Too Much Temptation by Lori Foster Read Free Book Online Page B

point.
    “Didn’t…” She gestured between their bodies. “…do what you’re thinking.”
    Noah had meant to make amends, to promise Grace it’d never happen again. He should have been relieved that things hadn’t gone quite as far as he’d feared.
    Instead, disappointment weighed him down.
    “That’s…good, then,” he said. It was better this way, he knew that, but the feel of her under his hands, so smooth and warm, made him forget his resolve. She was close, and she stared up at him with blatant invitation—whether she realized it or not.
    He wanted her now, more than ever.
    “Noah,” Grace murmured in a hesitant whisper, “are you saying you didn’t really want me?”
    The question threw him. “I want you all right.”
    “You’re not drunk this morning?”
    “Dead sober.” He’d never be drunk again.
    “Then…” She shifted, looked up at him. “Okay.”
    His knees almost gave out. Was Grace trying to kill him? He tightened his hold on her upper arms and tugged her the smallest bit closer. “Okay? What the hell does okay mean?”
    “Yesterday you were so drunk, I knew I couldn’t take advantage of you.”
    “You couldn’t…” She left him speechless.
    “I especially wanted to touch you. Leaving you in your boxers wasn’t easy. But I promise, I behaved.”
    She behaved? “Grace, are you saying we really didn’t do anything? As in nothing ? As in not even kissing?”
    “You don’t remember?”
    “Not much.”
    “Oh.” That one word held a wealth of disappointment. “You, uh, well you did kiss me a couple of times. It was…really nice.”
    The timid way she confessed that made Noah want to kiss her again. He had to kiss her. As he leaned down toward her, Grace went on tiptoe to meet him halfway. He took her mouth without his usual care. But then, at the moment, he could barely think, much less summon up any finesse.
    Grace’s lips parted at the first touch of his tongue and he sank deep, groaning and then feeling the responsive bite of her nails on his shoulders.
    Oh yeah. He loved the bite of a woman’s nails.
    Her mouth was hot and sweet and his body tensed with razor-sharp hunger. “Grace…” He kissed her throat, beneath her ear; he drew her skin against his teeth, marking her.
    “You said you wanted me,” Grace admitted on a soft moan. She clung to him, her head tilted to give his mouth free access to her throat. “But I figured it was just the alcohol talking. I didn’t want you to do something you’d regret this morning.”
    Very slowly, awareness sank in. Though it was one of the hardest things he’d ever done, Noah forced his hands to open and he released her.
    Christ, he hadn’t touched Grace last night in a drunken stupor, but he was about to lay down with her today, when he wouldn’t even have the excuse of being drunk.
    He turned away and rubbed the back of his neck. “I’m sorry, Grace.”
    Silence.
    Noah wanted to kick his own ass. He turned to face her and saw her ravaged expression. Her face had paled, and her arms were crossed defensively.
    Her pain twisted in his heart. The last thing he ever wanted to do was hurt her. “Gracie…”
    “No, I understand.” She took two hasty steps back—away from him. Her eyes glistened wetly but she didn’t cry. She tried a small laugh that fell flat. “I don’t know what I was thinking. Dumb.”
    Noah had been through the emotional wringer, and none of it had anything to do with his grandmother or his canceled wedding plans.
    It all had to do with Grace. He narrowed his eyes and firmed his jaw. “What the hell does that mean?”
    “I’m twenty-five.” She laughed again. “I should understand these things better.”
    He took a purposeful step forward, crowding her, stalking her. For sixteen years he’d lived on the edge, growing harder each day in order to survive. That hardness was now ingrained in his psyche, and even his grandmother, with all her refined living and influence, hadn’t been able to