Sheltering His Desire by Allyson Lindt Read Free Book Online

and rubbed hard and fast. He swallowed her
groans, stroking and pushing her past the limits of her
pleasure.
    Climax tore through her, snatching away her
reason. She shuddered as his touch became too much, and pulled
away. She grasped his wrist, and raised it to her mouth, holding
his gaze as she sucked one finger clean. His lips parted slightly
as he watched her run her tongue along the pad before moving to his
next finger.
    She let go of him, and leaned into his chest,
still struggling to catch her breath. That had been amazing, and
she wasn’t sure if it was just the things he’d done, or if it had
as much to do with the fact it was him.
    He trailed his fingers through her hair,
heart hammering against her ear. This was too nice. She could get
used to this. The moment the thought passed through her head, she
pushed away. The last thing she could allow herself to do was get
used to cuddling up to Tate. She pasted a smile on. “We’re on a
deadline, right?”
    A flat mask passed over his face, before a
pleasant expression flitted back in. “Right. Of course.” He
extracted himself from her couch and handed over her clothes. He
turned away as she dressed, and she couldn’t completely squash her
disappointment at the heavy air that had settled in the room.
    She straightened her clothes, skin still
tingling everywhere he’d touched. That had been amazing. She
struggled to pull her gaze from him as he put on his shirt.
Fantasies taunted her of waking up next to him. Wandering around
his house in nothing but that shirt.
    She pushed the thoughts away, veins flooding
with irritation at herself. She’d sated the teenager inside. The
little girl who had been swooning over her older brother’s best
friend for as long as she could remember had gotten what she
wanted. It had been incredible, but that just meant she could move
on with no regrets. Right?
    His eyes met hers, holding her attention
captive. A wicked smile tugged up the corner of his mouth. He
closed the distance between them in a few short steps, and knotted
his fingers in hair again. His mouth crashed down on hers, and she
yielded to the kiss without hesitation. He let her go far too soon
for her liking, and stepped back. His teasing, seductive tone
tickled her thoughts. “I’m feeling better. You?”
    She ducked her head, heat flooding her
cheeks. Was she supposed to say thank you? Tell him he was as much
responsible as she was? Definitely not ask when they were doing it
again. She forced confidence and professionalism to the forefront,
despite the way lust kicked and clawed to maintain her attention.
She was grateful her voice stayed even when she replied. “I take
back anything I said yesterday. The random hookup was way better
than trying to find a guy online.” She plowed forward before he
could reply, not sure she could maintain her mask otherwise. “We
have a deadline, right?”
    It would be good to stay focused. She’d keep
from lingering too long on emotions she couldn’t possibly unravel
right now. Feelings she shouldn’t have. If they dove back into
work, everything could go back to what it had been before tonight.
Was it last night that had been the catalyst? Or eight years ago?
Or— she shook the rambling thoughts aside.
    “Work. Right.” He nodded at her chair. “There
are storyboards and a script for you to approve.” He let out a
shaky breath. “You sure you’re okay?”
    Arrogant asshole. Irritation flared inside.
Like she couldn’t cope with a simple thing like a fling? A retort
rushed to her lips.
    He wasn’t done. “With this whole Thompson
thing and the news?”
    Her angry comeback evaporated as her gut
deflated in on itself. Right. That. The question was a more painful
reminder than anything else that he’d been comforting her, and her
entire world was about to crumble for more important reasons than
her childhood crush didn’t feel the same way about her that she did
about him. She gave him a weak smile. “I’m good. If