From Enemy's Daughter to Expectant Bride by Olivia Gates Read Free Book Online Page B

wrenching kisses no longer resembling his previous ones.
    Her reaction was an even fuller submission. And a deeper madness. Now that she was aware of the risks, she wanted to release him from his promise, tell him to just take her now, come what may.
    But to her dismay, Rafael only tore his lips from hers. Flinging himself off her, he sat up and pitched forward, both forearms resting on his knees, hair raining over his forehead to hide his eyes as he struggled to regulate his harsh breathing.
    “I thought touching you was mind-altering...but you touching me is insanity inducing.” He slanted her a voracious glance as he took her hands and pulled her up. “Leave the touching to me tonight. Until I train myself to withstand your touch without pouncing on you and ravishing you.”
    Trembling all over, she sat up, every cell in her body rioting against his decree. She now wanted nothing but to touch him, craved nothing but his ravishing. Even thinking of the consequences wasn’t deterring her. Which did prove that exposure to him
was
insanity inducing.
    But it meant so much, that he’d applied brakes—for her—against the demands of his very...obvious desires. It meant even more that he confessed to a weakness. Something Rafael Moreno Salazar had never exhibited in the eight years of his meteoric rise to the top of a field he’d singlehandedly revolutionized.
    The fact that
that
man and
her
man were one and the same was still too much to get her head around. She hadn’t even started to scratch the surface of the implications. No matter what he said, she knew being who he was
would
cause problems.
    But for now she had him, in those moments of perfection when she was the world to him. As he was to her. And really, what was the point of looking ahead? She had no illusions there would be a continuation once they exited this magical interlude.
    But they were still there now.
    Feeling she’d be poking a dragon, yet unable to stop, she slid her hand across his shoulders, caressing her way down his back to his waist, delving beneath his open shirt and repeating the journey up, then down, then lower still. The exquisite pleasure of having this freedom, this privilege, was intoxicating.
    He caught her against him, crushing her in his arms, his face set in stark lines of savage hunger. And she did another first. She brought his lips down to hers.
    Initiating this kiss made it so different, enabling her to set its taste and temperature, sweet and scalding at once. He let her savor him—for about thirty seconds. Then he pushed out of her arms, exploded to his feet.
    He scowled down at her. “If you don’t want to be on your back, naked and with me buried all the way inside you, you better not touch or kiss me again.”
    She rubbed the heel of her hand against the itch behind her breastbone. “And you better find a shortcut in your training because now that I’ve touched and kissed you, I don’t want to do anything else.”
    “You better stop saying things like that, too. They have the same effect on me.”
    Her lids grew heavier as she slumped under the weight of craving. “Whatever you say.”
    He took an explosive step toward her, before stopping, vibrating with control. Then he gritted, “Enchantress.”
    She sighed, rubbing the itch harder. “Sorcerer.”
    Suddenly his lips spread into a wide smile as he sat down, keeping a two-inch no-touching zone between them.
    “I’m keeping score of your transgressions, and I’ll get satisfaction for each and every one. But first, I need the subject of business closed permanently.” Seriousness suddenly replaced his intimate teasing. “It won’t be preferential when I give your boss precedence over equally qualified candidates. Personal preference
is
an acceptable decisive factor when all things are equal. He might not land
the
partnership, but for you, I’ll give him something he’s worthy of. I bet he’s way above ‘any good.’ You wouldn’t work for someone