Free Level Up by Cathy Yardley Page A

was shorter than him, so her head angled back naturally, tilting up to meet him, and her mouth opened a little more. His tongue stroked the petal-softness of her inner lips, and he felt his body shudder. Or maybe hers did. Maybe both of them?
    When her tongue stroked his, it was his turn to groan. His hand tightened a little bit, fingers twining in the waves of her hair.
    He should really stop, he thought. Seriously.
    They were slanting their heads, their mouths moving sensuously. He wanted to devour her. His body went hard as quartz and...
    And he suddenly realized. He was only wearing boxers. She was only wearing a towel.
    This was insane.
    He backed away, and she squeaked, shrilly.
    The towel started to fall. She'd only loosely wrapped it around herself, and the end she'd tucked in must've dislodged during their embrace.
    For a brief, shining moment, he caught the barest glimpse of her side, the high curve of her hip. Possibly a flash of the side of her breast. She caught the end of the towel, quickly grappling the thing back in place.
    "Oh, shit," he said. "I'm sorry. I was just...I just meant it as a joke. You know. We're even?"
    He now understood how she felt. He was horrified that his casual action could have gone so haywire, so quickly.
    "I am so very, very  sorry...'
    "It's fine," she said, her eyes unfocused. She was staring at his mouth. Then her eyes started to head down...
    "Well, goodnight!' he said, retreating before she could get a good look at the jousting pole of his erection. He paused before completely closing the door, just peering his face out. "I really..."
    "It's fine, really!" she said, her expression a mix of humor, irritation...and something else he couldn't pin down. Then she retreated, turning off the hall light.
    He shut the door, then banged his head lightly against it.
    Stupid, stupid, stupid . What the hell had he been thinking?
    His body throbbed in pain. No chance he was getting sleep. He closed his eyes, and caught that flash of her curves--remembered the feel of her mouth.
    Hot. Damn.
    Who needed a shower now, huh? And an ice-cold one, at that.
     
     
     
     
     
     
     
     
     
     
     
     

 
     
     
     
     
     
     
     
     
     
     
     
     
     

     
    CHAPTER 5
     
     
     
    Tessa sat at her desk, surreptitiously sketching out storyboards for the Mystics  game. Fortunately, no one was paying attention to her. There wasn't a lot of staff, in the first place--lots of people had taken time off for the holidays, including the higher-ups. The general consensus was that nobody did work between Christmas Day and New Year's Eve, and today was December 30th.
    Which was just as well, she thought, after last night's... event .
    She'd barely slept. She couldn't stop replaying the moment in her mind, over and over. She was acting like a fangirl, for God's sake! She was torn between thinking it was a joke gone wrong, and wondering why she hadn't upped the ante, let the towel drop, and see where it went from there. But she respected that he took her consent comment to heart, even as her body screamed with frustration.
    This morning, Adam could barely look her in the eye.
    "I'm so very sorry," he'd said, staring at his to-go-cup as they got into the car that morning. "I meant it as just sort of a joke--you know, ha-ha, we're even."
    "Ha ha," she'd repeated numbly.
    "But it was three in the morning, and I guess things just sort of...got out of hand?" He cleared his throat. "I don't know what I was thinking." He paused.
    Her body heated traitorously. Could you think it again sometime?  The metaphorical door was right there, waiting to be opened.
    "But you're right. We should just focus on the game, put the whole thing behind us," he'd said quickly. Of course, she'd agreed. This whole thing was because she was trying to get promoted, after all. Trying to make it to the engineering crew. The socializing with the girls, the project, those were all steps on the ladder.
    Or so she tried to convince