Hot Pursuit: Hot Zone, Book 5 Read Free Page B

or hold him, but allowed Vic’s warmth to lure her into a languorous warmth and comfort.
    She melted and the kiss turned deeper, to show the appreciation her body and mind felt. When his tongue tasted her, she welcomed the intimacy, brought him into her with a shocking acceptance. His tongue swept over hers, no longer teasing. He wanted. He took.
    Yet he gave so much more.
    She shivered, overwhelmed by the delicious sensations, the excitement that sprang upward and filled every inch of her.
    She drew back at the same time he did. They touched foreheads, eyes closed. She shivered, but not with cold. In an instant she was aware of her body’s reactions to his kiss. Her breasts felt rounder, fuller, her nipples tight. She was achy and hot between the legs, wanting his touch, his fullness inside her. Lucy’s imagination exploded in a second. She wanted to know what he’d look like naked.
    Oh, man. She had it bad.
    Lucy could think of one word. “Wow.”
    “Yeah.” His voice sounded raw, and almost stunned.
    Breaking out of her mesmerized state, she gently disengaged herself from his arms.
    She almost told him she had a proposal for him. Almost broke right down and said what she’d planned to say to a perfect stranger tonight.
    Sleep with me tonight. Or in a rougher way, Have wild monkey hanging-from-the-rafters blow-the-lights-out sex.
    She’d found the perfect man for it.
    His eyes were bright with the fever, the same fever she felt. She couldn’t deny that he wanted her.
    “Sorry,” he said. “I got carried away. A bar isn’t the place to do this.”
    She shrugged, self-consciousness finding her. “You’re right. Not the place.”
    Silence hung there. Balanced. Almost tipped over. The strain of keeping quiet made her want to scream.
    “Hope that made up for all the crap in high school,” she said.
    A smile cracked that hard, I-want-sex expression. “No. I don’t think it does.”
    Her mouth flopped open. “What?”
    Kenny had stopped singing in the background, and some sweet-sounding young thing trilled about hard times in the old town tonight. Lucy’s brain snagged on the tune at the same time she tried to wrap her thoughts around what Vic had said.
    Once more a sparkle entered his dark eyes. “I’m teasing you.”
    She released a short, hard breath, followed by a half laugh. “Brat.”
    He clapped his hand over his heart. “Ow. That hurt. But I’ve been hurt worse.”
    Insight jumped her. She sipped her wine and chose her words wisely. “By your ex-girlfriend?”
    His gaze flew up to hers. Regret and maybe the tiniest bit of fear resided there. “Yeah.”
    “Tonight?”
    “No. A while before that.”
    “Ouch. I’m sorry.” Something inside her softened and reached out. “That sucks.”
    “Is that why you walked in here alone? Don’t you have any friends in town? A party to go to?”
    Damn, he’d turned it back to her, and her throat felt tight. Her thoughts scrambled. “My friends are having a big party. They invited me. I’m not there because my rat-bastard boyfriend decided to be a rat bastard.”
    He frowned, and this time, he looked like he could eat lead. “What did he do?”
    The fierce roughness in his voice made her feel shielded, a sensation she’d never experienced with any man before. Did she want to become this personal? Did she want him to hear this?
    She found herself talking. “Danny Mendoza. He used to work in the stationery store next to my studio. He’s in the Army Reserves and he was called up.” She shrugged. “He was…is a nice enough guy.”
    “And?” he asked when she paused.
    Her breath caught with emotion, anger superseding sadness. “I’ve been corresponding with him for a year by email. We had some pretty intense discussions and have a lot in common. A lot of…attraction. He came back from Iraq and asked me to meet him for a date Christmas Eve. He said that he has some really strong feelings for me. We had dinner, had a great time. He told me I was