Free A Convenient Husband by Kim Lawrence

attractive woman his mind naturally turns to…’ At least that was the way he’d eventually justified his fantasies during the long, long night.
    â€˜The gutter?’ Maybe she was just starved for admiration of the male variety. It might explain the way her senses leapt in response to his casual announcement. After all, she knew it was just talk. If there had been any spark between them she’d have noticed years ago…it wasn’t as if they hadn’t had plenty of opportunities to have sex over the years if they’d wanted. They just hadn’t wanted to.
    â€˜Is it so bad, Tess, to want to give and receive a little comfort?’ The cynicism she hated was absent from his voice as his eyes slowly searched her face.
    Put it like that and I sound churlish if I disagree. My God, but this man had a great way with words. It wasn’t just what he said, it was the way he did it. Those eyes, that charisma—was it any wonder her brain had stopped functioning?
    â€˜No…yes…You’re confusing me…’ she protested weakly.
    â€˜The more I think about it, the more I think that closing the bedroom door and saying to hell with the world would be the best thing for us both!’ He sank his fingers into the rich softness of her hair and brought his face down to hers.
    â€˜Who would we be hurting?’ he growled.
    Tess was sure there were several good answers to that husky, intimate question, but at that moment she couldn’t bring one to mind.
    â€˜Right now you’re hurting me.’ She twisted her confined head a little to show him how. An ambiguous mixture of fear and excitement ripped through her as his fingers slid under the heavy weight of her hair down to the back of her neck.
    The touch was like neat electricity; it blitzed along her nerve-endings. Eyes half closed, breath coming fast and shallow, Tess moved her head from side to side, not actually to resist the fresh constraint, more to appreciate the texture of his fingertips against her skin. Did it make her a sad, undersexed excuse for a woman that this was the single most sensual incident in her life?
    Rafe felt the voluptuous shudder of pleasure that quivered through her slight frame and his eyes darkened. ‘I knew you’d agree.’ The intensity of his own relief took him by surprise. It was almost as great as the anticipation that sharpened every sense in his body.
    Roused by the ‘I told you so’ note in his voice, Tess opened her mouth to put him right. She would have, too, in no uncertain terms if he hadn’t at that same moment covered it with his.
    Her eyes widened in shock and refocused on his face so close to her own. At this distance she could have appreciated how fine-textured his olive-toned skin actually was if she’d been in a fit state to think about such matters. It was the expression in his spectacular eyes, which like her own were open, that obliterated every other thought. She gave a deep sigh as her eyelids drooped over her burning eyes. The flood of pleasure was so intense, she moaned low in her throat, the sound merging with the masculine groan that vibrated deep in Rafe’s chest.
    Tess’s hands clutched at empty space, and curled into tight balls to stop herself grabbing at him and hauling him on top of her…Yes, she realised as he lifted his head, that was exactly what she wanted to do.
    Eyes spitting green flames, she wiped the back of her hand firmly across her mouth. It didn’t stop her tasting him but she wasn’t about to tell him that.
    â€˜You kissed me.’
    â€˜I’d have been disappointed if you hadn’t noticed. What’s the verdict?’
    â€˜The verdict is you’re off your head if you think I’d agree to have sex with you!’ She decided last minute to rephrase the why would I do that ? She’d be deep in trouble if he took it into his head to show her why! ‘If you can’t read my