More Than Rum (The Maple Leaf Series Book 3)

More Than Rum (The Maple Leaf Series Book 3) by Christine DePetrillo

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Authors: Christine DePetrillo
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back into kissing her
until he couldn’t remember his name and wasn’t at all worried about it. Hope
was a woman who could make a man forget his troubles. A woman who could give a
guy a fresh start. A woman who could change someone’s world one kiss at a time.
He wanted that chance with her. He wanted to be the man to experience her
magic. The magic she was willing to give him. Right here. Right now.
    Backing up slightly, he
unzipped Hope’s jeans and scraped his fingers along her waist and thighs,
taking the denim and a pair of lacey black underwear with him.
    She let out a shuddery breath
and closed her eyes, her back arching toward him. Her waist was slender and
smooth and perfect. Surely, a creature such as the one that rested beneath him
now was not of this world—this place full of imperfection, injustice, pain. No,
Hope was the complete opposite of all that. She was pure. She was salvation.
    She was too good for him.
    He paused. How could someone
who had done the things he’d done, seen the things he’d seen in Afghanistan, be
worthy of what Hope was offering? To take anything from her would be a debt he
could never repay. He had blood on his hands and gaping holes in his soul. How
could he ever be what she needed?
    He just wasn’t enough.
    “Adam?” She’d risen to her
elbows, her hair tousled in sexy, golden waves. Touchable, so touchable, yet
out of his reach if he were honest.
    “Hope, we shouldn’t—”
    Her fingers came up to rest
against his lips. “No, Adam. We should . Doesn’t this feel right to you?”
    “It feels too right.” He
rolled off her and rested on his back next to her, keeping his left arm close
to his ribs.  
    “I think we owe it to ourselves
to see what this could be.” She got to her knees and pulled off her black tank
top and bra.
    Adam let out a groan as she straddled
him, completely naked. Her breasts were phenomenal, and his hands itched to
touch them. She went for the zipper on his jeans, but he grabbed her hands,
corralling both of her wrists in his grip.
    “Hope. Don’t.”
    She froze, some of her lovely
fingers tucked between his hips and the waistband of his jeans. “You’re
serious?”
    He nodded once then sat up,
shifting her farther down on his lap. “I can’t do this to you.”
    “But I want you to. I want you
to do exactly this to me.” Something flashed in her usually friendly eyes. “You
don’t want me?”
    “Jesus, Hope. Of course I want
you.” He thrust his hands out to her. “Look at you. You’re the hottest thing
I’ve ever seen.” He scratched at his buzz cut, his left ear really humming
tonight. “I’m the problem here, not you.”
    “Oh, it’s you, not me. I see.”
She got off his lap and sat on the edge of the bed.
    When she didn’t move for a few
moments, Adam rested his hand on her shoulder. She jerked away from his touch
and looked back at him. Her lips were red and puffy from the kissing they’d
done, but they were no longer turned up in a seductive grin. They weren’t about
to say something sultry.
    “I get that you had a hard time
in the Marines. I obviously don’t know the whole story, because you won’t let
me in.” She tapped a finger to his temple. “I thought if I gave you some time,
you’d decide to trust me. You’d see that I wasn’t going anywhere, but I don’t
know how much longer I can wait, Adam.”
    She rose, in all her naked
loveliness, and collected her clothing. Silently, she dressed. When she was
finished, she faced him and he saw it. On her face. The last thing he wanted to
see.
    Pity.
    “Get out.” His voice came out
as a low growl as he barely contained himself. This was exactly what he’d
wanted to avoid. No one felt sorry for Adam Rouse.
    “I’d love to, but you drove me
here, genius.” Her eyes shot fire at him now, and dammit, she was still
entirely too beautiful.
    “Well, I guess I’ll drive you
out of here then.” He put his shirt back on, stalked past her in the hallway,
and

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