Phoenix Burning by Maitland Kaitlin Page A

dropped her gaze. She’d apparently been more candid than she’d intended. “I just thought—since I can’t come—that you might not want to.”
    “To what?”
    He could see the monumental effort it took for her to lift her eyes and meet his gaze. “To deal with my—issues.”
    “The only issue you have is that you’ve been trying to have sex with assholes who only care about their own pleasure.” Alex wanted her to let go of the guilt she was packing around. If he did nothing but that, any amount of effort was worth it.
    “So you don’t care about my problem?”
    He could only think of one way to convince her, and the distance between them made it impossible. Alex walked out from behind the bar and around to the stool in the corner where she’d perched.
    She looked confused. Did she actually think he might reconsider and tell her they were through? As if Alex could ever get enough of a woman like Emory. She had been crafted by nature to respond to him as no one else ever had.
    He cupped her cheek in one hand, standing close enough to smell the sweetness of her skin. “You don’t have a problem.”
    “But…”
    Alex silenced her with a kiss. Her lips were soft and yielding. Moving his thumb to her chin, he encouraged her to open for him. She gave in and he slid his tongue inside her mouth. He caressed her gently, curbing the desire to dominate. Finesse and not force. This was the time for seduction.
    Again and again, until his heart was thundering and she was making tiny noises of pleasure in the back of her throat. The sounds inflamed him, made his cock harden painfully, until he was crazy with the desire to spread her legs and take her then and there.
    When he finally released her mouth and pulled back, her dark eyes were hazy with passion. The bemused expression on her face struck him with an unfamiliar sense of tenderness. This wasn’t the kind of woman you could love and leave. She deserved better.
    “Quit apologizing for things that aren’t your fault.” He lowered his mouth to her bare shoulder before brushing his lips across the sensitive skin at her collarbone.
    Her tiny sigh was almost his undoing. He’d never been so turned on. Alex could feel other eyes on them from across the bar. He wanted them to look. He wanted them to see that this incredible woman was his to pleasure.
    Using his foot, he turned the barstool until he could nudge his way between her legs. He slid his arms around her tiny frame and pressed a line of kisses over the tops of her breasts. She arched her back, leaning back until he was supporting her weight on his forearms.
    She tasted exquisite. He slipped his tongue into the cleft between her breasts. She gave a little moan, and Alex imagined the wet warmth that would be soaking her pussy. A spurt of precum dampened his jeans.
    Holding Emory in one arm, he laid the palm of his hand against her belly. A strip of bare skin taunted him with the promise of more. With just his fingers, he slipped beneath the waistband of her pants. The tantalizing feel of her soft skin drew him lower. His hand brushed the dark curls covering her mound. He threaded his fingertips gently through the hair, going lower, until her breath caught, and she moved her legs apart to give him better access.
    “Is this what you want?” Alex nipped her earlobe.
    “Yes.”
    “Then let me give it to you.”
    Her harsh breathing made the creamy tops of her breasts bob up and down. The turmoil in her expression sent an unfamiliar lurch through Alex’s midsection. What demons rode her so mercilessly that she was afraid to accept what he was offering?
    “You could have anyone,” she whispered. “Why put up with me?”
    Step one—convince the girl he was interested. Alex had no experience in this department. He didn’t have poetry or elegance. Charm and wit? Certainly, but that had failed to convince her. If anything, his love ’em and leave ’em persona had already hampered her ability to put any faith