Hightower Affairs 2: Bedding the Secret Heiress by Emilie Rose Page B

and she sipped from him as he did from her. When he stroked her bottom lip with his tongue, she met him halfway. He tasted the sugar and mint of her mojito, but mostly he tasted Lauren. And he wanted more.
    Desire raced through him like fire through an abandoned warehouse. He grasped her arms and lifted her from her seat, pulling her forward until her soft breasts rested against his chest and her thighs aligned with his.
    Lauren’s arms circled his waist, and her short nails scraped a path parallel to his spine, driving a spike of hunger through him. She kissed the way she rode a motorcycle, the way she flew a plane—with one hundred percent commitment. He stroked her hair, then tangledhis fingers in the fine, silky strands to cradle her head while he deepened the kiss.
    Her mouth was hot and wet and slick, and he couldn’t get enough of her, couldn’t hold her close enough. The mattress bumped the back of his legs. He wanted her on it. Flat on her back. Beneath him. Naked.
    He swung her sideways until they both stood beside the bed. His hands shook as if he had a case of the D.T.’s when he reached for the buttons of her blouse. He freed the first, the second. Her hands covered his and she lifted her head with her eyes tightly closed, then her lids lifted, and she stared at him through her thick lashes. Her chest rose and fell beneath his knuckles, and the sound of their labored breathing filled the room.
    Passion darkened her eyes and trembled on her lips, then with one blink uncertainty gave way to purpose. She caught his hands, opened his fingers and spread them over her breasts. The mounds filled his palms, beaded tips raking his flesh as he caressed her. She gasped. Her bra and blouse were in the way. He wanted skin.
    Hunger so strong it hurt fisted in his gut. Struggling to regain control, he buried his mouth in her neck and inhaled her fragrance as he thumbed her nipples. He tasted the soft skin behind her ear. Her whimper filled the air.
    She felt good and fit perfectly in his arms. He took her mouth again, diving deep with his tongue the way he wanted to drive his body into hers. Lauren responded by pressing her hips hard against his erection. He pushed back and heat detonated in his groin.
    A bell tinkled in the distance. He ignored it, spread open Lauren’s blouse and cupped the satiny triangles of her bra. His thumbs dipped into the cups, brushing over her tight nipples. She shivered and gave a littlefrustrated squeak that nearly buckled his knees then she broke the kiss.
    “Dinner,” she whispered against his mouth, her lips brushing over his with the word.
    “Screw dinner.”
    A shocked laugh burst from her. Shaking her head she disentangled slowly, dragging her nails around his waist and across his abdomen which contracted involuntarily. A naughty grin curved her swollen mouth. “Tell that to Esmé and you’ll break her heart.”
    Lauren’s blouse, still tucked into her waistband, gaped open, revealing pale curves above the shiny fabric of her bra. Frustration clawed at him. He stepped toward her, but she retreated and held up both hands. “Don’t.”
    “Lauren—”
    “We can’t do this, Gage. Not unless you can promise me it won’t get back to Trent and cost me my job.”
    Trent. Duty. Debt. The sobering realization that he’d forgotten all three. At the moment he didn’t give a damn. “You want me as much as I want you.”
    She inhaled deeply and exhaled slowly. Her hand lifted as if to touch his face, but she quickly withdrew it and tucked it behind her back. “Yes, I want you. But that doesn’t mean I can afford to follow through.”

Six
    W hat were you thinking?
    Lauren mentally kicked her own behind as she hurried toward the dining room, running from the mistake she’d almost made. She might be adventurous professionally, but she’d always been cautious in her personal life, her sex life in particular. How had Gage made her forget that?
    Surprise stopped her in the dining room