Lucky's Lady by Tami Hoag Page A

rose in her eyes.
    “Your bedside manner leaves a lot to be desired,” she said harshly.
    Lucky raised his eyes and stared at her over her toes. The corners of his mouth turned up. “Yeah, but my manner
in
bed won't leave anything to be desired. I can promise you that,
chère
.”
    Serena met his hypnotic gaze, her heart beating a wild pulse in her throat as his long fingers gently traced the bones of her foot and ankle. All thoughts of pain vanished from her head. Desire coursed through her veins in a sudden hot stream that both excited and frightened her. She didn't react this way to men. She certainly shouldn't have been reacting this way to
this
man. What had become of her common sense? What had become of her control?
    With an effort she found her voice, but it was soft and smoky and she barely recognized it when she spoke. “That's no promise, that's a threat.”
    Lucky eased her foot down and rose slowly. His fingers curled around the arms of Serena's chair and he tilted it back on its hind legs, his eyes never leaving hers as he leaned down close.
    “Is it?” he said in a silken whisper, his mouth inches from hers. “Are you afraid of me,
chère?
”
    “No,” she said, the tremor in her voice making a mockery of her answer. She stared up at him, eyes wide, her breath escaping in a thin stream from between her parted lips.
    “You're not afraid of me?” he said, arching a brow, the words barely audible. He leaned closer still. “Then mebbe this is what you're afraid of.”
    He closed the distance between them, touching his lips to hers.
    The heat was instantaneous. It burst around them and inside them, as bright and hot as the flare of the lamps on the table beside them. Serena sucked in a little gasp, drawing Lucky closer. He settled his mouth against hers, telling himself he wanted just a taste of her, nothing more, but fire swept through him, his blood scalding his veins. One taste. Just one taste . . . would never be enough.
    Her mouth was like silk soaked in wine—soft, sweet, intoxicating. His tongue slipped between her parted lips to better savor the experience. He stroked and explored and Serena responded in kind, reacting on instinct. Her tongue slid sinuously against Lucky's. His plunged deeper into her mouth. The flames leapt higher.
    A moan drifted up from Serena's throat, and her arms slid up around Lucky's neck. She could feel herself growing dizzy, as if her body were floating up out of the chair. Dimly she realized Lucky was rising and pulling her up with him. His arms banded around her like steel, lifting her, pulling her close. His big hands slid down to the small of her back and pressed her into him.
    He was fully aroused. His erection pressed into her belly, as hard as granite, as tempting as sin. She arched against it wantonly, reacting without thought. A growl rumbled deep in his chest, and he rolled his hips against her as he changed the angle of the kiss and plunged his tongue into her mouth again and again.
    He stroked a hand down over the full swell of one hip. Cupping her buttock, he lifted her to bring her up against him. She made a small, frightened sound in her throat and need surged through him like a flood. He wanted her. He wanted her right here . . . right now, on the table, on the floor. It was madness.
    Madness.
    Sweet heaven, what was he doing? he wondered, finally hearing the alarm bells clanging in his head. What was she doing to him? He set her away from him with a violence that made her stumble back against the chair she'd been sitting in. She stared at him, her eyes wide and dark with a seductive mix of passion and fear. Her hair tumbled around her shoulders in golden disarray. Her mouth, swollen and red from the force of his kiss, trembled. She stared at him as if he were something wild and terrifying.
    Wild was exactly what he was feeling—out of control, beyond the reach of reason. His chest was heaving like a bellows as he tried to draw in enough oxygen to think