Every Breath She Takes by Norah Wilson Read Free Book Online Page B

She’d do anything as long as he didn’t stop. On a surge of raw lust, she caught his lower lip between her teeth and bit. His growl thrilled her, but then he flexed a powerful thumb against her throat.
    Something about his action, the pressure on her neck, penetrated the fever of Lauren’s arousal. Marlena! That was it. She was supposed to be safeguarding a would-be murder victim, not losing herself in this sweet, sensual fog. This was why she’d resolved not to get involved with Cal.
    Reluctantly she pulled back, her mouth stilling, her hands pressing against his chest now instead of roaming his strong back. It took him a second to recognize her signal, and in fact his hands tightened on her before relaxing and setting her free.

    Cal felt the change in her, but his mind rebelled at the idea of letting her go. He couldn’t remember the last time he’d wanted a woman like this. Surely one had never tasted so sweet or responded so thrillingly. But there was no mistaking her will. She wanted loose. Dragging in a ragged breath, he released her.
    “I’m sorry,” he said, stepping back. He wasn’t sure what he was apologizing for, but he knew enough to know an apology rarely went amiss between a man and a woman.
    “Don’t be,” she said, a rueful smile curving her lips. “I think it was pretty evident I enjoyed it.”
    That verbal confirmation gave him a jolt, which he instructed his body to ignore.
    “It’s just…”
    “Just what?” he probed.
    “Well, we were kissing and it was so good and I didn’t want to stop. I mean, I really didn’t want to stop. In another few minutes…I was afraid it was going to go too far.”
    “Not if you didn’t want it to,” he pointed out. Hell, he’d stopped, hadn’t he? The very moment he’d felt pushback, he’d stopped.
    She grimaced. “The problem is I didn’t want to stop either. But then I thought, Who is this man ?”
    A choking noise was the best he could do.
    “Well, it’s true, isn’t it? I don’t really know you. I don’t know you, yet I was almost ready to have sex with you. It happened so fast. I guess I just got scared.”
    “Of me? I’d never hurt you, Lauren. I’d never hurt any woman.”
    “I believe you. But frankly, I scared myself.”
    He searched her face, found her blue gaze unwavering. She spoke the truth, he realized. Or part of it. Something inside him unclenched. “Okay, I’ll accept that you don’t know me very well.” He took a deep breath and exhaled. “But you can start with this: I’d never force myself on a woman. Ever.”
    She nodded. “Got it.”
    “Also, while we’re being honest, I’m not really sorry I kissed you.”
    She laughed, a real, genuine laugh that had his own lips turning up in a smile.
    “I’m glad,” she said, and her face sobered. “I’m not really sorry either.”
    And she would be more careful henceforth. He read that message in her eyes as clearly as though she’d said it aloud. But he wasn’t in the least deflated by it. She’d called a halt because she didn’t know him? Well, she was here for a good stretch. If he had anything to say about it, he’d change that.
    He didn’t say that, though. Instead he said, “Good. But we’d better get going now. We don’t want to be tripping down this ridge in the dark.”
    Cal hung back, letting Lauren lead the way back down the ridge to the cabin. She’d have no trouble retracing their steps.
    She was an enigma, that one. She’d been just as hot as he’d fantasized. Hotter. But with an innate sense of caution and no shortage of strength of will. He admired that.
    Scared her, she’d said. Fair enough. It’d scared him too.
    Oh, not the speed and power of it. He’d known she’d be all fire and demand. What scared him was touching her and finding her there, right there beneath the surface, so real and complete and present. He’d wanted to kiss that mouth, feast on every inch of that tall, slender body, but he hadn’t counted on her being