Ashes, Ashes, They All Fall Dead by Lena Diaz

groaned, deep in his throat. He slid his hand down over the curve of her bottom and lifted her until she cradled his growing hardness against her belly. He held her so tightly she felt every beat of his heart against her breast. His breath was her breath, drawing her in, stoking the fire inside her into a growing inferno.
    He gyrated his hips against hers in a sinful movement that spiked across her nerve endings, tightening her belly into an almost painful knot of tension. Every movement of his hips, every slant of his lips, every thrust of his tongue stoked her higher, and higher, coiling her nerves into one tight knot of desire, ready to explode.
    Nothing had ever felt this good.
    Nothing.
    Ever.
    The tiny voice inside her, the one she’d ruthlessly quashed as soon as his lips claimed hers, suddenly yelled a loud warning. Stop this madness !
    Her eyes flew open. This was Matt making her feel this way, on the brink of a climax when all he’d done was kiss her. Matt. Good grief, what was she thinking? He swiveled his hips again and she nearly died of pleasure.
    No, no ! This had to stop.
    Convincing her traitorous body to respond to her mind’s commands was the hardest thing she’d ever tried to do, because every cell, every nerve ending wanted to stay exactly where she was. Pressed up against Matt’s delicious, hard, warm body.
    His twenty-four-year-old body to her thirty-year-old one.
    This was insane, a recipe for disaster. She had to stop, now, before she pulled him down to the ground and demanded that he make love to her right this very minute.
    She broke the kiss and shoved out of his arms.
    F RUSTRATION WASHED OVER Matt as he watched the passion fade from Tessa’s eyes. Her ample chest heaved as she struggled to draw a normal breath. He wasn’t in much better condition himself. His heart was beating so fast he could hear the blood rushing in his ears. And his pants had grown so tight he was afraid one brush of his jeans against his erection might push him over the edge. He’d certainly kissed his share of women over the years, but he’d never experienced anything like the kiss he’d just shared with Tessa.
    And if he had to guess, by watching how shocked she looked, neither had she.
    He didn’t know why he’d kissed her. No, that was a lie. He’d wanted to kiss her since the first time he’d met her. He’d certainly intended to kiss her, eventually. But he’d wanted the moment to be perfect, planned, so she’d be just as ready as he was, with no regrets afterward. Now was not that time, but unfortunately, the second she’d thrown her sexy little body against his, the blood had pumped to a part of his anatomy that didn’t care that the timing was off. And even though alarm bells were going off in what was left of his brain cells as he kissed her, he’d been helpless to stop.
    Now, as he watched her eyes narrow and her lips tighten into a thin line, he wished he could take the last ten minutes back and put a tighter rein on his libido.
    Stupid, stupid, stupid.
    Whatever yardage he’d gained by helping her find a lead in the case had just rolled back into negative territory. He didn’t even know if he was still in the game.
    “That shouldn’t have happened.” Her voice was low, accusing.
    “You’re right. It shouldn’t have. My apologies.”
    She blinked, surprise causing some of her anger to fade. Maybe, just maybe, he hadn’t done irreparable harm to his chances.
    “Apology accepted.” She cleared her throat and checked her braid.
    One of these days he’d free all that luscious red hair, and he wouldn’t apologize afterward.
    “We, ah, need to contact Casey,” she said. “Are we through here?” Her face flushed an adorable light pink. “I mean, is there anything you want to check out at the scene, or in Priceville, before we head back to Charleston?”
    “No.” He resisted the urge to tease her about what he wanted to “check out.” That would be a mistake. She needed time to