Let Me Love You by Mary Wine

cowered or cried, she’d bet he’d cast her one long disgusted look before hightailing it away from her weak-kneed body. A man like Sloan wouldn’t waste his time on a woman who couldn’t stand up to him.
    “You really should be, honey. I’m not a gentleman.” His gaze dropped to her lips and the tender skin tingled in response. She caught a whiff of his warm scent. It triggered a response that made her shudder. Heat filled her cheeks instantly, like some signal her body wanted to display in the hopes of attracting his attention. His eyes shifted to her face, lingering on the scarlet stain. He stroked a single finger across the blush. “But I already told you that.”
    His touch slid all the way across her cheek. It was a deceptive caress, so soft and tempting. The illusion ended as his fingers threaded into her hair and tightened into that grip she recalled so well. Strong and unbreakable, but still painless unless she moved. His head angled as he leaned forward to connect their mouths in another firm kiss. But it wasn’t hard. He teased her lower lip with the tip of his tongue before pressing her to open her jaw for a deeper taste.
    It felt too good to resist. Brianna let him push her mouth wide as she lifted her hands and allowed her fingertips to explore the hard chest that fascinated her. A low groan shook his torso as an arm clamped around her waist. Her hands slid up to his shoulders as he pulled her against his body, securing her in his embrace. The cotton of his shirt frustrated her. She longed for the warm male skin hidden beneath the garment. His tongue thrust deep into her mouth, teasing her own with a hard stroke. Brianna shivered as hot need flowed down her body to that spot between her thighs. It throbbed for attention as she twisted towards Sloan, gripping his shoulders in an attempt to get closer. Her skin became alive with acute sensation, causing her to hate her dress and corset. She wanted to be bare for his hands, so that she could enjoy being stroked.
    The grip in her hair pulled her away from his kiss. A muffled word got caught behind his clenched teeth as he broke their kiss but didn’t relax the arm that bound her to his body. Hunger brightened his eyes as he looked at her like a starving man. She felt his huge body shudder before he let her go.
    Brianna bit into her lower lip to contain the little whimper that wanted to spill from her mouth. Being turned loose was like setting out into the snow with your face ruby-red and warm from standing over the coals. The icy wind slapped you like tiny, frozen daggers when you set off without a scarf to protect your face from the harsh elements.
    “I need to go home.”
    Sloan grunted. His gaze moved down her frame before he slowly nodded. “Yes, you do. Before I do something irreversible.”
    Wicked temptation taunted her to challenge his control. The look on his face said he didn’t want to stop touching her and a large part of her wondered just what it would take to push him past his limit. But that was a coward’s way. She looked at the floor as she tried to scrape up some composure. Dignity was out of the question, because she flatly didn’t want to be honorable or any kind of proper. All she wanted was to press herself back into his embrace and discover just how much better the sensation might get.
    Life was somehow more precious today and she wasn’t so willing to miss out on anything because of someone else’s rules. Her body wanted Sloan to take her down that dark path that was hidden behind shadows of ignorance that all the good wives in town called modesty.
    Respectability felt like a poor trade for the delight she knew Sloan could produce with a single touch. But she wasn’t willing to taunt him for it and she wasn’t quite bold enough to demand it from him. Yet.
    “Is my house still standing?”
    At least there was something to funnel her frustration into. The harsh reality of looking at bare cupboards stole every scrap of