When You Dare by Lori Foster Page A

breakup with Adrian and her father’s censure had left her struggling for her self-confidence. So many accolades now put her on the verge of being weepy. She didn’t feel brave or ingenious. She felt used, duped, angry and, deep down, very scared.
    Twisting around a little, she half sat up and looked at Dare. “Those men didn’t kiss me.”
    “No?”
    She shook her head. “You don’t have to worry about me overreacting to that.”
    For only an instant, he flashed that crooked grin again. Then something much hotter replaced the humor. “You want another kiss, do you?”
    “I really do.”
    Dare looked at her bruised cheekbone, at another fading mark beneath her eye. “They hit you.” His voice roughened; his hands on her tightened in a sign of protectiveness. “And bit you.”
    Molly drew in a thin breath. She couldn’t deny it, but right now the reality of that seemed further away. “You’re not trying to do either.”
    For the longest time he watched her, trying to gauge her mood, she knew. Molly just waited, anticipation heightened, tension coiling.
    He said very softly, with suggestion, “Well, maybe the bite, yeah?”
    She blinked, her body clenching with interest as he leaned in, ever so slowly, toward her neck. She felt his hot breath first, then the feather-light press of his mouth, the sensual touch of his damp tongue and, lastly, the light grazing of his sharp teeth along her skin.
    Her breath caught loud enough that he paused, but when she didn’t pull away, he resumed teasing her, making her toes curl, her stomach flutter. He opened his mouth and treated her to a tantalizing love bite that sent liquid sensation throughout her whole body.
    Near her ear, he whispered, “Now, when you think of biting, think of me, okay?”
    Caught up in building need, Molly wrapped her hands around the back of his neck and sought his mouth. She actually needed his kiss as much if not more than she needed sleep.
    “Easy,” he whispered, and then his mouth was on hers, taking and giving, consuming her awareness of everything but him.
    Even as his kiss overshadowed her worries, she wondered: How was this so different? Before now, she’d thought a kiss was a kiss was a kiss. Some were exciting, some were so-so, but kissing Dare caused a singular effect in her.
    In a nanosecond, a kiss from him ratcheted up her need. She wasn’t an overly sexual woman at the best of times, and this, most definitely, was not the best of times. She should have been sleeping as he’d suggested, and instead…
    He gave her his tongue, and everything in her tightened with desire.
    Molly tried to scoot closer to him, into him. She let her hands wander over his broad, hard shoulders, down over bulging pecs and lower still to his flat abdomen. All over he was solid, hot and powerful.
    She got one hand in under his T-shirt, made contact with his sleek skin, up his side to his muscular back…and then she felt it—the telltale rise of an erection beneath her hip.
    He pulled his mouth away with a low curse.
    “Dare?” She was breathing too hard and fast. “You—”
    “I know. Trust me, it’s not something I’d miss.”
    Incredibly, Molly rolled in her lips and tried to figure out the possibilities of the scenario. She glanced over her shoulder toward the cockpit that housed the two pilots. As long as they stayed there, she and Dare had moderate privacy….
    Dare gave a gruff laugh. “Forget it. Not happening.”
    That he’d so easily read her thoughts left her blushing.
    He shook his head. “You’re something else, you know that?” He kissed her hard and quick before urging her head to his shoulder. “I want you to try and sleep. I need some time to think.”
    Toes curled and body throbbing, Molly forced herself to relax against him. She hoped he wasn’t thinking of how to handle her. She didn’t want to be handled. She wasn’t sure what she wanted, really. Except maybe more—
    Before she could finish that thought, Dare kissed