Free Tycoon by Joanna Shupe Page B

delicious.
    Small hands reached for his vest buttons. Panicked, he pulled away. “No, wait. We should stop before something happens that you’ll regret.”
    Clear green eyes met his. “You don’t know what I want, so how do you know what I will regret?”
    Because he knew more about sexual relations than she did. She would regret letting some stranger on a train be her first lover. Perhaps not today, but someday in the not too distant future. He was sure of it. Hell, she didn’t even know who he was—a novelty for him. How long had it been since a woman wanted Ted, instead of Theodore Harper?
    Still, he would do the honorable thing, even if it killed him.
    * * *
    Clara could see the denial in the tightening of Ted’s jaw and the crease in his brow. For her, stopping meant giving up. Giving up on passion, romance. Everything he’d made her feel.
    He’d curled her toes. Moreover, she’d seen stars. How could she walk away from that, pretend it never happened? More than anything, she wanted to give him pleasure. To affect him as he had affected her. She needed this to be equal, not some exercise he performed out of pity for her.
    She sat and rolled up onto her knees. As she moved closer, he held up his hands to stop her.
    â€œYou’re right,” he told her. “I don’t know what you want. But you’ll regret being intimate with a man you just met.”
    â€œWhy, because I’m some silly girl who can’t possibly know what she wants? I may be a shop girl,” she said, her hands now within reach of his vest buttons, “but I’ve been taking care of myself for a long time.”
    She slipped a button free.
    â€œI don’t think you’re silly,” he said quietly.
    â€œBut you do think you know what’s better for me than I do.” Another button.
    â€œNo, but this is hardly appropriate.”
    â€œ Life is hardly appropriate.” She rapidly dealt with the remaining buttons and pushed the vest over his shoulders. “That is why we must grab moments of happiness when we can. For example, if that policeman were to catch up with me tomorrow, I might never have a chance—”
    â€œDo not even say it. I won’t allow that to happen.”
    While his protectiveness warmed her insides, what could a bank executive do against the New York City police? She smiled and slipped his suspenders down his arms. While he didn’t complain, he didn’t help, either.
    â€œYour concern for my well-being is quite sweet, Ted, but no one knows what the future may bring. I’d rather live for now .”
    Necktie removed, his shirt collar came off next. Then she started on his shirt buttons. His big hand covered hers.
    â€œAre you certain? Because once it’s done, there’s no going back.”
    She bit her lip but nodded. Her fingers went to the hem of her chemise and lifted it over her head. She heard him suck in a breath—and then he pounced.
    He claimed her mouth in a hot, blistering kiss. From there, remaining clothes were pushed aside until there was just warm, rough skin. He stretched her out beneath him on the bed and started kissing her again. His erection poked her thigh, and she squirmed against him, ready for something more .
    â€œWrap your legs around my hips.”
    She eagerly complied and he reached between them to fit his shaft to her opening. Bracing himself on his arms, he eased in farther, his sharp breaths teasing the skin of her neck, and then he drove down with a thrust that pierced her straight through.
    The air left her lungs and she blinked. Dimly, she noticed as he threw his head back and let out a long groan. She focused on the base of his throat, where his pulse pounded just under the skin, instead of the intense fullness between her legs. It didn’t help.
    â€œBreathe,” he panted. “It will get better. At least I’m told it will.”
    â€œHave you never . .