Free Nothing's Sweeter than Candy by Lotchie Burton Page B

forward the rest of the way. Their lips met with tentative and tender exploration, testing the softness and feeling the hunger that surged and arced between them. He tasted of wine, after-dinner mints, and the promise of blistering-hot, toe-curling sex. She pulled him closer and held on tighter as the kiss deepened and became more potent.
    He held her face in his hands as he plunged his tongue into the heated depths of her mouth, stroking her tongue and teasing her inner recesses. Freeing her face, he cupped the back of her head with one hand as the other crept lower to palm her bottom and pull her in flush against his growing arousal. There was no mistaking his attributes or his desire.
Just like in my fantasy
, she thought vaguely as reticence and resistance merged and melted away. She eagerly pressed forward, forgetting all her good intentions, lost in the heat of his kiss and the stirring sensation of his hardening manhood pushed intimately against her. The kiss was charged with electricity that infused her veins and short-circuited her brain, and neither could stop the powerful rush of energy that filled the air and crackled and snapped around them.
    They were a jumbled mess of lips, arms, and legs in a matter of seconds. It seemed to go on forever, an unending exchange of breath, passion, and raw desire, curling her toes and sending bursts of scorching heat straight to her already aching core. Enveloped in a spiraling vortex of flames, she was unaware and uncaring that there was no chance of escaping being singed by the blaze. Eventually, the need to breathe prevailed. She gradually became aware of her breasts pressed flat against his chest and her back against the wall. She reluctantly surfaced and recovered enough of her senses to draw back from the edge of no return.
    This had to stop, now, before they ended up stripped naked on her front doorstep. On some deep-rooted level of self-preservation, she knew instinctively that sex with Brice could mean trouble down the road. He wasn’t anything like the type of men she usually dated, a warning in itself she could be dealing with elements beyond her control. The thought was enough to force her to pull away, and once again put distance between them. Taking a much-needed breath, she made herself look him squarely in his artic-blue eyes, fierce with unappeased hungry desire.
    “Brice. We have to stop.” She pressed shaky hands upon his chest as her mind struggled desperately to reclaim her lost wits. “I’m sorry. I’m not a tease. Really, I’m not. But, right now, I’m experiencing a little confusion. My body’s saying one thing, and my head is saying something else. There’s no way I can possibly deny how turned on I am, and I won’t even try. But I’m not ready to let the heat of the moment overrule good sense.”
Not yet
,
she thought, giving a nervous laugh.
    Brice gave her a brooding look and brushed his thumb across her lower lip before he reluctantly released his hold and stepped back. He stuck one hand in his pocket and scrubbed the other down his face. Shaken and confused, he appeared to be filled with the same warring feelings and doubts.
    “It’s okay, Candace. I’m a big boy. I can take no for an answer,” he responded hoarsely. “Just—just give me a minute. I need a moment to readjust my thinking.” He took a steadying breath and backed up a little further. “I think you’re right. We should slow down. There’s no need to rush into something we may both regret later, after the sparks have died out. Let’s just call it a night. Besides, we have all the time in the world to get to know each other.”
    He reached out and gave her upturned face one last gentle brush with the back of his hand, then moved aside to allow her to unlock the door. She pressed the key to the lock, when unexpectedly the door cracked and swung inward. Brice immediately reached out and pulled her back and away from the open door. Candace’s eyes grew wide in