smiled at her.
His hand closed around her upper arm and tugged her closer. "I seem to recall that there's still that matter of finding a suitable punishment for you." She let him take her glass from her and set it next to his, her mouth relaxing into a coaxing smile.
"I thought we were going to forget all that. You have to admit that it was pretty funny, Mac. Besides, I was weak from hunger and hardly responsible for my actions. And I did come up with Dominic's. You admitted it was a terrific pizza. That should make up for a lot."
He shook his head, a decidedly predatory gleam in his eyes. "I'll give you a few points for the pizza but that wasn't enough to make up for the terrible blow to my ego. I told you I was going to have to teach you a lesson on how a good date behaves."
"I have been a good date," she protested, hanging back against his hand. "How many of your dates would have helped you clean up the mess in the kitchen? Mac!" His name came out on a breathless shriek of surprise as he captured her hand, his free arm sweeping around her back as he pulled her onto his lap.
Holly lay across his thighs, her back supported by the steel hardness of his arm. Her dress had twisted beneath her and she was vividly aware of the roughness of his jeans against her nylon-clad legs.
Their eyes met and suddenly the playful mood was gone, replaced by something more dangerous. Holly licked her lips nervously, drawing his eyes to her mouth. She wasn't ready to take the next step yet, she reminded herself but the reminder seemed faint and far away.
His head dipped slowly and her pulse fluttered at the look of hunger that darkened his eyes to midnight blue. The very air that surrounded them seemed to thicken and shimmer. The fire popped quietly but the sound was distant, unconnected to the world that Holly was floating toward.
Her lashes dropped as his mouth found hers. It was like setting a torch to dry chaparral: instant combustion. An explosion of the senses that swept through her with irresistible force. The past weeks of gentle kisses and restrained caresses had left her with a deep hunger that matched his.
Her fingers found their way into the thick darkness of his hair, curling around his skull, to hold him to her. Not that Mac showed any signs of leaving. His mouth slanted across hers, demanding and receiving access to the honeyed warmth of her. She could taste the tang of the wine on his tongue. Or was it on hers? It didn't matter. They twined together in ? ritual as old as time, seeking, probing, demanding.
Mac's fingers skimmed across the front of her dress, hardly seeming to touch, yet the buttons that ran down the front fell open in his path. Holly moaned a protest as he drew away, her fingers sliding reluctantly from his silky hair. He shifted, easing her back onto the thick rug and leaning over her as he opened the dress, spreading it out on the gray carpet. It framed her body in a soft swirl of pale yellow.
Mac groaned and her eyes fluttered open. In the firelight his features were more shadowed than revealed. The hard line of his jaw counterbalanced the soft flicker of his eyes as they skimmed over her. A gentle warmth flooded her cheeks, a warmth that had nothing to do with the fire.
Mac groped desperately for his self-restraint as he 'ooked down at Holly. He hadn't intended to take things so far. What had started out as a game had rapidly escalated into something he couldn't control. It wouldn't be fair to go any further when she didn't know the full circumstances.
Even as he told himself that, a groan that held a note of pain tore itself from his throat. He was lost. Some distant part of his mind shouted that it wasn't too late. He could still call a halt with no harm done, still stop things before they went any further. But the voice was muffled by the rapid beat of his pulse.
Holly lay beneath him, her body flushed with firelight, her eyes languorous and wanting. As if from a distance, he watched his hand
His hand closed around her upper arm and tugged her closer. "I seem to recall that there's still that matter of finding a suitable punishment for you." She let him take her glass from her and set it next to his, her mouth relaxing into a coaxing smile.
"I thought we were going to forget all that. You have to admit that it was pretty funny, Mac. Besides, I was weak from hunger and hardly responsible for my actions. And I did come up with Dominic's. You admitted it was a terrific pizza. That should make up for a lot."
He shook his head, a decidedly predatory gleam in his eyes. "I'll give you a few points for the pizza but that wasn't enough to make up for the terrible blow to my ego. I told you I was going to have to teach you a lesson on how a good date behaves."
"I have been a good date," she protested, hanging back against his hand. "How many of your dates would have helped you clean up the mess in the kitchen? Mac!" His name came out on a breathless shriek of surprise as he captured her hand, his free arm sweeping around her back as he pulled her onto his lap.
Holly lay across his thighs, her back supported by the steel hardness of his arm. Her dress had twisted beneath her and she was vividly aware of the roughness of his jeans against her nylon-clad legs.
Their eyes met and suddenly the playful mood was gone, replaced by something more dangerous. Holly licked her lips nervously, drawing his eyes to her mouth. She wasn't ready to take the next step yet, she reminded herself but the reminder seemed faint and far away.
His head dipped slowly and her pulse fluttered at the look of hunger that darkened his eyes to midnight blue. The very air that surrounded them seemed to thicken and shimmer. The fire popped quietly but the sound was distant, unconnected to the world that Holly was floating toward.
Her lashes dropped as his mouth found hers. It was like setting a torch to dry chaparral: instant combustion. An explosion of the senses that swept through her with irresistible force. The past weeks of gentle kisses and restrained caresses had left her with a deep hunger that matched his.
Her fingers found their way into the thick darkness of his hair, curling around his skull, to hold him to her. Not that Mac showed any signs of leaving. His mouth slanted across hers, demanding and receiving access to the honeyed warmth of her. She could taste the tang of the wine on his tongue. Or was it on hers? It didn't matter. They twined together in ? ritual as old as time, seeking, probing, demanding.
Mac's fingers skimmed across the front of her dress, hardly seeming to touch, yet the buttons that ran down the front fell open in his path. Holly moaned a protest as he drew away, her fingers sliding reluctantly from his silky hair. He shifted, easing her back onto the thick rug and leaning over her as he opened the dress, spreading it out on the gray carpet. It framed her body in a soft swirl of pale yellow.
Mac groaned and her eyes fluttered open. In the firelight his features were more shadowed than revealed. The hard line of his jaw counterbalanced the soft flicker of his eyes as they skimmed over her. A gentle warmth flooded her cheeks, a warmth that had nothing to do with the fire.
Mac groped desperately for his self-restraint as he 'ooked down at Holly. He hadn't intended to take things so far. What had started out as a game had rapidly escalated into something he couldn't control. It wouldn't be fair to go any further when she didn't know the full circumstances.
Even as he told himself that, a groan that held a note of pain tore itself from his throat. He was lost. Some distant part of his mind shouted that it wasn't too late. He could still call a halt with no harm done, still stop things before they went any further. But the voice was muffled by the rapid beat of his pulse.
Holly lay beneath him, her body flushed with firelight, her eyes languorous and wanting. As if from a distance, he watched his hand
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