Free Seducing Avery by Barb Han Page A

words.
    He pulled back first.
    She brought the back of her hand to her lips. Then she bit her bottom lip. Leaning into him, she rested her cheek on his solid chest. Light from the window cast shadows on his face, accentuating his strong jawline. Avery wanted to believe whatever he said. She needed to think whatever was happening between them was real. But wasn’t that exactly the kind of fairy tale she loathed?
    Because they never really worked out with a happily ever after like in childish books.
    “I won’t see you tomorrow. I’m leaving for a few days,” he said with a stab of regret in his voice.
    She stood there momentarily stunned. Was he just saying that to motivate her to action? It would be just like a man like him to know precisely the right words to make a woman’s knees go weak.
    His strong hand splayed against the small of Avery’s back, positioning her exactly where he wanted her. His kiss, slow and tender at first, barely pressed against her mouth, deepened with passion as she parted her lips for him.
    His tongue flicked inside her mouth for the briefest moment, a mere taste, as though an instant of preparation was needed before surging deeper. The next surge, deep and hungry, was so alarming it robbed Avery’s ability to breathe. Her hands came up to his shoulders for support before sliding down his muscled chest as tingly sensations of awareness coursed through her.
    This infuriatingly beautiful man, even with his hard edge, had sex appeal to spare. It was unfair that one person should end up with so much—the heat of which threatened to melt her bones and leave her body a puddle on the ground—when so many ended up with so little. And she was absolutely sure she was one of the unlucky ones who’d ended up without.
    Her sensible mind told her to run, to get out of there and get this man out of her life, but her body betrayed her as he braided her fingers in his. His eyes were hungry with anticipation. Everything about this man heightened her senses and brought her body to life. His all male and musky scent. His solid-walled chest. His beautiful bronze-colored eyes.
    His fingers stroked her hair as his lips brushed her forehead. Yearning welled up from deep inside, making her head numb. Being so close to him, feeling his skin under her fingers, made her struggle from the inside out. Before she could form an argument in her mind, his mouth enveloped hers, coming down hard and fast. His needy tongue delved deeply.
    Avery’s body craved his touch as her hands moved up and down his back. Her fingers mapped the muscles there. Her senses heightened until her entire body pulsed and tingled with the kind of fury that must be similar to face diving.
    He stopped suddenly. Too suddenly.
    “There. That should hold us both over.”
    Oh. Hell. No.
    Here she was on an island more beautiful than her wildest imagination, spending time with the absolute man of her dreams, and all she could think about was how to get away from it all and regain her sanity. She could easily see why so many women melted in his arms. He was the kind of man who could make a girl feel like she was the only woman on earth.
    “We need to talk.”
    “I’d rather do other things.” His broad shoulders rolled. “But we could eat first if you need to.”
    A shudder of need roared through her. Avery stopped, folded her arms for fortitude. “I want to know more about you.”
    “I grew up in Hong—”
    “Not the stuff I can read in a paper.”
    “Hmm. Okay. My mom and your mom would make great bridge partners,” he said.
    “That what made you angry as a kid?”
    “In part. She wasn’t exactly mother material. I know you understand that.”
    Avery nodded.
    “Mine was much more devious. Much more sneaky when she slipped men in through the butler’s kitchen.”
    Avery gasped. “That must’ve been painful for you to know. How old were you when you found out?”
    “Young. Six, I guess.”
    “And you didn’t say anything to your