She certainly seemed to want this. Connor deepened the kiss and found Kate’s tongue with his and the world began to spin away.
Until Kate surfaced to drag in a breath. ‘Um… dinner?’ she whispered.
‘Forget dinner,’ Connor growled. ‘Where’s your bedroom?’
* * *
She could do this.
She’d never wanted anything as much as this. Kate lifted her arms to help Connor remove her top. Her hair whispered against her bare skin and Connor’s hands were tangled in its length.
‘Your hair is amazing,’ he said. He was holding chunks of it in his hands. Kate could feel her head anchored by the touch, but she didn’t mind. Not when Connor’s lips were on hers again. When his tongue was dancing with hers and it was making her feel that she wanted more. So much more.
She wanted it all.
And then her hair was released and Kate felt the strap of her bra being undone and Connor’s hands came under her arms and touched her breasts, his thumbs grazing her nipples, and it felt exactly like it did in those dreams.
Only better.
Connor had shed his own shirt now.
His chest was broad, the muscles deliciously defined, with just a smattering of dark hair that arrowed down to the waistband of his jeans where he was undoing the fastening. He kept his eyes locked on Kate’s and she couldn’t look away.
Oh… Lord…
Kate’s mouth went dry with desire while other parts of her body did quite the opposite.
And then he was naked. Huge and warm and intent on her. So intent, he stopped watching her face as he took off the rest of her clothes. They were skin-to-skin now and she could hear the rasp of Connor’s ragged breathing as he pulled her so close she could feel the entire length of his body. It was like a dance move, the way he eased her onto the bed, and then he raised himself on one elbow, tracing her body with his other hand.
Her collar bone and her breast. The dip into her waist, his fingers trailing across her belly as his hand lowered. And then he touched her between her legs and Kate felt the first brush of panic.
No… This was Connor. She could do this.
But even as the battle waged behind her closed lids, Kate knew she was losing. She could feel herself pulling away. Back to the safe place where she could just watch what was happening to her body.
She couldn’t feel it any longer. The thrill of Connor’s touch was gone. It was pure mechanics and when the time came she would have to fake an orgasm. Just like she always had.
‘Katie?’
Her eyes flew open. Connor had stopped touching her. He was looking at her instead and his face was very alert. The blurred intensity of unfulfilled desire had gone.
‘What’s wrong?’ he asked quietly.
‘Nothing.’ Kate reached for him. ‘Don’t stop…’
But Connor caught her hands and held them. ‘Talk to me,’ he said. ‘Tell me why you switched off like that.’
Kate was horrified. Admittedly the sample wasn’t very large but to her knowledge, none of the men she had slept with had ever guessed where her head was. But why would they? She’d never started with them in the place she had started with Connor.
Wanting this so much.
Wantinghim.
‘I… don’t know what you mean.’
Connor was silent. And Kate felt ashamed of herself for lying to him.
‘I’m sorry,’ she whispered.
