“I’m stronger,” he growled.
She put her hands on her hips and braced her feet apart. “But I can kick.”
His eyes narrowed. “You wouldn’t.”
She gave him a small, deadly smile. “Oh, I would.”
For a second they both froze, eyeing each other up in adversarial silence until his sudden bark of laughter broke it. His amusement transformed every worry line and tense muscle into something so compelling that it made her heart jump.
She returned the smile, but realized too late his closeness, his darkening eyes. His sensuous bottom lip.
Time passed. The blink of an eye. But to Beth it stretched, lengthened, heated, teasing out the moment until the lick of flames in her belly flared up and bathed her in a desperate need she could no longer ignore.
Gently, almost wonderingly, she placed a tentative hand on his cheek. The rough one-day growth rasped over her skin, reminding her that this was no dream. He was real and hard, the look in his eyes half warning, half wanting, and she couldn’t help herself.
“Beth …” Her name was like a groan on his lips, his eyes devouring her. She paused, her hand still cupping his face.
She wanted to feel the contours of his mouth, touch him, kiss him.
She was going to.
Every muscle in his body flexed and tensed as she edged closer and pressed her legs against his, her hip bumping his groin. She heard his breath catch, the low rumble in his throat barely audible.
“What are you doing?” he said quietly.
“I’m going to kiss you.”
Luke swallowed. “You have any idea what you’re doing?”
“No,” she muttered, her lips hovering close to his, hesitant, waiting.
With a soft groan Luke leaned in and captured her mouth.
There was heat again, that gut-sucking, toe-curling heat licking him from head to feet. She was kissing him back, her mouth sweetly opening underneath his, her arms wrapping around his neck.
They moved up against the counter and his back hit the warm humming dishwasher door. Her damp hands tangled in his hair, her breasts pushed into his chest. As he slid one knee between her legs, he felt himself go hard.
He placed small kisses on her mouth, teasing her bottom lip. He was so deeply intent, transfixed by her smell and delicious taste; her tiny moan of pleasure sent his pulse skyrocketing.
Beth jumped as Luke started exploring her waist with his fingers, then drew his lips along her cheek, grazing it with kisses.
“You smell like that face cream in the bathroom,” he murmured, inhaling deeply. “Lemon. Nice.”
She shivered with pleasure as his mouth feathered over hers then began a slow descent down her neck.
At some stage he must have hiked up her skirt, because suddenly she felt his hand on her bare thigh, easing up, up, until he was cupping her intimately through the thin cotton of her panties.
She gasped. It felt so good. So reckless. So unlike her sensible, perfectly ordered life.
She wanted more.
With a soft murmur, she eased her legs apart and moved her hips, urging him to continue. And without hesitation, he did, his fingers working under the elastic until suddenly they hit her damp, aroused flesh and she gasped aloud.
He stilled, his eyes black with passion boring into hers. Between their clothes she felt the urgent pounding of his heart, the sear of heat and the rise and fall of his chest.
His breath grazed her cheek. “You want me to continue?”
She stared right into his eyes and fell over the edge. “Oh, yes.”
With a low guttural moan, he pulled down her panties, cupped her bottom and slid her onto the countertop. She hissed as the warm top made contact with her sensitive skin, the dishwasher vibrating gently on her calves. Then heat engulfed her as Luke eased her knees apart and slid his finger inside her wet core.
So tight. So hot. Luke’s breath hissed out, simultaneously echoing her own ecstasy. His groin was rock hard and throbbing, but he ignored it, instead taking delight in her intimate flesh wrapped around his finger, her arousal as he scraped his palm against her swollen nub. He withdrew then plunged back in, again and again and she threw her head back, a groan of pleasure rolling deep within her throat.
He grabbed the back of her head and dragged her back for a kiss, a deep, soul-searing kiss full of hot passion and desperate longing. She murmured beneath his mouth, her tongue tangling with his as her arms snaked around his neck. Her musky smell, her hot wetness, her murmur of enjoyment surrounded him, infused his skin, burrowed inside until he could feel the pressure build and build. Still he continued to taste, to feel, to tease until she began to tremble and whimper beneath him.
He dragged his lips down her neck and gritted his teeth, begging for control as he finally felt her go over the edge.
The orgasm ripped through Beth, stealing her breath and her control in one thundering swoop.
Joy. Pure unadulterated joy singing in her veins, heating her blood, skyrocketing her heart. It had never, ever been like that before. She felt as if she could take on the world, run a marathon, fly for hours and hours.
She waited out the trembling, until her breath became slower, until her heart calmed and an inevitable wave of uncertainty slowly flooded in.
What on earth had she done?
“Beth.”
Her name stirred the damp strands of hair on her cheek, sent a shiver across her skin. He slowly eased his finger from her and she couldn’t stop her small disappointed murmur as cool air rushed in. But when he gently closed her legs, reality came crashing back in one disastrous wave.
“Beth,” he said again. “Look at me.”
Reluctantly she opened her eyes. His were dark and unreadable.
“I … ah …” She paused. Dammit, how could she focus when he’d taken her on the dishwasher and he’d seen her fall to pieces beneath his hand? With a heated flush, she slid from the counter and scooped up her abandoned underwear. “Okay, so that was a bad idea. We’ve both been under a lot of pressure and—”
His hands on her shoulders stopped her midsentence, but she refused to meet his eyes, instead looking down.
She drew in a breath, hard. Bad mistake. The telltale bulge in his pants was all too obvious.
With a finger under her chin, he tilted her face up to meet his, but when he went to place a gentle kiss on her cheek Beth pulled away.
“Look, Luke,” she began and stepped back, trying to regain control. “What happened here …” She felt her face flush but forged on. “I think it’s just … We had a …”
“A purely physiological response under stress.”
She blinked, astonished. “Exactly.”
Except he now knew what she tasted like, felt like. And she still desperately wanted her house more than ever.
“So let’s just focus on what we need to do,” he added, then turned back to the table and began stacking the place mats.
She stared at him, her stomach a confusing mixture of uncertainty, relief … disappointment?
He glanced up with a smile. “Right?”
“Right.” Nothing had changed. He still wanted to sell her home. And she still couldn’t afford it.