“You don’t need to.”
“But I want to,” she said with a smirk, echoing his previous words.
He rubbed his hands together briskly. “It’s still cold in here. Perhaps the system is struggling with the extreme weather. It shouldn’t be, but—” As if on cue, a loud pop and a crashing sound on the roof made them both start. Then the lights flickered and died. “Geez, talk about asking for it,” he muttered.
“I can’t see a thing.” Piper hunched into the armchair for safety.
“Give it a minute or two and the backup systems will kick in.”
“Are you sure?”
“Of course I am.” His tone turned from irritated to more gentle as she heard him moving around. “You sound scared.”
She felt a warm hand find her ankle in the dark. “If I was the cat, I’d be crapping all over your sofa.” She felt a ripple of excitement as his fingers stroked upwards underneath the hem of the sweatpants.
She heard him chuckle. “Please don’t do that. Everything is going to be just fine.”
“Is that why you’re stroking my leg?”
“Oh, is that what it is? So silky and soft…”
“Stop it.” She giggled as his fingers tiptoed even further up her leg. “You know damn well you’re groping a defenseless woman in your lair in the dark.”
“Defenseless? I’d take the cat on before I picked a fight with you, darling.”
She sighed and closed her eyes even though everything was in darkness, acutely aware that he was kneeling at her feet. “Actually, it’s very soothing considering how stressed I am. It’s been quite a day.”
“It’s the least I can do.” She heard him shift closer, sensed his warmth, and then felt his breath feather her hair. Her own breath hitched as he brushed his lips on her forehead. “Your skin is very cool.”
If she had any guts or self-respect, she’d put a few feet between them very quickly because she had a good idea where this would end if she let it. “It must be shock,” she murmured as her insides began to feel jittery, and she lifted her chin until she could feel his breath on her lips.
“It’s my responsibility to make sure you survive the night.” Their mouths touched briefly, and he tasted of hops and the dark bitter chocolate bar they’d shared after dinner.
“Yes…yes, it must be.” She lifted a hand and found the hard edge of his jaw, now roughened by stubble. She scraped her fingernails lightly across it. “But it’s a little overcautious to start mouth-to-mouth straight away.”
“The Red Cross would never let me join.” She felt his body tremble with a small laugh. “I break rules too often.”
His mouth came down slowly onto hers, giving her plenty of time to pull away if she wanted to. She didn’t want to. She melted into the kiss like butter in hot rum, threading her fingers through his thick hair and pulling him in closer. She felt the heat and hardness of him through the two layers of their clothes, and the memories of how he’d felt inside her in Florida came flooding back with a vividness that took her breath away. There was an intoxicating magic about him, something that made everything seem all right when she was in his arms. The outside world was forgotten when they were kissing.
She stiffened as his hand found the curve of her breast in the darkness. This was only going to end one way if she didn’t push him away immediately. She pressed her hand against the hard muscle of his chest and then a burst of light made her cry out with surprise. “The lights—”
Adjusting to the sudden brightness, her gaze met his deep, dark, slumberous eyes and she realized she’d never seen such a beautiful male specimen in her life. How could she have ever thought it would be easy to resist him again after she’d been so blown away before? He could make her come with just one bite when he looked at her like that. “No Matt, no more.”
His fingertips brushed over her nipple through the soft fabric of her top. “That’s not what your body’s saying.”
An exasperated gasp escaped her lips. “My body is stupid. This is my brain talking.”
His hand fell away. “I can always make the lights go out again.”
“Do that and all you’ll be seeing is stars.” She peeled his hands away and wriggled out of the chair. “And you’ll probably be scratched to death, because I’m going to sleep with the cat. She’ll think you’re a predator, and her teeth are sharp. Good night.”
She heard him chuckle as she made her way upstairs and a small voice in her mind told her this was not the end of the matter.
Not by a long way.
Chapter Seven
“Can we forget about last night?” She glanced at him over her shoulder, a brief flash of emeralds zoning in on the towel around his hips and then up to his bare chest. Then she turned to the view outside the kitchen’s french doors. “It wasn’t a good idea.”
Matt yawned as he flicked on the coffee machine and rubbed his eyes. “Sleeping with the cat, you mean? Did Kitty swipe you in the night?” She was withdrawing from him, emotionally as well as physically. He was going to reel her back to where they were the night before, right back to the point where their lips had touched again for the first time since Sanibel. His plan to wait for her to come on to him had been shelved, as had his no business mixed with pleasure rule. He was the boss and he’d break all the rules if he wanted to. Because he wanted Piper Reilly.
“You know exactly what I mean. The inappropriate intimacy.”
“Inappropriate intimacy?” He laughed and pulled a face. “We’re not in high school. That kiss in the dark was all about sex and you know it. Sex makes the world go round, sex helps sell all kinds of things, and without sex the planet would die.”
She jerked sideways as he came up behind her and stole a playful kiss on the back of her neck. Her tone was brittle. “You make it all sound so…so necessary. Does whatever ants and bees do count as sex?”
“Technically, it must.” He ignored her frown and ran a fingertip lazily down her cheek. “So tell me, what did I do so wrong in Florida?”
Her head swiveled around, and she looked taken aback. “Oh, nothing. Really nothing at all. You were great, amazing.” She coughed. “And don’t you think you should put some clothes on?”
“Later.” He leaned against the door so she had to look him in the eye. “But you ran out on me. No note, no phone number, nothing.”