Total pages in book: 115
Estimated words: 108173 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 541(@200wpm)___ 433(@250wpm)___ 361(@300wpm)
Estimated words: 108173 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 541(@200wpm)___ 433(@250wpm)___ 361(@300wpm)
His mouth slotted over hers, smothering her soft moan. He exhaled and she welcomed the air into her mouth, in dire need of that life-affirming breath. She leaned into the kiss and opened her mouth to his demanding tongue. Right now she was so desperate for any warmth from this usually cold man that she would briefly set aside her pride and allow herself this temporary lapse in judgment and principles.
His kiss was controlled, confident, and—as was usual when it came to Ben—a little calculating. Lilah sensed his customary reserve—he always held a piece of himself back—and this time that reticence infuriated her.
Whenever he’d kissed her in the past, Lilah had remained a passive recipient. Never asking for more, always foolishly accepting whatever carefully portioned pieces of himself he was willing to share with her.
Well, to hell with that. She curled her arms around his neck and buried her fingers in the short hair at the back of his head, tugging at the silky strands to draw him even closer. She eagerly explored his mouth, relishing the heat and moisture she found there, enjoying the slide of his tongue against hers.
She moaned again, louder this time, the sound filled with need and frustration.
Her restless hands moved away from his head and down over his shoulders, kneading his hot skin and muscles through the expensive cotton fabric of his white dress shirt. She moved to his chest, impatiently tearing at his buttons, until she had a broad expanse of flesh exposed to her touch. She tore her lips from his and peppered open-mouthed kisses over the smooth, slightly sweat-dampened swathe of skin now available to her.
He didn’t say or do anything, his hands still cradling the back of her head as she explored the muscular breadth of chest with her fingers, mouth, and tongue. She finally got the reaction she craved when her tongue trailed over the small, tight peak of his flat nipple.
A sharp inhalation of breath, followed by an involuntary jerk, and a startled grunt.
Sensitive there, was he? Her lips curled smugly at the corners as she kept her attention on that tiny bud of sensation. Another shuddering, reluctantly yielded groan, when the even line of her upper incisors scraped over his nipple. She licked and sucked away the sting, and he grabbed fistfuls of her hair in a tight hold. Lilah didn’t mind the roughening hold, it told her she was finally breaking through that icy wall he kept between himself and the rest of the world.
She moved over to the other nipple, one of her slender thighs, meanwhile, pressing between his legs and up against the hardness straining at the fabric of his pants. She couldn’t get her thigh as close as she wanted to, and opted instead to cup her palm over his pulsing cock. She purred happily when her fingers closed over that large, hot column of flesh through the thick cotton-blend fabric of his cargo pants. She gave him a leisurely stroke, before abandoning his turgid nipples in favor of his panting mouth. This time there was an urgency in his kiss that had been absent before. He was fighting to maintain control over his baser instincts, she could feel it in the way his body remained tense and rigid against hers, despite how his mouth devoured hers. Lips, teeth, and mouth ravaging hers with barely restrained violence.
Her free hand found the waistband of his pants, and she fumbled slightly with the button, before managing to get it undone and sliding her fingers down the front. He wasn’t wearing any underwear, and she had immediate access to his naked flesh.
He hissed when she took hold of him and gave him an enthusiastic stroke. One of his hands came down to clamp around her slim wrist, exerting just enough pressure to keep her from exploring further.
“Easy, Lilah,” he warned, the thick rasp of his voice sending a shudder of pleasure down her spine. God, she loved that whiskey rough voice of his.
“Let me touch you.” She heard the frustrated demand in her words, and if his tightening fingers were any indication, so did he. Ben didn’t like taking orders from anyone, especially not her.
He dragged her hand up and around to pin it in the small of her back, holding it firmly in place without causing her any pain. The move brought her breasts flush against his chest, and she whimpered helplessly at the contact against her aching nipples.
“Ben, let me go,” she gritted out between clenched teeth, trying to pull her wrist free from his hold.
To no avail.
“Don’t think so, Lilah,” he drawled lazily. “I’ll do the touching from here on out.”
He walked her backward into the room until the backs of her knees hit the edge of the bed and, before she knew it, she was sprawled flat on her back in the middle of the mattress, with his hard body on top of hers and his hips cradled between her spread thighs.