Free Playing with Temptation by Erika Wilde Page B

all she could think about was his mouth on hers, his fingers stroking between her thighs to ease the building ache there….
    He stepped closer, until the front of his hard body touched hers and gently pushed her backwards with nothing more than the pressure of his muscular thighs against hers. Her heart rate accelerated, and she took a step back, then tried to take another but came up against the wooden edge of her dining table. Trapped between two very unyielding objects, she felt a moment of panic. All that sheer strength overwhelmed her, and Raina’s first instinct was to push him back so every breath she inhaled didn’t make her dizzy with the scent of him .
    Even before she could raise her free hand to his chest to keep him from crowding her further, he anticipated her move. “ Don’t ,” he said, soft yet commanding.
    Her stomach flipped, and their gazes connected. Just one simple word that held a wealth of meaning, one of which she read in his dark, glittering eyes. Trust me , and Lord help her, she did. Probably more than was wise when she knew he was a man who liked to be in control—and that control had the ability to strip away all those protective barriers until she lay physically bare.
    He took her wineglass from her fingers and set it on the table away from them, along with his bottled water. Encircling her waist with his big, strong hands, he effortlessly lifted her and scooted her bottom back so that she was sitting on the table. His palms gripped her knees and gently but firmly pushed them wide apart to make room for him to step in between her spread legs, which he did as he slowly pushed up the hem of her dress so it didn’t get caught between them.
    Her thighs bracketed his hips, the scratch of denim against her tender skin so arousing she had to swallow back a moan. Only a few inches separated the crotch of her panties from the bulge she’d glimpsed beneath the zipper of his jeans. Resisting the urge to wrap her legs around his thighs to draw him closer so she could rub herself against the hard length of him took extreme effort.
    He braced just the tips of his fingers on the table on each side of where she sat, making her aware of the fact that he was deliberately holding back from touching her—which only increased the desire and need building within her.
    And he knew it, too.
    “From the moment I saw you in the conference room this morning, there’s been one question I’ve wanted to ask you,” he said, his tone suddenly serious.
    “Okay,” she whispered, both curious and a little nervous about said question.
    “Why did you run out on me last night?”
    There was no anger in his voice, just a quiet intensity that compelled her to be completely honest with him. “I never meant for anything that happened at the club to be more than a one-night stand with a stranger,” she replied truthfully.
    Because she wasn’t prepared for him to delve deeper into her answer, which would mean explaining too much of her painful past, she turned it around on him. “Why did you come after me? Because I bruised your male ego?” It was the only explanation that made sense to her.
    An amused smile touched the corners of his mouth. “Going after you had nothing to do with my ego, although I have to admit you are the first woman I’ve ever chased after.”
    Why did that admission make her feel ridiculously pleased? “Should I be flattered?”
    “Oh, yeah,” he said huskily, confidently. “ Very flattered.”
    He softly tapped his fingers against the table next to her hips, reminding Raina that he still wasn’t touching her. And she wanted him to. Badly. “If you don’t chase after women, then why me?”
    “Because fucking you once wasn’t nearly enough, and I want a helluva lot more.”
    Her breath caught at his frank, uncensored statement. The explicit words caused a rush of warmth to spiral low and moisture to dampen her panties. “Oh.”
    He smirked at her startled response. “Do you remember