Wedding His Takeover Target by Emilie Rose Page A

stomach, but instead of filling her veins with icy mountain water, a warm thermal spring bubbled in her veins.
    Her brain and body worked against each other. One demanded she push him away. The other stubbornly held on tight. If her internal battle wasn’t enough, Gavin’s passionate embrace evoked so many long-suppressed memories. She’d forgotten the experience of having a man’s strong arms hold her tight, forgotten the heat of a muscle-packed body pressed against hers, and she’d forgotten how deliciously feminine the combination made her feel. But mostly she’d forgotten how it felt to crave more.
    More deep kisses. More firm, but gentle hands buffing her body. More of this heady, dizzy, free-falling sensation that made her cling even tighter to him for fear of losing her balance.
    This wasn’t supposed to happen. Not with him. Apparently she didn’t have to trust the man to desire him. He was attractive and she hadn’t had sex in a long time, so her reaction to him was probably just deprived hormones at work. But he and Pops were wrong. She wasn’t hiding. She wasn’t afraid.
    She wanted Gavin Jarrod, she admitted as their tongues dueled. And what was wrong with that? What was wrong with wanting to experience hot, sweaty mind-numbing passion one more time? It didn’t have to mean anything. In fact, she wouldn’t let it mean anything. She’d already had a man who’d loved as ardently as he’d lived, and like her grandfather, she’d never settle for second-best.
    Gavin’s hands skimmed her waist, her breasts, and her heart banged wildly. He lowered her coat’s zipper tooth by tooth. The rasp shattered the silence of the small room, then welcome cool air soothed her overheated skin. He parted her coat and spanned her rib cage, palms burning hot through her sweater as he stroked his thumbs back and forth beneathher breasts with breath-stealing effectiveness. The urge to press herself into his palms surged through her. It had been so long she almost didn’t recognize the bite of lust gnawing her middle.
    And then his hands slipped under the hem of her sweater and his skin found hers. She jumped. The chilly air contrasting with the heat of his touch set her core on fire. Breaking the kiss, she threw her head back and gasped for breath, for sanity, for control. Her head spun. Her knees wobbled. His lips scorched a path from her cheek to her temple then down the side of her neck. Desire thundered over her like a storm coming over the mountains, rumbling with a strength she couldn’t remember experiencing before. But she must have. With Russell.
    Was she making a mistake? Playing with fire? Taking on more than she could handle?
    The heady rush caused by Gavin’s warm breath on her skin combined with the slick heat of his tongue teasing the sensitive spot behind her ear and his teeth grazing the cord of her neck provided her answer. She had to taste the passion, had to sample the need of a hungry man. She’d missed that feeling so much. Too much. She’d allow Gavin into her life long enough to take the edge off. But that was it. Nothing more. No promises. No long-term. Just this. Today.
    She shoved Gavin’s coat off his shoulders. He whipped hers down her arms. Breathing heavily, he cupped her face, traced her jaw as if he were trying to slow down. Then he pressed his lips together, and with a rueful grimace shook his head and yanked her close.
    The impact of his ravenous kiss robbed her breath, her balance, her reason. He kissed her as if he couldn’t get enough of her and a similar sensation swelled inside her. She clung to him. The hard length of his erection burned against her hips. Cool air swept her midsection, then he eased his upper torsoaway only far enough to whisk her sweater over her head. She had a moment to feel uncomfortable and exposed in her plain white bra before he ripped off his own shirt, and then her doubts