AllFreeNovel
Share Us
I pad over there too and stand beside him. "I know telling me to 'bugger off' is a rude thing to say. Don't insult me. I'm here to help you, but I can't do that if you refuse to cooperate."
"Are you my image consultant or my therapist?"
"Whatever you need me to be. Just don't get nasty again. Got it?"
"Sorry. I know I've been an arse." He rubs his eyes and sighs. "Scotland is…something I'm not ready to talk about yet."
"Fair enough." I lay a hand on his arm, feeling the firmness of his biceps. Wow, he's got nice muscles under that fancy polo shirt. "Maybe you can tell me about the Duke's wife instead."
"What about her? She's a lovely woman, but very confused, I think. She probably thought shagging me would make her happy because she'd have her revenge on her husband." He rubs the back of his neck, wincing faintly. "I assume that's why she told him we spent the night together. We didn't shag for the whole night, though. Just an hour or so, then we fell asleep. But she made it sound as if I fucked her like mad until morning. Still, I don't blame her. She has to live with that toerag."
I lean against him, though I'm not sure why. It feels right. "Did you enjoy having sex with a stranger?"
"No. It left a bad taste in my mouth." He lays his hand over mine on his arm. "I'm really not the way the tabloids have portrayed me. That's the Duke's version of events."
"Yeah, I know." He smells so good that I want to bury my face against his neck. But that would be so far beyond unprofessional that I'd have to fire myself for doing it. The soft, husky tone of his voice does strange things to me too. Maybe that explains why I say, "I have to admit, I'm curious about your reputation as Lord Steamy."
His gaze flicks to me, and his lips curl into a sexy smile. "How curious?"
"Very."
"If you really want to understand me…" He rotates toward me and cups my face in his hands. "You should experience Lord Steamy firsthand."
Yes, please, yes.That's what my body wants me to say. But my brain realizes this is a bad idea. I'll wind up with my face splashed across every tabloid. But he smells so good, and his eyes twinkle in the sunlight, and his hands feel warm and wonderful splayed across my cheeks. "I can't do that. It would be…um…"
"Wrong? Unprofessional?" He moves closer until his body brushes mine and his lips hover millimeters away. His breaths tease my mouth. "Isn't that what makes it exciting? We're alone in my flat. No one will ever know what we do here, together, right now."
His tone has become truly steamy, and my body reacts by growing slick and hot in all the best places.
Then he skims his lips over mine. "One kiss. Let me taste you, Avery, please."
"Oh, Hugh." I can't control my body anymore. It leans into him. While he tips my head back, I lay my palms on his chest and gaze into his eyes. "Kiss me."
Lord Steamy presses his mouth to mine.
I melt against him, closing my eyes so I can revel in the sensations of his soft lips exploring mine while he dives his fingers into my hair. The second he slips his tongue between my lips, I moan softly and surrender to the kiss. Gripping fistfuls of his shirt, I plunge my tongue into his mouth and moan again while I devour him like he's the most decadent dessert in the world and I'll never get to taste it again after this moment. He wraps his arms around me, hugging me to his hard body and the erection blossoming against my belly. I feel like I'm floating on a sensual cloud as he torments me with his tongue, coiling it around mine only to withdraw, then diving in again to tease the roof of my mouth.
One of his hands shifts down to my ass.
If he asked me to have sex with him right now, I'd say yes. We'd be halfway to heaven before I realized what I'd done. But this is only a kiss. Sure, it's the hottest, deepest, most incredible kiss in the history of the universe, and I want it to go on forever. Since I can't do that, I marshal every iota of willpower I have left, which isn't much, and pull my mouth away from his. He still holds me firmly against his body with his hand on my bottom. We're both breathing hard.
Holy shit. I never understood the Lord Steamy thing until just this minute. I'd treated it as a joke. But no, he genuinely does steam up a woman's libido. Can't blame the Duke's wife for screwing Hugh. I'd do it too if it weren't completely unethical.
Although I clear my throat, I can't summon the willpower to push him away. "Hugh, that was, um…"
"Now it's Hugh? What happened to 'I will only refer to you as Lord Sommerleigh'? You said that a few hours ago."
"I know. And I shouldn't have used your first name. Shouldn't have kissed you either." I wriggle free of his embrace and stagger backward a couple of steps. "This was a huge mistake. I'm sorry. I shouldn't have let that happen. From now on, we will only see each other at your office."
"There's no need to panic, darling. It was a kiss, not a binding contract for sex."
"But I work for your mother, and by extension, you. This is business, not a romantic dalliance. Nod your head if you understand and agree."
"I'm not a child, Avery. Yes, I understand. But I can't agree that this is nothing more than business, not after that kiss." He takes a step toward me, extending a hand, then seems to think better of it and shoves his hands into his pants pockets. "Would you like me to promise I'll behave myself?"
"You shouldn't make vows you can't keep. We both know flirting is like breathing to you. You said it yourself, it's a reflex."
He opens his mouth but shuts it again when I raise a hand.
