Hot Item by Carly Phillips Page B

searing kiss. With no preliminaries, he thrust his tongue deep into her mouth. A tingling sensation took hold of her body and she leaned her head back, giving him complete access to whatever he wanted. His silken tongue swept inside, learning every part of her and then started over again.
    She curled her hands around the comforter and held on. His mouth worked magic, arousing her in every way. Her breasts grew hot and heavy, and her nipples hardened into tight aching peaks. Dampness gathered between her thighs, leaving her a trembling mess by the time he was through.
    “You did,” Riley said when he finally lifted his head.
    “I did what?” She couldn’t think over the loud beating of her heart.
    “That kiss just said you cared.”
    Sophie laughed, but she knew just how to wipe that smug look off his face. “I didn’t know you needed a woman to care in order to have sex.”
    “With most women I don’t.”
    Good thing she was sitting or she’d have passed out. “Just how many women have there been?” She closed her eyes, mortified that she’d even asked.
    He chuckled low and deep. “Enough, but not as many as you obviously think.” His tone grew serious.
    Oddly, she believed him and she was glad. She was so far gone, so enthralled with this man, she didn’t want to think about other women. And she definitely didn’t want to talk anymore.
    Neither did he. He stepped forward and nudged her legs apart until he’d moved between her thighs. He knelt down, then ran his fingers over her calves.
    “Soft yet muscular,” he said.
    “That’s because I shave and I run.”
    He chuckled, then trailed a moist path with his tongue, from her knee up the inside of her thigh. Her flesh tingled and she was sure her skin quivered at the intimate touch.
    He reached her bathing-suit bottom and paused. “I wonder…with all that control of yours, have you ever really let a man know you?”
    She swallowed hard. “Probably as well as you’ve let any woman know you.”
    Riley had heard plenty from her uncle about her legendary need to control. He’d seen it on the plane. Viewed the depth to which she needed comfort, routine and the expected. And he doubted she let any man have the upper hand.
    He tipped his head back and laughed. That’s what he enjoyed about Sophie. She gave as good as she got. “Touché.”
    “I’m so glad—”
    He silenced her with a finger as he slipped his hand inside her bathing suit to reach the secrets hidden there.
    With his finger pressed on her damp folds, he rubbed light circles and watched as her eyes dilated and she struggled for control.
    “I mean it, Sophie. I want to know you. I want to know how you come.”
    She tried to clamp her legs closed, but his hand was already where he needed it to be and he knew she was only causing an increase in ecstasy.
    “Unfair,” she murmured.
    “If we’re going to do this, we’re also going to be honest.” He was pushing her emotionally, pressing her harder. He didn’t know why, only that Sophie brought out a raw, primitive need to protect and defend, to take care of her. Precisely because she’d always acted as if she didn’t need anybody, he wanted to take control and show her just how good it could be.
    He released his intimate hold only long enough to ease her bottoms down her legs. Despite her annoyance with his topic of conversation, sexually he had her enthralled and she helped him by lifting her hips, giving him a view of heaven. His cock was hard as a rock, his body screaming for release. With any other woman, release would be enough, but not with Sophie.
    While she eased back against the pillows, he kicked off his shorts and joined her on the bed, surprised and pleased to find she’d removed her bikini top as well.
    He took in her full breasts and dusky nipples and drew a shuddering breath. “Oh darlin’, you are something.”
    She blushed. “There it is again. That hint of a Southern accent,” she said with a pleased