Free For the Taking by Lilian Darcy Page A

you want me to…? I—I mean, there’s room,” Lass stammered, drawing his focus awayfrom strategic questions. Her cheeks had gone pink once more. She shifted her firm, shapely backside six inches toward the edge of the plaid picnic blanket. The movement rocked her hips gracefully. “Please sit down!”
    Loucan realized that he had been standing there for an embarrassing interval, staring down at the blanket without even seeing it. She must have thought he was waiting for an invitation to sit beside her.
    He did so, and at once arrived back at square one.
    This blanket wasn’t big enough for two.
    Maybe it was the calculated decision not to— definitely not to—kiss her again, but he was suddenly very aware of just how easy a kiss would be. She had her legs curled to one side and her weight resting on the other hand. The only way he could sit comfortably was in a mirror image of the same pose. It brought his shoulder within a few inches of hers.
    He could smell her, too. He could tell that she’d washed her hair this morning, that she was wearing sunscreen and that her cotton T-shirt had been line-dried in the fresh air. It was a very close-fitting top. The short sleeves just capped her shoulders, and below them her fair, tender skin stretched over smooth arm muscles.
    If he moved his hand three inches to touch her fingers… If he leaned a little closer and she turned her head his way… Yes. He would reach her mouth and taste those warm, passionate lips again.
    “Can I start with the mud cake?” he asked, in an iron-willed attempt to think of something besides her full, gorgeous mouth.
    She laughed, eased the weight off her hand and sat up straighter. “If you were a child, I’d have to sayno, wouldn’t I? You’re not supposed to start with dessert. But, yes, let’s. I’m in the mood for chocolate, too.”
    She was still smiling, and still pink-cheeked, as she used a pocket knife to cut the thick wedge of cake she’d brought. When she handed half to him, he carefully took it without letting their fingers touch, but this turned into a wasted effort. He’d accidentally smeared some of the thick, gooey frosting onto her thumb, and his gaze was trapped by the sight of her mouth and tongue as she licked it off.
    The action was delicate, yet astonishingly sensual. The tip of her tongue darted forward to scoop the smear of frosting, then her lips closed over the spot and she sucked it clean. Finally she looked at it and gave it one last, expert lick, like a cat lapping at a saucer of milk.
    If she knew I was watching her like this…
    Maybe she’d sensed it. Taking a slow, careful mouthful of cake, she turned toward him and smiled. “Better to let it melt in your mouth than in your hand.”
    Loucan shifted his focus just in time. “I guess it is,” he said, and took a bite, barely tasting it.
    He didn’t understand it. He’d been attracted to mer women and land women before. What was different about Lass? The fact that she was such an intriguing mixture of both?
    Or was it the lure of forbidden fruit?
    He had just told himself categorically that he must not kiss her again, which meant, in the perversity of the male psyche, that now he wanted to kiss her all the more. He wanted her mouth and tongue to do to his skin—every inch of his skin—exactly what they’djust done to that smear of chocolate frosting. With exactly the same skill, and exactly the same attention to detail.
    He cleared his throat behind his fist. “Are Susie and Megan coming to work today?”
    “Yes, thank goodness,” Lass said. “That’s the only reason I had time for a ride this morning.”
    “And would you also have time to show me Cyria’s things when we get back?”
    “What makes you think I’m prepared to do that?”
    Lass lifted her chin and narrowed her eyes deliberately, although she was sure her attempts to act cool this morning weren’t fooling him. He was watching her. She knew he was. He had to be looking for signs