He was too perceptive, too discerning, and his penetrating azure eyes always seemed to be able to look clear down to her soul. It was uncomfortable for her and made her uneasy around him for most of her adult life.
“Happy New Year, Jason,” she murmured and smiled at him politely.
Oh God, he smells good.
Hope felt the heat pulsating between her thighs just from inhaling his musky, woodsy scent, the essence of male pheromones that could make a woman drunk just from breathing him in. It was all she could do not to close her eyes and let herself drown in his f**k-me-now, deep voice and masculine smell.
She tilted her head back, and she was captivated by his liquid blue eyes. The color reminded her of the sky on a perfect summer day. At a fairly average height of five foot five, and adding on another three inches for the torturous heels she wore, Jason still towered over her and made her feel overwhelmed when he was this close to her. Defensively, she took a step back; his hands fell off her shoulders.
Jason registered a quick look of disappointment before it was gone, replaced by a mischievous grin, a smile that nearly melted Hope’s panties from her body.
“I want my New Year’s kiss,” he said, his voice nonchalant, though his eyes smoldered.
No. Not happening, big guy. If I get that close to you again, I’ll get lost in your scent, drown in those baby blues.
Hope knew if she let him too close to her, the carefully built façade that she’d worked so hard to perfect over the years would crumble. But she knew she couldn’t refuse completely. She had no reason not to kiss him. He was, after all, a family friend. Carefully, she took a tiny step forward and presented her cheek to him.
Jason closed the distance between them and took her champagne glass from her hand. He set it on a nearby table. “That’s not exactly what I had in mind, beautiful.” Taking her hand, he didn’t say another word as he led her to the balcony doors on the other side of the room, and spirited her outside.
Perplexed, Hope halted as he closed the door. They were alone on the patio. And it was damn cold out here! She was dressed in a fairly conservative black cocktail dress with long sleeves, but the hem flirted with her knees, and the cold air rushed up her skirt to chill her entire body. She rubbed her arms and shivered. She was rapidly turning into a block of ice. “What are you doing? Are you crazy? It’s freezing out here.” She ground her teeth from the cold.
Immediately, he divested himself of his tuxedo jacket and wrapped it around her upper body, using the lapels to draw her closer. “I needed privacy, and I’ll be more than happy to warm you up,” he answered, his voice husky and mysteriously urgent.
Hope luxuriated in the jacket, still warm from his body heat.
Dammit, it smells like him.
“Why did we need to be out here?” she asked, confused. “You could have just—”
He brought her whole body, jacket and all, against his warm, solid form, and cut off any protests she was going to make when his mouth covered hers. Hope’s toes curled in her painful, three-inch heels as Jason took possession of her lips and speared a hand into her shoulder-length auburn hair. The clips that had held it off her shoulders flew into the air as he devoured her. She gasped in surprise, which gave Jason the opportunity to deepen the kiss, tilt her head and explore the recesses of her mouth with his tongue so thoroughly that it took her breath away. Her damn treacherous body took over and responded as if her life depended on it; her arms wrapped around Jason’s neck and she surrendered to his embrace. He commanded, and she complied, letting him ravage every one of her senses as she responded to his dominant exploration, and reveled in it.
This is what she’d wanted, what she’d needed from Jason since her high school graduation, the day she’d finally admitted to herself that she was hot for him. He’d never made a move on her, never treated her as anything other than a friend, but she’d wanted… this. She’d felt the sexual tension between them since the day she’d seen him at her high school graduation party. Not sure if the longing was just coming from her or both of them, she’d avoided any kind of close contact or intimate conversation with him ever since she realized she wanted him. Now, she knew the attraction was mutual. The proof was hard and firm against her lower abdomen. She wasn’t sure whether she wanted to celebrate or run for the hills. The sensations she experienced from his carnal embrace were new to her, as exhilarating as they were frightening.
In the end, Hope’s traitorous body made the decision all by itself. Her female hormones did a victory cheer as she let her fingers slide into the coarse texture of his hair and yanked his mouth harder against her own.
Closer. I need to be closer to him. I need this. I need him.
She let her tongue duel with his, gave herself up to the moment. Jason was taboo, her secret fantasy come to life, and she let herself wallow in the passion of the desperate touch of his lips as he conquered her mouth. He brought her body to life for the first time in a very long time, and with far more intensity than she’d ever experienced. With Jason, there was no slow burn from his passionate kiss; she felt incinerated, overpowered by his masculinity, the heat between them completely consuming.
Finally, he pulled his mouth from hers. Both of them panted from the out-of-control encounter.
“That’s why I needed privacy,” he told her hungrily. His face was buried in her hair and she quivered from the heat of his breath on her neck. “Watching you from across the room was killing me.”
Coming back to reality, Hope tried to pull away from him. “Jason, I—”
“Don’t,” he growled. His arms tightened around her. “Don’t tell me that you didn’t want that and a whole lot more as much as I do.”
She couldn’t tell him that, because it would have been a lie. There had been enough lies in her life. She hadn’t expected her body to respond to desire like this, but she had a volatile reaction to Jason. “I did want it. If I didn’t, you’d be screaming in pain right now from me nailing you in the balls with my knee.”
And God help me, I do want more. But I can’t. I can’t do this.
She would never give herself over completely to physical desire, and she knew instinctively that with Jason, it would most likely be all or nothing. He was never tepid in anything he did, and she was fairly certain he’d want everything from her.
A low husky chuckle vibrated against her ear. “I’m happy to know you haven’t changed much,” he said, amused.