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I ducked my head to hide my blush. Suddenly, he was close enough that I was inundated with that intoxicating blend of mint, almonds, and man. It had been easy to daydream about him, but there was no substitute for the real thing.
Brandon played a finger over my jaw and tipped my chin up so I had to look into his eyes. My yearning was reflected back at me. I swallowed as he followed his finger with his nose. My skin pebbled deliciously beneath his touch, set alight with goose bumps that had nothing to do with the weather.
“One week,” he murmured, “is too long to go without seeing you. I won’t do it again.” His finger traced the neckline of my dress, skimming my collarbone.
“Well, you probably need my number then,” I said, my voice unnecessarily breathy.
His nose, accompanied by the warm breath, the suggestion of his mouth, nuzzled the soft skin under my jaw. I barely stifled a whimper.
“Oh, I’m going to need a lot more than that,” he rumbled against my ear before pressing his mouth below it.
I gripped the doorknob to keep my balance. His lips were softer than I remembered. Involuntarily, I arched my neck into his face, urging him to do what, I wasn’t entirely sure. At this point, I didn’t really care.
“Say the word, Red.” He nipped my earlobe and continued a path with his mouth to my cheek. “I want to kiss you so badly right now, but I won’t if you don’t want me to.”
That would be the biggest lie I’d ever told. I wanted his kiss; Christ, I wanted a lot more than that—it suddenly didn’t matter that we hadn’t even had a real date yet. I pushed him away, watching with some satisfaction as a vein popped out from his neck when he tried not to fight the separation.
He wanted to be close. I couldn’t agree more.
“I want you to kiss me,” I told him clearly.
He grunted and crashed his lips into mine with all the urgency and longing that had been compounding through the week. I slipped my fingers into his hair and yanked him closer, eager to feel the heat of his body. He grabbed me under the knees and hoisted me up against the door, and my legs wrapped around his waist as I ground my pelvis against him.Wanton, I thought, but I didn’t care. He was completely intoxicating. I couldn’t get close enough.
“Jesus!” Brandon moved from my lips to nip at my neck in between hurried breaths. “Fuck!”
“Yes,that!” I urged him on before he hurried back to my mouth. This wasn’t a sweet kiss in the snow or a brief onslaught in his office. This was something else completely—all-consuming, no-holds-barred, straight-uplust.
Holding my ass to keep me pressed against him, he tore us off the door and carried me easily around the kitchen table and down the hallway, toward the bedrooms.
“Which one?” Brandon demanded in between kisses.
“On the right,” I said, pulling his head back to my neck, where he could continue that magic with his tongue. I’d be wearing turtlenecks for a week after this, but it was worth every bite.
We fell as one onto my double bed, which was way too small for Brandon’s large frame. He didn’t seem to notice, preoccupied as he was with kissing across my collarbone and stretching the neckline of my dress so he could find the hollow between my breasts.
“Mmmphmm!”
“What?” I asked, barely able to speak in the way of his ministrations.
Brandon lifted his head, much to my disappointment.
“I said,” he replied hoarsely, “take it off.”
It wasn’t a request. My skin erupted in goose bumps again at the thought of him touching my bare skin—all of it. I stared at the ceiling, willing the telltale flush I knew was rising over my body to go away so I could summon the courage to strip in front of a man I hardly knew. A man, I realized, I was really starting to like.
Brandon pulled us both back up to standing and watched with a carnal expression as I nervously reached for the hem of my dress. With my eyes closed, I peeled it off like a wrapper and let it drop to the floor, leaving me in nothing but my bra, underwear, stockings, and shoes.
When I didn’t immediately feel his warmth against me again, I opened my eyes, praying I wouldn’t see disappointment. I knew I wasn’t exactly bad to look at, but I had a feeling someone like Brandon Sterling didn’t settle for average. A man like this could have any woman he wanted.
“Everything okay?” I asked nervously.
I still hadn’t found the courage to meet his eyes. We hadn’t even turned on my bedroom light. With the hall light streaming behind his dark form in long, bright rays, Brandon was more superhero than Friday-night date.
He had shucked his jacket, which was now hanging on one of my bedposts. He stood with one thumb hooked casually through a belt loop, his shirt charmingly untucked on one side and his tie flipped over his shoulder. His hair was a disaster from my hands yanking at it, but its disarray only added to his appeal.
“Christ,” he said quietly, staring at me with intensity and awe that I’d never experience when anyone else had looked at me. Especially like this. “You are so goddamn beautiful, you know that?”
I shied, but Brandon stepped closer and tilted my chin up with a finger.
