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NINETEEN
It had been another long day, another session of working well into the evening on the security system project with Rayner for the third week in a row, and by this time of night, Farren should have been exhausted. The little growing ball of cells tucked away into her belly had drained her of energy lately, and she had felt fati
gue for several weeks now like she had never known, but tonight was different.
Tonight, the hormones had gotten the better of her, and the light, masculine scent of Rogan’s cologne had been doing things to her for hours. Was it the cologne, or the way his hair fell in messy waves over his forehead that begged for her to brush them back into place? She wasn’t sure, but either way, she could feel the thrill rushing through her like a soft, steady hum that gradually grew in intensity as the evening grew later.
It didn’t help that it seemed he had taken every opportunity to touch her all evening long, and each touch affected her more than the last. A squeeze of her shoulder, a brush of her elbow, she didn’t know how much more she could withstand before she spontaneously combusted with desire.
A knock came from the locked entrance door, and Rogan left the room to pay the delivery guy for the take-out food they had ordered in. When he came back, he sat the boxes of Chinese stir fries, steamed rice, and egg rolls on an interview table tucked in the corner of his sizable office and invited her to take a break to join him for a bite.
She wasn’t about to turn him down. Chinese had been one of the few types of foods she could eat without making her want to vomit that had any kind of spicy smell to it, and she couldn’t get enough of it, but she made no apologies for grabbing a slice of chocolate cake and digging into it before anything else.
She had a mouthful when she looked up to notice Rogan watching her with an amused grin.
“What?” she said, her fork hand covering her mouth full of chocolatey goodness.
He chuckled. “Nothing. You just seem to really be enjoying that cake.”
A wide smile spread across her cheeks and she nodded.
Rogan reached out to wipe a fleck of chocolate icing from her chin just below her bottom lip, then sucked the icing from his thumb while maintaining eye contact with her the entire time. It sent a thrill through her, and she longed for him to touch her again, and again.
“You didn’t want me saving that for later?” she teased, speaking around the fork in her mouth.
The corners of his eyes crinkled. “My apologies,” he said, and playfully swiped his finger through the chocolate icing before rubbing the small dab back onto her chin, barely grazing her lower lip in the process.
God, that was sexy, she thought, and now it was only fair that she repay him the favor. She laughed, swiped her own finger through the icing, and went to dab some across his chin in return. He moved to dodge it, but only managed to make it so that she missed his chin and smeared the sweet, creamy substance across his lips.
They both laughed, and his tongue darted out to lick some of the icing from his mouth. She looked around for a napkin, and finally found them in a chair across the room where the bags the food had come in were still laying.
She stood to walk toward them when he grabbed her by the hand, stopping her. He stood from his chair in front of her, only inches away, and her pulse began to race in response to his proximity. Did he have any idea of the effect he had on her?
He raised his hands to caress her chin to wipe away the chocolate he had smeared, and before she had time to process it, his face drew close to hers and his lips pressed feather light to where the chocolate covered her. She could feel his warm tongue, so tender and pliant, dart out and wet her skin. His hands wove into her hair, cupping her face as his mouth set her entire body on fire.
A soft moan escaped her before she realized or had a chance to stop it, and this made him back away just enough to look deep into her eyes. What was he searching for?
She looked up hungrily back into his, and then she pressed herself upwards on her tiptoes to kiss the chocolate from his lips.
It was the softest, sweetest, most delicious kiss she thought she had ever experienced, both literally and figuratively. She almost couldn’t believe any of this was happening, and if she hadn’t known any better, she would have sworn she was dreaming. But this was no dream. He was really here, wrapping his thick, strong arms around her to pull her in closer and deepen the kiss that was threatening to consume her entirely.
She could feel the sparks flying between them. Could he feel it, too? She couldn’t even recall if she had come on to him, or if he had come on to her first, but what mattered now was that she realized in this moment that she had been waiting for this for weeks. The feel of his body pressed to hers was like a period at the end of a sentence. She just hadn’t been complete until he was there.
Before she knew it, he had trailed his hands down her body, lifted her up and backed her up to sit her on the edge of the table, pushing the Chinese food out of her way in the process. He took up residence standing between her legs, so close to her body she could feel his warmth radiating off him, permeating her flesh. He didn’t try to press her further, just kissed her long and deep, and she drank him in like a soul-quenching drink to a woman dying of thirst.
His fingers trailed a gentle caress down one side of her face, and she took the opportunity to explore the lines and curves of his face with her own hands, brushing over the harsh lines of his jaw, the prickly roughness of his five o’clock shadow, and after removing the frames from his eyes, the scar she trailed a finger over in the center of his eyebrow.
He seemed to revel in her explorations of him, and he grazed his thumb across her lips before claiming them once more. The moment was so sensual and tender, such a stark contrast from the usual gruffness she saw in him from day to day, and her heart swelled to see that this intimidating, ruthless man could touch and hold her with such warmth and affection, just like the one other night they had shared together.
She felt so close and so cherished by him in this moment, the thought bubbled up inside her. Should she tell him the truth? She was so close to opening up and admitting this life-altering secret she’d been keeping from him and everyone for weeks. Could she trust him? Would it change everything?
What was she thinking? Of course it would change everything. Nothing would ever be the same, but would he leave her out in the cold, or welcome her into his warm, protective arms the way he was holding her this very moment?
“Rogan?” she began when his lips made a sensuous line down her throat.
“Yes?” he breathed, deep and smooth.
“There’s something I’ve been meaning to tell you,” she said, letting her head fall back to give him undeterred access to the sensitive flesh at the valley between her collarbones. God, his mouth felt so good on her.
