The Lady Machinist (Curiosity Chronicles Book 1) by Ava Morgan

awaken at once. Her nerves tingled beneath his touch, sending the sensation traveling throughout her body. She peered at him through her lashes.
    “And you’re getting gooseflesh. You should change into something warmer.”
    She knew that her reaction had very little to do with the room’s temperature. Rhys’ heated expression told her that he knew it, too. She put her hand on his, not allowing him to go further, but not pushing him away, either. Rough callouses lined his thumb and palm, the strong hand of a man accustomed to vigorous work. “I will change clothes when you leave. I don’t require assistance.”
    “I wasn’t offering any.” He drew her to him, closing his arm around her waist before she could stop him.
    Lydia’s palms flattened against his chest. She felt his heartbeat pulse a strong, steady rhythm. Before she could utter a word, he lowered his mouth to hers and kissed her hard.

 
     
     

Chapter 11
     
     
    Mediterranean Sea, coordinates unknown
     
    Lydia closed her eyes as Rhys’ kiss produced a dizzying effect of surprise and longing. Feelings that had lain dormant now rushed to awaken. Her blood raced as her heart pumped a fierce beat to match his, drowning out the patter of rain and wind that battered against the ship outside. She wrapped her arms around his neck, yielding to his strength as he held her in a tight embrace.
    He coaxed her lips apart with the tip of his tongue. A wave of pleasure raced to her core as she tasted him, an intoxicating, masculine mix of passion, vitality, and the salt sea. She felt the soft tug of his fingers through her hair as he tilted her head back.
    “You do not kiss like a gentleman.” Her voice was a throaty whisper when he took his lips away from her mouth and pressed them against her neck.
    Rhys pushed a tangle of curls behind her ear. “You don’t sound too disappointed.” He spoke low in her ear, his words carried by that sensual, musical Welsh lilt that lulled her into helplessness.
    “I don’t know how I feel.” She closed her eyes again as he nibbled her earlobe. She heard the breathlessness of her own voice. “One moment you make me so—” He interrupted her with another kiss. “Disagreeable and the next—I—stop that. You’re distracting me on purpose.”
    “You think you don’t distract me, Lydia?” His voice deepened with a yearning that both startled and excited her. “You’ve been my focus for this entire mission, despite my efforts to maintain priority.”
    “Yes, priority. To our countries.” She broke away from him and backed away. Her body protested with an ache that left her mortified by its reaction. “We’re breaching protocol. You hardly know me.”
    “A circumstance that I’ve been in the process of amending.”
    “I certainly don’t know much about you.”
    “You knew enough to return a kiss.” His eyes followed her towards the back of the room.
    Ashamed of herself, she used her arms as a shield, crossing them in front of her chest. “I wasn’t thinking clearly.”
    “I beg to differ. Your actions showed perfect agreement with the desires of your mind.” His dimple appeared in the glimmer of a knowing smile. “The language of the body rarely can be hidden. One of the first lessons COIC agents are taught before being sent into the field.”
    “Stop trying to impress me with your agency’s tactics.” She rubbed her forehead as a headache started to form. “My lapse in judgment is due to the day’s events. They’ve tried me.”
    “No, facing danger has done away with your pretense. It took such to bring out the passion you’ve kept secret.”
    His words peeled her layers of defense apart, exposing the tender core. In Aspasia she had been orderly and exacting, but Rhys brought out another aspect in her. He coaxed a daring spirit within her that sought the company of a man and the possibility of falling in love again, notions that were getting the better of her every day that she spent in close