes.
    ****
    Jared opened his eyes and surveyed the little haven Ally had created. The colors made the room glow. She liked the morning light and the colors took advantage of it. But there couldn’t be a coincidence in the choice of green. She wanted him, even if she didn’t admit it.
    He glanced toward the bathroom where the sound of the water running told him she was still in the shower. The case with the stolen IP at NST had worried her. He was glad he could reassure her the company would be fine. They’d analyzed all the packets in the data stream sent from the perp’s system and Stewart verified the data didn’t compromise their unique designs.
    In the meantime, Ally had screened out three employee candidates who had falsified their backgrounds. Despite all the personal and professional distraction, she stayed sharp with her work. Her business would grow stronger and stronger as word about her abilities spread. She was smart, resourceful, professional, and feminine all at the same time. What a dynamite combo.
    Lying on his back, he stretched over the smooth sheets and inhaled the lingering apples-and-honey scent of her. He’d have to get his classic Mustang shipped out and find a new supplier for parts. He’d never be able to work on it in the townhouse garage. They’d have to get another place.
    It still ate