Total pages in book: 96
Estimated words: 89183 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 446(@200wpm)___ 357(@250wpm)___ 297(@300wpm)
Estimated words: 89183 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 446(@200wpm)___ 357(@250wpm)___ 297(@300wpm)
“Oh, I love this one too,” she said, closing her eyes and swaying in place.
Then, suddenly, she was in Malcolm’s arms. And hers were going around his neck, his around her hips, and they were moving together, slow dancing. A song about falling, keeping on falling for the same man.
Was that what she was doing? Falling for Malcolm all over again?
She heard him whisper her name into her hair, felt his arms tighten around her, and she drew back so that she could look into his eyes. And then they were kissing, his mouth on hers, hers on his. Both of them moving at the same time, their kiss as perfectly in sync as their dance. He tasted like the Baileys and cream they’d been sipping, the hint of chocolate from a box of truffles he’d had in the kitchen still on his tongue. But that wasn’t why he tasted so delicious. No, that was all Malcolm Sullivan himself.
She thought his kiss had been mind-blowing as a teenager. But the way she felt now? Well, she could never remember feeling this way before. Not with anyone. The way he was taking his time to taste. To tempt. To tease. And then to take. Take everything that she couldn’t help but want to give him. Her body melted into his. Her hands threaded up into his hair as she tried to get even closer.
So close. She wanted to be so close to him.
Somewhere in the back of her head, that little voice that had been egging her on before was cheering. But there was another voice. A voice that was getting louder and louder.
Just exactly what do you think you’re doing? Just exactly how does this kiss fit into your no-men vow?
And yet, even that voice couldn’t stop her from wanting more, from kissing him back just as deeply as he was kissing her. She heard someone moan softly, and realized it was herself.
And then his phone rang. Loud and jarring and breaking the moment into pieces. Shattering the sensual haze that had taken her over.
She pulled back. “You should answer that.” Her words came out all breathy, almost as though she was panting to try to get them out. “It might be important.” She pushed out of his arms, stumbled back into the galley. The River Star had never felt so small. He was everywhere, filling the space. She could feel his heat, smell his skin. It was too much.
“Josie—” His voice was low, thrumming with a desire that she also felt.
She didn’t want to hear what he had to say. She didn’t even know her own mind right now, so getting into a conversation about the kiss they’d just shared was a bad idea. “I think the jet lag has really kicked in. I should go to bed. Good night.”
She dashed out of the room before he could persuade her to stay. Before she could give in to the urge to throw herself back into his arms, to put her mouth against his, and kiss and kiss and kiss him until she couldn’t remember all the reasons why she shouldn’t.
But even as she brushed her teeth and changed into her pajamas in record time, then slipped beneath the covers to block out the sound of his voice, she could still hear him whispering her name. Josie.
The sounds of him moving around in the kitchen and living room reminded her that he was so close, that all it would take was for her to change her mind, and she could experience more sensual pleasure than she’d ever known. That little voice inside her head was calling to her again, asking, Why? Why can’t you just have a fling with Malcolm? Why does sleeping with him have to mean forever?
She’d never thought like that in her life. Never so much as considered a one-night stand or, as the case would be with Malcolm, a two-week stand. She’d always believed she needed to be in a relationship before becoming intimate. She’d always believed that deep feelings were important before she could feel something physical. But she’d had all of those things with her ex—at least, she’d believed she had them, and look how that had turned out. She’d been a fool to believe that emotions and great sex had to go hand in hand. Especially when the truth was that the sex hadn’t been that great. She’d just told herself that was as good as it got. But in the back of her mind, hadn’t she known all along that there was more out there?
Were it not for the fact that jet lag really was finally taking its toll on her after a very long and busy day, who knew what she might’ve done, what that little voice inside her head might have persuaded her to do? But for tonight, sleeping alone in Malcolm’s bed was the only thing left on the menu.