The Shaughnessey Accord Read Free Page B

thinking about dessert."
    "Well, I do have a special recipe. One I rarely share." She kneaded his shoulders beneath his shirt.
    Her hands . . . he groaned, liking that "rarely" part a lot more than made sense. "Yeah? What might that be?"
    "It's fairly rich. Definitely sweet." Her fingertips drifted to his armpits, down the underside of his arms until his sleeves caused resistance. "I'd call it. . . intense. The way it feels when a lemon torte hits your tongue."
    He knew the feeling. A sizzling burst of too much too soon, which quickly gave way to wanting more. With Glory, he wanted more. He wanted to linger.
    How many licks did it take to get to the center —
    "Tripp?"
    "Glory?"
    "You've changed your mind, haven't you?"
    Her question was spoken softly, hesitantly, as if she were bracing for rejection when he'd given her no reason to. He had no intention of turning her down or of letting her down.
    He just wasn't sure this was the time or the place.
    "Are you kidding?" He shook his head to reassure her, gathered up more of her short skirt's fabric until his fingertips brushed the flesh beneath. He had a hell of a time swallowing his responding groan. "I was just thinking it might be nice to start with an appetizer."
    "I think that's what we're doing," she said, looking up at him then from beneath a fringe of jet black lashes.
    He chuckled. He liked that he hadn't scared her away. It was always a matter of balance, of taking his time as he tested the waters.
    He gave a playful smack of his lips. "I'm not so sure. I'm not tasting anything here."
    Her roaming fingers found the edges of his shirt, closed around the fabric, used his collar as a handle to pull his head down and press her mouth to his.

Three

    She'd known by looking at his mouth that he'd be a wonderful kisser. She'd listened when he'd talked, watched the way he'd held his lips when considering what he wanted to order.
    She'd known, but she hadn't known at all, because he kissed like Tripp and like no one else at all.
    He was gently demanding, his hands having moved from her bottom to her head, the heels of his palms at her cheeks, his fingers threading into her hair as he held her.
    Held her and kissed her as if she were the only woman in the world he wanted to kiss, the only one who mattered.
    She loved the daffodil tingles sweeping through her body, loved the feel of his lips. The soft searching, the sweet nudging press as he urged her mouth open and slipped his tongue inside.
    She released his shirt collar, moved her palms to his chest, enjoyed the dusting of hair there that tickled. He was lean, possessed with the type of body that seemed to thrive on less sustenance than more. Of that she was certain because of how little he ordered; she had often wondered how much of what he bought and paid for he actually ate.
    His ribs lay beneath the same sleek muscle that rippled over his abdomen. She touched him there, explored all she could reach of his bare skin, setting loose a feral growl that rose in a rumbling wave from his belly up his throat.
    His kiss grew demanding, grew hungry, as if what he needed right now in this moment were things only she had to offer. If he only knew how much there was, how deep ran her longing to give . . .
    "Oh, Glory," he pulled his mouth free to mumble. "You amaze me."
    "Why's that?" she mumbled right back, her lips brushing his cheek, his jaw, over his chin. "I'm not so amazing, really."
    He chuckled. "Oh, yes. You are. Especially the way you do that. Right there."
    "This?" she asked, her thumbs circling his navel like finely meshed gears. One clockwise, one counter , around and around and around.
    He shuddered, clenched the muscles beneath her hands, nuzzled the skin under her jaw with his nose and his mouth, a little bit of teeth.
    Heaven. Pure heaven. Absolute bliss. She couldn't conceive of anything better even knowing how much of the unknown remained to be discovered.
    She slipped a hand around Tripp's waist, found the