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Still he didn’t move toward her. Didn’t give in to the current that leaped back and forth between them. Her cells practically strained toward the sound of his voice.
“Then, maybe you ought to call off this engagement charade before you tank a season that means everything to you.” She wouldn’t make the first move again. Being impulsive with him the night before had only complicated things between them.
“I don’t think so.” He reached behind her and tugged a pin from the knot at the back of her head. Then, sifting through the half-fallen mass, he found two more and pulled them free.
Her hair tumbled to her bare shoulders and covered her arms. She shivered despite the warmth of the night, awareness flooding through her like high tide.
“Why not?” Her voice rasped low from the effort of not stepping closer. She wanted him to touch her the way he had the night before. Craved the feel of his body against hers.
“Because I have a better solution for all this distraction you’re causing.” He combed his fingers through the ends of her hair, smoothing it along her back.
Sensation shimmered over her skin, nerve endings dancing to life. Desire pooled in her belly as her gaze roamed over his powerful arms and shoulders, the solid wall of his chest that would be warm to her touch.
“A way to stop all this distraction?” She needed to know what he was thinking before her thoughts smoldered away in the blaze erupting between them.
“I’m beginning to think that’s a lost cause after last night.” His hands moved to her hips as he stepped into her space, crowding her in the most delicious possible way. “That dress you wore last night flipped some kind of switch in my head and I can’t stop thinking about this spot.” He palmed the front of her thigh. “Right here.”
Her breath caught on a hard gasp. Pleasure spiked. Her breasts beaded under the bodice of her dress.
“Do you remember where I mean?” His eyes were dark and lit by firelight, reflecting the bright orange flames beside them. He traced a pattern on the front of her leg, fingering gently. “There was a sheer place in the lace. Here.”
He increased the pressure of his touch and she couldn’t swallow a strangled sound in the back of her throat. He hadn’t even kissed her yet and she was utterly mesmerized.
“I remember.” Her words were a breathless whisper as she steadied herself against his shoulders, anchoring her quivering body with his strength.
“If I’m a bad friend to you, Addy, you only have that dress to blame.” He shifted his hold on her to align their hips, allowing her to feel how much he wanted her. “But I damn well can’t resist any longer.”
Seven
Dempsey’s control had snapped the second she’d suggested they could be even more in sync. He’d been hanging on by a thread before that moment, willing himself not to think about the tender brush of her lips on his the night before. Not to think about that damn siren’s dress she’d worn or the way she’d melted in his arms.
So by the time she’d made that one coy, flirtatious taunt, his restraint had simply incinerated.
From that moment on, he’d been plagued with sweaty visions of them moving together in perfect sensual accord. Now that he had his hands on her, molding her sweet, curvy body to his, he didn’t have a prayer of putting a lid back on this combustible attraction.
He kissed her. Hard. With deliberate purpose. Need. Seeking entrance, he explored every nuance of her mouth, claiming it with a hunger and thoroughness he couldn’t hold back. The way she opened for him, swayed into him, encouraged him all the more.
Unleashed, his emotions fired through the kiss until he all but devoured her. She clutched his shoulders, her nails biting ever so slightly into his skin through his shirt. He wished he could torch their clothes so he could feel the sting of that touch without barrier.
He bent to nuzzle her neck, tasting the skin all along her throat and under her ear until he found the source of her fragrance. The scent of roses made him throb with teeth-jarring need. He nipped and licked his way down her collarbone along the strap of her dress and peeled the fabric free. He had to feel more of her.
But right before he helped himself to one of her breasts, he remembered they were still outdoors. And even though it was nighttime, the fire might make them visible to one of the houses dotting the lake if someone was so inclined to spy. The porches of plenty of coastal homes were furnished with telescopes.
